Persona 4/Characters

'''The Characters of Persona 4. Spoilers abound!'''

The Entire Team

 * Amateur Sleuths: Every member of the team save for Naoto, who's actually a Kid Detective.
 * Badass Crew
 * Berserk Button: Hurting Nanako is this for all of them because she basically cheered up everyone when they were depressed. When she got hurt, they couldn't forgive the person who did this to her because she was only an innocent child. She had no right to be involved in the cases.
 * Dare to Be Badass
 * Fire-Forged Friends: It helps that part of their Character Development, both as individuals and as a team, includes learning each other's deepest shames and accepting themselves and each other for who they are.
 * Five-Man Band: The early group, later broken.
 * The Hero: The Protagonist.
 * The Lancer: Yosuke.
 * The Smart Guy: Teddie.
 * The Big Guy: Chie.
 * The Chick: Yukiko.
 * The Sixth Ranger: Kanji, Rise and Naoto.
 * It's Personal: Everyone on the team is either a victim or the friend of a victim, giving them all a personal reason to hunt the killer down.
 * The Power of Friendship: Plays a major role in plot and gameplay.
 * More to the point, the main character gets his strength from this.
 * Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The team consists of a second-year transferee, the class clown, a tomboyish kung-fu fangirl, the heiress to a prestigious hot springs inn, an infamous delinquent, a pop idol, a celebrated teenage detective, and some bear-like creature; all (save for the bear-creature) are in high school.
 * They even call themselves this at one point, albeit to the kid detective's offense at being called a misfit.
 * Reconstruction: Thanks to the Midnight Channel, The entire investigation team is painfully aware of the various flaws in their character types. Much of their S-Links are spent accepting and overcoming these flaws.
 * Red Baron: The trailers for Persona 4 Arena have the Lemony Narrator giving insulting nicknames to each of the Team's members in the trailers. Naturally, they complain about this.
 * Specs of Awesome: Get these once they acquire their Personas.
 * Took a Level In Badass: They transform from a bunch of ordinary teenagers (some who are celebrities) with deep-seated issues to an effective fighting team with supernatural powers, that not only solves a murder case, catches the killer, but also . Also, when their Personas evolve.
 * True Companions
 * Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World
 * You Meddling Kids: They truly are the bane of the main villain.
 * You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: Pretty much the reason they can't tell anyone about their after-school activities.

The Protagonist/Yu Narukami (AKA Souji Seta)


"Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese) and Johnny Yong Bosch (English)"

The silent protagonist who can be named by the player at the beginning. His affinity is with the Fool Arcana, which gives him the ability to call forth multiple Personas, starting with Izanagi. He uses primarily two-handed weapons, including long swords, katanas, baseball bats and golf clubs as weapons, has exclusive access to the Velvet Room, and occasionally encounters Oracle Cards in his mind that give him new Personas and also grants an Arcana Chance. He summons his Persona by crushing the card with his bare hand. The manga gave him the name Souji Seta, whereas the anime and the forthcoming fighting game will name him Yu Narukami, making this his Canon Name.

His parents moved a lot from town to town, forcing him to constantly change schools. Then, due to his parents having to work overseas, he has to move to the rural town of Inaba to stay with his uncle, police officer Ryotaro Dojima, and his six-year-old daughter Nanako. In his new school, he quickly made friends with class clown Yosuke Hanamura and kung-fu fangirl Chie Satonaka. Soon enough he learns about the 'Midnight Channel' and discovers his ability to insert his body to the television. This leads him into a quest to uncover the truth behind a series of inexplicable murders, in the process gaining a lot of friends and, when he has to leave Inaba a year later, lots of fond memories from an otherwise forgettable town. In the True Ending, his ultimate Persona is revealed to be.

He's one of the Investigation Team's three founding members (along with Yosuke and Chie) and its de facto leader (unlike the protagonist of Persona 3). He sets the pace for the investigation, handles finances, and enacts all major decisions before the rest of the Team can act on them; he also leads the forays into the Midnight Channel and commands the group in battle. Also, the team never enters the Channel unless he is present.

"Yosuke: Sweat Drop] Narukami, you're pretty thick-skinned. Narukami: Huh?"
 * Badass: And how! He can reprimand Morooka with "You calling me a loser?", summons Persona not by attacking his card with his Weapon of Choice, but by crushing it with his hands, can score with almost every girl he meets, unravel the mystery behind the murders in the Normal Ending, and.
 * It also helps that he's probably the first Megami Tensei protagonist to get . Thanks to him, the deaths in Inaba were kept to a minimum . In fact, all the casualties are minor characters which, by the franchise's tradition of killing party members (or at least major characters) out of the blue, is a huge difference. It takes a very special kind of Badass to make that possible.
 * Exaggerated in the anime: Yu basically takes out the bosses singlehandedly. It's gotten to the point where some Imageboards joke that he's obviously on a New Game+.
 * Fridge Brilliance comes into play when you remember that Yu gets his strength from The Power of Friendship. If he didn't have the backing of his friends and teammates, he'd be screwed
 * Badass Bookworm: Seen more prominently in the anime, which features Yu actually commenting on the books he reads.
 * Badass Longcoat: Both his starter Persona, Izanagi, and his ultimate Persona, have one.
 * Battle Aura: Deserves special mention; his Battle Aura is several times larger than those of the rest of the Investigation Team.
 * Beneath Suspicion: Dojima's instincts catch onto you and the investigation team almost immediately, but he can't bring himself to suspect the person who watches over his daughter.
 * Berserk Button: In the anime, the only times we have seen him get noticeably angry are: A.) When  threatened Nanako (Yu scared him away with a Death Glare) and B.) When   declared that his bonds with his friends and family were empty and meaningless.
 * Tranquil Fury: How he expresses his anger. Particularly in episode 23 . It's one of the most chilling scenes in the anime.
 * Big Brother Instinct: Towards Nanako.
 * Big Brother Mentor: The Protagonist adopts this role with several of his Social Link contacts, notably Kanji and Teddie, and to a lesser extent Shu Nakajima and Naoki Konishi.
 * Knight Templar Big Brother:
 * Big Eater: In the anime, Yu apparently likes to order the The Meat Lover's Combo.
 * Bishonen
 * : It doesn't last.
 * Catch Phrase: The anime turns some of the narration's comments from the game into phrases Narukami says, for instance "Let's leave him be" shows up a fair bit.
 * Celibate Hero/Really Gets Around: The Protagonist can be either one or anything in between.
 * Character Development: The personality stats return from Persona 3, except there are now five attributes rather than three: Knowledge, Courage, Diligence, Understanding, and Expression. Maxing them out opens up new Social Links and gives you more dialogue choices.
 * In the anime, Yu starts off as a quiet, reserved, stoic, somewhat shy and unmotivated individual. He gradually begins to open up, showing a kinder, friendlier, yet slighly perverted, but comedic side to his personality. In fact, he eases up on the poker face, smiling more often and showing more reaction to events around him, and takes more initiative in understanding/dealing with the people around him.
 * Chick Magnet: Recognized in the anime. He's called a gigolo by Margaret of all people. Nobody argue about this.
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: If you perform the Social Links, it is almost impossible to stop him from helping others.
 * Parodied in the anime at first, as Yu doesn't so much agree to help people as get volunteered to at an almost alarming rate by others.  However, later episodes play this straight.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Narukami in the anime. Possibly. He's a master of the poker face, so it's hard to tell when he's being sarcastic or serious.
 * The Gadfly: Another possible explanation is that he's well grounded and simply likes to tease his friends by saying outrageous things with a strait face. Take your pick.
 * The Comically Serious: The anime loves doing this with Narukami, as he's amusingly stoic when most people would be either laughing or screaming, such as when he puts Teddie's head back on his body. Yosuke even lampshades it.
 * The Comically Serious: The anime loves doing this with Narukami, as he's amusingly stoic when most people would be either laughing or screaming, such as when he puts Teddie's head back on his body. Yosuke even lampshades it.

"(Narukami sticks his hand onto the TV, only for Teddie to bite it.) Narukami: Something bit me. Chie It left marks! Are you alright?! Yu: I think I'm going to cry. Chie: No you're not."
 * Probably shown best when Yu and Yosuke get knocked into the river for making perverted comments to Yukiko and Chie. Yosuke is laughing and flailing about, while Yu is completely flat faced and falls like a rock.
 * Cool Big Bro: Pretty much every social link with someone who's not older than you, and one you're not romantically interested in.
 * Cool Old Guy: Get turned into an old man briefly in Naoto's dungeon in the anime. Rise leads the other girls in squeeing over him anyway.
 * Cool Shades: He can make a simple glasses into one. Just look at the page cover.
 * Covert Pervert: Some of his text options are pretty perverted.
 * In the anime his response to Shadow Yukiko talking about scoring a hot stud is to remark to Yosuke (coolly) that he wished he had taped it. As of Episode 7, he did start recording it.
 * It's becoming something of a Running Gag that Yu and Yosuke will say something equally perverted, but only Yosuke will get hit for it.
 * Chie actually says at one point that the girls don't find it creepy when it's Yu whose doing it, but it is when the other guys are acting preverted.
 * The "Covert" part has pretty much flown out the window; Yu once delivered a very passionate 30 minute rant as to why the girls should enter a beauty pageant.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * : Well,
 * : Initiated by
 * Deadpan Snarker: Narukami has a very snarky (and a little odd, but funny) sense of humor, with an emphasis on Deadpan; it's hard to tell if he's kidding or not. To provide one example...
 * : Initiated by
 * Deadpan Snarker: Narukami has a very snarky (and a little odd, but funny) sense of humor, with an emphasis on Deadpan; it's hard to tell if he's kidding or not. To provide one example...

"Yu: (completely deadpan) Oops, wrong guy."
 * Extreme Omnivore: You have the option of eating anything you find in the fridge, regardless of how inedible it is (at one point you can even eat a pot of grass.)
 * He does get sick a few times, though.
 * Female Gaze: In the anime, after he summons Izanagi for the first time. The camera pans down his chest as he opens his jacket so he can breathe better. It's, um... impressively distracting.
 * Episode 15, right before the King's Game starts and as it progresses. Yeah...he's pretty ripped.
 * First Kiss: steals his in a moment of Genre Blindness to romance. Unless you date anyone else beforehand.
 * In the anime, he gets his first kiss from Ai instead.
 * The Fool: His Arcana.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Does this to Yosuke in the Manga when he meets his Shadow.
 * This happens in the anime as well; made more awesome as he decks Yosuke in sync with Izanagi as it lands a good punch to Yosuke's Shadow. Then made hilarious by Yu's response:

""Calm the hell down!""
 * Also,.
 * Good People Have Good Sex: Like in Persona 3, you are given the opportunity to sleep with almost any of the girls' whose Social Links you've completed. The scenes are not given explicit detail since this isn't an Eroge, but it's heavily implied that both Yu's are very loving and gentle.
 * Guile Hero: Saves almost everyone around him with words and simple emotional guidance.
 * The Heart
 * Henpecked Boyfriend: In Episode 5 he plays the reluctant rebound-boyfriend for Ai. He's totally whipped.
 * The Hero
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: Or bats, or golf clubs, but mostly swords.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: His weapon of choice in Persona 4 Arena.
 * Hot-Blooded/Blood Knight: He's mostly stoic and calm in conversation but loosens up a bit during fights; shouting and throwing out the occasional swear word.
 * Not So Stoic: After summoning Izanagi for the first time, he can be seen enjoying a taste of his new power.
 * Hyperspace Arsenal: The other characters have easily concealed weapons, with exception to Kanji who could hide some of his weapons in shopping bags but not all of them (i.e. a desk). He doesn't and he carries all of the Shadow parts and useful things you find. The most common suggestion is that the Velvet Room has something to do with that.
 * I Just Want to Have Friends:
 * In-Series Nickname: Yosuke calls him "Partner", Teddie calls him "Sensei", Nanako calls him "Big Bro", etc; in fact, most of the important characters have a different nickname for him, to avoid calling him by whatever name you gave him.
 * Japanese Delinquents: At first it was just a Fan Nickname, but is now officially canon, as in Arena he is described as a "steel siscon banchou!"
 * Even his persona has a Badass Longcoat that gives off this vibe.
 * Jerkass: Most of the dialogue trees in the game have at least one "asshole" option. However, the game discourages you from choosing these, as by doing so, it causes your friends to lose their trust in you, resulting in broken Social Links which leads to depowering your character's Persona growth potential.
 * Dialogue choices tend to push him more into Deadpan Snarker and Obfuscating Stupidity territory.
 * Kindhearted Cat Lover: Shows signs of this if you follow the various 'Feed the Cat' sidequests.
 * That, and he can spend a whole afternoon doing nothing but petting a cat outside his house.
 * Large Ham: Yu has his moments in the anime.
 * Manly Tears:
 * Meaningful Name: "Narukami" means "lightning god", to which Izanagi is of the lightning element. Alternatively, "Narukami" can also mean . Now consider the name of the protagonist's ultimate Persona and the mythology behind it.
 * It also so happens that one of the readings of "Yu" is "quiet".
 * Not sure if it was intentional, but there's a pun in the English language regarding the name "Yu". In the game, the player character could be named and modeled after anyone playing. So, in a sense, "Yu" could be you.
 * The Messiah/The Paragon: He helps almost everyone he meets overcome their deep-seated psychological issues,.
 * Attention is drawn to this by Igor and Margaret in the anime, who refer to Narukami as a "chosen one".
 * Mr. Fanservice: Episode 15. Aw yeah......
 * Nerves of Steel
 * New Transfer Student: Apparently becoming a Signature Style for Persona protagonists, which is justifiable, as it's easy to portray a high school kid with no existing friends or acquaintances, thus avoiding potential problems arising from preexisting Social Links. The manga goes further and implies that he (as Souji) changes school almost every year.
 * Nice Guy: In almost all canons, he is portrayed to be a very kind and caring individual.
 * Official Love Interest: Rise in the Manga.
 * Parental Abandonment: In the game itself, his parents are only mentioned two or three times. However, the manga states that he moves a lot due to their jobs, and implies that his self-reliant nature stems from a lack of their presence in his life (due to always being busy).
 * Precision F-Strike: While he can curse several times throughout the story, one line in particular gets special mention because this is the one time he loses his temper and yells for the first and only time in the entire game....
 * Parental Abandonment: In the game itself, his parents are only mentioned two or three times. However, the manga states that he moves a lot due to their jobs, and implies that his self-reliant nature stems from a lack of their presence in his life (due to always being busy).
 * Precision F-Strike: While he can curse several times throughout the story, one line in particular gets special mention because this is the one time he loses his temper and yells for the first and only time in the entire game....


