Magic Draft Application
PLAYER INFORMATIONNAME: Snarky
AGE: 21
JOURNAL: sargent_snarky
AIM/PLURK/EMAIL: AIM: sargentsnarky, plurk: http://www.plurk.com/sargentsnarky
CURRENT CHARACTERS: N/A
CHARACTER INFORMATIONSERIES: Persona 3 (it should be noted that there are three versions of this game - the original version, an updated re-release called Persona 3: FES, and a second updated re-release with added alternate female protagonist, entitled Persona 3 Portable. While the overall plot is the same between all three, there are some differences in details, and for reference, I am basing this Minato primarily off of FES, because that is the version with which I am most familiar.)
NAME: Minato Arisato / 有里 湊 (Technically he doesn't have a "canon" name, as it's up to the player to name him, but this is the name he is given in the manga based off of Persona 3, so that is what I and most of fandom goes with for his name.)
RACE: Human
AGE: 17
CANON POINT: post end-game;;
REFERENCES: Megami Tensei Wiki article on the Persona 3 Protagonist
From there, if necessary, you can click through links to a general Persona 3 summary and what not.
It should be noted that as a silent protagonist, his personality and many exact details of his life are entirely up to the player, though of course things can be inferred from what actions we do see him take and by what answer choices are even available in dialogue trees. Consequently, I've done a lot of gap filling with his back story, personality and quirks. If you'd like anything clarified, please let me know, and I'll be more than happy to give any explanations necessary.
One important note that I should make, however, is that I tend to assume that the female protagonist available Persona 3 Portable is his twin sister, and that the difference between the male version of the story and the female version of the story is that they're slight alternate universes of each other wherein one or the other of the twins died with their parents, and the other one lived on. That is, in Minato's version of events, his twin sister died along with his parents ten years prior to the start of the game, and in the female protagonist's version of events, Minato was the one who died. This is not an uncommon fanon assumption, particularly because through dialogue choices and interactions with in game characters, the two don't seem to be precise gender flips of each other but actual different characters who just happen to follow the same main path and share the same ultimate fate.
GENDER: M
APPEARANCE: Although he has horrible posture, often slouching and wandering around with his hands in his pockets, Minato is, as remarked upon by several of the people he interacts with in his canon, actually rather easy on the eyes, even if he does hide half his face behind his long dark blue bangs, often leaving only one grey eye to peek out, usually with a very neutral expression. Although it is not unheard of him to smile or otherwise show his emotions openly, he is quite easy going and incredibly difficult to ruffle, and if he is upset, he is prone to swallow it and continue to maintain his calm, collected demeanor until such time as it suits himself and the situation at hand to be otherwise. ... which is a long-winded way of saying that most often, he will be seen with a neutral expression or at the least, very subdued emotions.
In any event, despite his atrocious posture and relatively slim appearance, he is actually quite fit, as might be expected given the amount of running around, stair climbing and fighting he (and the rest of SEES) has done over the past school year in their periodic nightly explorations of Tartarus - not to mention the athletic team he is also a part of (kendo, swimming or track, depending on the player's choices; for what it's worth, I go with kendo for my headcanon). Despite his active life, however, he is often to be seen with his headphones on, totally absorbed in whatever music he happens to have put on his mp3 player - at least, until he gets to Hogwarts, where unfortunately such technology fails to function (and wouldn't get transported with him, anyway).
PERSONALITY & HOUSE REQUESTS:
One of Minato Arisato's chief defining traits is adaptability. Just as he is able to summon many different personas, he is also able to adapt how he acts and what he says to the situation at hand. Consequently, he bears traits that would probably make him suitable for all four houses and he would have no qualms about being sorted into any of them, though I believe the two that fit him best are Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, though I have no preference between the two of them.
Quiet and calm by nature, Minato is a rather difficult person to ruffle, as he takes just about everything in stride -- and even when he is angered, he is quiet capable of maintaining rationality and control. Because of how understated he is with emotions, it can be easy at times to think him cold, aloof and uncaring. It is true that in the past he has had a tendency to distance himself from others and that even now, he remains reserved, preferring not to talk about himself or his past unless necessary, but the emotional distance he maintains is more for his own protection and out of long habit than because he doesn't care about people. Because he does care about people and does crave friendship and closeness, even if he doesn't openly admit it.
The reasons for his reticence are as follows: Minato has been an orphan since the age of six, and it can be inferred by his homeroom teacher's comment about him moving around a lot that he has been bumped around a lot either between relatives and/or the foster system. However, since no relatives are mentioned (aside from his deceased parents), even if he began living with a relative, quite probably by the time the game takes place, he is in the foster system. My headcanon holds that he was initially placed in the care of his grandparents, but they then died as well, and so he was then shuffled through the foster care system, and I hold this headcanon, because there are two other characters in Persona 3 who are said to have grown up in an orphanage in Iwatodai, the city Minato is from. If no one immediately took him in following the death of his parents, then it seems likely he would have been at least temporarily placed in the care of the orphanage, yet there is no indication that this happened.
But anyway, the point is that due to his frequent moving around, he has never really had the chance to form roots anywhere or develop much in the way of friends - and that he did, in fact, move around so much implies to me that he never really fit in anywhere and quite possibly had some very bad experiences and very bad fits either with foster families or with schools he attended. Moreover, during all this time, every midnight he continued to experience the Dark Hour, even if he didn't know what it was, and the lack of having anyone to whom he could talk about this without being regarded as insane was a further barrier to forming connections with people.
In consequence, he developed strategies for dealing with a lack of connection and a lack of family, and these strategies largely involved withdrawing and forming a barrier around himself. The trope 'headphones equals isolation' holds well for him, because aside from when he is at the beach or engaged in sports practice, he is never seen without his headphones and music player. Music was a coping device for him and a way to drown things out and protect himself. And furthermore, he learned that keeping himself to himself was the easiest way to fit in places. The result of this now is his aforementioned reticence and also, he is a very good listener and very good at simply going with the flow with other people, letting them take the lead in personal relationships and then following their cues, whether they realize they're giving them or not. This is both a strength and a flaw in that it makes it easy for him to get along with others, but sometimes he can wind up enabling them, particularly when he tells them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Moreover, it is rare for him to assert himself if he is being wronged in some way - instead he simply takes it and moves on. Nevertheless, he usually tends to be more straightforward than not, and if he lies or neglects to tell someone something, it is never out of cruelty or malice.
