Persona 4/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Characters of Persona 4. Spoilers abound!

The Investigation Team

The Entire Team

  • Amateur Sleuths: Every member of the team save for Naoto, who's actually a Kid Detective.
  • Badass Crew: All of them in The Golden, except Kanji and Teddie, who have to use a regular bike and roller skates respectively.
  • 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. However, it turns out her kidnapper wasn't trying to hurt Nanako, quite the opposite.
  • Dare to Be Badass: Despite being ordinary high-school kids, none of them backs down for even a second at the prospect of wandering around in some Dark World fighting creepy monsters, all in hopes of thwarting the efforts of some kind of Serial Killer.
  • 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.
  • 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 Social 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 take on a god-like being (and win). Also, when their Personas evolve.
  • True Companions: By the end of the game, the group essentially becomes a family.
  • Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: In between school and hanging out, they solve a double homicide and multiple kidnappings over the course of slightly less than a year.
  • 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 (a.k.a Souji Seta)

Calm down.

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 Izanagi-no-Okami.

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.

  • 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 in the True Ending, not only defeat Izanami, but also summon a spell that banishes all deceit and falsehood.
    • It also helps that he's probably the first Megami Tensei protagonist to get a perfectly happy Normal and True ending. Thanks to him, the deaths in Inaba were kept to a minimum in the Normal and True Endings, only three die: Mayumi, before he even returned from his first day at school; Saki, just before he discovered his powers; and Morooka, killed by a random psycho he had no preliminary warning of). 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+.
    • 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 Izanagi-no-Ookami 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 Mitsuo threatened Nanako (Yu scared him away with a Death Glare), and B.) When Shadow Mitsuo declared that his bonds with his friends and family were empty and meaningless.
  • 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.[1]
    • Knight Templar Big Brother: You're given the option to throw Namatame in the television in retribution for Nanako's death. Things will only get worse though.
      • Yu nearly DID do this in the anime, but managed to stop himself.
  • Big Eater: In the anime, Yu apparently likes to order the The Meat Lover's Combo.
  • Bishonen
  • But Now I Must Go: 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. Bonus points for the fact that Izanami more or less volunteered him to save Inaba on his first day in town. 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 [dead link], 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.

Yosuke: Sweat Drop] Narukami, you're pretty thick-skinned.
Narukami: Huh?

    • 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
  • 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...

(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.

Yu: (completely deadpan) Oops, wrong guy.

    • Also, in the Normal/True Ending, he shouts down the entire team to calm down and make them reconsider avenging Nanako on Namatame, realizing something is off with the situation.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Heroic BSOD: Happens in episode 12 of the anime: Yu is hit by a Lotus-Eater Machine set by Shadow Mitsuo in the form of experiencing his worst nightmare. All of his friends in the Investigation Team leaving his life gradually, Yosuke being the last to leave and ending with Shadow Mitsuo appearing in his room as Yu fails to summon any Personas as his Social Links have all broken. Shadow Mitsuo grows to a large size and begins strangling Yu to death. He gets better by Yosuke bailing him out.
    • It happens again in episode 21, when Nanako is kidnapped. When they find Namatame's truck, with both Namatame and Nanako gone, he completely snaps, to the point that Teddie has to physically restrain him as he attempts to dive into the TV to follow them (it was established earlier in both the game and the anime that entering any TV other than the one in Junes is extremely risky, and potentially too dangerous to attempt). Rise is able to talk him out of it.
  • 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 the anime. Yu's biggest fear is that after the investigation is over, the group will go their separate ways, and he'll be by himself again. Mitsuo's shadow exploits this fear and causes him to have a tremendous Heroic BSOD. It's possible that Yu has not had any lasting friendships before now, which would explain his Sugar and Ice personality.
  • 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!"
  • 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.
  • 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: Shortly after Nanako's death and the ruckus with Namatame in the anime.
  • Meaningful Name: "Narukami" means "lightning god", to which Izanagi is of the lightning element. Alternatively, "Narukami" can also mean "to become a god". 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, convinces his friends to spare the man who almost killed his cousin/little sister figure, and saves the world thanks to a literal application of the Power of Friendship.
    • 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... all to make the party reconsider killing Namatame.

