Teyla Emmagan’s MBTI has become a topic of growing interest among fans of Stargate Atlantis, thanks to her calm strength, emotional intelligence, and natural leadership. As a key member of the Atlantis expedition, Teyla displays strong traits of an ESFJ Enneagram 2w1, often called “The Servant Leader.” Her deep sense of responsibility, protective instincts, and commitment to helping others make her a powerful example of this compassionate yet principled personality type.

ESFJ 2w1 Characters

Why is Teyla Emmagan from Stargate Atlantis an ESFJ 2w1? Continue reading for my argument using cognitive functions! The headers for each section are clickable, so you can easily access more information about the dominant function and the Enneagram type, or discover more characters who share the type.

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Extraverted Feeling

Teyla has a soothing way of understanding others and putting them at ease with emotional reassurances (when Weir is suspicious of her people and questions them, Teyla says that rather than excluding her from being questioned, she should have been questioned first, so that her people would know the system was fair). She is good at getting others to trust each other (“we mean you no harm”) and work together (her belief that what is best for the Atlanteans and her race is for them to live separately, but allow her to continue to build trust between their nations by being on John Sheppard’s team). She also identifies herself largely with the needs of the group, rather than what she individually wants (when she assumes the Atlantis team is breaking up, John invites her to work with him, but she says “my people need me more”). She also, several times, emotionally interprets for John and tells him what he is feeling, since he struggles to get out the words for himself.

EFJs are good at all of these things, but particularly fall into the trap of identifying with their “role” in whatever group or family unit they find themselves; Teyla is a healthy Fe-dom in that she still arbitrates and fights for the common good of all people, often arguing from a humanitarian and “we need to save as many people as possible from the Wraith” perspective, while having a solid grasp of what she wants to do (which is to be a member of John’s team, even if her own people do not like it).

Introverted Sensing

Teyla guides John and the others to new worlds and through meeting other races with remarking that she knows these people and how they think, or how this race is similar to a different one, and says “they have never acted like this before.” She worries about the effect the Wraith will have on other planets, because she has a long familiarity with them, and has lived through many cullings. When Atlantis is being disbanded, even though Teyla has been curious about earth, she chooses not to go there, but to return to her people and continue doing what she has been doing, which is negotiating, arbitrating, and helping them survive. She emotionally reacts to what she sees in front of her and wants to act on it (“we can’t just let them die!”), because she is rooted in the present moment.

Introverted Sensing cares about the past and trusts experiences gained through lived situations, but also is respectful of and likes to collect details about other civilizations, which is partly what makes Teyla so effective at her job.

Extroverted Intuition

Teyla, more so than others from her home planet, is curious about the Earth people, about Atlantis, and about what things might mean, or the symbolic references they hold. She shares a lot of the mythical lore of her people with John and Elizabeth Weir, saying that “my people see this as a sign,” or “we revere the Ancients.” She mostly connects to these insights through meditation, and is looking for religious experiences. A few times, Teyla agrees with John that “something more” is going on here than there seems to be on the surface, but is slow to theorize about it or trust it except when it comes from her strong understanding of the Wraith.

An ESFJ’s Ne works largely this way; it is interested in the future, in other people’s ideas and thoughts, and in experimenting with new concepts, but not always keen to generate it for the entire group.

Introverted Thinking

It’s hard for Teyla to step back and evaluate a situation without being humanity-first; she argues with John that they cannot leave people behind, watch them die, or allow them to suffer, because of her Fe-dom philosophy that what must be done, can be done; but occasionally in intense situations, such as when she’s trapped in the woods and injured with Dr. Keller, she becomes critical and sharp-tongued (telling her to hurry up or we will die; you’re going to have to learn to eat disgusting things if you want to survive, etc).

Inferior Ti is not good at distancing itself from an experience, an emotion, or a situation that is unfolding, because it interprets all things through a lens of “people come first.”

The Enneagram 2

Teyla has a warm, loving, and supportive presence, in which she feels responsible to intervene for other people (she instantly steps into a position of leadership for her planet) and help them fit in better (Fe + 2), such as when Ronan kills someone who betrayed him; she says that she understands his feelings, because she would feel the same, but “our friends from Atlantis would not,” implying that he needs to keep this a secret. Her source of pride is in being “needed” by her team, her family, her planet, for diplomacy, etc. She thinks by making the “right” choice for her people, she is proving to them what a good, kind person she is, and it actually comes from her warm and generous heart, which is fairly non-judgmental toward all she meets, because to be loving is to accept people and focus on their best traits.

Enneagram 2s place their self-worth and value in how much they serve, guide, and protect the people they care about, which shows in how aggressively Teyla defends her friends and family. (This is the 2’s line to 8, which it uses in times of stress; she can become quite combative and assertive when necessary.)

The 1 Wing

She is quite principled and believes in doing what is “right.” Several times, Teyla argues with Dr. Weir, Rodney, Ronan, and even John about what the moral thing to do is in this situation, and she often persuades them simply because she holds to her convictions and refuses to change her mind. She conflicts the most with Rodney, because he tends to think whatever is logical is what should be done, and she is always there to argue that no, this would hurt this civilization or group of people, and make us no better than our enemies.

1s are very principled and want to always do what is “right” according to an internal moral standard, which they decide upon, based on their gut-felt convictions.