Persona 2/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


A character sheet for Persona 2: Innocent Sin and its direct follow-up Eternal Punishment.

The Heroes

Tatsuya Suou

The silent protagonist of Innocent Sin and central character of the story. His affinity is with the Sun arcana, with Vulcanus as his starting Persona. Interestingly, he and Maya are the only protagonists in the Persona series to have canonical names (as opposed to the names given in the other mangas). However, the player has the option of renaming him at the start.

Tatsuya is a senior at Seven Sisters High School in Sumaru City, a rather aloof boy who doesn't have many friends, often preferring to be by himself and tool around with his treasured motorcycle. During a encounter with Eikichi "Captain Death/Death Boss" Mishina at Sumaru Prison (a live house where Eikichi's band "Gas Chamber" often practices), Tatsuya is attacked by Joker, an urban legend who is said to grant the wish of anyone who dials their own cell phone number. He, along with the others, is knocked unconscious and awakens to his own Persona. He later joins forces with Maya and Yukino, an investigative duo from a local magazine who are also looking into the Joker case.

Eventually, Tatusya realizes that he and the rest of his team knew each other as children, forming a masked clique nicknamed "The Masked Circle" (Masquerade in the fan translation of the PSX version). This leads him to suspect Jun Kurosu, the last remaining member of the clique, as the true identity of Joker. Soon afterward, Jun is revealed as a puppet of Nyarlathotep, the entity which is manifesting rumors as reality. At the conclusion of the game, Tatsuya confronts Nyarlathotep in his domain, and in the ensuing struggle, Maya is killed, fulfilling Nyarlathotep's prophecy and having everything outside of Sumaru City completely destroyed.

Faced with a dystopian future, the group accepts an offer from Philemon to erase their memories and rewind time. At the last moment, however, Tatsuya can't bring himself to lose his friends forever and relents. This creates a Temporal Paradox wherein the world is restored, but Tatsuya retains his memories of the Alternate Timeline (the "Other Side"), allowing Nyarlathotep to repeat the cycle.

  • Anime Hair: The dev team has joked that it's a helmet, and that he slips it off at night.
  • Badass:
    • Badass Biker: Tatsuya's most treasured possession (second to his lighter, of course) is his motorcycle. He wears a red cyclist's jumpsuit for the entirety of Eternal Punishment.
    • Heartbroken Badass: In Eternal Punishment, it's revealed not only did he care quite deeply for Maya, her horrifying end in Innocent Sin is why he's cares so much, as he doesn't want her to go through all that again, and on some level, he loves her QUITE a lot.
  • Bag of Spilling: Averted. In Eternal Punishment, Tatsuya joins up at level 50, with his Ultimate persona Apollo in tow.
    • Old Save Bonus: If you have completed save data from Innocent Sin, he'll start Eternal Punishment at the level he was there.
  • Bishounen: Granted, he's still young, but going by his father and brother, the entire Suou clan is known for its dashing, well-groomed male heirs.
  • Character Development: His personality is more severe in Eternal Punishment, having become a hardened fighter and losing everyone he cared about.
  • Clueless Chick Magnet: His childhood friend Lisa has been pursuing him for ages, much to his discomfort and chagrin.
  • Cosmic Plaything: Literally, in his case. He and his friends are pawns in a cosmic chess game apparently picked at random, between unknowable forces outside of their comprehension.
  • Crutch Character: In Eternal Punishment. Even moreso than usual, due to the fact that your party can fuse Personas up to the level of the highest-leveled party member, and unless you've been grinding yourself silly, Tatsuya will at very least be 5-10 levels above your next strongest character.
    • It's actually even better in regards to the Persona thing. You can actually summon Personas up to five levels higher than your strongest character, so, getting everybody's Ultimate Persona is only a level or two away with Tatsuya.
  • Destination Host Unreachable: Of the main characters, Tatsuya is the one hero who is unable to let go of his memories from Innocent Sin. It's this paradox (which Nyarlothotep probably anticipated) which again places the world in peril.
  • Deus Angst Machina: Someone must have stuck an ANGST +100 accessory on him between games.
    • Although given the sheer amount of crap he's put through between games, I'd say he has every right too.
  • Double Consciousness: In Eternal Punishment, he struggles with two sets of memories, one from the Other Side and the other from this world. Negated in the second game's ending, when he willingly gives up his memories of his friends. Maya ends up shouldering his burden, hopefully for good.
  • Dramatic Ellipsis: The English localization of Eternal Punishment is chock full of these. Tatsuya's the greatest offender of all—almost every line of his dialogue has one.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: If Jun is any indication.
  • For Want of a Nail
  • Fourth Option Love Interest: Eikichi, I choose you!!
  • Freak-Out: The losses at the end of Innocent Sin were simply too much to bear.
  • Hello, Insert Name Here: Although "Tatsuya" is his canonical name, the player is given a choice of naming him.
  • The Hero: Of both Innocent Sin and, indirectly, Eternal Punishment.
  • Heroic Mime: In the first game.
  • His Story Repeats Itself
  • If It's You It's Okay: Tatsuya and Jun hint at this.
  • Ineffectual Loner: Subverted in Innocent Sin where he is a loner, but isn't particularly averse to working alongside others as long as he doesn't think they're slowing down progress, but played straight and justified in Eternal Punishment; he rebuffs Maya’s offers of help out of the fear that, should anyone from the original Masked Circle regain their memories of the Other Side, the new and old timelines would collapse into each other, and the world would end a second time.
  • I Will Protect Her: Towards Maya. It's what causes the most trouble in both games.
  • Katanas Are Just Better
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: His fate at the end of Eternal Punishment. In his case though, it's a blessing.
  • Law of Chromatic Superiority: A red cycling suit, which he wears in the sequel.
  • Love Hurts
  • Mark of the Beast: Before the start of Eternal Punishment, Nyarlathotep brands his arm with a symbol as a reminder of what will happen if his friends regain their memories.
  • Mr. Exposition: In the second game.
  • Must Make Amends
  • My Greatest Second Chance
  • Mysterious Protector: To Maya in the sequel.
  • Not So Stoic: See the Freak-Out entry above.
  • Number One Dime: A Zippo lighter he received from Jun as a child. The inscription reads "The most important things can't be seen with the eyes", a quote from Jun's favorite book. The lighter is a memento of Jun's father. In exchange, Tatsuya gave Jun a wristwatch which belonged to his own father. Tatsuya is depicted flicking the Zippo lighter open and shut during whenever he's idle.
  • One Head Taller: Between him and Jun, Tatsuya's the tall one. Actually, he's the second-tallest of everyone in the group, Eikichi being the absolute tallest by almost two inches.
  • Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: By the end of Innocent Sin, he's literally the only person on Earth who recalls what happened.
  • Scars Are Forever: He has a knife wound on his back from when King Leo attacked him as a child. Tatsuya got him back though.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: His entire shtick in Eternal Punishment.
  • The Stoic: He's not cold-hearted, just shy and requires tons of personal space. He was a lot more outgoing and talkative as a kid.
  • This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Repeatedly tries and fails to get Maya to drop the JOKER story.
    • Not to metion in Innocent Sin, this is necessary in order to allow the other party members to gain their Prime Personas.
  • Three Amigos: Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi (and Jun makes four, adding Maya makes a Five-Man Band).
  • Time Stands Still: When he performs Nova Kaiser[1] with Apollo
  • Troubled but Cute: Despite (or because of?) his standoffish personality, he's considered "cool" by the other students at Sevens and has cultivated a female following.
  • Universal Driver's License: Submarines? Mini-Mecha? Zeppelins? Not a problem.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: He has a choice between Lisa, Maya or even Jun.
  • Zen Survivor: He starts out like this in Eternal Punishment. Expect plenty of cryptic clues and I Work Alone.

Maya Amano

Maya Amano is a journalist for Kismet Publishing, writing for the teen magazine Coolest. Upon hearing rumors regarding a wish granting genie called Joker, Maya decides to investigate. The trail leads both Maya and her photographer/friend Yukino to Seven Sisters High, during which she meets Tatsuya Suou and the others, setting the stage for Innocent Sin. Maya's Tarot arcana is Moon and her starting Persona is Maia.

