#type 8

The Enneagram of Personality is a tool that categorizes human behavior into nine types based on motivations, fears, and desires.

This is also a useful tool for characterization, mapping your characters into one of the enneagram types to further flesh them out.

Type 8 is formally known as The Challenger.

Below are remixed/flanderized characteristics of this type.

Quote: “You are weak and I am strong, so let me protect you. And control you.”

Background: Grew up in an environment where survival depended on asserting power and dominance. That being strong and in control was the key to keeping themselves safe.

Personality:

Confident: They walk through life with immense self-assurance, never doubting their abilities.

Bad Boy: They don’t follow conventional rules or authority.

Confrontational: They aren't afraid to challenge others, especially when they perceive weakness or injustice.

Devil-May-Care Attitude: Embracing a "take no prisoners" mentality, they can be fearless in their pursuit of what they want, often to the point of recklessness.

I Must Control Everything: They strive to control their environment, their relationships, and their destiny.

Positive Arc: Giving up the pursuit of power, finally realizing they have been hurting the ones they want to keep safe.

Negative Arc: In their quest for power, they push away the very people they want to protect, ultimately losing the person they love.

Examples in Fiction:

Tony Soprano (The Sopranos)

I feel like 8's have much more narrowed and specific types they are attracted to compared to other types

my compatibility reading જ⁀➴🏹

partners: intjs, infjs (of course), enfj, so3's, sx5's

friends: enfps, intps, isfjs, so4's, sx/so2's,

my notes:

isfjs are so underrated - they are literally the most sweet friends people can have tbh #sensorappreciation

enfjs can be iffy but I think combined with an so3 they can be a good match !!

intps and entps are such study duos

I apologize for the bother and have a nice day/night 🌷

so you're an enneagram 8...

determining your wings

8w7:

usually estps and estjs

more excitable/excited, slightly more impulsive

"self-destructive"

more "rebellious" and moves against authority

overestimate themselves often

punches first

8w9:

usually istp's or esfp's

calmer, mellowed, "controlled" anger

hides and isolates when stressed (not anger), disengages with the world, "numbs" themself

doesn't fight until provoked

instinctual variants of an e8

sx8: loves rebelling the most, attention seeking, often use relationships to boost self-esteem, strongly opinionated about others close to them, "intense" and passionate (this is a big part of sx8's), tendency to be unfiltered, emotions tend to be displayed more obvious, often mistaken for sx 4's

so8: rebels most against social norms, most likely to disregard self, hyperaware of injustices occurring around themselves, often holds onto concepts of betrayal and sacrifice, often mistaken for enneagram types (1,9, or 2), may "test" those around them, using their aggression to protect others

enneagram 8 (social countertype)

would be inclined to start conflict for the sake of close ones

can also be mistaken for sx 4 or 2s

want to protect those around them

emotionally provoked my injustices

"antisocial people who try to be social" (haiki)

might sacrifice their own needs for love or wellbeing, but "replace it with a compensatory movement toward power and pleasure" (chestnut)

more likely to challenge authority

enneagram 9

not very protective

"forgets" themselves rather than consciously neglecting their needs

might change themselves even for someone who is not close

avoids conflict at all costs, at most passiveness

I’m working with it to better help me structure my characters but i would like to understand myself more to see my shortcomings and areas in which i excel. My main characters share in some aspects of self but specific and totally different parts I’d like to better be able to articulate.