Characters and Consistent Back-Story

Hey guyses!

I can't deny it: I'm on a role-playing binge of sorts.  Currently, I'm working on seven projects, and three of them are RP projects with groups of other people.  (Two are miniature self-written works, one is an editing job, and the last is my story, which is still plodding along at the pace of an earthworm on molasses in January due to my extraordinary inclination towards perfection.)  For one of these RP groups, I was working on the profile of a minor character when I got to considering some other profiles that I've seen.  That got me to thinking even further (hey, I'm thoughtful, okay?) about the most elementary mistakes of character creation, a mistake that even I still fall into sometimes.

To explain this literary blunder, I'll work a miniature character profile for you guys:

NAME_: Eriana Esdras
AGE_: 21
HAIR COLOR_: Dark brown, almost black
EYE COLOR_: Ebony brown
CHARACTER IMBALANCE_: Eriana was marked by the twelve Eaue'ni', dark spirits who are able to influence her negatively in hopes of corrupting her rule over I'ayat'' E'rion'.
PERSONALITY_: Eriana is outgoing and free-spirited.  She loves parties and ball gowns and visiting princes, and she's known for having an indomitable, adventurous soul with slightly superficial ideals.  Despite her high-class education, nothing seems to stop her from escaping at night for a ride on her horse, and, even when faced with danger, Eriana shows a face of bold confidence.
BACKSTORY_: Eriana's mother put her in an orphanage just after she was born, so her ancestors are unknown.  Being slighter in size, Eriana was often bullied at the orphanage until an inspector found her and noticed her Elven tendencies.  The inspector informed his higher-ups, and word eventually reached King Fymorn that Eriana was a half-blood Light Elf.  The King adopted her, but, later on in the story, he was not able to rescue her before the Eaue'ni captured here and marked her.  A few years after her marking, Fymorn then died and bequeathed the entire realm onto Eriana's shoulders.

Okay.
Simple enough, right?
She seems like a pretty dynamic character with enough blood to get her breathing and realistic...right?

Mmm, I'd say...breathing?  Yeah, sure.
Realistic?
Not. at. all.

Take a look at the personality category again and watch for the discrepancies between her backstory and her characteristics.  First of all, she has no family (and thus no identity), then she was abused for most of her childhood, then she meets up with creepy dark spirits who put a target on her heart, and finally the closest thing she had to a father ups and dies.  Obviously, this happens over a lengthy period of time, so it's not like - even if Eriana is naturally prone to cheerfulness - she'd be able to recover quickly after the trauma.  The poor girl is suffering.  Therefore, why on earth is her personality still "adventurous"?  How on earth can she still have "a face of bold confidence"?  What on earth would induce her to escape "at night for a ride on her horse"?

Now, disclaimer: I hope you know that I exaggerated this profile for the sake of my point.  Also, Eriana, the character of an actual story I wrote, is in no way outgoing and free-spirited.
However, tiny, illogical disparities like this will exist if you're not careful to stomp them out.  The next time you make a character profile, be wary of inconsistencies!

Write on!
Clove