Moreover, he's good at repressing his own emotional responses for the sake of getting things done and for thinking about things calmly and logically. In addition. he is capable of stepping forward and taking the lead effectively when necessary (as he does when leading fellow members of SEES).
But how does he fit into Hogwarts?
Gryffindor: Even if he is quieter and less brash or flashy than many Gryffindors, Minato certainly has the courage and the ability for self-sacrifice that are defining characteristics of Gryffindor - after all, he does sacrifice himself to become the Great Seal that keeps Nyx from ending all life; it is not merely that he dies but that he actually becomes the seal for however long it takes humanity to stop wishing for death, and he does this fully aware that there is no going back, but he has no regrets. He knows he is the only one in a position to stop The Fall, and he does not mind. After all, what was it they were fighting for, if not for this? He was happy enough to hang on to life just long enough to fulfill the promise he and his friends made to meet on the rooftop of the school on graduation day, if they survived everything.
Ravenclaw: Despite the turmoil that is his life and despite having a whole mess of things to balance during his last year, Minato nevertheless did not let academics slip by the wayside. Rather, he kept up with his work (even if he did sleep through class from time to time) and actually managed to top his exams. He is intelligent, but intelligence alone wouldn't help him if he weren't also diligent about studying. The same preparedness and planning also goes into his leadership of the forays into Tartarus. Even if Fuuka is the one who scans the enemies and tells him their weaknesses, it is ultimately up to Minato to call the shots, direct his party members and strategize with his own menagerie of personas, as well. It takes a mixture of wisdom and creativity to pull this off successfully. Moreover, he further expresses a creative side by partaking in the art club at school (or the music club, depending on player choices; I default to the art club because I picture music as a more private thing for Minato and I tend to imagine that he might have taken up drawing for something to do during the Dark Hour sometimes; electricity and consequently his music player don't work during that hour, you see).
COMMUTER DETAILS: Untapped. He just got done saving his own world. He's not about to go trying to disrupt another.
POSITION: Student
ABILITIES & POWERS:
CANON
Periodically spending nights climbing a seemingly endless tower (It's actually has only 273 floors.) and fighting monsters all the while has left Minato a bit more skilled at fighting for his life than most teenagers his age, and while he doesn't have very much experience fighting people, he's pretty handy with a sword where monsters are concerned. As this sort of thing is mostly non-magical in nature, it's not really going to change when he arrives in Hogwarts, but it does bring us to the main method by which he fought the shadows and the very thing his native series is named for: the persona.
A persona is a manifestation of a person's psyche wielded by that person for protection - and in the case of Minato and other persona users, this is in a very literal sense, as they make use of their personas to fight creatures called shadows as well as other persona users from time to time. Personas have been said to be shadows - or the suppressed parts of people's thoughts and feelings - that have been faced, accepted and brought under control, though whether this is true of Minato's personas is unclear, for he has the rare ability to make use of multiple personas - an ability called Wild Card. Minato is even further distinguished from other persona users (and even other wild cards) by being able to summon two personas at once to perform something called a Fusion Spell, which is essentially a more powerful spell that makes use of the personas' combined power.
Depending on the Persona Minato has equipped at any given moment, he can cast anything listed here or have it passively active (with the exception of the Tactical Support Spells section and the Spring of Life spell; the former are only available to Fuuka, and the latter only to Junpei). This works with elemental strengths and weaknesses, as well, because whatever persona Minato has active determines what elements he is strong or weak against at any given moment.
HP-VERSE ADAPTATIONS
Given his experience wielding magic in his own world, Minato is in some ways well suited to a place like Hogwarts. Having to make actual incantations to make use of magic will be new, but saying words and making gestures with a wooden stick is no stranger (and actually is probably less strange) than committing mock suicide with an imitation gun. However, although he has had experience with many types of magic, the skills he had at his disposal do not entirely correlate with magical spells here, and indeed many of his spells best match up with hexes, curses and other destructive spells, though he also was just as capable of healing. But unfortunately his strengths and weaknesses do not line up so easily with the transfiguration / charms divide. Still, it can be taken that Minato has a predisposition for magic, though a limited selection of spells would come more naturally to him than others (he has no experience whatsoever with any sort of transfiguration spell that turns one object into another, for instance).
For example, Agi/Agilao/Agidyne,etc. are all spells of varying power and scale that conjure fire, and these are roughly parallel to spells like Incendio and Fiendfyre. However, practice would be required to develop more fine-turned control as opposed to just blasting enemies. Meanwhile spells like Dia/Media/Diarama/Mediarama, etc. are all healing spells, and there is another set of healing spells that deal with removing various 'status effects' all of which should translate to some aptitude for the healing arts, though obviously he will need to study and practice and learn more specific healing techniques. Also, there are a few other beneficial spells that have parallels, such as spells that block magic and physical attacks being parallel to the various protego charms.
However, there is one important connection to note about act of summoning a persona itself. As the persona is a manifestation of the soul that offers protection to its summoner, it is very similar to a patronus in many ways. Therefore, although of course the manner of summoning a patronus is rather different than summoning a persona, I would think his patronus would, instead of taking form as an animal, take the form of his 'ultimate' persona, Messiah.
WAND: Yew, Thestral Tail Hair, 13 inches and Flexible
(I will provide a picture eventually)
WOOD: Yew. Yew is a fitting wood for Minato both because of its physical properties and because of its symbolic ones. Long considered the ideal wood for long bow making, according to the Harry Potter Wiki, "the nature of the wood allows it to withstand compression and is so elastic that it may bend back and forth without losing its integrity." This is very much in line with Minato's own nature, as he is highly adaptable, able to 'bend' to fit whatever situation he finds himself in as necessary, but although he bends, he never once breaks under pressure, instead remaining calm, collected and resilient, even in the face of death -- which brings us to yew's symbolism.
