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Persona 3 Portablewas the second rerelease of the vanilla Persona 3, and while it mostly focused on implementing updates and making the game easier to play on the go, it added an unexpected new element as well: a second, female protagonist.
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Added in the hopes of bringing more female fans to the series, P3P launched in 2009 and introduced the female protagonist to thePersonaworld. But with a new character came new changes, both big and small. Not sure whether you should pick the male or female protagonist in Persona 3 Portable? We’ll help you decide.
Updated July 24, 2025:We’ve updated this article to include a video guide that breaks down the differences between each protagonist route.
The Male Protagonist – P3’s Original
When the original Persona 3 launched for PlayStation 2 in July 2006, your only option was to play as the male protagonist.
Personality
Personality-wise, the male MC is vastlymore stoicthan his female counterpart. He has far more opportunities to expressapathyin conversation and often onlyspeaks when spoken to.
There are a handful of characters who react lukewarmly to him but are much friendlier toward the female protagonist.
Social Links
But, as the prototype game for what Persona would go on to become, there are some things about the male protagonists that newer players may not be familiar with.
In the male protagonist’s story, you’ll haveno social links with your male SEES teammates. You get to know the male members of SEES through the story of the game, but you don’t have the option to hang out with them outside the story.
Instead, you’ll havean assortment of classmatesfrom around Gekkoukan High School to fill the social Links.
And when it comes to yoursocial links with female characters, while later games give you the choice between a platonic and romantic relationship, Persona 3 Portable does not.
If you play as the male protagonist, you end updating every single female social link, without the option to decline.
Battle Style And The Velvet Room
While in the original Persona 3, the male protagonist was able to use a litany of weapons. However, for P3P, he’s down to just one - hisone-handed swords.
And though both protagonists have Orpheus as their initial Persona, the male MC’s is slightly different than the female MC’s, visually. The male protagonist hasa silver-themed Orpheus, and it’s weapon has a more masculine appearance.
When you arrive in the Velvet Room, the male protagonistdoes not have a choicefor which of theVelvet Room Attendantshe’d like. The male protagonist will always haveElizabeth.
School Life
With his path featuring the original theme and soundtrack for the game, the male protagonist has a lot of classic aesthetic that fans of the series will love.
TheUI and your bedroomat Iwatodai Dorm will be themed inblue.
When it comes to extracurriculars at Gekkoukan, the male protagonist will have the option to choose between a few differentsports clubs.
The male protagonist can choose to partake inswimming, kendo, or runningas his after-school athletic activity. Later in the year, you can also choose to join themusic, art, or photographyclubs as well.
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What’s Different About The Female Protagonist?
With vanilla launching in 2006 and FES following in 2007, Atlus took the two years between then and P3P’s launch to do a bit of an overhaul for their new female main character.
Gameplay Changes
The bulk of the changes come in yourdialogue responsesthroughout the game. Themale protagonistis moresomber, while thefemale protagonistcomes across as moreupbeat.
While themajor story beats are the sameno matter who you choose, the dialogue you experience will be affected by the choice.
Thetone shiftmay be an important detail for some, considering the dark nature of P3’s story.
You’ll see your charactertalking more with the female members of SEES, instead of being closer to the male characters like your character tends to be in Persona games.
Life At Gekkoukan
While the majority of your academic progress will be the same between protagonists, the two havedifferent extracurricular options.
The female protagonist is able to join one of two sports clubs: either thevolleyball clubor thetennis club. The social link for the athletic club for the female is filled byRio Iwasakiinstead of Kazushi Miyamoto in the male MC route.
Unlike the male protagonist, though, the female protagonist doesnot have the option to join a culture club.The Fortune social link the male protagonist meets at his culture club is instead filled by Ryoji Mochizuki for the female MC.
You have social links with every member of the team as the female protagonist, as well as with the team overall.
Speaking of your social links, thefemale protagonist’s social links are vastly different. Now, you can begin social links with the male members of SEES, while the male protagonist could not.
In tandem, the female social links have been tweaked in the female MC route as well, as the female protagonistcannot date the female social links. However, you’ll find them much friendlier to the female protagonist in general.
Additionally, as the female protagonist, you’ll be able todate one of the male characters. And while the male protagonist was made to date everyone who was interested, the female protagonist canreject romantic advancesif you’re not interested in dating that character.
When it comes to the dungeon-crawling aspect of the game, not only have thebattle sprites been updated, but you’ll be going through Tartarus usingdifferent weaponrythan the male MC.
While the male protagonist uses a one-handed sword, the female protagonist instead uses hernaginata,a sword with an exceptionally long pole used originally by samurai.
And wouldn’t be a Persona game without Personas to summon. With the female protagonist’s route, you’ve gota choice between two Velvet Room attendants.
While the male protagonist defaults to Elizabeth, the female protagonist canchoose between Elizabeth or Theodore. They serve the same role, so your choice is ultimately up to preference.
Just one of many changes between versions,Theodoredid not feature in Persona 3 or Persona 3 FES. He isexclusive to the female protagonist in P3P.
Other Changes
There were a handful of small but noticeable changes made to experience the game in small but meaningful ways. One of these is thatthe UI changes to pinkwhen you’re using the female protagonist, instead of the default blue of vanilla P3.Your bedroom will be pinkinstead of blue now as well.
The game’s sound director, Shoji Meguro, came up withten new songsfor the game’s big rerelease, and you’ll findmost of them in the female protagonist’s soundtrack. The soundtrack changes from month to month in the game.
Finally, there area few scenes that changeif you’ve chosen the female protagonist. The core of the story remains the same, but there are small tweaks made to the female protagonist’s routeto accommodate her different social linksand dialogue options.
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Which Protagonist Is Canon?
Though which protagonist you opt to play as is ultimately up to personal preference, many players consider themale protagonistto be the canonical protagonist for Persona 3.
Not only was he the only choice in the vanilla version of Persona 3 as well as in FES, but many fans of the series feel thathis solemn nature is more befitting of the story.
Additionally, inexternal or spin-off gamesthat draw on P3P, themale protagonist is featured the most widely. He’s the protagonist in the anime movie adaptation and manga, and he’s mentioned by the members of SEES in Persona 4 Arena.
He’s also a playable character in Persona Q, Persona Q2, and Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight. The female protagonist is only playable in Persona Q2.
Should You Pick The Male Or Female Protagonist In Persona 3 Portable?
Ultimately, there isno right or wrong answerfor which protagonist to choose for your playthrough.
If you’re looking for the moststandard playthroughof Persona 3 as the story was originally intended to be told, though, themale protagonistmay be more your speed.
He’s recommended fornewcomers to P3, or those looking for athematically darker playthrough. His is theoriginal version of the game.
With the male protagonist featured so heavily in P3P’s predecessor games, thefemale protagonistis recommended forplayers returning to P3’s storynow with P3P who want to experience it a little differently than before.
Additionally, the female protagonist is the better choice if you’re looking fordifferent social links, including new social links for male SEES members. Fans tend to think she has the best social links, so if this is important to you, it may be a big factor in your decision.
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