Myers-Briggs Types in Star Wars: Kylo Ren (INFP)

Star Wars is a vast, ever-expanding universe with several characters that have identifiable Myers-Briggs personality types (colloquially known as MBTI). While we considered different personality types for Kylo Ren, we believe that INFP makes the most sense. Read our analysis below!

The Myers-Briggs Personality Type of Kylo Ren

Dominant Fi:

“I am being torn apart. I wanna be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?”

“Don’t be afraid. I feel it too.”

Kylo Ren knows exactly who he wants to be – the next Vader. He makes every effort he can to follow in Vader’s footsteps, and idolizes him to an extreme degree. It’s to the point where he wears a mask that he does not require from a physical health standpoint (unlike Vader who required his mask to breathe), and even appears to walk in a similarly robotic fashion at times. It’s as if he puts on the Vader-like mask and becomes Vader. People like Snoke and Han seem to subtly mock or call him out for this mimicry. He destroys his mask at one point because of this, yet remakes it later, clearly deciding that he doesn’t care enough about what anyone else thinks. (Note: the physical and direct way in which he mimics Vader is also a manifestation of Si.)

Kylo Ren’s focus throughout the show is on becoming who he wants to be and who he is meant to be, which is also reflected in the way he deals with Rey. He tells her how he believes she should become what she was meant to be. See the Si section for the specific quote.

Kylo Ren is emotionally aware of himself and tends to be emotionally fueled, suggesting both a feeler and Fi specifically. He expresses himself to both Han Solo and even Rey. He accidentally connects with her emotionally, which eventually leads to him returning to the side of good. He is constantly losing his temper and responding to things in an emotional way. He’s also shown empathizing to some degree with Rey while trying to get information out of her during the first movie, saying “Don’t be afraid. I feel it too.” Granted, this wasn’t necessarily a sincere attempt to connect, but it expresses his Fi mentality.

Auxiliary Ne:

“You’re not doing this. The effort would kill you. Can you see my surroundings? I can’t see yours. Just you. So, no. This is something else.”

Kylo Ren is basically in a Fi-Si loop for the entire trilogy. However, his Ne does surface in a few ways. When Snoke first connects Rey’s mind with his in the second movie, Kylo’s first instinct is to ask questions. He completely ignores Rey and her very different reaction, and starts speculating out loud as to how this could possibly be happening. He first states that she couldn’t be doing it, says why, asks her a question about what she can see, explains his answer to the same question, and keeps going. He essentially responds to this new situation immediately with his extraverted function, which happens to be Ne. The scene perfectly depicts a Ne style reaction. Note that Rey got physically defensive and verbally accusatory in comparison.

Going along with the previous paragraph, Kylo tends to have a need to express his thoughts out loud. He is shown physically talking to Vader’s mask at one point, as a means of sorting things out. In his dealings with Rey, he also tries to force her to say certain things out loud, suggesting he is projecting his mentality onto her.

One could also speculate that the level to which he takes his Vader idolization suggests a detachment from reality. He doesn’t just strive to live up to Vader’s ideal, but makes the goal much more lofty as he strives to become Vader in every possible way.

Tertiary Si:

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you were meant to be.”

Kylo Ren actually exhibits quite a bit of Si evidence throughout the movies. This is due to the fact that he does a considerable amount of Fi-Si looping. This is highlighted by the quote above. He seems convinced that the only way to get away from the shackles of the past is for both Rey and himself to ‘kill’ the past. This shows specifically that his own past is haunting him both figuratively and literally.

Additionally, when Han Solo tries to convince Kylo to come back with him, Kylo merely states that it is too late. Even though he is visibly conflicted and even looks as though he considers Han’s offer, his Fi-Si loop ultimately brings him to the conclusion that he is too far gone. His past has trapped him into becoming what he has become.

Other examples of Si are the various instances when he recalls some very specific pieces of information. For instance, he knows that Fin is the stormtrooper in question even before anyone informs him, because he remembers seeing his emotional conflict. Later, when they are Force skyping and Rey is staring him down, he recollects seeing the same look in Rey’s eyes when they fought in the forest. He also specifically remembers that when she gave him that look she was calling him a monster.

Inferior Te:

“I want that map. For your sake, I suggest you get it.”

Kylo Ren dips fairly easily into his inferior Te. However, it is still clearly inferior. Firstly, every time he puts on Vader’s mask, he puts on Vader’s cold and demanding persona. He becomes very harsh, intimidating, and seemingly calm. Yet, he very easily loses control the moment something goes wrong, because he cannot maintain that state of being. He loses his temper frequently, and lashes out against his environment, feeling the need to crush or destroy something within his vicinity. Examples of this are prevalent throughout the trilogy and especially the first movie, but one example can be seen when he’s told that they didn’t get the droid on Jakku. He also yells at Rey at one point, saying “No, no. You’re still holding on! Let go!” when she is refusing to listen to him and comes over to the dark side with him. This all points to an inferior Te user immaturely attempting to regain control.