 * Promotion to Parent: His relationship with Nanako, due to the constant absence of her own father from her life.
 * Punny Name: "Yu Narukami", his name in The Animation and The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, has caused quite a few bad puns among the English fandom involving the pronoun "You".
 * The OP even gets in on it with the stressed line "I believe in you". One imagines it was actually part of the point, with Hello, Insert Name Here causing the characters to refer to him as you, him, sensei, big bro, etc.
 * The Quiet One: In the manga where he is allowed to talk, he (as Souji) is still awfully quiet, only speaking at crucial moments and when he's the one initiating a conversation; it creates quite a parallel to his Silent Protagonist role in the game.
 * In the anime he—as Yu—is portrayed as a calm, composed, and soft-spoken individual.
 * Red Baron: "The Sister Complex Kingpin of Steel" in trailers for Persona 4 Arena.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Yosuke's red.
 * Scary Shiny Glasses/Slasher Smile: The first time he summons Izanagi is a rare completely heroic example of both.
 * Seen here from episode 1 of the anime.
 * Sempai: In contrast to Persona 3's protagonist, he's older than most other characters and gets called this.
 * Second Year Protagonist
 * Serious Business: For Yu, everything. It does not matter if it is solving the case, making origami or eating the rainy day special, he treats them all with the same focus and determination.
 * Silent Protagonist: Averted in his appearances in The Animation and The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena.
 * Stealth Pun/Shout-Out: This must be what the artists of the manga were thinking when they named the Protagonist after Seta Soujiro. That or just coincidence.
 * The Stoic: He never speaks outside battle and often has the option to tell others to calm down; there are only two points in the game where he has the option to become visibly angry. The eyes of his model are pretty cold too.
 * The anime adaptation also depicts him this way. In contrast to the other cast members he (as Narukami) is rarely fazed by extraordinary events, and he almost always keeps a straight face (to the point that it's difficult to tell how serious is about some of the things he says - see Deadpan Snarker). Taken to absurd levels in the school trip episode, when he has the same serious expression plastered on his face as he's tossed over a cliff by Chie and Yukiko
 * Not So Stoic: However, there are plenty of moments where he breaks his stoicism. He often shows when he's concerned or surprised about something, rather friendly during conversations with his friends, and there's a distinctively afraid/shocked tone in his voice when he and his friends stumble into Mayumi's Shadow room during the first. episode. He's also smiles at least once an episode. He may be more of a Sugar and Ice Guy than Stoic.
 * Played for Laughs in Episode 20, when Nanako asks if he and Teddie are perverts. Both of them go Blue with Shock.
 * And, in Episode 21, it's played far more seriously.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: Boy does he look good in that schoolgirl uniform and a wig.
 * The King's Game scene in The Anime of the Game, when he unbuttons his shirt and goes deep straight into Memetic Sex God territory.
 * Superpower Lottery: Let's face it, he's the only character who has access to almost every Persona,
 * Supreme Chef: His friends treat his meals like the best thing they ever ate, he's asked to save the day by Yosuke when the girls are proposing to cook for an event and during this, if the player decides to make the omelette that will please Nanako the best, she's literally blushing with happiness.
 * Can also potentially be a Lethal Chef when cooking school lunches, if the player chooses the wrong options.
 * At one point, you have the option to spray cologne on creme caramel.
 * Talking to Himself: Johnny Yong Bosch voices both him and Adachi.
 * Team Mom/Meido: Think about it. The guy's a good cook, is seen taking care of children in one of his jobs while wearing an apron, and tutoring another kid in another job. Another job has him cleaning, while the other three are housework, not to mention how good of an influence he was in raising Nanako. Let's face it—the guy's the ideal House Husband, bordering on a male Yamato Nadeshiko in these regards... and also one hell of a Badass to boot. How many heroes do you got like that?
 * Real Men Wear Pink
 * Team Chef: Among the Investigation Team members, he is the only one who can put together a good meal as an individual, though this is largely contingent on the player's own cooking skill.
 * Canon in The Animation where Yu is shown to be a pretty good cook.
 * Thousand Origami Cranes: He can volunteer to fold origami cranes for charity as a part time job.
 * The anime promotes this trope into his (as Narukami) hobby when killing time. He's pretty good at it too. He made a crane out of a paper napkin, which is harder to fold than regular paper.
 * Episode 9 shows that Origami Cranes is Serious Business for Narukami.
 * : Part of the reason
 * Visible Silence: There is a whole series of dialogue options which are ellipses (".....") in the early days of the game.
 * Warrior Therapist: Because tailing a serial killer (and incidentally saving the world) doesn't mean you can't save time to deal with the psychological issues of your whole team, your family, half your school and if we consider the Fox path, half the town. The therapy is so good he can end up seven-timing and somehow convinces his uncle that since he's so great, he can marry his own cousin. And let's not get started on all the mancrushes he can start.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Delivered to the entire Investigation Team in the Normal/True route—the only time he gets visibly angry —when the rest are contemplating.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Well, grey-haired. Also, Curtains Match the Window
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Delivered to the entire Investigation Team in the Normal/True route—the only time he gets visibly angry —when the rest are contemplating.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Well, grey-haired. Also, Curtains Match the Window

Yosuke Hanamura


"Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo (Japanese) and Yuri Lowenthal (English)"

Yosuke is a second-year student at Yasogami. Because his father is the manager of Junes, the local department store, he is usually treated as an unofficial complaints box, much to his chagrin. He is the Main Character's best friend and is often the butt of his friends' jokes. Although typically a bit of a Deadpan Snarker, he has a soft spot for Saki Konishi, a third-year and an employee at Junes, whose murder acts as part of his initial motivation to join the Investigation Team. He dual wields various weapons and his Persona is Jiraiya of the Magician Arcanum, which later evolves into Susano-O once the Magician Social Link is complete. His Personas cement his role as the party's Red Mage: Yosuke can use physical attacks and Garu (Wind) magic fairly effectively, and he also has access to support spells that confuse and debuff enemies, augment accuracy and evasion, and provide minor healing.

During a trip to the Midnight Channel and after witnessing the Protagonist's Persona awakening, Yosuke was faced with the horrible truth: Saki has always hated him. When Yosuke refused to admit this, his Shadow emerges and taunts him that he's only being cheerful as a facade and sees everything, including Saki, as a tool to block out his extreme loneliness. Yosuke angrily retorted and it caused the Shadow to reveal its true form, but was eventually defeated by the Protagonist. Encouraged by the Protagonist and Teddie, Yosuke painfully accepts that he did feel that way, but he resolves to get better, which causes the Shadow to turn into his Persona. Yosuke later goes to co-found the Investigation team, along with the Protagonist and Chie.

Yosuke is the team's unspoken second-in-command. He helps coordinate the group alongside the protagonist, and will usually be the one to suggest new courses of action. He has good deductive reasoning (which serves well in the case), but is not the most perceptive of individuals and has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

His Shadow looks like him in a ridiculous ninja outfit, with a giant frog making up his lower body. It represents his resentment towards Inaba, his boredom and his wish for excitement. Aside from the reference to the original character Jiraiya, the frog theme is also a word play. In Japanese, "frog" is pronounced the same as "return" which plays in to Yosuke's desire to leave Inaba.

In his Social Link, Yosuke revealed that he initially hated Inaba, but has grown to love it and despite being hated by Saki, he did genuinely love her. He later reveals that he is jealous of the Protagonist and used the murder case to play hero and hide his insecurities. Yosuke later asks the him to punch him to get rid of his jealousy and they end up in a brawl; Yosuke realizes that he can form genuine, close relationships with people regardless of where he is, and resolves to live his life to the fullest. His Persona then evolves into Susano-O.

"After Yosuke: What kind of creature would do that?! I mean... What IS he? [...] *Sigh* Then again, this hardly the first bizarre thing we've seen..."
 * All Love Is Unrequited: Played with—although he crushes on Saki, she secretly hates him. He's aware, though, that she must have disliked him, though he believes she was a good person at heart and decided that he'll still love her anyway.
 * Anti-Hero: Generally Type II on the Sliding Scale.
 * Mr. Vice Guy: His vices primarily being bored of Inaba and difficulty considering the ramifications of his words and actions, which often leads to Moral Dissonance and his being on the receiving end of Laser-Guided Karma.
 * Badass
 * Heartbroken Badass: Part of his motivation in being a Persona user is kicking the ass of the one who murdered Saki.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Which doubles as Character Development.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: According to some fans he has some early on with Chie in the anime.
 * Berserk Button: Disrespecting Saki or the Protagonist.
 * Beware the Nice Ones:
 * Blow You Away
 * Bishonen
 * Breakout Character: Yosuke stars in his own manga Spin-Off Persona 4: The Magician.
 * Bromantic Foil: To the Protagonist.
 * Butt Monkey: And he knows about this, complaining in the anime than nothing good ever happens to him/the guys of the investigation team.
 * Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: At completely inopportune times.
 * Casanova Wannabe: Has three crushes throughout the game, all of which don't turn out too well—Saki outright hated him, Yukiko shot him down, and Rise only has eyes for the Protagonist.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: When it comes to Rise, at least. When her shadow offers to "bare it all" for her fans, he clearly can't decide whether to be worried or excited.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Demoted to Extra / Flanderization: Yosuke in the anime has much less overall importance than he did in the game, and is much more of a comedic character. This is probably the result of the fact that his role as Exposition Fairy is irrelevant when Narukami can speak for himself.
 * Determinator
 * Dual-Wielding: Whether it's knives, kunai, or wrenches, he will always have one in each hand.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: His Follow-Up Attack.
 * Exposition Fairy: Shares it with others at times, but the trope most consistently applies to him.
 * Face Palm: He does one during the episode 15 of the anime at the nightclub. The situation called for it.
 * Female Gaze: In the anime, quite a lot of shots are focused on his butt.
 * Flanderization: In the Anime. In the game, Yosuke acted as the unofficial mouth-piece for the Protagonist, so he was quite talented at deductive reasoning. This aspect of his character was given to Narukami in the anime, so Yosuke's Butt Monkey and Lovable Sex Maniac aspects have increased instead.
 * Groin Attack: Tends to be given "Critical Hits to the Nads" by Chie.
 * Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?
 * Honor Before Reason
 * Hormone-Addled Teenager
 * Jack of All Trades/The Red Mage: Jiraiya has good buffs, physical skills, Garu spells and an odd healing ability. Towards the end of the game, he (and Jiraiya's successor, Susano-O) begins trending toward Lightning Bruiser, especially with good equipment. His Red Mage status comes with a solid dose of Fridge Brilliance: It's a more literal interpretation of "The Magician."
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Licking the Blade: He does this in the anime. He then claims these are fake. Not that it stops the police from arresting him and Narukami...
 * The Lancer
 * The Not Love Interest
 * Number Two
 * Potty Emergency: He has one when he first discovers the TV World with the Main Character and Chie.
 * Red Baron: "Captain Ressentiment" in trailers for Persona 4 Arena.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to the Protagonist's blue.
 * That Came Out Wrong: Has a knack for spouting out innuendo.
 * The Headphones Go On: Only wears his headphones over his ears in combat.
 * Seen It All: In the later parts of the story starts adopting this attitude towards weird stuff they encounter in the TV world.
 * Seen It All: In the later parts of the story starts adopting this attitude towards weird stuff they encounter in the TV world.


 * Shut UP, Hannibal:
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Yosuke serves as an interesting aversion. He starts out with traits of this, but after Saki's death, he actually ends up as The Lancer.
 * Small Town Boredom:
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Chie.
 * Weapon Twirling: He does this while in battle and in the opening animation. It backfires when he nearly drops his dagger in both.

Chie Satonaka
"Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Tracey Rooney (English), Erin Fitzgerald (English, Persona 4 Arena)"

An upbeat girl with short light-brown hair who usually wears a green athletic jacket decorated with buttons. Her weapon is a pair of greaves. She has an obsession with kung-fu, and even uses them in battle, similar to Lisa Silverman. Her obsession goes so far that she even attacks Yosuke over a martial-arts DVD. Most of the time, she is friendly, cheerful, and energetic, but has a short temper, especially with Yosuke. She, Yukiko and Rise are unskillful cooks, providing normally unpalatable to terribly awful dishes to the crew several times.

Her Persona is Tomoe Gozen of the Chariot Arcanum, a muscular female wearing a yellow outfit reminiscent of Bruce Lee's "Game of Death" costume, wielding a double-bladed naginata. Tomoe Gozen initially learns both physical techniques and Bufu (Ice) spells, but is not that proficient with magic and can only learn mid-level spells; Teddie later becomes the chief Bufu mage. Tomoe evolves into Suzuka Gongen, who is wielding what can only be described as Darth Maul's lightsaber, after completing The Chariot Social Link.

Chie's Shadow takes the form of a long haired, masked dominatrix supported by three pale Chies. The dominatrix has long black hair, similar to Yukiko's. It represents her jealousy of Yukiko's natural gifts and talents, as well as her wish and need of control over Yukiko.

Chie is the third founding member of the Investigation team. While not the smartest of the group, she's very attentive to the discussions and always has her ear to the ground for the latest rumors, gossip, and snippets of info regarding events in Inaba.

Through her Social Link, the Protagonist and Chie become closer through training together at the Samegawa Floodplain. He also learns how Chie and Yukiko first became friends: as children, Chie volunteered to shelter a dog Yukiko found but was unable to bring to her inn due to her parents' disapproval. Over time, the Protagonist learns of how Chie enjoys creating groups and titles for herself, in hopes of being feared by juvenile delinquents and protecting the weak. Hearing from a police officer that high schoolers have been bullying people in the Central Shopping District, Chie and the Protagonist coincidentally help. They first save Chie's middle school friend, who then calls the police. The second time, Chie makes the hoodlums run off just as they attempt to steal from a little boy. Once this occurs, the Protagonist has the option of beginning an intimate relationship with Chie. Depending on what the player decides, Chie will either go to train with the Main Character (friends) or go to his home (romance) and gives him some matching wristbands. Chie's resolve to help others and protect the team, especially the Protagonist, transforms Tomoe Gozen to Suzuka Gongen. She also resolves to train as a police officer under Dojima's guidance.

