Xenogears

Sometimes, one comes across a piece of media that eclipses all that preceded it. Xenogears is by any definition just such a game. I would call such a work geniune art; indeed, one does not know the true depth of presentation’s importance until one experiences this game.

I say “game”, but it is hardly such. It is only a game in that you must emulate the characters’ own struggles to overcome to see their stories continue. The piece is an immensely human work: the kind of thing one experiences, and afterwards if one understands the work at all, has no doubt of the importance of typology to an accurate understanding of the human condition.

Picture this: a biocomputer intelligence designed to terraform entire planets into weapon systems awakens from its dormant slumber and seizes control of its transport vessel’s very physics. After losing the ship’s crew of thousands to the computer’s onslaught, the ship’s captain takes one last look at the locket containing photographs of his wife and daughter, and destroys the ship. The debris falls to a nearby planet, where from the wreckage a lone woman emerges. This woman, Miang, will be mother of a new race of humans whose specific purpose is to one day be harvested for parts on behalf of their fallen “god”, Deus.

Xenogears asks profound questions about human nature. Why are humans violent? What is their purpose? Because the humans in Xenogears are designed, many of them, to fulfill specific functions, they have very one-sided — and thus determined - personalities. These personalities make for interesting case study. For example, the Gazel Ministry are the first humans given birth to by Miang. They are genetically purposed to return to Deus as his “parts”, and long for the “paradise” this purposed wholeness will grant them. They are both mechanical units, in that they are aspects of a larger defined whole, and persons in that they have consciousness, fear, hopes, dreams. Could it be that we are just like them: pawns in a system designed to produce a greater “good” that is beyond our imagination?

The plot centers around a young man named Fei. We aren’t told who Fei is or how he came to be until much later in the story. Fei’s village is attacked by giant robot weapons called “Gears”. (think Gundam Wing, though Neon Genesis Evangeleon fits the psychology behind them) His best friend, who was going to be married the next day, is killed in a fight between Gears. All of a sudden, everything goes black for Fei.

When Fei comes to, his village is utterly destroyed. The younger brother of his slain friend, Dan, tells Fei that he is the one who destroyed the village. Dan and the rest of the community turn against Fei, leaving only the village doctor on his side. Fei, having no idea who he is or what he has done, has no choice but to leave the village for the world beyond.

Comment: Fei is most likely ENFj. He has a very nontechnical way of speaking and is plagued by memory problems. It is a problem of creative Ni that ENFjs often blot out traumatic experiences which would otherwise grip their Fe in despair. As ENFjs mature, they learn how better to confront their emotional pain and with that confrontation unlock their sealed memories.

In the forest beyond the village, Fei meets a young woman who survived the carnage. She was a pilot of one of the Gear robots who attacked the village. After some venting, the two agree to put their contempt for each other aside for the purpose. They eventually make camp, and share each other’s thoughts. The woman, Elly, becomes angry when Fei blames her for the destruction of the village. Elly shouts back that it is Fei who is to blame for the destruction for getting inside the Gear. Fei is crushed by this realization; meanwhile, Elly goes off on her own, and is attacked by a giant lizard.

This is the first of many turning points in the remarkably complex story. Fei is no match for the lizard until the village doctor, Citan, retries the Gear Fei used to destroy the village. Fei hates and distrusts the machine, but risks its use anyhow to save Elly’s life. Afterward Citan, who secretly hails from Elly’s native land, asks that she should forget about Fei and return to her country.

Comment: Citan is an INTj-ENTj. (like Lezard Valeth, just not crazy) He is very technical in his speech, yet explains himself well. He enjoys tinkering with various gadgets, mostly for purposes of repair. It is difficult to imagine a non-Ti type taking on the roles he does over the course of the game, many of which require impeccable objectivity and self-control. He is highly theoretical and is capable of quickly proposing an answer or explanation to just about anything.

Fei and the “Doc” travel onward to an excavation community in the midst of the desert, where Gear robots are being excavated from 500 year-old ruins. Fei’s Gear, named “Weltall”, has been damaged in the fight with the monster and needs a new part. The part can only be found in the ruins, they are told, and Citan goes off to find it. On advice from the locals, Fei goes after him into the desert. When night comes, a group of Gears surround Fei. Fei escapes on a motorcycle and drives deeper into the desert, when he meets up with Citan at last, who has repaired Weltall. Fei defeats the Gears, but is soon confronted with a new foe: the Seeker of Power, Graf.

Graf’s Gear stands atop a stone spire in the scarlet moonlight as he describes to Fei many arcane things. He speaks of Fei as having a “nature”, and refers to him with the pronoun “you” as though Fei is a technical instrument of sorts. Then he tells Fei he must destroy “Mother God” and pits him against a giant sandworm. Fei defeats the worm, but Weltall breaks down again from the stress of fighting it and Fei and Citan are captured by Graf’s associates, who have been looking for Weltall.

Comment: this is one of the game’s more impressive moments. The use of camera angles throughout this scene lends it a sense of the abject supremacy and omnipotence that comes to be associated with Graf.

Citan is seen talking to Cain, the leader of Solaris and the first child of Miang. Cain, who is surrounded by what appear to be floating cards, is over 10,000 years old: he is like unto a mummy in his own body, which has aged almost beyond recognition. He talks ominously of a fate destined at humanity’s genesis, and of the importance that it be avoided.

