ENTP Personality: The Rogue
ENTPs are mysterious intellectuals who are drawn to creating and innovating systems that improve the world. Often drawn to entrepreneurship or other creative fields, ENTPs thrive when they have the intellectual freedom to experiment with a variety of possibilities. Given that freedom, they will always find a way.
ENTPs are also among the hardest to type because of their natural capacity to blend in and mimic the people and environments around them. They are called the Rogue because many people think they understand the ENTPs in their life, but nothing could be further from the truth. This Rogue characteristic is also what makes ENTPs successful actors, professional or otherwise. They have many masks, and finding their true identity requires a delicate peeling back of their many layers.
Some examples of famous ENTPs include:
- Adam Driver
- Andrew Tate
- Ryan Reynolds
- Johnny Depp
- Kanye West
- Benjamin Franklin
- Aubrey Plaza
- Colin Farrell
Expression Style
As is the case with all personality types, the ENTP lies at the intersection between a specific expression style and a specific worldview. ENTPs belong to one of the four starter types who excel at bringing fresh input to get projects off the ground. They're extremely resourceful when it comes to finding new possibilities to make a path forward. They struggle, however, in seeing things through.
Informative: Meaning that ENTPs prefer to provide an abundance of information when communicating. They want you to pick something they say and respond to that. Though their Ti parent can make them seem direct, ENTPs feel more comfortable providing more information than is absolutely necessary. If they're comfortable in their environment and left to their own devices, ENTPs can talk for a long time.
Initiating: Meaning that ENTPs like to go to others to start conversations. Of all the extroverts, however, they can embrace the responding role in a conversation more comfortably. But their preference is to start conversations, and within conversations, they often bring up new topics to infuse the conversation with new life.
Progression: Meaning that ENTPs are all about making progress. They are motivated more by taking the journey of incremental improvement and getting closer to the goal rather than by achieving the goal itself. Progression can make ENTPs seem especially flighty and energetic, as Captain Jack Sparrow, an ENTP, said, "It's not so much the destination as it is the journey." This is the ENTP's way of life.
Worldview
ENTPs are part of the intellectual or NT worldview, making them systematic, pragmatic, and abstract.
Systematic: ENTPs are looking to create processes that maximize efficiency with every task they do. They approach problems through a logical breakdown of procedures in an attempt to create processes that guarantee success for every task they perform.
Pragmatic: ENTPs care first and foremost about what works. They will push social rules and boundaries in favor of being efficient and accurate. They care more about doing something the correct way than doing something the socially acceptable way. Though sometimes unorthodox, ENTPs tend to be insightful and extremely creative with their problem-solving and brainstorming.
Abstract: ENTPs are constantly living in the "what if." They approach the world through the perspective of ideas and possibilities. For an ENTP to be maximally effective, they need to be immersed in the idea or vision they are pursuing. The concrete world isn't as real to them as it is to other types.
Cognitive Functions
Ne Hero
ENTPs have extraverted intuition hero (Ne Hero), which makes them love giving other people choices. ENTPs view the world through visions of what could be. They're constantly operating in the realm of potential, offering choices, pointing out possibilities, and creating opportunities for others. An Ne hero is also seeking to be desirable; they want others to want them.
Ti Parent
Introverted thinking parent (Ti Parent) makes ENTPs quick and precise processors of information. They easily spot weaknesses in others' arguments and cut through information faster than most types. While immature ENTPs are impulsive and rash with their thinking, jumping to conclusions and assuming they understand people's points of view, mature ENTPs are careful and precise with their own thinking. Mature ENTPs also mix questions with statements to verify they understand other people's points of view.
Fe Child
The most misunderstood aspect of most ENTPs is their Fe child. ENTPs care a lot about how other people feel and what other people value. They consistently go out of their way to give to others and help them feel good about themselves. Fe child is very innocent about giving to others. Less compassionate ENTPs may give with the expectation of return, but most ENTPs just want to keep on giving.
Si Inferior
ENTPs are very anxious about their own comfort levels and their own strength. They're worried they don't have the strength to endure and persevere through their work, hobbies, relationships, and life. This fear makes them put extra effort into working harder to prove they aren't weak. Weak ENTPs often overwork themselves to both get appreciation from others through their Fe child and to demonstrate the capacity for self-sufficiency and strength. ENTPs also walk around feeling uncomfortable by default and are extremely sensitive to any incoming experiences that involve the five senses.
