What type is the mandalorian?
The silent, lethal bounty hunter known as “Din Djarin” spearheaded the iconic and culturally sweeping show, The Mandalorian. In this circle of personality typology, however, there has been dispute regarding the Mandalorian’s true identity.
Even while Star Wars fans were dying to see who was under the Mandalorian mask, nearly all of them got Mando’s personality type wrong. We are here to right that wrong, and tell you who’s really under the Mandalorian’s mask, without even needing to see Pedro Pascal’s lovely face.
What is His Type?
Despite everyone being so wrong about the Mandalorian’s personality type, what gives me hope is that people widely agree on one thing: Mando is an introvert. With the most obvious personality characteristic that even a child could discern out of the way, let’s examine the three personality types that people swear belong to the Mandalorian, Din Djarin.
There are three types circulating for Mando that some people would die on a hill to defend. These are the ISTP, INTJ, and ISTJ. Two of them are not even close. Looks like some of you will get to die on your hill after all!
ISTP & INTJ
Those who believe Mando is an ISTP or INTJ fail to take into account the second most obvious personality indicator of the bounty-hunter: religion.
Do you think a pragmatic personality type would risk life and limb to maintain a set of arbitrary religious principles encapsulated by the statement, “This is the way”? Particularly when the principles of the religious system contradict what would actually be the best way forward?
No, the Mandalorian values the principles that the Mandalorian religion sets out for him. Those who think that Din Djarin is an ISTP or INTJ conflate the fact that he is outcome-focused with the perception that he is pragmatic. He is not pragmatic.
Let me put it another way.
Do you really think that Han Solo — an xSTP — or the Dark Lord of the whole universe, Palpatine — INTJ — would go so far out of their way to enforce social and esoteric rules that would jeopardize their life? Yeah, me neither.
Next time you see Han Solo going on a pilgrimage, let me know.
ISTJ
I must give credit where credit is due. At least those who think Mando is an ISTJ are a full halfway closer to not being dead wrong like everyone else. Unfortunately, wrong is still wrong.
While the argument could be made that the rule-aware Te-Parent and tradition-following Si-Hero of the ISTJ fit nicely with Mando’s behavior, I feel inclined to bring up another obvious point that is entirely missed by the personality community.
Yes, Mando is an introvert, we have that firmly established. But all three personality types that everyone seems to think are Mando’s fundamentally miscategorize him on the Type Grid.
He is not a Finisher Type.
How many times did Mando initiate a conversation with another character? Not many. Yes, all introverts do not prefer to initiate conversations in general; but, to consistently go out of your way to never initiate an unnecessary conversation is concrete evidence that Mando does not belong to the four Finisher Types.
Mando is a Background Type.
The four Background personality types are practically 1.5x Introverts, while the Finisher personality types are basic 1.0x Introverts. Not only are the Background types responding — i.e. not initiating — they are also behind-the-scenes, preferring to be always hidden in the background. This behavior would be fitting for, say, a stealthy bounty hunter who values his privacy above all else. Can you think of anyone who fits that description?
Mando goes to great lengths to avoid notoriety. In many instances, he waits till the last possible moment to emerge from the shadows and act, always concealed by his inexpressive helmet.
But the most damning evidence that Mando is indeed not an ISTJ falls to another point.
But he has a “reputation” that precedes him? That’s clearly the ISTJ’s Extraverted Thinking (Te) Parent garnering status.
No, obviously it is not that.
Does Mando seem like the type to go out of his way to seek status? How many times does he say something diplomatically to “align” with the other in conversation? Having a reputation is unavoidable but going out of your way to actively tend to your reputation is another matter entirely. Mando is not after status and, as stated earlier, he consistently goes out of his way to avoid notoriety all together. He doesn’t want credit. He wants to be good.
Let’s review what we know about the Mandalorian’s personality type.
- He’s an introvert (thank you internet).
- He’s a background type.
- His priority for duty clearly points to him being an Introverted Sensing (Si) user.
- He is not primarily concerned about reputation or what other’s think of him (Not a Te/Fi-user).
- He is concerned about being good and makes decisions primarily based on what is right and fair. He is affiliative.
All this information points us to one type.
Drumroll . . . a little more drumroll . . . and the answer is?