Weltall’s transport ship is attacked, and amidst the swiftly rising sand Fei and Citan escape to Weltall. No sooner do they escape, however, than they encounter the leader of the “sand pirates” who attacked to transport, Fatima crown prince Bartholomew. (Bart for short) Bart and Fei start off rough, but their feud is quickly rendered moot by the common crisis of falling through quicksand into an underground cavern.

Making their way through the cavern, the two meet an old man named Balthasar. (yes, a reference to the astrologer from the Christian Nativity). Balthazar informs them that there are no records of humans living on their planet from beyond 10,000 years ago. Balthazar is dumbstruck when he sees Weltall, calling it “the Chariot of the Slayer of God” and declaring that “Calamity” will see to them.

Calamity does indeed befall the pair in the guise of a giant robot. The two destroy the robot and escape, having forged a friendship through crisis and put their differences aside for the time being. They are met by Bart’s Sand Cruiser, the Yggdrasil, which takes them to the pirates’ base.

At the base, Fei and Citan learn of the substance behind this determined and surprisingly well armed band of pirates. Bart was the prince of Aveh and heir apparent when his house was overthrown by Shekan, a close adviser. Bart escaped with the help of his loyal retainer, Mason, and with the help of the influential Sigurd began hobbling together a resistance army. Until Fei’s arrival the pirates had no hope of challenging Shekan, who has been backed up by a military force called Gebler. The Gebler have space-age technology and have enacted a strategy to keep both the kingdom of Aveh and the Kislev Empire to the north firmly entrenched in hostility. Now with Fei’s Weltall gear and his own phenomenal skill, the pirates have a new opportunity to defeat Shakan.

Fei is torn by his potential to do good for his friends and his hatred of fighting. Before he can reach a decision, however, Gebler infiltrates the pirates’ lair and launches a suprise attack. Fei is forced to ride Weltall once more to save his newfound friends.

Comment: the scene of Bart conversing with the memory of his own father atop the Yggdrasil is one of the most moving moments I’ve ever witnessed in a videogame. Bart offers a frank observation of what people look for in friends and what friendship means to us.

Fei realizes that he cannot ignore his troubles at the expense of his friends, and resolves to help Bart and his crew retake Rekjavik, Aveh’s capital. Fei enters a tournament to distract the populace while Bart infiltrates Fatima Castle through its waterway. Fei encounters Dan in the tournament, who still hates him for the death of his sister. Although Dan is no match for Fei, Fei is thereafter met with the mysterious Wise Man, who is cloaked in black and wears a fish mask.

Bart infiltrates Fatima Castle in search of his cousin [name], who is being held by Shekan for her knowledge of the treasure of the Fatima dynasty, the Fatima Jasper. Bart finds Margie but is cornered by Gebler’s leader, Kharan Ramsus and his leutenant/girlfriend, Miang. Bart resists Ramsus until Fei arrives and knocks Ramsus silly.

Upon seeing Fei, Ramsus is reminded of a terrifying experience. He was one of the gear pilots who attacked Fei’s village, and there experienced combat with “another” Fei. However, Ramsus is further troubled by deeper issues in his past….

The company escape from Fatima Castle and return Margie to her rightful place as Holy Mother of Nisan. At Nisan, Citan and Sigurd offer a daring scheme: destroy Aveh’s sand fleet, and Shekan’s regime might well crumble.

Comments: the Church of the Holy Mother is a striking scene of two angels, each with one wing, reaching out to each other amidst a horizon of pure, radiant light. It is meant to emphasize the co-dependence of humans on each other, especially specialized dependences such as gender. In this sense, it is a representation of the deeper genetic concept of complementarity or duality. It is a statement that the way of complementarity is the deepest and holiest experience we can realize.

Wild Arms: 2nd Ignition

What is the substance of a hero? Playing this game helped me to look at the ideal of heroism much more critically. It also helped me understand better the role of the transcendent function and how it influences communication between psychic domains.

The game features two factions: ARMS, an antiterrorist unit, and Odessa, the terrorist group they try to thwart. Odessa itself styles itself as a “reform party” whose chief agenda is to seek worldwide acceptance of its “pure ideals”. This is immediately symbolic in the context of psychic domain theory, because Odessa is in essence a domain that is on the out-and- out and wanting to recieve social recognition for the validity of its ideas. Of course the unrealistic part is that the antagonist domain is obliterated (rather than restored to dignity and “set along the right path”), and is typical of teenage fantasy epics in that regard. (Der Langrisser did the same thing.)

(I once met a fanatical INTp guy who was akin to a carbon-copy of Odessa’s leader. He despised me so much he programmed from scratch an RPG WITH ME AS THE FINAL BOSS.)

Basically Odessa ends up summoning a demon army from another world which kills the membership of ARMS, which the protagonist, Ashley, has just been inducted into. The short of it is that Ashley invokes the transcendent function in desperation and become a “demon”. (according the story, he is possessed by the leader of the demons who overran ARMS). Over the course of the game the existence of this demon (”Lord Blazer”) proves to be Odessa’s downfall, as it manages to save Ashley and his organization time and time again from certain doom. Odessa’s leaders look upon it with no small measure of dread, calling it the “ominous power that carries destruction.” This is not only a statement of Lord Blazer’s demonic nature, but also of their genuine fear of the creative leader’s innermost vitality and rage. (consider, Lord Blazer’s existence and power signifies not only the existence of the transcendent function, but also the summoning of dual elements and energies while in that state, giving Ashley a totally transcendent quality that is beyond the apprehension o weaker persons.) This only the viewpoint of Odessa’s lesser leaders, however: their leader, Vinsfeld, is as resilient as a tick.

