Archie Comics Characters

[Krig the Viking]

I used to read Archie comics all the time as a kid. The characters are quite simple, but they're also vivid and clearly-defined, so I think they can be typed. Here's my attempt:

Archie: IEE. People-oriented, forms relationships quickly but flexibly. Compare with Marty McFly.
Betty: ESE. Positive, nurturing, somewhat co-dependent.
Veronica: SEE. What Veronica wants, Veronica gets, and don't get in the way.

Interesting because Archie must choose between Quadra values: Fi relational loyalty, or Si comfort and relaxation? Benefit and Kindred don't seem like particularly attractive intertypes for a romantic relationship, but then again one of the perennial questions of Archie Comics is "What the heck do they see in him?"

Jughead: SEI. Food+Naps = SEI. Compare with "The Dude". Semi-Duality with Archie. I also considered ILE.
Reggie: EIE. Manipulates people for Se gain, eschews direct confrontation like Veronica or Moose.
Moose: SLE. Jealous overprotectiveness = Fi-PoLR insecurity?
Midge: IEI? Not much to go on here.
Dilton: LII. Possibly ILI, but ask yourself: would he be happy in a relationship with Veronica, or would he run for the hills?
Cheryl Blossom: SLE? EIE? I get a Beta vibe.

What do you folks think?

[Logos]

People read Archie comics?

[DirectorAbbie]

I've read one, but he was a kid.

[jughead]

jughead had some vague similarities to myself and is partially why its my forum name, apart from the suttelties of posting as a name that connotes a dumbass person. also the strange abstractness of having a jug for a head, is it empty or full and of what?
I typed him as an SEI/ILE with some hints of IEI.
Now i may have to make a type thread where i ask if im SEI, alot of my friends are alphas (lots of ILE's, few LII) , some deltas (mostly IEE then EII), and I tend to dislike the gammas and deltas in that order. Competition could be the reason I dislike the gammas if I'm beta IEI vs SEI. However the pattern of relations fits well with either.

[Krig the Viking]

The biggest problem I have with Jughead is trying to figure out whether his love of food is indicative of Base Si, or Suggestive Si. I've seen several Base-Ne types go on about how they love food, but never a Base-Si type. However, my sample size is too small to really be conclusive.

[xerx]

Betty: ESE. Positive, nurturing, somewhat co-dependent.
Veronica: SEE. What Veronica wants, Veronica gets, and don't get in the way.

Pretty much agree. Don't remember the rest of the characters too well. Alternatively, a materialistic EIE for Veronica?

[Krig the Viking]

Pretty much agree. Don't remember the rest of the characters too well. Alternatively, a materialistic EIE for Veronica?

I considered it, but one of her strongest stereotypes is of being kind of scary if you piss her off -- I don't see EIEs as being quite as physically intimidating in that way. That's why I think Reggie makes more sense as an EIE -- despite his "sneaky bad guy" image, he is basically never physically intimidating or aggressive in that way. I initially had him as SEE as well, before realizing this.

[Krig the Viking]

Well, I seem to be the only one particularly familiar with these characters (I had assumed they were standard pop-culture knowledge, but I guess not as much as I'd thought), but I don't care, I'm finding this fascinating. They're such simple characters, and yet by that very virtue they're also surprisingly easy to type.

I diagrammed the relationships of the main five characters, using my relationship-diagramming method, and some fascinating things emerged.



1. The characters are cleanly divided between the Si-valuing "good guys" on the left (Archie, Betty, and Jughead), and the Se-valuing "bad guys" on the right (Veronica and Reggie).

2. Archie is roughly equidistant between Betty and Veronica, which is why he can never make up his mind. Interestingly, if this diagram is correct, it means that the Archie Comics writers at least subconsciously consider Look-a-Like partners to be more overtly romantically attractive than Benefactors, although the latter seems to be implied to be healthier and better in the long run.

3. If you take Jughead out, the rest form not a love triangle, but a completely symmetrical "love square". Betty and Reggie both benefit their love interests, and both are always playing second fiddle to their competition. Both same-gender pairs (Betty & Veronica and Archie & Reggie) have Quasi-Identical relationships, and both are portrayed with a nearly identical "frenemy" style relationship. The only non-symmetry is that Archie and Veronica are Look-a-Like/Business, while Betty and Reggie are Kindred. Interestingly, this is also the only dissimilarity in how the relationships are portrayed -- Archie and Veronica are frequently romantically involved, while Betty and Reggie almost never are.

4. Fitting his role in the comics, Jughead is the wildcard in this diagram. Semi-Duality with Archie is obvious enough, what with them being best friends, and Jughead's Mirror relationship with Betty makes a good deal of sense -- he's been known to console her after she's been rejected by Archie. Jughead's relationship with Veronica is interesting -- Contrary also makes sense for their sort of wary, stand-offish relationship. But the most surprisingly fitting relationship in the whole thing is Jughead Supervising Reggie. It makes perfect sense. Jughead is always effortlessly foiling Reggie's sneaky plans, without even really trying. Jughead doesn't see Reggie as a threat at all, and doesn't even take him seriously. It's enough to single-handedly convince me that Jughead is indeed SEI, which I was debating amongst myself previously.

Fascinating.