tyom's physical appearance is never fully described. The only known traits are that he is taller along with having a bit darker skin tone than other people his age and having visibly Russian features. Artyom is depicted as a bookish, thoughtful, and well-meaning character, whose over-contemplation of things tends to keep him philosophical, but his inexperience often leaves him helpless (for which he often feels guilty over). Most of this is justified by his almost hermetic life in VDNKh - since his knowledge about the rest of the metro is rather rudimentary.

Artyom likely has Musophobia (fear of rats) because when he sees one he panics and experiences nausea. He was also terrified when he saw a hallucination of Hunter as a rat. The cause of his musophobia is probably rooted in what happened to his mother and station as a child.