out of character vs out of its element

out of character

prep
  • Not in character; not successfully performing within the mindset of a given character in a theatrical performance. 

  • Inconsistent with one's personality, disposition, or usual expected behaviour. 

  • Not acting; not "on"; behaving within one's natural personality rather than that of a character, or taking actions entirely outside the fictional context. 

out of its element

How often have the words out of character and out of its element occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )