Protagonist (Persona 3)

The protagonist of Persona 3 is a transfer student enrolling in Gekkoukan High School in Iwatodai City. He is an orphan whose parents died a decade prior to the game.

Appearances

 * Persona 3: Protagonist
 * Persona 3 FES: Protagonist (The Journey), Boss (The Answer)
 * Persona 3 Portable: Protagonist (Male)
 * Persona 3 (Manga): Protagonist, as Minato Arisato (有里 湊, Arisato Minato)
 * Persona 3 The Movie: Protagonist, as Makoto Yūki (結城 理, Yūki Makoto)
 * Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade -Ao no Kakusei-: Protagonist (Male), as Sakuya Shiomi (汐見 朔也, Shiomi Sakuya)
 * Persona 4: Mentioned by Margaret
 * Persona 4 Arena: Mentioned by Elizabeth, alternate color for Yu Narukami
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Protagonist/Playable Character

Design
The protagonist has dark blue hair and a light build, being shorter than average. He is often shown with his hands in his pockets (except when holding weapons), leaning slightly back. He is frequently shown listening to his earphones. At school and in Tartarus, he wears the school uniform of Gekkoukan High, accented with a loose black bow tie, a neck-strap mp3 player (NW-S20x series), and clip-on earphones (model ATH-EM700). On weekends off he is shown wearing a light gray double-breasted jacket, dark pants, and a khaki turtleneck sweater, along with his earphones. On summer days off he is shown wearing a blue and white T-shirt and jeans. He is never seen without his earphones except when he goes to the beach during summer vacation.

Ten years before the events of Persona 3, he has slightly shorter hair, his bangs hanging just above his right eye, and sports a navy blue elementary school uniform, a red tie, short black pants, white socks, and navy blue shoes.

Personality
The protagonist is a silent protagonist aside from technically speaking in battle in certain instances. While being a silent protagonist, he is very stoic, reserved, and calm, gathered by the fact that he remains unmoved when guns are pointed at him. He appears very distant and aloof since he only observes the conversations of his party members and only speaks when someone is directed at him for his opinion on the matter. His personality is ultimately based on the player's actions and decisions. He may enjoy black comedy, evidenced by the "morgue" joke.

In the film series, Makoto Yuki is depicted as ambivalent to the point of apathy. Severely traumatized by the deaths of his parents, he has extremely neutral viewpoints on life and death and is uncaring of either. Because of his unnerving lack of interest and motivation, he often acts only when told to do so and takes on tasks with little, if any sense of self-preservation. An example of this is the main reason he allied himself with SEES as he was requested to by Shuji Ikutsuki and had no reason to refuse the offer. It is ironically this apathetic attitude of his that allows him to fight the Shadows effectively; he battles without concern for his safety and cares little if he tires himself out during a fight, allowing him to deal massive amounts of damage to enemies with the only consequence being exhaustion.

Despite the fact that Makoto cares little for his own safety, he breaks through his stony and blunt attitude whenever his friends in danger and even worries for their safety when any of them are put in a life-threatening situation, mainly because the thought of them dying reminds him of his parents' fate. Makoto eventually realizes the importance of lives and the bonds that he has with his friends, but as a result, he becomes more and more hesitant each time he and his friends defeat the Arcana Shadows, out of fear that after everything is over, he would return to his lonely and listless existence.

In the manga adaptation, Minato Arisato is shown to be a fairly calm and passive individual, characterized as drowsy or tired and has a love for eating and cooking food, which is mostly portrayed in a comical fashion. Much like his other incarnations, he speaks only when addressed, and appears to be on good terms with Junpei Iori and Ryoji Mochizuki.

Persona 3
The Protagonist in Persona 3 is first seen departing for the Dorm in Port Island. During that time, he experiences the Dark Hour, and is confused upon the sudden change of the surroundings and the sudden halt of his earphones functioning, though he takes the hour in stride, seemingly unaffected. Upon reaching the dorm, he encounters a child, who promptly gives him a contract to sign, providing players the opportunity to name him. The protagonist transfers to Gekkoukan High School on the next day. His invitation to study as a transfer student is later revealed that due to his capability to adapt to the Dark Hour, he was moved to the co-ed dorm so his potential can be monitored.