Ni Nemesis
ENTPs worry that their future is doomed. They're constantly worried about being enslaved to their duties and about not having the freedom to choose or maneuver who they please. Because Ne hero is so focused on other people's futures, the ENTP naturally neglects their own. Just as they are confident and capable of giving other people choices and better paths for their futures, they're unable to confidently see their own futures. Ni Nemesis also undermines the ENTP's capacity for hope. Their fear of being trapped and having no choices often makes them hopeless and stuck in despair.
Te Critic
ENTPs walk around thinking other people are stupid. Te critic is born cynical and judgmental of other people's thinking. Because ENTPs try to be responsible with their thinking with their Ti parents, they assume that other people are ignorant and rash with their thinking. When talking to an ENTP, making statements like "This is true" or "You're wrong" without providing additional context and evidence will go out to their Te critic, where the ENTP is unlikely to give you the benefit of the doubt and unlikely to actually listen to you. Instead, asking pointed questions and adding additional information to a discussion will help the ENTP more easily respect you and be likely to consider your position.
Fi Trickster
ENTPs have no idea how they feel or what they value. They are notoriously oblivious when it comes to deciding what or who is most valuable in their life. While this capacity for believing that anything can be valuable leads them to be extremely accepting of others, it also makes them very easy to take advantage of.
Fi trickster also makes the ENTP unsure of how to value themselves. They're naturally unaware of the value they provide to their jobs, families, and lovers. They can only determine their value based on what other people around them feel. When offering a service through a business, for example, ENTPs have an extremely hard time deciding what the right price for their services would be. Fi trickster struggles to determine value.
Se Demon
ENTPs walk around constantly uncomfortable within their Si inferior. The world is a constant burden that they must endure. Their Se demon makes the ENTP want to destroy the very thing that burdens their inferior – reality itself. This deep itch in the ENTP is not always active. If others are committed to keeping the ENTP comfortable, and the ENTP themselves are committed to becoming stronger, the Se demon will slowly transform into regarding reality as necessary.
However, the relationship between Si inferior and Se demon is like this: "If I'm not comfortable, then no one gets to be comfortable." The deeper pain of Se demon, however, is that it is constantly revealing the ENTP's own weakness to themselves. It is challenging their strength and endurance, and the ENTP, deeply insecure about their own strength, struggles to use the demon to achieve the thing it wants most – to be the strongest, most enduring person alive.
Four Sides of the Mind
ISFJ Subconscious
ISFJ subconscious reveals the ENTP's path to happiness. Every type's path to happiness lies in overcoming their deepest fear and transforming their anxiety into courage and confidence. The ENTP is happiest when they are committed to their duty and consistently working toward increasing their own strength.
The first step to developing ISFJ subconscious is for the ENTP to accept that they are weak, that they give their loyalty to the wrong things and people, and that they sometimes undermine their own life. Then, the ENTP must work toward building up the right habits, from eating and exercising correctly to creating and upholding their own boundaries.
INTJ Unconscious
INTJ unconscious reveals the ENTP's path to wisdom. An ENTP's wisdom is sourced from the development of their Ni Shadow. Wisdom specifically comes from developing their Nemesis and, most importantly, their Te critic. A wise ENTP can continue to give others choices and help them discover and walk their path. But a wise ENTP learns to take into account their own future and desires. Wise ENTPs prioritize their own future along with giving others a better future.
ESFP Superego
ESFP superego reveals the ENTP's path to love. The superego is the hardest of the four sides of the mind to develop for most. An orderly development of the superego requires the ENTP to develop the other three sides of their mind first. The development of ESFP superego follows the trajectory of hating reality to learning to love it. ESFP superego carries the power to either burn away pieces of reality or uphold reality and preserve it. The ENTP will not be able to ever love reality until they embrace the fact that without its harshness, the ENTP could never be strong.
Just because an ENTP doesn't love reality doesn't mean their ESFP superego is stagnating. The first move is from hating reality to embracing it as necessary. Love can come later.
If the ENTP can access their ESFP superego in an orderly fashion, they will either uphold reality or target specific pieces of reality, such as corrupt institutions, principles, or societal values, to burn down to prune the world into becoming a better place.
Summary
ENTPs are often demonized for their unorthodox approach to life. Their demon can make them seem edgy and intimidating by default. But when it comes to their intentions, few types are naturally as compassionate as the ENTP, who wants to see others having a good future while being encouraged in its pursuit.
But the wisest ENTPs don't shun or reject their edginess or darkness deep within. They begin to learn that those who actually value them will be with them despite how they come across. And while the ENTP can take steps to improve how they come across, they also have to learn that cheap appreciation is not worth selling themselves out to the world.
ENTPs, worth remembering, have guided themselves with the power of their Ti parent, willing to live a life of truth and honesty regardless of the consequences.