"Calm the hell down!"

  • 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.
  • Second Year Protagonist
  • Sempai: In contrast to Persona 3's protagonist, he's older than most other characters and gets called this.
  • 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 above). 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. He starts to lose it when he sees Nanako on the Midnight Channel and, shorty after, discovers that she's been kidnapped. Then, when they find the kidnapper's truck, but with neither of them at the scene, his reaction pretty much borders on a Heroic BSOD. Teddie has to physically restrain him as he makes a desperate attempt to dive into the TV in the truck, and it isn't until Rise talks some sense into him that he (only barely) regains his composure.
  • Stupid Sexy Flanders: Boy, does he look good in that schoolgirl uniform and a wig.
  • Superpower Lottery: Let's face it, he's the only character who has access to almost every Persona, and is the only character who is able to defeat Izanami because of his ability to upgrade his own and everyone else's Persona via The Power of Friendship. Even in comparison to his predecessor's Superpower Lotteries, he won it BIG time, and that's saying something.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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?
  • 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.
  • Touched by Vorlons: Part of the reason his Superpower Lottery payoff was so large is due to having his powers granted to him by Izanami.
  • Unwitting Pawn: One of the three people to whom Izanami granted the power to enter the TV. He represents "Hope".
    • Spanner in the Works: Too bad for Izanami, he refuses to accept her gambit and eventually turns his given power on her.
  • 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[2]—when the rest are contemplating killing Namatame.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Well, grey-haired. Also, Curtains Match the Window.

Yosuke Hanamura

Let's go partner!

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 Teddie somehow grows himself a human body inside his suit.
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...

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...

  • 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: After Kanji (and potentially Yu), she's the best physical damage dealer of the group.
  • 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-Blooded
  • Hot Amazon: If chosen as the Love Interest.
  • 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: While she does genuinely want to help and protect Yukiko, it's indicated at some point, her jealousy of Yukiko's beauty and popularity corrupted that desire, and she subconsciously took pleasure in having Yukiko dependent on her. Her Shadow calls her out on this, and she determines to stop being one after accepting it as Tomoe.
  • Tomboy: Including the common traits:
    • Action Girl
    • Lethal Chef: Worst of the lot by a mile.
    • Shorttank: Fits the archetype pretty well, and her summer outfit, especially in The Golden, is the iconic dress-style.
    • 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.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Steak.
  • 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 Social Link.

  • 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:

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?

  • 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 Teddie 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:

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!

Kanji Tatsumi

You sayin' I like dudes!?

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.

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. She immediately assumes Teddie's role and handles herself decently with Himiko despite already being weakened.
  • 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.
  • 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: Which she ditches, at least temporarily, in The Golden epilogue.
  • Girly Run
  • Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Shadow Rise.
  • Heroes Want Redheads: If chosen as the Love Interest. The manga looks to be favoring her as well.
  • Idol Singer: She's one before the events of the game, but gives it up to work in her family's tofu shop. Her Social Link has her coming to terms with the fact that she enjoyed being an idol, even if she was burned out. Dancing All Night focuses on this aspect.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Subverted: she eventually realizes Risette is still a part of her and decides to come back to showbiz come spring.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: Her biggest desire, as revealed through her Social Link, and her ultimate motivation for becoming an idol singer.
  • 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: Takes over the role once Teddie joins the active party.
  • 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
  • Sensor Character: Her second-level Persona Kanzeon is the trope image.
  • 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 "Risette" was constructed as an attempt to make friends due to her past as a bully magnet. Although she says that she feels hollow like a classical Type B, she does indeed have a personality, but simply doesn't realize that her different "constructed" demeanors are actually all authentic facets of it.
  • 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.

