MBTI Type: ISFP

El refuses to do anything that conflicts with her sense of right and wrong; she will not harm a cat when asked to by Papa, nor does she approve of the actions of the ‘special’ gang in the big city. Once she chooses Mike as a friend, she sticks by and protects him and the other kids, even when it hurts or drains her emotionally and physically. She never lectures anyone on moral behavior, but never compromises, either. She forms an intense bond with Mike right away. Her conflict with Hopper revolves around his inability to meet her emotional needs, and her anger that he stifles her from being authentic to her true self, because he will not allow her out of the house (“it’s too dangerous”). She adapts quickly to her environment, and is fearless in engaging with it; she catches rides with total strangers and trusts them. El doesn’t hesitate to leap in and take charge with her powers – she sometimes reacts violently and in the moment, without thought for the long-term consequences’ of her actions, to satisfy some immediate urge (stealing from the market because she’s hungry, breaking a boy’s arm for threatening her friends). El throws major-class tantrums that rock the literal house. Her quick reactions sometimes saves the boys (she prevents Mike from a deadly fall, flips a van into the path of oncoming traffic, and runs away when she feels threatened and unwanted). Her ability to see beyond this world into the next means that her mind trips take on a surreal quality. She becomes so lost in them, she forgets they are just a vision or echoes of a different plane of reality. El has an instinctive sense of what she “needs” to do, which ultimately results in a tremendous act of self-sacrifice. Her inferior Te shows in her take-charge style under pressure, and how she logically knows she is the only person who can stop the Demigorgon, even if it kills her in the process; but her innocence and detachment from threats in the outside world means she takes risks, while trying to achieve things in the real life.

Enneagram: 9w8 sp/so

Jane deals with everything through anger, a lot like Hopper… but she goes along with things much longer before she explodes. She tolerates him being neglectful and leaving her in a cabin in the woods, and obeys his rules even though she resents them—until she has had enough, and then she throws aside all caution and does whatever she wants. Her 8 wing eruptions include screaming and throwing things, breaking windows in the cabin with her energetic expulsions, slamming a girl in the face with a roller skate after the girl won’t apologize for tormenting her at school and humiliating her in public, snapping the necks of men who attempt to hurt her friends, and ripping apart various creatures from the Upside Down. She feels so upset when Mike gets angry at her for knocking out Lucas that she runs away rather than face his angry tirade; she runs into her room to avoid Hopper yelling at her, and psychically slams the door. Jane relies on herself to make decisions, but sometimes goes way overboard—she also snaps the bones in the arm of a boy who is bullying her friends (and trying to get Mike to leap to his death) and makes him pee himself in front of the entire school. She become fearful under stress, but also tries to protect herself using force.