ISTJ Fictional Characters (Understand ISTJs through Fiction)

In this brief guide, we will see some ISTJ fictional characters, and also take a closer look at how ISTJ personality looks in fictional characters.

List of ISTJ Fictional Characters

Here is a list of some of the most prominent ISTJ fictional characters:

• Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin: Anna Karenina
• Jeanine Matthews: Divergent
• Walter Fane: Painted Veil
• The Swede: H. on Wheels
• Gilbert Norrell: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
• Theo Galavan: Gotham
• Pete Hornberger: 30 Rock   
• Commander Lexa: The 100
• Dr. Abigail Griffin: The 100
• Jermaine: Adventure Time   
• Kim Kil Whan: Adventure Time   
• Captain Ray Holt: Brooklyn Nine-Nine   
• Rycroft Philostrate: Carnival Row  
• Chas Chandler: Constantine   
• Queen Elizabeth II: The Crown
• Gisele Yashar: Fast & Furious Franchise   
• Gill: Finding Nemo 
• Zoe Washburne: Firefly   
• Dr. Caitlin Snow: The Flash
• Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark: Game of Thrones   
• Stannis Baratheon: Game of Thrones   
• Dean Forester: Gilmore Girls   
• Maximus: Gladiator   
• Vito Corleone: The Godfather
• Sophia: The Golden Girls
• Shaun Murphy: The Good Doctor  
• James Gordon: Gotham   

7 Influential ISTJ Functional Characters: An Analysis

The ISTJ personality type stands for someone who is introverted, sensing/observant, thinking, and judging, and this personality type is also known as Logistician, due to their highly logical and somewhat rigid thinking style.

ISTJ personality is often characterized as a type which is the backbone of any organization or institution, given their tendency to be steeped in rules and regulations, and their ideal sort of nature.

This personality type will likely correspond with the Enneagram type 1 personality the most, as they have a sense of right and wrong about things and they usually do not defer to external forces when they are making decisions.

Many people may see the typical ISTJ as somewhat cold or detached, but these people are very important to maintain the structure and integrity of a society, and even in family settings they are highly dependable and crucial to maintaining a good life.

With the typical characteristics of the ISTJ personality in mind, let us take a closer look at some great ISTJ fictional characters.

Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Mai is an ISTJ fictional character from the anime Avatar: The Last Airbender and she displays some classic ISTJ personality traits.

Due to the nature of the introverted sensing function as being a very personal function, it is almost a form of self-expression, and this function makes Mai a perceiver first and therefore not like the ESTJs, who show the need to establish guidelines and rules and follow implicitly. 

The introverted sensing makes the person much more personal in their rules and ethics, and they may follow their own much more than they follow the arbitrary ones set by society.

These people, and Mai, are all about taking in the concrete information about what is around them and using that information to reflect on what may apply to what she cares about. 

She doesn’t care about her place in the aristocracy of the Fire Nation, which shows an ISTJ tendency of not playing by the rules when it is necessary or when they don’t fall in line with their personal beliefs.

Mai also tends to take care of her convenience, which is seen in the fact that she wants to help, but not at her inconvenience. 

The use of their secondary function in the ISTJ personality is simply to implement structure to the things they care about, and when it is something they don’t care much about, this function may not be very visible.

Mai can also easily be insulted by criticisms, which is another manifestation of her introverted sensing function, and much like most ISTJK personalities, there is great depth to her, which may not be seen externally because it is so well hidden under the layers of introverted sensing.

Ben Wyatt from Parks and Recreation

Ben Wyatt is initially seen as what the typical ISTJ often looks like – cold, unyielding, and rigid, and he often has problems with Leslie as a consequence of this because she just doesn’t seem to realize that he actually means well under the external display of detached demeanor.

However, what makes Ben Wyat an exceptionally brilliant ISTJ fictional character is the fact that he cares intensely and deeply about people, and he uses his logical and structured thinking processes to help them as best he can.

We see Ben at his logical best during Leslie’s campaign, where the others often make fun of him because he is just so “tightly wound”, which is something many ISTJs might be accused of given how much they want to follow rules.

Ben Wyatt loves dealing with concrete data of numbers and facts, which is his introverted sensing function being manifested, and accounting allows him to do it which is actually something many ISTJs might like as a career.

His introverted sensing function may also be shown in how personally he takes in data, like how he pays attention to Game of Thrones and how he notices the smallest of details about it, while also showing huge knowledge gaps in other areas. 

Another area where Ben’s extroverted and logical thinking shows itself is when he makes the board game Cones of DunShire, and how he deeply gets involved in the stop-motion animation he is making because of both appeals to his keen sense of detail and ability to construct rules and worlds that he can control.

Javert from Les Miserables

Javert is an ISTJ fictional character from the movie Les Miserables, and he is heavy on the dominant function of introverted sensing, as are most of these individuals.

The introverted sensing function gives Javert a strong sense of inner priorities and a strong sense of responsibility to these priorities, which many ISTJs might relate to.

