History Characters / Persona3Protagonists

* AdaptationalWimp: Played with in ''Reload''. Fusion Spells are relegated to being part of the Theurgy mechanic, which consumes a gauge separate from HP and SP, which in turn can only be filled up by using Persona skills a certain number of times. This means they cannot be used on command as long as the player has enough HP/SP anymore. He also has 18 Fusion Spells in prior versions, whereas he only has 7 in ''Reload''. This trope is also zigzagged, as the effects of most Theurgy skills in ''Reload'' are appropriately more devastating than their original versions, such as dealing damage which bypasses resistances or giving stronger buffs. The only Fusion Spell which receives a straight {{Nerf}} as Theurgy is Armageddon, which is the only Theurgy in the game to come with a drawback; in addition to depleting the Theurgy gauge, upon usage it will reduce the protagonist's HP and SP all the way down to '''1''', making it a harrowing case of DeathOrGloryAttack.

'''Theurgy (''Reload''):''' Fusion Spell [[note]]Fusion Spells are unlocked by registering certain Personas in the compendium; in addition, only a handful of Fusion Spells from previous versions are retained as Theurgy abilities[[/note]]

->'''Weapons:''' One-handed swords [[note]]as of [=P3P=] and PQ. In the original game and FES, he can wield all weapon classes except firearms and knives[[/note]]\\

* PresentAbsence: While he is absent in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'', he is often mentioned by the Shadow Operatives and how his actions had changed their lives over the past few years.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted with all of his possible names. His [[Manga/Persona3 manga name]], Minato Arisato, is shared with Minato, a teacher from ''Persona 2's'' [=PSP=] release. Sakuya Shiomi from [[Theatre/Persona3TheWeirdMasquarade The Weird Masquarade]], while it isn't shared with any other character, it is shared with Konohana Sakuya, Yukiko's initial Persona. His canon name from [[Anime/Persona3TheMovie the movie]], Makoto Yuki, is shared it with Makoto Niijima from ''Persona 5''.

* ArrangeMode: Essentially what her game, especially her social links, are to the Male Protagonist's. Some social links become available available earlier like Lovers, others become available much later like Fortune. And even those available at around the same time may be easier or harder to advance, like her Magician social link taking longer to complete than Male Protagonist's.

* AdaptationalWimp: Played with in ''Reload''. Fusion Spells are relegated to being part of the Theurgy mechanic, which consumes a gauge separate from HP and SP, which in turn can only be filled up by using Persona skills a certain number of times. This means they cannot be used on command as long as the player has enough HP/SP anymore. He also has 13 Fusion Spells in prior versions, whereas he only has half of that in ''Reload''. This trope is also zigzagged, as the effects of most Theurgy skills in ''Reload'' are appropriately more devastating than their original versions, such as dealing damage which bypasses resistances or giving stronger buffs. The only Fusion Spell which receives a straight {{Nerf}} as Theurgy is Armageddon, which is the only Theurgy in the game to come with a drawback; in addition to depleting the Theurgy gauge, upon usage it will reduce the protagonist's HP and SP all the way down to '''1''', making it a harrowing case of DeathOrGloryAttack.

* TheGadfly: He has a few choices that can be interpreted this way, but the most unambiguous case of him being this is when he meets Hermit outside of the game they play, she freaks out because [[spoiler:he's the student she confessed having a crush on]], and regardless of the choices you make, she'll comment he has a smirk on his face while watching her embarrassment.
-->'''Hermit''': ''Wipe that smile off your face! Or I'll wipe it off for you with my fists!!''

* GameFavoredGender: An odd, possibly unintentional version of this can give her an advantage at ''Portable'''s endgame for a while even though it'd be expected for both protagonists to be about the same near the end. Vel Vel Muruga is her strongest weapon, it can be created by fusing a Nihil Weapon with Kartikeya, a level 70 Persona. Meanwhile, the Male Protagonist can only get his strongest weapon, Lucifer's Blade, by fusing Lucifer with a Nihil Weapon, and Lucifer is a level 88 Persona. So she can have a weapon that gives +10 to all of her stats and won't miss 18 levels earlier, which is quite convenient as it'll make the battles against the game's last bosses and Margaret's Vision Quest challenges much easier.