Maya oftentimes finds herself taking a leadership role within the group despite not being the protagonist. In Mt. Iwato, it is revealed that Maya once knew the four teens as children. The group played together while wearing Sentai, dubbing themselves as "The Masked Circle", with Maya as the eldest of them all. Maya was later imprisoned inside the Alaya Shrine by Eikichi, Lisa and Jun, all upset over the news that she had to move and tried to keep her with them. Tatsuya was opposed to this idea, so they locked him in with her. It was only supposed to be for the night so she wouldn't move, but the deranged Tatsuya Sudou set the shrine ablaze, and Maya was rescued by Tatsuya when his Persona suddenly manifested when he tried to fight Sudou off. At the conclusion of the game, Maya is fatally impaled by the Spear Of Longinus, fulfilling Nyarlathotep's dark prophecy and destroying the Earth. Philemon negates her death by rewinding time, giving Tatsuya an opportunity to avert these events.

Though she has forgotten the events of the previous game at the start of Eternal Punishment, a chance meeting with Tatsuya Suou on the way to work stirs up feelings of deja vu in Maya. The feelings of familiarity intensify after she witnesses the JOKER unleashing demons inside Seven Sisters High. Tatsuya hands her a Sevens School Emblem and asks her to spread the rumor that it keeps the Joker away, and that she should try to forget about this incident for her own good. However, Maya chooses to press on, burning the emblem and going against his warning. Along with Ulala Serizawa, Katsuya Suou and Baofu, she delves deeper into a convoluted series of events that she eventually realizes are those that parallel what she has experienced before in an alternate reality, and all just to sate her nagging curiosity over the "Deja Vu Boy".

"See - you - next - time!"

  • Rule of Sexy: Interesting, erm... business attire.
  • Sailor Fuku: Young Maya wears this in flashbacks.
  • Screw Destiny: In a defiantly-kawaii example of this trope, Maya cheerfully burns her Seven Sisters emblem, which serves as a ward against the JOKER.
  • Team Mom: Takes on a motherly role amongst the group.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth
  • Trash of the Titans: Maya's apartment.
  • Universal Driver's License: Subverted. She THINKS she's got enough skill to have one.
  • The Veronica: To Lisa's Betty.
  • When She Smiles: In Innocent Sin, there's a scene of this in the Bomb Shelter. Maya showed Tatsuya her Mr. Bunbun charm, and he cracks a smile at it. She proceeds to comment that it's the first time she's ever seen him smile and that he's pretty cute when he does. Leads right to a Luminescent Blush, which in turn triggers Maya's teasing contact command with him, where she tries to make him blush.
    • Heck, that can almost be a subversion, since the focus is on the blush, not the smile.
  • Why Did It Have To Be Fire?: She has pyrophobia, thanks to nearly dying at the shrine thanks to Tatsuya Sudou's arson. To gain her Prime Persona, you need to let her overcome this.
  • Women Drivers: Maya thinks her driving license is universal and applies to blimps and boats. Yukino warns the group not to let her drive a thing. Several scenes later, cue Maya driving a non-car vehicle...

Lisa and Eikichi: CALLED IT!!!

Lisa Silverman

Lisa "Ginko" Silverman is a popular girl at Seven Sisters High School. Despite her Caucasian lineage, she was born and raised in Japan and does not know any English, but she has a habit of lacing her native Japanese with some Chinese words, imitating action stars such as Bruce Lee. Lisa's Tarot arcana is Lovers, while her starting Persona is Eros. She is one of the more popular girls at Seven Sisters High School, and harbors a crush for Tatsuya. However, she and Kasugayama High School leader Eikichi Mishina have a confrontational relationship akin to that of Kei Nanjou and Masao Inaba from the first Persona.

Lisa was the top candidate for Miss Sevens, a beauty pageant/popularity contest held at Seven Sisters High School. Most people assumed she spoke English. Lisa and her two friends Asacchi and Meepo were selected to be in the idol group MUSES, created from a rumor. The song that MUSES sings, with Lisa as the lead vocalist, encourages people to call Joker to solve their problems. She then recites a piece from the Oracle of Maiya, which foretold events leading up to the end of the world.

  • All of the Other Reindeer: Teased as a little girl for her blonde hair and blue eyes.
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Her mother, who renamed herself Akiko, behaves like a Yamato Nadeshiko despite being American. Her father is a Steven Seagal expy who lives in a traditionalist Japanese house, practices aikido and wears a yukata constantly. He works as a director of a foreign trading company; ironically, his job requires him to wear a three-piece suit and speak English.
  • The Betty: To Maya's Veronica.
  • The Big Girl
  • Break the Cutie: When confronted by her Shadow, it's revealed that Lisa dates older men for money and experiments with drugs.
  • But Not Too Foreign: Lisa's family are naturalized citizens of Japan. Like her father, Lisa is extremely prickly about her ethnicity and goes to any lengths to blend in.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Her disconcertingly single-minded pursuit of Tatsuya. If Tatsuya shows affection toward Maya or Jun, instead, Lisa immediately runs over to Eikichi and decks him, with her Shadow turning it up to 11.
  • Dark Secret: It's a little vague, but Lisa may have participated in enjo kosai. Her Shadow intimates that Lisa's had a few sugar daddies, and tried drugs in the past.
  • Girl Posse: Asacchi and Miipo, her eventual in MUSES bandmates in MUSES. They're not really friends; Lisa is distrustful of them and treats them like hangers-on.
    • However, she is genuinely upset at them losing their identity to JOKER and becomes a true friend for them in the "other world".
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language: A haphazard use of Cantonese, often saying "Aiya!" and other Chinese expressions.
  • Hidden Depths
  • Idol Singer: Lisa gets roped into a Fake Band thanks to a rumor.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: In a fit of anger, Eikchi bestows upon her the nickname "Ginko". "Gin" means silver in Japanese, and taken from her last name. "-ko" is a common Japanese name suffix for females. Much to Lisa's chagrin, the name pretty much stuck. However, she is able to counter Eikichi by giving him the pejorative moniker "Captain Underwear"/"Undie Boss".
  • Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: Averted in Innocent Sin, when she rejects joining the Masked Circle despite peer pressure from her friends. Little does she know...
  • Power Fist: Unfortunately, she only has below average Strength. A handy strength source fixes this, and it's best to obtain one quickly, as Strike elemental attacks are one you'll want to exploit.
  • Rebellious Princess: Her Japanophile father raised her to be a traditional Japanese girl. Lisa wants none of it.
    • In a laughable subversion of the trope, her shadow busts her on this.

Shadow Lisa: You try too hard to rebel against your parents! You know it, and you hate yourself for it!

  • Sexophone: One of the things her "Tempt" contact inherits from Yuka Ayase's.
  • Shaped Like Itself: Oh sure, give a girl named Silverman a nickname that's Ginko.
  • Show Some Leg: One of her Contact options.
  • Spoiled Sweet: The richest party member in Innocent Sin by far, though nowhere in the same league as Nanjo.
  • Stephanie Sheh: In the 2011 PSP version port.
  • Surprisingly Good English: Subverted: to her exasperation, everyone expects blonde-haired American Lisa Silverman to speak perfect English, but because she was raised in Japan by Otaku parents wishing for her to be a Yamato Nadeshiko, she hardly knows any.
  • Token Minority
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Eikichi. Both have derisive nicknames for each other, they can't be in the same room together without launching into Volleying Insults, and Lisa frequently runs over and decks Eikichi whenever she's upset—regardless of whether he's responsible. However, when Lisa is revealed to have fallen into the unsavory hands of Prince Taurus, Eikichi states that they better go find them—before Lisa murders him.
  • Zettai Ryouiki

Eikichi Mishina

Eikichi Mishina is a very flamboyant student of Kasugayama High, the rival school of Seven Sisters High School. His Tarot arcana is Death, and his starting Persona is Rhadamanthus. At a young age, Eikichi was overweight and frequently bullied. After a thug pulled down Eikichi's pants in front of his childhood crush Miyabi Hanakouji, he underwent a radical image makeover, losing weight and training to beat up anyone who mocked him. Due of Eikichi's early discovery of his Persona powers, he practically rules the school as its "leader", known by many as (fittingly) Captain Death/Death Boss.