An ESTJ, which uses all the same functions as the ISTJ but turned inside out, may want to use their function to analyze data more and act on it more, whereas the ISTJ like Javert tries to make the outer world adhere to his inner world of what is right and wrong which is a key reason why an ISTJ may be perceived as far more “rigid”, as an ESTJ.

Javert has a keen subjective sense of how things should be and he typically stays within his introverted sensing function, rather than referring to strict legalities of the outside world.

He often views, with his extroverted thinking, that the system outside has failed him and his sense of how things should be, which is knows based on his introverted sensing, and therefore he walks his own path and tries to make the world align with his inner self. 

ISTJs make up so much of the organizations and institutions across the world because they have such a strong sense of responsibility which is intertwined with their identity and sense of internal reality, which is evident in Javert. 

Jim Hopper from Stranger Things

Jim Hopper from Stranger things is one of the many ISTJ fictional characters that find themselves in Law enforcement roles and other areas where structure and logic are paramount and where loyalty is rewarded, which is true to reality as well.

ISTJs frequently find themselves in structural roles where they may preserve the status quo with their amazing sense of right and wrong, though sometimes that sense may be extremely internal instead of based on society’s rules and regulations.

This is clear in Jim Hopper and how he wants to preserve the structure of society around him but at the same time he wants to help as well, but he finds it so hard to break away from his inner world that he is torn between the inside and outside.

Jim uses his extroverted thinking function to decipher the information in the outside world and wants to work mostly with what can be proven and maybe more logically accepted. 

The children around him provide a good contrast in their intuitive connections where he makes the same with logic connected patterns and hard evidence, which may seem slow, steady, and certain but get him results just the same.

Jim shows the rare developed introverted feeling function as well, which eventually enables him to go against the grain of the police and he is one of the few ISTJ fictional characters that are so healthy in his use of this particular function, even though it takes a tertiary role in the ISTJ function stack.

Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle

Sophie from Howl’s moving castle is a very pragmatic person who shows classic traits of this personality type and she is therefore a very good study of the ISTJ fictional character.

Sophie is truly introverted and keeps to herself and but uses her keen sensing function to deal with the facts around her, and she tends to internalize all of her experiences, whcih may be processed and acted upon later. 

She is so introverted that she also does not find it too easy to reveal how she actually feels about a situation, but she has a somewhat sharp tongue due to her extroverted thinking function.

Like any true ISTJ, Sophie does not care for vague or abstract, and even though she is an introvert she likes to pay more attention to the real world with real people around her.

She often feels disdain about Howl’s flights of fancies and spectacular visuals or great words do not impress her any more than these, and she is all about the practical help and appreciates the same in return.

The typical ISTJ tends to be present-oriented and they are great at working in situations that already exist, which may also be seen frequently in Sophie.

Sophie uses the extroverted thinking function to judge the world around her and her perceptions allow her to interact with the systems she finds herself in. 

She also does not challenge any norms, but she also isn’t big to go out of her way to counter the culture that she does not agree with.

Elsa from Frozen 

Elsa from Frozen is another ISTJ fictional character with great classic ISTJ traits, and her one dialogue in the movie, that goes “You can’t marry a man you just met”, is enough evidence of it.

Elsa is thoroughly introverted, in parts because she is shut-in most of her life and a little because she is an ISTJ, but she feels disconnected from the world and finds it hard to deal with all the rules and regulations that are shoved at her.

Eventually, she becomes herself and starts to do things her way, and her caring tendencies are seen in the way she behaves with her sister, where she thinks that just telling Anna what to do should be good enough, rather than describing why she feels that way or why Anna should listen to her.

Elsa is also deeply emotional but has trouble showing these emotions, which may be seen at her coronation where she starts to be herself with her sister again but freezes when Anna tries to get closer.

Captain Raymond Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Captain Raymond Holt is quite possibly the epitome of a true ISTJ fictional character, and he is best known for his stony face and hard to read emotions, which may be something many people close to an ISTJ would likely relate to.

Ray Holt is also a major part of an institution that thrives on structure and organization, and he is amazing with people he is close to, which is also something many ISTJs often experience.

He benefits from having an extroverted person like Peralta around him, who serves to bring out his more tender side, but their interactions, especially in the beginning with the tie instance, highlight exactly how an ISTJ might work.

Holt insists, over and over again, that Peralta needs to do things a certain way, but rarely tells him why, because he feels that this is what is best for him but because of his ISTJ tendencies he is not inclined to defining why he does the things he does and expects people to follow what he is saying because he knows he is right. 

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we saw some ISTJ fictional characters, and also took a closer look at how ISTJ personality looks in fictional characters. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or comments you may have about the ISTJ personality.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): ISTJ Fictional Characters

Citations

https://www.tumblr.com/fictionalcharactermbti/150973206159/what-made-you-choose-istj-over-istp-for-hopper-i

https://www.16personalities.com/istj-conclusion