"Yosuke: The Meat Lover's Combo... Just like it says in the name, you really have to love meat to order it. Kanji: Oh, you talking about that thing at the food court? I wanna try it, but it's always sold out... Yosuke: Don't tell me, did Chie-- D-Don't answer that. I'm not sure I want to know for sure that a friend of mine has the appetite of a starved wolf..."
 * Action Girl
 * An Ice Persona: Though she's more on physical beatdown, so she only learns up to mid-level Bufu skills. Teddie fills in this role more completely once he joins the party.
 * Armed Legs
 * Awesome Yet Practical: Her Follow-Up Attack, Galactic Punt, will instantly kill one enemy Shadow and literally blow them away. It has a 100% chance to hit and even works on mini-bosses.
 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable
 * Badass Pacifist: Decides at one point to take a beating for a little kid without defending herself to protect him and Yukiko.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: According to some fans she has some with Yosuke early on in the anime.
 * Big Eater


 * The Big Girl: A position shared with Kanji.
 * Book Dumb: Zigzagged. Chie generally fails most exam subjects, but Yukiko states that Chie gets very good scores on those that she doesn't fail.
 * She's also fairly attentive and tends to support conversations about the investigation pretty well.
 * Bruce Lee Clone: Since she loves kung-fu movies, she's learned how to emulate her martial arts idol's fighting style during combat, complete with lines likes "Don't Think, Feel".
 * Cry Cute: Broke down crying in relief after the Protagonist and Yosuke made it out alive of the Midnight Channel during their second trip (sans Chie, who tried to keep them tied onto a safety rope, which promptly snapped moments after they enter the Channel).
 * Cute Bruiser
 * Don't Think, Feel: One of her quotes at the end of battle.
 * Extremity Extremist: Everything she does in battle she does with her feet, even guarding.
 * Expy: Not in looks, but in attitude: Chie shares a lot of characteristics with Lisa Silverman, the most obvious of which being enamored with kung-fu movies and Bruce Lee in particular.
 * Food as Bribe: Inverted in the anime. When Yu and Yosuke return from their second trip into the TV World in the second episode, she says the only way she'll forgive them is if they buy her 10 orders of both beefsteak and nikudon.
 * Inverted and played straight in the game. Chie makes Yosuke buy her food as repayment for destroying her DVD and he bribes her and Yukiko with steak when he and the protagonist devour their noodles.
 * Glass Cannon: Suffers from Physical Skills which consume HP and mediocre defense. However, she hits like a truck once God's Hand comes along and has a skill that can instantly kill enemies.
 * He Is Not My Boyfriend: Happens several times with Yosuke.
 * Hot Amazon: If chosen as the Love Interest.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Jerkass: Chie has so many shades of this, mainly due to constantly yelling at Yosuke, as if she has a Hair-Trigger Temper. This is shown much more in the Anime of the Game.
 * Kick Chick
 * Leeroy Jenkins: Decides to run off after Yukiko early in the game. This does not end well.
 * Magikarp Power: She stops gaining useful Physical and Bufu Skills by the time you get Kanji and Teddie, at least mid-game. She does get pretty powerful when leveled high enough, though, gaining Power Charge, Agneyastra, and God's Hand.
 * Modesty Shorts
 * Red Baron: "The Carnivore Whose Discarded Womanhood" in trailers for Persona 4 Arena.
 * The Resenter: Shadow Chie
 * Poisonous Friend
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Steak.
 * No, it's pudding.
 * Tomboy: Including the common traits:
 * Action Girl
 * Lethal Chef: Worst of the lot by a mile.
 * Shorttank
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Yukiko's girly girl.
 * Tsundere: She has moments of this. Yosuke is usually on the receiving end of the "tsuntsun", while Yukiko gets a good part of her "deredere". Naru Narusegawa, anyone?
 * To a lesser degree, the Protagonist as well. It's more noticeable if you pursue her romance.
 * Twinkle in The Sky: Her "Galactic Punt" Follow-Up Attack.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Yosuke.
 * Why Did It Have To Be Bugs?: Her entomophobia, revealed during her 2nd Social Link Event.

Yukiko Amagi
"Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (Japanese) and Amanda Winn-Lee (English)"

Yukiko is the only daughter of the owner of the Amagi Inn, and thus the heir to the generations-old family business. Despite that, she is a terrible cook. She is a smart girl, but quite socially awkward, with only Chie as her true friend. She fights with a fan, but is most suited for heavy magic fighting. Her Persona is Konohana Sakuya of the Priestess Arcanum, and later evolves into Amaterasu. Yukiko fits the role of both the White Mage and the Black Mage, leaning powerful healing spells (including one that fully restores the entire party's HP!) as well as destructive Agi (Fire) spells.

When Yukiko was kidnapped and thrown into the Midnight Channel, it created a dungeon in the form of an European castle, while her Shadow masqueraded as a princess continually searching for a "prince" to whisk her away. The castle and her Shadow were born of her repressed yearning to break free from her designation as heiress to the Inn, instead privately wishing for someone to alleviate her responsibilities. The Protagonist, Yosuke and Chie manage to defeat her Shadow, and she becomes a member of the investigation team.

Yukiko's Shadow looks like a giant, red-feathered bird with her head, kept inside a giant birdcage atop a chandelier—a literal "bird in a gilded cage", reflecting how Yukiko views her life.

In the the earlier stages of her Social Link, Yukiko still desires to leave Inaba and pursue interior design to learn to fend for herself. However, friendly teasing from the Inn's staff and pestering from an irresponsible TV crew who want to make a program that will ruin the reputation of the Inn eventually made her realize that she had a supportive family and friends that she wants to help and defend. She resolves to accept her duty and manage the inn, evolving her Persona. She is also a possible Love Interest for the Protagonist depending on player actions in the S. Link.

"Yukiko: (about Shadow Kanji) The next time he creeps me out, he's toast! Yu: Sounds good. Chie: No, it doesn't! That's a no-go! Yukiko: What? Why?"
 * Acceptable Feminine Goals: Gets a double-helping of this trope. She spends most of her Social Link trying to break free and study to become an interior designer—until she realizes she's happy to inherit her family's inn, and goes back to her job within the Inn as a hostess and room service waitress.
 * Action Girl: She starts off as a Damsel In Distress, but making peace with her shadow changes that.
 * Armor-Piercing Slap: She doesn't take perversion well.
 * Badass: Once she becomes playable.
 * Badass Pacifist: She manages to make a bunch of Paparazzi back down and run away with words alone. Even the haughty Ai is intimidated with just a "I didn't ask you!".
 * Beware the Nice Ones: She is scary when provoked. Such as Paparazzi incident mentioned above and when she politely and sweetly blackmails Kanji into joining the cross-dressing pageant. Also, this line from the anime:

"Yosuke: (at Junes, with the rest of the gang) Still, don't you feel sorry for Nanako, bringing her here of all places? Yukiko: (indifferently) Yes, I feel sorry for her. Yosuke: You didn't have to rub it in!"
 * The Cameo: In Persona 3 Portable's female protagonist route, when the PC's sports club goes to a summer fellowship in Inaba and stays at the Amagi Inn. She's younger and has shorter hair, and impresses the Gekkoukan students with her looks and maturity.
 * Character Select Forcing: The only member of the team aside from to get anything other than pitiful heals and that character is more of a support role, while Yukiko also has hard hitting Agi spells.
 * A variant happens during a stakeout early in the game, you get the choice to team up with Chie, Yosuke or Yukiko, but circumstances will always leave you with Yukiko.
 * The Chick: Shares this position with Rise.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: She has, on more than one occasion, been shown to have a somewhat out there thought process.
 * Comically Missing the Point: Tends to take gross exaggerations and accidental Double Entendres at face value.
 * Deadpan Snarker: The anime occasionally shows her taking a level in snark. Particularly against Yosuke:


 * Ditzy Genius: While a straight-A student, she does have a peculiar thought process when it comes to certain topics, like taking strange delight on someone described as "legendary".
 * Everything's Better with Princesses: ...Unless they're the malevolent manifestion of your repressed emotions.
 * Hime Cut: Which fits her Yamato Nadeshiko personality.
 * Hot-Blooded: In spite of what you might think based on the rest of her characterization, she is quite aggressively enthusiastic about wiping all shadows from existence. This is rather fitting considering her element, which can also qualify as her own touch of iron.
 * The Hyena: Her laughing fits can last for several minutes. Chie even calls her this once. Shut up. It's an endearing character trait.
 * The Ingenue: Sometimes.
 * Lady in Red
 * Lady of War/Lady of Black Magic: In accordance with her Yamato Nadeshiko exterior, she is very graceful on the battlefield.
 * Lethal Chef: Not always lethal, as she manages to make "flavorless" food later on. The stuff she gives to the Protagonist, however... well, you need a high Courage stat to actually eat it, so let's leave it at that.
 * Lonely Rich Kid: Before meeting Chie.
 * The Medic: This aspect of her Persona alone is going to make her a character you keep in your party for a long time, especially since she learns the mother of all healing spells at level 74. It also makes a lot of sense given that the Arcana she represents is The Priestess, i.e. the kind of person you would expect to be a healer.
 * Meet Cute: Techically their second meeting, but the Protagonist runs into her when she's wearing a Kimono. Subverted if the player decides not to romance her.
 * Never Live It Down: In-Universe—Shadow Yukiko once said she wanted to "score with a hot stud". Teddie brings it up sporadically throughout the game.
 * Non-Indicative Name: "Yuki" is a name more often associated with "snow". Although, she initially feels that it's a Meaningful Name because she's "worthless" like snow.
 * The Ojou: Of a generations-old inn.
 * Parasol of Prettiness: Only with the pink yukata.
 * Paper Fan of Doom
 * Playing with Fire: This leaves her vulnerable to ice, though it also makes her useful against ice enemies.
 * Precision F-Strike: Yukiko rarely swears, so if she tells you to shut the hell up, you know she's angry. Shadow Yukiko's speech is practically a Cluster F-Bomb by her standards.
 * Proper Tights with a Skirt: She's the poster girl.
 * Red Baron: "Unconquerable Snow Black" in trailers for Persona 4 Arena.
 * The Red Mage / White Magician Girl: In combat, she straddles the line with her powerful Agi skills but her personaily fits the White Magician Girl stock character type in addition to being one of the resident Medics.
 * Ryokan Inn: The Amagi Inn of course. She's going to inherit it.
 * Saying Too Much:
 * Shrinking Violet: She appears this way at first, but as she gets more comfortable around the Protagonist and Yosuke, her true personality traits emerge.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal:
 * Silk Hiding Steel
 * Squishy Wizard: Probably the worst character in terms of defensive stats, but boy does she hit anything not resistant or immune to Agi like a truck.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Chie's tomboy.
 * Tsundere: Shows shades of being a Type-B in the game (mainly getting violent when the males act perverted), but is definitely a Type-B in the Anime.
 * White Magician Girl: She's arguably the best healer in the game (only surpassed by the Protagonist given the right Persona), the most gentle player character, uses a blunt weapon that amplifies her spells and is a potential love interest. The only way she steps outside this trope is her repertoire of hard-hitting Agi spells.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Played with. She fits the archetype, then her Shadow deconstructs it and shows its opposite. She ultimately shows a modern version of this trope: softspoken, strongwilled and polite yet not afraid to stand up to herself and get dangerous if necessary, as an unfortunate group of Paparazzi discovered.

Kanji Tatsumi


"Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese) and Troy Baker (English)"

A delinquent whose mother runs a textile shop that the Amagi Inn frequents. Despite his brash outlook, he cares a lot for his mother and is skilled at handicrafts, which caused people to shun him for having "girly" hobbies, which made him question his sexuality. He fights with brute force using chairs, tables, plates, etc, and his Persona is Take-Mikazuchi of the Emperor Arcanum, which evolves into Rokuten-Maoh; it deals heavy physical attacks and learns a few Zio (Lightning) spells.

When thrown into the Midnight Channel, it generates the Steamy Bathhouse dungeon. His Shadow masquerades as him wearing nothing but a towel and speaking like a Camp Gay looking for "love". It later taunts Kanji as a gynophobic because women shunned him due to his hobbies, but Kanji refused him, causing the Shadow to show its true form and was later defeated by the Protagonist. Accepting his flaws, Kanji joins the Investigation Team and at the same time, starts re-attending Yasogami as a first-year.

Kanji's Shadow takes on the form of his upper body atop a ridiculously masculine male form with a rose garden where the head should be, carrying two Mars symbols which it uses as weapons and flanked by two Macho Camp bodybuilders. This ludicrous exaggeration of masculinity and homosexuality is a distillation of all of Kanji's fears about his orientation.

In his Social Link, Kanji meets a boy who lost his doll and to cheer him up, he makes him a doll, which turns out to be so impressive he orders more. Kanji was later accused of bullying said boy, but the Protagonist encourages him to tell the truth instead of hiding it. Eventually, Kanji learned to like and take pride of his hobby and opens up his own handicraft class.