During a full moon, one of the Shadows attacks, causing the protagonist to awaken his initial Persona, Orpheus, using an Evoker. The protagonist has minimal difficulty using the Evoker because he is not afraid of death. The summoning sequence, however, was interrupted as Thanatos bursts forth from Orpheus' head, tearing apart Orpheus and slaying the Shadows. After dispatching the remaining Shadows, the protagonist fainted and was taken to the hospital. While unconscious, he awakens in the Velvet Room, where he learns about his abilities. The protagonist later learns about the nature of the Shadows and the existence of SEES, and eventually joins SEES. Out of all characters to appear Persona 3, the protagonist is the only character throughout the game with access to the Wild Card ability.

The protagonist's past is later revealed after Aigis' memories are restored. In the year 1999, when Death escaped the Kirijo group, Aigis was dispatched and was in hot pursuit of the Shadow. It is during Aigis' confrontation with Death, during the Dark Hour, that the protagonist's parents died. Presumably, the protagonist survives due to his potential allowing him to be active during the Dark Hour. Aigis, knowing that she cannot defeat Death, seals a portion of Death inside the protagonist, thus amplifying the protagonist's capabilities of summoning multiple Personas.

In SEES' final confrontation with Nyx, the bonds he has forged with SEES and his other friends give him the power to fight the sorrow, depression, and apathy of humankind, which were what drew Nyx to Earth, by letting him create the final arcana, the Universe Arcana with the help of Igor. With the power of the The Universe, and the cheering on of his comrades he ascends to Nyx' true body, the moon, to combat Nyx itself in a one-on-one battle. After being downed and uplifted multiple times by the SEES members' prayers and Nyx's attacks, he eventually reaches his full potential and performs the Great Seal to miraculously seal Nyx.



The protagonist clings to life for one month after fighting Nyx. He, unlike the others, retains his memories regarding the Dark Hour and Nyx in order to keep the promise he made to meet his friends on Graduation Day. Once his oath was fulfilled, he "falls asleep" in Aigis' lap, smiling.

The Answer
In the playable epilogue of Persona 3 FES, titled "Episode Aegis" in Japan and "The Answer" in the localization, it is revealed that the Protagonist died the day after his sleep, leading to the members of SEES' confusion regarding his cause of death, as the doctor cannot find any unusual symptoms before his death.

After the defeat of Nyx and the death of the Protagonist, Aigis was the one who kept his Evoker, upon witnessing the Abyss of Time, the remaining members of SEES encounter a recurring silhouette resembling the Protagonist. However, whenever they come into contact, the silhouette flees.

It is not until venturing into the deepest area of the Abyss of Time, that the silhouette is revealed to be a shadow resembling the protagonist's appearance. It manifests through the negative emotion and urge of seeing the protagonist one more time deep within the members of SEES. Making its entrance, the shadow challenges SEES, copying their Personas (all of which are colored with a grayish tint) except Psyche and Juno, retaining the Wild Card ability, and several attacks of the protagonist.



The "real" protagonist is later seen in the past, where he seals Nyx. In order to seal Nyx, the protagonist sacrificed his life to become the Great Seal. He was, however, capable of retaining his consciousness long enough to fulfill his oath between the members of SEES to meet again on Graduation Day. The protagonist is shown as a statue, crucified and bound to the door between Nyx and humanity. It is later revealed that Nyx was only awakened because Erebus, a grand being manifested from humanity's grief and negative emotions, was reaching out to Nyx to bring the Fall. The protagonist wasn't trying to seal Nyx, he was acting as a barrier between Nyx and Erebus. After defeating Erebus and realizing the protagonist's purpose, the remaining members of SEES swore to help him bear the burden by making the most out of their own lives.

Persona 4
The Protagonist is briefly mentioned in Persona 4 in a conversation between the Protagonist of Persona 4 and Margaret. Margaret states that her sister, Elizabeth, left her position as Igor's assistant to find a way to free "The Blue-Haired" boy from the seal.

Battle Quotes

 * "Orpheus!" or any other persona names. (Enemy weak to attack/Critical with Phys skill)
 * "Persona!" (Using Persona skill)
 * "Come forth!" (Using Persona skill)
 * "Take this!" (Heal a party member)
 * "Here!" (Using an Item)

Persona 3 FES: The Answer (as ???)
Because it has the ability to use the party's original Personas, avoid bringing in party members that are weak to each others' attacks. Metis is a safe option for 2 reasons - it cannot copy Psyche, and she has a good mix of attacks to hit with regardless of its current active Persona. Remember to scan it every time it changes to a new Persona for the first time to minimize the chance of team members wasting turns.

