User blog comment:DYBAD/Character Sheet/@comment-26322734-20161010032810/@comment-4867780-20161010101822

I think Mystique's problem is that she is an infiltrator type, meaning she spent most of her life pretending to be a multitude of people she never was, which is made worse by the fact that in order to optimally deceive others, you must first deceive yourself on some level. It’s a typical double-edged trick well known from professional actors, with a Becoming The Mask lingering syndrome that many have to struggle against over the years, especially when they are part of long-running popular series monopolizing a large part of their acting time.

Lawrence doesn’t have personality issues because his many avatars are "expressions" instead of "deceptions ". Even an ordinary human is actually a composite and multifaceted being, with many different roles and relations depending on the person and context (son, brother, father, friend, rival, lover, boss, underling, colleague, ally, enemy, etc.). It doesn’t interfere with our being ourselves, this fluctuating complexity is actually the very process that defines the overall person we are, which is reflected in the recurring traits and values that carry on from one role and relation to another.

What separates Lawrence from ordinary humans is the ability to physically individualize the various facets of his life, while remaining the same composite person with the same values and identity (this is notably the reason there is no evil avatar). On this regard, "avatars" may not be correct term, as each of them is the true/original "him", just like a crystal’s facets are just outward expressions of it and indissociable from said crystal.

On the other hand, templates are just informational resources to him, and have no influence on his personality, which was essentially set in stone through prime imprinting when he first gained sentience, and was only polished by experience later on.