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: Whenever she's flustered, especially during her Social Link.
  • All of the Other Reindeer
  • Badass:
    • Badass Biker: If the cover of the Persona X Detective Naoto spin-off novel is anything to be believed.
    • Badass Bookworm: She is an ace detective and a Persona user.
  • Berserk Button: Never give her weird nicknames, or call her "useless".
  • Born Detective: Her parents were detectives, as was her grandfather.
  • 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: Tends to explain what's evident at crucial times in the most anticlimactic way.
  • 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 and Teddie.
  • Closet Key: Subverted for Kanji.
  • The Comically Serious: She's always solemn and usually stoic, which is played for laughs given the far more unprofessional and chaotic antics of her team.
  • Criminal Mind Games: Has them played on her by the "Phantom Thief", but this trope gets subverted when it turns out that there was no criminal. Her grandfather gave her stolen items to Yakushiji, the family secretary and created the riddles to challenge Naoto. His hope was that solving the riddles would convince Naoto to stop solving cases for the sake of her family name and do it because she loved it, the way she used to.
  • 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 Morooka's murderer being a copycat by noting that, unlike the previous victims who had unknown causes of death, his was due to blunt-force trauma, before anyone else. Once she joins the party, she's pretty much necessary to solving the case in full.
  • Elaborate Underground Base: Her TV World dungeon.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: To the point where Naoto won the beauty pageant because of the female vote and Chie, Yukiko and Rise compliment her smooth skin.
  • Gender Bender: Her Shadow attempts to do a, er, "body altering operation" on the real Naoto.
  • 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: Intentionally gets herself kidnapped, hoping to figure out who the kidnapper was, while at the same time completely expecting the "Investigation Team" to come to her rescue.
  • The Gunslinger: Like Takaya before her, Naoto uses revolvers because her Arcanum is the [Wheel of] Fortune.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: In both the game and the anime, is very rough on herself for asking Namatame too many questions and putting the solution to the case ahead of Nanako's 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.
  • 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.
  • Holy Hand Grenade
  • 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: One of her main problems is that she's afraid no one will take her seriously because she's too young.
  • 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."
  • 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.
  • Professor Guinea Pig: Not her herself, but her Shadow claimed that it wanted to be "experimentor and experimentee" in the aforementioned Sex Change Operation.
  • Raised by Grandparents: Her parents died when she was younger.
  • Rapunzel Hair: In the Persona X Dectective Naoto spin-off, her hair somehow reached this length in only a year.
  • Red Baron: Repeatedly referred to as "Detective Prince" in her TV interview prior to her kidnapping.
  • 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.
  • Shrinking Violet: Covertly; only when she is being romanced by the Protagonist or otherwise needs to justify being a girl to everyone else.
    • Shy Blue-Haired Girl
      • Also when she enters the Beauty Contest. She's so cute, she wins the contest despite never showing up for the swimsuit portion.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Stupid Sexy Flanders: Many women in the game itself agree that she's one hot babe.
  • Sugar and Ice Girl: Usually very cold and aloof to strangers, but shows a much sweeter side of herself to her friends, especially to Yu over the course of her Social Link.
  • Sweet Polly Oliver: Though a girl, Naoto dresses in a very boyish fashion, so much so that the Investigation Team themselves didn't know she was a girl until they rescued her from her Shadow.
  • 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 customizable ones, but even with those, it's pretty hard.


Social Links and Major Non-Player Characters

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.