* GenderBlenderName: The anime movies and ''VideoGame/Persona3DancingInMoonlight'' have somewhat established Makoto Yuki as his canon name, which can also be used by a girl.

*** In ''[=P3=]'' and ''FES'' he could do one night time activity that isn't Tartarus or Social Link related, and still study if the player wants to do so. In ''P3P'' he can only do a night time activity or study. This makes his academic stat take much longer to be maxed out since in ''FES'' you could play the quiz game at the arcade center for 4 academic points on wednesdays and saturdays, and then study at night for 2 more, while in ''P3P'' you'll only get 4 points if you play the quiz game but he'll go to sleep once he's done. Consequently, this also makes getting the highest grade at the first test impossible outside of NG+ unless you neglect social links to study, since you need it to be at level 3, and even in FES it was already difficult to get it to level 3 before the first test [[note]]Though this is mitigated by Mitsuru's previous top 1 rewards being moved to top 10, and the new top 1 rewards are skill cards, so at least getting the stat upgrade items she gives is easier than before[[/note]]

** Thanatos would also recieve this treatment in ''Reload''. He's now at Level 78 as opposed to Level 64 in the original, has Maeigaon, Megidolaon, and innate resistances to other four elements. The only trade-off is he have doesn't Door of Hades from his DLC appearance in ''VideoGame/Persona5''.

** Downplayed with Orpheus in ''Reload'': While he reatins his innate weaknesses and can only learn skills until Level 5, he has Dia and can Fire. He's also not completely deadweight like in ''Portable'', since he can still be as powerful as in the movies with enough Incense and Skill Cards, if not more so.

** Downplayed with Orpheus ''Reload'': While he reatins his innate weaknesses and can only learn skills until Level 5, he has Dia and innate resistance to Fire. He's also not completely deadweight like in ''Portable'', since he can still be as powerful as in the movies with enough Incense and Skill Cards, if not more so.

** Downplayed with Orpheus ''Reload'': While he reatins his innate weaknesses and can only learn skills until Level 5, he has Dia and can resist Fire this time. He's also not completely deadweight like in ''Portable'', since he can still be as powerful as in the movies with enough Incense and Skill Cards.

** Zig-zagged with Messiah. In the original game, he has innate immunity to Light, is weak to Dark, can learn Absorb Pierce, and the only active skills he had are Salvation and Megidolaon. Later versios gave him innate resistance to the other four elements, God's Hand, Enduring Soul, Magic Skill Up, and the ''VideoGame/Persona5''-exclusive Oratorio. In ''Reload'', while he lacks Magic Skill Up and Oratorio, he can deflect Dark and learn Null Phys in place of Absorb Pierce.

* AdaptationalBadass: Not for him, but his initial Persona Orpheus was beefed up to make him more prominent in the movies. In the game, his weak level 1 status plus 2 major weaknesses (Zio and Mudo) made him only useful at the start of the story, with players quickly moving on to other Personas ASAP. In the movie, he's Makoto's main Persona and he even got to throw a few hits at the Magician Full-Moon Shadow before Thanatos came along to finish the job.

** From the original ''P3'' to FES the biggest nerf done to him are related to Lucifer/Helel. In the original P3 Lucifer/Helel blocks all physical attacks and Dark, and also naturally learns Victory Cry, which makes Armageddon spammable, trivializing every combat against regular enemies and Reaper. While in FES he can still be given Victory Cry via fusion, physical attacks and Dark were changed to just resistances.

*** Fusion Skills [[ZigZaggedTrope zig-zag]] this, he no longer can naturally used fusion skills by having two personas, you need to either find or create skill card for it, and while this makes some fusion skills like Cadenza more useable since you won't need to carry weak personas for it, it also makes stronger skills like Armageddon much more limited because they're more expensive to create, and while there are specific conditions in Vision Quest to get up to 15 Armageddons, this is more limited than just having Helel and Satan and using it.

