i hope in the future i will believe in things

Riley Matthews is the perfect mixture of both of her parents while falling more along the mentality of her father, Cory. There's a few ways that the other characters in the series call her from an airhead to an angel. She's consistently considered to be too good to do any wrong and what wrongs she does do are influenced by her best friend, Maya. This relationship is meant to mimic the one between her father and his best friend. However, the girls also have a slightly different approach to it.

This is seen in the fact that neither girl will do anything without first talking in Riley's bay window. Or, at least, when they do something the other dislikes even a little they'll be dragged there until they talk it out. It's through talking it out on this window that both girls are able to solve their greatest problems. And if they're not they're there for the other and hold no secrets. This is slightly different than Cory and Shawn as neither were as open about that on occasions.

Her bay window is actually a pretty big symbol about who Riley is as a person. Everyone knows to go there if something happens. Even Shawn, who rarely visited, upon realizing the significance of the window in this household told Cory and Topanga to go to the one in the living room. The window isn't just where she and Maya talk about all their problems, it's also where they discuss everyone else's problems. If Riley or Maya find something going on important enough to them their first answer is to go there, where they think the best.

This symbol is Riley's willingness to help everyone. Riley has always thought of herself as talentless. She's not good at sports, or art, or can even speak another language. This is something that she always constantly struggled with. One day she did realize she had a talent and that talent was, as she puts it, "they'd walk through an avalanche for friendship for the sake of family. I got that from them." Riley wants more than anything to make people happy and have everything be all right. It's the one think she most consistently strives for and if it's not then she'll do everything in her power to make it right.

Her determination in these matters is the thing she gets most from her mother, Topanga. She wants to succeed. She wants to make grades and win things that will make her mom proud. At one point she states she wants to be exactly like her because her mom is a "killer shark who never loses". Riley looks up to Topanga most and wants to be able to fix things for people just like her. This is also stems to Cory, too, who she mentions she wants to do scams to better people's lives. She won't give up on things she wants unless she learns she's wrong, an that's very rarely so.

This determination to succeed and do well, however, also introduces another part of her personality that's not quite as good. The thing Riley struggles with most is the fact that she wants to be accepted. In Girl meets laws she chooses her flaw as insecurity because, "I think more about what my friends think of me than I do". She's sometimes so afraid of being a disappointment or invisible that she will change everything about herself to conform. This is seen not once, but twice. Once in the first episode where she decided she had to be exactly like Maya because she was cool and didn't think much. The second time was in meets Popular where she decides what she was meant to be is nerdy-geeky. You could even count a third time in meets Game Night where she decides she has to destroy her mother in a game to make her proud.

Now and then, however, Riley realizes exactly who she is and that's when she truly blossoms. What makes Riley who she is will never be her parents or even friends. It's the fact that she will always put everything aside to make things right. She can be serious, demanding, and stern when she wants something done and this is perhaps what makes her most like Topanga. Because she won't take no for an answer and she'll reason with someone until she's blue in the face.

We all know Riley is a chump!
Hey!
There's an astronaut riding a horse!
Oooh.

The most obvious traits about Riley is that she's, well, she's definitely a bit of an airhead. She only ever wants to believe in hope and dreams. She hasn't given up on the good in things and is alluded to be a 'silly, wide-eyed, goofball who only ever wants to see the good in everyone'. Which is, frankly, absolutely truly. She rarely truly has a bad word to say about anyone. And if she does? She spends a deal of time wandering why it is they're like that instead of accusing them outright. Unless your name is Missy Bradford in which case she wants you as far away from Lucas Friar as possible.

She doesn't often seem to take things seriously, or if she is prefers to try and make people smile instead. This is in large because Riley can't take bad things happening. She so wants to believe in the good in everyone that her default is think positively about everything. Maya even challenges her about this once asking her about how she could make something like a burning building positive and... Riley kind of just announces something so ridiculous that it actually is positive.

Naive is another important trait about Riley. It's not that she's unintelligent or doesn't know she's being played, because she does realize it, but it's not something that crosses her mind. It comes back to her whole-hearted belief in people never lying to her, but it's something people use against her. Even her parents trick her into creating an image for an egg before smashing it to prove a point to her an that's pretty crushing for her.

Most of this boils down to the fact that Riley has a lot of belief and imagination. She doesn't believe in impossibilities. The world hasn't gotten to her enough to make her feel like everything is hopeless. There is always a way to make things better and this isn't something she ever wants to give up on. When something doesn't go her way it upsets her and she doesn't know how to go on from there. That's not to say she stops, but she's definitely got a wrench thrown in her plans that takes a few minutes to bounce back from. Thankfully, that's usually when Maya shows up and they go to their window.

Would I still be your favorite even if I wasn't a chump?
Of course.
Then I may have to not be a chump for a moment.
Again?
I know you secretly like it.
I do.

Incidentally, however, all of this is kind of like a switch in Riley. Because she can take things seriously. A large part of her behavior is that she wants to believe and so she lives through the high of that belief. However, when things go wrong or she's had enough, she can shift over at the drop of a hat. When she's tricked into an expensive purchase and Maya was the one in charge... That kind of went down hill. And when she had enough of the going-ons she promptly asked Maya the above. Then right after she came up with a scam to get them back and teach the person a lesson. This is again where she's most like her mother.

Riley is never exactly cold, but she's not afraid of saying the truth and being completely honest about things. Well, that is to say, if she finds it important. As in meets Truth she pointedly called Maya a thief because she felt what she was doing was wrong. However, she refused to tell Farkle he was a terrible actor because she felt it would hurt him more. When it comes right down to it, however, she's learned that the truth will always come out. Because of this she will always approach the subject and try to tell people about why she feels something or that they're wrong. And sometimes this mean she can get fairly emotional about seemingly senseless things, but that's just because Riley cares and feels so much about everything.