From Lackey to Legend
Damar of Deep Space Nine
The dilemma of the Six style in the enneagram is the inability to recognize their own power. They overestimate and romanticize the power of others and doubt their own. This is the root of the Six's preoccupation with authority figures. Whether they are submissive to them (phobic) or rebel against them (counterphobic), Sixes are always aware of who has power, and live in fear of being victimized that power.
When Sixes lean more toward the phobic end of the spectrum of behavior, they become the loyal follower, often blindly dutiful toward the authority (be it a person and group) - in exchange for the authority's protection. The journey for the Six is to be able to set fear aside, trust in their own judgment, and act as their own authority. We find an example of this in the character of Damar on Deep Space Nine. Damar's story was that of a basically phobic Six who began as that blind follower and ended the series as a hero, an inspiring leader who able to claim his own power and use it confidently and wisely.
Damar's earliest appearance was as one of the nameless subordinates of Gul Dukat, an Eight who wields power without hesitation. As we get to know Damar's character, we see how his hero-worship of Dukat seems to be his purpose in life. In Favor the Bold, he calls Dukat "a great man. A man of destiny. But he also carries great burdens. ... If we show any sign of weakness our allies will turn on us. That is why we must all help him remain strong." Damar echoes Dukat's Eight language about strength, but sees himself as merely the support - Dukat is the one who has the burden of being strong.
Even when Dukat begins to disintegrate into insanity, Damar is doggedly loyal as Sixes often are, long past the time when others would have given up. Even Dukat seems to realize that Damar's loyalty is misplaced: "I'm afraid you have an exaggerated sense of my importance," he tells Damar in Penumbra.
Dukat's downfall also thrusts Damar into a new dilemma: He himself is elevated to a position of authority, as leader of the Cardassians in the alliance with the Dominion. To a Six, such prominence is terrifying: The Six believes that the more attention drawn to yourself, the more you make yourself a target.
When Dukat held the same position, it was a constant battle for control between Dukat and Weyoun, the Dominion representative, but Dukat nevertheless held real power. However, in Damar's hands, it quickly becomes a position of authority in name only. In contrast to the Eight who confronted Weyoun's challenges to his authority head-on, Damar copes in a typically Six way. At turns compliant and defiant, he challenges orders and then caves in; he subtly and not-so-subtly mocks Weyoun and the Dominion's Founders, then backs off. Too much open aggression is dangerous. To numb the anxiety of his untenable situation, Damar turns to heavy drinking, reflecting a connection to the low side of Nine.
But finally, he is simply pushed too far and he is jarred into unexpected action: Perceiving that not only himself but the entire people of Cardassia have become puppets of the Dominion regime, he resolves to fight against the oppressors. What first begins as covert attempts to undermine the Dominion soon evolves into an out-and-out, organized rebellion, and again Damar finds himself the leader - but something has changed.
In part it is the situation. The Cardassian-Dominion alliance was about holding and gaining power, but Sixes more readily identify with the underdog cause. And Damar's small band of rebels against the massive Dominion is certainly the underdog in the conflict. When the cause is defined by obstacles, the Six can focus. A Six fears the worst anyway - so when actually faced with it, he's prepared.
But the paradoxical comfort of these unsurmountable odds also brings about an internal change in Damar, in which he wears with increasingly confidence the mantle of authority. He is able to put aside the Six's innate suspicion to accept help and guidance from former enemies. He makes unpopular but necessary decisions without - or perhaps in spite of - fear of retaliation. If his problems with alcohol had shown the low side of the Six connection to Nine, Damar's hard-earned equanimity shows the high side of that connection.
As the rebellion grows, so does Damar's fame. But the Six's life-long vigilance against the abuse of power can be transformed when a healthy Six is put into a leadership position. They see themselves as having overcome many fears, and don't get self-inflated or overbearing. As Damar becomes the subject of adoration from the Cardassian public, he neither preens nor shies away from the advantage his fame brings to the cause. Indeed, it is finally verifiably true that his prominence has made him a target, but he accepts the danger without letting it deter him from his work.
In the end, he gives his life for the cause. It was a long way for Damar to travel: from Dukat's lackey to a leader who overcomes his own fears and becomes a legend in Cardassian history.
-- Teresa Malcolm
Damar is a social subype Six whose "group" through most of the series is the Cardassian military. Click here to read more about Social Sixes