There are other guys, too; like the messiah child who must be sacrificed to ward off disaster (or so the plan goes); the little mage girl whose sister gets trapped in a magic puzzle…. (with more mandalas than you would ever care to count); the prisoner of 666 (…) who thinks he’s got nothing left to live for; a vamp woman who likes robots…; and this “living human weapon” woman who has weapon implants inside her skin…. There’s also this woman who gave her life to seal off Lord Blazer centuries before, who looks enough like Jesus, and talks enough like Jesus, that she must be (another) INFj-ISTp “messianic wise chick”.

There’s also another messiah guy (the “Krelian type” I-will-save-humanity-from-its-evil-nature-even-if-it-kills-me albino dude) who just so happens to be the descendent of the messiah chick, although he’s really morally ambiguous and will do anything to acheive his role as savior of the planet, not limited to decieving his closest friends and mutating his sister into a monster. (definite field-morality focus for this one.)

Well it ends up Odessa’s jolly band of extremists gradually gets beaten back, invaded, what-have-you. They end up ressurecting this flying fortress from who-knows-when (standard “ancient civilization grew fat on its own power, went against duality, died off” bit) and *SPOILERS DAMMIT* just when they think they’re gonna win — just when you think the good guys are gonna bite the dust for sure — in comes Mr. 666 back from the dead with a big-ass gun. Vinsfeld wants another shot, but his subordinates deny it to him on grounds that appear to be geniune concern for the well-being of their leader. Later you learn the truth: they aren’t ANYTHING without their main guy.

With Odessa on the out-and-out and floating over the world with a doomsday gun, ARMS moves to tackle their “Cocytus Corps” (those domain leaders I told you about earlier) Each of them is standing on a “diablo pillar” — a power source for the ship, which they have staked their lives (literally, by symbiosis) on maintaining. The analogy is this: a creative leader is only as strong as his domain followers (his “diablo pillars”, which are called such because Vinsfeld is a blackheart), and without them is pretty well ineffectual. The Cocytus crew refer to themselves during this phase as extensions of Vinsfeld’s person: some of them are really deranged… they all have a common hatred of Vinsfeld, who has apparently cobbled together an assemblage reflective of his own deranged person. (some are shadows, but not all. They are all immanent, however.) It illustrates the substance of the psychic domain leader-follower relationship: the followers are dependent on their leader not only for success but for definition, because only a fool looks at themselves through a maladaptive lense. The leader is both a vessel for their hopes and dreams and the truest expression of their inner selves. (they being projections of the leader’s personality, in their own minds.) Similarly, the leader projects his various self-suppressed traits onto his followers: victory for the followers means victory for the various components of his unknown self, thus victory for him both privately and socially, as a collective unit of the larger social sphere.

With his followers down for the count, ARMS heads off to beat Vinsfeld in his flying fortress. I remember that game had all kinds of strange puzzles… yeah, that’s why I dread playing any more WildARMs games. I remember there being one puzzle I never managed to solve on my own…. (the original WildARMs was much, much worse….) …Back to the story, ARMS corners Vinsfeld… and beats him! Vins goes immanent and tries to take everything with him. Although everyone else escapes, Vins corners Ashley and delays him enough to prevent his escape. Ashley dies in the disintegration….

And what do you know, he meets up with the girl who defeated Lord Blazer way-back-when. It’s a damn compelling case, given the way this woman has managed to survive by means of MEMORY as a residing consciousness, that Jesus may still yet exist somehow. (as the collective Christain unity, perhaps) She explains that she didn’t want to be a hero, and implores Ashley to reconsider what heroism (one of the key themes of the game) really is. Ashley has some kind of crystal with him that allows him to telepathize (a plot mechanic probably modeled after the ideosynchronic nature of domain-think), which allows ARMS to find him and bring him back by some kind of technowizardry. (consider, he’s in another dimension of sorts…. Given that the messiah chick is there this dimension is probably the collective unconscious, which Ashley has become a part of back on his home planet, being a hero who gave his life and all.)

So he comes back and fights off this ancient dragon nuke robot that had been awakened when Vinsfeld’s fortress collapsed. Lord Blazer begins to show independence of will here (at Ashley’s expense), but Ashley contains him — for now. No time to rest though — the KUIPER BELT (yes, that place at the far edge of the solar system) is in fact an “ENCROACHING PARALLEL UNIVERSE” and is invading.

(…)

Yeah OK. So they try to “beat” this idea that they cannot begin to comprehend, and they don’t manage to do it. So the silver haired messiah guy (who was the leader of ARMS from the beginning, being a rich, respected descendent of the Jesus chick) decides to use his sister as a vessel for the parallel universe. (giving physical form to an abstract concept, so it can be beaten up.) I’m not sure what his type is, but I’d bet money it has something to do with the idea of making the unreal real. (there may be more on this later… in the meantime my money’s on meta-N/Ex-S.)

