Yusuke Kitagawa
INTJ
Functional Order: Ni - Te - Fi - Se
Spoiler waring
This article will cover Yusuke’s analysis and there’ll be references to Persona 5 and events from his confidant.
Perceiving Functional Axis
Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se)
Given how Yusuke is a well written, three-dimensional character and how Ni is famous for its complexity, it isn’t surprising that it’s difficult to spot this function -even if it’s in a high position in the stack.
Ni, when dominant, always delves deeper, looking for a meaning in a constant, underlying process of collection, evaluation and exclusion of data provided by Se. Yusuke does it by incessantly searching for a universal, comprehensive definition of art -especially regarding the subject of desire.
His whole confidant revolves around his slump, and the inability to progress and be satisfied through painting. Dominant Ni, when underdeveloped, filters the world with a narrow view and spirals in a vicious circle where a person doesn’t search meaning as a lifelong journey of self-discovery, but rather as an ultimate goal to reach in order to truly feel at ease and satisfied.
Yusuke’s immature Ni leads him to a process of trial and error: he first goes in Mementos hoping for an epiphany, a single answer to a complex question. But once he exposes it in an art exhibition at Ueno, things don’t go as expected and his art piece, ‘Desire’, receives criticism: the audience finds it ordinary and dull. Yusuke tried to grasp a complex and multifaceted concept as a way to find meaning in his art, but he only exacerbates his slump finding himself with more questions than before. However, Yusuke sees art as a way to express complex and abstract concept, thus when Kawanabe offers him his patronage he instantly declines, as he can’t accept to make art for materialistic purposes.
Yusuke’s Ni is clearly paired with an underdeveloped Se. First, during Madarame’s arc -even if Yusuke knew what his master was doing, he finally accepts the truth and then awakens his persona only when exposed to reality. His Se couldn’t provide a distorted view of Madarame anymore, leading Yusuke to accept the truth, even if it’s a painful one, and then allowing him to move on.
His slump, his narrow-minded search for a single truth and his frantic process of trial and error are all signs of an unhealthy Ni/Se axis. Yusuke breaks this cycle by finally understanding how difficult is to find a subjective pattern with whom filter reality in our complex, multifaceted world. He then accepts reality as it is, compromising his vision with a clear and feasible future scenario. A healthy inferior Se, in fact, doesn’t hope for an idealistic, perfect future, but it rather aids Ni providing an objective view of the world, thus making possible for a Ni dominant to envision a concrete way to reach a goal. So, by asking himself what he really wants (tertiary Fi) and by clearing his mind with a reasonable view of reality (healthy inferior Se), Yusuke finally starts to use Ni to make small steps toward his goal, winning the art competition with a painting which represent what he truly finds meaningful.
Judging Functional Axis
Extroverted Thinking (Te) / Introverted Feeling (Fi)
Yusuke has a rational approach to problems and his auxiliary Te is clearly visible during his confidant. As we stated before, Yusuke tries to grasp meaning in a trial and error process due to his underdeveloped Ni. He has a rational way to solve problems and sees his slump as a task to complete more than a process of self-discovery, thus he starts to observe people in an analytical evaluation of their behaviour. His search for meaning doesn’t start from within (healthy Fi), but it rather arises from a cold view of people and human emotions. Even if he asks himself what the meaning of desire is, Yusuke observes it from a logical point of view. His unhealthy Ni/Se makes him narrow-minded and his auxiliary Te deceives Yusuke by making him take apparently logical actions to find a solution to his slump.
A more light example is his approach to the phantom thieves, where he shows little social awareness and crosses personal boundaries asking Ann to pose naked for one of his paintings. A direct, rational action to reach a goal in the most effective way.
Yusuke’s Te is paired with tertiary Fi. Even if, deep down, he knew how pitiful Madarame’s actions are, he truly believed in him because he’s the one who raised him and he felt like he owes him his respect. His view changes only when he must face the truth, which leads him to lose faith in Madarame and to fight against his shadow.
Yusuke can’t accept how Madarame has disrespected his mother’s painting and her memory, the counterfeited Sayuri also represents a materialistic view of art, merely based on gaining money and status.
After acknowledging his master’s mistakes, Yusuke still has a place in his heart for him, as he understands the duality and complexity of human beings and sees also what Madarame did to help him. He then decides to let the protagonist take Sayuri, because he prefers to leave it in a place far from artistic competitions and worldly desires. What we see in Madarame’s arc is Yusuke’s strong resolve and how he doesn’t care about breaking social harmony. Even if tertiary, his Fi leads him to follow the phantom thieves in a mission to steal his master’s heart, the treasure of the man who raised him as an orphan, because the phantom thieves exposed Madarame’s true intentions.
Also typed as: IxFP, INFJ
We think INTJ suits him well and, for the sake of discussion and to better aid our analysis, we’ll explain our take on what we think are common mistypes.
Yusuke is sometimes typed as a Fi dom. This is no surprise, because as an INTJ he still has Fi in his stack. Yusuke’s Fi shines in Madarame’s arc and it’s easy to understand why it may seem a higher function. However, as we stated above, Yusuke has a logical and rational approach to problems and constantly searches for meaning in what he does. He shows clear sign of how a J approaches tasks and life in general: as an INTJ his main focus is to understand meanings and patterns, and he does it in a methodical and analytical way (aux Te). He seeks meaning as a way to gain certainty and structure in his life, a typical J trait.
As a Ni dom, Yusuke’s burning passion for art may lead one to think he’s a feeler. Even if he shares the Ni/se axis with the INFJ type, he has a concrete and logical approach to his search for purpose, as we stated in the section above. Yusuke prefers a direct and simple way to solve a task (Te), rather than a slower process aimed to reach the root of the problem (Ti). Yusuke also doesn’t care for social harmony and always does what he feels right, a clear sign of Fi over Fe.
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