 * Adorkable: Basically sums him up, once you get past his tough-guy exterior.
 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * Ambiguously Gay: By design. It zigzags during school trips, and then of course there's what happens with Teddie during the King's game. However, he has a crush on Naoto.
 * Camp Gay: Shadow Kanji.
 * Macho Camp: Shadow Kanji's minions.
 * Badass: He fights off an entire biker gang with a shield—all because the noise they made woke his mother up.
 * Badass Normal: Prior to being a Persona user.
 * Berserk Button: Implying that he's gay. Or insulting Naoto.
 * Big Eater
 * The Big Guy: A position shared with Chie.
 * Billy Elliot Plot
 * Bi the Way: Speculated by Fanon, due to his attraction to Naoto Shirogane
 * Book Dumb: But very good at arts and crafts and beating the crap out of people.
 * Butt Monkey
 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Chairman of the Brawl: One of his main weapons. Used as his primary weapon in The Ultimate.
 * Coat Cape: Provides the current trope picture.
 * Disappeared Dad:
 * Dynamic Entry: Kanji's way of saving the Protagonist from danger is drop-kicking him out of the way.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
 * Momma's Boy: The cause of his infamous beatdown of a biker gang? They were making too much noise and bothering his mother.
 * Everything Is Better With Penguins: The secret Animal Cracker!
 * Face Palm of Doom: One of his Supers in the fighting game is this. Considering his Japanese voice actor, can you say Shining Finger?
 * Gayngster: Subverted.
 * Genius Bruiser: Very good at arts and crafts.
 * Glass Cannon/Mighty Glacier: Depending on how you use him; Kanji has higher HP and Endurance than Chie, but his Persona's Physical Skills burn away through his HP quickly. If you have him stick to basic physical attacks, he'll do less damage but will be very difficult to take down.
 * Gratuitous English: Nice Guy (one of Shadow Kanji's minions) in the anime.
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: In his association with Naoto.
 * Improbable Weapon User
 * Shield-Bash
 * Throwing Your Shield Always Works
 * Made especially improbable by the fact that he's supposedly concealing these weapons under a school uniform somehow. Of course, even if the townfolk do see these weapons, it's not likely that any of them would tell him not to carry them around.
 * Japanese Delinquents: Just LOOK at him.
 * Face of a Thug: Still, don't judge him solely on his looks.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The "jerk" side stems more from his temper.
 * Jerkass Facade: His Social Link focuses on dropping this.
 * Knuckle-Cracking: His idle battle animation.
 * Large Ham
 * Noodle Incident: An incident where he singlehandedly beats down a biker gang.
 * Pointy Ears: He's given a pair of pointy elven ears in the anime.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Deconstructed, not just by his Shadow.
 * in Episode 22 of the anime
 * Reconstructed with his Social Link.
 * Red Baron: "Bloodcurdling Beefcake Emperor" in trailers for Persona 4 Arena.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Shrinking Violet: Around Naoto.
 * Sissy Villain: His Shadow.
 * Sweet on Polly Oliver: To Naoto.
 * Unusual Euphemism: The word "gay" is never said in-game. This leads to some odd phrasings.
 * Younger than He Looks: His official bio shows he is younger than all the party members, even classmates Naoto and Rise

Rise Kujikawa
"Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese) and Laura Bailey (English)"

A teenage Idol Singer often appearing in TV programs and ads as "Risette". She suddenly declared retirement and moved to Inaba to help on her grandmother's tofu shop and enroll in Yasogami High as a freshman. Rise is cheerful and bubbly, but also sweet deep down. She is mostly out of the frontlines and prefers analyzing the enemies and their weaknesses. Her Persona is Himiko of the Lovers Arcanum and later evolves into Kanzeon.

Her dungeon in the Midnight Channel is the Marukyu Striptease, wherein her Shadow masquerades as her in a flashy gold bikini and teases a lot about showing off her 'stuff'. This all stems from Rise's fear that everyone stereotypes her as an airheaded, indecent pop star, while in truth she just wants to be loved for who she is. Rise's Shadow possesses analytical skill that allows it to predict the party's every move, making it impossible to defeat; it takes a Heroic Sacrifice from Teddie to finish it. Rise comes to terms with her Shadow and it becomes her Persona, but at the same time Teddie's existential doubt comes to a head and his Shadow emerges. Rise takes Teddie's place as Mission Control and helps the party defeat it, then she joins the Investigation Team.

Rise's Shadow takes on the form of a naked woman dangling from a striptease pole with technicolor flesh and a fractal satellite dish where its face should be. It constantly shouts for the party to look at it, embodying Rise's concern about being exploited.

In her Social Link, Rise was continuously pestered by her past manager to return to showbiz despite her misgivings. She revealed that as a child she was a shy bully magnet, until her debut as a star, which she thought would help her win some friends; what she saw are people seeing her more as "Risette" than her true self. However, more reminders of her past came from a letter from her number-one fan expressing sadness over her retirement, and the emergence of another idol she once trained and is now taking her spotlight, causing fans to badmouth "Risette", which inadvertently annoyed her. Eventually, Rise realized "Risette" is still an aspect of herself she shouldn't discard and resolves to return to showbiz come spring, evolving her Persona. Rise states that she loves the Protagonist, and will show a very obvious interest in him during the storyline regardless of her Social Link standing or whether you date her.


 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * Announcer Chatter: She serves as the combat commentator in The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, similar to the original game. Whether or not it removes any chance of her appearing as a playable character is unknown.
 * Attention Whore: Her Shadow -- Fan Disservice incarnate. Outside the stage, Rise would rather just stay away from the public spotlight.
 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable
 * Badass Damsel: Everyone else upon getting their Persona needed some downtime afterwards.
 * The Chick: Far and away the most estrogen-fueled member of the main cast, complete with a tendency to cry a lot.
 * Cry Cute/Tender Tears: It's a Rie Kugimiya thing, after all, Tsundere or not.
 * Cry Into Chest: And when she realizes that
 * The Ditz: She averts this trope, voice acting notwithstanding. She is quite emotionally intelligent (insights into human nature, good at reading groups and people) and more down-to-earth than one might expect. She acts "bubbly" to keep people's spirits up, and to have fun.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Appears at the beginning of the game in a commercial.
 * Expy: Her appearance resembles Nena Trinity, who has the same Japanese voice actress.
 * Like Chie, she is also an expy of Lisa Silverman, taking on most of the personality traits that Chie missed. Some of the earliest concept art of Rise even had her resemble Lisa, but with longer hair, a slightly different hairstyle, and darker eyes.
 * Fan Girl: Of the Protagonist.
 * Genki Girl: Has her moments.
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Girly Run
 * Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Shadow Rise
 * Heroes Want Redheads: If chosen as the Love Interest.
 * Idol Singer
 * I Just Want to Be Normal:
 * I Just Want to Have Friends
 * Ink Suit Actress: Debatable, but Rise's name and appearance are too similar to Rie Kugimiya to be a mere coincidence. Her Twin Tails and kneesocks may also be an Actor Allusion to the common appearance of the Tsundere characters Kugimiya is usually associated with.
 * It Is Pronounced Ree-Say
 * Kawaiiko: Fits both the "need for social acceptance" and "calculated step to stardom" criteria, but in a well-meaning way. She created her "Risette" persona hoping to find genuine friends, having been a bully magnet as a child, only to realize that people gravitate more to "Risette" than her real self, prompting her early retirement. While she initially passed off as a bit surly when the party first met her in person, once she opened up to them (and joins their True Companions) she turns out to be a genuinely bubbly Nice Girl.
 * Lethal Chef: Not as awful as the others, her food is just REALLY spicy.
 * Mission Control
 * Captain Obvious
 * Ms. Fanservice: Played straight and deconstructed. While she's more confident in her body than the other girls and has no problem entering the School Beauty Pagaent, she also fears that those around her only like her for her "Risette" persona.
 * Shameless Fanservice Girl: Her shadow, on the other hand, is way too eager to expose herself to the world. While still in normal form, it's just Rise in a two-piece swimsuit. During the boss battle, however, the moans and gestures get a bit disturbing. Even Yosuke wondered if he should be excited or worried.
 * Nice Girl
 * Playing Against Type: Rie Kugimiya, Shana Clone specialist... now voicing an extremely bubbly, nicely-proportioned teenage idol. In fact, one Image Boards commenter said that she's not only "not a Tsundere," but also an anti-Tsundere.
 * Sensor Character
 * Shipper on Deck: Rise seems to be intentionally angling for the Team to split into couples, actively encouraging Yosuke/Chie, Kanji/Naoto, and of course, herself with the Protagonist.
 * Shrinking Violet: Before she became an idol.
 * Stepford Smiler: Type A/B hybrid. Progressing through her Social Link reveals that.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Almost rank S, missing the Tsundere aspect. The supreme irony in this? She's voiced by the Goddess of Tsunderes.

Teddie/Kuma
"Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese), Dave Wittenberg (English), Sam Riegel (English, Persona 4 Arena)"

Teddie is a denizen of the Midnight Channel, taking the form of a talking bear plush that actually has nothing inside. He initially is a Mission Control, then after Rise fills in for him, he soon joins in combat, equipped with claws, knuckles and other hand implements. His initial Persona is Kintoki-Douji of the Star Arcanum, which eventually evolves into Kamui. His Persona uses Bufu (Ice) spells, and has some support and healing skills as well.

Teddie first acts as a reluctant guide of sorts, providing the party with special glasses that allow them to see through the mist and summon their Persona. In the Japanese version, his sentences always end with -kuma, and often addresses the Protagonist as "sensei" out of respect for his abilities (and to avoid using his name during scenes with voice acting). He also serves as another comic relief in the story arc (making lame jokes like Shuji Ikutsuki), supported by Yosuke's nagging curiosity about who (or rather, what) he really is. In the English version, his speech is laced with un-bear-ably bad puns. Also, even if he is from the Midnight Channel, Teddie knows little about where he came from and what he is supposed to do with his life.

After saving the party from Rise's Shadow almost at the cost of his life (though it only literally flattened him), his fears of having a superficial existence manifests into a bigger Shadow. It's revealed to everyone near the end of the game that Teddie is really a docile Shadow, preferring to befriend humans instead of killing them, which explains the cute form he manifested. After being saved, Teddie gains a degree of human will along with the Persona Kintoki-Douji, allowing him to participate in fights more actively.

As Teddie is a Shadow himself, his own Shadow is a much larger version of him, with a crack in its face showing something squirming under the surface (a visualization of Teddie's fears about his origin).

In the real world, he takes the form of a blonde boy who goes by the name "Kumada" (Japanese—actually a common surname)/"Teddie" (English), and in a certain school event, convincingly cosplays as Alice. He stays at the Hanamuras and often helps Yosuke with part-time work at Junes, either as a Mascot handing out balloons, a cook at the food court, or a grocery stocker when in human form.


 * An Ice Bear-sona
 * Badass:
 * Badass Adorable: In bear form.
 * Bear-serk Button: He got pretty angry when called him a freak.
 * Beary Funny
 * Big Eater
 * Brutal Honesty: "Wow, this tastes awful!", said in one of the cheeriest tones imaginable.
 * Captain Ersatz:
 * Casanova Wannabe:
 * Combat Medic: Has access to a wide variety of magic, including Bufu spells and healing spells that restore HP and remove negative status effects. His SP pool isn't as large as Yukiko's, but he has higher Strength and is a slightly more effective physical attacker.
 * Handsome Lech: The "handsome" part only applying to his.
 * Heroic Resolve:
 * Large Ham: As Yosuke says, he has a tendency to speak like TV commercials.
 * Lovable Sex Maniac: Although whether or not he actually understands the concept of "scoring" is left open.
 * Mascot
 * Plucky Comic Relief: The most qualified party member for the role.
 * Power Fist/Wolverine Claws: Uses claws and spiked gloves as his preferred weapon.
 * Private Eye Monologue: Gives a particularly menacing one when the group goes to.
 * Pungeon Master: And how.
 * "BEAR-sona!"
 * Parodied here, slightly more than halfway down the page.
 * Fan-subs of the anime keep the bear puns rather than use the -kuma tic.
 * Red Bear-on: "Beast of Libido" in Persona 4 Arena.
 * Sadistic Choice: His moveset actually inflicts one on the player. He learns moves that allow him to be the team healer, the ice mage, and the support specialist. An uncommon, but not too unheard of complaint is that he's got too many good moves to choose from.
 * Screw Destiny: See Heroic Resolve.
 * Team Pet: As much as there's one.
 * The Nose Knows
 * Un-bear-ably Lame Pun: More than a few of his puns elicit this kind of reaction from the cast. Even Yukiko, who tends to laugh at a drop of a hat, finds them unfunny.
 * Whole Costume Reference: One of his outfits in The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, with its Japanese Delinquents style hat/golden skull and lightning bolt motif/purple cape/etc, looks suspiciously like a certain martial arts tournament hosting dictator's.
 * Up to Eleven:
 * Fan-subs of the anime keep the bear puns rather than use the -kuma tic.
 * Red Bear-on: "Beast of Libido" in Persona 4 Arena.
 * Sadistic Choice: His moveset actually inflicts one on the player. He learns moves that allow him to be the team healer, the ice mage, and the support specialist. An uncommon, but not too unheard of complaint is that he's got too many good moves to choose from.
 * Screw Destiny: See Heroic Resolve.
 * Team Pet: As much as there's one.
 * The Nose Knows
 * Un-bear-ably Lame Pun: More than a few of his puns elicit this kind of reaction from the cast. Even Yukiko, who tends to laugh at a drop of a hat, finds them unfunny.
 * Whole Costume Reference: One of his outfits in The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, with its Japanese Delinquents style hat/golden skull and lightning bolt motif/purple cape/etc, looks suspiciously like a certain martial arts tournament hosting dictator's.
 * Up to Eleven:
 * Un-bear-ably Lame Pun: More than a few of his puns elicit this kind of reaction from the cast. Even Yukiko, who tends to laugh at a drop of a hat, finds them unfunny.
 * Whole Costume Reference: One of his outfits in The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena, with its Japanese Delinquents style hat/golden skull and lightning bolt motif/purple cape/etc, looks suspiciously like a certain martial arts tournament hosting dictator's.
 * Up to Eleven:
 * Up to Eleven:

Naoto Shirogane
"Voiced by: Romi Park (Japanese) and Susan Dalian (English)"

A tomboyish girl who is a famous high-school detective, given the glorious title of "Detective Prince" by the media. Naoto is adept with revolvers, and her Persona is summoned by shooting the card. Naoto's initial Persona is Sukuna Hikona of the [Wheel of] Fortune Arcanum, which later becomes Yamato Takeru. They are well-rounded with Light, Dark, Almighty and physical skills at her disposal.

Orphaned at a young age and raised by her detective grandfather, she yearns to emulate the cool male sleuths she read in novels, accepting the family tradition and aiding her grandfather in his own cases, eventually creating a favorable reputation for herself. She was sent to Inaba by the prefecture police, to gain insight for the murders happening there.

Naoto is yet another survivor of the Midnight Channel, bound by her resentment at being talked down to and treated like a child by the police, as well as her views on the police force being dominated by men. This manifests in a volatile Shadow that also creates a high-tech facility reminiscent to that of futuristic military bases from science fiction. Her Shadow wears a dress shirt and tie, while wearing an oversized white lab coat, and can act like a serious scientist one minute and like a child the next, further referencing her true feelings. Her Shadow claims she will perform "body modification" to turn Naoto into an adult male so that she can be respected by her fellow cops. However, unlike other victims, she willingly put herself at risk by volunteering for a TV interview, hoping she can become a bait; she was convinced the Investigation Team had not caught the real killer. The Team promptly tears into her for being so stupid, then welcome her as the last addition to their team.

Naoto's Shadow takes on the form of a robotic version of her, complete with wings and twin ray guns. This doesn't seem to apply to her, until you remember how stereotypically male the science fiction fandom is. Naoto herself is extremely gender-conscious and is often embarrassed when people learn she is female due to her rather masculine hobbies and practices.