But before he does that, he sends Ashley and the rest of the ARMS misfits on a little scavenger hunt to the ruins of the Vinsfeld’s ship. There they come upon Odessa’s FINANCIAL DATABANKS which reveal that none other than the silver-hair guy was the financial muscle behind Odessa’s reign of terror. Meanwhile the parallel universe is taking over the planet and warping the sky crazily — destruction is imminent. ARMS heads to the center of the planet where they find the silver-haired messiah dude waiting with his sister. He explains that it could have been either ARMS or Odessa who would be the defenders against the Kuiper Belt, depending on who won out in the end, but that he had always been rooting for ARMS privately.

My take on the whole Kuiper belt business is that it is the vengence of a vanquished ideosyncracy. Think about it: you’ve destroyed the leadership of an entire way of thinking… now that you’ve destroyed it, who is there left to deal with the crises. You’ve put yourself at odds with nature: compromised humanity’s collective capacity to confidently simulate a full quarter of reality. And they wonder why the Roman Empire fell….

Although the messiah guy observed that the phenomenon of a cataclysmic crash between the lines was coming (competing urges: one wanting to bring the world together and eliminate all borders, and the other wanting to dominate under a single government and ideology), he did not know what form it would take. He only knew that the scale of the loss of one side’s leadership would compromise human apprehension of the content range of the losing side. Therefore the solution was to, by some means, make the unfamiliar familiar. (still not clear on how he did this…) Then the threatening phenomological range could be dealt with.

So the sister and the silver-hair guy fuse and mutate into a representation of the Kuiper Belt. Ashley and Co. kill it (getting some strange dialogue along the way that I should look over again) and everyone goes home very unhappy. All of a sudden, Lord Blazer awakens and seizes Ashley’s body. The transcendent function is culminating.

Ashley takes hold of the Jesus chick’s legendary sword and goes to battle with the Shadow, Lord Blazer. To understand what’s going on with the Lord Blazer guy and his relation to Ashley, consider that Ashley is ISFp. This means that his shadow is -Si, which due to its inferiority wants to see all harmony between processes obliterated. (fire being probably the purest expression thereof.) There you have it: -Si has been empowered by the terribly bleak +Fe emotions forged in the Kuiper Belt’s tragic destruction (the game’s theme “a hero must sacrifice his heart for peace” comes to the fore here), itself empowered by the nasty +Ti circustances of the manipulation between friends created by the silver-haired messiah dude. I mean really, a situation like that leaves you completely apathetic and open to pretty much anything no matter how bad. Hell, why not just end it all?

-Si (Lord Blazer) moves to take down +Si (Ashley). The way to beat Lord B is to appeal to the heart (-Fi) and use it to empower +Se. (the sword) This Ashley does in truely epic fashion, as hearts around the planet unite to empower the sword and bring out the purity in -Si. In this vein, Ashley surpasses the Jesus woman’s immanent strategy of self-sacrifice and demonstrates the power of the transcendent function — by envoking the ties that bind, one can let one’s own will rest on the will of many, and thereby command the entire human host against one’s psychic foe. And yet, by invoking the strength of others as opposed to oneself, one is forsaking the title of hero that the lone person earns for shouldering their burden alone.

Or could it be, that the protagonist of tomorrow is such because they are the vessel of heroic intent across the hearts of many — the will to unite life and integrity in even balance — and shares in the collective virtue thereof?

Is this not the theme of Barack Obama?

Final Fantasy X-2

Ah, Final Fantasy X-2: a classic story of turmoil after freedom. (see also: Iraq) What’s interesting about this game socion-wise, is that it has very deep political undertones. There is a Left-wing faction (the Youth League) and a Right-wing faction. (New Yevon) Yuna is presented as being somewhere in the middle: she gets to choose which side she’s with and any discussion about her own views outside these choices is carefully avoided. In this sense she has, while not quite universal appeal, a player-amneable appeal: if you want her to go to the Right, she’ll move to the Right; if you want her to go to the Left, she’ll move to the left. (although, Mitt Romney… hmm.)

What I got most out of the game was just how dependent the people were on their leaders. This exagerrated situation allows for the concrete observation of higher-order leadership traits. For example, each member of the FF-X cast had the self-assurance to do what they felt needed to be done, Tidus or no. This self-assurance is indicative of the primary leadership trait, tactical improvisation. (made by dodging/countering (dodging/countering…?) the attempts of contrary functions to overcome each other.) However, Yuna and Tidus were clearly in the lead. I account their leadership to Yuna’s inspirational appeal…; haven’t played through X yet so I can’t say much about Tidus.

Yuna remains in the lead and I’m divided over whether she’s a creative leader or a consensus leader. I actually suspect that she’s the consensus leader who unites the (ideologically constrained) creative leaders of the two political factions. My original assertion was that she is a creative leader; indeed, I considered the creative, transcendent relationship to her own duality (and all the mysterious forces thus invoked) to be proof of the creative leadership phenomena. That she was confident of her capacity (particularly evident in her belief that everything is connected; remember she’s an INFj with ESTj dual function) to chart a course into the unknown was a clear departure from those around her: she was clearly unafraid of her dual function and all too willing to seek it out, wherever it lead her. This is the defining trait of the creative person, and it was her confidence in leading others down the same path alongside her which makes her a creative leader.