* DemotedToExtra: In ''Persona Q'', he was the protagonist or the deuteragonist depending on which route you were playing. In ''Q2'', he gets a couple of lines here and there but he's only ThoseTwoGuys along side with Yu in favor of his female counterpart and Joker from ''Persona 5''.

* EmoTeen: While his personality is mostly shaped by the player, his dialogue options in the game come off as being low-energy and sullen. His catchphrase is even "whatever." This interpretation is used in the movie, although he grows out of it near the end of ''Spring of Birth.'' The manga and ''Persona Q'' drop the "emo" half all together, making him more of an eccentric introvert. (Although some dramatic moments in the manga later on make it resurface.)

** In the movies, he [[spoiler:slowly enters one during the final quarter of the second film, but it [[BreakTheCutie takes full effect]] [[ItsAllMyFault after Shinjiro dies.]]]]

** In the games, it's Yukari - she has more ShipTease moments with the Male Protagonist than any other love interest in ''Persona 3'', her actions in "The Answer" are motivated entirely by her love for him and [[spoiler:wanting to see him again after his death]], and she is the only member of S.E.E.S. that he shares any flirty dialogue choices with in ''VideoGame/Persona3DancingInMoonlight''. Furthermore, dialogue in the bad ending of ''Persona 3'' heavily implies that two are in a relationship.
---> '''Junpei''': Well, at least one of us knows what he wants... You seem to be getting along with a certain someone, if ya know what I mean...\\

** In the [[Anime/Persona3TheMovie movie tetralogy]], Makoto's strongest bond is with Aigis, and a lot of the early ShipTease subtext with Yukari in the original game is left out of the adaptation. They even attend the summer festival together, which is not an option in any iteration of ''Persona 3''.
* InSeriesNickname: "Leader". In the drama [=CDs=], as he has no 'canon name', his friends in S.E.E.S. take to referring to him as such. It eventually spreads to the protagonist's other friends, who note how well the nickname fits him.

* TheLostLenore: To Aigis and Yukari in ''The Answer'' as well as future entries in the series. ''Persona 4 Arena'' implies he's also this for Mitsuru.
* MeaningfulName: In the anime, the name "Makoto Yuuki" (結城 理) can be read as "True Binding Castle", which references his connection [[spoiler:to Nyx, Death and Tartarus.]]

*** No longer can he use almost every weapon type, he's limited to only one handed swords, severely limiting his melee combat options.
*** Fusion Skills [[ZigZaggedTrope zig zag]] this, he no longer can naturally used fusion skills by having two personas, you need to either find or create skill card for it, and while this makes some fusion skills like Cadenza more useable since you won't need to carry weak personas for it, it also makes stronger skills like Armageddon much more limited because they're more expensive to create, and while there are specific conditions in Vision Quest to get up to 15 Armageddons, this is more limited than just having Helel and Satan and using it.

** From previous versions of the game to ''Reload'': Zigzagged in the case of Fusion Spells. While they no longer require the requisite Personas to be present in his inventory, merely being present in the Compendium, they're now connected to the new [[LimitBreak Theurgy]] mechanic, meaning that they can't be spammed every turn.

* PrettyBoy: He's remarked on looking handsome and androgynous by a few characters. Yuko also notices he has long eyelashes.

* ReallyGetsAround: Five of his S. Links end with him 'spending a long time' in a bedroom with a girl. Six if you include Elizabeth, and while Aigis apparently [[BarbieDollAnatomy lacks the bits necessary]], she gets a scene full of DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything moments.

* VocalEvolution: For the English dub, in the original games, in the few instances where the protagonist talked (basically any time he called out his Persona), it was done with Creator/YuriLowenthal's more typical voice that he uses for most roles. Come ''Persona Q'', his delivery on most of his lines are a lot more deadpan and lethargic, partly to emphasize [[TheStoic his characterization]] and partly to distinguish him from the more upbeat [[VideoGame/Persona4 Yosuke]] (whom Yuri also voices) in the same game. To contrast this further, the tone is usually deeper to mark the contrast with Yosuke more.

