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The Transformational Character Arc Part 5 Personality Types

The Extrovert

Believe it or not, The Extrovert is probably the most NORMAL of the entire slew of personality types. The Extrovert is normally a very likable (or is it likeable?) person who gets along extremely well with others.

The Extrovert is very adept at and . They tend to do very well when involved in kinetic, vigorous, and energetic activities.

The Extrovert is that girl or guy that’s extremely talkative. They do not intimidate easily because they have convictions that they truly believe in. These are very expressive individuals with optimistic outlooks on life.

Outgoing and enthusiastic, The Extrovert is often very popular… They are almost always involved in one or more groups in which they are immensely active. Please try not to be or get too depressed around The Extrovert because they just plain don’t get it and they certainly do not want to share in your depression.

In fact, The Extrovert goes out of their way to put themselves in situations where depression is not an option; often seeking refuge within small to large groups of people along with just about any kind of social situation where they can flap their wings. While The Extrovert is often friendly, a lot of that friendliness is probably superficial because they lack intimacy skills.

You know The Extrovert… You see them everywhere they can be in front of a large group of people and they tend to migrate toward those types of careers i.e., teachers, clergy, , and the like.

The Fall Guy and The Fall Girl

Geez… The poor Fall Girl or … We’ve all been there i.e., in the wrong place at the wrong time and usually with the wrong fuckin’ people. The Fall Guy or Fall Girl is very trustful of people. You know… The kind of person that you can tell ANYTHING to and they’ll believe it. The Fall Girl and The Fall Guy were born yesterday… They’re naive, patsies, and suckers. Remember the kid in grammar school who everyone always played the joke on?

You get the picture.

Normally an underachiever, The Fall Guy or has a very narrow sphere of interests. They tend to be followers and possess extreme lack of judgment. Most of the time, The Fall Girl or Fall Guy doesn’t even realize when they’ve been HAD i.e., somebody, usually a trusted friend who doesn’t take advantage of them has to sit them down and explain it to them.

Why?

Because The Fall Guy and Fall Girl possess absolutely zero analytical skills. A huge problem for Fall Guys and Fall Girls are the unscrupulous personality types that receive their signals.

When a Fall Guy or Girl does actually bolster up some ambition, it’s often misdirected and can get them into trouble. Think GET-RICH schemes… To good to be true opportunities… The kinds of people telephone marketers go for.

The good news?

The Fall Guy or Fall Girl can pretty much find themselves in any kind of career…

The bad news?

You already know.

The Fearful

By the same token, all of us probably know a personality type that falls under The Fearful. Afraid of just about ANYTHING; change, relationships, situations, rejection, etc. Their fear is at the utmost center of their thinking although having said that, they don’t realize that they are in fact afraid.

The Fearful always assumes the worst… Often withdrawn from society, they hate to even think about taking risks or chances because they always assume failure. I guess you could say that The Fearful is almost the opposite of The Extrovert above; so putting these two personality types will very likely result in an interesting story.

The Fearful goes out of their way to avoid any kind of activity that MIGHT put them in a position of discomfort. They usually consider themselves unattractive yet they are concerned with their appearance.

Very rarely will The Fearful involve themselves with any kind of group or organization yet they are extremely sensitive to others. That sensitivity almost never transitions into any kind of intimacy because of The Fearful’s fear of rejection even though on the inside, they truly long for said intimacy.

A generally unhappy person, The Fearful once again fails to realize that they are unhappy and simply chooses to have the opinion that EVERYTHING SUCKS. The Fearful embarrasses easily so of course, if there’s even a smidge of a chance of that happening, they will totally avoid that situation.

You’ll find The Fearful working in career fields where taking initiative is not a requirement. A simple THINGS TO DO list is preferable over any type of job where a decision might have to be made. They prefer to take orders rather than give them. The Fearful makes a great housekeeper or personal assistant.

The Flamboyant

At first glance, you MIGHT think The Flamboyant is closely related to The Extrovert… Nope. The Flamboyant personality type does share the character trait but that’s about as far as it goes…

Often very dramatic as though their life depends on every utterance, The Flamboyant is naive yet devious at the same time. Their flamboyance is often used to cloak their poor self-esteem and depression.

The Flamboyant individual is easily angered and emotionally temperamental — often teetering on irrational explosion. They don’t see themselves in a healthy light and often consider themselves to be , evil, and just plain foul in every way.

The Flamboyant is more apt to see others as sexual playthings and when they’re done playing — they’re DONE. Very manipulative and always that touch of drama to every story or event. The Flamboyant personality type often becomes the as they are very promiscuous. On the other hand, they’re extremely jealous when involved in relationships.

They don’t perform well under stress; the more stressful the situation, the more physiological ailments surface as these help serve The Flamboyant to gain lots of attention. To say The Flamboyant is VAIN is an understatement… Flamboyants are the kind of person that tries to make you think they’re going to commit suicide but their attempts are just that… Attempts at getting your attention and focusing only on them.

