Ran'jit is the first example of this we meet, and kind of the poster child for it in Shadowbringers. Why is Eulmore's general an assassin? That doesn't make a lot of sense, and we see throughout the plot that while he's very dangerous, he's not good at strategy or leadership. You know. Things generals do. But he was never supposed to be a general. His father had been the general. Zal'bard turned into a Lightwarden and then Minfilia had been Eulmore's general. She was the strategist, the leader. And then she, too, died. And Ran'jit was the one who was left.

Ran'jit's inability to cope with his grief over the deaths of his father and who knows how many Minfilias is what pushes him to follow Vauthry.

Titania is a more direct example. Because Titania survived their victory over Il Mheg's Lightwarden, they became the impediment to their people moving on. All of Il Mheg had to devote their efforts to simply keeping Titania in check.

Emet-Selch is another obvious example. One of the few who survived the sundering, trying to bring back the past that he lost instead of moving on.

Even Magnus in Twine fits the pattern. His wife and son died, and now he's literally stopping us from moving forward down the trolley tracks.

The Viis kind of do this, too. The survivors of ancient Ronka are stopping people from learning anything from their fallen empire purely because that's what they were told to do.

And the forces that oppose them (other than the WoL) are all people who have chosen to move on. For Ran'jit--both Minfilia and the Crystarium have chosen to live for tomorrow. Like, that's the Crystarium's theme song. Even when it's the Night's Blessed vs. Ran'jit, it's the group that's working toward the future versus Ran'jit and the group that's waiting for the end. The final obstacle to slaying Titania is persuading Seto to have hope for the future. Magnus' opposition is Jeryk and Thaff actually fixing the trolley. The Viis are convinced by the seal that they don't have to hold on to the past anymore.

This moment hits so hard if your character is Ala Mhigan, but even if they're not, this is three refugees and an outcast war criminal standing together to save a nation that all of them have an extremely fraught relationship with.

This is just moments before Raubahn gets fired by Nanamo. He fought the king whose empty throne is standing behind Lakshmi. Winning against Theodoric cost him his country. He spent the last twenty years trying to move on and help the other refugees however he could, never expecting that he'd ever be able to come back, let alone live here. His oldest friend betrayed absolutely everyone and everything just to force him to come back and fight. And now he's here, once again having cast down the tyrant ruling Ala Mhigo, only to have another one appear from within. He's repeating the past, and the last time, this ended with him fleeing Gyr Abania.

Lyse came into Stormblood grieving Papalymo's sacrifice--the latest in a long list of important people in her life who sacrificed themselves. Her father, Yda, Louisoix, Moenbryda, Minfilia, and now him. She is carrying burdens of identity, inadequacy, expectation, and survivor's guilt that would crush anyone. She's lived her whole life outside Gyr Abania, in the shadow of her father and sister's sacrifices, knowing she couldn't do anything to help the cause they died for. She wanted so much for Yda to have been the one who survived, she tried to become her. She's the leader of a Resistance that she was never a part of, on the basis of her father's name. And her first interaction, upon finally returning to the home she fled when she was five, is being told that she doesn't live there, and isn't one of them. She organized this meeting, and it's about to destroy any hope that Ala Mhigo could possibly recover from the occupation.

Arenvald--definitely not Ala Mhigan enough for his countrymen. Half-Garlean, abandoned by his own mother, lived his whole life outside Gyr Abania. He's never had a place anywhere. Too Garlean for Ala Mhigo, too Ala Mhigan for Garlemald, both of those are hated by everyone in Eorzea. Finally finds acceptance in the Scions and they promptly get torn apart. His closest friends killed. He has had almost nothing in his entire life go right, and now, right after finally, finally, getting a win and a tiny shred of hope for his future, he's basically re-enacting the surprise attack on the Waking Sands.

And of course, Fordola. Intensely angry at her own people for her father's murder. Considered worse than merely being a Garlean like Arenvald, but a traitor for having chosen to serve the Empire. Like everyone else here, she has never had a place. Not Garlean enough for the Empire. Not a true Ala Mhigan. Actually the enemy for most of the time. She has fought her whole life to be seen as a person by literally anyone, and her chance here comes at a cost of having an absolutely horrific power that was bestowed upon her by the Empire. It's not her, it's the Echo they want in this fight.

But as "Yda," Lyse put herself in a position where she couldn't really grow, because she had to pretend to be an Archon. She did not have her sister's education or experience but had to pretend she did, and any time she let the mask slip someone was there to remind her that she was supposed to know more than she did. She couldn't ask too many questions because that would reveal how much she didn't know.

He gets sent to Sharlayan as a child in order to hide who and what he really is. Even though his own family don't fully understand what secret they're keeping.

So, yes, for him pretending to be a bold adventurer or a wise exarch is kind of like breathing. Don't let anyone know the true you has been drilled into him since birth.

Of course he's fucking terrified of being himself after Shadowbringers.

Also, everyone on the Source knows him as the Evil Voice that ripped the Scions' souls out. Why would he not be nervous all the time?