* ArrangeMode: Essentially what her game, specially her social links, are to the Male Protagonist's. Some social links become available available earlier like Lovers, others become available much later like Fortune. And even those available at around the same time may be easier or harder to advance, like her Magician social link taking longer to complete than Male Protagonist's.

* TheBusCameBack: ''Persona Q2'' marks her first appearance since [=P3P=].

* DepravedBisexual: Inverted. Her potential romantic options include two [[GayOption gay options]] in the form of [[AmbiguouslyHuman Elizabeth]] and [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Aigis]] but she is also a very brave and selfless girl who fights to protect humanity from Shadows and ends up [[spoiler: [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing her life]] to stop Nyx]].

* GameFavoredGender: An odd, possibly unintentional version of this can give her an advantage at Portable's endgame for a while even though it'd be expected for both protagonists to be about the same near the end. Vel Vel Muruga is her strongest weapon, it can be created by fusing a Nihil Weapon with Kartikeya, a level 70 Persona. Meanwhile, the Male Protagonist can only get his strongest weapon, Lucifer's Blade, by fusing Lucifer with a Nihil Weapon, and Lucifer is a level 88 Persona. So she can have a weapon that gives +10 to all of her stats and won't miss 18 levels earlier, which is quite convenient as it'll make the battles against the game's last bosses and Margaret's Vision Quest challenges much easier.

* MirrorCharacter: After meeting S.E.E.S. from the prime timeline in ''Q2'', she begins to relate herself to Hikari as they are both outcasts who didn't fit in the groups they are. Incidentally, she is also quite similar to her male counterpart's gloomy personality during this period of HeroicBSOD, showing that her gung-ho attitude is simply a facade to hide her sorrow.
* NaginatasAreFeminine: The naginata weapon class is unique, separate from Ken's spear class.

* OurSpiritsAreDifferent: The [=P3P=] heroine enters the movie world in ''Persona Q2'' via a dream. The real copy still exists and is having a [[spoiler:study nap]], indicating that just like Hikari who enters via the same way, that is not the real person but merely her soul.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Thanatos]]\\
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_7490.png[softreturn]The God of Death[[/labelnote]]]]

* AdaptationalWimp: For some reason, ''Portable'' changes [[Combination attack Fusion Spells]] which originally use HP or SP in the original game and in ''FES'' into ''items'' which must be bought by exchanging certain numbers of specific materials in a specific shop; and the material can only be obtained via random drops in Tartarus. This means while Fusion Spells now don't cost anything, the more powerful ones require enormous count of materials (and thus grinding) to obtain even 1 copy of.

* AdaptationalWimp: For some reason, ''Portable'' changes Fusion Spells which originally use HP or SP in the original game and in ''FES'' into ''items'' which must be bought by exchanging a specific material in a specific shop; and the material can only be obtained via grinding. This means while Fusion Spells now don't cost anything, the more powerful ones require enormous amount of grinding to obtain even 1 copy of.

* AdaptationalWimp: Downplayed in ''Reload''. Fusion Spells are relegated to being part of the Theurgy mechanic, and in comparison to the thirteen he has in prior versions, the male protagonist only half that. This means the male protagonist can't spam Fusion Spells willy-nilly, ''especially'' Armageddon, which is the only Theurgy Fusion Spell to come with a drawback in that it will reduce your HP and SP all the way down to '''1'''.

* {{Jerkass}}: Can be played this way early-game. Some of his dialogue options are downright ''cruel''. It becomes less and less frequent as the game progresses, but it does not completely disappear. He's also a bit cold to everyone in the first movie. For example, during Kazushi's social link he can suggest that the perfect present to his younger brother (who uses a wheelchair) would be ''running shoes''.

* {{Jerkass}}: Can be played this way early-game. Some of his dialogue options are downright ''cruel''. It becomes less and less frequent as the game progresses, but it does not completely disappear. He's also a bit cold to everyone in the first movie.
** For example, during Kazushi's social link he can suggest that the perfect present to his younger brother (who uses a wheelchair) would be ''running shoes''.