The primary conflict of this game is that of the animus, which is portrayed as Shuyin/Tidus: Tidus is the light side of Yuna’s soul, so to speak, and Shuyin is the dark side. (light -Te vs dark -Te.) [more on this later]

Something I found very meaningful was the problem of Garik. Garik is young Ronso creative leader who was one of the survivors of Seymor’s extermination of the Ronso. An ENFj shadow type, he shares profound similarities to Adolf Hitler. He would carry out the rage of the Ronso against the Guado, if not for Yuna’s interference. Yuna’s defeat of Garik (under very difficult circumstances; Garik is a fierce opponent) persuades him of her strength, particularly that it is superior to his. This placates his id in large part: ENFj id says “the strong rule”. (as per ISTj Stalin-esque “strongman” duality) Therefore, Garik must respect the dominion of the superior Yuna on basis of her proven supremacy. However, Garik is not completely placated: his rage has no outlet. The future looks bleak for this shadow type whose instincts have been chained: the burden of leadership — the leader is a vessel for the hopes and dreams of their followers — weighs heavily on his +Fe mind, which can find no outlet now for its rage at the +Fi injustice the Guado have inflicted. He needs a vision for a new future that will assauge the Ronso’s rage with the glimmer of new hope; something only Khimari can offer. The situation is ripe for Garik’s rescendent function — +Fe is suppressed in favor of -Fe, which ready to accept a new outlook if only the prospect of a greater harmony is offered. Khimari offers this future of harmony to Garik — the Ronso will survive by learning about the world around them, and coexisting with it — and gives him something positive to inflate his +Fe with, whereas before there was only negativity, rage, hopelessness. Garik honors Khimari by leading the Ronso youth in a magnificent celebration of the Ronso state and Khimari’s rule over it. The social and the instinctual are united as one.

Xenosaga

(Editor’s note: this game was a large part of the inspiration for the original crosstype theory.)

Xenosaga offers a thoughtful premise: that there exists deep within the human subconscious a sort of natural arrow or way forward, and that those who are keen to this arrow are the true masters of human reality. This is the substance of Wilhelm, the enigmatic manipulator of events in Xenosaga, and the impulse for his drive to control literally everything around him. That such a person could be conceived of and realistically presented was for me a compelling case for the phenomena observed by crosstype theory. (and later, supersocion theory)

Xenosaga was quite a story. It even threw Jesus into the mix. (the character chaos, fans agree, is the gnostic conceptualization of Jesus.) That chaos is Jesus implies that Wilhelm, his “brother” in cosmic duty, is Lucifer. However, Lucifer is by any measure a psychopath as portrayed in the Old Testament and held as such by Jesus, which calls the comparison into question. The easiest way to make sense of the mess is to conceive of Wilhelm as indeed Lucifer, but carrying with him Jesus’ bias and self-projections. Lucifer is to Jesus the image of his own negative potential, and Jesus, in the context of Xenosaga, sees Wilhelm for something he really isn’t. Wilhelm compares much more favorably with YHWH (pronounced “Yahweh”, means “I AM”) Himself, as the enigmatic comptroller of human history for a greater good that is beyond normal apprehension. He is the Ancient of Days, who prophesizes the Revelation alongside his Testament cherubim as a rubric to play against on his road to success for man and the universe. It is meaningful that he is, in fact, an agent of Order absolute, because the prophet Moses demonstrates firm respect for order and observance of tradition in the Mosaic books — the tradition of Israelite worship for YHWH, consider, is his rationale for freeing is Israelites from the Egyptians — and undoubtably modeled the image of the YHWH after his own subconscious. Therefore all other things considered, Wilhelm is the personification — perhaps even the original substance — of YHWH in the Xenosaga universe. Although UDO is the supreme power as the creator of the XS universe, it cannot be said to have a reign or even a personality because it is ignorant of human nature; Wilhelm compares much more favorably to the Mosaic and Revelation depictions of YHWH.

Role in the formation of dual-type theory

Wilhelm was compelling because of his profound influence and his unusual mannerisms. Elegance surrounded him, he spoke as though he was the perfect Atman, at one with the universe. Linguistic analysis of his socionics function order showed a profound attention to the ways opposites influenced each other. I supposed at the time that this attention was responsible for his power because of the way I had formulated the original crosstype theory. Although the influence was not in fact correlated to the ordering, the ordering does define the form and nature of the innate influence. (possessed as such, in non-fantasy terms, due to his nature as a creative leader, particularly a consensus leader.) Observing the relationship between the elements in Wilhelm’s character was a large part of coming to the conclusion that a seperate energy or “exertion” type existed in the personality.

As for the Compass of Order, it is best thought of as the subconscious aspect of Wilhelm’s dual-type (ISTp-ENFp) with creative leader awareness. (the path of successful relationship between dual functions and therefore, the innate human providence.) Indeed, it is probably feasible to create a real version of just such a device, in as much as one could simulate the IM elements successfully.

(before you get all excited, remember that ISTp-ENFp creative leaders do exist (compare Wilhelm with Tilda Swinton and especially, her Wilhelm-like roles) and that creative leaders come in many types and nobody, therefore, has a monopoly on the “way forward” for humanity. There are instances where such a prognosticator of proper action course would be useful however, especially in computational science.)

