Personality: Akihiko is the very definition of calm and collected 90% of the time. He approaches virtually every situation as a potential challenge and eagerly deconstructs it in order to find the most efficient solution. This conflict-oriented mindset has served him well in the past and has become second nature to him. As such he's very fast to react in response to challenges or a fight, but this also has its drawbacks. Outside of fights or direct challenges, he gives off an aloof air and can be downright oblivious to many things. His idea of 'not drawing attention to oneself' - for instance - is not doing anything that would normally draw attention to himself, regardless of what he may or may not be wearing. This obliviousness is most observable during his interactions with women. In high school, he had a fairly large group of girls that would repeatedly make advances toward him, and he never took the hint.
When in the company of friends, Akihiko is very much the big-brother figure. He is constantly checking up on the younger members of SEES to make sure they weren't neglecting their studies, or helping where he can with homework and the like. He will occasionally crack a joke, but his attempts at humor usually fall flat. He tries to be as good a role model as possible, but can be easily manipulated when someone phrases what he would consider a really bad idea in terms of a challenge. He often gets roped into the antics of Junpei - a fellow SEES member - into doing things he normally wouldn't. When talked into these situations, he's quick to get flustered or even panic depending on just how far out of his normal comfort zone he's straying.
Throughout his live, Akihiko has lost many people close to him. He and his sister were orphaned at an extremely early age, his sister later died in a fire at their orphanage, his best friend - Shinjiro Aragaki - died protecting another friend, and then his girlfriend at the time sacrificed herself to save the world from a Death Goddess. How he handled these losses slightly changed over time, but the basic procedure is the same. He begins to internalize the loss as somehow being his fault, leading him to chastise himself for not being strong enough to protect them. He then begins to train harder than ever, until he is close to collapsing from exhaustion. With the death of Shinjiro, however, he realized that his training was an attempt to run away and distance himself from others so as not to be hurt when something happened again. After this realization, he copes with loss quite a bit better. He came to terms with why and how both Shinjiro and Minako sacrificed themselves, though keeping up his training - though not to the extremes he would push himself before - as pledges to them that he wasn't going to let similar things happen to anyone else if he could help it.
All in all, Akihiko is an extremely sensitive and sentimental young man. He cherishes his friends above all, going so far as to think of them as extended family, and would gladly do anything for each and every one of them. His rough exterior was originally an attempt to distance himself from others to keep from getting hurt if something should happen, but he has since done away with that line of thinking. The aloof air and rough exterior is now more of a byproduct of his near obsessive training regimen and challenge-oriented outlook. He has accepted that he will eventually lose some of the people he cares for, and while he strives to protect them with all his power, he has learned to cherish every moment he can get as well.
[ CANON ] Akihiko Sanada || Persona 3 Portable || Reserve || 2/4
Akihiko is the very definition of calm and collected 90% of the time. He approaches virtually every situation as a potential challenge and eagerly deconstructs it in order to find the most efficient solution. This conflict-oriented mindset has served him well in the past and has become second nature to him. As such he's very fast to react in response to challenges or a fight, but this also has its drawbacks. Outside of fights or direct challenges, he gives off an aloof air and can be downright oblivious to many things. His idea of 'not drawing attention to oneself' - for instance - is not doing anything that would normally draw attention to himself, regardless of what he may or may not be wearing. This obliviousness is most observable during his interactions with women. In high school, he had a fairly large group of girls that would repeatedly make advances toward him, and he never took the hint.
When in the company of friends, Akihiko is very much the big-brother figure. He is constantly checking up on the younger members of SEES to make sure they weren't neglecting their studies, or helping where he can with homework and the like. He will occasionally crack a joke, but his attempts at humor usually fall flat. He tries to be as good a role model as possible, but can be easily manipulated when someone phrases what he would consider a really bad idea in terms of a challenge. He often gets roped into the antics of Junpei - a fellow SEES member - into doing things he normally wouldn't. When talked into these situations, he's quick to get flustered or even panic depending on just how far out of his normal comfort zone he's straying.
Throughout his live, Akihiko has lost many people close to him. He and his sister were orphaned at an extremely early age, his sister later died in a fire at their orphanage, his best friend - Shinjiro Aragaki - died protecting another friend, and then his girlfriend at the time sacrificed herself to save the world from a Death Goddess. How he handled these losses slightly changed over time, but the basic procedure is the same. He begins to internalize the loss as somehow being his fault, leading him to chastise himself for not being strong enough to protect them. He then begins to train harder than ever, until he is close to collapsing from exhaustion. With the death of Shinjiro, however, he realized that his training was an attempt to run away and distance himself from others so as not to be hurt when something happened again. After this realization, he copes with loss quite a bit better. He came to terms with why and how both Shinjiro and Minako sacrificed themselves, though keeping up his training - though not to the extremes he would push himself before - as pledges to them that he wasn't going to let similar things happen to anyone else if he could help it.
All in all, Akihiko is an extremely sensitive and sentimental young man. He cherishes his friends above all, going so far as to think of them as extended family, and would gladly do anything for each and every one of them. His rough exterior was originally an attempt to distance himself from others to keep from getting hurt if something should happen, but he has since done away with that line of thinking. The aloof air and rough exterior is now more of a byproduct of his near obsessive training regimen and challenge-oriented outlook. He has accepted that he will eventually lose some of the people he cares for, and while he strives to protect them with all his power, he has learned to cherish every moment he can get as well.
Background: http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Akihiko_Sanada