MBTI Type: ISFJ

Sam is quite different from his brother; where Dean prefers to rush into action, shoot first and ask questions later, Sam believes in doing a ton of research, finding out every detail he can about whatever is happening, and then carefully considering whether to take action or not. He is a walking encyclopedia of demon and monster lore, because he so easily retains information of any interest to him, and he relies a great deal on past precedent when making decisions (this worked for dad, it should work for us; Bobby said there’s another way to do this… the last time we did this, it didn’t go well, Dean!). He is also more open to possibilities than Dean—a possibility that God exists or that miracles can happen. He shows a lot of lower Ne in that he wants to explore every possible option before giving up on a person or situation, but also finds it hard to see through people or automatically get to the heart of the problem. He shows different levels of intuition throughout the series—being insightful into ghosts’ motivations, or trusting Ruby even though she’s a demon, but not really thinking about the big picture that much (of how their constant dealing with demons is going to hurt them in the long run). ISFJs can be intellectually open, but they want these ideas to solve a problem in the present, and that’s what he’s doing as a demon hunter. Sam is also far more emotionally attuned than his brother; he often shoots Dean dirty looks for saying insensitive things at the wrong time, he warmly opens up to people in an attempt to get them to understand him and reflect back information that could be useful, he can charm people when he needs to, and he needs to talk about what’s bothering him, especially when Dean is going to die (he wants to talk about it, and hear what Dean feels, but Dean refuses). Sam can be judgmental about behaviors that hurt other people, but also forgiving and accepting of his brother’s mistakes (“You may have given up and tortured people in hell, Dean, but you said no for 30 years!”). In later seasons, as Sam gets too deeply sucked into his demon side, he shows a tendency to loop out of his feelings and lacks his usual compassion. He mercilessly kills things and people, instead of fighting for their right to survive (earlier, he put his life on the line out of a desire to let a group of “safe” vampires go). But ultimately, he’s a serious, thoughtful, and compassionate ISFJ who wants to do what is best for the humans involved.

Enneagram: 9w1 so/sp

Sam is both an attachment type and inclined to moralize and then go against his own morals dependent upon the situation, which means his ethics are not “fixed.” This is what swung me over to 9w1 instead of 1w9. Though Sam is very angry and judgmental of his brother’s bad habits a lot of the time, or his “smash and grab” techniques in dealing with monsters, he also goes along with it rather than fight him on it. He looks down on credit card scams, yet makes use of them. He tells Dean it’s wrong to kill monsters with reckless abandon, only to turn around and kill them without mercy when he thinks Dean is in hell. His desire for vengeance and his rage drives him in the absence of his brother, where he compromises his former ethics and starts sharing blood with a demon to get stronger. Sam is also angry about Dean dragging him back into the “family business,” but goes along with him in their search to find their dad, ultimately abandoning his desire to attend college and hunting monsters full-time. He is also stubborn and refuses to change his mind on a few areas, including his negative view of their father, drawn from his own childhood resentments about being neglected. Sam sees their 8 father as being a bully, where his cp6 brother is militantly loyal to him, and hates that Sam dares to question and challenge him. He does have a super-ego wing, however—Sam is often on the side of doing “good.” He scolds his brother about not eating right, about sleeping around too much, and not taking care of himself. He is easily able to see others’ points of view and listen to them, but also has a moral stance on what they are doing and judges himself when he fails to live up to his own standards. Sam spends a lot of time berating himself for his mistakes, for not saving Jess, for not helping Dean, and for drinking demon blood. Under stress, he defaults into wanting to ask Bobby for help, since he doesn’t believe he and Dean can handle things all the time on their own, though he confidently trusts himself to deal with whatever situations arise.

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