Eikichi understood the nature of his Persona long before Tatsuya and Lisa did. Like Maya and Eriko, he misunderstood the phenomenon and dubbed his Persona a "Spirit of Death", which he used to punish anyone who challenged him. Eikichi is also the lead singer of a Visual Kei band called Gas Chamber, whose logo he wears on his armband. He wears a modified version of Kasugayama High's blue uniform, with a tunic over his pants.

"We ain't in some kinda video game, are we? It is gonna be the 21st century, right? Come on, "high school kids fight with the fate of the world hanging in the balance"?" (PSX fan translation)

"This ain't a video game, you know? We're nearly into the 21st century here. Why are high schoolers fighting to save the world?" (PSP translation)

Maya: Hm...there's something fishy going on…
Eikichi: It's not a lie, babes! I'm not looking for the principal of Sevens, nor was I stepped on by the Joker!

Maya: You know something about the Joker, don't you?!

Jun Kurosu/Kashihara

Jun is a loner student at Kasugayama High School. He used to attend Seven Sisters, the school where his father teaches World History. When Jun awakened to his Persona, he used it to injure some kids who were bullying him, and was soon transferred to Kasugayama High School. Jun's Tarot arcana is Fortune, and his starting Persona is Hermes/Nyarlathotep. As a child, Jun exchanged mementos with a young Tatsuya Suou, who was his playmate at the Alaya Shrine. Jun gave him an engraved zippo lighter, while Tatsuya presented Jun with his father's silver wristwatch.

His mother Junko Kurosu is a selfish actress who cared more about revitalizing her career than taking care of her family. Jun's father Akinari Kashihara died before the game begins. Junko spread rumors of her husband being a deadbeat parent, leading to a widespread belief that Kashihara was a dangerous crackpot. Following his father's death, Jun adopted his mother's maiden name Kurosu.

Jun ran away from his mother's house at the age of seventeen and began to manipulate rumours in order to become the Joker; once he did, he acted under direct guidance from Nyarlathotep, who played on his traumatic memories of watching Maya get locked inside in the burning Alaya Shrine. Unaware that Maya survived the fire, he grew to resent his former playmates, whom he blamed for letting his surrogate mother Maya die. He is rescued from this state by Tatsuya Suou and the rest of the party, from then on working with them to undo the damage he did as Joker.

In Eternal Punishment, Jun's father is alive, and his family life is more tranquil. Jun is lured to the Sky Museum by King Leo, hoping to jog Jun's memories of the Other Side. Jun unwittingly works against Leo by helping Maya's party to rescue the schoolchildren who were having their field trip there.

  • The Atoner
  • Attractive Bent Gender: His official profile states that crossdressing is one of his talents, to the point where he looks better in a dress than most girls, and his group demon negotiation contract with Lisa involves her jumping him and putting makeup on him... and then getting depressed over how much prettier he is then her.
  • Badass:
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: For years, Nyarlathotep has impersonated the dead Akinari Kashihara, having assumed all the ideal characteristics Jun wished for in a father.
  • Best Served Cold: Jun crafted his Joker identity in order to wreak revenge on Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi, whom he blames for Maya Amano's 'death'.
  • Beware the Nice Ones
  • Bishonen: Noted in-universe to be unusually pretty even in comparison to actual women.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Jun is quite intelligent, but was shipped off to Kasaguyama High School for delinquents. Why? His Persona maimed everyone who ever dared to bully him.
  • Captain Ersatz: He seems to be based on Simone Verdricci, from Suikoden II because they use the same weapon (Throwing Flower). Also somewhat reminiscent of Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho, as an effeminate pretty boy who uses flowers as weapons.
  • Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: The Joker is like a Persona: he can summon his costume on command, rather than ducking into a room to change.
  • Closet Key: To Tatsuya, of course. Jun looks and acts as if he's never seen a closet, much less been in one.
  • Dark Messiah
  • Defeat Means Playable
  • Disc One Final Boss
  • Easily Forgiven
  • Enemy Mime
  • Flower Motifs: Jun is fluent in Hanakotoba, or "flower language". As Joker, the flowers become his Calling Card.
  • Forgotten Friend, New Foe
  • Freudian Excuse: His mother Junko basically abandoned him after her husband's death and chased after a bunch of younger boyfriends, so Jun became a latchkey kid.
  • Heel Face Turn
  • Hopeless Boss Fight: The first time, anyways.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Better not laugh at someone who can send your ass to the cleaners with a daisy.
  • More Than Mind Control
  • Nom De Mom: Was it even his choice? Or just a parting shot at his father from Junko?
  • Number One Dime: A watch given to him by Tatsuya when they were children. In exchange, Jun traded his Zippo lighter.
  • One-Winged Angel: Defeating him the first time causes Jun to be possessed by Nyarlathotep, becoming the Angel Joker.
  • Parental Abandonment/Parental Neglect: See Freudian Excuse above.
  • Peek-a-Bangs: His bangs cover his right eye. Because his mother wears hers in the exact same way, this doubles as a Hereditary Hairstyle.
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Although he is indeed effeminate in both his appearance and personal hobbies, it is somewhat implied that he is this towards Tatsuya rather than being outright homosexual because Tatsuya was the only one who cared for him in his past while everyone else ignored or hated him, at least until he met the rest of the protagonists.
  • Sixth Ranger: He joins late and replaces Yukino in the party roster.
  • The Smart Guy: Without a doubt the most objectively intelligent of the original Masked Circle. At seventeen, he already has a patent of his own (for an orthopedic shoe, in case you were wondering), and the guidebook notes that he’s excellent at mathematics and physics. He’s also deeply philosophical, and has more sophisticated hobbies (hanakotoba, astrology) than his peers.
  • Something About a Rose: Wears a yellow flower in his lapel pocket.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means
  • Voice of the Legion: Joker in Innocent Sin fits this. However, this may also be a way to hide his actual gender, as for a somewhat solid portion of the plot, Lisa (and later the other characters for a few minutes) believe that Joker is the little girl they left to die ten years ago. However, that's quickly refuted by Maya, who reveals herself to be one and the same.

Yukino Mayuzumi

Yukino is a returning playable character from the first Persona. In Innocent Sin, she is once again playable, working as a freelance photographer under Shunsuke Fujii (who she has had a crush on for a long while), and is close friends with teen magazine journalist Maya Amano. Yukino's Tarot arcana is Empress, while her starting Persona is Vesta. She is later replaced by Jun, though her ultimate fate is dependent on the player's actions.

In Eternal Punishment, Yukino is downgraded to a supporting character. She assists in Maya's current assignment by getting in touch with her former teacher Saeko Takami, who now works at Seven Sisters High School. Yukino will rejoin the rest of her former classmates later in the game, fighting off the New World Order soldiers that are trying to take over the city.

The hell did you just say? YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!!

Katsuya Suou

Katsuya Suou is a Detective of the Kounan Police Department. His current rank is Sergeant of the Homicide Division. His Tarot arcana is Justice, and his starting Persona is Helios. Katsuya is very straight-laced, even in the face of paranormal activity (he often wonders aloud whether the penal code can apply to demons). Katsuya cares a great deal for his brother, and gets depressed very easily if Tatsuya spurns his help. After a confrontation with the JOKER at Seven Sisters High School, Katsuya invites Maya and her friend Ulala to join him in his investigation so he can ensure their safety. It is implied he has romantic feelings toward Maya Amano, but politeness forbids him from acting upon it.

