Utilitarian Comradery

Yup.  You guessed it.  The AvengersAnd the four basic personality typesHow did you know?!??

It looks like Loki’s army is going to be a bunch of Skeletor from He-Man looking things a.k.a this guy right here:

Which actually looks pretty cool I guess.  I definitely wouldn’t fight that guy.  Would you?  He looks mean-spirited.

Where did you find these people Loki?  They look like undesirables.  And we all know what happens when you mingle with undesirables.

What perhaps we should be more concerned about is the guys that are on our squad.  Like for instance the Not So Friendly Green Giant and the Armored Avenger.

Artisans are just as irreverent as Rationals, just as willing to ignore convention, and just as results-orientedNTs admire the SP’s interest in tools and tool skills, and at the same time they find in SPs an aptitude for fun, improvisation, spontaneity—even mischief—which can help get NTs out of their heads and show them how to let go and wing itRationals need to learn how to play, and Artisans love to spread their playfulness around. ”  — Please Understand Me II, p. 248

The Hulk is a wild, ferocious, raging humanoid monster that comes out when Doctor Robert Bruce Banner gets excited.  The not-so-jolly green giant was inspired by the classic tale of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and is characterized by his instinctual nature, his impulsive physicality, and his fearless disposition.  Adaptable, audacious, excitable, and hedonistic The Hulk is highly representative of an Artisan.  Undoubtedly The Hulk simply does what works, as all Artisans do, and will do whatever is necessary to get the job done.

Doctor Robert Bruce Banner had a tough childhood as his father hated him, was an alcoholic, and murdered his mother.  His father did however do one good thing, in giving his son a pre-disposition to gamma radiation, which saved his life, and created the big green monster that we all know and love.  Bruce Banner after being caught in a gamma radiation explosion turns into an emotional and impulsive humanoid monster known as The Hulk when his pulse reaches a certain level.  Instinctive, fearless, and exploding with brute strength, the not-so-jolly green giant is a classic representation of a Crafter Artisan.  Indeed the Hulk is a ferocious and savage creature, with a visceral mentality that any Artisan can relate to.  Certainly the Hulk does much of the heavy lifting for the Avengers, and is an irreplaceable asset, as are all Artisans within any successful organization.

Artisans are impulsive.  They like being that way.  To be impulsive, spontaneous, is to be really aliveSP’s trust their impulses without reserve, enjoy feeling them well up within; and they love discharging them, like setting off an explosion.”  — Please Understand Me II, p. 56

Quote1.png You won’t like me when I’m angry! Quote2.png

Doctor Robert Bruce Banner

Iron Man is an intelligent, inventive, and ingenious engineer who created a mechanical suit to save his life.  The Armored Avenger is characterized by his mechanical aptitude and inventive genius, being a billionaire industrialist Stark is constantly tinkering with and improving his mechanical suit.  Innovative, scientific, analytical and systematic Tony Stark makes for a wonderful example of a Rational.  Certainly Stark is the brains of The Avengers and uses his cold, analytical mind to keep him and his super-friends on the right track.

Anthony Edward Stark is the son of industrialist and inventor Howard Stark, and demonstrated his mechanical aptitude and extraordinary inventive genius at an early age.  Inheriting his father’s company Stark Industries, Tony blossomed into a billionaire industrialist, and an ingenious engineer.  With a highly ‘innovative attitude‘, an ‘entrepreneurial spirit‘, and a ‘charming capacity‘ to ignore the standard, the traditional, and the authoritative: Tony Stark is undoubtedly an Inventor Rational.  Indeed the Inventor‘s tendency to depend on their capability and inventiveness can get them in trouble at times.  Tony took this concept a bit too far when he ignored security concerns and ended up with shrapnel lodged in his chest.  In classic Inventor Rational fashion however, Tony used his creative and inventive genius to devise a mechanical suit that saved his life.  And thus, Iron Man was born.  Indeed Tony is constantly searching for new projects, as we will no doubt see in The Avengers, and always tinkering with and improving his mechanical suit.  Indeed given their exceptional propensity to innovate, Inventors have a tendency to live their lives somewhat on the brink of disaster: as evidenced by Stark’s perpetuated struggles with alcoholism.  Stark’s uncanny ability to innovate however makes him a key piece of The Avengers puzzle.

Rationals pride themselves on their ingenuity in accomplishing the many and varied tasks they set their minds to.  Indeed, so important is ingenuity to the Rationals self-esteem that artistry, dependability and empathy; so important to the other character types, pale into insignificance for them.  It doesn’t matter whether the task be to design a machine or an experiment, to develop a theory or a long-range plan, to build a computer or a business.  The degree of inventiveness which they bring to these tasks is the measure of their ingenuity and therefore the measure of their pride in themselves.”  — Please Understand Me II, p. 184

Quote1.png My kingdom for a Radio Shack. Quote2.png

Anthony Stark (Earth-616)

Artisans and Rationals both have a one-track mind of getting the job done.  The excited, audacious, Impulse of the Artisan indeed matches up quite well with the calm, reasonable, Achievement of the Rational.

The two certainly have their differences though:

Artisans can feel right at home with the Rationals’ natural pragmatism, irreverence, and love of tools, while they can be impressed by the NT’s theoretical interests, so different from their own practical, tactical grasp on things.  On the other hand, it sometimes happens that Artisans grow impatient with a Rationals’ desire for extensive knowledge.  And they can even feel resentful of the NT’s calm, detached life of the mind, as if their own SP gift of physical pleasure is somehow inferior when viewed from the NT’s abstract heights.” — Please Understand Me II, p. 219

The Avengers hits theaters May 4.

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