The Nemesis, the Demon’s Advocate 

The Nemesis function causes us a lot of discomfort. Introducing worry to an otherwise confident Hero makes us feel like every choice we make, thought we have, value we hold, or experience we store is insufficient. It is frustrating to have the use of your Hero consistently thwarted by the seemingly conniving, ever-worrisome Nemesis function. But the Nemesis serves a purpose.  

What is the purpose of the Nemesis function? Through Cognitive Orbit, we know the Nemesis exists to balance the Hero. It is the adversary, the “nemesis” to the Hero which provides it with challenge so that it can grow. But, that is not its primary purpose.  

We may be tempted to believe the Hero’s growth is the Nemesis’ primary concern, but that is only because we have an innate bias for our own Ego. Our Ego is our home base that we view the world from. But the Nemesis is a doorway to a different perspective of the world.  

The Nemesis’ Concern  

We have two Egos within our mind. Our main Ego, our “home base”, is where we feel most comfortable. The functions in our Ego are the tools we are naturally competent with and rely on. But we have another Ego in our mind.   

The Superego is the challenger of our Ego. It pulls at the Ego constantly in an attempt to overtake it. It’s motivation? To be accepted as a part of ourselves. The Superego will settle for the role of a consultant if only our Ego was willing to offer it. It is through respecting the Superego as its own Ego that it will eventually exert its power in our aid. 

But what about the Nemesis? Where does its concern really come from? Sure, we know it as the “other half” of the Hero function, but, more importantly, it is the Inferior function of our Superegos.  

For every type, our Nemesis is the same function as our Superego’s Inferior.  

So why does the Nemesis create so much worry, fear, and pain in our Ego? The Nemesis is constantly petitioning for our attention. There is no better way to get an Ego’s attention than by resisting the Hero function. Because the Ego naturally avoids the Superego and represses its Hero — the Demon — the Superego has to “send” a messenger that will speak loud enough for the Ego to hear. 

Out of all the functions in our Superego, we are most aware of the Nemesis because it is the gateway into Shadow, and the 5th slot in our Cognition (as opposed to the 8th slot of the Demon). The Superego funnels its needs through the Nemesis. It does this so that its own Inferior can be taken care of.  

Remember, the Superego has needs too, and vulnerabilities. Until you start to pay attention to the warnings of the Nemesis, the Superego will perpetually stir up fear in your mind. But, if you do pay attention to the Nemesis, it puts you on a path to garnering the power of two Egos, and all eight functions of human cognition.  

What the Nemesis Reveals 

In the same way that the Hero is tied to the Inferior through Cognitive Axis, the Nemesis is tied to the Demon. What passes through one passes through the other. Anything that the Demon is trying to communicate the Nemesis will also carry. And anything the Nemesis carries is shared with the Demon. Accessing the Nemesis leads us to the Demon’s repressed message. We will not find peace until we listen.   

The reason the Nemesis causes fear and worry is that it understands that you are extremely vulnerable so long as you are over-reliant on your Ego. The more you rely on your Ego, the more blind spots you have. And because the Nemesis is tied to the Hero, is it especially concerned about you over-relying on your Hero. Over-relying on our Hero is a default mistake we all naturally make. 

The Nemesis reveals our vulnerability.  

What is your Nemesis saying?  

Perception Nemeses 

• Ne Nemesis — Ne Nemesis is telling the INxJ, “You are worried about the future and others’ intentions because you are unprepared for them.” Their Si Demons KNOW that the INxJ lacks the life experience — lacks the Si — to have faith that they can endure anything. Ne Nemesis carries Si Demon’s message to put in effort in order to be prepared for whatever may come.  

• Ni Nemesis — Ni Nemesis is telling the ENxPs that, “You won’t get what you want until you learn to perform.” Their Se Demons are aware that their freedom of choice will be jeopardized so long as they continually make people uncomfortable and remain unable to perform. Until the ENxP learns to value the importance of the shared present moment, and improving their own performance, their Ni Nemesis will continue to create fear for their future.  

• Se Nemesis — Se Nemesis is telling the ISxJ, “You can’t perform because you don’t let yourself want anything. Good performance stems from desire, and you refuse to want anything.” Se Nemesis is trying to get the ISxJ to want something with their Ni Demon. When they give themselves the freedom to express desire, it creates a proactive pursuit of performance where their desire burns away their fear of giving others a bad experience.  

• Si Nemesis — Si Nemesis is telling the ESxP that, “Your lack of effort makes you undesirable.” ESxPs are worried that they will not have good experiences. It is their undesirability (Ne Demon) that creates their fear of having a bad experience. Developing their capacity for effort, discipline, and taking the consequences of their actions into account will make them more desirable, and ease the fear of having a bad experience.  

Judgment Nemeses 

• Te Nemesis — Te Nemesis is telling the IxTP that, “You will not be able to teach people better ways of thinking until you know what is worth teaching.” Te Nemesis is trying to communicate that by providing a variety of well-researched, alternate perspectives with others, value is created. Te Nemesis understands that most people’s thinking will vastly improve when they are given the right perspective and the right context on a topic or event. The Fi Demon wants the IxTP to weigh out different perspectives, knowing that many of them will not be valuable, but some of them will be essential to improving others’ thinking. 

• Ti Nemesis — Ti Nemesis is telling the ExTJs that, “You are not as smart as you could be because you don’t consider what is good for other people.” Every Ti user learns that their intelligence is linked to how helpful they can be to other people. If ExTJs took the time to consider what is actually good for other people, they will unlock the power of their Fe Demon. When they do this, their Ti Nemesis’ capacity to think clearly and verify their stored information will grow exponentially.  

• Fe Nemesis — Fe Nemesis is telling IxFPs that, “You are not as caring as you could be because you don’t know what actually helps people.” Ti and Fe are linked together because what is TRUE is what is most HELPFUL. “The truth will set you free.” Until the IxFP consults the power of truth, their “healing process” will be one of perpetually nurturing an infected wound without digging past the surface to kill the infection.  

• Fi Nemesis — Fi Nemesis is telling the ExFJ that, “You are not as useful as you could be because you don’t understand the processes that runs the world. AND your opinion is of low quality because you don’t consult others’ perspectives.” Fi Nemesis realizes that the value it can invest in other people is extremely limited by the knowledge they have gathered. Having quality information makes them useful. Further, usefulness is inseparable from efficiency, and until the ExFJ learns and develops efficient processes, the value they can contribute to others will be severely limited. Their Te Demon must be consulted for them to provide value.  

Using the Nemesis 

Our frustration over the Nemesis’ incessant worry-mongering can be overcome when we understand that its fear is caused by the Superego’s deepest vulnerability. Our Inferior is just as needy as the Superego’s.

Like our own Inferior moves from anxiety to competence, our Nemesis can grow from the state of a helpless infant to the mouthpiece of the Superego. The Nemesis then becomes a worthy Ally for our Hero. It only requires that we let go of the pride in our Hero that says, “I can do it all on my own!”  

Your Ego is not sufficient to deal with the totality of reality and possibility by itself. And until you accept that you need the functions in your Superego to become a complete human being, your fear will be endless and your suffering immense. All the Nemesis and Superego want is your acceptance. Is that too big a price to pay for integration?