  • Adorkable: He's a cop who wonders if the penal code applies to demons, and he will even interrogate them as a contact option! Her also has a HUGE crush on Maya Amano, and because he's got a crippling case of Cannot Spit It Out, he calls her Ms. Amano, even towards the end of the game.
  • Agent Scully: Though he is completely open to the possibly of demons (he's a skeptic, not an idiot), it's a little naive of him to expect to include such outrageous claims in his police reports.
  • Aloof Big Brother: In Innocent Sin, Tatsuya's big brother Katsuya appears to be a cold-hearted jerk preoccupied with his job. However, Eternal Punishment subverts this showing us that from Katsuya's point of view, he's trying his best to be a good brother, and Tatsuya is the one causing the problems.
  • By-The-Book Cop: Believes very much in the letter of the law, which is why he and Baofu don't get along. He even verges into Lawful Stupid at times (Dude tries to read demons their rights!).
  • The Caretaker: Katsuya assumed this role with Tatusya after their father was disgraced.
  • Characterization Marches On: Due to the different Point of View between the games. He's a jerk from Tatsuya's perspective, but from Maya's perspective, he's stressed out due to Tatsuya's petulant behaviour.
  • Clueless Chick Magnet: Katsuya is very popular amongst the female officers, but is totally oblivious to it. He's similar to his brother in that respect.
  • The Comically Serious: He ponders whether the penal code applies to demons.
  • Cool Loser: He may be stiff, one-track minded, and socially inept, but he's still a well-dressed police sergeant who is not to be screwed with.
  • Cool Shades
  • Determinator: This man has sworn to put an end to the JOKER case, and he doesn't let corruption or superpowered beings stand in his way. Several characters in the games, the villains included, lampshade his zeal.
  • Good Cop, Bad Cop: Katsuya and Baofu's Contact option.
  • Fair Cop: Comes with being so straight-laced.
  • Fan Service Pack: He looks like a hardassed, somewhat unattractive version of himself in Innocent Sin, though since he's seen from Tatsuya's POV, this is Tatsuya's perception of him. Eternal Punishment pretties him up slightly by virtue of seeing him via Maya's POV.
  • Firing One-Handed
  • Hollywood Dateless: Word of God says he's hopeless with the opposite sex despite being adored by the women in his precinct (he's similar to his brother in that regard).
  • Hotblooded Sideburns
  • I Coulda Been a Contender: He only became a police officer because it was expected of him. His secret dream was to be a pastry chef.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: Katsuya turns in a big softie over cats, which he finds cute. He's even pleased his initial Persona manifests as a cat. Unfortunately, cats also seem to give him allergies.
  • The Lancer: While Maya is the main character, as a police officer, he's probably the most qualified member of the party to be handling the chaos in Sumaru City (not that that's saying much).
  • Military Salute: Is the only one to salute back to Lieutenant General Zula in the PSP remake of Eternal Punishment. Easy to figure out why.
  • Must Have Caffeine: Remarks on having drunk a lot of coffee.
  • Nice Guy: Basically, he's an asshole in Innocent Sin because you're seeing him the way Tatsuya sees him.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Rose-tinted sunglasses, bowl haircut and a silk suit? Looks oddly familiar...
  • Not So Different: A scene in Eternal Punishment, wherein Katsuya and Baofu are forced to run through a really hot tunnel. They are both worried about their shades melting.
  • Perp Sweating: His Contact option. Made even funnier by the fact he's interrogating demons.
  • Pet the Dog: Katsuya isn't quite as nice and understanding in the first game. There are, however, NPCs giving second-hand accounts of Katsuya showing his true colors when you're not around. Once Tatsuya and co. become wanted criminals, you hear that Katsuya is hanging up wanted posters of a person whose face resembles his own, and he looks very sad. But when Katsuya hears the opposing rumor, that Tatsuya and co. are heroes who rescued schoolchildren, you hear that his "face lit up like never before."
  • Reasonable Authority Figure
  • Resenter: He's angry because he threw away his own dreams to raise Tatsuya.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man
  • Smart People Wear Glasses: Wore specs even as a student, so they're not just for show.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Baofu. Katsuya would rather toss him in the slammer, while Baofu in turn considers Katsuya to be an irritant and a wimp.
  • Tell Me About My Father: His final exchange with Captain Togashi.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: After he refuses to associate with his corrupt department any longer.

Ulala Serizawa

Ulala Serizawa is Maya Amano's longtime friend and roommate. She often pulls the latter to so-called "matchmaker parties" to meet men despite a pattern of being swindled by past boyfriends. Ulala does boxing as a means for her to get revenge on the man who swindled her without getting the police involved; if she called the police, she couldn't beat him to a pulp, after all! Her Tarot arcana is Star, with Callisto as her starter Persona. Ulala makes her living by selling lingerie, but is outwardly obsessed with fortune telling, and looks up to the famous TV seer Wang Long Chizuru. One of her contacts involves her telling fortunes to encountered demons, and she also subscribes to a cellphone-based Wang Long fortune service. Ulala is also fond of ghost stories, and will be able to tell some when accompanied by the right party members.

Ulala is first introduced in Innocent Sin, when the party visits GOLD Gym when searching for King Leo's message. Credited as "Maya's Roommate", she is advised by Maya to leave the building due to King Leo's looming bomb threat. In Eternal Punishment, Ulala tends to be the cheeriest character in the Eternal Punishment group next to Maya, but panics easily when a situation takes a turn for the worse. She locks horns with Baofu repeatedly during the course of the game despite having more in common with each other than anyone else.

Ulala became controlled by the Joker Persona by secretly performing the Joker Curse to Maya. She envies Maya for being a successful working woman and always catching men's eyes, a significant contrast to her seemingly dead-end life. Luckily, Ulala is later purged of JOKER by Igor in the Velvet Room, and she rejoins the party with a renewed purpose.

Ulala appears on the TV show Who's Who in Persona 3, along with more Persona 1 and 2 characters. Trish describes her as a woman in her 30's with a beauty spot under her eye, and also mentions that she can dance the flamenco (which is one of her special contacts in Eternal Punishment). Trish wonders what she'd look like with a rose in her mouth, this is a reference to her demon contact combo Flamenco de la Pasion.

Baofu Tanaka

Baofu is a so-called "Tap Buster", an extortionist who uses wiretapping to further his vendetta against the people who have done him wrong, particularly Tatsuzou Sudou and the Tien Tao Len, a Taiwanese Mafia group. He claims he's from Taiwan, but is perfectly fluent in Japanese. Baofu's Tarot arcana is Hanged Man, with Odysseus as his initial Persona.

Aside from wiretapping, Baofu also runs a bulletin board website called "The Darkside Of Sumaru City", where he sorts through various urban legends to find information that might be relevant to him. He joins Maya's party following a rendezvous arranged online, and performs a test on the effectiveness of the Kotodama, the curse where rumors can come true when spread around town. Because of his shady personality and propositions, the party finds it hard to trust him, especially Katsuya Suou.

Following a shootout in the Abandoned Factory in Kounan during which Baofu is able to defeat Yung Pao, it is revealed through Katsuya's background research that Baofu's true identity was that of Kaoru Saga (kanji: 嵯峨 薫), a Japanese public prosecutor. Along with his assistant Miki Asai, they were both victims of a Taiwanese Mafia hit, tagged for their running investigation on the Tien Tao Len. Kaoru survived, awakening to Odysseus in the process, but Miki did not. Kaoru set out to exact revenge at the people responsible for her death, exchanging his lawful means for illegal ones.

In Eternal Punishment, Kei can develop a hidden Contact option with Baofu called "Song Of A Baseball Fan" where the pair quarrel over which baseball team is the greatest. This parallels the typical debates in real-life Japanese baseball fandom.

Baofu: Who the f##k are you?

Nate/Kei Nanjou

Kei is a former playable characters from Revelations: Persona. In Innocent Sin, he is a supporting character who appears at the Abandoned Factory in Kounan, drawn to rumors that a person resembling Kandori is in Sumaru City (the person in question turns out to be Reiji Kido, who isn't too happy about being mistaken as his hated half-brother). When you talk to him, Kei will give Tatsuya Suou his ultimate weapon. During the invasion of Hitler's Last Battalion, he joins his former classmates to fight against the Nazis unless certain conditions are met earlier in the game.

In Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, he is a playable character. Sneak mentions that there are two people (a man and a woman) investigating the New World Order. If Maya spreads the rumor that the person with information on the NWO is a man, you will get Kei to join. He now uses katanas like Tatsuya, and when using his demon contacts, Kei still mentions his beloved butler Yamaoka, and how he intends to honor the promise he made years ago to become "the #1 man in Japan."

Kei will take the group to a Science Lab run by Tatsuzou Sudou and funded by the Nanjou Group, where youths who allegedly performed the Joker Curse are kidnapped and drained of Kegare. The party will run into Kei's old classmates Reiji Kido and Maki Sonomura around the sewer entrance, assisting in their covert infiltration by working the floodgates. Kei will rejoin the rest of his former classmates later in the game (with Tatsuya taking his place in Maya's party), fighting off the New World Order soldiers that are trying to take over the city.