Der Langrisser

(also known as “All About the Transcendent Function”)

There are two english translations of this game in existence, Der Langrisser and Langrisser II. Der Langrisser is a remake of Langrisser II, with a branching story path. Both translations are unofficial.

Langrisser II was translated by someone with a very poor grasp of english… you get the impression their education extended slightly farther than fifth grade. (either that, or they had no confidence in their ability to translate Japanese to English. Either way, it shows.) You get the impression is only half thinking most of the time, as though they are rambling along almost incoherently without any time to really consider what the hell they are saying. Thus you end up with such gems as “There’s nothing better than killing, and there’s still lots more to do!” and “If there is a great strength, then you can bring people together!” Although the presentation is a little off… you can still make some sense of it. Imagine if all of a sudden people chose to be completely dominated by their basest political instincts and determined to start gearing up to kill each other– oh wait, that’s war in general, ain’t it?

The story revolves around two metaphors for the transcendent function: swords of light and darkness. The sword of light, Langrisser, was created centuries before to combat the emergence of the sword of darkness, Al-hazard. (pronouned “all hazard”) This backstory is itself an intuitive allusion to the role of the transcendent function as a counter to the influence of psychopaths. Al-hazard has been acquired by an Emperor, Bernheart. (meaning, as you might suspect, “burning heart” or “burning soul”) Bernheart, an ENFj, desires power by which to bring the world together under his rule, and he sees Al-hazard as the means by which to claim it.

Bernheart is portrayed very unsympathetically in the game’s early segments. Only later do you begin to understand that this is not your typical RPG villian: the man has values and his only wrong is his attempt to impress his own values over those of others’ whose values are equally valid. In this sense he is an extremist, but I digress….

Bernheart’s ambition is to unite the continent of El Sallia under him and to reign over it as the Rayguard Empire. (no clear symbolism in the name “Rayguard”, although it would seem to suggest insulation against a private actor, who could be considered a “ray”. This may be a commentary on the — from one vantagepoint — disruptive potential of the individiual who removes themselves from the group.) At present, El Sallia is divided amongst many independent lords, as is typical in medieval settings. Bernheart’s desire to unite these seperate governments betrays his innate identity as empiricist traditionalist who desires order and regulation at any price. His chief stalwarts are other empricists and many, many libertarians, the most signficant of thse being the mage, Eggbert, and the knight, Leon.

Eggbert is an ISTj and a master calculator of intention. He is the brains behind Eggbert’s push and, as his dual, Eggbert’s most useful adviser. Eggbert lends his support to Bernheart, who was in his origin a soldier (presumably a captain) to create a force that can repell the rise of a sociopath king called Bozel. (the "lord of darkness”) Bozel serves (who else) the god Chaos and has revived along with the rise in energies drifting towards conflict. (for the record, Bozel’s an ENTp “self-aggrandizer” personality who desires that disharmony (+Si) bathe the continent for eternity. He’s also obsessed with bringing about the “legendary darkness”/rule of sociopaths over El Sallia.)



Egbert’s chief motivation is to dissuade what he sees, as an ISTj, as the -Ne threat posed by the returning Bozel. Because his experience with -Ne as an ISTj is so troublesome for him, his egocentricity obliges him to project his troubles with -Ne on the world around him as a whole: “upstart insurgents”, he thinks, are everywhere, and they all have only the most ignoble of intentions. (+Fi) When considering Egbert’s character it is important to factor both his type and his political trait of libertarianism, because traits color type.

The knight Leon’s personality actually differs between the games. In Langrisser II, he’s ESFp; in Der Langrisser, he’s ENTj. However Leon’s type is not as vital to his overall character as is his libertarian loyalty to Bernheart. Bernheart’s ideas are to Leon an important part of his onw character, and he would rather die than see them fail. He is also a descendent of the kingdom Baldea, which guarded Langrisser for centuries, and is the chief rival of the game’s protagonist, Elwin/Erwin. (he’s also a damn tough knight who can pretty well run just about anybody down.)

Also in the imperial entourage are Imelda, the amazon; Vargas “the Valiant”; and several other minor flunkies besides. I won’t get into the flunkies just yet, but Vargas and Imelda are clearly worth examining.

Vargas appears to be an ESFj. I say this because of his determination to be of assistance to others and the shadow of his fate in the main campaign. Vargas death, which he resists violently but is unable to prevent, is one of the game’s most emotional scenes. It is especially tragic because at the time he is dying, birth is being given to his child, whom he wanted very badly to know and to love as a family man. He is denied this fate because he senses that there is nothing he can do to interface with +Ni, chiefly due to his priority of his relationships over observation of objective -Ti conditions on the ground, which suggest he is sure to lose. He cannot distinguish thus paths which will allow him to triumph over his opposition from those which will not, determined as he is to keep his friendships “in context” despite his larger obligations to his own family: suggestions of a greater or higher relationship are de-emphasized in favor of commitment to the role called upon him by his traditionalist instincts. His is a passive immanent mentality. It is the way of passive immanence to leave its mark on the subconscious, however, and in this sense he is indeed survived by his own son and moreover, Leon’s determination to avenge him. Nevertheless, his demise is also the first sign to Rayguard that it may be fighting a losing battle against psychically superior forces. (particularly Erwin.)

