Amu is revered as having a 'cool and spicy' personality: that being, she remains calm in any situation, she stands up for people with a non-attention seeking attitude, and says 'cool' things in front of people her own age. Thus, she's fairly popular even though on the surface she seems rather cold and impersonal.
Truth is, Amu's really not anything like that at all. Ever since she transferred into the school, the class took her appearance as a fact that she was 'cool and spicy', so Amu tried to adjust herself into a character that they wanted her to be. Underneath it all, she's a shy, slightly over-eccentric twelve year old with a bit of a stubborn streak, which usually comes out if she's embarrassed and doesn't want to admit it. She's also very terrified of anything occult, so if things like ghosts, vampires, aliens, and other scary things are involved, most of which she refuses to believe are even real and she'll spazz and freak out. She is very easily flustered and socially awkward when interacting with others so whenever she doesn’t know what to say and is nervous of what others will think of her, Amu will try to cover it up by defaulting to her facade personality so that her true personality isn’t revealed thus maintaining her image.
Amu's kind to mostly everyone, and is also fairly naive and a bit gullible as shown when she bought the whole thing about Nadeshiko and Nagihiko being twins, despite how that was a complete lie. She gets flustered easily and lacks self confidence, and when she wants to act how she truly is, she fusses that it's 'not in her character' and usually gets depressed from it but ever since she obtained her own guardian characters and eventually joined the Seiyo Elementary School Guardians she has been getting a bit better at acting herself more as the series progresses while she tries to find out more about her would-be self.
It's not that she dislikes her outer character, it's more like she thinks she has to act that way in order to be a better role model and a responsible person so that her younger sister Ami has someone to look up to. Sometimes she does wish she could just be the kid but in reality she thinks people would dislike her for her real self so she does continue to act like this even with her family. Even her style of clothing which her mom chooses for her reflects this and this is why these initial misunderstandings happened when she first started school at Seiyo Elementary school.
Outside of her own family, the relationships she has with various people throughout the series have gradually helped her come to terms with how to like her true self. Hotori Tadase has made quite a bit impact on her life as he is her first main love interest due to his prince-like outer character. Even though he initially rejected her feelings and only likes her when she is character transformed as "Amulet Heart", he is still someone she feels very strongly about and even admires as a person. She often acts very fangirl like around him and he is the only one she addresses with the "kun" honorific since she addresses the majority of her friends just by their first name. He is one of the reasons why she joined the guardians because it was upon learning he had a wish he wanted to grant upon finding the Embryo that she decided to help him and join the Guardians too. As she learnt more about her responsiblities as Guardian Joker and purifying heart eggs it is clear that Amu had very strong feelings regarding people's dreams. As far as she's concerned, no one should tamper with such a precious thing, and risk destroying it that being why she was against Easter's ideals.
Speaking of Easter, yet another important person in her life is Tsukiyomi Ikuto, who is actually a part of this organization (though not by his choice, which Amu doesn't find out until later in the series). Her first encounter with him doesn't really give her the best impression of him, in the least. She thinks she a weird cat cosplay pervert not to mention that he flirtatious, knows where she lives, is very touchy-feely, and often calls her a pervert for blushing when he gets too close. As a result, Amu is constantly being flustered around him and yelling at him because his teasing aggravates her so much. It doesn't help that she finds him to be very cute and gradually develops feelings for him, all of which she denies. Finding out he works for Easter leaves her very conflicted on how to feel about him because despite all the teasing, he's rescued her countless number of times and if he's in the wrong he would bring her snacks to apologize. Usually it's around him that her true personality is drawn out since he's one of the few people to know the real Amu. It's not something she understands why just yet and despite the fact they are supposed to be enemies they've grown to be quite close as the series progresses. It's all one big confusing mess for Amu, and yet she's still trying to learn more about Ikuto. There's something about him that really makes her want to understand him and though he's one of the last people to confess to her eventually Ikuto becomes one of Amu's most important people that she cares about alongside Tadase. He was always there for her, and she came to eventually realize and come to terms with the fact he really understood her underneath it all.
