Freudian Trio/Real Life

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Plato "tripartite soul" predates Freud's three-part mind. It consists of the appetitive (id), spirited (superego), and rational (ego) parts. In The Republic, he claims the perfect government reflects the human soul, being made up of three parts:
    • The masses, merchants and laborers, are the appetitive/id. They have a free market, always seek to satisfy their personal desires, and want as much freedom as possible.
    • The Military is the spirited/superego, and seeks to maintain order and the rule of law.
    • The government, which in Plato's ideal republic would be a group of philosopher-kings who aren't allowed to own any wealth, are the rational/ego. They command the other two groups and maintain balance between the masses' wish for freedom and the military's wish for order.
  • The command of the Army of Northern Virginia, at least through Chancellorsville:
    • Robert E. Lee: overall commander, principled but basically realistic, provided balance between Jackson and Longstreet. (Ego)
    • Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson: imaginative, risk-taking, bold, passionate. (Id)
    • James Longstreet: highly principled, the voice of logic and reason. (Superego)
  • The three key players of the 1990s Chicago Bulls:
    • Scottie Pippen: Unselfish, passive (at least when Jordan was on the court) and the most reasonable one (Superego)
    • Michael Jordan: The ultra-charismatic leader, could be selfish on the court, but was always thinking of getting his team the win, at any cost (Ego)
    • Dennis Rodman: The wild, volatile bad boy (ID)
  • Boston's "Big Three"
    • Kevin Garnett: Intense to the point of madness, but always thinking of the team (superego)
    • Paul Pierce: The (official) leader mixes aggression with cool-headed efficiency (ego)
    • Ray Allen: While the quietest one, he is ironically the most impulsive. (id)
  • The Los Angeles Lakers
    • Kobe Bryant: The leader, wants to win, but has a tendency to take too many risks, forcing Gasol and Odom to save the day (id)
    • Pau Gasol: victory before everything else (superego)
    • Lamar Odom: In the middle, a risk-taker when it's necessary to win (ego)
  • The Miami Heat
    • Dwayne Wade: The leader, humble and moderate (ego)
    • Le Bron James: Hyperactive, uses more aggressive play (id)
    • Chris Bosh: Smart, excellent student (superego)
  • The central figures of the Washington administration
    • Thomas Jefferson: Idealistic and concerned with the states' and people's rights, romanticized the bloodbath of the French Revolution. (Id)
    • Alexander Hamilton: Logical, calculating, concerned with establishing a stable economy and central government. (Superego)
    • George Washington: The President, and therefore the man in charge, who kept balance between Hamilton and Jefferson (Ego)
  • The Allies of World War II:
    • Winston Churchill: Like Bones, impulsive and romantic, too easily giving in to his own desires (he was of course a notorious drunk). (Id)
    • Joseph Stalin: Like Spock, cold and calculating, noted for personal discipline (paranoid personal discipline, but discipline). (Superego).
    • Franklin D. Roosevelt: Like Kirk, eternally mediating between the two, knowing full well the risks of falling in either direction (fall to Winston, start war with Joe. Fall to Joe, lose Europe). (Ego)
  • On the other hand, the Axis Powers provide a fine example of a dysfunctional, even neurotic, relationship:
  • The leaders in Paris 1919 were also dysfunctional, but not as much:
    • Georges Clemenceau: Ambitious, feisty, and more than a little bit vindictive. This last bit gave him an intense and personal desire to see Germany pay. (Id)
    • Woodrow Wilson: Emphatically moral to the point of being puritanical, as well as being very cold and logical (he was not only a college professor, but he was part of the movement that tried to make political science as much like a science as possible). He insisted that the world comply with his moral conception of order, and didn't think much of anyone who disagreed. (Superego)
    • David Lloyd George: Trying to mediate between the two. He want to punish Germany but not take vengeance; was OK with the League but didn't think it was workable; he thought self-determination was nice-seeming but that concessions had to be made to power politics; and he was consistently frustrated both by Clemenceau's vengeful scheming and Wilson's sermons. Unlike most in his position, he was overshadowed; as he put it, he was sitting between Napoleon (Clemenceau) and Jesus Christ (Wilson), so no wonder the agreement was so dysfunctional. (Ego)
  • Since they are real people, Deadliest Catch:
  • Representative government:
    • The legislature represents the will of the people. (Id)
    • The judiciary: Guilty or not guilty? (Superego)
    • The executive is the primary decision maker, they have to balance ideals and strategic objectives with the situation at hand, and they have to fulfill the desires of the legislature while still being under the criticizing eyes of the judiciary (Ego)
  • The three faces of Eminem are Slim Shady (id), Eminem (ego), and Marshall Mathers (superego).
  • Could depend on your viewpoint, but if you were to take the three most well known cities in the United States, you'd have Los Angeles (Id), New York (Ego) and Chicago (Superego).
  • The Beatles: The three main Beatles, who were there with Ringo Starr and Pete Best before.
  • The three members of Rush: Neil Peart is the Superego, Geddy Lee is the Ego, and Alex Lifeson is the Id. Geddy also displays some Id tendencies but is overall more of an Ego than Alex.
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