Myers-Briggs Types in the Dark Knight Trilogy: Bruce Wayne [Batman] (ISTP)

Five years ago, we analyzed this version of Bruce Wayne (or Batman), and assigned him the ISTJ Myers-Briggs personality type label (also referred to as MBTI). Of course, as you can see by the title of this article, we now know that was a mistake. Unfortunately, when studying this version of Batman five years ago, we couldn’t get the original, comic book version out of our heads, and that bias colored everything we saw. The data then got twisted into a debate between INTJ and ISTJ (because the original Batman was likely an ISTJ).

However, someone presented an argument to me a couple of years back for ISTP Batman, and while I usually can’t remember a lot of details about shows I’ve watched and characters I’ve typed, I’m annoyingly good at remembering my biases and the logical inconsistencies within my arguments, no matter how long ago it was. I couldn’t deny that the argument being presented seemed to fit better. It took me way too long to double back and check this (I’ve been meaning to for well over a year now), but stuff like this is pretty low on the priority list.

It’s not typically recommended for content creators to waste their time rewriting old content, especially when it comes to movies that are likely no longer popular, but knowing I have inaccurate articles sitting in my archives bugs me to no end. So, after rewatching the trilogy with Ryan, we are amending our analysis of Christian Bale’s Batman to ISTP. Check out our new analysis below, and be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts!

The Myers-Briggs Personality Type of Batman

Note: I initially wrote the introduction in my voice, which why “Mara” is the listed as the primary author, but Ryan actually wrote large portions of the analysis below. 

Dominant Ti:

“People from your world have so much to lose. Now, you think because your mommy and your daddy got shot, you know about the ugly side of life, but you don’t. You’ve never tasted desperate…This is a world you’ll never understand. And you always fear what you don’t understand.” – Carmine Falcone to Bruce Wayne

“I’m whatever Gotham needs me to be.”

To be frank, ISTPs can be tricky, especially in action media, because the focus is on the action. ISTPs are known for keeping their thoughts to themselves a lot, and being somewhat closed off in that regard. So, in scenarios that don’t really force the ISTP character to share their thoughts, it can be hard to identify the Ti. This version of Batman does exactly that. He participates in basic strategizing with those he collaborates with and engages in necessary social interactions, which would be normal for any personality type in that role, but otherwise doesn’t share his reasoning much.

With all that being said, there is a case to be made for Batman’s Ti. I hate making stereotypical statements like “this character does what makes sense to him”, because quite frankly, everybody does that in their own way. We found most of the evidence for Bruce Wayne in the first movie. His interaction with Falcone and what he ends up doing as a result of it seems to be one of the best examples for his Ti. When Bruce tells Falcone that he isn’t afraid of him, Falcone gives him a lecture, claiming that the only reason Bruce isn’t afraid is because he hasn’t thought through what he has to lose. Instead of reacting emotionally or impulsively to the man standing in opposition to him, Bruce actually absorbs the information and comes to the realization that Falcone is right. We came to that conclusion based off of the actions he takes directly after.

This showcases the analytical nature of Ti and it’s relative indifference for where information comes from as long as the information itself seems valid to them. What Falcone does for Bruce is allow him to make a realization about the flaws in his own perspective and the blind spot that he currently has. So instead of getting mad or choosing to dismiss what Falcone has said, Bruce tries to figure out how to fix his blind spots and gain a better understanding where he now knows he is lacking. He accomplishes this by literally going thousands of miles away to where no one knows him, to overcome the bias and privilege Falcone claimed would continue to follow him. He rebuilds his understanding by choosing to live in poverty and learning what it means to be desperate. Between the way he chooses to interact with the feedback and the sudden decision to act upon that information, we believe this pretty solidly shows a preference for Ti followed by Se.

An important thing to note in the above scenario is that Bruce Wayne responds to the entire situation in a relatively emotionless way, which is standard for him. As a general rule, he’s not emotionally expressive in his daily life. He keeps his interactions fairly impersonal (using snark at times to deflect), and remains detached. It’s also common for him to adjust based on external input, like he did above. You can see this in how readily he adopts certain values or ways of thinking from those he trusts, such as Alfred, Rachel, and Ras Al Ghoul. He parrots back phrases, and expands his perspective.

Lastly, Bruce Wayne doesn’t fixate on a personalized identity. Yes, he creates Batman, and Batman adheres to certain moral rules (or one rule, according to his conversation with Joker). However, the identity of Batman is relatively fluid. Bruce Wayne states that “I’m whatever Gotham needs me to be” which shows that he’s not tying values to his identity. His identity is adhering to a logical formula to service a specific need or goal.