Next there is Hoshina Utau who is, in fact, Ikuto's sister who just happens to be in love with him as Amu found out when Utau went straight out and kissed him. She works for Easter for Ikuto's sake so that his wish can be grated but she plays a major role in Amu's life since her lost X-Character (Dia) goes to Utau who's using her powers to take people's heart eggs. Utau and Amu are alike in a lot of ways in and often times Amu wishes she were as confident and as cool as Utau is because she likes and even says he admires her despite the fact they're enemies. Having one of her would-be selves get turned like that really took a toll on her since she refused to tell anyone about it in fear that she would get kicked out of the guardians. However, when her friends still stood by her and helped her out it made her a bit more reassured that she has amazing friends who would do anything for her. The fact that Utau thought Amu would steal Ikuto away from her, there was a a bit of a one sided rivalry between them but eventually they become close friends and Utau even entrusted Amu to save Ikuto when he later gets controlled by Easter.
In addition, the other guardians in their group have also influenced her for the better and made her come out of her shell a bit, so to speak. Fujisaki Nadeshiko (who we later find out is Nagehiko) is one of the first people to approach her to get her to join the Guardians and offered her hand in friendship (after some bribery attempts). She's always cheered Amu on in her crush on Tadase, and has just been there in general as a listening ear or her love life or otherwise and someone to have fun girl talk with. Nadeshiko was her first best friend in the series and she was essentially like a support system for Amu as she tried to figure things out about her true self. Even when she met Nagihiko he played a similar role in her life (if only because they are one in the same, despite how Amu thinks they are twins and has a slight crush on Nagehiko). Normally she isn’t one to just blurt out how she feels to people she just met, but she even states that she felt comfortable around both of them and finds them easy to talk with about her problems.
Souma Kukai is the former Jack's chair of the guardians since he has recently graduated from Seiyo Elementary school. He has always been able to cheer Amu up, either by being a dork or by offering some sage advice from time to time. He's also very energetic, and isn't above hauling her from place to place, laughing all the way. Most of the cracky adventures and messes Amu gets into are because of him and even though she did have a brief crush on him, she sees him as a reliable older brother and is happy to be given the chance to hang out with him again whenever they meet.
Lastly, there would be Mashiro Rima and Sanjo Kairi who are the are new guardians she gets acquainted with. It's after meeting and becoming friend with Rima that she tries to attempt to act more like herself and try to move past her outer character. Kairi is someone who turns out to be workin as a spy from within in the guardians by Easter but overall Amu views him as a class-president type character and is stunned by his ability to be organized and how intelligent he is for only being just two years younger than her. After Amu convinces him he's a good person and turns them back to their side, he surprises her by being the first person to confess to her. This has a big impact on her because though she already has someone she likes (Tadase), she is flustered and embarrassed simply by the fact if it was the first confession she had gotten so it was a lot to take in.
Abilities: Amu's abilities come from her her guardian characters, there are two thing she is able to do which include 'Character Change' and 'Character Transformation'. The former gives her a complete change in personality. Amu has the Humpty Lock which also enables her to do the latter that is bit more powerful and gives her special abilities depending on the guardian character, since Amu has four of them, this varies giving her a number of character changes and character transformations.
Ran: Character change → Amu's cross hairclip changes into a red heart shape at first. She becomes a lot more honest, athletic and outgoing too. She also gains the additional ability in which wings can be generated on her ankles to make her fly. Character transformation → Amulet Heart. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Ran wears.
Miki: Character change → Amu's cross hairclip changes into a blue spades shape at first. She becomes sharp, level headed and good at anything creativity and is usually very sincere (and acts, in some respects, similar to Amu normally, though is slightly more stubborn) Character transformation → Amulet Spade. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Miki wears.
Suu: Character change → Amu's cross hairclip changes into a a green clover at first. She becomes better at domestic tasks such as cooking, even with limited ingredients in addition it causes her to act very girly, caring and sensitive. Character transformation → Amulet Clover. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Suu wears.
Dia Character change → The manga doesn't exactly reveal this since Dia mostly stays in her egg. Character transformation → Amulet Dia. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Dia wears.
Amu has various other transformation, as she is shown to be have to character transform with Iru and Eru, who are both Utau's guardian characters, changing into Amulet Devil and Amulet Angel respectively.
Lastly, she does have one final transformation called Amulet Fortune which is a combined transformation with all her guardian characters in which the outfit she wears is like a bridal gown.
Given that she does have the Humpty Lock, she has the unique ability to be able to on take on X-Eggs and unlock negative hearts to purify them. Both her guardian characters and the lock need to present for her to do any of this otherwise she's just an ordinary girl and the lock is essentially an ordinary piece of jewelry otherwise which she wears around her neck.
Sample Entry:Here is one example @ gargleblasted or you can just browse through her tag here for the game.