In her Social Link, Naoto has several of her possessions stolen, and receives taunting riddles from a Gentleman Thief. The Protagonist helps her retrieve them, and she becomes more comfortable with his assistance. It is eventually revealed that the "thief" is actually her grandfather, who simply did it to help reignite her passion. If the player openly aims so through their choices, she becomes somewhat more feminine, but will keep it mostly just to herself and the Main Character; following a series of options, she even dresses in the female school uniform on Christmas.


 * Action Girl
 * Adorkable
 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * Badass
 * Badass Bookworm: She is an ace detective and a Persona user.
 * Berserk Button: Never give her weird nicknames, or call her "useless".
 * Born Detective
 * Breakout Character: In the middle of Atlus' Spin-Off and Updated Rerelease fanfare for Persona 4, Naoto got a big share of it along with Yosuke. She gets to star in her own story in a Light Novel where she is The Protagonist. The light novel takes place during her senior year of high school and isn't set in Inaba, rather a whole different school and city entirely.
 * Captain Obvious:
 * Casting a Shadow/Light'Em Up: Has access to both Mudo and Hama spells.
 * Chaste Hero/Celibate Hero: Completely oblivious to Kanji's crush, but otherwise writes off advances from other classmates.
 * Closet Key: Subverted for Kanji.
 * The Comically Serious
 * Criminal Mind Games: Has them played on her by the "Phantom Thief", but this trope gets subverted when it turns out
 * Crutch Character: An odd example. Naoto's unique skill set lets her tear through lots of common enemies like a buzzsaw, including many only she and the Protagonist can effectively fight at all. The catch: most of those same abilities are either severely inefficient or outright useless against bosses.
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Determinator - Plucky Girl
 * Deuteragonist: Was already solving the murder case quite well without the police or The Investigation Team, to the point were she was able to come to certain conclusions like, before anyone else. Once she joins the party, she's pretty much necessary to solving the case in full.
 * Even the Girls Want Her: To the point where Naoto and Chie, Yukiko, and Rise compliment her smooth skin.
 * Elaborate Underground Base: Her TV World dungeon.
 * Genre Savvy: Correctly deduces that there are victims besides those the police know about and that the Investigation Team has been rescuing them, even though she is Locked Out of the Loop.
 * Guile Hero:
 * The Gunslinger: Like Takaya before her, Naoto uses revolvers because her Arcanum is the [Wheel of] Fortune.
 * Revolvers Are Just Better
 * More Dakka: For P4G, Naoto appears to be adding machine pistols to her arsenal. In Persona 4 Arena, one of Naoto's attacks has her using a Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine gun.
 * Heroic Self-Deprecation: In both the game and the anime, is very rough on herself for asking  too many questions and putting the solution to the case ahead of   safety.
 * Hidden Buxom: Mentioned once. They're implied to be of a bigger size than one would think.
 * In some extra artworks in Soejima's (character designer) artbook, she has a much more feminine appearance, with prominent lips and eyelashes. It's quite clear she no longer, uh, keeps them under wraps too.
 * The anime confirms this during the hot springs scene, as we can finally see her curves. She's not super buxom, but not a Pettanko either.
 * Holy Hand Grenade
 * Hollywood Nerd: Type 2. Naoto is a fan of tokusatsu, is rather socially awkward, very intelligent, and pretty much everyone in the game thinks she's an absolute stunner.
 * Inadequate Inheritor: Subverted. Naoto believes she's this. However her grandfather seems to be quite proud of her and is concerned that she believes this.
 * Informed Ability: Despite her reputation as a "genius detective", she really does no better at solving the case than the rest of the Investigation Team or even the Police Department. In fairness to her though, this isn't exactly a normal crime. Even the best detectives can't solve a case with no evidence.
 * Insufferable Genius: The first few times you meet her, Naoto is really hard to like.
 * Kid Detective
 * Late Arrival Spoiler: Naoto is a girl. Although the publicity for the upcoming anime is noticeably missing her, despite this being one of the most well known spoilers about the game.
 * The game doesn't really try to keep it secret either; if you wait at the title screen and watch the trailer video, she noticeably uses her "girl" voice when attacking.
 * Mood Swinger: Shadow Naoto, who alternates between a Mad Scientist and a Fragile Flower.
 * Ms. Exposition: Her main role in the story is to piece together the clues and discuss it with the team.
 * Nice Hat: It looks like Raidoh Kuzunoha's.
 * Oblivious to Love: Poor Kanji...
 * Pet the Dog: In Episode 13 of Persona 4 The Animation, Nanako is disheartened about being left alone by her father during the Summer Festival, and considers giving up pursuing the mystery behind Yu's numerous absences and odd activities. However, Naoto discovers her, and tells her that "the case can never be closed if the detective gives up. So don't drop the case until it's over."
 * Professor Guinea Pig: Not her herself, but her Shadow claimed that it wanted to be "experimentor and experimentee" in the aforementioned Sex Change Operation.
 * The Power of Trust: Her decision to get herself attacked by the killer exemplifies this: She was completely willing to trust the Investigation Team to save her, even though her belief that they had the power to do so at all was only a guess. Subverted when the Investigation Team utterly blast her for this, pointing out that if they had failed, she would be dead.
 * Raised by Grandparents
 * Red Baron: Repeatedly referred to as "Detective Prince" in her TV interview prior to her kidnapping.
 * She's called the "2000 IQ Killjoy Detective" in Persona 4 Arena.
 * Samus Is a Girl: In a bit of a switch, rather than find this out after she rescues them, they find out when they come to rescue her.
 * Shout-Out: Her Shadow looks like Kikaider combined with Astro Boy while wearing Mazinger Z's Scrander.
 * Chie compared her to Kindaichi, protagonist of a famous line of detective novels.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal
 * Single-Target Sexuality: She's completely turned off by the idea of romance, or completely oblivious when it comes to Kanji. Despite this, she does fall for the Protagonist if her romance is pursued.
 * The Smart Girl: Once she joins the Investigation, it actually begins to make some progress on discovering who the culprit is and other unanswered questions.
 * Shorter Means Smarter: She's the smallest playable character and is the brains of the team.
 * Sixth Ranger: Of sorts. She's the final character to join, and before she did she had something of a rivalry with the Investigation Team.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: Many women in the game itself agree that she's one hot babe.
 * Sugar and Ice Girl
 * Sweet Polly Oliver
 * Tomboy: In particular:
 * Bifauxnen: To the point where Kanji is immensely relieved to find out she's a girl. She is also the only character who has a Persona of the opposite sex.
 * Bokukko: When you max out her Social Link, she asks you whether it's okay for you if she keeps referring to herself as "boku" (a low-pitched voice in the English version). If you say that you would like her to stop (or to use her natural, more feminine voice), she would actually come to the Christmas date in a schoolgirl uniform (though she's still not really used to it)!
 * Tomboyish Name: Even called out by her Shadow.
 * One of the Boys: She pretty much grew like a boy, never caring for dolls and dresses, but more for action figures and boyish stuff. This is reflected in her dungeon, which is designed like the lair of a tokusatsu villain. (She doesn't look down on the other girls for being more feminine, though.)
 * Transfer Student Uniforms: Sort of. After transferring to Yasogami, she is always wearing that school's uniform—the male version—even after her real gender is made public.
 * Vocal Evolution: Subverted in the anime. After The Reveal, Romi Paku's tone switches to a slightly more feminine tone of voice... and almost immediately reverts to the usual deep tone.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: The Investigation Team's response to her Batman Gambit.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: To the point where Naoto only appears in female clothing on the Christmas date in a schoolgirl uniform.
 * Yin-Yang Bomb: Her Persona both high Hama and Mudo skills, which is unique among the characters except for the customisable ones, but even with those it's pretty hard.
 * One of the Boys: She pretty much grew like a boy, never caring for dolls and dresses, but more for action figures and boyish stuff. This is reflected in her dungeon, which is designed like the lair of a tokusatsu villain. (She doesn't look down on the other girls for being more feminine, though.)
 * Transfer Student Uniforms: Sort of. After transferring to Yasogami, she is always wearing that school's uniform—the male version—even after her real gender is made public.
 * Vocal Evolution: Subverted in the anime. After The Reveal, Romi Paku's tone switches to a slightly more feminine tone of voice... and almost immediately reverts to the usual deep tone.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: The Investigation Team's response to her Batman Gambit.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: To the point where Naoto only appears in female clothing on the Christmas date in a schoolgirl uniform.
 * Yin-Yang Bomb: Her Persona both high Hama and Mudo skills, which is unique among the characters except for the customisable ones, but even with those it's pretty hard.

Igor
"Voiced by: Isamu Tanonaka (Japanese) and Dan Woren (English)"

Igor is the mysterious proprietor of The Velvet Room. His noticeable appearance comes from his Tengu/Pinocchio-like long nose. In Megami Ibunroku Persona, Igor has calls himself "a servant of Philemon". He is always found in The Velvet Room, a realm between the conscious and unconscious planes. His function is twofold: he makes cryptic comments that vaguely steer the player in the right direction, and fuses Personas the player collects in the dungeons to create stronger Personas.

He has an assistant named Margaret in this game, who keeps a record of all the Personas the player has acquired.


 * Actor Existence Failure: With the recent passing of Isamu Tanonaka, anything Igor says in the anime is recorded right out of his in-game dialogue and thus he doesn't get that many lines in the show proper. Margaret takes over the rest.
 * All There in the Manual: The source of his powers and his origins are not revealed in-game and will not be obvious to those who haven't played the previous Persona games.
 * Catch Phrase: "Welcome to the Velvet Room."
 * Cheshire Cat Grin: Permanently etched onto his face.
 * Cool Car: In this game, the Velvet Room takes the appearence of a pimped out blue stretch limo with a television and mini-bar.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: He's one of the good guys. Really.
 * Demoted to Extra: In the anime. As a result of his seiyuu passing away, his lines are being pulled from the game itself, so there's a very limited range for him. Margaret ends up taking over most of his role. His main function too, that of fusing Personas, is obsoleted by the fact that Yu himself takes care of that.
 * Gag Nose: Dear God, LOOK AT THAT THING.
 * The Igor: In Name Only. He is more of a Spirit Advisor who helps with one function.
 * The Mentor: In his own, purposefully obtuse way.
 * Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: He certainly looks evil, but he's really a nice guy (though he could be a bit more forthcoming with information).
 * Powers That Be: Whatever Igor is exactly, he's almost certainly one of these.
 * Sink or Swim Mentor: With elements of the Trickster Mentor.
 * Spirit Advisor: Only the main character can see the door leading into the Velvet Room.

General Social Links

 * Character Development: The entire driving force of the gameplay is to make choices that would influence the greatest amount of this.
 * Dysfunction Junction: Social Links are back, complete with a host of tarot-based neuroses.
 * Guide Dang It: Though the correct Dialogue Tree response is very obvious in some cases, many more will be a hassle.
 * Level Up At Intimacy 5
 * Power of Friendship: Aside from increasing your persona potential,.
 * Slice of Life: Social Link plots are somewhat like this, considering the game is half RPG and half dating sim.
 * Tarot Motifs: Each Social Link is represented by one of the major tarot arcana and their personalities and life situations match the arcana accordingly.

Ryotaro Dojima
"Voiced by: Unsho Ishizuka (Japanese) and David Lodge (English)"

The Hierophant Social Link and the Protagonist's uncle, whom he welcomes into his household while his parents are away. He is the detective assigned to investigate the murders. He is able to make some progress on the case, but without understanding the supernatural element to the case his progress is limited. He initially suspects the Protagonist as one, but cannot bring himself to arrest his nephew. The long hours he spends at his job frequently keep him from taking care of his daughter Nanako. He is the direct superior to Tohru Adachi.

In his Social Link, Dojima gets a lead on the hit-and-run case that killed his wife, making him stay out even later, to Nanako's distress. Eventually he admits that he has been avoiding his daughter because she reminds him of his late wife, but vows to get over it and spend more time with her daughter. When the lead does not pan out, he decides to let it go.


 * Adult Fear: Near the end of the game, Nanako is kidnapped by someone he didn't even consider suspecting. That's a nightmare for any parent, especially a widowed workaholic, but it gets even worse..
 * Badass Normal: Despite working more or less alone with only half the clues, he manages to stay relatively close with the Investigation Team on solving the murders..
 * Coat Over the Shoulder
 * Da Chief: He frequently yells at Adachi for the rookie detective's bumbling.
 * Hot Detective Dad
 * Guide Dang It: After, you're effectively locked off from his Social Link, no matter how far along in it you are. Leads to some frustrations in most people's first playthroughs.
 * Married to the Job: Deconstructed; the vast amount of time Ryotaro spends at work is because he wants to catch his wife's killer and because he feels he doesn't know how to raise Nanako properly. This is shown to have repercussions in his personal life. Thankfully his nephew is a Warrior Therapist...
 * Parents as People: Goes hand-in-hand with the above trope.
 * Perma-Stubble
 * Pet the Dog: A heroic example --.
 * Police Are Useless: When they don't have all the info.
 * Somehow subverted: He does.
 * Revenge Before Reason:
 * Supporting Leader: He's had a head start on the murder case investigation, but lost steam when The Investigation Team is formed, and ends up reaching the same conclusions about the case's twists after the party does. The largest effect he has on the plot is

Nanako Dojima
"Voiced by: Akemi Kanda (Japanese) and Karen Strassman (English)"

The Justice Social Link, Dojima's daughter and the Protagonist's cousin, though she soon sees the Protagonist as an older brother. Because of her father's workaholic tendencies, she has taken upon herself to run the household while going to school, despite being six years old. She is frequently disappointed when her father does not come home, but the Protagonist's friends eventually become a surrogate family for her.

In her Social Link, Nanako asks the Protagonist questions about the afterlife and her late mother. The Protagonist also helps her come to terms with her father's job.

"Welcome home, Big Bro!"
 * A Day in the Limelight: Episode 13 of the anime focuses on her and her attempts to find out where Yu keeps disappearing to during the summer.
 * Catch Phrase: "Everyday's great at your Junes!"
 * "Welcome home, Big Bro!"
 * Cheerful Child: Sadly averted. She has her happy moments, but much of the time her sad, lonely side is more prominent. You will work like hell to fix that.
 * The Cutie: So mind-bogglingly cute. Admit it, you want a little sister just like her!


