Which party members are the most important to the story and back story of persona 3?

not koromaru and not ken

Aigis, Mitsuru, and Akihiko/Yukari, I guess.

Should we be avoiding spoilers with this, or elaborating...?

Pulling from the top of my head, I think Aigis, Mitsuru and Akihiko. Probably in that order. And maybe not even Akihiko.

i don't think you should avoid spoilers, if people come into a thread with this title expecting not to be spoiled then what are they even doing?

Robot Lady, Mitsuru, Yukari

People saying Akihiko are crazy. Aigis, Junpei, for sure, then probably either Mitsuru or Yukari.

Aigis, Mitsuru and Akihiko, as they're the only three that sick around for the sequel. I also found them to be a pretty good team.

1. Aigis
2. Junpei
3. Mitsuru

I'd say them.

I guess Junpei would be up there for his relationship with a specific character, but I don't know if that quite trumps Mitsuru's role both in the game and strong connection to the backstory.

@pyromagnestir said:

Agreed.

Aigis, Mitsuru and Akihiko.

They were fighting shadows before the start of the game, they're the ones who's primary goal in life is to rid the world of shadows, they're my Persona 3 party of choice and they're the ones who returned for Persona 4 Arena.

I didn't think the others were as relevant in the P3 story or as concerned with shadows after the end.

@flstyle: I can see why Akhiko is debatable, because despite him being around for awhile he really doesn't do a whole lot in the story. He's just kind of along for the ride because of Mitsuru.

Agreed.

Aigis, Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Yukari are the most important. Junpei is important, but he doesn't have anywhere near as much back story as the first four I mentioned.

Junpei plays a key role in the Strega sub-plot, though.

From most to least important:

Aigis-Mitsuru-Yukari-Junpei

And that is why Junpei is important. But his relevance to the story doesn't start until after the game has already begun. The others are important before, during, and after the game.

Junpei's backtory may not be heavily intertwined with the game's events, but his actions make him important. Certainly at the very least on par Akihiko, who's relevance to the plot is largely justified by the presence of Shinjiro (who is also really the only reason Ken is in the game) despite his past interactions with Mitsuru.

@hailinel: Yeah, I'll agree. Having more backstory doesn't instantly make you more important to the story. Junpei's lack of important backstory is at least a wash with Akihiko's general lack of importance to the story overall.

Shinjiro.