Ellen/Eriko Kirishima

Eriko is a former playable character from Revelations: Persona. In Innocent Sin, she is a supporting character, and has succeeded in getting into the modeling business. After Tatsuya Suou uncovers the "Oracle of Maiya", Yukino decides to look for Eriko's aid to unpuzzle the metaphor behind the poem. Unless certain conditions are met, she will fight alongside her former classmates from St. Hermelin once more to repel the invasion of Sumaru City by Hitler's Last Battalion, assisting Tatsuya's party so they can go to Xibalba.

In Eternal Punishment, Eriko is a playable character. Sneak mentions that there are two people (a man and a woman) investigating the New World Order. If Maya spreads the rumor that the person with information on the NWO is a woman, you will get Eriko to join. She still uses fencing swords, and will immediately establish rapport with Ulala Serizawa, who shares her love of fortune telling and ghost stories.

Eriko will take the group to the Sumaru TV station to investigate if Chizuru Ishigami (also known as "Wang Long Chizuru") is really involved in the New World Order. Their suspicions were confirmed as Chizuru's shikigami (who was disguised as a cat) traps them with a spell called "Kimon Tonkou" taking them to a reverse dimension. With her knowledge of the occult, Eriko concludes that they would have to find and enter the "Ba Gua" gates located on each the studio entrances in order to escape. Eriko enlists the help of TV host and former classmate Hidehiko Uesugi to find the right order of the Ba Gua gates by scouting them out back in the real world. Inside the reverse dimension, however, a stalker of Eriko lies in wait, taking the rare chance to get close to his idol.

Eriko will rejoin the rest of her former classmates later in the game (with Tatsuya taking her place in Maya's party), fighting off the New World Order soldiers that are trying to take over the city.


Major Non-Player Characters

Philemon

A man with a butterfly mask who bestows Personas to people. He lives in a realm of the Collective Unconscious. Philemon operates as an ally to the party despite the fact that he can only watch events unfold as a neutral observer. As such, he cannot directly interfere with anything that is going on. Philemon is conducting an experiment with his rival Nyarlathotep over humanity's destiny. Philemon believes they can become enlightened, higher beings.

  • Anime Hair: His gravity-defying ponytail.
  • Bishonen: In the second game, though he doesn't look that bad in the first game either.
  • Bonus Boss: At the end of Eternal Punishment's EX Dungeon.
  • Calling Card: A gold butterfly.
  • Cool Mask: He often appears as a man wearing a white mask that incorporates some sort of butterfly motif.
  • End of the World Special: Philemon pulls this trick at the conclusion of both games.
  • Exposition Fairy: Will explain how to use Persona and most other systems in the games he appears in.
  • The Faceless: Subverted. If the player chooses to punch him in the face at the end of Innocent Sin, his mask falls off, revealing him to have the same face as Tatsuya Suou.
  • Game Over Man: "Are you going to finish... without knowing the truth?" (Eternal Punishment)
  • God and Satan Are Both Jerks: The events of Persona 2 all come down to a bet between him and God of Evil Nyarlathotep over whether Humans Are Bastards or not.
  • God's Hands Are Tied: He just shows the heroes how to use the power of their own hearts and walks away, unlike Big Bad Nyarlathotep, who actively tries to destroy humanity.
  • Hotter and Sexier: He seems to have de-aged from his previous incarnation. Nice leotard, Phil.
  • Meaningful Name: Named for Swiss psychologist Carl Jung's self-proclaimed spirit guide.
  • The Powers That Be: He's the Big Good, seeing to it that all the screwed up parts of humanity's collective soul stays out of their reality.
  • Schrödinger's Butterfly: Literally. Just check out the endings.
  • Spirit Advisor: More so in Persona 1 and Persona 2; by the time Persona 3 comes about, he doesn't even bother to make a direct appearance, though Word of God states that the blue butterflies in Persona 3 and Persona 4 are supposed to represent him watching over the protagonists. The blue butterfly shown in Persona 5 is assumed to be Philemon as a case can be made that the butterfly isn't necessarily the one speaking and Lavenza's voice is heard telepathically.
  • Stupid Good
  • The Watcher: Albeit a slightly self-serving one.

Igor

Igor is the mysterious proprietor of the Velvet Room. He is a marionette given life by Philemon. 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 between consciousness and unconsciousness. He uses a phone made of bone to call up Personas from the depths of the soul.

In Persona 2, Igor remains mostly unchanged. He is still a servant of Philemon and he handles Persona summoning in much the same way.

Todoroki Daisuke

A middle-aged, overweight Private Detective who runs the Kuzunoha Detective Agency in Hirasaka (relocated to Kounan in Eternal Punishment). According to rumors, he used to be an incompetent, third-rate detective, but his intelligence spiked due to a mysterious circumstance. As a result, Todoroki is a frequent font of wisdom as well as a reliable authority on the occult. He plays a vital role in Persona 2, uncovering the nature of Sumaru City's curse before even the authorities manage to. Todoroki offers to spread helpful rumors for a fee, thus allowing them to become reality.

  • Cool Old Guy
  • Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: He carries this with him at all times.
  • Grand Theft Me: Although he looks kind of dull and mild-mannered, he works as a Devil Summoner. The explanation for this goes back to Devil Summoner and Soul Hackers. In those games, there is a devil summoner and detective named Kyouji Kuzunoha (hence the agency moniker) who loses his body and becomes a body-snatcher. He takes the form of Sukeroku in the sequel game Soul Hackers where the dull-witted detective Daisuke Todoroki also appears. So, when Todoroki suddenly becomes very smart and takes over the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, it's assumed that Kyouji snatched his body.
  • Kavorka Man: Ulala seems to think so, at least.
  • Porn Stache
  • Private Detective
  • Reasonable Authority Figure

Maki Sonomura

Maki works part-time at Hiiragi Pyschotherapy in Sumaru City in hopes of becoming a therapist like her employer Reiko. She feels that helping troubled people is the best way for her to cope with the fact that she almost destroyed her hometown because of her fantasy world coming to life and almost completely superimposing the normal one.

She will later receive a flower from the Time Count, and give it to Jun as his ultimate weapon. Maki mentions what she was told by the count about the flower, that it was "the representation of a destiny that must be passed on." Maki will eventually fight alongside her former classmates from St. Hermelin once more to repel the invasion of Sumaru City by Hitler's Last Battalion unless certain conditions are met earlier in the game.

In Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Maki's role as a supporting character is somewhat more significant. She feels the resonance of a Persona from Maya Amano, and is able to tell from this that the latter is acquainted with Yukino Mayuzumi, a former classmate of hers. She later appears at the Science Lab scenario in Kei Nanjou's route. Along with Reiji Kido, she will help Maya's party through the sewer entrance, coordinating their movements with the floodgate controls. Maki will rejoin the rest of her former classmates later in the game, fighting off the New World Order soldiers that are trying to take over the city.

Brad/Hidehiko "Brown" Uesugi

Hidehiko is a returning character from the first Persona, now a supporting character. Now a popular variety-talk show host, his ego has swelled to the point of no return, especially getting nationwide attention for the rumor that he is the boy toy of actress Junko Kurosu (which turns out to be false, since he actually despises the actress for having as big an ego as he does; even so, he still addresses the latter as "Junko-chan"). If certain conditions are met, he will fight alongside his former classmates from St. Hermelin once more to repel the invasion of Sumaru City by Hitler's Last Battalion, assisting Tatsuya Suou's party so they can go to Xibalba.

In Eternal Punishment, Hidehiko is still a supporting character. He will assist Maya Amano's party through the TV studio, scouting out the correct order of Chiruzu's medallions to help them escape the "Kimon Tonkou" spell that has imprisoned them. Hidehiko will rejoin the rest of his former classmates later in the game, fighting off the New World Order soldiers that are trying to take over the city.

Chris/Reiji Kidou

Like Maki and Brown, Reiji is a returning alumni from the first Persona. He makes an appearance in both Persona 2 games as an NPC. He has long since shed his Badass image—even going as far as changing his hairstyle to conceal the scar on his forehead—and is working a door-to-door knife salesman to support his live-in girlfriend (referred to as his wife, whom he married directly out of high school, in the remake of the first Persona) who is carrying his baby. Unfortunately, his Persona still exudes the same kind of intimidating aura, scaring away potential customers. He reluctantly asks for advice from of fellow St. Hermelin alumnus Kenta "Toro" Yokouchi, whose own Persona has made him very successful.

