3. Aigis
Aigis is the heart of Persona 3. She is introduced as a shadow-fighting android who is strangely obsessed with protecting the main character, but. as she grows to care for the other members of SEES, she can no longer adhere to her coding—to fight shadows above all else.
Once she breaks free of her directive, Aigis has to figure out what being alive means to her. She attempts to integrate into society by pretending to be a high school student alongside her teammates, but ultimately realizes that caring for others is what gives her life meaning. In Persona 3’s final moments, she tells the main character that she’s realized there doesn’t have to be a grand meaning to your life. Protecting someone, holding them close, and staying by their side can be enough to give life purpose.
Similar to Shinji, Aigis becomes a symbol by the end of Persona 3, though she doesn’t have to die to prove it. She hasn’t been molded by society in the same way most people are, and when she pulls back all the expectations and preconceived notions about what should be important to her, she’s able to figure out what actually matters and how she wants to spend her life. And if purpose to you feels like protecting one person, then that’s enough to give life meaning.