In wand lore, yew "never chooses either a mediocre or a timid owner" of which Minato is neither, being (if his stats page is anything to go by) 'genius', 'charismatic' and 'badass.'* But in more seriousness, yew is associated with death, in part possibly because almost everything about the tree is poisonous, from the sap to the berries. Minato, though probably not poisonous to eat, had Death in the form of the 13th Shadow sealed inside of him when he was six years old and grew up containing Death, just as a yew tree also bears death inside it. Moreover, death was not merely contained within him but also became a part of him, both strengthening his ability to wield multiple personas and shaping his subconscious and thus part of the cause of why he is as he is today. Moreover, the bond he formed with Death inside him manifested in a powerful persona called Thanatos - which is, among other things, the Greek god of peaceful death. But just as a bit of death became a part of him, so too did some of him become a part of Death, endowing this amalgam of shadows with humanity of its own. Thus, Minato forms a sort of bridge between life and death - just as yew can be associated with communion between the living and the dead.
Furthermore, yew also has an association with rebirth and transcendence of death. By fusing Orpheus (Minato's first Persona and incidentally, a mythological figure well known for venturing into the underworld on a quest of his own) with the aforementioned Thanatos, Minato forms the persona Messiah, which is heavily implied by the end credits to be his 'ultimate' persona - and rightly so, for Minato ultimately falls under the messianic archetype, given that he willingly sacrifices his own life to become The Great Seal to prevent Nyx from destroying all life. But despite this sacrifice, he is able to come back for a brief time to fulfill a promise to meet his friends one last time, at which point he falls asleep and dies. Still, based on dialogue from a character in Persona 4, there is an implication that he might someday be released from the seal, though whether this means a real death for him or whether it means he would be brought back to life remains to be seen. But the point is, he is both associated with an archetype often involving sacrificial death and rebirth and he also actually undergoes this himself.
(And one final side note on Yew - it is said to be known for being good with curses, which is also fitting because many of the useful skills Minato may make use of with his Personas are very much like curses... instant death spells in particular come to mind.)
Thus, if the most appropriate wood for him isn't Yew, then I don't know what is. As a point of irony, however, yew is an incredibly long-lived tree, while Minato is very short-lived, dying at age 17.
*In all seriousness, if you are unfamiliar with Persona 3, your main character has three 'social stats' that can be increased over the course of the game: academics, charm and courage. And genius, charismatic and badass are the respective maximum levels.
CORE: There are three options here, and I will provide full justifications for each of them and leave it up to you, the mods, to determine which one is acceptable. This is because the Harry Potter World core that I think fits him best is an unconventional one and, I think, probably unacceptable, given its uniqueness. Also, of objects from his home world that could be transmuted into wand cores, there are two the come to mind that would be equally likely, in my opinion. One is the actual magical 'weapon' he uses for the duration of the game, and the other is a 'tarot card' he receives during his final battle that allows him to accomplish the impossible.
1. Thestral Tail Hair: Rowling states that the hair of a Thestral is "a powerful and tricky substance that can be mastered only by a witch or wizard capable of facing death." In addition to the earlier remarks on Minato's connection with death, I should speak of a particularly important plot point in Persona 3.
The Death that was sealed inside Minato, as mentioned, gained some humanity, and it accordingly eventually took the form of a teenager named Ryoji. Ryoji did not initially remember who and what he was, but when the memories returned, he realized that his presence in the world would bring Nyx down and cause all life to be extinguished. Upset and not wanting the friends he had made as a human to suffer needlessly, in his eyes (for he did not think there was any hope of actually averting this - truly, The Fall was inevitable), Ryoji gave Minato a choice. If Minato killed his human form, then that would delay The Fall, eliminate the Dark Hour and take away everyone's memories of all of this, enabling them to live out their last days carefree and happy instead of counting down the days and waiting in horrible fear and anticipation for the end. Rather than killing Ryoji, however, and taking this easy way out, Minato chose instead to face impending death head on, to accept it and to fight to the end. And in the end, facing Nyx and finding her unstoppable, Minato was able to calmly face death and to use the powers of the bonds he had formed to transcend it, giving himself up to keep everyone else from dying. Minato accepts his mortality and moves beyond death - and arguably this is one of the main points the game tries to drive home: memento mori. Remember you will die. But the end of life isn't the point of living, and by the end certainly, Minato realizes this.
Why is this important? Because it demonstrates how Minato is someone quite capable of facing death head on and accepting it. He knows that he is mortal, and he does not strive for immortality or despair in the face of death. And these are all qualities important in being a 'Master of Death' capable of making use of a Thestral Tail Hair. Moreover, it seems as though a Thestral core is very powerful, which is fitting, given that in the end, Minato literally has the power of The Universe at his disposal (see The Universe below for more on that).
2. Evoker: This is the 'weapon' with which Minato and other persona users in Persona 3 summon their respective personas. Resembling a handgun, it is held to the head and fired in a like manner, and with a shattering noise and a spray of blue glass-like light, the persona is summoned, manifesting in the air above or around the summoner. With this as the wand's core, it's possible that Minato's spell casting would have a slight bluish tinge to it, at least whenever light is involved. More than that, however, this would render the wand well suited to both voiced and unvoiced spell work, as although characters (Minato included) often (but not always; in fact Minato often just makes a wordless noise - a grunt or shout or suchlike, probably in response to however it actually feels to 'evoke' one's persona) shout out 'Persona!' or the actual names of whatever persona they are summoning, this isn't actually necessary, and they never actually call out the name of whatever spell or ability they then use.