His new hairstyle, however, made him look strikingly similar to his hated stepbrother, so rumors started circulating about Kandori being sighted in Sumaru City, which piques the interest of Kei Nanjou. Reiji can later be found in the Abandoned Factory, where he beats up on demons to blow some steam. Lisa Silverman will 'persuade' him into giving up his Legendary American Gloves.

Later in the game, he will join his former St. Hermelin classmates in the fight against Hitler's Last Battalion unless certain conditions are met earlier in the game. In Eternal Punishment, he will appear in Kei Nanjou's route to the Science Lab. With Maki Sonomura in tow, Reiji will assist in the party's covert infiltration of the lab through the sewers by operating the floodgate controls. He will once again team up with the St. Hermelin alumni later in the game, this time to fend off the New World Order soldiers trying to take over the city.

Fujii Shunsuke

A photographer for Kismet Publishing, and Yukino's boss/mentor. His petnames for Maya and Yukino are "Mackey" and "Yuki".

Youichi Makimura

In Innocent Sin, he was a Masked Circle minion under Queen Aquarius who performed the Joker Charm, wishing to become the sexiest man alive. He was interrupted from fighting Tatsuya's group at the fitness club GOLD when an angry Ulala Serizawa chased him out, threatening to kick his ass for stealing her money and suddenly disappearing. In Eternal Punishment, Makimura is pulled out of another scam attempt and taken along while Maya's party searches for Ulala at GOLD, believing that he was the one targeted by the Joker Curse she performed.


Antagonists (SPOILERS)

Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep (a.k.a. "The Crawling Chaos") is a shape shifting entity who stands opposite to Philemon. Unlike Philemon's rule of neutrality, Nyarlathotep can manifest in the real world and assume the form of anything he chooses. In Innocent Sin, both he and Philemon are performing an experiment to see if humanity will become enlightened or ultimately destroy itself. Nyarlathotep decides to push things in his favor by placing a curse on Sumaru City, causing rumors to come alive and guiding humans toward self-destruction. Despite appearing only at the tail end of both stories, he is nevertheless a prime mover in the overarching storyline, and is retroactively named as the puppeteer behind the first Persona.

Nyarlathotep corrupts the memories of Jun Kurosu, leading him to believe that Tatsuya Suou and the rest of the Masked Circle killed their "Big Sis" Maya Amano. With this, Jun gave in to Nyarlathotep and became the Joker, creating a corrupted adult version of the Masked Circle with the intent to raise Xibalba, the alien ship upon which Sumaru City rests, and create a superior human race. Nyarlathotep took the form of Jun's father, who died long ago, but with all the ideal traits that Jun desired in a father. Besides this default form, he also manifests as Adolf Hitler, as well as Jun's own Persona.

In Eternal Punishment, Nyarlathotep takes advantage of Tatsuya Suou's mistake of becoming a paradox in the recreated world. He starts by restoring the memories of King Leo, one of the key figure that led to the Other Side's destruction, as well as bringing his former host Takahisa Kandori back to life. The New World Order, a parallel to the Other Side's Masked Circle, is established as a result. Xibalba is revived as the Ameno Torifune, an ancient Mayan machine buried underneath Sumaru City.

Tatsuya Sudou a.k.a. King Leo/JOKER

Real name Tatsuya Sudou, (not to be confused with Tatsuya Suou) Leo is one of the "Masked Four", executives of the Masked Circle, and The Dragon to Joker. Easily the most psychotic of the Joker's crew, Sudou has a marked predilection for explosives and is a pyromaniac. In Eternal Punishment, Leo's father is revealed to be Japan's Foreign Minister and Baofu's archenemy Tatsuzou Sudou. Despite his mania, Leo is fiercely devoted to Joker.


Anna Yoshizaka a.k.a. Lady Scorpio

Anna Yoshizaka was once a track athlete at Seven Sisters High School. However, she was involved in a hit-and-run accident, which dashed her dreams of becoming a star athlete. She began skipping school, seeing no point in attending when she had nothing more to work towards. Somewhere around this time, she fell under the thrall of the Joker and became Lady Scorpio, one of the Masked Four. Like Prince Taurus, her role is targeting other young people at Kasugayama High School and the Zodiac Club. It isn't necessary to fight Lady Scorpio; she doesn't confront the party until Caracol, when the player's choices determine whether she lives or dies.

If the player chooses to force Yukino Mayuzumi to accompany the party to Caracol, Yukino will be there to counteract her Shadow, and Anna will ultimately assist Yukino in fighting the Last Battalion. If they leave Yukino behind, Anna will follow Shadow Yukino, and the two will jump from a bridge, hand-in-hand, thus killing Anna.

In Eternal Punishment, Anna is falsely accused of performing the "JOKER curse" on the driver who hit her. When Principal Hanya is murdered in his office, Anna is the obvious suspect, as Maya overheard her mutter that she would kill Hanya after he denounced her in front of the entire school.

Later in the game, her Sempai-Kohai Noriko is discovered to have used the JOKER curse twice (Noriko is the one who ordered the deaths of both Hanya and the man responsible for Anna's accident), and is kidnapped by the Taiwanese mafia for that very reason. Anna phones Maya and the party to help free the girl, giving them the tip-off about the mafia's location.

Ginji Sazaki a.k.a. Prince Taurus

Ginji Sasaki is an ex-musician who used to perform for a one hit wonder band. Since then, he's irked out a living as a record producer, trying to recapture his former glory. Ginji has a reputation for making sexual advances toward his female artists, particularly adolescent girls. In desperation, Ginji performed the Joker Charm, hoping to be successful again. Joker granted his wish, and Ginji was made one of the Masked Four, placed in charge of stealing Ideal Energy from young people. He begins promoting a secretive teen idol band known as "MUSES", and spreads a rumor that Lisa and her classmates are members. Late in the game, Prince Taurus follows the rest of the Masked Circle into Xibalba and is incinerated by a booby trap. His death is not shown on-screen, as Tatsuya's party discover his charred remains some time later.

In Eternal Punishment, Ginji is manipulated into essentially the same role. He is brainwashed by the New World Order to host a seminar at the mall, where he encourages people to get rid of their "Kegare". In the ensuring shootout with Maya and her party, the glass container holding all the stores Kegare is shattered, turning Ginji into a JOKER.

Junko Kurosu a.k.a. Queen Aquarius

The fourth and last member of the Masked Four, Queen Aquarius is secretly Junko Kurosu, a celebrity actress and Jun's mother. Once a popular girl at Seven Sisters High School, Junko set her eyes on her history teacher and husband-to-be Akinari Kashihara. Junko grew weary of family life after Jun was born and spread vicious rumors about her husband. Following his violent death at Seven Sister High School, Junko embraced being single again and began to treat Jun miserably. Believing her career to be in danger because of her maturity, Junko summoned the Joker and wished to remain young forever; Joker complied, recruiting her into the Masked Circle.

In Eternal Punishment, Jun's father is still alive, and Junko's marriage seems stable. During a celebrity interview at the TV Studio, Chiruzu Ishagami infects Junko with the JOKER curse. It is implied that she was brought to the Velvet Room and cured, but she isn't seen for the rest of the game.

Maya Okamura

Lisa Silverman's homeroom teacher, nicknamed "Ideal-sensei" by her students due to her eccentricities. She used to work alongside Jun's father Akinari Kashihara. Okamura harbored an unrequited love for him, and resented his wife Junko. She was a collaborator on Kashihara's unreleased book, which prophesied the signs leading up to the end of days; among these portents was the return of Adolf Hitler and his "Last Battalion". Kashihara later met a suspicious death when he fell inside the Seven Sisters clock tower and was crushed by the gears.

Okamura stations herself at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, where she assists in shedding light on Mr. Kashihara's research on the Last Battalion. As the portents of the book start becoming true, Okamura loses her mind and decides to expedite the catastrophe. The final portent is the death of a woman named "Maya". Okamura is initially willing to sacrifice herself, but is instead approached by Nyarlathotep. At the conclusion of the game, Okamura materializes and impales Maya Amano with the Spear of Longinus. Philemon intervenes by rewinding time and negating Maya's death, thus creating the Eternal Punishment timeline.

Okamura appears during the main story in Eternal Punishment only once: she is standing in the school courtyard during the game's introduction. If Maya speaks with her, she will sense that they have met before.

