How to create an audience surrogate that has a personality?

So in a story I'm writing I'm trying to create a character that the audience can relate to and act as a viewpoint character. However, I understand that this can often result in said character being flat and having no personality. Is there a way I can give this character some personality and development, while still acting as an audience surrogate?

I hope this doesn't hope condescending but the answer is in your question. Give him a personality! It doesn't have to be an eccentric one.

Look at some of the companions of the doctor like Rose Tyler (first season), Donna Noble and Rory Williams.

Your average day person has a complex personality.

They can be a surrogate in just one sense without it taking over their entire existence. A lot of Audience Surrogates are new to places, such as being new to another world, or to magic, or to superheroics. You can have a lead who is a surrogate in the sense of being just as new to a place or situation as the audience will be, while having a distinct personality or starting out with a job or skills that aren't associated with The Everyman.

So don't think of them as an Audience Surrogate, think of them as just a newcomer or someone who is curious. Think back to any time that you were new to a place, such as a first day at a new school, or starting a job. When you were learning about how the place works, you didn't lose your personality all of a sudden. Developing the character over the story should be even easier, since their knowledge of their situation will grow alongside the audience.

I came here to say this basically, so 'd

If you've ever seen The Walking Dead, think about Rick in the first episode. He wakes up in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, and many characters explain what's going on to the audience through him. At the same time, however, no one would say that Rick has no personality or character to him; he's more than a device even though a lot is being used through him.

Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were the archetypical audience surrogates. The original Joe Sixpack, who just wants to sit at home on his furry butt, dragged into an adventure against his will. Tolkien used Hobbits as "Everyman" characters, as he introduced the more fantastic fantasy elements of Middle Earth, like elves, dwarves, wizards, goblins, dragons, Nazgul, etc.

Harking back to what is arguably the first ever novel in the English language, Robinson Crusoe had plenty of personality and his own skill set but he was the "everyman" thrust into a situation outside his comfort zone and had to discover things for himself.

There's no need for the character to be bland. I've personally never lived the life that Robinson Crusoe did before his various adventures around the world, nor do I share his opinions and world-view, but that didn't stop me from relating to the character and imagining myself in his situation - though, with my personal camping/hiking/outdoors experience, there were a couple of times I thought, "I would've done that differently" and "why didn't he just do such-and-such?" And to Defoe's credit, Crusoe's rescuers asked exactly the same questions when they met him. Defoe knew exactly what Crusoe should have done but chose to have him not possess that knowledge.