The story of Bleach features a remarkably diverse cast of characters, and hero Ichigo Kurosaki soon meets them all when he begins his career as a substitute Soul Reaper. Early on, Ichigo thought that Captain Byakuya Kuchiki was his worst enemy, but in reality, the traitorous Captain Sosuke Aizen is his true nemesis.
For years, Sosuke Aizen had been plotting to seize control of the empty throne in heaven and rule all of existence as a firm but benevolent god-like figure. He was once well-liked as the charming and sophisticated Captain of squad 5, but that was all just an act, and the real Sosuke Aizen is a ruthless, ambitious, callous, and highly intelligent schemer. What is his MBTI personality type, and how does he express it in the story of Bleach?
Sosuke Aizen's MBTI Personality Type: INTJ-A, The Architect
The Architect is one of the rarest MBTI personality types, and it can describe someone who is patient, methodical, results-oriented, and rather aloof at times. An Architect is more interested in their projects and goals than having a strong social life or empathizing with others, though an Architect isn't necessarily callous or cold-hearted. An Architect can do a lot of good as a business leader or movie director, for example, but a personality type like this one is the perfect fit for a cool, brilliant anime villain like Sosuke Aizen.
Aizen's personality code, INTJ, stands for Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging, and in particular, Sosuke Aizen is an extremely assertive, rather than turbulent, INTJ character. An Architect is typically introverted, being most comfortable either alone or only around a few well-trusted friends. An Architect is also an analytical person who relies on research and evidence rather than gut feelings or intuition to solve problems and understand the world around them. They are also devoted thinkers, trading strong empathy for a thirst for knowledge and a curious mind that won't take anything at face value. All this, combined with the assertive personality type, makes an INTJ-A character a powerful villain who is a serious strategic challenge for any hero to face.
Sosuke Aizen As An INTJ-A In Bleach
Nearly everything Sosuke Aizen says does and thinks is a reflection of his villainous spin on the INTJ-A personality type. A positive INTJ-A might be an inventor, scientist, movie director, or mathematician. However, a villainous INTJ-A will use his or her intelligence, patience, insights, cunning, and self-confidence to formulate an ambitious plan and find the perfect way to execute it. Aizen is like that too -- he waited for decades to allow his carefully-wrought plan to come to fruition, always staying one step ahead of his enemies and using other people like tools. Never once did personal loyalty or sentimentality affect his actions, though he did wax poetic about the nature of hope during king Yhwach's final downfall.
Sosuke Aizen, as an Architect, patiently and diligently formulated his plan. He started by recognizing a problem -- the lack of an active god-like figure in the heavens. He wasn't satisfied with the actual Soul King's role in the universe, so as an assertive Architect, Aizen developed his plan to become the new god, and he wouldn't leave anything whatsoever to chance. Although naturally talented, Aizen still needed more power, so he researched Hollows and developed a faulty Hogyoku before stealing Kisuke Urahara's own and using it. Aizen had a few allies during this time, but no friends, and he had no personal attachment to any of them. To him, Kaname Tosen and Gin Ichimaru were tools and nothing more. He even allowed the eight Visoreds and Kisuke Urahara to pay the price for his Hollowfication experiment one night during a flashback mini-arc.
Aizen coldly regarded everyone around him as a pawn, an obstacle, or simply irrelevant. He even factored in everyone's goals, methods, personality and abilities into his plan. As a villainous Architect, Aizen was willing to be around people but never truly connected with them, instead of putting his mind into overdrive thinking of ways to deceive everyone around him. In fact, Aizen created a false persona and allowed everyone to trust and admire that persona, and thus everyone would lower their guard around him. This was especially effective on Momo Hinamori, and even Shinji Hirako was fooled.
Aizen also reflected the most typical strengths and weaknesses of an INTJ-A. On the plus side, Aizen is a highly rational and intelligent person who can outwit many people at once, and he also has an independent mentality and is self-sufficient. He is also a curious and versatile being, willing to give up his zanpakuto and rank alike to embrace the Hogyoku's gifts. On the downside, he was fatally arrogant, which led to his downfall at the hands of Ichigo and Kisuke Urahara.
