When peered at through the Force, Tisto is seen as a jagged scar in the normally fluid energy field. It is unknown how this happened, and unfortunately, prevents Tisto from sensing the Dark Side within himself even as he uses it — and more importantly, as it uses him, and can find his mood and thoughts out of his own control, the Dark Side sometimes stoking his temper or paranoia, feeding his hatred without his notice. Tisto also struggles to use powers that rely purely on emotion, such as Rage or Terror and instead focuses on amplifying his own abilities with the Force. While some other people are unnerved by the Force scar, it does not affect them or their mastery of the Force in any way as it does Tisto.

Tisto has faced death many times, and through many different ways. These experiences have given Tisto a way to react to fear and death. While some would freeze and others would flee, Tisto will fight as hard as he can. This approach to fear often alienates him from his more peaceful peers, it has saved his life several times even if it puts him at more of a risk.

Tisto may be a Force User, but he is no Jedi. In the past he tried to blend being a Jedi with his former life, he was unable to handle the losses that lead to and abandoned pretending to be a good person. While he does often have good intentions behind his actions he is violent, vengeful, cold, and pragmatic. His decision making is often influenced by years as a gang leader, leading to decisions that alienate him from his more peaceful allies.

Tisto's decisions always fall in line with what he believes to be best. Pain is the best teacher, dead men are the best enemies, breaking people is the best way to stop them. This does not stop him from caring about people it does make it hard for people to see when he does. As a result, his motives are often only known by him, if that.

If growing up on the mean streets of Nar Shadaa taught Tisto anything, it's that often times the best answer to a problem is the simplest. Whether this is trying to sneak into a place, or simply punching someone, he has found that the statement is true far more often than not. This often leads people to believe Tisto is a simpleton, and as a result causing many "high class" folk to view him unkindly, it has served him well all of his life.

Tisto's time as criminal rabble and as ruthless crew leader taught him several more things than just practicality; they taught him tactics. Tisto has a wide array of distasteful but effective methods of urban warfare, including identifying strategic targets for isolation, elimination, or take over, using any given area as a tool and battlefield all its own, and fighting with small, guerrilla forces against often much larger and well-armed targets. While these experiences give Tisto quite a lot of tricks in his repertoire and the ability to plan around battles and consider his opponents, they are also rather narrowly suited, and when caught off guard or confronted with more traditional combat situations where his techniques cause more harm than good, Tisto can be all but useless. Furthermore, some commanders may find his behavior impertinent or dishonorable, leading Tisto to conflict with his allies.

As an official shockboxer on Solyiat, Tisto has gotten used to fighting without consciously relying on the Force during official boxing matches. This has also given him a ringside sense of honor, fighting according to regulations when in a match. Those who see him in the ring would be foolish to assume this honor applies to a fight started out of it. When that occurs, Tisto does not hesitate to go all out during a fight, and will not hesitate to fight dirty to win. This wins him no accolades and has given him two very different reputations which can put him at odds with his superiors. Despite this, he thinks the ring is the only place for honorable combat.