3. The Universe (Major Arcana XXI): Created from the bonds Minato made over the course of his last year, The Universe is the most powerful of all Arcana. It symbolizes not only the ultimate end but also a new beginning, and as it is the last Arcana Minato makes use of before he dies, it is in that way fitting for it to become the core of his wand, as he embarks upon this new journey in Hogwarts. The Universe quite literally contains all the possibility in the universe (indeed, one character even says to Minato, "Nothing is outside the realm of possibility for you, now." once it has been made), and in card form, its face is completely blank, lacking any sort of design as is normal for the rest of the tarot deck, perhaps symbolic of the sheer possibilities it holds. However, in order to fully make use of its power to avert the end of the world, Minato must sacrifice his own life (and in game mechanics show the cost of its casting to be all of Minato's hit points in representation of this), proving that its immense power and possibility does not come without a price. But it should be noted that when it is activated, The Universe is not incredibly flashy or elaborate - Minato simply calls forth the power, lifting his arm and pointing at Nyx, as a brilliant light suffuses him and the area. Nothing more, save that when he first activates the power, the same blue light that emerges when he uses a persona also emerges then. The net sum of all this is that a wand with this as its core would be powerful but with no particular specialization, and in contrast to dragon heart strings, spellwork performed with it would not be at all flamboyant or flashy; also it would require solid strength of will to wield - a wand with this as its core would not pay heed to the weak of heart. If Minato ever faltered in his resolve and lost his confidence, it is likely that the wand would cease to work for him.
Whichever of these three possibilities you mods would prefer to see, I am fine with that, though my preference would be either the thestral hair or the universe, especially given that at the canon point I pull him from, technically he's dead and so would not have his evoker in his physical possession anymore.
FLEXIBILITY: Flexible. Though Minato easily "bends" to adapt to whatever situation he is in, he is not easily broken, and when he is determined to do something, nothing can stop him. He does, after all, hold the power of The Universe in his hands. With his wand, therefore, this translates to a very flexible wand, but it is a flexibility with an inner rigidity and durability that prevents it from being bent so far it loses its integrity. And anyway, yew is inherently flexible.
LENGTH: Yes, I even justify the length; the wand is the most fun part of the application :P. 13". Thirteen is, of course, often associated with bad luck and doom and all that, and it's arguable that Minato had a bit of bad luck being on Moonlight Bridge when Aigis and Death happened to be duking it out. More than that, however, in the tarot deck's major arcana, Death is number thirteen, and in Persona 3, Shadows come associated with major arcana I through XIII. Furthermore, 1 + 3 = 4, a number associated with death in China and Japan.
However, this wand length also has a twist of irony, as Minato is truly a very subdued, quiet person, and long wands are normally associated with people with a 'large' personality. Also, at 5'7", he is fairly average, if not a bit short, in his height (though to be fair, it's entirely possible for a teenage boy to still be growing at age 17). Still, shooting himself in the head with a gun-like device to call forth his magic in his home world seems dramatic enough that perhaps the length may still be suitable.
MISC.: When it comes to Social Links he formed and who he dated in "canon", I'll leave that in limbo to be determined as necessary depending on if any castmates turn up or not. :) I default tend to assume maxed social links for simplicity, but I'm flexible, because it's not necessarily "realistic," per se, to go with the idea of dating five or six different girls in the course of a year.
ORIENTATION: Bisexual & biromantic, but with a preference for women. Although we only see Minato have relationships with girls in his canon, that could simply be because only girls actually sought to take their relationship in a romantic direction, and I therefore tend to roll with the idea that although he has a definite preference for females, he would not averse to engaging in relationships with males, if it seemed like a guy he was friends with wanted to take it in that direction. Minato secretly craves affection, even if he acts emotionally distant, and he's not exactly picky about who he gets it from, just so long as he has some degree of trust for them.
WRITING SAMPLESFIRST PERSON:
[Quill]
[There are a few detailed sketches on the page of what appear to be, to those familiar with such technology at least, a pair of headphones and an mp3 player. The headphones are further garnished with a few musical notes drawn alongside to at least give a hint of their function to any who might not know. And in any event, that the drawings are broadcast seems entirely deliberate on Minato's part, for as soon as he is finished with the sketches, he moves on to writing.]
Is there anyone here who happens to be skilled in constructing magical devices? I have been informed that electronics don't function here, but based on these Commuters and other things around the school, it seems like magic should be able to replicate straightforward functions.
If someone could either show me or point me in the right direction for both learning how to make and obtaining the appropriate materials for creating what I have drawn above, I would be most grateful.
In case the drawings aren't clear, they are meant to be a music player and headphones. ... though if anyone happens to know of an already existing magical device or spell with the same purpose, I'd be happy to learn about that, as well.
Thank you.
- Arisato Minato
THIRD PERSON:
Though Minato very much doubted that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, strange and fascinating as it was, would prove the exception to his record of never spending more than a year at any particular school, he was rather amused to find that despite its focus being on magic and its location apparently being in Europe somewhere, there were so many things about it that were exactly the same as every other school he'd been to. There were uniforms, student dormatories, athletic teams (though this Quidditch was certainly new), piles of homework, the ever-churning gossip mill, and, of course, at least one teacher with a knack for delivering his lectures in the most sleep-inducing way possible. That Professor Binns was a ghost was irrelevant to the fact that History of Magic seemed to be the dullest class Hogwarts had to offer.
Still, even if Minato hadn't really expected to wind up attending a school again, he liked it here well enough and he knew that if he wanted to make it easiest on himself, he'd have to pay attention and do well in this class in spite of the soporific drone of its spectral instructor. And yet... the longer he spent here, in the warm, stuffy classroom, the harder and harder he found it to remain awake. Even doodling offered no help in paying attention, as his drawings along the edge of his notes were growing steadily sloppier.
After the third time his nodding head nearly landed on his inkwell before he could catch it, Minato decided enough was enough, and it was time to give in. Carefully setting his quill aside and closing the ink jar, he moved them to the side of his desk before finally letting his forehead thud gently onto his History of Magic textbook. He was pretty certain he'd be more productive staying up a little later to learn whatever material was covered in this class, anyway.
The last thought that passed through his head before he drifted off was that he either needed to convince someone to serve stronger coffee at breakfast or research an anti-drowsiness charm.