 * Dandere
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Guide Dang It:
 * Kid Detective: Becomes one as she imitates her favorite anime character and tries to finds out about Yu's movement in the Anime.
 * Which happens to be "Magical Witch Detective" of all things.
 * Precocious Crush: She develops one for the Protagonist over the course of the game.
 * : If her Social Link is maxed out,.
 * Stepford Smiler
 * Tagalong Kid/Team Pet: Doesn't do anything, but the entire party cares deeply about her.
 * She gives the Protagonist special accessories if he scores highest in his class on exams.
 * Third Person Person: In the Japanese versions of the game.
 * Token Mini-Moe
 * Video Game Caring Potential: All Social Links have this, but Nanako takes the cake.
 * Token Mini-Moe
 * Video Game Caring Potential: All Social Links have this, but Nanako takes the cake.

Margaret
"Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese) and Michelle Ann Dunphy (English)"

The Empress Social Link, Igor's new assistant and older sister of Elizabeth and Theodore. She takes over her younger siblings' role of tasking the Protagonist to create certain Persona through fusion.


 * Adaptation Expansion: Gets much more spotlight in the anime due to Igor's role being diminished for reasons already explained.
 * Power Floats:
 * Ship Tease:
 * So Unfunny It's Funny: She has a tendency to make truly awful jokes with a completely straight face and is disappointed that the protagonist doesn't laugh.
 * Sugar and Ice Girl: Subverted. She comes off this way in the beginning, but actually show a bit of a flirty side as you complete her requests.
 * Tall Blonde And Bishoujo
 * Tall Blonde And Bishoujo

The Fox
An old fox who lives around the old shrine in the Central Shopping District and serves as The Hermit Social Link for the game. The fox initially recruits The Protagonist to help fulfill wishes written on ema left at the shrine, in hopes it will help increase donations to the dilapidated shrine. The fox also offers to sell the Investigation Team healing leaves the restore all HP and SP in order to raise money for the shrine. Though the price for the fox's services are initially extremely high, they do go down the more requests Yu help's the fox grant.

After granting the various wishes of people around town, Yu and the fox succeed in saving the shrine, and eventually the donations to its offering box are used to build an entirely new shrine next to the old one, now plated in gold. If the Hermit S-Link has been completed by the end of the game, it is also revealed during Yu's last day in town that


 * Fetch Quest: The Social Link! These quests are basically the protagonist giving hope to the town, so the Fox gets more donations.
 * Retired Badass: Seems to be this, with the scars on its head.
 * Team Pet: Less so than Teddie, but more than Nanako, in that it actually does something for your team (restoring SP for a price).
 * Team Pet: Less so than Teddie, but more than Nanako, in that it actually does something for your team (restoring SP for a price).

Kou Ichijo and Daisuke Nagase
"Voiced by: Daisuke Ono (Kou) and Tomokazu Sugita (Daisuke) (Japanese)"

Kou and Daisuke are two friends at Yasogami High who are also the unofficial leaders of Yasogami's Basketball and Football teams respectively, and together serve as the Strength Social Link. The focus of their Social Link does however depends on which sports team you join.

Choosing Kou's route, Daisuke explains the protagonist that Kou comes from a wealthy family that sticks to traditions so much that the head of the family, Kou's grandmother, looks down upon his obsession with basketball. Kou also feels burdened that he's actually adopted (he lost his bio family and the lived in an Orphanage of Love), and that the customs of the family will ultimately fall onto his sister. Although it makes him happy, it also makes him feel shunned by the family as a whole. By the end of his Social Link, Kou learns that his adopted family truly cares for him and gives the Protagonist the letter that his parents left for him, and he decides to study overseas to pursue what he wants to do in life.

Choosing Daisuke's route, the protagonist learns from Kou that Daisuke feels really bad for a middle school break-up with his first girlfriend that he fears failing at doing his very best in either at soccer or getting a girlfriend. With that in mind, Kou and the protagonist try to set him up with blind dates, but Daisuke gets irritated by this. At the end of his Social Link, Daisuke finds the strength to move on.


 * Big Brother Instinct: Kou, by the end of his Social Link.
 * Guile Hero: Daisuke is quite good at retaining blackmail material for later use.
 * He-Man Woman Hater: Daisuke at the start of his Social Link.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners - Ho Yay: Every so often.
 * The Last Dance: Kou's parents object to his sport, and so he makes it his vow to win his last game.
 * Limited Wardrobe: Daisuke wears his gym uniform even during school and on his days off.
 * Parental Abandonment: Kou. Orphanage of Love included.
 * Relationship Voice Actor: Daisuke and Kou are basically Kyon and Itsuki, except less the tension and closer to each other.
 * Stepford Smiler: Kou
 * Those Two Guys: Their Social Link is even called Fellow Athletes.

Naoki Konishi
"Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga (Japanese) and Derek Stephen Prince (English)"

The Hanged Man Social Link, a freshman, and younger brother of Saki, the second murder victim.

Due to the death of his older sister, all the people start pitying him for losing her forever, which makes him feel really sick. However, he slowly realizes that he could never mourn her dead sister like everyone else did, feeling very different from the rest of the people. At the end of his Social Link, he cries and finally mourns Saki's death, allowing him to move on alone. He gives the Protagonist the Junes Receipt.


 * Adaptation Expansion: Befriends the entire Investigation Team and not just the Protagonist.
 * Compressed Adaptation: Although what may be his entire Social Link is compressed into two scenes spanning five minutes.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: He is first mentioned on one of your earlier days at school, before Saki even goes missing. You finally meet him a few months later.
 * Dead Big Sister
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Aboslutly hates the fact that all he's getting from people is sympathy now. It's also preventing him from properly mouring his sister's death.
 * Freudian Excuse
 * Incriminating Indifference: A variant in that he's not a suspect, but is accused of being cold and indifferent about her death.
 * Jerkass: Character Development brings him out of this.
 * Unable to Cry: Very troubled by his inability to mourn for his sister.

Hisano Kuroda
"Voiced by: Ikuko Tani (Japanese) and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)"

An elderly widow who calls herself "death". If her self-proclaimed title didn't give her away, she's the Death Social Link.

The Protagonist meets Hisano by the river, and she slowly but surely tells him about how her late husband and herself loved each other so much up till the point he suffered from a "disease" that made him forget who she was every day, only making her feel deep emotional pain until he passed away. By talking to the Protagonist, Hisano manages to understand that she needs to move on with her life. At the end of her Social Link, Hisano thanks the Protagonist by giving him her old ink pen and leaves Inaba to live with her children.

"Hisano: (on refering to a love letter she sent to her husband) I loved him this much and because I loved him, it saddened me when he forgot my love."
 * Adult Fear: Her Social Link touches pretty close on how awful it is to watch your spouse die before you, as well as the pain of old age and having a loved one suffer from memory loss.
 * Easy Amnesia: Harshly subverted in her backstory, where her aging husband contracts dementia and forgets he ever loved her.
 * The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: Oh come on Atlus—it's pretty obvious her husband was dying of Alzheimer's, not some "disease" (although it's possible Hisano simply didn't know what it was called).
 * It's All Junk: When the Protagonist recovers the letters she wrote to her husband, Hisano attempts to burn them. In the anime, it's a flower-pattern hairclip that she tosses into the river that's later stuck into the fins of the Guardian, but Yu, after many misadventures, gets the hairclip back. She actually keeps it.
 * I Was Quite a Looker: A brief flashback in the anime shows her to be this.
 * I Wished You Were Dead: When her husband became ill and began forgetting who he was, Hisano wished he would die so neither of them would have to suffer anymore. She considered his death a Mercy Kill since the husband she'd known was already 'dead'.
 * Love Hurts:


 * Victorious Childhood Friend: She was one.

Eri Minami
"Voiced by: Miki Ito (Japanese)"

The Temperance Social Link and a stepmother to a boy who frequents the daycare the Protagonist can work at.

Eri's story revolves around her stepson, Yuuta. The Protagonist finds out that the two of them are very distant: Eri can't seem to get close to Yuuta, and Yuuta doesn't accept her as his mother. Using really vague tips from TV and magazines, Eri does a rather bad job at getting Yuuta to like her. Through interactions, the Protagonist helps the two of them to become united. At the end of the Social Link, Eri finds out that she never had the strength to face Yuuta directly, so now he and Yuuta recognize each other as a family, and Eri thanks the Protagonist for helping them by giving him a clover bookmark.


 * Aloof Stepmother: She behaves a bit like this in the beginning (and her stepson likely sees her as one), but a good part of the Social Link is getting the two to realize that they do care for each other.
 * Children Raise You
 * Hot Stepmom
 * Taking the Bullet: In the anime, Eri is injured via trying to help Yuuta when he's harrassed by another kid and his mom in the festival.

Sayoko Uehara
"Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani (Japanese) and Wendee Lee (English)"

The Devil Social Link and a nurse the Protagonist meets while on his part-time job as a hospital janitor.

Flirting with the Protagonist at first, Sayoko opens up to him and reveals her backstory. Because of her behavior, she dated a married doctor that ended up flirting with other girls even though she left him behind. After dealing with the doctor's wife, things get worse for her after hearing that a patient of hers in the last hospital died. She feels extremely saddened by the news that she becomes a workaholic, demanding everyone to do their very best, and eventually collapses. By the end of her Social Link, Sayoko realizes that she was trying to flee from her feelings by working hard, and that she was losing her goal to care for others, and she gives the Protagonist her hospital ID. Before the ending, the Protagonist hears that she joined a medical association and went to Africa.


 * Bottle Fairy: In the anime.
 * Christmas Cake: She's older than the protagonist by ten years.
 * Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life
 * Hello, Nurse!
 * Hospital Hottie
 * May–December Romance:
 * Before that she dated a married doctor older than her. It didn't end well.
 * Really Gets Around/Workaholic: Pre- and post-Character Development.
 * The Tease: At the start of her Social Link.

Shu Nakajima
"Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Ichiki (Japanese)"

The Tower Social Link and a young boy the Protagonist could tutor as a part-time job.

After becoming smarter, the Protagonist takes on the job to tutor Shu. At first, Shu asks him how school is until he tells him how he has the pressure of being the very best of his class for his mom, and things start getting bad after a talented and athletic guy joined the school. When Shu becomes a bit paranoid and, his mother scolds him. With the Protagonist's help, Shu learns that he doesn't need to be the best all the time, and so cancels the tutoring so that he can play baseball. At the end of his Social Link, he thanks the Protagonist by giving him his test results, and later on before the ending,.


 * The "B" Grade: Fear of getting a B and disappointing his mother is what eventually drives Shu to
 * Cram School: Previously attended this, but quit because it wasn't rigorous enough.
 * Education Mama/My Beloved Smother: Revealed to be the source of his Jerkass attitude—she continually pressures him to study regardless of his misgivings so he can get into a competitive university.
 * Heroic BSOD: Has quite the breakdown in the anime.
 * I Just Want to Have Friends: In the anime, replacing the tension between him and his mother.
 * Insufferable Genius: Initially.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Meaningful Name: One of the readings of his name is "Genius".

Ai Ebihara
"Voiced by: Kanae Ito (Japanese) and Julie Ann Taylor (English)"

The Moon Social Link and manager of whatever sports team you join.

Upon joining a sports club, the Protagonist meets Ai. Once the Social Link starts, Ai takes him out to become friends. Once she tasks him with asking Kou or Daisuke what kind of girl he likes, she ends up being devastated upon eavesdropping on them (Kou likes Chie Satonaka, and Daisuke likes a nice girl) and almost is driven to commit suicide. Thanks to the Protagonist, she slowly opens up to him and becomes a bit enamored with him. At the end of her Social Link, Ai learns that being just beautiful isn't all there is to her and so gives the player the compact she used to compare herself to what she was before, understanding that people were better "mirrors" to show her true self.


 * All Love Is Unrequited: She falls in love with either Daisuke or Kou, but then she finds out that they like "nice girls" and Chie, respectively.
 * In the anime, she retains her crush on Kou even after learning that he was interested in Chie.
 * Alpha Bitch: pre-Character Development.
 * Lovable Alpha Bitch
 * Because You Were Nice to Me: Likes Kou due to this trope.
 * Compensated Dating: Discussed in regards to her. Ai doesn't do it as far as we know, but since she has good looks (especially a nice butt), she's rumored to have a sugar daddy. Kou is rather angry when he hears about it, though, and lectures the tattletales.
 * Cry Cute: In Episode 5 of the anime (where Narukami joins the Basketball team), after Narukami stops her from jumping off the school's rooftop after overhearing Kou saying he likes Chie, wondering if all her dieting and prettifying were for naught.
 * Custom Uniform
 * Cute Sports Club Manager: Unusually for this trope, she didn't become the manager by choice. She was forced into the job to pass due to low attendance, and even then she does next to nothing of actual managerial work.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen
 * Embarrassing Nickname:
 * Former Fat Girl: It's amazing what constant dieting can do!
 * Freudian Excuse: Ai's harsh personality is due to being picked on as a child for being fat and poor.
 * Green-Eyed Monster: Her jealousy of Chie is played up considerably more in the anime, resulting in a downright hilarious slap fight between the two.
 * I Just Want to Be Beautiful: A major theme of her Social Link. By the end Ai becomes a Reconstruction of the trope, as she realizes that true beauty is more than just fashion and good looks.
 * In Love with Love: This is a big point in her Social Link as it is revealed that she just wanted to be in a relationship. In fact,
 * Heroic BSOD: She gets one when she finds out that Kou/Daisuke isn't interested in her.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Hate her for being a Tsundere that's astoundingly heavy on the tsuntsun. Then get her Social Link to Level 6 and beyond, and then hate yourself.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: In Episode 5, she got annoyed when Narukami called her "Ebi" (which, in Japanese, also means "shrimp").
 * Nouveau Riche - Rich Bitch: Subverted. She initially comes off as beautiful but cold-hearted, but it's revealed that her family used to be poor and she, in her own words, a "stinkin' fatso", making her prone to mockery. When her father struck gold in real estate (just a short while ago), she decided to change her image so she wouldn't be mocked anymore.
 * Second Love: Possibly with the Protagonist after she realized Kou/Daisuke doesn't like her.
 * Spurned Into Suicide: After overhearing that Kou/Daisuke doesn't care for her, she runs to the school rooftop and prepares to jump over the edge. Luckily, the Protagonist gives chase and manage to talk her out of it.
 * Suicide as Comedy: The deal is Played for Laughs... Until she reveals her backstory.
 * Tsundere: Type A

Yumi Ozawa
"Voiced by: Kanae Ito (Japanese), Melissa Fahn (English)"

One of two potential candidates for the Sun Social Link and unofficial leader of the Drama Club.