While their emotional state is in fact INTENSE, they are usually dysfunctional people that can barely pursue regular careers. You’ll probably find them becoming actors, artists, or designers of some kind. Sorry but it’s true.

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Tuesday: 27 March 2007|0058|Under Characters

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8 Responses to “The Transformational Character Arc Part 5 Personality Types”

  1. Dante Kleinberg on Tuesday: 27 March 2007|1101

    I’ve been lurking around, enjoying your list of personality types, and it’s been helping me with brainstorming the outline for my new project. (I have an Eccentric, and probably a Manipulator)

    But, even though I obviously can’t read ahead where you’re going with some of these, I don’t see any on the list that would fit with what I’m thinking of as “The Mother.” The person who wants to nuture and care for people, who tolerates whiny babies and complete fuck-ups because they like to help. Think Marge Simpson, who stays with Homer because no one could ever be as needy as he is.

    Is there someone in your list already that fits this bill?

  2. MaryAn on Tuesday: 27 March 2007|1301

    Would Marge not be a problem solver?

  3. Dante Kleinberg on Tuesday: 27 March 2007|1931

    I don’t know. I would think a problem solver would go out and try to fix things and do things, and Marge mostly cares for and fawns over her one incredibly needy patient.

    I think it would be called “The Mother” or “The Nurse” — at least the character in my head. Maybe I’m wrong and the problem solver covers it.

  4. MaryAn on Tuesday: 27 March 2007|2044

    Well, Marge isn’t exactly one dimensional. If you look at the list, she’s got some cross characteristics. She almost cheated on Homer, she’s has self doubt, etc.

  5. Unk on Wednesday: 28 March 2007|0948

    Dante,

    Being a Mother isn’t necessarily a personality type all by itself. Just find a personality type to fit the mother into…

    If it were me, I would automatically be thinking about a personality type that would give that character the most internal conflict but that might also depend on THAT CHARACTER’S role in your story…

    Imagine an Adventurer Mother who’s always putting up with their significant other’s shit… Or their kid’s crap? Instant conflict before you’ve even written a page of screenplay.

    To me, a mother character that simply gives in to every whim of others is actually pretty one-dimensional. Assuming she’s a main character, pick a personality type that ramps up some internal conflict.

    If she’s NOT a main character, you can still pick a personality type that gives her more dimension overall rather than having her just give in to every whim.

    Unfortunately, I don’t know the story so that makes it really hard for speculation but hopefully, you get the gist.

    Marge certainly isn’t one-dimensional… However, I think the Cohen Brothers were going more for the demographics of the general area i.e. Minnesota and North Dakota when they built the characters. I have two friends from the same area and Fargo really NAILS it. That, in and of itself is enjoyable because it teaches us that not all Americans sound alike. Sure we already know that but how many movies actually SHOW us that?

    Then of course as we move on, we start to peel back the many layers that Marge possesses. She’s nurturning yet she’s a leader. She’s a problem solver yet she’s polite with a lot of patience. On top of all that, she’s pregnant!

    None of that was an accident… They built that character to be full of conflict in her life… It was all around her yet she handles it with ease.

    Just another day as Marge the cop.

    Unk

  6. Dante Kleinberg on Wednesday: 28 March 2007|1043

    Unk,

    Actually the Marge I was thinking of was Marge Simpson, particularly the episode where Homer figures out what he can give her that no one else can, bottomless need. He is the Dependent, and she is… the provider? the mother?

    Anyway, I’m not trying to define Marge Simpson, she’s just an example I was using to better illustrate my thought. I’m trying to isolate that personality type, because my protag is an Eccentric/Dependent and his perfect romantic interest (not early on, but in the resolution/denouement) would be a Provider/Mother type.

    So you see, the Mother character isn’t literally a Mother, just someone who gets off on taking care of basket cases.

  7. Unk on Wednesday: 28 March 2007|1118

    Dante,

    I figured that out after I wrote my comment. LOL. I had FARGO on the brain today so I automatically went in that direction.

    Gotta be honest with ya… I have never been able to watch even ONE EPISODE of THE SIMPSONS. Just not my cup of tea AT ALL so I know absolutely nothing of Marge Simpson’s character but since you’re not attempting to define her anyway, no harm-no foul.

    Again… Gotta go with a personality type that will automatically give that character a lot of internal conflict. If you do that, I would think that the conflict will automatically surface as you get through your story.

    Good luck with it!

    Unk

  8. MaryAn on Wednesday: 28 March 2007|1122

    Regardless, I think the point here, Dante, is that Mother/Provider/Caregiver isn’t a personality type. It’s a role. You can have a manic/depressive caregiviver, a perfectionist one, a manipulative one, etc and they can all have nurturing characteristics.

    But then, I have some of those problem solver characteristics so….

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