(ETA: correcting a couple typos and fixing wand section.)
AGE: 21
JOURNAL: sargent_snarky
AIM/PLURK/EMAIL: AIM: sargentsnarky, plurk: http://www.plurk.com/sargentsnarky
CURRENT CHARACTERS: N/A
CHARACTER INFORMATIONSERIES: Persona 3 (it should be noted that there are three versions of this game - the original version, an updated re-release called Persona 3: FES, and a second updated re-release with added alternate female protagonist, entitled Persona 3 Portable. While the overall plot is the same between all three, there are some differences in details, and for reference, I am basing this Minato primarily off of FES, because that is the version with which I am most familiar.)
NAME: Minato Arisato / 有里 湊 (Technically he doesn't have a "canon" name, as it's up to the player to name him, but this is the name he is given in the manga based off of Persona 3, so that is what I and most of fandom goes with for his name.)
RACE: Human
AGE: 17
CANON POINT: post end-game;;
REFERENCES: Megami Tensei Wiki article on the Persona 3 Protagonist
From there, if necessary, you can click through links to a general Persona 3 summary and what not.
It should be noted that as a silent protagonist, his personality and many exact details of his life are entirely up to the player, though of course things can be inferred from what actions we do see him take and by what answer choices are even available in dialogue trees. Consequently, I've done a lot of gap filling with his back story, personality and quirks. If you'd like anything clarified, please let me know, and I'll be more than happy to give any explanations necessary.
One important note that I should make, however, is that I tend to assume that the female protagonist available Persona 3 Portable is his twin sister, and that the difference between the male version of the story and the female version of the story is that they're slight alternate universes of each other wherein one or the other of the twins died with their parents, and the other one lived on. That is, in Minato's version of events, his twin sister died along with his parents ten years prior to the start of the game, and in the female protagonist's version of events, Minato was the one who died. This is not an uncommon fanon assumption, particularly because through dialogue choices and interactions with in game characters, the two don't seem to be precise gender flips of each other but actual different characters who just happen to follow the same main path and share the same ultimate fate.
GENDER: M
APPEARANCE: Although he has horrible posture, often slouching and wandering around with his hands in his pockets, Minato is, as remarked upon by several of the people he interacts with in his canon, actually rather easy on the eyes, even if he does hide half his face behind his long dark blue bangs, often leaving only one grey eye to peek out, usually with a very neutral expression. Although it is not unheard of him to smile or otherwise show his emotions openly, he is quite easy going and incredibly difficult to ruffle, and if he is upset, he is prone to swallow it and continue to maintain his calm, collected demeanor until such time as it suits himself and the situation at hand to be otherwise. ... which is a long-winded way of saying that most often, he will be seen with a neutral expression or at the least, very subdued emotions.
In any event, despite his atrocious posture and relatively slim appearance, he is actually quite fit, as might be expected given the amount of running around, stair climbing and fighting he (and the rest of SEES) has done over the past school year in their periodic nightly explorations of Tartarus - not to mention the athletic team he is also a part of (kendo, swimming or track, depending on the player's choices; for what it's worth, I go with kendo for my headcanon). Despite his active life, however, he is often to be seen with his headphones on, totally absorbed in whatever music he happens to have put on his mp3 player - at least, until he gets to Hogwarts, where unfortunately such technology fails to function (and wouldn't get transported with him, anyway).
PERSONALITY & HOUSE REQUESTS:
One of Minato Arisato's chief defining traits is adaptability. Just as he is able to summon many different personas, he is also able to adapt how he acts and what he says to the situation at hand. Consequently, he bears traits that would probably make him suitable for all four houses and he would have no qualms about being sorted into any of them, though I believe the two that fit him best are Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, though I have no preference between the two of them.
Quiet and calm by nature, Minato is a rather difficult person to ruffle, as he takes just about everything in stride -- and even when he is angered, he is quiet capable of maintaining rationality and control. Because of how understated he is with emotions, it can be easy at times to think him cold, aloof and uncaring. It is true that in the past he has had a tendency to distance himself from others and that even now, he remains reserved, preferring not to talk about himself or his past unless necessary, but the emotional distance he maintains is more for his own protection and out of long habit than because he doesn't care about people. Because he does care about people and does crave friendship and closeness, even if he doesn't openly admit it.
The reasons for his reticence are as follows: Minato has been an orphan since the age of six, and it can be inferred by his homeroom teacher's comment about him moving around a lot that he has been bumped around a lot either between relatives and/or the foster system. However, since no relatives are mentioned (aside from his deceased parents), even if he began living with a relative, quite probably by the time the game takes place, he is in the foster system. My headcanon holds that he was initially placed in the care of his grandparents, but they then died as well, and so he was then shuffled through the foster care system, and I hold this headcanon, because there are two other characters in Persona 3 who are said to have grown up in an orphanage in Iwatodai, the city Minato is from. If no one immediately took him in following the death of his parents, then it seems likely he would have been at least temporarily placed in the care of the orphanage, yet there is no indication that this happened.
But anyway, the point is that due to his frequent moving around, he has never really had the chance to form roots anywhere or develop much in the way of friends - and that he did, in fact, move around so much implies to me that he never really fit in anywhere and quite possibly had some very bad experiences and very bad fits either with foster families or with schools he attended. Moreover, during all this time, every midnight he continued to experience the Dark Hour, even if he didn't know what it was, and the lack of having anyone to whom he could talk about this without being regarded as insane was a further barrier to forming connections with people.
In consequence, he developed strategies for dealing with a lack of connection and a lack of family, and these strategies largely involved withdrawing and forming a barrier around himself. The trope 'headphones equals isolation' holds well for him, because aside from when he is at the beach or engaged in sports practice, he is never seen without his headphones and music player. Music was a coping device for him and a way to drown things out and protect himself. And furthermore, he learned that keeping himself to himself was the easiest way to fit in places. The result of this now is his aforementioned reticence and also, he is a very good listener and very good at simply going with the flow with other people, letting them take the lead in personal relationships and then following their cues, whether they realize they're giving them or not. This is both a strength and a flaw in that it makes it easy for him to get along with others, but sometimes he can wind up enabling them, particularly when he tells them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Moreover, it is rare for him to assert himself if he is being wronged in some way - instead he simply takes it and moves on. Nevertheless, he usually tends to be more straightforward than not, and if he lies or neglects to tell someone something, it is never out of cruelty or malice.
