I love personality quizzes! They’re silly and meaningless and fun. My problem with popular, Buzzfeed-style personality quizzes is that they’re too easy to rig- if they’re going to assign you a season or a character from a show, the answers are way too obvious. Jokes about H*rry P*tter houses are probably the most obvious example; if you want a certain answer and the question is “How would you describe yourself? A. Brave and loyal and good and popular and athletic and beautiful; B. Sneaky and evil and rich; C. Smart; D. Boring,” it’s not hard to know what to pick to get to that result. And even if you’re trying to be objective, it’s hard, because you can’t help but recognize what each answer matches to.
The other, smaller thing that bothers me with these types of quizzes is how infrequently they tell you all the possible options at the end. I took a “what’s your workplace personality” quiz the other day, and the answer I got felt completely off base and didn’t seem to match any of the answers I had put in. Without knowing what the other options are, I had no way of knowing if that was really the closest answer, or if it was a bad quiz. Does that matter, in the grand scheme of things? Obviously not! (For real, if you’re someone who takes the “”””scientific”””” versions of these quizzes- love languages, introvert/extrovert, etc- and then considers the answer to be an integral part of your personality and begins to categorize people in your life as though all human experience can be neatly slotted into two to seven little boxes… you need to turn off your computer and go interact with real people who exist.)
But if you’re looking for a fun little diversion, you want an answer that’s FUN, not an answer that’s obvious, or an answer that may or may not suit you. Which is why I LOVE this labor of love (which I believe I posted about before): a statistical personality quiz that asks you to move a slider to score yourself between two adjectives, thirty-six times, and then mathematically calculates which character you most resemble, across dozens of movies, shows, and books. Once you get your overall answer, you can dive into the individual categories and see who you’re most like from whatever you’re interested in.
The rest of this post is just me talking about my results, which is very self-centered and boring. So I’ll put the “ending” here, for people who don’t care to read on (valid). If you take the quiz, tell me who you got!! Your top match, or your favorite subcategory, or both, or whatever.
And now, my results! First, methodology. I actually took the quiz twice: once on instinct, and once being more deliberate in my answers. My thinking was that, if I acted in instinct, I might be more likely to give more flattering answers- how I want to be perceived, rather than what I’m actually like. The second time, I tried to be more “honest.” Spoiler alert, my top match was the same each time- and had the same percentage. Almost all of my matches were the same; I think only two of the categories I looked at changed.
The first time I EVER took this quiz, which was like a year or more ago, my top match was from a show I had never seen before, which is sort of boring, because I couldn’t comment on how accurate it was. This time I matched with Mulan (94%), which is actually why I wanted to take it again, serious-style. I think Mulan is a VERY generous match, especially at such a high percentage. The stubbornness is there; the willingness to go against tradition; the outsized “I think I could probably fight everyone” spirit- all work. But I think I’m too selfish, and also- much to my dismay- I do NOT have a dragon companion. Not even one that’s travel sized for my convenience.
Of the three smaller “buckets,” two of the answers were boring because I’ve never seen the shows my characters are from. For prestige TV, I got Lady Sybil Crawley from Downton Abbey (85%), which feels like a poor match just based on the fact that she appears to be nobility, and that’s not my vibe. But that’s also a birth thing, obviously, so maybe we’d actually get along. (Feel free to chime off in the comments if you watch Downton Abbey and have an opinion.) For comedy, I got Taystee Jefferson from Orange is the New Black (88%). Which I definitely have no opinion on, because I don’t know anything about the show at all.
Classic literature was the fun one for me, because I love classic literature! And I got Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice (85%)! I love Pride and Prejudice and out of all the available characters in that book, I’m definitely closest to Elizabeth- for better and for worse. Again, you have the “rebels against society’s conventions about proper behavior and staying in your place” element, and Elizabeth is definitely more than a little judgey and stubborn.
Then I just started hopping through categories that most interested me. The website has them in alphabetical order, so I’ll go in the same order here.
