Myers-Briggs Types in Once Upon A Time: Killian Jones [Hook] (ESTP)

Once Upon A Time has an abundance of interesting characters with identifiable Myers-Briggs personality types (colloquially known as MBTI). After watching the series, I think that Killian Jones fits the ESTP Myers-Briggs personality type best. Read my analysis below!

The Myers-Briggs Personality Type of Killian Jones

Dominant Se:

“Well you should know by now, the only thing I excel at is surviving.”

“There is always a crisis. Perhaps you should consider living life during them otherwise you might miss it.”

“All we can do in times like these is try to live in the here and now.”

Hook appears to be a dominant extraverted sensor. In some ways, Hook is a bit of an Se stereotype. He lives the life of a pirate, and enjoys all the perks that come with it. He goes on adventures, searches for buried treasure, and tells tales of his adventures while getting drunk at local taverns. These tales lure in a woman that he eventually falls in love with, Milah. The impulsive decision to allow her to run away with them eventually causes him a slew of trouble, although this isn’t something he regrets. He merely regrets failing to kill Rumpelstiltskin early on.

Hook is highly adaptable, which is shown time and time again. He knows how to take advantage of an opportunity, so long as it’ll benefit him in some way. Some obvious examples can be seen shortly after his debut into the show, where he often switches allegiances depending on which presents the most ideal situation to reach his goal. Hook excels at quickly changing course when he sees that whatever he’s currently doing isn’t working out, or when he simply gets tired of it (which ties into his impulsive nature). We see this in his history with young Ursula, young Baelfire, Ariel, and etc. His ability to adapt naturally is a key component to his self-proclaimed talent for surviving.

While he spends a good part of his life seeking revenge for a past trauma, Hook does focus on the concrete world and living in the here and now. This is demonstrated more clearly after he meets Emma. In certain points in the show, he often admonishes her to stop letting whatever crisis is currently happening (or about to happen) prevent her from living in the present and enjoying her life. Lastly, Hook expresses frustration with Merlin’s failure to provide specific, concrete information concerning the future, to aid them in their mission to save Emma.

Auxiliary Ti:

“My reasons are my own. Question them again at you peril.”

“No, Swan. Safety first nonsense is just that.”

“As content as you were in that city, it wasn’t real.”

While Hook is obviously being driven by an emotional desire for revenge, his rational seems Ti based. His willingness to switch sides early on and work with just about anyway, based on what makes the most logical sense ties into his Ti as well as his dominant Se. He expresses a desire to work with Emma and her group if at all possible, seeing them as less likely to turn on him, and therefore the most logical option. However, once proven otherwise, he automatically returns to Cora, and convinces her to work with him once again.

Hook often shows his detached, logical side when dealing with the emotional nature of others. When Emma is determined to go back to her false life in New York with Henry, Hook counters her various excuses, such as staying being more dangerous, eventually forcing her to reveal her true motives. He continually reminds Emma that her life with Henry in New York wasn’t real. In another example, while stuck in the past with Emma, he sees her wanting to play the hero, and reminds her that messing with the past could have serious ramifications. He’s able to easily stay detached from the situation. Lastly, in dealing with Charming in Neverland, Hook tricks him into going on a side adventure under the false premise of it leading to a critical weapon (knowing that Charming will not listen to reason), all the while secretly leading him to a cure for his deadly ailment.

Hook hides his emotion-based reasoning for staying in Storybrooke from Shmee, refusing to give any sort of explanation at all. He instead gets frustrated with Shmee for probing and questioning him. Generally speaking, he appears to often get frustrated with his own emotions, recognizing that they’re leading him to act illogically or in a way that is in-congruent with himself. This is further shown by the somewhat agitated comment he makes to himself before reluctantly jumping into the time portal after Emma, in which he states that one day he’s going to have to stop chasing “this woman.”

Tertiary Fe:

“I’m winning you over. I can feel it.”

“I’m always a gentleman.”

“At least he did us one favor: I’m devilishly handsome again.”

Hook displays classic tertiary Fe charm. As a general rule, he tries to portray himself as a gentleman in his surface-level interactions with others, especially women. He has a fairly simple code of honor or conduct that he adheres to, which early on appears to be the only semblance of values that he has. However, as mentioned, it’s fairly simplistic and used primarily to regulate his social or people-oriented interactions, which is Fe in nature.

Hook easily expresses bold and flattering statements, especially in regards to Emma. He often flirts with her in not-so-subtle ways. For instance, he makes a crack about fancying her when she’s not yelling at him; and in another instance, he says that she doesn’t have to stop on his account when catching her doing pull-ups. Of course, since he has a high dose of self-confidence, his tertiary feeling also leads him to periodically express his own high opinion of himself, which is usually relegated to comments about his external appearance and rogue-like reputation.

Inferior Ni:

“It can’t be chance that brought him. Providence must be at work.”

Hook’s inferior Ni surfaces in his tendency to make quick decisions without considering long term implications. He takes a lot of risks if he sees a potential benefit, and tends to disregard rules in favor of doing whatever he would rather do. Of course, he inevitably has to deal with the consequences later. Over the years, Hook makes a considerable amount of enemies due to his tendency to react in the present moment.

Hook expresses a general belief in fate and providence, which can be attributed to his Ni. He’ll see things lining up in his favor, and call this out. He also occasionally using analogies to drive a point home. For instance, upon capturing Emma in Rumple’s old cell after her initial betrayal, he takes a minute to gloat and likens her to a dried-out magic bean, which he had stolen from the last remaining giant.