There are only so many parts in the story that you interact with Edea directly, or she is her original self prior to the game’s start in the story, but there are a few areas where you can speculate her nature.
We all know that, while it is her for the first two disks of the game, that it is not her talking, making the actions, and responding to other characters. The only part that I disagree with this in is when she wounds Squall after the attempted assassination. Right after Squall is hit, she falters a little and there is a change in her facial express, which [to me] seems to be a ‘what have I done?’ sort of reaction, as opposed to one of cruelty that you would expect from Ultimecia or any cold hearted villain. But onto her true self…
An obvious point would be she had a natural motherly instinct. She loved each and every one of the children that she took care of at the orphanage as if they were her own. She even created the Garden specifically for children and teens to live and learn in. her love for children and taking care of them influenced most of her life.
It also seems valid to deduct that she was a person who enjoyed being away from the hustle and bustle of crowded city life. She resided on the abandoned Centra continent where she returned after she was herself again. She also first built Garden in Balamb, a small island country with one smaller city tucked away from the larger more hectic continents in the world.
At the end of the game when she returns to herself and even when she was younger she dressed very modestly; a grayish-purple shirt under a black dress. Her hair was long, flowing down her back; a modest style to say the least.
Last of all there is, for all sorceresses, the introverted aspect of their personality. Being ‘blessed’ with a capacity for such power is not always something that every girl/woman who is aware of it wants to make publicly known. With corrupted women like Adel representing their kind, it’s reasonable that they would hide their powers [if they can] or their ability to posses it. Even when Rinoa became aware of her powers, she was not particularly overjoyed, and after the experience changed drastically.
Edea herself seems, just like Rinoa, also in awe at the things she did and what she was capable of doing under Ultimecia’s spell… which is why I believe that she faltered when she attacked and successfully wounded Squall, one of her own children [in a sense].
These little tidbits of information can help us create a reasonable conclusion about her personality. She is intuitive; being aware of her own powers, as well as a motherly intuition. She is, perhaps, reserved and quiet; alright with being tucked away on a forgotten continent but wanting to truly make a difference in the children’s life as well as the welfare of the world. A bit introverted and recovering from her evil deeds… but at the end during the credits we can tell that she has once again returned to her happy self with the people she loves most.
