INFJ

“I have often dreamed of a far off place,
where a great warm welcome will be waiting for me
and the crowds will cheer when they see my face and the voice keeps saying,
‘This is where I’m meant to be.'”

“I want to become a hero, a true hero.”

 
Disney’s Hercules is one of my favorite characters to reference when helping people understand INFJ’s, because he’s just *such* a classic example.  He typifies an INFJ archetype which I love so accurately, I call it Hercules Syndrome… as of right now.  Seriously, I just named it.

Hercules Syndrome

The INFJ’s classic weakness of feeling like they’re strange and don’t belong *because* of the very thing that makes them special, strong, etc.; i.e. Hercules feels unwanted and like he can never fit in because of his literally god-like strength.
 
Hercules:  “You know when I was a kid, I would have given anything to be exactly like everybody else.”
Megara:  “You wanted to be petty and dishonest?”
Hercules:  “Everybody’s not like that.”
 
INFJ’s with Hercules Syndrome feel like there is a universe of potential and principles just at their fingertips… and everyone else is down on the ground saying “how dare you fly.”  “Floating around in the aether” was the way my own INFJ put it; wishing they could come down to the ground and not be so alone, but not willing to give up what they’ve seen up there, the INFJ may believe that they can never be liked and enjoyed for who they really are and what they can offer, but at best must be merely tolerated for the “eccentric” they are.
 

Hercules Syndrome can be a factor whether or not the INFJ has learned how to use their strength (literal or not) correctly.  If they have not yet, you can expect awkward moments and embarrassment about said strength.  If they have developed their strengths, it’s usually through years of training… which in fiction is usually summed up in a training montage.

 

Hercules exhibits the classic pre-montage geeky hero INFJ that us ENTP girls squee about.  Or is that just me?  Either way there is sure to be a post on the squee-ability of young, undeveloped male protagonists with a hidden inner strength only apparent to those looking (like an intuitive EP) and INFJ is kinda the quintessential example of such.  Though INTJ’s are cute for that too in a “I have a hard time relating to other human beings” sort of way.  Mmmm.

 
 

Herc is scrawny, gangly, clumsy… and tends to knock over buildings when he’s trying to fit in with “the guys.”  But you can tell he’s already noble in ways that don’t get fully demonstrated until the climax of the movie when ultimately he gives up his dream of being appreciated and returning to live with Zeus, his father, as a hero the gods can be proud when he sacrifices himself for others.

Actually, he does this twice, but the first time he’s feeling a bit more cynical about individuals (as IFJ’s do when they’re feeling down), feeling like if people aren’t as great as he thought, what difference does his life make anyway.

Later, at the climax of the film, he’s come to understand his true strength, which doesn’t come from his muscles at all, and so he demonstrates what healthy INFJ’s discover when they overcome their Hercules Syndrome and come to own what sets them apart; that when an INFJ shines, nothing can get in their way.

 
Spoiler alert + rant!
The only problem my INFJ has with this movie is the ending.  Why can’t the ENTP who sacrificed her life *too* come to live in Olympus as well?  He says this would have made it perfect and in his opinion driven the theme home more.  I wonder the same thing and observe that this doesn’t help ENTP’s feel like they’re not bad people (ENTP’s equivalent to the Hercules Syndrome).  Zeus, as an ESTP, certainly should have wanted Megara in Olympus since in my experience male ESTP’s love the charm and bite of female ENTP’s and feel a certain comradery with us as long as we treat them like the goofy boys they are and not rivals.
In my humble opinion, a god that doesn’t want to have an ENTP around has got to be a pretty lame, insecure god.  Thankfully, IRL, I think He pretty much adores me, so I’ll get over Zeus’s lack of vision.
As a final note, I think it shows just what an INFJ my dearest is that he wanted the movie to say that anyone could be a true hero and live with the gods up in the aether with the INFJ.  Squee, what a cutie.