MBTI Type: ISTJ

Like Giles, Wesley places a great deal of emphasis on book learning; he approaches his work with confidence in his extensive knowledge of various creatures, monsters, and adversaries, but only learns to protect himself with practical first-hand experience in the field. Wesley does things “by the book,” and is attentive to social hierarchy, the details of their work, and the more pressing practical concerns in their environment. He lives primarily in the moment, but also nurses past hurts and experiences longer than he lets on. He has an incredible ability to remember details over long periods of time and also trusts established processes (the spells, information, and solutions provided in the books and/or through the Council). Wesley is ambitious and hard-working, and when he first arrived on the scene, had a controlling attitude toward the Slayer and her friends. On occasion, he has betrayed them to his own advantage in his quest for power. His organizational skills, his tendency to do things “by the book,” and his desire to succeed made him “Head Boy” in his academy days, and a natural leader later on. Wesley is known for his tough-love approach, in his ability to put aside his feelings and make difficult decisions. He often takes action to protect the others, without their consent; he doesn’t allow his personal feelings to interfere with what must be done. On occasion, Wesley lets his personal feelings get the better of him, causing him to act out in anger against the people he resents, or even betray them for his own benefit. He has a compassionate side that surfaces on occasion, but finds it difficult to articulate his feelings. Wesley devotes his entire life to the things he cares about most, and finds it frustrating when others do not take his job as seriously as he does. He is open-minded enough to see potential in various situations, and to consider the endless positive and negative possibilities attached to many of his decisions. Wesley calculates the odds and then chooses to act to head off what he thinks will be disastrous situations. He notices connections between other people, particularly the sparks between Gunn and Fred. He is open to learning new things that relate to his job.

Enneagram: 6w5 so/sp

In the first season of Angel, Cordelia accuses Wesley of being a “suck up” and having no “sense of pride.” It’s true, because he’s so desperate to please an authority (Angel, his boss), a theme that also originated in his attempt to impress Giles in Buffy. He displays a lot of 6 moving to 3 tendencies throughout both shows, in how he’s always desperately trying to impress people, to make them think he’s competent and self-assured, while in reality, being insecure, overly-attached, and wanting to be part of something (a group of friends). Wesley is also, however, one of the more objective people in the group, in that he is fully aware of the negative consequences to all of their decisions, and is sometimes anxiously reactive in anticipating the worst-case scenarios, such as when he steals Conner and takes him away to another dimension out of a desire to do good and protect him from Angel, but in fact, plays into the bad guy’s hands in the process. His 5 wing is is all about acquiring knowledge. He is extremely by the book and attentive to doing things a certain way, but has no practical experience from the field. Wesley sometimes makes hard, even callous decisions that horrify the others, such as when he brings up a woman’s father, believing she has been sexually abused, to test his theory that her emotional trauma results from the abuse.