Auxiliary Se:

“Perhaps you should read the instructions first.” – Lucius Fox to Bruce Wayne

The typical Batman archetype is one of a planner and a strategizer, which obviously is necessary to survive as Batman. However, this version of Bruce Wayne is actually not that cautious or calculated, beyond what’s minimally required to be effective as Batman. He actually relies a lot on Alfred to help with some of the planning. For instance, Alfred is very involved in getting the material necessary to create his gear and his bat cave in a way that wouldn’t raise any red flags. In stark contrast to that, when left to himself, Bruce Wayne spots a fully-functional, specialized, tank-like vehicle, and decides he wants it as his Bat Mobile, without considering that it might be traceable (an issue which shows up in the second movie).

Overall, this version of Bruce Wayne operates much more spontaneously, living in the present. Running off after his conversation with Falcone, as mentioned in the previous section, is a good example of this. He runs thousands of miles away, and then lives day-by-day, with no actual plan for survival. He also gets himself kicked out of school, which suggests a general disregard for consequences. Another example can be seen when he’s checking out gear in the Applied Sciences Department of Wayne Industries. He starts pressing buttons on something of interest to him, and accidentally launches blades into the air. Fox calmly chides him for not reading the instructions first. This version of Bruce Wayne is certainly not defined by the level of caution one would expect from an IXXJ. Of course, his Bruce Wayne playboy persona is one that lines up with most SP stereotypes. He buys expensive things (like businesses and real estate) on a whim (because it suits him in the moment), breaks rules on impulse, parties, and lives it up. However, one could argue that is merely a persona.

One instance that put the final nail in the coffin, so to speak, on the ISTJ argument is how he handled Selina Kyle. She betrays him and leads him straight to Bane, where he almost dies. He ends up trapped in a prison for two months, and barely manages to escape. He then goes straight back to Selina Kyle for help. That runs completely counter to high Si, and demonstrates his Se in the way that he was able to easily disregard the past, giving her a second chance. Sure, other personality types can be forgiving, but the ease with which he did this is striking, especially considering that it was someone that he wasn’t even close with. There were no interactions between the two events that allowed her to regain his trust, no new information to add context to her actions, etc. He simply put it behind him, and gave her another shot.

Tertiary Ni:

“As a man, I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, destroyed. But as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting.”

It’s tempting for people to call Bruce Wayne an INTJ, because of the emphasis on being an everlasting symbol. However, that is not something that comes naturally to Bruce. It’s learned. Ra’s Al Ghul specifically teaches Bruce Wayne the importance of being a symbol, and being more than a man. Bruce’s lower Ni latches onto this symbolism, and implements it. In other words, he borrows the idea from Ra’s, and merely personalizes it to bats based on his own past trauma. In fact, when comparing Bruce to Ra’s, we see a stark contrast in their natures. Ra’s, who is a fairly obvious high Ni user, tends to be very vague and philosophical, while Bruce is very literal and straightforward. (Ra’s actually mocks his literal interpretation of being theatrical later, when seeing him for the first time in his bat suit.)

I mentioned a general disregard for consequences in the Se section, which is also evidence for a low introverted perceiving function (Ni or Si). But to elaborate on that a little more, Bruce Wayne seems resistant to overthinking the future. For instance, when Alfred is trying to get Bruce to think about his limits, because everyone has limits, Bruce insists that he can’t afford to know his limits, and that Batman has no limits.

Inferior Fe:

“No, Alfred, it’s my father’s house… This place is a mausoleum. If I have my way, I’ll pull the damn thing down brick by brick.”

“Why do you give a damn, Alfred? It’s not your family.”

Bruce often dismisses emotional value, misses ethical implications, and misses social implications, which are all signs of inferior Fe. For instance, when returning home for the first time in the first movie, he refers to the place as a mausoleum and threatens to pull it all down. Alfred argues against this, and then Bruce very insensitively asks why he cares at all, since it’s not his family. Of course, we know that Alfred was essentially like family to the Wayne family, including Bruce, but Bruce entirely misses this in that moment.

After returning with his plan to be Batman, Alfred is the one that reminds Bruce that needs to have a social life to maintain his cover. Bruce wants to just live his night life as Batman, and not pay any attention to the outside world beyond that. Alfred reminds him that Bruce Wayne has to have a life and a hobby to explain the bruises or people will ask questions. Bruce then asks Alfred what people like him do, what his social cover should look like. Alfred says that people like him dates movie stars, drive fancy cars and buy things that are not for sale. Bruce then literally does all three of those things in his next social excursion. This all demonstrates him relying on Alfred to know how to effectively use his extraverted judging function (Fe or Te). (Extraverted judging brings awareness for external systems and structures, and help one integrate into them.)

Beyond this, we see Batman make certain decisions that appear to be in contrast to his stated values, such as the high profile car chases. When these are pointed out, he dismisses them with snarky quips. His failure to consider ethical implications also shows up in larger scale decisions, like implementing a massive telecommunications network enabling him to spy on everyone so he can catch the Joker.