Character Study: Shael

Shael Cohen: Shael ben Yahweh

Enneagram 8w7

Shael is a Nephilim- and one of the original generation- not born but created. He is a natural leader, and decidedly a protector. Loyalty is not necessarily a hallmark of his personality. He is driven by survival instinct and doesn’t relish asking for help.

Using the Enneagram for Character Development

One of the reasons I love the enneagram over other personality typing systems for character development is its inherent ability to make characters more complex and dynamic. People don’t fit and stay in boxes like INTJ (of which I often peek my head out of). We have different facets of our personalities and different situations and people may bring out healthier or unhealthier sides of us. That doesn’t mean we are acting “out of character”- in fact it could be perfectly within our character to do some out of the norm things- depending on how we fluctuate from mindsets of stress and growth- or slip into and out of our wings and tri-types.

For those not familiar with the enneagram I’ll give a brief overview. The enneagram chart is a circle of numbers 1-9, all with arrows pointing from each core number toward where they move in stress, and in growth. So right there each person has three numbers they regularly function within the scope of. The numbers on either side of a person’s core number is a potential wing. I am a 3, so I could have a wing 4 or a wing 2 but I can’t have a wing 7 for example. Now personally I have a pretty strong wing 4 but I joke that my 2 wing is broken and gimpy. I don’t move that direction often, comfortably, or particularly well (in my own self-critical opinion lol). Then, that circle chart is comprised of three pie slices called triads. One for the head (5 – 6 – 7), the heart, (2 – 3 – 4) and the gut (8 – 9 – 1). Each person will have their main number from each triad.

(For more information on how the Enneagram works visit the Enneagram Institute.)

So to illustrate I am an Enneagram 3 the “Achiever”, I have a strong wing 4 the “Artist”, I move to 9 in stress and 6 in growth. Which means when I am stressed, I am more likely to distance myself and shut down- and when I am healthy, I will have back up plans for my back up plans lol- which really helps me in planning and achieving my goals. My tri-type is 3 (because the core number comes first)- 5 – 1. So, I tend to be analytical and a perfectionist in my “Achieving” ways. I also am not great with emotions, since all three of those numbers tend to have feelings on the back burner or tucked away in the back of the pantry collecting dust lol. So unlike fitting into a box- you can see that there’s a little of most of the numbers that comprise my personality- the only numbers I don’t ever go to or touch on are 8 and 7, which funny enough is exactly what Shael is.

Now, let’s use these tools I’ve used to create Shael, to take a closer look at him!

Shael Cohen Enneagram:

Core Number: 8

Wing: 7

Movement: 2 in Health/Growth and 5 in Stress

Tri-type: 8 – 3 – 6

Shael’s Core:

Enneagram type 8s are “The Challenger” as such he is self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational. Is it any wonder he didn’t maintain a great relationship with the counsel after The Fall? We can see several examples of this personality type just in the prologue:

Self-confident: “She’s safe with me. I’ve never lost anyone.” –Transgression pg 4. Shael is frustrated when Naphtali offers him council and appears to doubt his abilities. He takes it personally and is insulted that Naphtali thinks it possible that Shael could screw up something important.

Decisive: “No. I’m done. I’m not losing another. I can’t do this again. I won’t.” -Transgression pg 17. After a very successful track record, when Shael experiences one epic failure, he is decisive in giving up his “career” because he can’t risk failing on that scale ever again.

Willful: “I want to see her!” –Transgression pg 14. Perhaps more telling though, is Naphtali’s response to him. “I have neither the power, the authority, nor the desire to grant your request,” Naphtali said with a chilling sternness. In essence, Naphtali is reminding Shael that all of this only happened because Shael has consistently gone against all of these things to get what he wants or pursue his own ends. A slap in the face of God the all-powerful authority’s desires.

Confrontational: “He knew nothing he could say would make a difference. Nothing he could do would have shock value” and later, “Shael knew he didn’t deserve God’s compassion.” –Transgression pg 15. AND YET- Shael goes to try and confronts God anyway.

Shael’s Movements:

But this isn’t the only aspect of his personality. Enneagram 8’s move to both 2 “The Helper” in growth taking on their more positive qualities, and 5 “The Investigator” in times of stress taking on some of their more negative qualities. He also has a wing 7 “The Enthusiast” which tend to be the fun life of the party types. So, when you put all these together, we have Shael. A determined, stubborn, highly capable warrior, who has a fun adventurist side and who is capable of being a doting and loving partner as well as an intelligent and calculating nemesis.

We see from Ana’s perspective in the prologue that she has always been treated tenderly by Shael. And we see later in the book as he is stressed and desperate trying to protect Achaia, that he has gone so far as to develop his own DIY security system complete with creating his own app to monitor it on his phone. Nerd Alert! Also, the profession he chose to stay on the move and protect his daughter was one of research and writing textbooks. So again- we see him settled into that “Investigator” analytical brain.

Shael’s Tri-Type:

Now in addition to the 8 and the movements above, Shael also has two more numbers in his tri-type. He has strong three tendencies, where if he is going to do or be something, he wants to be the best. And he is strong enough to make that happen. This means he carries himself with a ridiculous amount of confidence, and rightfully so. When he isn’t in hiding from Luc, he is not afraid to be seen, and praised, and feared. He physically towers over most other people, and this is something he would take pride in as well as his physique. His appearance his in that way his first line of defense. If he can intimidate someone into not wanting to fight him, or disagree with him- then he can win half his battles before they start.

He is also a 6 the “Loyalist”. As we’ve seen Shael isn’t always loyal- but when he is- it’s an until always kind of commitment. For readers wondering how this plays into Shael’s leaving his Soul Mate in Heaven and then marrying a human- consider this. Lailah was chosen for Shael by God- and probably was his absolutely perfect match. But as stubborn and willful as Shael is- Ana means more, because he was the mate that he’d chosen for himself. In some ways, this was not just an act of a rebellion against God, but a way for Shael to prove he could take care of himself and choose for himself and make his own decisions.

As a father, there’s absolutely nothing Shael wouldn’t do to protect Achaia- including sell his soul to Lucifer (however misguided that strategy was…) Shael gets a little taste of what he put God through, when Achaia turns out to share some of Shael’s more combative characteristics and doesn’t always agree with his methodology. Funny isn’t it, how people end up with kids just like them. Lol We will take a closer look at Achaia next month and see just how alike and just how different she is from her father.

What do you think about using the enneagram for book characters as opposed to other typing systems? Do you know your enneagram number? Let’s chat in the comments!

Until next week… Happy reading!