Ouran High School Host Club Personality Types: Haruhi Fujioka
Haruhi Fujioka is such a delightful character. While I'm not nearly as deep into OHSHC fandom as the other two fandoms for which I've written, I actually think Haruhi might be my favorite protagonist of the three. Or, at least, the one I'd most likely find in my friend group.
As I slowly work on Ch. 2 of ichigo ichie, I think it would be helpful for me to get to know the characters from OHSHC a bit better so I can write them more comfortably. Hence this post!
(Of course Haruhi doesn't appear in the second chapter but shhhhhh)
Haruhi Fujioka's Enneagram
Wound: Haruhi lost her mother to illness at a young age. After that, her father was constantly working long hours, so she grew up very quickly.
Wounding message: Time with your loved ones is scarce and unreliable; if you need something, you must handle it yourself.
Core desire: to ensure her needs are met
Core fear: we don't see Haruhi express a lot of fear, but I think her frequent frustration with the Host Club's antics and her fear of thunder could both speak to her desire to be prepared, to make sure she's taken care of the necessities before anything else
Defense mechanism: Haruhi is very perceptive and tends to gather information about her environment to try and understand it
Strengths: Haruhi is perceptive, kind, responsible, insightful, open-minded, curious, independent, reliable, and even-keeled. She sees and accepts people for who they are.
Challenges: Haruhi can be stubborn, blunt, ignorant to her own feelings, critical of others, sarcastic, and is often unable to relax or have fun.
When healthy: Haruhi lets herself enjoy life more and slows down.
When unhealthy: I don't know if we ever seen Haruhi particularly unhealthy
Looking at all of this, here's what connects when I go back to the Enneagram post:
Core fear: 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9
Strengths: 1, 3, 5, 6, or 9
When healthy: 1, 2, 3, 5, or 9
Haruhi is an Enneagram 5.
Fives live in the Head center, and tend to underexpress Fear.
I often see Haruhi typed as a 9 online, and while I do think 9 is in her tritype, 5 is much more accurate. The Enneagram Institute has a detailed write-up of misidentification between 5s and 9s, which I think supports my analysis of Haruhi as a 5. One line that really stood out to me in that was "Nines are disengaged; Fives are detached." Then it must be that Fives are more likely to stay engaged while nines are more likely to stay attached.
I think looking at Haruhi next to someone like Tohru Honda (a 9w1) can shed light on why Haruhi is a 5 and Tohru is a 9.
Both characters lost a parent at a young age. Both had to grow up too quickly and take care of themselves from a young age. Their surviving parent was someone doting and affectionate and somewhat outside traditional society.
For Tohru, this manifested in an unconscious belief that if she didn't absorb some of her father's mannerisms she would cause her mother to disappear, too. She suppressed her entire self to ensure her mother wouldn't leave. When her mother later dies unexpectedly, her goal is to preserve things the way they are - she doesn't want to let anyone else into her heart lest they take her mother's place. This is why she struggles to accept her feelings for Kyo - they mean losing her mother in a whole new way.
Tohru is fundamentally rooted in the past and driven by a fear of loss and change, and a belief that asserting herself in any way will bring about those things. This is why she's so accepting of others-- it's her defense mechanism. She is disengaged from her own challenging feelings so she can stay attached to the people she loves.
Haruhi, on the other hand, didn't change anything about herself as a result of her loss. She remained the straightforward, curious, and responsible child she always was, though her share of responsibility certainly increased after her mother's death. She prefers to manage things by herself, though she also is attentive to other's needs (such as wanting her father to rest on his day off, rather than attend the family visitation day).
Her defense mechanism is future-focused. She wants to be prepared for whatever comes next. Her connection to those in the host club is largely because she's so perceptive-- she's able to see the truth of who the other host club members are, and many of them haven't had the experience of being truly "seen" like that before. Haruhi stays detached, an outside observer who is only perceiving the truth, rather than making any judgment about that truth. Her natural curiosity means her mind is constantly engaged in deeper thought. She is not particularly concerned with preserving her own attachment to people, and especially not at the expense of her own needs. Her cluelessness about her own feelings is a result of this detachment; quite different from repressing her feelings because they make her uncomfortable (which is what a 9 would do).