Moreover, he's good at repressing his own emotional responses for the sake of getting things done and for thinking about things calmly and logically. In addition. he is capable of stepping forward and taking the lead effectively when necessary (as he does when leading fellow members of SEES).
But how does he fit into Hogwarts?
Gryffindor: Even if he is quieter and less brash or flashy than many Gryffindors, Minato certainly has the courage and the ability for self-sacrifice that are defining characteristics of Gryffindor - after all, he does sacrifice himself to become the Great Seal that keeps Nyx from ending all life; it is not merely that he dies but that he actually becomes the seal for however long it takes humanity to stop wishing for death, and he does this fully aware that there is no going back, but he has no regrets. He knows he is the only one in a position to stop The Fall, and he does not mind. After all, what was it they were fighting for, if not for this? He was happy enough to hang on to life just long enough to fulfill the promise he and his friends made to meet on the rooftop of the school on graduation day, if they survived everything.
Ravenclaw: Despite the turmoil that is his life and despite having a whole mess of things to balance during his last year, Minato nevertheless did not let academics slip by the wayside. Rather, he kept up with his work (even if he did sleep through class from time to time) and actually managed to top his exams. He is intelligent, but intelligence alone wouldn't help him if he weren't also diligent about studying. The same preparedness and planning also goes into his leadership of the forays into Tartarus. Even if Fuuka is the one who scans the enemies and tells him their weaknesses, it is ultimately up to Minato to call the shots, direct his party members and strategize with his own menagerie of personas, as well. It takes a mixture of wisdom and creativity to pull this off successfully. Moreover, he further expresses a creative side by partaking in the art club at school (or the music club, depending on player choices; I default to the art club because I picture music as a more private thing for Minato and I tend to imagine that he might have taken up drawing for something to do during the Dark Hour sometimes; electricity and consequently his music player don't work during that hour, you see).
COMMUTER DETAILS: Untapped. He just got done saving his own world. He's not about to go trying to disrupt another.
POSITION: Student
ABILITIES & POWERS:
CANON
Periodically spending nights climbing a seemingly endless tower (It's actually has only 273 floors.) and fighting monsters all the while has left Minato a bit more skilled at fighting for his life than most teenagers his age, and while he doesn't have very much experience fighting people, he's pretty handy with a sword where monsters are concerned. As this sort of thing is mostly non-magical in nature, it's not really going to change when he arrives in Hogwarts, but it does bring us to the main method by which he fought the shadows and the very thing his native series is named for: the persona.
A persona is a manifestation of a person's psyche wielded by that person for protection - and in the case of Minato and other persona users, this is in a very literal sense, as they make use of their personas to fight creatures called shadows as well as other persona users from time to time. Personas have been said to be shadows - or the suppressed parts of people's thoughts and feelings - that have been faced, accepted and brought under control, though whether this is true of Minato's personas is unclear, for he has the rare ability to make use of multiple personas - an ability called Wild Card. Minato is even further distinguished from other persona users (and even other wild cards) by being able to summon two personas at once to perform something called a Fusion Spell, which is essentially a more powerful spell that makes use of the personas' combined power.
Depending on the Persona Minato has equipped at any given moment, he can cast anything listed here or have it passively active (with the exception of the Tactical Support Spells section and the Spring of Life spell; the former are only available to Fuuka, and the latter only to Junpei). This works with elemental strengths and weaknesses, as well, because whatever persona Minato has active determines what elements he is strong or weak against at any given moment.
HP-VERSE ADAPTATIONS
Given his experience wielding magic in his own world, Minato is in some ways well suited to a place like Hogwarts. Having to make actual incantations to make use of magic will be new, but saying words and making gestures with a wooden stick is no stranger (and actually is probably less strange) than committing mock suicide with an imitation gun. However, although he has had experience with many types of magic, the skills he had at his disposal do not entirely correlate with magical spells here, and indeed many of his spells best match up with hexes, curses and other destructive spells, though he also was just as capable of healing. But unfortunately his strengths and weaknesses do not line up so easily with the transfiguration / charms divide. Still, it can be taken that Minato has a predisposition for magic, though a limited selection of spells would come more naturally to him than others (he has no experience whatsoever with any sort of transfiguration spell that turns one object into another, for instance).
For example, Agi/Agilao/Agidyne,etc. are all spells of varying power and scale that conjure fire, and these are roughly parallel to spells like Incendio and Fiendfyre. However, practice would be required to develop more fine-turned control as opposed to just blasting enemies. Meanwhile spells like Dia/Media/Diarama/Mediarama, etc. are all healing spells, and there is another set of healing spells that deal with removing various 'status effects' all of which should translate to some aptitude for the healing arts, though obviously he will need to study and practice and learn more specific healing techniques. Also, there are a few other beneficial spells that have parallels, such as spells that block magic and physical attacks being parallel to the various protego charms.
However, there is one important connection to note about act of summoning a persona itself. As the persona is a manifestation of the soul that offers protection to its summoner, it is very similar to a patronus in many ways. Therefore, although of course the manner of summoning a patronus is rather different than summoning a persona, I would think his patronus would, instead of taking form as an animal, take the form of his 'ultimate' persona, Messiah.
WAND: Yew, Thestral Tail Hair, 13 inches and Flexible
(I will provide a picture eventually)
WOOD: Yew. Yew is a fitting wood for Minato both because of its physical properties and because of its symbolic ones. Long considered the ideal wood for long bow making, according to the Harry Potter Wiki, "the nature of the wood allows it to withstand compression and is so elastic that it may bend back and forth without losing its integrity." This is very much in line with Minato's own nature, as he is highly adaptable, able to 'bend' to fit whatever situation he finds himself in as necessary, but although he bends, he never once breaks under pressure, instead remaining calm, collected and resilient, even in the face of death -- which brings us to yew's symbolism.
