innerdude
Legend
What establishes the character, here, is a complicated intersection of build elements (Beliefs and Instincts that underlie the situation), declared actions (as per your post), resolution outcomes (eg failing the Steel check - Aedhros isn't as hard as he thinks he is), and then "mopping up" in light of how things have landed.
This brings up a very interesting point --- how open is the "average" player to modifying an internalized view of their character based on something like a failed action declaration?
My character isn't as "hard" as he thinks he is could be (and very well might have been) an interesting turning point for how you played that character.
Do we allow externalities of play affect the way we see our character --- because people within the fiction view our character differently based on certain action declaration successes/failures?