Amu Hinamori || Shugo Chara! || Unreserved
Amu is revered as having a 'cool and spicy' personality: that being, she remains calm in any situation, she stands up for people with a non-attention seeking attitude, and says 'cool' things in front of people her own age. Thus, she's fairly popular even though on the surface she seems rather cold and impersonal.
Truth is, Amu's really not anything like that at all. Ever since she transferred into the school, the class took her appearance as a fact that she was 'cool and spicy', so Amu tried to adjust herself into a character that they wanted her to be. Underneath it all, she's a shy, slightly over-eccentric twelve year old with a bit of a stubborn streak, which usually comes out if she's embarrassed and doesn't want to admit it. She's also very terrified of anything occult, so if things like ghosts, vampires, aliens, and other scary things are involved, most of which she refuses to believe are even real and she'll spazz and freak out. She is very easily flustered and socially awkward when interacting with others so whenever she doesn’t know what to say and is nervous of what others will think of her, Amu will try to cover it up by defaulting to her facade personality so that her true personality isn’t revealed thus maintaining her image.
Amu's kind to mostly everyone, and is also fairly naive and a bit gullible as shown when she bought the whole thing about Nadeshiko and Nagihiko being twins, despite how that was a complete lie. She gets flustered easily and lacks self confidence, and when she wants to act how she truly is, she fusses that it's 'not in her character' and usually gets depressed from it but ever since she obtained her own guardian characters and eventually joined the Seiyo Elementary School Guardians she has been getting a bit better at acting herself more as the series progresses while she tries to find out more about her would-be self.
It's not that she dislikes her outer character, it's more like she thinks she has to act that way in order to be a better role model and a responsible person so that her younger sister Ami has someone to look up to. Sometimes she does wish she could just be the kid but in reality she thinks people would dislike her for her real self so she does continue to act like this even with her family. Even her style of clothing which her mom chooses for her reflects this and this is why these initial misunderstandings happened when she first started school at Seiyo Elementary school.
Outside of her own family, the relationships she has with various people throughout the series have gradually helped her come to terms with how to like her true self. Hotori Tadase has made quite a bit impact on her life as he is her first main love interest due to his prince-like outer character. Even though he initially rejected her feelings and only likes her when she is character transformed as "Amulet Heart", he is still someone she feels very strongly about and even admires as a person. She often acts very fangirl like around him and he is the only one she addresses with the "kun" honorific since she addresses the majority of her friends just by their first name. He is one of the reasons why she joined the guardians because it was upon learning he had a wish he wanted to grant upon finding the Embryo that she decided to help him and join the Guardians too. As she learnt more about her responsiblities as Guardian Joker and purifying heart eggs it is clear that Amu had very strong feelings regarding people's dreams. As far as she's concerned, no one should tamper with such a precious thing, and risk destroying it that being why she was against Easter's ideals.
Speaking of Easter, yet another important person in her life is Tsukiyomi Ikuto, who is actually a part of this organization (though not by his choice, which Amu doesn't find out until later in the series). Her first encounter with him doesn't really give her the best impression of him, in the least. She thinks she a weird cat cosplay pervert not to mention that he flirtatious, knows where she lives, is very touchy-feely, and often calls her a pervert for blushing when he gets too close. As a result, Amu is constantly being flustered around him and yelling at him because his teasing aggravates her so much. It doesn't help that she finds him to be very cute and gradually develops feelings for him, all of which she denies. Finding out he works for Easter leaves her very conflicted on how to feel about him because despite all the teasing, he's rescued her countless number of times and if he's in the wrong he would bring her snacks to apologize. Usually it's around him that her true personality is drawn out since he's one of the few people to know the real Amu. It's not something she understands why just yet and despite the fact they are supposed to be enemies they've grown to be quite close as the series progresses. It's all one big confusing mess for Amu, and yet she's still trying to learn more about Ikuto. There's something about him that really makes her want to understand him and though he's one of the last people to confess to her eventually Ikuto becomes one of Amu's most important people that she cares about alongside Tadase. He was always there for her, and she came to eventually realize and come to terms with the fact he really understood her underneath it all.
