Four-Temperament Ensemble/Literature

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Four-Temperament Ensemble in Literature include:

  • The four houses of Hogwarts in Harry Potter: Gryffindor (Sanguine), Slytherin (Choleric), Ravenclaw (Melancholic), Hufflepuff (Phlegmatic).
    • Also the four Marauders: James Potter (Sanguine), Sirius Black (Choleric), Remus Lupin (Melancholic), and Peter Pettigrew (Supine).
      • Four of the prominent professors, as well: Sybil Trelawney (Sanguine), Minerva McGonagall (Choleric), Severus Snape (Melancholic) and Albus Dumbledore (Phlegmatic).
      • And for the main cast: Harry (Choleric), Ron (Sanguine), Hermione (Melancholic),and Neville (Supine)
  • The Roman Mysteries: This is actually explictly stated in the books, which is justified because it takes place during a time period when doctors still believed in the four humors.
  • Circle of Magic, where each character is a combination of two: Sandry is Sanguine/Choleric, Tris is Melancholic/Choleric, Daja is Phlegmatic/Melancholic and Briar is Choleric/Phlegmatic.
  • The Horus Heresy novels, set in an earlier era of Warhammer 40,000, toy with this openly with Warmaster Horus' inner advisory circle during the first few novels, consisting of the choleric Ezekyle Abaddon, the melancholic "Little Horus" Aximand, the sanguine Tarik Torgaddon, and the phlegmatic Garviel Loken.
  • A Separate Peace: Gene is phlegmatic, Finny is choleric, Leper is sanguine/supine, and Brinker is melancholic.
  • From The Tillerman Family Series: Dicey (Choleric), James (Phlegmatic), Maybeth (Melancholic/Supine), Sammy (Sanguine).
  • The four Pevensie Children in The Chronicles of Narnia: Peter is Choleric, Susan is Supine, Edmund is Melancholic, and Lucy is Sanguine.
  • The Star Wars Expanded Universe, in the four pilots of the X Wing Series: Wedge (Choleric), Tycho (Melancholic), Wes (Sanguine), and Hobbie (Phlegmatic). During Starfighters of Adumar, they even get appropriate identifiers; respectively, "the diligent one," "the doleful one," "the darling one," and "the dour one."
  • The Three Musketeers: Athos (Phlegmatic), Porthos (Sanguine), Aramis (Melancholic), and their sidekick d'Artagnan (Choleric).
  • American Gods: Shadow (Phlegmatic), Mr. Wednesday (Choleric), Czernobog (Melancholic) and Mr. Nancy (Sanguine).
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Scarecrow (Phlegmatic), Nick Chopper/The Tin Woodsman (Choleric), Lion (Sanguine), and Dorothy (Melancholic). A rare one for a 4 person cast in that The Chick is undisputedy The Hero.
  • The 4 March sisters in Little Women: Meg (The Kirk and the Team Mom) is phlegmatic; Jo (impulsive, quick-tempered and highly ambitious) is choleric, kind and quiet Beth is melancholic (with good reason), and Amy (overdramatic but pleases-without-effort) is sanguine.
  • In Red Mars, psychologist Michel Duval slots the classical temperaments into his own psychological theory: Sanguine = Extroverted + Stabile; Choleric = Extroverted + Labile; Phlegmatic = Introverted + Stabile; Melancholic = Introverted + Labile.
  • The four girls of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants:
    • Sanguine: Carmen, the Spicy Latina is happy but moody.
    • Choleric: Bridget, the Genki Girl is single-minded to the point of recklessness.
    • Melancholic: Tibby, the The Snark Knight who's cold and cynical about people.
    • Phlegmatic: Lena, the Shrinking Violet who is afraid to let herself love.
  • The original four members of The Baby Sitters Club: Kristy (choleric), Mary Anne (phlegmatic), Claudia (sanguine), and Stacey (melancholic)
  • Sammy Keyes and her friends: Sammy is choleric, Marissa is phlegmatic, Dot is melancholic, Holly is sanguine.
  • The four Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings are a great example of this (And of how the four personality types interact.)
    • Frodo is Melancholic.
    • Sam is Phlegmatic.
    • Merry is Choleric.
    • Pippin is Sanguine.
  • V. C. Andrews' Wildflowers series has Misty (sanguine), Star (choleric), Jade (melancholic), and Cat (phlegmatic).
    • Her Orphans series also has this, although it's not as pronounced: Janet/Butterfly is definitely phlegmatic, Crystal is probably melancholic, Brooke (who narrates the final book in the series) fits sanguine the best, and Raven is a mix of choleric and melancholic.
  • The Monkey Wrench Gang: Doc Sarvis is sanguine, Hayduke is choleric, Smith is melancholic and Abbzug is phlegmatic.
  • Lord of the Flies: Ralph is sanguine, Jack is choleric, Piggy is melancholic, and Simon is phlegmatic.
  • Bite Me of the Legends of Laconia series:
  • In In the Time of The Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (a Dramatization of the lives of the Mirabal sisters from the Dominican Republic), Maria Teresa "Mate" Mirabal is Sanguine, Minerva Mirabal is Choleric, Dede is Melancholic and Patria is Phlegmatic.
  • In The Poisonwood Bible, the Price ladies minus Ruth May fit this: Rachel is sanguine, Leah is choleric, Adah is melancholic and Orleanna is phlegmatic.
  • The Night Lords of Warhammer40000 are introduced this way. The lineup for First Claw at the beginning Soul Hunter played for the worst of each humor, because to do otherwise wouldn't be Grimdark.
    • Sanguine: Uzas. His emotions are all or nothing; he's almost universally violent, irritated or sullen when he isn't an unreadable shell. Thinks only of himself, which is how he became corrupt in the first place. He himself admits he all but runs on a slow, seething rage.
    • Choleric: Xarl. Cynic, chronic complainer, suspicious pessimist, and yet somehow a very capable Lancer for Talos. Throws his whole life into the sword and it shows in every sense of the word.
    • Melancholic: Talos. His romanticism of his Legion's past and the power his prophetic abilities have over his life have left him worn thin all around. Known to brood over both. His stubbornness won't let him put anything less than his heart and soul into what he does however, and it's nearly killed him before.
    • Phlegmatic: Cyrion. Possibly the most easy going of the group, and the most vocally distressed at the state of the Legion, although it also means he stands out the least in the shambling wreck of a squad.
  • A Clockwork Orange: Alex is Melancholic, Dim is Sanguine, Georgie is Choleric and Pete is Phlegmatic.
  • Done deliberately by Émile Zola as a character study in Therese Raquin. Laurent is sanguine, Mme. Raquin is choleric, Camille is phlegmatic, and Thérèse is melancholic.
  • The four protagonists of Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra: Shakes is phlegmatic, John is sanguine, Michael is choleric and Tommy is melancholic. Interestingly, the four abusive guards at the reform school fit this paradigm rather neatly as well; Nokes is choleric, Styler is melancholic, Addison is sanguine, and Ferguson is phlegmatic.
  • The four boys in the camp plot of Jelly Belly: Protagonist Ned is Melancholic, Richard is Choleric, Hog is Phlegmatic and Max is Sanguine.


Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Four-Temperament_Ensemble/Literature?oldid=1722561"