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.)