  • 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, they also encourage you to beat the final boss.
  • 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. Nanako dies anyway, with Ryotaro bursting in literally seconds after she flat-lines, calling for him with her last breath.
  • 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. After Nanako's kidnapping, he actually manages to discover that Namatame isn't the culprit.
  • Coat Over the Shoulder: He never actually seems to wear his jacket, but tends to carry it around draped over his shoulder.
  • Da Chief: He frequently yells at Adachi for the rookie detective's bumbling.
  • Guide Dang It: After Nanako's kidnapping, 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.
  • Hot Detective Dad
  • 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: He doesn't seem to ever shave.
  • Pet the Dog: A heroic example: even though he had good reason to hate him for nearly killing his daughter, he allows the accosted Adachi some medical treatment, partly in recognition to their past as teammates.
  • Police Are Useless: When they don't have all the info.
    • Somehow subverted: He does manage to corner Namatame as he is kidnapping Nanako and almost catches him.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Subverted in the Normal/True Ending. After calming down, he pieces together the clues himself and realizes Namatame couldn't have been the true killer. He even gets angry at Adachi for sending him off to another hospital before he got a chance to interrogate Namatame personally.
  • 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 chasing after Nametame to rescue Nanako, a move that forces Nametame to enter the TV world himself to escape.

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.

She is kidnapped near the end of the game by Namatame and thrown into the TV world. She is rescued by the party, but is injured and taken to the hospital. If the player makes the wrong choices, the Downer Ending occurs and she dies. Otherwise, she survives -- though bedridden -- and in the Happy Ending, she gets released from hospital in time to bid her cousin a fond farewell.

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.

  • Catch Phrase: "Everyday's great at your Junes!"
    • "Welcome home, Big Bro!" You'll miss that one when she's gone.
  • 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!

Welcome home, Big Bro!

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. Upon completion of her Social Link, you can challenge her to a fight, but only if you're on your second playthrough.

  • Adaptation Expansion: Gets much more spotlight in the anime due to Igor's role being diminished for reasons already explained.
  • Bonus Boss:
    • Finishing her Social Link and being on a New Game+ after a game where you got the true ending allows you to face her at the end of Heaven near the game's end in Persona 4. She's a similar fight to Elizabeth/Theodore in Persona 3 but is tuned for a full party, is less gimmicky and generally more difficult, though you do have more flexibility in your Personas to make up for it.
    • She's also ported back into the bonus section of Persona 3 Portable as one of the most difficult fights in the game, once again set up to against a full party and having multiple phases, some of which can wipe even the strongest party if she gets a few criticals off.
  • Power Floats: She does this during the Bonus Boss fight.
  • Ship Tease: Margaret will kiss the Protagonist at the end of the game if her Social Link is completed.
  • 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

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 Social Link has been completed by the end of the game, it is also revealed during Yu's last day in town that the Fox has 3 cubs.

  • Babies Ever After: 3 cubbies!
  • 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).

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 by speaking to the same girlfriend that left him behind.

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: He acts like a jerk at first because his sister died, and everyone coddles him, which prevents him from mourning her.
  • Incriminating Indifference: A variant in that he's not a suspect, but is accused of being cold and indifferent about her death. Towards the end of his Social Link, he's finally able to mourn and move on.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • 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).
  • Easy Amnesia: Harshly subverted in her backstory, where her aging husband contracts dementia and forgets he ever loved her.
  • 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:

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.

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.

  • Children Raise You
  • Hot Stepmom
  • Taking the Bullet: In the anime, Eri is injured via trying to help Yuuta when he's harassed by another kid and his mom in the festival.
  • Wicked 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.

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 and also finds out the implication that she genuinely held a bit of a crush toward him.

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 cheats on the test, 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, he befriends the very same student that he wanted to beat in grades.

  • The "B" Grade: Fear of getting a B and disappointing his mother is what eventually drives Shu to cheat on a test.
  • 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: There's even an option when you first meet him to say "Wow, you're a little prick", to which he responds by saying that people often tell him that. He reveals his Heart of Gold after the first few meetings though, especially considering his concern for his rival.
  • 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.
  • 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: Acts like a bitch at first, but quickly shows her inner feelings to the main character.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: "Piggy-Hara".
  • 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.
  • Heroic BSOD: She gets one when she finds out that Kou/Daisuke isn't interested in her.
  • 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, if you accept her when she first asks, the Social Link will just be a meaningless love relationship that will break up at Rank 9. However, keep yourself a friend and if you gain the right flags, she will fall in genuine love with you and can be a Love Interest. Trips up many a Casanova Wannabe player.
  • 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.
  • 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. After her father passes away, 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 how she never got to thank her father at all. 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.