Imelda is an uncharacteristically cruel and narcissistic INTj. This is probably due primarily to her +Se: she is a general in charge of an army and is unconfident in her capacity to keep it in character, so she uses force which is disproportionate to the situation to try to keep her soldiers in line. In this sense she has the same problem as Vargas in that she believes herself incapable of supplanting her vulnerable function effectively, and in practice has so little skill with it that she cannot count on her determinative function (+Ni) to give her a helping hand. (as is revealed when she fails to escape from a shipping port before her ship is loaded for departure.) Her critical flaw is that she cares nothing for how she is perceived and is thus unmoved to passion. Although this is typical of INTjs in their youth, she takes it to the extreme. Even in the Emprire winning scenarios offered in Der Langrisser, she is like as not to be killed by her own subordinates because she fails to appraise the hatreds she is engendering. If anything, she feels that these hatreds must be repressed without questioning the motives behind them. This leaves her fatally naive to others’ feelings and ignorant of their psychology, a state of unstable relative coexistance that someone as cold as an INTj cannot hope to sustain indefinitely.

Having discussed the antagonists (we will not use the word “bad guys” for reasons that should be evident in light of the above), let us consider the protagonists. The lead protagonist is a consensus leader named Erwin (Elwin in Langrisser II) who a direct descendent of the protagonist of Langrisser and the heir to the Kingdom of Baldea. In Der Langrisser he is presented as the chosen avatar for the will of the reigning goddess, Lushiris: in this sense he is a prototypical divinely-inspired leader. What of this relationship can we find relevant to the socion? The consensus leader has an uncanny knack for observing common political ground between opposing parties: when he defeats his opponent, they and all their followers will accept his victory as final. They also face a variety of pressures to “set the example” by being basically as pure and noble as possible. (observe, for example, attitudes toward Barack Obama by his opponents in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.) There is a definite sense in Der Langrisser/Langrisser II that Erwin does not have control over his own destiny: he is expected to be all things to all people, and is perceived of as the last best hope of El Sallia by both his allies and his enemies. It is a fierce standard to live up to that only a consensus leader could pull off consistently.

However, Erwin’s portrayal differs between paths. In the Light path he is clearly a consensus leader who even Bernhart learns to admire for his courage if not his ideals. In the other paths, Erwin is variously a creative leader in the Imperial and , and a charismatic sociopath in the Chaos path. The non-Light paths ultimately put Erwin on a collision course with the Goddess Lushiris, whose chosen incarnation is adaptist, and her prophet, the consensarian Jessica, the scale of whch imminently transcendent conflict leaves El Sallia with a mixed outcome.

Yes, Lushiris has picked a side. The INFp Lushiris is an incarnation of duality and thus, is simply desiring the victory of life in whatever form that might best take. However the restraint of a physical — and thus specialized — mind requires that she pick a side in this classic squabble of tradition vs change. It is questionable, however, whether Lushiris really understands the pursuit of quality over quantity at all as an ultimate end. The Independent path is one of just such ends, with Erwin observing the situation before him by means of the 1st transcendent function (which begins to awaken in him when he takes Langrisser at Baldea) and playing the various forces of the world against each other as opportunity presents itself. It is difficult to judge which side, if any, of the consciousness axis Erwin takes because the consensus technology of govenment in El Sallia is clearly monarchy, therefore it is impossible to observe a clear divide between old and new paradigms in El Sallia. We observe only that Erwin is (on this path) gravely concerned about the effect the conflict between Lushiris and Chaos is having on the people as a whole. He cealrly believes the conflict to be a source of destruction and, possibly, civil decay. Erwin endevors to reconcile El Sallia’s mainland with the estranged Demon Tribe, the kind of ethnic-divide bridgework admired by liberals and conservatives alike. It is clear that he values his commitment to the people above his own individuality, because he accepts his defeat of the only person he ever truly loved.

La Pucelle Tactics: Introduction

The first thing I noticed about this game is that its protagonist is an ESFj. That makes her my dual. Obviously I’m going to be quite interested in what this game has to say.

Indeed, this game has many interesting things to say. First off, the theme: it’s totally oriented around light and darkness. The opening movie displays a series of glyphs (think stained glass) of a mostly nude woman with ram’s horns on her head, who is suggested to be in control of a “dark prince”. This dark prince appears to be some kind of gargoyle-like demon. The game’s primary theme is stated — “wherever there is darkness, there is light.” A nude angel woman is seen bequeathing a blessing to a praying girl. Next we see this self-same girl, who is described as the Maiden of Light, standing toe to toe with the demon. The nudity betrays a definite psuedo-sexual tone to the game — I say psuedo because it is evident that the game has strong feminist themes. (the idea of a woman as lead character — especially a typically “super girly” ESFJ — is itself a bold statement in a world of masculine leads.) In the context of these themes the nudity of a figure is held to the same level as Greek nudity in the Olympics — it is a feminine trait and a symbol of the protagonist’s self-assurance. The idea is “You have your naked Davids slaying Goliaths… well women are every bit man’s equal in that regard, and their nudity may be similarly heroic and meaningful.”

Also relevant is the ESFj type of the protagonist. ESFj is a very beauty-attentive person: they seek to create harmony between themselves and the world, and to offer the same to others. Obviously an INTj born-hedonist (and they all are, don’t be kidded on that notion for a second) has a lot to feel at home with in an environment controlled by ESFj. Similarly, an ESFj themed game will be a rather beautiful sight to behold. (or at least one would think.)