Next there is Hoshina Utau who is, in fact, Ikuto's sister who just happens to be in love with him as Amu found out when Utau went straight out and kissed him. She works for Easter for Ikuto's sake so that his wish can be grated but she plays a major role in Amu's life since her lost X-Character (Dia) goes to Utau who's using her powers to take people's heart eggs. Utau and Amu are alike in a lot of ways in and often times Amu wishes she were as confident and as cool as Utau is because she likes and even says he admires her despite the fact they're enemies. Having one of her would-be selves get turned like that really took a toll on her since she refused to tell anyone about it in fear that she would get kicked out of the guardians. However, when her friends still stood by her and helped her out it made her a bit more reassured that she has amazing friends who would do anything for her. The fact that Utau thought Amu would steal Ikuto away from her, there was a a bit of a one sided rivalry between them but eventually they become close friends and Utau even entrusted Amu to save Ikuto when he later gets controlled by Easter.
In addition, the other guardians in their group have also influenced her for the better and made her come out of her shell a bit, so to speak. Fujisaki Nadeshiko (who we later find out is Nagehiko) is one of the first people to approach her to get her to join the Guardians and offered her hand in friendship (after some bribery attempts). She's always cheered Amu on in her crush on Tadase, and has just been there in general as a listening ear or her love life or otherwise and someone to have fun girl talk with. Nadeshiko was her first best friend in the series and she was essentially like a support system for Amu as she tried to figure things out about her true self. Even when she met Nagihiko he played a similar role in her life (if only because they are one in the same, despite how Amu thinks they are twins and has a slight crush on Nagehiko). Normally she isn’t one to just blurt out how she feels to people she just met, but she even states that she felt comfortable around both of them and finds them easy to talk with about her problems.
Souma Kukai is the former Jack's chair of the guardians since he has recently graduated from Seiyo Elementary school. He has always been able to cheer Amu up, either by being a dork or by offering some sage advice from time to time. He's also very energetic, and isn't above hauling her from place to place, laughing all the way. Most of the cracky adventures and messes Amu gets into are because of him and even though she did have a brief crush on him, she sees him as a reliable older brother and is happy to be given the chance to hang out with him again whenever they meet.
Lastly, there would be Mashiro Rima and Sanjo Kairi who are the are new guardians she gets acquainted with. It's after meeting and becoming friend with Rima that she tries to attempt to act more like herself and try to move past her outer character. Kairi is someone who turns out to be workin as a spy from within in the guardians by Easter but overall Amu views him as a class-president type character and is stunned by his ability to be organized and how intelligent he is for only being just two years younger than her. After Amu convinces him he's a good person and turns them back to their side, he surprises her by being the first person to confess to her. This has a big impact on her because though she already has someone she likes (Tadase), she is flustered and embarrassed simply by the fact if it was the first confession she had gotten so it was a lot to take in.
Abilities: Amu's abilities come from her her guardian characters, there are two thing she is able to do which include 'Character Change' and 'Character Transformation'. The former gives her a complete change in personality. Amu has the Humpty Lock which also enables her to do the latter that is bit more powerful and gives her special abilities depending on the guardian character, since Amu has four of them, this varies giving her a number of character changes and character transformations.
Ran:
Character change → Amu's cross hairclip changes into a red heart shape at first. She becomes a lot more honest, athletic and outgoing too. She also gains the additional ability in which wings can be generated on her ankles to make her fly.
Character transformation → Amulet Heart. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Ran wears.
Miki:
Character change → Amu's cross hairclip changes into a blue spades shape at first. She becomes sharp, level headed and good at anything creativity and is usually very sincere (and acts, in some respects, similar to Amu normally, though is slightly more stubborn)
Character transformation → Amulet Spade. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Miki wears.
Suu:
Character change → Amu's cross hairclip changes into a a green clover at first. She becomes better at domestic tasks such as cooking, even with limited ingredients in addition it causes her to act very girly, caring and sensitive.
Character transformation → Amulet Clover. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Suu wears.
Dia
Character change → The manga doesn't exactly reveal this since Dia mostly stays in her egg.
Character transformation → Amulet Dia. Her appearance and outfit mimics that of what Dia wears.
Amu has various other transformation, as she is shown to be have to character transform with Iru and Eru, who are both Utau's guardian characters, changing into Amulet Devil and Amulet Angel respectively.
Lastly, she does have one final transformation called Amulet Fortune which is a combined transformation with all her guardian characters in which the outfit she wears is like a bridal gown.
Given that she does have the Humpty Lock, she has the unique ability to be able to on take on X-Eggs and unlock negative hearts to purify them. Both her guardian characters and the lock need to present for her to do any of this otherwise she's just an ordinary girl and the lock is essentially an ordinary piece of jewelry otherwise which she wears around her neck.
Sample Entry: Here is one example @
More examples would be her journal entries for