By joining the Drama Club, the Protagonist quickly makes a bond with Yumi. As time passes on, he learns about Yumi's father being bedridden in the hospital. Through family drama, Yumi cannot forgive how her father left her and her mother for another woman, even though he's going through his final moments. , Yumi can't tell how she actually felt about him. When she realizes that their parents tried hard to come up with a good name for her, she laments. At the end of her Social Link, Yumi quits the Drama Club to help her mother, realizing that acting was a way for her to hide her sorrow, and she gives the Protagonist her annotated script.


 * Actor Allusion: In English -- Yumi's tumultuous relationship with her parents has a number of parallels with Rika Nonaka/Ruki Makino's.
 * Disappeared Dad: Her father left Yumi and her mother for another woman, but came back when he was dying of illness.
 * Foil: To Ayane.
 * Meaningful Name: This is brought up in her Social Link, where her dying father said it meant "to bear fruit".
 * Out of Focus: The anime prefers Ayane over her, but she can be seen in the background sometimes.

Ayane Matsunaga
"Voiced by: Tomoka Endou (Japanese), Michelle Ann Dunphy (English)"

The other potential candidate for the Sun Social Link and a freshman who manages the Music Club.

Ayane is often mistaken as an "apple" due to her shyness and face's expression. After the Protagonist joins the Music Club, he gets to spend the time with Ayane. Throughout their meetings, Ayane tells him how she doesn't like to play the trombone and would rather play the flute instead, but her parents couldn't afford to buy her an actual flute. Moreover, her shyness prevents her from participating in band performances. Once she starts to be a little bit more selfish so that she can stop backing out from events, Ayana is grateful to the Protagonist. By the end of her Social Link, Ayane decides to study music abroad after finishing graduation, and she thanks the Protagonist by giving him a homemade ticket with her name printed on it so that he would watch her perform later.


 * Blush Sticker: Yep. She earns her nickname "apple" for when she actually blushes.
 * Expy: Of pre-time-skip Hinata
 * Foil: To Yumi.
 * Older Than They Look: NPCs frequently mistake her for a middle-schooler.
 * Plucky Girl: Eventually becomes this.
 * Shrinking Violet: But the point of her S-Link is helping her grow out of this.

Marie
"Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese)"

A new character for the upcoming Persona 4 the Golden. Thus far, very little is known about her besides that she is into fashion. However, several pictures have been released that show her interacting with the main characters, so it seems that she may play a part in the plot. Marie has since been revealed to be the new Aeon Social Link.

Kinshiro Morooka
"Voiced by: Osamu Ryutani (Japansese) and Kirk Thornton (English)"

The protagonist's homeroom teacher. He really dislikes unruly students and looks down (or outright curses) any popular trends in the school. That doesn't stop him from being a Risette fanatic behind the scenes.


 * Dirty Old Man/Hypocritical Humor: While he rails against teenagers for such things, he's stated to be a Rise fan.
 * Gonk: Just... look at those teeth! The guy looks like Steve Buscemi.
 * Jerkass: That nickname is well-warranted.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Seriously, he looks like Steve Buscemi.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: Rarely is he ever called anything other than "King Moron" ("Morokin" in Japanese) by the protagonists.
 * Pet the Dog: One girl on the school hallway reveals that he once gave her a piece of candy to cheer her up.
 * Properly Paranoid: Possibly. Morooka accuses the Protagonist of being a Casanova since he's a city kid. Depending on how you develop your Social Links, he might be right.
 * Sadist Teacher
 * The Scrappy: In-Universe, his students don't like him and his foul attitude. The Protagonist can even tell him off when the latter was insultingly introducing him with "You callin' me a loser?".
 * The Scrappy: In-Universe, his students don't like him and his foul attitude. The Protagonist can even tell him off when the latter was insultingly introducing him with "You callin' me a loser?".

Hanako Ohtani
"Voiced by: Ryou Agawa (Japanese) and Jessica Straus (English)"

A fat girl and the Protagonist's schoolmate. Just like Noriko, she thinks of herself as being beautiful, and insults any prettier girl because of her views.


 * Big Beautiful Woman: Seem to think she's this when she's really...
 * Fat Bastard: ...a hideously fat, selfish, vain creature with only one redeeming quality: because she secretly has a crush on . In the anime, while still somewhat obnoxious, she's noticeably nicer, especially when she shows a degree of reluctance and guilt at having to
 * Fan Disservice: She joins the beauty pageant.
 * Gonk
 * Jerkass: Less so in the animated adaptation.
 * Pet the Dog: Her only redeeming quality is that sometimes she leaves useful items in the Protagonist's shoe locker.
 * Also in the anime, one of her Jerkass moment of not sharing her mountain of food during the Camping Trip is omitted and replaced by offering to eat Chie and Yukiko's Mystery Food X... and liking it.
 * Small Name, Big Ego: The hideous Gonk thinks of herself as a gorgeous beauty and lords herself over everyone else. No wonder she and Kashiwagi-sensei are friends.

Noriko Kashiwagi
"Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese, game), Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese, anime) and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)"

The protagonist's second homeroom teacher after. She honestly believes that she's the most gorgeous woman against the obviously popular girls within the school.


 * Absolute Cleavage: Just look at her profile picture and see where your eyes fall.
 * Anything That Moves
 * The Cameo: Makes one during "Operation Babe Hunt" in Persona 3 Portable. As you would expect, Hilarity Ensues.
 * Christmas Cake: An exaggerated version—Kashiwagi-sensei is not only "on the wrong side of 40", says one of the Protagonist's classmates, but continually hits on her male students, and enters a beauty pageant against girls less than half her age. And she thinks she'll win.
 * Gag Boobs: In the Anime.
 * Expy: She could easily be mistaken for a parallel universe equivalent of Mitsuka-sensei.
 * Hot for Student: Deconstructed and Played for Laughs. While this leads to a hilarious scene after the beauty pageant, her Christmas Cake status left her so bitter and desperate for attention from males she's willing to settle for anything she can get.
 * Hot Teacher: Her character's portrait isn't unattractive, but her personality and desperation for male attention completely diminish any beauty she has.
 * Hypocritical Humor/Green-Eyed Monster: She calls Rise an "inexperienced jailbait" despite the fact that she's probably worse than Shadow Rise in terms of personality, whereas Rise is an experienced model with a pleasant personality.
 * Jerkass
 * Older Than They Look: Implied that she's considerably older than she looks and acts.
 * Replacement Scrappy: In-Universe—the class considers her this compared to Morooka-sensei (which is impressive, considering the latter was a supreme Jerkass).
 * Sensei-chan: Deconstructed. Her immaturity is not treated an endearing characteristic and is seen by the students as a desperate act to act young.
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Is earnestly shocked when she loses the beauty pageant, despite being regarded as a creepy old hag by her students. It's also the reason she's a Christmas Cake. No wonder she and Hanako get along well.
 * Unknown Rival: Considers herself Rise's rival as school idol. Boy does she underestimate Rise's popularity (and kindness).
 * The Vamp

Chihiro Fushimi
"Voiced by: Ai Maeda (Japanese) and Wendee Lee (English)"

Once an incredibly shy girl, Chihiro, now a third-year student of Gekkoukan High School whom the Investigation Team meet during their visit to Tatsumi, has since revamped herself into a much more confident lady and Student Council President.


 * The Cameo: During Yasogami's field trip to Tatsumi.
 * Dude Magnet: Both Yosuke and Kanji quickly become attracted to her.
 * Hotter and Sexier/Older and Wiser: She's no longer the Shrinking Violet from two years ago—and now she has a new character portrait to give some emphasis.
 * Meganekko
 * She's All Grown Up
 * Student Council President

Aika Nakamura
"Voiced by: Aoi Yuki (Japanese)"

Appearing only in Persona 4: The Animation, she is minor recurring character who attends Yasogami High and works at her family's restaurant Aiya as a waitress and delivery girl. Aika has quite the ability to appear out of nowhere just to deliver fresh food to her customers without saying much of a word.


 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Will literally deliver Chinese food anywhere, including to people running for their lives and people who had just suffered really nasty stomaches by something close to food poisoning away from the city.
 * She makes an appearance in the Hagakure near the end of Episode 15, citing that she's been working there during the trip for temporary training.
 * Canon Foreigner
 * Comfort Food: In episode 22 Aika offers Yu the infamous beef bowl to cheer him up . Yu eats it whole.
 * Dissonant Serenity: The Investigation Team might be running from an enraged Kanji, but she remains oddly calm whilst driving a scooter and delivering food.
 * Stealth Mentor: In episode 11 the team meet up in the restaurant she works in when they think they are back at square one, she suddenly gives them an enormous beef bowl each for free that they eat for 40 minutes without getting to the rice. They're about to give up when they realize they can get to the bottom of it if they persevere.
 * The Stoic: Even moreso than Yu.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Mitsuo Kubo
"Voiced by: Tsuyoshi Takahashi (Japanese), Kyle Hebert (English)"

A student from another school in Inaba. Eventually turns out to be Morooka's killer. After he's dealt with, it's stated that he was tossed into an asylum.

"Kanji: "Looking at those fish eyes really pisses me off!""
 * Adaptational Attractiveness: He didn't become a handsome guy in it, but the anime noticeably scales down his creepy face a bit, as it looks proportional now.
 * In his first appearance, he looks almost identical to the game portraits. It's only later when they enlarge his eyes, reduce the definition of his lips, and generally give him a more boyish appearance.
 * Attention Whore
 * Ax Crazy: He even gets thrown into the loony bin at the end.
 * Barrier Change Boss: To some extent since his shadow uses wall spells.
 * Be Yourself: Subverted. He refuses to accept his Shadow since it'd mean accepting that he's nothing but an Empty Shell.
 * Big Bad Wannabe: Claims responsibility for killing Mayumi Yamano, Saki Konishi and Kinshiro Morooka; the latter is only true.
 * Black Eyes of Evil


 * Chekhov's Gunman
 * Creepy Monotone/Dull Surprise: Not so much himself but his Shadow.
 * Disc One Final Boss
 * Empty Shell: His Shadow even provides the page quote.
 * Evil Counterpart: In the anime to Yu Narukami. They both suffer from loneliness (Mitsuo wants to be special while Yu wants friends), and Mitsuo's shadow even pulls a Not So Different on Yu.
 * Fetus Terrible: His shadow is this.
 * Foreshadowing: In his dungeon, notice how the game text says that he "defeated" Yamano and Konishi, but "killed" Morooka. That's a large hint at the fact that he isn't the real killer.
 * There is also another large hint: His Shadow has the normal boss battle music, "I'll Face Myself -Battle-". For someone who is claiming to be the main killer, you'd think he'd have a special boss theme, but he does not.
 * For the Evulz: He only killed Morooka and claimed responsibility for the murders to garner attention.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: Subverted. While he did kill Morooka, he ultimately never becomes any more dangerous than the next kid. His Shadow then manifests how terrible he can possibly become.
 * Gonk: His eyes and facial expression make him look like a deranged Gerber Baby.
 * I Just Want to Be Special: Deconstructed as it drives Mitsuo to commit murder just to get attention.
 * It's All About Me: His motive.
 * Kick the Dog: In the anime, he threatens Nanako when she tries to get the same item as he does in Junes.
 * Loners Are Freaks: Was already a creep before the events of the story.
 * Machine Monotone: His Shadow's true form.
 * Mythology Gag: His Shadow Boss seems similar to the final boss of Shin Megami Tensei: if..., the game that started this series, which certianly fits with his dungeon theme.
 * Obviously Evil
 * Otaku
 * Red Herring: His entire purpose in the plot, as his actions and claims throw the Investigation Team off the trail of the real killer.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Type B.
 * Slasher Smile: Does one of these at the beginning of episode 11.
 * Stalker with a Crush: Appears this way towards Yukiko, though nothing really comes of it. In the anime, he tries it while on the end of his power trip from killing Morooka, but gets scared away by Chie and Kanji.

Taro Namatame
"Voiced by: Koji Haramaki (Japanese) and J. B. Blanc (English)"

Once secretary in the Yasogami City Council, Taro Namatame's affair with news reporter Mayumi Yamano was a hot local topic by the time the Protagonist arrives in town. It ultimately cost him his job, and by the time the Protagonist arrives, he has been reduced to a mere deliveryman.

After kidnapping Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Naoto and Nanako, he becomes the Team's chief suspect. He is confronted and defeated inside a manifestation of Heaven created by his self-delusions of messianic grandeur. He also plays a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the case; should the player take the easy way out and blame him for all of the murders, thus throwing him in the TV world, they will be "rewarded" with the Bad Ending. If he is spared and the Protagonist convince his teammates that something still seems off about the case, the game will move the player closer to the Normal and True Endings.

As it turns out, Namatame was one of three people granted the power to enter the Midnight Channel by Izanami, representing Despair in her experiment. After witnessing the deaths of Mayumi and Saki, Namatame concludes that anyone who appears on the Channel will die and makes it his life's mission to "save" them by throwing them into the television. Unfortunately, he fails to recognize that the Channel is potentially lethal on its own.

Should he be spared, Namatame, still recovering from his experiences, will aid the Investigation Team by offering his perspective on the game's events thus far.


 * A God Am I: Develops a messiah complex at some point when he is saving people; this is his most major flaw that Kunino-sagiri, his Shadow, expresses. He eventually realizes his mistakes.
 * The Atoner: Subverted, then played straight. Promises to "save" people in memory of his dead lover Mayumi without realizing the ramifications of his actions, and then helps the Investigation Team once they reveal the truth of his actions to him.
 * Anti-Villain: Namatame blurs the line between a Type II and a very tragic Type I.
 * Barrier Change Boss
 * Big Bad Wannabe: If you go through the Downer Ending and think everything else doesn't matter anymore.
 * Cassandra Truth: Attempts to warn Saki about what will happen to her, but she's creeped out and doesn't listen.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's got to have some combat experience to take on Kanji (a biker-gang crusher) and Naoto (a petite Gun Slinger).
 * Drowning My Sorrows: His initial coping mechanism to the leaking of his affair with Mayumi.
 * Forced to Watch: Sorta. In the anime he witnessed  and tried to save her , but he failed to.
 * The Messiah: Subverted. Although he was granted the power to enter the Midnight Channel and genuinely cares about people, his actions did more harm than good, and he never develops the Persona powers that his counterparts—the Protagonist and Adachi—do. Izanami implies this is because he fails to grasp the truth behind the Channel on his own.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: After he realizes that his actions could have potentially killed more people.
 * Obliviously Evil: Subverted oh so very hard.
 * Red Herring
 * Tragic Hero: You can't help but feel sorry for the guy.
 * Unwitting Pawn: His original idea to throw people into the Midnight Channel came from, who would continue to sit back and enjoy the suffering he was obliviously causing. Ultimately, along with the Protagonist and , he is one of

Tohru Adachi/Tamotsu Adachi
"Voiced by: Mitsuaki Madono (Japanese) and Johnny Yong Bosch (English)"

A bumbling dectective, he was transfered to Inaba due to an unknown incident (presumably one of his many screw-ups). One of the main authorities on the murder cases along with Dojima, he has a habit of divulging critical information to the Investigation Team, making him a useful ally.