The protagonist is named “Priere” (pronounced”pre-A”). She is described as having a very short temper and a huge ego fization. She is obsessed with becoming the next Maiden of Light. These flaws seem to be rooted in her history: she and her younger brother (an INTp — yes, that’s right: HER CONFLICTOR) were orphaned when both of their parents died. Priere vowed then to be strong enough to survive for herself and her brother. Part of having insecurity as a basis for self-determination (Nietzche’s Zarathustra) is the having of such an attitude and ego, because to have such tremendous insecurity one must aspire to be indispensible to society. By becoming socially indispensible, one manages to rest the burden of one’s own success on the shoulders of society, thus nullifying one’s burden to society and achieving relative social invincibility. (self-actualization) In leu of having a relationship to society proportional to her insecurity, Priere is burdened with the task of anchoring her personality on the strength of her own ego, which must be defended by whatever means are within the scope of social acceptance. (however closely the boundaries are skirted.)

Why is Priere so insecure? Beyond the circumstances of her position, she is a creative leader. Creative leaders are open to questioning the ways dual IM elements relate to each other. This sets them apart from the majoritarian element of the “domain leader” natural leader class. (domain leaders emulate creative leaders relative to their degree of success or failure; this is why one observes only small islands of originality amidst the huge informative morass of modern media.) Non-creative leaders are tactical; creative leaders are strategic. Non-creative leaders will debate the same points endlessly, regardless of their type. Creative leaders will observe the debate as a problem of purpose: the existing methods are not sufficient to the burden of creating a better environment for oneself and for one’s dual. (the primordial fundamental motive of human cognition.) By questioning the debate itself, the creative leader at once takes on two tremendous responsibilities: 1) the burden of enduring the scorn of those who were content to see the situation a matter of debate, with no concrete movement for change, 2) the burden of supplanting the debate by means of a coherent strategy for positive change. Non-creative leaders will advise and assist, but they will place responsibility for failure squarely on the shoulders of the creative leader. This is an awesome responsibility that intensifies relative to the level of questioning partook by the creative leader: the more fundamental the question, the more severe the potential consequences and the greater the social risk could be. The creative leader, who is naturally inclined to undertake these questionings, must make use every feasible mental defense technique. A leader like Priere, who undertakes on basis of her own natural sense of morality to question the ethical norms of a universally revered cultural figure, must carefully navigate the treacherous social waters thereby entailed. On the one hand she must avoid weakness; on the other, she must demonstrate humility and openness to positive solutions wherever they may be found. The demands of either manifest as an outward demonstration of above-average intellect (due in part to her fixation on offering the very best solution available at any given momentto the problems at hand, itself requiring the accumulation of some body of knowledge and at least a neophyte apprehension of the problem.) and resourcefulness. The successful creative leader is a far-ranging “renaissance” person who dabbles into everything, and is never caught completely off guard. When they are questioned, they have at the ready the appeal of that vital force — duality — on which basis they frame the questioning in the context of the larger issues of the day. By such means the creative leader does not just frame consensus — they create it anew by appealing to the common humanity in everyone. (or for the sociopathic, a common fear of the same.) This is this self-confidence and appeal which makes the creative leader a leader among leaders.

And, in the troubled worlds of cRPGs, quintessential protagonists.

But then if not everyone has the potential to be an effective creative leader, why are they such popular protagonists? Two reasons. Firstly, the psyche is psychodynamic, meaning that the capacity exists within a majority of humans to appreciate any internal psychic state of any other human by means of replicating it in their own minds. It’s not about apprehending what is presented: most people do that fine. It’s about, rather, actually creating a new synthesis of ideas that is relevant to the situation at hand. Apparently only creative leaders have that trait, although any person leader or no can appreciate when an idea is useful, and can choose to emulate it on basis of its personal usefulness.

(consider if the psyche was NOT psychodynamic. How then would speakers employ the ancient rhetorical technique of “transport” to make themselves understood by their audience? We all have the capacity for creativity, but some of us are better at offering useful creativity than others.)

The second reason is that just because a person is not confident in their ability to be a creative leader — and to demonstrate that hidden side of themselves in the world outside them — doesn’t mean they don’t inwardly aspire to it. When you play a cRPG, you ARE the protagonist. Whatever fantasies you have of providing the world with some vital idea or theme, you can live those out in an RPG. (saving the world is nothing more than a generic form of that, after all. When was the last time you heard of how one man “saved the world” in real life? (not counting religion, obviously.)) Thus comes the divide: those who see RPGs as an outlet for the “inner hero” they otherwise feel unable to be; and the people who do have the self-awareness — and self-confidence — to risk altering the world around them on a mass scale, and who dare to see in the games something remarkable and substantial. As one of the latter, I hope to relate how the experience of playing games influences my own theories of personality, which I center around extensions to socionics. I assert that we hear too little today of how new ideas are actually generated, of the life stories and experiences that underlie technological and scientific acheivements great and small. (did you know that dreams about cows were a part of the development of Einstein’s theory of relativity?) As to whether or not my theories will prove useful to society… time will tell. Suffice to say, I’m taking the risk.