In wand lore, yew "never chooses either a mediocre or a timid owner" of which Minato is neither, being (if his stats page is anything to go by) 'genius', 'charismatic' and 'badass.'* But in more seriousness, yew is associated with death, in part possibly because almost everything about the tree is poisonous, from the sap to the berries. Minato, though probably not poisonous to eat, had Death in the form of the 13th Shadow sealed inside of him when he was six years old and grew up containing Death, just as a yew tree also bears death inside it. Moreover, death was not merely contained within him but also became a part of him, both strengthening his ability to wield multiple personas and shaping his subconscious and thus part of the cause of why he is as he is today. Moreover, the bond he formed with Death inside him manifested in a powerful persona called Thanatos - which is, among other things, the Greek god of peaceful death. But just as a bit of death became a part of him, so too did some of him become a part of Death, endowing this amalgam of shadows with humanity of its own. Thus, Minato forms a sort of bridge between life and death - just as yew can be associated with communion between the living and the dead.
Furthermore, yew also has an association with rebirth and transcendence of death. By fusing Orpheus (Minato's first Persona and incidentally, a mythological figure well known for venturing into the underworld on a quest of his own) with the aforementioned Thanatos, Minato forms the persona Messiah, which is heavily implied by the end credits to be his 'ultimate' persona - and rightly so, for Minato ultimately falls under the messianic archetype, given that he willingly sacrifices his own life to become The Great Seal to prevent Nyx from destroying all life. But despite this sacrifice, he is able to come back for a brief time to fulfill a promise to meet his friends one last time, at which point he falls asleep and dies. Still, based on dialogue from a character in Persona 4, there is an implication that he might someday be released from the seal, though whether this means a real death for him or whether it means he would be brought back to life remains to be seen. But the point is, he is both associated with an archetype often involving sacrificial death and rebirth and he also actually undergoes this himself.
(And one final side note on Yew - it is said to be known for being good with curses, which is also fitting because many of the useful skills Minato may make use of with his Personas are very much like curses... instant death spells in particular come to mind.)
Thus, if the most appropriate wood for him isn't Yew, then I don't know what is. As a point of irony, however, yew is an incredibly long-lived tree, while Minato is very short-lived, dying at age 17.
*In all seriousness, if you are unfamiliar with Persona 3, your main character has three 'social stats' that can be increased over the course of the game: academics, charm and courage. And genius, charismatic and badass are the respective maximum levels.
CORE: There are three options here, and I will provide full justifications for each of them and leave it up to you, the mods, to determine which one is acceptable. This is because the Harry Potter World core that I think fits him best is an unconventional one and, I think, probably unacceptable, given its uniqueness. Also, of objects from his home world that could be transmuted into wand cores, there are two the come to mind that would be equally likely, in my opinion. One is the actual magical 'weapon' he uses for the duration of the game, and the other is a 'tarot card' he receives during his final battle that allows him to accomplish the impossible.
1. Thestral Tail Hair: Rowling states that the hair of a Thestral is "a powerful and tricky substance that can be mastered only by a witch or wizard capable of facing death." In addition to the earlier remarks on Minato's connection with death, I should speak of a particularly important plot point in Persona 3.
The Death that was sealed inside Minato, as mentioned, gained some humanity, and it accordingly eventually took the form of a teenager named Ryoji. Ryoji did not initially remember who and what he was, but when the memories returned, he realized that his presence in the world would bring Nyx down and cause all life to be extinguished. Upset and not wanting the friends he had made as a human to suffer needlessly, in his eyes (for he did not think there was any hope of actually averting this - truly, The Fall was inevitable), Ryoji gave Minato a choice. If Minato killed his human form, then that would delay The Fall, eliminate the Dark Hour and take away everyone's memories of all of this, enabling them to live out their last days carefree and happy instead of counting down the days and waiting in horrible fear and anticipation for the end. Rather than killing Ryoji, however, and taking this easy way out, Minato chose instead to face impending death head on, to accept it and to fight to the end. And in the end, facing Nyx and finding her unstoppable, Minato was able to calmly face death and to use the powers of the bonds he had formed to transcend it, giving himself up to keep everyone else from dying. Minato accepts his mortality and moves beyond death - and arguably this is one of the main points the game tries to drive home: memento mori. Remember you will die. But the end of life isn't the point of living, and by the end certainly, Minato realizes this.
Why is this important? Because it demonstrates how Minato is someone quite capable of facing death head on and accepting it. He knows that he is mortal, and he does not strive for immortality or despair in the face of death. And these are all qualities important in being a 'Master of Death' capable of making use of a Thestral Tail Hair. Moreover, it seems as though a Thestral core is very powerful, which is fitting, given that in the end, Minato literally has the power of The Universe at his disposal (see The Universe below for more on that).
2. Evoker: This is the 'weapon' with which Minato and other persona users in Persona 3 summon their respective personas. Resembling a handgun, it is held to the head and fired in a like manner, and with a shattering noise and a spray of blue glass-like light, the persona is summoned, manifesting in the air above or around the summoner. With this as the wand's core, it's possible that Minato's spell casting would have a slight bluish tinge to it, at least whenever light is involved. More than that, however, this would render the wand well suited to both voiced and unvoiced spell work, as although characters (Minato included) often (but not always; in fact Minato often just makes a wordless noise - a grunt or shout or suchlike, probably in response to however it actually feels to 'evoke' one's persona) shout out 'Persona!' or the actual names of whatever persona they are summoning, this isn't actually necessary, and they never actually call out the name of whatever spell or ability they then use.