Turns out that not only is this all just an act, but he's the one behind the murders. After dealing with Mayumi and Saki, he manipulated Namatame into carrying on in his stead. Bored with Inaba, he viewed the murders as his personal form of entertainment. While he claims to be much more mature than the Investigation Team, it's clear the whole affair comes down to him throwing a tantrum over all the crap he's had to deal with. After he's exposed, he is chased into the Midnight Channel, where he reveals Persona powers not unlike the Protagonist's, and possessed by Ameno-Sagiri. Defeated by a mere bunch of teenagers, he is arrested and sent to jail for his crimes. Despite this, he mails a letter to the Team, claiming he'll follow society's rules and giving them a clue to the truth of the Channel.

Ultimately he's nothing but a pawn of Izanami, who wanted to determine humanity's true desire, as expressed by Adachi, Namatame, and the Protagonist. Adachi represents "Emptiness" in the experiment, but because his actions are the most prolific, he unintentionally sentences humanity to an Assimilation Plot.

""Ahaha! I told you all to come, and you actually came!? Don't you guys have anything better to do? What a bunch of losers... 'Let's find the culprit ourselves!' 'Let's meet up today at the special headquarters today!' Am I right, or am I right? Man, it's embarrassing. How old are you guys? Ahahahahahahaha! Oh crap, my stomach's hurting... C'mon... You're all students, right? Shouldn't you be studying instead of wasting your time with this? Study hard, get into a good college, work at a respectable company, marry a cute girl... Why are you guys so desperate when it comes to something so useless? Won't you regret it once you're adults?""
 * The Atoner: Becomes this to some degree in the True Ending by sending a letter stating his suspicions about a higher being orchestrating the entire thing, after being recently convicted for his crimes.
 * Attempted Rape: To Mayumi and Saki; he apparently failed both attempts—Mayumi fell into the Midnight Channel before he can have his way with her, and Saki gets thrown into it.
 * Asshole in Sheep's Clothing
 * Ax Crazy
 * Beam Me Up, Scotty: He never actually utters the memetic "Bitches and whores" line. That one came from a doujinshi that was edited by 4chan. However, considering his misogynistic attitude towards women, the line is in character.
 * And in The Anime of the Game, a paraphrased version of this very line becomes an Ascended Meme.
 * Beneath Suspicion: No one suspects the goofy, bumbling detective... right? No one but the Genre Savvy.
 * Be Yourself: An evil version.
 * Butt Monkey
 * Captain Ersatz: Looks and acts like Matsuda from Death Note.
 * And when his True Colors are shown, he becomes more like the lovechild of Light and Lelouch. Ironic considering who voices the latter in the English version.
 * Detective Mole
 * Dirty Cop: Claims the only reason he became a cop was so he could legally carry a gun—which is justifiable enough, given Japan's strict gun control laws. Though the veracity of those words is ambiguous, given his immaturity and tendency to run from the truth.
 * The Ditz: Or at least, plays a very good one.
 * Evilly Affable: He's an loopy, Ax Crazy Serial Killer. That said, he's pretty funny.
 * For the Evulz / It Amused Me : Had a hell of a time with all the crap he's stirred up.
 * Freudian Excuse: He is really, really sick of being the Butt Monkey.
 * Graceful Loser: After he's defeated, he agrees to accept punishment for his crimes in whatever manner you choose. To his surprise, they instead drag him out into the real world and force him to take account for his actions.
 * Heel Realization: Of the sorts. His Villainous Breakdown and subsequent defeat by the Investigation Team was extremely humiliating, and it left him humbled and at their mercy. Instead of killing him (as he expected), they instead haul him back to the real world (metaphorically and literally), demanding him to face the consequences of his actions just like eveyone else. The final nail comes when he learns that Ryotaro (who had pretty good reasons to hate him) had requested, as personal favor, that an EMT with a stretcher be sent out to treat and apprehend the exhausted Adachi (because they had been partners). Adachi does not say anything, but he seems both ashamed and touched at the same time. He later confesses to the first two murders, and shows full cooperation with police.
 * In the True Ending, the Team receives a letter from the recently-convicted Adachi, which contains his suspicions about a higher being orchestrating the entire thing, the few vague clues he can offer, and encouragement to the Protagonist, stating it is up to him to solve the mystery. Seems like he's trying to turn over a new leaf.
 * Hannibal Lecture: While making your way through Adachi's dungeon, he insists the Investigation Team did all this, pursuing the true killer, out of boredom with their ordinary lives. He asks how is that any different from him killing Mayumi and Saki because he too was bored.
 * Hypocrite
 * I Never Said It Was Poison: See Saying Too Much below.
 * Kick the Dog: "I was just trying to punish the stupid bitch a little for betraying me."
 * Lestrade: Justified—since he was behind the whole scheme, he was always a step ahead of the Team. Therefore, it was imperative for him to play dumb as to not arouse suspicion.
 * Living with the Villain: Your biggest hint to finding the killer is the fact that he's welcome at the Dojima household any time.
 * Manipulative Bastard: He first manipulated Namatame into attempting to commit the murders with delusions of messianic grandeur, then tries to manipulate the Investigation Team into chasing after Namatame.
 * Never My Fault
 * Nietzsche Wannabe: Delves into a rant about the pointlessness of life and how much easier it would be if everyone were to become Shadows. Needless to say, the protagonists don't buy it.
 * Noodle Incident: What got him transferred to Inaba. While he claims it was a small slip-up that got blown out of proportion, his crimes in this game imply it was much more serious.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Outright called immature by Naoto and Yukiko. Despite his claims to the contrary, it's quite clear that he's basically throwing a massive temper tantrum.
 * Saying Too Much: "Namatame was the one who threw them in!"
 * Shadow Archetype: Persona-wise, to the Protagonist (his being the Evil Twin of Izanagi); motive-wise, to Yosuke (both share the same Small Town Boredom); but most of all, to the whole Investigation Team—whereas its members learn to accept themselves and each other for who they are and take responsibility their actions, Adachi ignores his own faults, blames others for his problems, and keeps running away from the truth.
 * He's actually meant to be a counterpart to the main character in the sense that the MC uses his power to help people, while Adachi uses his power to harm. This is more apparent in the anime where Yu has his own personality.
 * Slasher Smile: Once you when chase him into the Midnight Channel.
 * Small Town Boredom: Being "stuck in the boonies", as he called it.
 * Smug Snake: Overly confident in his plans? Check. Outwardly arrogant and mocking of the heroes? Check. Aspiring for greater power only to turn out to be a pawn of a Bigger Bad? Oooohh, check.
 * The Sociopath
 * Stalker with a Crush: To Mayumi and, to a lesser extent, Saki (because he thought Namatame, who "stole" Mayumi, was her sugar daddy).
 * Straw Misogynist: Considers any woman who doesn't willingly give themselves in to him either a bitch or a whore.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Subverted. He doesn't like cabbage that much; he eats it a lot because he's on a budget. However, the fandom ran with it and turned it into Cargo Ship. The anime has now made this into an Ascended Meme and plays this trope straight.
 * Trick Boss: You defeat him, then Ameno-Sagiri possesses him and takes over.
 * Troll: Adachi taunts your party as you progress through his dungeon.


 * Unwitting Pawn: To Izanami; he represents Emptiness in her game.
 * Villainous Breakdown: When confronted at the end by the team.
 * Vomiting Cop: His first appearance. YMMV on whether he was faking it or not.

Izanami
"Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa and Romi Park (Japanese), Ryusei Nakao (Japanese, as Ameno-Sagiri, Persona 4: The Animation), Karen Strassman (English)"

An extremely ancient and powerful manifestation of the collective unconscious styled after a goddess from traditional Japanese folklore, or perhaps its basis. You initially hear her name during a class lecture midway through the game. The wife of the god Izanagi, she died in childbirth. Saddened by her death, Izanagi visted the underworld, Yomotsu Hirasaka, and persuaded her to return to the living with him. But as they began to leave the darkness of the underworld, Izanagi saw that Izanami's body had become a rotting corpse, and terrified ran from her. Enraged, Izanami sent various creatures that chased after Izanagi as he fled the underworld. However they were unable to catch him, and once he reached the surface again Izanagi sealed the entrance with a boulder. Now even angrier, Izanami threatened she would curse 1,000 people to die every day unless she was freed, but Izanagi responded that in that case each day he would give life to 1,500 new ones.

While Izanami herself doesn't specify how much of the legend is true, she is the mastermind behind all the events in Inaba. In an attempt to fulfill the desires of humanity, she creates the world inside the TV and grants three Unwitting Pawns, the Protagonist, Namatame, and Adachi, the power to enter. Her plan is to then create a new world for humanity that matches the quality of the pawn whose actions are the most prolific. Because Adachi, who represents Emptiness, has the greatest effect, Izanami deems that humanity wants to live in self-deception and plans to slowly turn all of humanity into Shadows.

In the True Ending, after Adachi and Ameno-Sagiri are defeated, the Protagonist may surmise that something about the case still seems unresolved, and traces the events in Inaba back to Izanami, who has been watching the events in Inaba unfold as the local gas station's attendant. She reveals that Ameno-Sagiri was merely an alter-ego that she created long ago, and she still plans on continuing her plan even without Adachi's help.

After the Investigation Team chases her through Yomotsu Hirasaka, Izanami nearly manages to kill them. However, the power of the Protagonist's Social Links revives him, and he destroys her in a single attack with the help of Izanagi.


 * A Form You Are Comfortable With: In both her goddess and persona forms. Doesn't last when she gets serious.
 * Anti-Villain: Type III. Turns out to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist who only wanted to discover what mankind truly desired and then try to give it to them. Too bad she mistook one crazed sociopath's bleak outlook on life as the embodiment of humanity's true desire.
 * Assimilation Plot: Her plan after determining Adachi was the winner of the experiment.
 * Big Bad: By the time Adachi is discovered, she begins actively involving herself in events through Ameno-Sagiri.
 * Bigger Bad: That being said, after giving her three pawns their powers, she doesn't do anything but watch for the majority of the year.
 * Bifauxnen: See Doppelganger.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: She genuinely wants to make the world a better place for humans. The problem is that she really does not understand them all that well, and the "true desire" she perceived came from a misogynistic loon.
 * Character Portrait: It's worth noting that even though she's the third character you meet and appears on rainy days throughout the entire game, she doesn't get a portrait until after you've figured out she's the one responsible for everything that happened in The True Ending.
 * The Chessmaster: Used three Unwitting Pawns in trying to figure out mankind's desires.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: In her human form. The game is actually very subtle about it (see Character Portrait above).
 * King Incognito
 * Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Like all deities in the Persona universe, she comes from and sees herself as an agent of humanity's desires. As such, gives this as the reason you'll never be able to beat her.
 * Creepy Gas Station Attendant: Double subverted, as the gas station itself is well off and in a town and that she's pretty friendly. Later ...
 * Damage Sponge Boss
 * Dark Reprise: her second theme The Genesis incorporates an extremely creepy, dirge-like version of the investigation team's main theme I'll Face Myself.
 * Doppelganger: As seen from her Character Portrait, her goddess form looks disturbingly like the Protagonist, at least from his point of view. This also serves a bit of a Call Back to Persona 2: Innocent Sin,
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Eldritch Abomination: Her degraded appearance was so legendarily hideous this is the best description for it.
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She's incapable of understanding why the Investigation Team resists her plan. Subverted, however, in that she isn't technically "evil".
 * Fallen Hero: At least in her myth.
 * Fighting a Shadow: Her first boss form is this, forcing you to use the "Orb of Sight" to reveal her true self.
 * Full-Body Disguise: Twice; not only is her gas station attendant form fake, but so is the goddess form she initially presents to the Protagonist.
 * God Couple: With Izanagi.
 * Graceful Loser: "Children of man... Well done...!"
 * Hoist By Her Own Petard: She is defeated by one of her three Unwitting Pawns and his newfound friends, who refused her Adachi-derived judgment on humanity.
 * Humanoid Abomination
 * Humanity on Trial: Her motivation for giving the Protagonist, Namatame and Adachi their powers.
 * Knight Templar
 * The Man Behind the Man: Technically, the goddess behind the three men and two minor gods.
 * Master of Illusion: A relatively rare Big Bad example.
 * Mythology Gag: Persona 4 is the first Shin Megami Tensei game since the original Megami Tensei Famicom duology (in which she was reincarnated) that a version of Izanami is a key participant in the plot.
 * Nominal Importance: Cleverly subverted. She doesn't get a name or a portrait until after The Reveal.
 * One-Winged Angel: "Well then...allow me to show you my full splendor..."
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Reality Warper: Turned Yomotsu Hirasaka into the Midnight Channel, and by extension is responsible for it morphing with each new victim. By the end of the game starts affecting the real world.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: Averted. Her myth makes it sound like she should be sealed away on the other side of the TV. In actuality, she's been working at the gas station all year.
 * Shadow Archetype: For the entire human race. Though if her myth and motivations are to be believed, this wasn't always the case.
 * Shape Shifter
 * Stupid Good: Deconstructed horrifyingly. Izanami sees all humans equally, to the point she decides that a sociopath who murdered two people for fun is the best example of humanity's true desire because his actions were the most prolific amongst her three pawns, and then tries to help him give everyone what he believes they want: Oblivion.
 * True Final Boss
 * The Unfettered
 * The Virus: How her fog works, slowly turning humanity into Shadows.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ameno-sagiri and Izanami just want to give humanity what they've always wanted: everlasting peace. The only problem—and a large one at that—is that they don't quite get humans. Because of this they eventually decide that one crazy killer's actions summed up humanity's true desire the best, and thus the best way to achieve their goal is to turn everyone into Shadows, living mindless, meaningless existences.
 * Worthy Opponent: Lauds the Investigation Team's efforts after they defeat her.