Trivia

 * He can easily be compared to Neku Sakuraba from The World Ends with You, which was released almost exactly a year after Persona 3 in the same month of July in Japan. Both are Japanese teenage emo boys who are apathetic about the world and have similar MP3 players around their neck. Both have the special ability to use multiple skills, for example, the Protagonist can use multiple Personas and Neku can use multiple pins. Both of their stories involve themes related to death, apathy, and time limit constraints.
 * While the protagonist never speaks for the most part, only occasionally mentioning the name of the equipped Persona when gearing up for a powerful attack. Arming him with a bow will have him shouting "Come forth!" or "Persona!" when summoning. Even though this variation does not occur in the JP version, equipping him with other weapon types will make him intone differently.
 * The music played on the protagonist's MP3 player appears to be a remixed version of Burn My Dread. The same remix is also used again as background music in the very last battle of the game.
 * In the beginning of the scene Awakening (first Persona summon) one can carefully see that the Protagonist is wearing the S.E.E.S. armband even though he didn't join S.E.E.S. yet, of course in later parts of the scene the armband doesn't show.
 * During the credits roll, for both The Journey and The Answer, Messiah appears behind the protagonist's silhouette, indicating Messiah is his ultimate Persona. His actions in the game seem to support this what with becoming a seal for humanity's self-destructive thoughts, (whereas Jesus died for humanity's sins) and his representation in the seal appearing to be crucified.
 * The Protagonist holds a distinct honor of being the only protagonist to be capable of wielding multiple weapons (although his default weapon is a One-Handed Sword). However, this was changed for Persona 3 Portable, in which he is only able to wield One-Handed Swords.
 * He is also the only character in the series able to use Fusion Raids without another character to assist him. In P3P however, Fusion Raids are now expendable items, and do not require that the specific Persona be around when they are used.
 * His headphones are made by Audio-Technica, model: ATH-EM700 SV. His portable music player is modeled after Sony's NW-S20x series of MP3 players.
 * Ironically, despite the fact that knives are one of the few weapons he can't wield in the game, a knife is the first weapon the Protagonist is given to fight with in the manga.
 * He is the only character known to use the "The Universe Arcana".
 * The Shirt of Chivalry, a type of costume for males in FES and P3P, is noted for the Kanji symbols on their backs that symbolizes the character. The Protagonist's kanji means "honorable man" (漢), being the field leader of SEES and being able to strengthen bonds through Social Links.
 * There are some audio files hidden in the DVD disc of Persona 3 FES that contains voices of the Protagonist and Aigis shouting the names of the other S.E.E.S. members Personas.
 * When the protagonist of Persona 3 hears Jika Net Tanaka, he describes it as an annoying song unlike the protagonist of Persona 4 who describes it as a cheery song. This implies that, despite the player's choices, he and the protagonist of Persona 4 have some semblance of a personality.
 * The way the shadow protagonist formed by the regret of SEES members alludes to the Metal Trio from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment manifested in Torifune out of Tatsuya Suou's guilt for breaking the promise with his former friends. While The Metal Trio in P2EP uses the golden version of their own ultimate Personas, the shadow protagonist in P3FES uses the golden version of the SEES members' ultimate personas.
 * He is mentioned in Persona 4 Arena by the returning Persona 3 characters, as Yu Narukami reminds them of him due to not only his Wild Card ability, but also due to his understanding of the bonds with people.
 * The name given to the protagonist in the film series, "Makoto Yuki," can be interpreted as "true courage," and the first name given to him in the manga series, "Minato," translates to "harbor." Both of these names allude to his role in the story.
 * In Persona Q, should the players choose Persona 4 at the start of the game, before he introduces himself he is referred to as "A Boy with Earphones."
 * Character Amane Nishiki from BlazBlue: Chronophantasma has the same voice actor combo as the Protagonist, Pharos and Ryoji Mochizuki, all four being voiced by Akira Ishida in Japanese and Yuri Lowenthal in English.
 * As a result, a palette swap of Amane's in Chronophantasma is in the same scheme as the Protagonist, making an Actor Allusion.