You're quite right about the previous game history. In canon, he never sees anyone he's very close to die, but at his last game he watched friends get tortured and die over and over, and that's made him more somber. However, I don't him want to come off as a complete wet blanket, so I'll definitely work on integrating more of his light-hearted side.

I appreciate your comment a lot. Thank you for helping me improve!