You can apply a Myers-Briggs® Personality Type to just about any fictional character. Don’t believe us? Well, check out our list of 10 Arrested Development Characters By Myers-Briggs® Personality Type. With a cast as outlandish and weird as the one in that show, you’d think it would be difficult to categorize its people. But not for your friends at Screen Rant, and definitely not for the good folks over at the Myers-Briggs® website. Give our article a read and let us know if you agree with our placings!
10. Barry Zuckercorn - ENTP
You can usually spot ENTPs if you look for career politicians. And though Barry isn’t exactly a politician on Arrested Development, he does have the snake-like shmooze to be one. Barry is also ruled by his whims, as ENTPs tend to be. He is erratic and unreliable, lacking commitment to anything that isn’t immediately making him happy. Don’t get us wrong, not all ENTPs turn out like Barry. But when their worst attributes are on display, they look a lot like the Bluth family lawyer.
9. Ann Veal - ESTJ
Her? Yes, we’re talking now about George Michael’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, Egg. Er, Ann. Ann lives in a very cut and dried world, like other ESTJs. Her religious upbringing means she views things in black and white, which makes her pretty opposed to George Michael’s morally gray family. Still, Ann is reserved and calm, some might even call her cold. If they remember her at all. Unlike most characters on this show, Ann doesn’t feel the need to be in the spotlight, however, she still values her interactions with people. Usually, those interactions are group protests of something she views as evil, but our point is that she enjoys group settings. Especially if there’s a sin that needs a good condemning.
8. Buster Bluth - INFJ
INFJs like Buster are extremely sensitive to how others treat them. When someone does or says something they take personally, it will stick with them for a while. Also, like INFJs, Buster hates the feeling of disorder. He likes to have everything made up to his particular specifications, even if those preferences are weird and outlandish. However, Buster also exhibits the paradox of the INFJ. They can enjoy the status quo, but in their hearts they also have the ability to dream of more. Buster isn’t exactly a visionary, but he does show an inner desire for a life away from his mother several times on the show. To some INFJs, that desire can motivate them to reach beyond their natural comfort zone, in order to achieve goals they have the creativity to envision.
But that’s not really the case for the baby of the Bluth Family.
7. Maybe Fünke - ESTP
Maybe Fünke is one of the most promising young characters on Arrested Development. That’s not because she works hard (or at all, really), but because she can spot an opportunity from a mile away. From getting a shot at kissing her crush to producing a box-office smash, Maybe is a classic idea person. Like her fellow ESTPs, Maybe has the capacity for long-term plans at short notice. She can approach completely unfamiliar situations and figure out exactly how to use them to her favor. Usually, she’ll do so with the least amount of work required. Even though all ESTPs aren’t as naturally lazy as Maybe, they’ve all got that opportunism in common. Plus, ESTPs tend to be social and outgoing, and if there’s one character on this list that fits that description, it’s the girl who can lie her way into an executive producer position at 16.
6. Lindsey Fünke - ENFJ
Lindsey Fünke isn’t the most sensible person on this list. But what she has over everyone here is charm. Lindsey Fünke can win people over with just a smile, a trait most ENFJs share. Typically, Lindsey uses her charm for selfish reasons, but there are rare moments of selflessness in her character. Like her fellow ENFJs, Lindsey is attracted to big ideals. When she’s not trying to help herself, she’s trying to fight for a cause. Take the tree episode as a perfect example. The difference between her and most ENFJs, however, is that they have more of an ability to follow through with the tasks they find valuable. For the most part, Lindsey’s ok with just talking about what she believes. Which, by the way, hints at another ENFJ trait, their outspokenness. And if you’ve watched Arrested Development at all, you know Lindsey’s got that in spades.
5. Tobias Fünke - ENFP
Tobias Fünke is so many things. He’s an analyst, a therapist, and the unfortunate combination of the two. But what Tobias is most of all is himself. ENFPs are like that, they select the aspects of themselves that have the most meaning and throw themselves whole-heartedly into that side of their personalities. Take, for example, Tobias’s attraction to acting. Even though he had another career, a family that needed him, and really not much talent at acting, Tobias committed himself fully to his craft. To him, acting means more than everything else. Actually, a lot of ENFPs are attracted to the performing arts. Like Tobias, it’s because they find deep meaning in it. Unlike Tobias, however, they usually get better at it.
4. George Michael Bluth - ISFP
ISFPs place a great deal of importance on harmony, so you wouldn’t be wrong to suspect that there are none on this show. However, there is one character that values function and peace in this dysfunctional, chaotic family, and that’s George Michael Bluth. George Michael is loyal in a way that few characters on this show could be if they tried. He always has his family’s best interests at heart, even when that comes at a personal cost to himself. Like George Michael, ISFPs have a strong sense of morality about their actions, but not one that cuts out sympathy for those who they think are in the wrong. The Bluth Family wants a lot of different things; wealth, popularity, freedom. George Michael just wants the Bluths to be a family.
3. Lucille Bluth - INTP
Part of what makes Arrested Development so funny is just how bad the Bluths are willing to be. However, their bad actions are usually to achieve short-term goals. They lie to get out of an immediate problem or steal when they want something right in front of them. Only one Bluth can truly be classified as a long-term thinker, which kind of makes her the evil genius of the Bluth Family. That’s Lucille Bluth, mother to the Bluth siblings and grandmother to George Michael and Maybe. Like other INTPs, Lucille can come up with a long-term plan and execute it. She is manipulative by nature, frequently playing on others’ emotions to get what she wants. Though her actions aren’t always downright evil, she doesn’t mind screwing others over to get what she wants. So maybe “evil” isn’t exactly how we should describe Lucille Bluth. But genius “definitely” is.
2. Gob Bluth - ESFP
Gob Bluth’s ESFP traits are what makes him so fun to watch, and presumably such a nightmare to live with. ESFPs are adaptable, which Gob takes to another level, flitting from commitment to commitment, morality to morality like a plastic bag in the wind. ESFPs are natural performers, which Gob takes to an extreme by constantly needing to be in the spotlight. Even if it’s for negative reasons, he wants to make sure people are talking about him. Finally, ESFPs have a zest for life. And if Gob doesn’t feel like that zest is constantly present in each moment he experiences, he will go to extreme lengths to make sure he finds it. Gob Bluth doesn’t just exhibit the traits of an ESFP, he shoves them in your face with lights and loud music. Kind of like a bad magic show.
1. Michael Bluth - ISFJ
Every good comedy needs a serious character. That’s Michael Bluth, and he is an ISFJ through and through. Michael is practical in a world full of impractical people, a trait he shares with the ISFJs of our real world. He also values cohesiveness in a unit, be that a business, relationship, or family, and has to go through hilarious trials in a world where those units are so hard to maintain. Above all, Michael values stability. That’s an ISFJ trait if there ever was one, and it’s also what makes him just such a funny person to live in the unstable world of Arrested Development. The other Bluths constantly treat Michael as if he’s some sort of weirdo, and to be fair, they’re kind of right. In a world as crazy as theirs, being normal makes you weird.
Who’s your favorite Arrested Development character? Which Myers Briggs Personality would you give them? Let us know in the comments section below!
