𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝟐

Just as many of us were, I, too, used to be on the SX4 Anakin train. However, after the many epiphanies I have had regarding the enneagram, I have concluded that he is not a SX4 but rather a SX2. Firstly, I would like to articulate why he is not an enneagram 4. What mainly had me convinced was that he does have moments of self-deficiency, such as the way he regarded himself when his mother died, “I was too weak to save you, mom” or the way he regarded himself when his mask cracked in ‘Rebels’, “Anakin was weak, I destroyed him”. However, I would argue that these are isolated moments and not very telling of his baseline and that defence mechanisms are not a monolith and can fail. Before becoming Vader, we can see that his baseline was pride. Let’s define pride: “𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴: ‘𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘮.’ 𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.” Do not misinterpret this passage as the E2 consciously believing “I am deficient but I will pretend I am not” because instead, it is regarding a genuine belief of their pride but it is as a defence mechanism in relation to a subconscious sense of shame. Anakin was cocky with a huge, but fragile, ego and an example of his pride would be the way that he reacted when he found out that he wasn’t on the council and how he regarded it as unfair, believing he deserved to be treated better. That defence mechanism simply failed when losing his mother because he was losing someone that he had such an intense connection with, believing he could have done something to save her and prevent this loss of connection. As Vader, when he called Anakin ‘weak’, he was separating himself from Anakin. The E2’s inflated ego is not the same as confidence, confidence is not a neurotic defence mechanism and their self-concept is genuinely assured. Pride is a neurotic defence mechanism involving an inflated, but fragile, ego to protect themselves from a subconscious sense of shame but E2 is still an insecure type at its core. The SX2 also explains the way he manifests the SX-instinct better than the SX4 does. The thing is that while Anakin is a clear-cut SX-type, he doesn’t manifest in the way a SX4 would. Anakin is intense just as the SX4 is but he also manifests the SX-instinct through a realm of over-attachment, romance, intimacy, fusion et cetera. A SX4 can be a romantic but it is independent to how the SX-instinct manifests when distorted by envy. The SX4 neurosis manifests the instinct through the realm of intensity and power-seeking behaviour and while Anakin does have those traits, he also lacks any sort of envy of others and he doesn’t necessarily take his envy out on others in order to feel better about this envy. What Anakin does get neurotic about are relationships, romance, intimacy, those he’s close to and those he loves, fearing abandonment; that is how he manifests the SX-instinct and that is the manifestation of the SX-instinct that he becomes neurotic over. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦-𝘵𝘰-𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.” “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩.” “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 (𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨), 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.” He displays this especially with Padmé with his devotion to her so intense that he would do anything for her, prioritising her love over anything else, over his own principles, becoming dependent on her love, even when he disobeys her, he disobeys her for her, believing that what he is doing for her is what is best for her, such as when he turns to the Sith in his pursuit to save her. This is precisely how his false-abundance manifests under the sexual sphere, believing that he knows what is best to keep their relationship afloat. He desires such fusion, wanting to be with her for eternity, not even allowing a single contradicting thought before spiralling for her. Everything he does is for her because he cannot even think of losing her. Padmé is not impressed with this behaviour, believing that she will end up fine without any intervention but Anakin cannot even fathom a life without her, reacting aggressively and force-choking when she rejects this endeavour, believing he knows what is best for her. He becomes neurotic over her and his neuroticism over her is what collapses him into joining the Sith, just as his neuroticism over his relationship with his mom is what collapses his ego. Love is what Anakin gets neurotic over, not hate, not envy, and not intensity, even if Ani is intense, he is not intense as a byproduct of envy interpreted through the lens of SX. This sort of manifestation of the SX-instinct is much more characteristic to the SX2 than the SX4. “𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦; 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴.” Anakin believes that he has everything he could ever ask for. He is on the Jedi council, he is with the love of his life, he has great connections, et cetera. He falsely believes that he has the right to do whatever he wants because he is on the Jedi council despite the council being what restricts him from doing whatever he wants in the first place. I am not arguing that Anakin has no worries, just that he believes that love is his realm of freedom and that he uses the fact that he’s on the council to justify this. Anakin is confused. His pursuits of such intimate connections are neurotic and he becomes dependent on their love because that is what he believes love is and this neurotic love that he confuses for freedom is exactly what turns him into a slave of the Sith, exactly the vulnerability the Sith saw and exploited, feeding into the idea that he is free. He finds freedom in his debauchery but his debauchery is precisely what makes him vulnerable, exploited by the Sith.