The Enneagram Institute calls 5w4s "The Iconoclast" and 5w6s "The Problem Solver."
To me, it's incredibly clear that Haruhi is a 5w6. Haruhi has almost no characteristics of a 4, but has the logical, practical, reliable nature of a 6.
Truity describes 5w6s like this:
5w6s are practical, helpful, and organized. While still fiercely independent, 5w6s tend to be more cooperative and loyal than other Fives. They excel in troubleshooting and solving complex problems.
Isn't that such a perfect description of her?
Haruhi is actually the first 5w6 I've covered in this series! I've covered one other 5 (Shigure Sohma, a 5w4), and one 6w5 (Kyo Sohma).
I suspect Haruhi is either an SP 5 or a SO 5. I don't think she's a SX 5; her focus is pretty far removed from her intimate connections lol.
After reading the descriptions on EnneaApp, I think SP 5w6 is the best fit:
Feelings of scarcity underlie the avarice for independent privacy and for hoarding
Have a tendency to save/accumulate for future loss (i.e. money, private time)
See home as the secure refuge from an invading world; seek protection of a "lair"
Have a safe, personal, private place - this will not be in a shared family space
Ultra-sensitive about privacy, aware of others in shared space, feel invaded upon
Can feel knocked over by people's expectations; obligation feels like a great drain
Takes little for fear of expected reciprocation; dislikes owing or being owed
Very self-reliant, rarely seeks help or advice from others; tries to keep life simple
Chief defensive tendency is to withdraw; very avoidant, non-confrontational
Intimacy difficulties; from connectedness & grasping to freedom & releasing
Repress "the bad child" within, feels unsafe to reveal that side; anger feels dirty
May experience "dry" depression; to "hold in and hold on" feels necessary
Anger can leak out in misanthropy; when in power may disdain "ordinary mortals"
Can feel alienated/deprived by forgoing life's pleasures in favor of personal space
Many of these points reminded me of the episode when the host club visits her at home! I also noticed that there were a few points about SP 5s being non-confrontational, which may be why she's so often seen as a 9w1.
Haruhi is also the first SP 5 I've covered in this series!
With 5 as Haruhi's head type, and 9 as her most likely gut type, I suspect 3 as her heart type. Haruhi doesn't seem to overexpress or repress shame, she doesn't particularly seem to desire being "needed," nor does she introspect in the way that is typical of 4s. While I don't think her expression of 3 is particularly strong, I do think she is ambitious in certain ways, particularly in her schoolwork and career goals. This would make Haruhi's tritype 3-5-9, "The Thinker."
This is the same tritype as Machi Kuragi from Fruits Basket!
Here's how I see Haruhi's Type Dynamics:
Sensing: I think Haruhi's dominant process is Introverted Sensing. According to The Myers & Briggs Foundation, someone whose dominant process is Si "Compares present facts and situations to past experience. Excellent recall for specific details. Trusts and remembers the past. Stores sensory data that is important to them for future use. Keyword: Remembering."
Thinking: I see Haruhi's auxiliary process as Te. She "Seeks logic and consistency in the outside world. Concern for external laws and rules. Logical, analytical decision makers who organize the environment to achieve goals."
Feeling: This would make her tertiary process Fi. She "Seeks harmony of action and thoughts with personal values. May not always articulate those values. Empathetic, sensitive, and idealistic."
iNtuiting: and last, Haruhi's inferior process would be Ne.
This makes her Type Dynamics Si Te Fi Ne, and her MBTI Type ISTJ, "The Inspector." Hatori Sohma from Fruits Basket is another example of an ISTJ, as is Megumi Fushiguro from JuJutsu Kaisen.
Here's how the Myers & Briggs Foundation describes ISTJ:
Quiet, serious, earn success by being thorough and dependable. Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible. Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions. Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized—their work, their home, their life. Value traditions and loyalty.
Enneagram: SP 5w6 (The Investigator/The Problem Solver)
Tritype: 3-5-9 (The Thinker)
MBTI: ISTJ (The Inspector)
Haruhi is practical, independent, direct, and loyal. She values privacy and is extremely perceptive about others, though she struggles with awareness of her own feelings.
What do you think? Did I get it right or wrong? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
