The example I haven't pulled out of thin air; it is in fact the prototype backstory for one of my characters - his self-preservatory instincts command him to not recognise emotion in order to reveal no weakness:

First, any mistake he had made or confessed in his grandparents' presence they had perceived as insult to the memory of their daughter - of which he is the only remaining sample, genetically - and as such punished with the harshness ultra-traditional grandparents are infamous for (at least if I remember my own Gramma, and that one friend of Gramps'.)
Second, less emotionally, more rationally: Showing emotion may lead to showing weakness, not good if you're only sixteen, on the streets, cutting down free time (note: he has no concept of this, therefore will integrate well into the PPC) and sleep in order to both survive after the first break that caused him to run away from a psychologically awful, but materially sheltered life and somehow acquire enough of an education to join society as something other than underpaid worker (it was the military he'd signed up with when he grew of age, and also made use of their education program in exchange for twelve years' service.)


Combining this with my intended portrayal of him as someone who respects only usefulness in people, makes "friends" specifically to exploit them, consciously buries his issues and primarily focuses on survival, not living...I hope to have created a woobie of the Jerkass/Iron persuasion (that is, defying his own woobieism, lacking all moral integrity, but provoking maternal instincts in the unlikely case his backstory is discovered) who will allow you to hug him so long as you carry no pointy instruments and serve a certain purpose. In the literal case of hugging him: Meatshield.

I'm having alignment troubles with him, though. Lawful Neutral seems logical, as it grants a certain level of freedom (in the good/evil direction) while still providing stability.


Teal Deer:
Harsh past, coped with it at one point using Anger (cf: Five Stages of Grief!), this ended poorly, so he overworked himself to make things better (Bargaining) and eventually ended up semi-subconsciously ignoring the issues altogether, realising that the situation was not, in fact, actually going to improve (somewhere between Denial and Acceptance, on the Denial side.) Ironically this helped him acquire the peace of mind necessary to not get slapped with his universe's equivalent of Section 8.