MBTI Type: INFP

Elisa feels an inexplicable pull toward the amphibian man, even though he has given her every indication of being violent toward people—even going so far as to bite off a man’s fingers on one of the first times she sees him. She somehow knows how to connect to him, by feeding him eggs, and to trust him, by devaluing how he treats others (and going off only her own insight into his nature). She decides fairly early on that he is worthy of person-hood and should be protected and saved, that he is as human as she is, and never wavers from this conclusion, even after he eats her neighbor’s cat. She likes to try on different ideas, often using her imagination to create scenarios in which she and he can live together happily—even fantasizing about dancing with him, in the style of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, over the dinner table. Elsa’s argument against his survival to her friend Giles is fundamentally self-referencing—she sees him as an extension of herself, a mirror image; if they call him a ‘thing’ because he cannot talk, and she cannot talk, what does that make her? And she believes if they do not save him, they are little better than the ‘monsters’ who captured him in the first place. She’s able to fall in love without words with a creature that can only communicate through sign language. When she finds out he’s going to be killed, Elisa decides immediately to get him out of the facility—and organizes her friends to help her. She uses what she has learned (about how to tilt up the cameras, and that there is a corridor she can use to get to the loading docks) to get him out quickly and efficiently. She can be quite forceful when she wants to be, and somewhat recklessly sign-language insults the man interrogating her out of contempt. Though she maintains a routine each day, and shows a particular fondness for old movies (something she shares with Giles), Elisa is somewhat forgetful of the details in the moment, such as when she forgets to click out her card after work on the day she intends to steal the amphibian man—one minor detail that could have revealed her as the ‘kidnapper’ (fortunately, her best friend takes care of it for her). She also somewhat foolishly fills the entire bathroom with water so they can swim and make love together, not realizing or thinking about where all that water will go – right down into the theater beneath their feet!

Enneagram: 9w1 sx/sp

Elise is a sweet and gentle soul, who has never met a monster she cannot love. She quickly becomes attracted to this creature, without any of the biases or prejudices of the other humans around her toward him; she accepts him unconditionally and loves him, even after he bites a man’s finger off (thought that disturbs her, she also returns it to them and continues to sense that the creature is someone she can bond with, despite having evidence to the contrary—a true act of faith). She is timid and easily hurt, positive and gentle with her best friend, but also gets angry when he doesn’t seem to care as much about the creature as she feels he should; she demands to know if being different makes her somehow “less human” (as a mute). She wants to help the creature both out of a sexual attraction toward him, but also because it’s the right thing to do; she can’t stand by and let him get abused, and shows no fear in risking her life to save him. quiet (does not sign to people that much), withdrawn, and has very few friends. Often, she just observes rather than participates—until the creature she cares about is in danger, and then she springs into action.