  • 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.

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 [dead link] to be the new Aeon Social Link. She's speculated to have some sort of connection to the Velvet Room due to the blue accessoires she's seen using, and the stylized "V" displayed on her hat (though this could also be the roman numeral for "5"). She has since been revealed to be suffering from amnesia and is trying to contact Igor. In addition, she has appeared in the Velvet Room itself alongside Margaret and Igor in some screenshots.

Minor Non-Player Characters

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. Eventually murdered by Mitsuo Kubo.

  • Asshole Victim: He's not a popular guy, being excessively judgmental of his students and very severe in his criticism of them. Doesn't mean he deserved to be murdered though.
  • 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: As mentioned above, he's not exactly the nicest guy in the world.
  • 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 the Protagonist, she occasionally leaves useful items as gifts in his shoe locker. In the anime, while still somewhat obnoxious, she's noticeably nicer, especially when she shows a degree of reluctance and guilt at having to reject Kanji after an awkward, accidental, intimate encounter between the two.
  • 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.
  • 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 his first one gets murdered during the course of the story. She honestly believes that she's the most gorgeous woman against the obviously popular girls within the school.

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.

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: She neither appears nor is mentioned in the original version of Persona 4, having been created specifically for the anime.
  • Comfort Food: In episode 22, Aika offers Yu the infamous beef bowl to cheer him up after Nanako's "death". 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 because Morooka turned up dead, even though he wasn't on the Midnight Channel, 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

Antagonists (MAJOR SPOILERS)

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.

  • 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:

Kanji: "Looking at those fish eyes really pisses me off!"

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.

  • Anti-Villain: Namatame blurs the line between a Type II and a very tragic Type I.
  • 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.
  • 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 Mayumi's death in the Midnight Channel and tried to save her via attempting to take her hand through the TV right before it happened, but he failed to bring her back.
  • 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 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 Adachi, who would continue to sit back and enjoy the suffering he was obliviously causing. Ultimately, along with the Protagonist and Adachi, he is one of Izanami's three "game pieces" -- Despair, in his case -- so that she can determine what humanity desires most.

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.

  • Asshole in Sheep's Clothing
  • 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.
  • Ax Crazy: He quickly descends into this after the reveal. This is especially prevalent in The Animation, where his Dissonant Serenity quickly descends into the deranged tantrum of a Psychopathic Manchild.
  • Beneath Suspicion: No one suspects the goofy, bumbling detective... right? No one but the Genre Savvy.
  • Be Yourself: An evil version.
  • Butt Monkey: Constantly being yelled at by Dojima.
  • Captain Ersatz: Looks and acts like Matsuda from Death Note.
  • Detective Mole: It doesn't help him too much, since two better detectives are on the case and outrank him, but it does let him drive Namatame into doing some very foolish things.
  • 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.
  • Faux Affably Evil: 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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: He is not as dumb as he first appears to be.
  • Obviously Evil: Averted: Tohru Adachi is actually a realistic example of a serial killer. This is why the party has to go to so much effort to find out who the killer is. If he was, they would find him pretty quickly.
  • 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 main character 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: The most horrifying thing about him is that he can act much like a normal person would, even being one of the detectives assigned to investigate the murders.
  • 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.

"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?"

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.

Back to Persona 4
  1. ↑ Special mention for Kanji who will even, albeit sarcastically, refer to the Protagonist as "Big Bro" during his Social Link.
  2. ↑ Unless you choose a certain option during Yosuke's Social Link.
  3. ↑ It restores the HP of all characters and removes their status ailments.
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