Zombies

The 16 Types in the Zombie Apocalypse

Click on any type below to see how that type may react in the zombie apocalypse and what character from The Walking Dead fits the description.  Scroll down to learn what type the zombies are…

What is the MBTI® Type of Zombies?

Well, a serious question deserves a serious answer, so here we go…  Let me start by saying that I am focusing here on the zombies from The Walking Dead.  Now, Carl Jung believed that individuals are born with a type that stays with them throughout life.  That being said, surely one’s type can change when they remain up and kicking after death.  There are many different types of zombies out there, and my personal opinion is that the ones capable of maintaining relationships with others probably keep the Myers-Briggs type from before they became… well… walking corpses.  The moaning, grunting, feed-me-now zombies of The Walking Dead, however, are a different matter altogether.

In deciding the MBTI type of zombies, I think we must do an analysis of preferences.  After all, if only a small part of your brain contains life, it will be difficult to take an assessment, and using a mouse to click answers could be problematic if your hand or arm has fallen off from decay. Also, an interpretation would be unsafe for the practitioner, to say the least. So…

E or I?

• Extraversion: We know Extraverts gain energy by interacting with and spending time with others.  Walkers clearly have a herding tendency, and they obviously gain energy and power in herds, and they certainly gain energy when interacting with others… even if the interaction is between their teeth and the other person’s flesh.  While they are certainly not chatty, have you ever noticed that those darn zombies never stop moaning and grunting? They also tend to be quite action oriented, as they seem to never stop walking around out in the world.
• Introversion: Introverts gain energy from spending time alone and reflecting on their own thoughts and ideas.  While I can’t say definitively whether or not TWD zombies reflect, I can say that I have never heard one state a desire to cease a life of wandering, go home, and spend time alone.  Also, the walkers seem to become rather listless when they wander alone for long periods of time.

All things considered, I think I am going to have to say that The Walking Dead‘s zombies prefer…

EXTRAVERSION

S or N?

• Sensing: We know that people who prefer Sensing like to see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, and hear it.  They gain information through the 5 senses and through past experiences.  I will say that walkers seem to be sorely lacking when it comes to learning from past experiences.  I mean, they get shot in the face and keep on coming.  That being said, they are extremely attracted to loud noises, seem to be able to follow people by sight (or is that smell?), and they obviously love to touch and taste… Ok, maybe they like to rip and devour, but you get the point.  They also seem to be extremely oriented to the reality of the here and now.
• Intuition: Individuals who prefer Intuition think in future oriented possibilities, and they gain information from their gut feelings.  First of all, a lot of zombies are no longer capable of having gut feelings because their guts have fallen out… Not the kind of gut feelings we’re talking about here, but still.  Besides that, walkers do not seem to be terribly future oriented.  I mean, you never see them pass up dinner because of the possibility of something better coming along, and I have never once seen a look on a zombie’s face that indicated metaphorical ponderings were going on in their largely dead brains.

All things considered, I would definitely have to say that The Walking Dead‘s zombies prefer…

SENSING

T or F?

• Thinking: Individuals who prefer Thinking make decisions based on facts, data, and objective, impersonal logic.  They like to identify and solve problems.  Zombies have a problem: they are hungry for warm, living flesh.  They see a solution: living people have what they need to cure their hunger.  Personally, I don’t think zombies are mean, and they don’t seem to want to hurt people for the sake of hurting them.  Walkers simply need flesh, and they do what they’ve gotta do to get it.
• Feeling: We know that Feeling types make decisions based on their own personal set of values and how decisions will impact relationships.  As a rule, I would say that eating your friends is likely to harm the relationship, and zombies do not seem at all perturbed by this fact.  That being said, I suppose it is possible that an individual may have a set of values that validates eating people, but I REALLY hope those individuals are few and far between.

I think, in weighing the options, I have to say that The Walking Dead‘s zombies prefer…

THINKING

J or P?

• Judging: Individuals who prefer Judging love to plan, work steadily through projects, finish early, and check things off of their lists.  Zombies… well… I can’t see that they do any of those things.  I have never seen a zombie organize the remains of their victims… or save a victim for a rainy day.  I’ve also never seen a zombie use a highlighter or an organizer… not even a label maker!  I have noticed that zombies have a tendency to finish eating one person before they move onto the next, so I suppose that is a point for walkers as Judging types!
• Perceiving:  We know that people who prefer Perceiving like to experience life in the moment, and they enjoy seeing what comes to them.  They like to take in information and go with the flow.  Zombies tend to wander around, taking in the scenery of the falling down rubble of the world, waiting for a tasty morsel of dinner to cross their paths.  When the universe brings them a random human or a tasty squirrel, they are ready to spring into action and seize the moment.  Walkers  are not even concerned when unexpected things happen, such as their legs falling off or their fingers being snatched.  Nope, they just keep on truckin’.

With all of this information at your disposal, I think you will agree that The Walking Dead‘s zombies prefer…

PERCEIVING

Once you put all of this together, I think it is clear that the zombies from The Walking Dead prefer…

ESTP

I do want to note that I am not in any way saying that ESTPs remind me of zombies or that any preference is less evolved or more prone to cannibalism than another.  I am also not intending to use this analysis to diagnose zombie-ism, zombie fever, or any other zombie or medical illness.   I hope we can all agree, that zombies are extremely underdeveloped ESTPs, that don’t resemble human ESTPs in the least.  I will say, however, that I believe human ESTPs would likely be among the most enthusiastic zombie hunters if a zombie apocalypse were ever to occur.

If you want to learn more about the type preferences under pre-apocalyptic circumstances, check out the Type Basics page.