Welcome to the Velvet Room.
Or so I would like to say, but this isn't the Velvet Room. To repeat the summary, this isn't a fanfiction, this is a guide article on how to write Persona 3 Protagonist, or as Persona Q2 puts it, the "P3 Hero" which is how I will primarily call the character from now on.
As a preface: Always keep in mind that there is no such a thing as a "right" way to write a fanfic protagonist.
Fanfictions exist so you can enjoy writing fun explorations of your favorite fictional works. There are only 2 rules to writing a fanfic, and those are to have fun and to be consistent while writing.
With that in mind, this guide exists to help readers better understand and imagine the character known as P3 Hero, by using how he (or she in Persona 3 Portable), is written as a character in the games.
In other words, this isn't meant to be a strict guideline of a "canon P3 Hero." In fact, P3 Hero is a blank slate, which means there are only a few consistent character traits across the various versions of Persona 3.
As a second preface: P3 Hero isn't a fixed character.
As a blank slate, P3 Hero is akin to a template or a questionnaire: there are certain things already printed on the paper, but most of it are blank and meant for the player to fill out. Put simply, P3 Hero as a character is mostly characterized by the players.
There is no such a thing as a "right" Arisato Minato. Or Arisato Minako. Or Yuki Makoto. Or Shiomi Sakuya. Or Kotone Shiomi. Anyone who tells you otherwise are forcing their own view of P3 Hero onto you.
Of course, P3 Hero can be written as a fixed character. Arisato Minato of the manga adaptation has certain characteristics which gives him a proper personality. Likewise, Yuki Makoto of the anime movie adaptation is written based on a fan reaction to the character depicted in the games. This is to say nothing of the version of him in the Drama CDs, who goes the harem route...
But none of them is more "accurate" than the other. All depictions of P3 Hero in adaptations and in PQ spinoff games are written based on an interpretation of the P3 Hero as he is depicted in the Persona 3 games: from the original, FES remake, Portable remake, and in the future, Reload remake too.
And that's the key: P3 Hero only becomes a complete character once you choose to complete them, filling him or her with your experiences in Persona 3, creating an interpretation of P3 Hero which suits your vision.
For an example, if you choose to interpret a version of P3 Hero as someone who gets instantly killed by a stray Hama due to a random encounter, dying and thus failing to eradicate the Dark Hour in P3, then that is just as valid as any other interpretation of P3 Hero and no one can say otherwise.
This guide exists to help readers on how to create such an interpretation, how to fill up the blank slate that is P3 Hero, using the games as a reference.
Once you understand all that, we can now begin.
The guide will consist of 3 chapters:
1. "Preface" which is this chapter.
2. "Constant Elements and How to Fill in The Blanks" which will address the few character traits present in the P3 Hero's blank slate, how to interpret them and how to fill in the blanks between them.
3. "The Four Archetypes and The Branching Subtypes" which will address four categories which most (if not all) possible interpretations of P3 Hero fall under, and the examples of P3 Hero potential personalities under each archetype.
Until then, you will see me there.
As a final warning, don't check out chapter 2 and 3 unless you mind Persona 3 spoilers~