Principal Harding/Hanya

The principal of the Seven Sisters High School, and previously the vice principal of St. Hermelin in the first game. Tatsuya Suou's party battles Principal Hanya on top of the clock tower after destroying the smaller clocks in the school classrooms in Innocent Sin. He dies afterwards, but when you meet a student who asks how he's doing, you can either tell the truth, or spread the rumor that he's alive. If you choose the latter, Principal Hanya will reemerge later in the game and repel the invasion of Hitler's Last Battalion on his own. Otherwise, the St. Hermelin alumni will do the job.

In Eternal Punishment, he is still a hated principal, and is immediately killed when Noriko Katayama performs the Joker Curse on him for insulting Anna Yoshizaka, who can no longer represent Sevens in the regional track meet because of a permanent injury caused by a hit-and-run accident.

  • Asshole Victim: He was a massive Jerkass, so no one really mourns his death.
  • Back from the Dead: If you spread a rumor that he survived the battle on the clock tower, he comes back to life and helps you repel the Nazi invasion.
  • Better to Die Than Be Killed: Upon being defeated, he leaps off of the clock tower to certain death. Sort of.
  • Dean Bitterman: With the curse in effect, he can say or do anything, and the students will still think he's peachy-keen. He abuses this to the hilt.
  • Destination Defenestration: After you defeat him, he jumps through the stained-glass face of the Sevens Clock.
  • Fascinating Eyebrow
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Hanya has a comical (and prominent) scar under his eye.
  • Heel Face Revolving Door: If the player chooses, Hanya can be resurrected via a rumor and return to help liberate Sevens from the Nazis. He undergoes a nice attitude adjustment, too.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: In Innocent Sin, Principal Hanya and Joker are in cahoots. He's murdered by JOKER within the first 20 minutes of Eternal Punishment.
  • Meaningful Name: His nickname is "Hannya", a demon in Japanese literature. Guess what his Persona is?
  • Mundane Wish: Hanya admits to performing the Joker Charm to restore his thinning hairline.
  • No One Could Have Survived That
  • Offscreen Teleportation: Coming back to life has the added effect of turning Hanya Crazy Awesome. He keeps warping between classrooms, standing over a pile of unconscious Nazis each time.
  • Our Founder: His statue in the school courtyard starts moving on its own accord (that is one crazy school).
  • Sadist Teacher: Or rather, Sadist Principal, but he's definitely an asshole any way you slice it.
  • Slasher Smile: Permanently etched onto his face.
  • Starter Villain
  • Start to Corpse: In Eternal Punishment, he's the JOKER's only onscreen victim. The school transforms into a dungeon upon discovering of his corpse, whereupon the real game starts.
  • This Is a Drill: His Persona comes equipped with two of them.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Thanks to a well-placed rumor, nearly every student thinks he's the greatest thing since ice cream.
  • Warmup Boss: The first true boss you fight in the game.

Yasuo Inoe

A student who hangs out on the rooftop of Kasugayama High School, discontented with the current system and wishes to become Student Body President to implement his desired changes. In Innocent Sin, Yasuo uses the Joker Charm to make his ambition a reality. He was responsible for spreading the rumor that the Seven Sisters High School Emblem was cursed, and collaborated with Lady Scorpio to collect Ideal Energy at Kasugayama High's dance party. He is fought as a boss, and dies at the hands of King Leo upon failing. In Eternal Punishment, Yasuo is still alive, and is back to being a discontented Student Body Presidential wannabe.

Hiroki Sugimoto

A second-year student at Kasugayama High. Ever since Eikichi beat him up in middle school, he's hated Eikichi and wanted to defeat him, jealous of his power and clout as the school leader. He uses the Joker Charm so he can become stronger, spreads the rumor that the Head is stronger than Captain Death, and even kidnapped Miyabi. Eikichi relinquishes his position as Captain Death, creating a loophole that allows him to defeat Sugimoto. In Eternal Punishment, he is kidnapped and drained of Kegare at the Science Lab in Kei Nanjou's route. Maya's party runs into Eikichi who was trying to save Sugimoto as per his role as the school leader. They later find Sugimoto, who was turned into a monster. Kei and the party try their best to subdue Sugimoto without killing him, and assures Eikichi that the Nanjou Group will pull out all the stops to turn his classmate back to normal.

Ixquic

A 13 year-old cosplayer with a very lively imagination, believing that she's a "reincarnated warrior maiden" Ixquic. In Innocent Sin, she turns out to be a minion of King Leo. In Eternal Punishment, she hangs out at Giga Macho (The Seedy CD) music store, and is hunting down the two rumored demons that reside there.

Tatsuzou Sudou

Father of Tatsuya Sudou a.k.a. King Leo, he is briefly referenced in Innocent Sin before being revealed as the head of the New World Order in Eternal Punishment. He is estranged from his son, whom he confined to a mental hospital as a child. Tatsuzou is Japan's Foreign Minister, and is secretly head of a governmental conspiracy to to create a world without original sin. Tatsuzou is unaware of the fact that he, like his son, is being manipulated by Nyarlathotep.

  • Affably Evil
  • Body Horror: Nyarlathotep's energy mutates him into a demon before you fight him.
  • Cool Ship: Has his own cruise ship, the Nichirin-maru.
  • Dark Messiah: He wants to create an ideal world without original sin and believes in his cause. In Tatsuya's Scenario, his followers are shown to see him as a great man.
  • Evil Old Folks: He's old, but also a major antagonist.
  • The Ghost: Referenced—but never seen—in the first game.
  • Hotblooded Sideburns: He starts of as The Stoic, but his final moments show that his son inherited his bombastic attitude from him.
  • I Have No Son: Imprisoned his psychopathic son inside a sanitarium. And if Tatsuzou had had his way, junior would've stayed there.
  • The Illuminati: The highest echelons of government are part of his organization.
  • Man in White: Wears a deathly white suit to signify how evil he is.
  • Misanthrope Supreme: Tatsuzou has a low view of the human race seeing it as necessary to drown a majority of humanity in their own sins to give them the punishment he thinks they deserve.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money: He's evaded every criminal investigation come his way, and seems to have the Taiwanese mafia on speed dial.
  • Sleazy Politician: The Foreign Minister of Japan, he's also fairly corrupt.
  • Sword Cane: He's just a docile old man with a limp... until he breaks out the sword and slaughters his cohorts.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Of Nyarlathotep.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Sees the world as filthy, false, and hopelessly corrupt, so he wants to destroy the world and use the Ameno-Torifune to create an ideal race of humans without Original Sin from the remains of humanity.
  • Villain with Good Publicity

Kiyotada Sumaru

The mummified remains of a feudal warlord who established what is now Sumaru City. Thanks to Nyarlathotep's influence, Tatsuzou Sudou was able to reanimate him with rumors. Sumaru's remains are the centerpiece of the New World Order, communicating to its members via Telepathy. Once the Monado Mandala has risen, Sumaru's castle is mystically unearthed and towers over the entire city.

  • Back from the Dead
  • Badass Mustache: Still impressive, even if the rest of him is in poor shape.
  • Clipped-Wing Angel: It is possible to kill Sumaru in one hit if the right conditions are met. Summoning the three Ancestral Personas during the battle for a Fusion Attack will defeat him instantly. This is explained in-game by the Personas being the spirits of a samurai who originally toppled Sumaru, his princess, and their retainer. It's also a case of Guide Dang It, so whether this is worth all the trouble is subjective.
  • Evil Overlord
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: Sumaru Castle.
  • Feudal Future: His ultimate goal.
  • Mummy

Guido/Takahisa Kandori

The former antagonist of the original Persona, who has been resurrected due to rumors. He unquestioningly serves the New World Order, but seems to be following his own agenda. During the events of Eternal Punishment, Takahisa Kandori, (now called Guido Kandori in the NA version) is brought back to life through the power of Kototama performed by the New World Order. The extensive scars on his body are reminiscent of Tatsuya Suou's marks.

Chizuru Ishigami

Chizuru is a famous fortune teller who uses her show to spread rumors for the New World Order. Unlike the other villains, Chiruzu does not use a Persona in combat, but creates duplicates of herself to fool her opponents. Eriko Kirishima arrives in Sumaru City investigating her and her connection to the New World Order. During a television interview, Junko Kurosu transformed into a Joker and attempts to kill Lisa Silverman.