For Buffy, I got Buffy (81%), which I think perfectly aligns with being Mulan and Elizabeth- both in personality, and in that I think it’s a very generous reading of my personality. But I also think Buffy is more flawed than the other two characters, so at the end of the day I’m in agreement.
I’ve never seen Futurama, but the majority of my family loves it, so I looked up my answer to be able to communicate it to them- and I got Leela (78%). I know she’s a cyclops and has purple hair, and I’m not and I don’t, but that’s about it.
For The Good Place, I got Janet (73)%, which was mostly funny because my friendworker and I once assigned Good Place characters to everyone in our group, and she immediately assigned me Janet. I don’t think I have strong opinions; I loved the show but I didn’t feel like I really related to any of the characters, so the lower top score makes sense to me.
I was Jean Valjean (84%) for Les Mis, which is accurate because I can lift very heavy carts with ease.
The Lion King is my favorite Disney movie, so obviously I had to see who I would be there. Nala (91%) was another high match, and I think even more flattering than Mulan. I love Nala! She’s one of my favorite Disney characters.
Little Women was a really interesting one, because it was one of the few that changed- the first time, when I took the quiz instinct-style, I got Jo. The second time, when I took it serious-style, I got Marmee (85%) and Jo was second (81%). I think I’m much more of a Jo, and I think I have more of Jo’s negative qualities- but if you recall from the book, Marmee has a conversation with Jo about how similar their personalities are, so maybe it’s a better match than I’d otherwise think. Jo is the “preferred” option, but I think Marmee is a better person, so this is sort of a super-compliment.
For Mad Max: Fury Road, I was Furiosa (79%), which is rad, but also- not many of those characters have, like, a LOT of personality. Like, they do, but they also sort of feel like archetypes? But Furiosa is so cool, and I’ll take this win.
There weren’t a lot of characters listed under “Marvel,” but I was a high match for Peggy Carter (87%), so even if there was a broader selection of choices that’s probably who I would have gotten. I’m definitely sensing a theme in these characters, which makes sense based on how it was put together, obviously; but it’s all very complimentary, like I’ve said- which is why I DID take it twice.
The fact that The Odyssey is on this list is amazing. You know The Odyssey???? Homer’s Odyssey??? Now it’s a personality quiz. I got Penelope (78%), which is a relief; and I also love Penelope. She’s very loyal, but also very smart. Her husband is a little unfortunate but given the other options, I don’t think she could have done much better.
For Pirates of the Caribbean I got Will AND Elizabeth (83%). I don’t think they’re very alike, so that’s interesting.
You all know I love Peaky Blinders, but I was hesitant to see my match here, because they are not nice people. I didn’t have a feeling for this one at all, because I don’t consider myself conniving, power-hungry, cruel, abusive, or feral, and those are sort of your options with these guys. But I got Ada (82%), which I think is actually a good match- and not only because if I told her I thought her family was conniving, power-hungry, cruel, abusive, and feral, she would agree. But that’s definitely part of it.
For Raiders of the Lost Ark, I got Marion (83%), and for Robin Hood, I got Maid Marian (84%). I only include those because it’s the same name, which is neat.
I didn’t have a close match with anyone from Schitt’s Creek, which- yet again- is why I feel like this quiz was a LITTLE too nice to me. My closest match was Ted (69%); I love Ted.
For Star Wars, I got Leia (86%)- huge compliment, no notes. Also, again, leaning into the positive AND the negative on this one.
I got Nancy (84%) for Stranger Things– I actually feel like she has more in common with the other characters that I got than she has in common with me, if that makes sense? But I don’t think any of the other characters are necessarily a better match. Also, she’s my Netflix profile picture, because I set it years ago and never changed it.
Finally, for Ted Lasso, I got Sam (87%), which was not an answer I expected, but on reflection, I both agree, and like it very much.
I already said this, but to reiterate- if you’re inclined to take the quiz, I’d love to hear your matches!
Dinosaur Zealot 