The Mandalorian, Din Djarin, is an ISFJ. Furthermore, his Cognitive Focus points to a preference for his Subconscious. Mando is an ISFJ who is ENTP-focused.
Tradition is the way of life for Mando. The Mandalorian code has provided Mando a foundation to stand upon and guide his life. He is patient, risk-averse, enduring, and extremely steady. This points to Introverted Sensing (Si) as his strongest function.
We’ve established that he is not an Extraverted Thinking (Te) user, leaving us with only one other option for his auxiliary function: Extraverted Feeling (Fe). There is only one type with Si in the Hero slot and Fe in the auxiliary/Parent slot.
Because of Cognitive Axis , seeing the first two functions automatically tells us the second two. Mando is fixated on solving problems and makes decisions based on what is logical (Ti-Child) combined with what he thinks will be good for those around him (Fe-Parent). He feels the pain of those around him, which obligates him with his Introverted Sensing to fulfill a duty to those people. And Si-Hero necessitates Ne-Inferior.
We see Mando consistently demonstrate extreme caution when faced with unfamiliar territory, peaking with the attention he gives to those he perceives as potential threats. In his world, everyone could be a threat. And he is not often wrong. This vigilance are the eyes of Ne-Inferior at work.
Between all the affiliative SJ guardians, the Fe-users are more likely to break the rules in order to alleviate the pain of others. We see this when Mando first saves Grogu from the imperials, beginning with him asking one too many questions about what they plan to do with the child. This demonstrates his empathetic concern about the child possibly being in danger, and hints at a subtle willingness to break convention for the sake of others. And we know how that ends for the imperials.
It’s not that an ISTJ is incapable of breaking the (Te) rules for the good of someone, but rather that an ISFJ will it more regularly as their capacity for Extraverted Feeling (Fe) assists in overriding the “fine print” of deals and rules. More on that in a minute.
Yet, you might be wondering: How can Mando be so tactically skilled if he is not an Extraverted Sensor? Yoda wasn’t one either. But who would want to pick a fight with him?
The Mandalorian has been a war-tested veteran bounty hunter for many years. He has the habits in place to make him devastating to the opponents he encounters. There are many lethal soldiers who are fellow Si-users. With enough experience, Introverted Sensors can be just as deadly as even the most tactical Artisan assassins.
Anyone say . . . Darth Maul?
ENTP Subconscious
An analysis through the Four Sides Dynamics reveals Mando’s Cognitive Focus . The reality is that Mando does break tradition and bend the rules occasionally. He removes his helmet, he goes back on a deal after it is made (with Grogu), and let’s go of his quenchless desire for stern justice in order to free others — what’s that episode with Bill Burr? These actions point to someone who is occasionally willing to say, “This, in fact, is not the way.”
What these actions also point to is pragmatism. Mando’s Fe-Parent informs him that people are hurting and with his Ti-Child he can formulate solutions to those problems. But sometimes, those solutions do not fall under the acceptable tradition of the affiliative circles he is part of. He wants to maintain the tradition of his ways, but sometimes those traditions hold him back from doing the best thing.
But, because of his inexorable sense of duty, and despite his fear of the unknown from his Ne-Inferior, he finds the courage to break from the beaten path. His Inferior turns Aspirational, and he Aspires into his pragmatic ENTP Subconscious. He steps into the unknown beyond the restrictive tradition, and fulfills his duty off of the beaten path.
When Mando breaks the rules, he does so only in the name of duty. Therefore, his focus is on his Subconscious (ENTP), which also uses Si, rather than his Unconscious (ESFP), which is less concerned with duty because it lacks Si and is interest-based.
Wrapping it up
Time and time again Din Djarin goes out of his way to protect the people around him. He ensures that his duty as a protector is fulfilled, that innocent people go unharmed where possible. He gives the oppressed the freedom to choose their own futures instead of their futures being stripped from them by imperial tyrants or local warlords.
The Mandalorian is a “guardian” in the truest sense of the word. He consistently puts his life on the line to protect the helpless and endure an improbable mission through constant threats of danger and death.
And when he does break the rules of his order, he does so only to better fulfill his duty. And make no mistake, just because he is empathetic and duty driven ISFJ does not make him any less deadly. His very existence is a weapon.