** From previous versions of the game to ''Reload'': Zigzagged in the case of Fusion Spells. While they no longer require the requisite Personas to be present in his inventory, merely being present in the Compendium, they're now connected to the new [[LimitBreak Theurgy]] mechanic, meaning that they can't be spammed every turn

* KarmaHoudini: Unlike later protagonists in the series, the ''Persona 3'' protagonist never faces any consequences for cheating on multiple romantic paramours. In fact, in all releases prior to ''Reload'', the male protagonist is outright ''forced'' to cheat on his girlfriends in order to fuse Orpheus Telos.

* TheLeader: ZigZagged: Mitsuru is TheCaptain and pretty much the top of the authority chain next to Ikutski. However, the protagonist is given the title of Field Commander and is able to give other party members orders (such as telling them to split up to cover more ground on a floor). S/he keeps this position even after Mitsuru joins the party.

* HeroesPreferSwords: When he awakens to his Persona, he's given a one-handed sword, but he can equip any weapon aside from guns and knives throughout the course of the game in the original ''Persona 3'' and ''FES''. In ''Portable'' and ''Q'', he's limited to equipping one-handed swords.

** From ''FES'' to ''P3P'' he got the biggest nerfs.

*** In ''P3'' and ''FES'' he could do one night time activity that isn't Tartarus or Social Link related, and still study if the player wants to do so. In ''P3P'' he can only do a night time activity or study. This makes his academic stat take much longer to be maxed out since in ''FES'' you could play the quiz game at the arcade center for 4 academic points on wednesdays and saturdays, and then study at night for 2 more, while in ''P3P'' you'll only get 4 points if you play the quiz game but he'll go to sleep once he's done. Consequently, this also makes getting the highest grade at the first test impossible outside of NG+ unless you neglect social links to study, since you need it to be at level 3, and even in FES it was already difficult to get it to level 3 before the first test [[note]]Though this is mitigated by Mitsuru's previous top 1 rewards being moved to top 10, and the new top 1 rewards are skill cards, so at least getting the stat upgrade items she gives is easier than before[[/note]]

* TheHeart: She's as much of a pillar as the male character, but compared to him, she shows some more incentive to take charge and act as a "boss" like [[VideoGame/Persona4 their successor]]. It does help that unlike her male counterpart, she has Social Links with all of her teammates rather than just having links with the girls in the party. In ''Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth'', despite having multiple characters who play into this trope, she notably manages to stand out.

* KarmaHoudini: Unlike later protagonists in the series, the ''Persona 3'' protagonist never faces any consequences for cheating on multiple romantic paramours. The male protagonist is outright ''forced'' to cheat on his girlfriends in order to fuse Orpheus Telos.

* InterpretativeCharacter: The protagonist of ''Persona 3'' is notable for being more of a blank slate than protagonists before or after him (except for the original ''VideoGame/Persona1'' protagonist).

** By the end of the game, the protagonist's only defined personality traits are his [[ParentalAbandonment backstory as an orphan]], FriendlessBackground, enjoys music and [[BigEater food]] to a certain degree, either grew apathetic or used to the Dark Hour enough to see it as UnusuallyUninterestingSight, is NotAfraidToDie out of sheer apathy to life, forges bonds with the S.E.E.S and Pharos [[spoiler:or Death]] which nurtures his CharacterDevelopment, feels pressured and tempted by Ryoji's offer [[spoiler:to blissfully ignore the end of the world]], becomes an {{Ubermensch}} if the offer is rejected, goes on to [[spoiler:face Nyx, attain the Universe Arcana from his bonds, and makes the choice to sacrifice himself to prevent the end of the world]]. The protagonist is not defined anymore than that, to the point whereas most protagonists will finish the game with their Ultimate Persona awakened to represent their CharacterDevelopment, ''Persona 3'' protagonist ''can'' end the Journey ''without'' Messiah and/or Orpheus Telos, his Ultimate Personas.