Afterwards, she joins with the revived Takahisa Kandori and leaves with him for the Undersea Ruins, although she questions why someone like him would be happy serving as simply a pawn for Tatsuzou Sudou. Eventually, she and Kandori are confronted by Maya Amano, and her party along with Tatsuya Suou. They are both defeated, and, despite Nanjo/Eriko's pleading, stay behind in the collapsing Undersea Ruins to die.

General Sugawara

A top-ranking member of the New World Order and commander of the Tenchu Army. Sugawara is wasting away from some unknown malady, which is what motivated him to assist Tatsuzou.

Captain Togashi

Head of the Kounan police force, and Katsuya's top superior in the department. He, along with other top officials, is a member of the New World Order. Unlike the others, however, he is unable to hear Gozen's voice—perhaps a sign of his wavering loyalty to them. He once worked alongside Katsuya's father.

Administrator Shimazu

Katusya's direct superior in the Kounan department, and lieutenant to Captain Togashi. He dislikes Katsuya by association, as his father was disgraced and expelled from the force.


Minor Non-Player Characters

Akinari Kashihara

The father of Jun Kurosu, and a World History teacher at Seven Sisters High School. His charming personality made him an idol among his students in Seven Sisters, including Junko Kurosu, fomer-"Miss Sevens" and local celebrity, and Maya Okamura, a fellow History teacher who admired him as a genius. Akinari was troubled over the idea that the current world history is actually incorrect. He met with Tatsuya Sudou who have been rambling about voices in his head. Akinari was convinced that Sudou was channeling the voices of Mayans, and with the cooperation of Okamura, they produced the Oracle of Maiya. Intrigued by the revelations from the Oracle, Akinari worked on writing a book of prophecies In-Lak'ech.

He married Junko after the latter's graduation. Together, they had a son Jun. However, the marriage did not prove to be a blissful one as Junko began to miss her life as a celebrity. Sometime later, Akinari mets his death inside Seven Sister's clock tower when he fell and was crushed by the gears. His ghost is rumored to be haunting the clock tower to this day. As happens with all rumors, his ghost does indeed appear to Tatsuya at the start of Innocent Sin.

In Eternal Punishment, the timeline has been changed so that Akinari is still alive and married to Junko.

Demon Artist

An inhabitant of the Velvet Room, and the only one besides Igor who serves a function in the game. At the player's request, he will convert the Free Tarot cards into any other arcana card, except for Fool and minor arcana.

Belladonna

First seen as a background character in the first Persona, she is the soprano who is accompanied with Nameless. She covers her ears with her hair in order to concentrate on her performance.

Nameless/Nanashi

A pianist in suite who plays various pieces on a gigantic grand piano. In order to concentrate on performance, he covers his eyes. Nameless also has an obsession with numbering, which is parodied in the Persona 2 drama CD.

Kelly/Trish

Trish is a gold-digging refugee from the fairy world who was exiled due to her greed. Formerly an NPC in the first Persona, she has noticeably aged in ensuing years (as Kei will attest). Trish maintains a Healing Spring at which the party can heal, generally found in every dungeon, in each of the Persona 2 games. Despite her sweet-natured appearance, Trish is notorious for being selfish, greedy and charging outlandish prices for her healing services. While restoring in town generally costs a few thousand yen, Trish tends to charge a few dozen thousand. Should the player refuse, she'll generally tell them to go and die for all she cares.

Tammy/Tamaki Uchida

A returning NPC from the original Persona, as well as protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei: If.... Tamaki is now in college, and works part-time in the Kuzunoha Detective Agency as an assistant to Daisuke Todoroki and also a Devil Summoner. She handles the mail-in magazine prizes for the party, and in one occasion, Tamaki will dress up as a cat burglar along with Satomi Tadashi (who is now her fiance) helping the party to rescue the schoolchildren trapped deep inside the burning Sky Museum.

In Eternal Punishment, Tamaki still works at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. She is also hiding a money-hungry Catgirl demon in the bathroom, who uses the giant fortune cat in the office as a facade to ask for handouts. Tamaki reprises her role of handling the mail-in magazine contest entries for the party. Off-hand, she expresses concern for her fiancée, who has been missing because of assassination threats from sources unknown.

Satomi "Tad" Tadashi

Another returning NPC from the first Persona, Tad works at the Kuzunoha office with his girlfriend Tammy. Due to general dislike of the character from fans, Tad does not appear in Eternal Punishment, having gone on the run from "assassins" according to Tammy.

  • Author Avatar: Why, it's none other than Satomi Tadashi himself, Scenario Director for Persona 2.
  • Idiot Hero
  • Negated Moment of Awesome: Fails to do anything memorable to help the party at the Sky Museum other than guiding the children to safety.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: Spends more time making a fool of himself in front of his own fiancéee than doing anything helpful.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Dressed in a white suit while at the office.
  • Spoiled Brat: He is heir to the giant Satomi Tadashi supermarket chain.

Saeko Smith/Saeko Takami

A returning character from the first Persona. Ms. Saeko returns in Persona 2: Innocent Sin as the homeroom teacher of Tatsuya Suou, having transfered to Seven Sisters High School along with Vice-Principal Hanya. She is still admired by both students and former students alike.

Saeko makes it her mission to help Tatsuya Suou find direction in his life. She is well-intentioned, but relentless, even staking out his motorcycle so she can give him a pep talk. The dialogue trees that ensue later play a minor role in the game's narrative. She assists the party in removing the curse on Seven Sisters High School. Saeko plays a much smaller role in Eternal Punishment. She is interviewed by Maya Amano early in the game regarding the JOKER.

"Chunky"/Kenta "Toro" Yokouchi

Another returning character from the first Persona, Kenta is a fish connoisseur and rumormonger who found success by using his Persona (despite, or perhaps because, his Persona being penis demon Mara). He gives advice to fellow St. Hermerlin alumni Reiji Kido, whose Persona has only hampered his success. He is usually found at Gatten Sushi, and like the other rumormongers, is willing to exchange rumors with the party.

Steven Silverman

Lisa Silverman's father, a naturalized American who works in the Foreign Currency Exchange. He absolutely loves Japan, and as a result is often seen wearing a yukata out of season. Mr. Silverman implements a home life that matches a typical Japanese family's to the dot, even raising his daughter to become a Yamato Nadeshiko or an ideal Japanese lady. He only appears in Innocent Sin, handing out prizes if the party enters and wins one of the magazine sweepstakes.

  • The Ahnold: Everything about him, from the ponytail to his practice of Aikido, is a deliberate spoof of Steven Seagal.
  • Badass Normal: While him fighting is not shown offscreen, he's able to kick Nazi asses alone. He certainly uses the Aikido skills he learned for being a Japanese Otaku well.
  • Good Parents: Subverted. He tried getting Lisa to become a Yamato Nadeshiko against her will, but other than that one quirk, he clearly loves his daughter, not at all abusive, and even entrusts the party with her safety.
  • Outdated Outfit
  • Uncle Pennybags: Quirks aside, he gives Lisa a fat annual allowance.

Miyabi Hanakouji

A second-year Seven Sisters High School student and classmate of Lisa. She works on the school newspaper, and is dating Eikichi Mishina, doubling as a groupie of sorts for the band "Gas Chamber". In Innocent Sin, she was nicknamed "Hanaji" (nosebleed)/"Kozy" and was overweight because of an embarrassing event. In Eternal Punishment, she makes a small cameo inside Gas Chamber but nothing more.

Matsuoka

Kei Nanjou's current butler and bodyguard. He seems surly and distant, which is a far cry to how Kei's relationship with the late Yamaoka was before. But the truth is that Matsuoka is actually diligently looking out for Kei's welfare, making sure that his young master becomes the #1 man in Japan as promised.

Mizuno

Editor-In-Chief of Coolest, Maya Amano's immediate superior. Mizuno seems to despise Maya so much that she goes as far as to discard a meaningful article that the latter wrote about the "Rumored Student", breaks her up with partner Yukino Mayuzumi during the assignment at Sevens in Eternal Punishment, and also rescinds her day off. The in-game bio describes her as "30-something and still not married." She only mellows out after Sumaru City becomes the Ameno Torifune.

Back to Persona 2
  1. ↑ Nova Cyther prior to the PSP release.
  2. ↑ Minus about two months thanks to leap years.
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