3. The Universe (Major Arcana XXI): Created from the bonds Minato made over the course of his last year, The Universe is the most powerful of all Arcana. It symbolizes not only the ultimate end but also a new beginning, and as it is the last Arcana Minato makes use of before he dies, it is in that way fitting for it to become the core of his wand, as he embarks upon this new journey in Hogwarts. The Universe quite literally contains all the possibility in the universe (indeed, one character even says to Minato, "Nothing is outside the realm of possibility for you, now." once it has been made), and in card form, its face is completely blank, lacking any sort of design as is normal for the rest of the tarot deck, perhaps symbolic of the sheer possibilities it holds. However, in order to fully make use of its power to avert the end of the world, Minato must sacrifice his own life (and in game mechanics show the cost of its casting to be all of Minato's hit points in representation of this), proving that its immense power and possibility does not come without a price. But it should be noted that when it is activated, The Universe is not incredibly flashy or elaborate - Minato simply calls forth the power, lifting his arm and pointing at Nyx, as a brilliant light suffuses him and the area. Nothing more, save that when he first activates the power, the same blue light that emerges when he uses a persona also emerges then. The net sum of all this is that a wand with this as its core would be powerful but with no particular specialization, and in contrast to dragon heart strings, spellwork performed with it would not be at all flamboyant or flashy; also it would require solid strength of will to wield - a wand with this as its core would not pay heed to the weak of heart. If Minato ever faltered in his resolve and lost his confidence, it is likely that the wand would cease to work for him.
Whichever of these three possibilities you mods would prefer to see, I am fine with that, though my preference would be either the thestral hair or the universe, especially given that at the canon point I pull him from, technically he's dead and so would not have his evoker in his physical possession anymore.
FLEXIBILITY: Flexible. Though Minato easily "bends" to adapt to whatever situation he is in, he is not easily broken, and when he is determined to do something, nothing can stop him. He does, after all, hold the power of The Universe in his hands. With his wand, therefore, this translates to a very flexible wand, but it is a flexibility with an inner rigidity and durability that prevents it from being bent so far it loses its integrity. And anyway, yew is inherently flexible.
LENGTH: Yes, I even justify the length; the wand is the most fun part of the application :P. 13". Thirteen is, of course, often associated with bad luck and doom and all that, and it's arguable that Minato had a bit of bad luck being on Moonlight Bridge when Aigis and Death happened to be duking it out. More than that, however, in the tarot deck's major arcana, Death is number thirteen, and in Persona 3, Shadows come associated with major arcana I through XIII. Furthermore, 1 + 3 = 4, a number associated with death in China and Japan.
However, this wand length also has a twist of irony, as Minato is truly a very subdued, quiet person, and long wands are normally associated with people with a 'large' personality. Also, at 5'7", he is fairly average, if not a bit short, in his height (though to be fair, it's entirely possible for a teenage boy to still be growing at age 17). Still, shooting himself in the head with a gun-like device to call forth his magic in his home world seems dramatic enough that perhaps the length may still be suitable.
MISC.: When it comes to Social Links he formed and who he dated in "canon", I'll leave that in limbo to be determined as necessary depending on if any castmates turn up or not. :) I default tend to assume maxed social links for simplicity, but I'm flexible, because it's not necessarily "realistic," per se, to go with the idea of dating five or six different girls in the course of a year.
ORIENTATION: Bisexual & biromantic, but with a preference for women. Although we only see Minato have relationships with girls in his canon, that could simply be because only girls actually sought to take their relationship in a romantic direction, and I therefore tend to roll with the idea that although he has a definite preference for females, he would not averse to engaging in relationships with males, if it seemed like a guy he was friends with wanted to take it in that direction. Minato secretly craves affection, even if he acts emotionally distant, and he's not exactly picky about who he gets it from, just so long as he has some degree of trust for them.
WRITING SAMPLESFIRST PERSON:
[Quill]
[There are a few detailed sketches on the page of what appear to be, to those familiar with such technology at least, a pair of headphones and an mp3 player. The headphones are further garnished with a few musical notes drawn alongside to at least give a hint of their function to any who might not know. And in any event, that the drawings are broadcast seems entirely deliberate on Minato's part, for as soon as he is finished with the sketches, he moves on to writing.]
Is there anyone here who happens to be skilled in constructing magical devices? I have been informed that electronics don't function here, but based on these Commuters and other things around the school, it seems like magic should be able to replicate straightforward functions.
If someone could either show me or point me in the right direction for both learning how to make and obtaining the appropriate materials for creating what I have drawn above, I would be most grateful.
In case the drawings aren't clear, they are meant to be a music player and headphones. ... though if anyone happens to know of an already existing magical device or spell with the same purpose, I'd be happy to learn about that, as well.
Thank you.
- Arisato Minato
THIRD PERSON:
Though Minato very much doubted that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, strange and fascinating as it was, would prove the exception to his record of never spending more than a year at any particular school, he was rather amused to find that despite its focus being on magic and its location apparently being in Europe somewhere, there were so many things about it that were exactly the same as every other school he'd been to. There were uniforms, student dormatories, athletic teams (though this Quidditch was certainly new), piles of homework, the ever-churning gossip mill, and, of course, at least one teacher with a knack for delivering his lectures in the most sleep-inducing way possible. That Professor Binns was a ghost was irrelevant to the fact that History of Magic seemed to be the dullest class Hogwarts had to offer.
Still, even if Minato hadn't really expected to wind up attending a school again, he liked it here well enough and he knew that if he wanted to make it easiest on himself, he'd have to pay attention and do well in this class in spite of the soporific drone of its spectral instructor. And yet... the longer he spent here, in the warm, stuffy classroom, the harder and harder he found it to remain awake. Even doodling offered no help in paying attention, as his drawings along the edge of his notes were growing steadily sloppier.
After the third time his nodding head nearly landed on his inkwell before he could catch it, Minato decided enough was enough, and it was time to give in. Carefully setting his quill aside and closing the ink jar, he moved them to the side of his desk before finally letting his forehead thud gently onto his History of Magic textbook. He was pretty certain he'd be more productive staying up a little later to learn whatever material was covered in this class, anyway.
The last thought that passed through his head before he drifted off was that he either needed to convince someone to serve stronger coffee at breakfast or research an anti-drowsiness charm.
(ETA: correcting a couple typos and fixing wand section.)