Thank owlmoose for inspiring me to address the Crimson Squad on all this. Her writings have very much influenced how I see these characters.

Baralai could be pretty hardnosed in FFX-2. He seems far more gentle than Nooj, but he's also a politician, and Shuyin finds it just as easy to possess him... in canon, at least.

And Paine... yeah. She's had no reason to loosen up in this 'verse.