MBTI Type: ENFP

Peter shows so many high Se qualities, that I felt sure of him being an ESFP for a long time – but he also shows a ton of inferior Si, not only in his intense sentimentality for his past (his love of audio cassette tapes and old music), but in his delusional view that he can convince the new Gamora to fall in love with him, by recapturing what they once had. Peter is failing to look at the reality of the situation – that this version of Gamora is different, and he has no chance with her – in favor of his idealistic Ne/Si belief that he can catch and innovate off something that once existed. Lower Si tends to romanticize the past and not see clearly in terms of old relationships… and he’s hanging onto something that is dead, gone, and that he can never get back, drowning himself in drinking and lamenting about Gamora, to the point where by Volume 3, he has stalled out his life and cannot move forward. Beyond that, Peter is impulsive and opportunistic, such as when he recruits his friends to break out of jail, when he leaps out of his ship in space to save Gamora (by first informing his enemies of where he is, knowing they will show up in a few seconds, and then by giving her his oxygen mask). He easily understands abstractions even when Drax misrepresents them (“that… makes sense, actually”). His problem solving methods are unorthodox, such as when he challenges Ronan to a “dance off.” He makes decisions in the moment, such as when he tries to kiss Gamora (and is threatened for it) since he’s “feeling” the moment. He got into trouble at school for fighting as a boy, since he objected to the boys killing a little frog that “ain’t done nothing.” After his mother’s death, unable to deal with his grief in front of his relatives, Peter ran outside to cry alone—and got kidnapped. He calls himself Star Lord out of sentiment for his mother, who called him that, but also “modestly” boasts about being a legendary outlaw and a “man of honor.” He says he never goes back on his word, especially to someone who could kill him. He makes a sentimental decision to go back for his walkman and tape, even though it endangers them all and risks them not getting away quick enough, because it was his mother’s last gift to him. He judges his companions for not having any friends, because they keep trying to “kill everyone you meet!” Quill makes moral decisions to save the galaxy, even though he denies this and insists that his reasons are purely motivated by profit. He cannot stand by and see any of them get hurt, and even when he thinks he needs to take a man’s bionic leg, he tries to talk him out of it and finally winds up paying him for it, rather than just stealing it from him. Quill can sometimes be blunt, admitting to a girl that he forgot she was in his spaceship, pointing out that Rocket is a raccoon (“It’s what YOU are, stupid!”), and telling Gamora he doesn’t care whether she lives or dies so long as he gets his money and out of jail. He’s sensible enough not to let her have the orb, so they don’t go off and leave him in his little side trip in the prison, and urges them to put aside their hurt feelings and rage at each other long enough to “get our money.” He suggests trading the infinity stone for profit, even after he knows what it does. Quill is pretty good at negotiating on his own behalf, offering the men after him a share in “the biggest score you have ever seen.” In other films, he reacts out of a desire to connect to people, but no great foresight; he assumes his father is telling him the truth, and joins him to find out for sure. He punches Thanos in the face once he learns of Gamora’s fate, to no avail. Quill wallows in the past, he’s sentimental about earth and the things he grew up with, including his love for his walkman and 70s music, and unable to move past his mother’s death, he loves metaphors, and makes “old” references all the time to his childhood—from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to calling Drax a “walking thesaurus,” but also makes wild assumptions based off his own personal experiences (he assumes humans all die off at 50 years old).

Enneagram: 7w6 so/sx

Quill is nothing if not a cut-up, always with a joke, keeping things light, easily befriending people, and trying to motivate them to work together and stop bringing the mood down with their various revenge fantasies (but he can also work with those; he tells Drax to stick with them, and he can kill his mortal enemy). He is somewhat irresponsible and amoral at times, wanting to trade things for his own benefit and not always taking responsibility for his mistakes. He loves to boast about his exploits and not-so-humbly draw attention to his victories, and his “honorable” moments. Quill even makes a joke out of giving people the middle finger, and says he doesn’t know how his own hand works. But more than that, he’s full of direct avoidance of sadness. He cannot take his mother’s hand when she is dying, even though she asks him too—it’s too painful. He runs away from her bedside afterward, and does not open her gift to him for 20 years—a massive case of guilt and avoidance. He doesn’t like to talk about the painful experiences he has had, either. His 6 wing is very family-oriented, both for his blood kin and the group of misfits he gathers around him. He is loyal to his friends, does the right thing even when he would rather not, and likes to be polite rather than just take whatever he wants.