List of Persona 4 characters
The plot of Atlus's 2008 role-playing video game Persona 4 is centered on a group of high-school students dedicated to capturing the culprit responsible for the murders and kidnappings that happened in their small town of Inaba starting on April 11, 2011. The case is linked by the TV world, a dimension where the characters use alter-egos known as "Personas" to defeat the Shadows, beings that represent people's hidden thoughts that killed the first two victims. The protagonist is Yu Narukami, a high-school student who moved into the town from the city. He is met by Yosuke Hanamura, the son of the local department store manager; Chie Satonaka, an energetic girl with a strong interest in kung fu; Yukiko Amagi, a calm and refined girl whose family owns the local inn; Kanji Tatsumi, a first-year student whose punk reputation hides a softer side; [|Teddie], a mysterious figure from the TV world who exists in the form of a cartoonish bear costume; Rise Kujikawa, a popular teen idol who has taken a break from showbiz; and Naoto Shirogane, a well-known junior detective.
Persona 4 has been adapted to a manga and an anime series that gave different portrayals to the game's cast, most notably the protagonist who is given his own name and a personality. The game was also ported for the PlayStation Vita and PC as Persona 4 Golden which expanded various of the characters' stories and included a new one called [|Marie], a teenage girl linked with the Investigation Team. A fighting game sequel, Persona 4 Arena, features the Investigation Team in a tournament competing against each other as well as characters from the previous game in the series, Persona 3.
Shigenori Soejima acted as the art director for the game and was responsible for the character design. The general approach to designing the characters and ultimately the setting of the game was by drawing from the memory and interpretation of the development staff about a "rural, countryside" setting. Reception of the game's characters are mostly positive, with various characters having been reviewed favorably. This included the characters' realistic personalities and the relationships established across the game. The English voice acting work was also met with a similar response.
Creation and design
Shigenori Soejima was in charge of designing the characters in Persona 4. With the series now taking place in a fictional rural town rather than a city like in the prequels, the characters with origins from the city had hair styles different from those in Inaba with 1UP.com commenting that Yu's and Yosuke's were more stylish. The non-player characters with whom the player forms Social Links, a game mechanic wherein the player fosters friendships with the characters to unlock more powerful Personas, had no models in their creation, but Soejima had vague memories about their actions based on his experience when first hearing the ideas. However, as a result of adding the mystery element in the game, the staff decided to make the characters act like real people. Therefore, none of them acted in a stereotypical fashion with director Katsura Hashino stating that this was since "the worldview was already pretty far from the ordinary."Each player character's "Shadows Selves" are meant to act out-of-character in their first scene as a result of appearing in the Midnight Channel. While in this state, the Shadows entertained the audience watching the program; when the player encounters the real person with their respective Shadow Self, they behave more coherently. This resulted in the portrayal of one of the more popular character's shadow, Kanji's, to behave in a stereotypically gay manner. At the same time, it also revealed more about his person as a whole. No changes were made to these scenes as they were meant to "depict the contrast between what people appear to be and how they really are."
Investigation Team members
The playable characters are part of the investigation team in charge of finding and solving the case of murders and kidnappings happening in Inaba. Upon entering a dimension labeled as the "TV world", they search for the victims and use their Personas to defeat possible enemies. Towards the end of the game, the Investigation Team is re-identified as "The Seekers of Truth" when they seek out the reasons behind the murders and kidnappings.[|Yu] Narukami
The protagonist is the main player-controlled character of Persona 4. In the anime and most other materials, his name is Yu Narukami, while the manga named him Sōji Seta. However, in both the original game and the Persona 4 Golden remaster, as well as in Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, the player can choose any desired name for the character.He is a high school student who moves to the countryside of Inaba to live with his uncle Ryotaro Dojima and cousin [|Nanako Dojima] for a year as a result of his parents working abroad, and attends Yasogami High School where he meets most of the game's cast. Before reaching Inaba, however, he is summoned to the Velvet Room by Igor and his assistant Margaret, who warn him of an imminent catastrophe that is about to arrive in his destiny, and that he will have to solve a great mystery within that year, or, otherwise, his fate would have been marked in negative. Yu has no spoken dialogue in the game following the tradition of the Megami Tensei games, his only speech occurring during battle.
The Protagonist owns the Arcana of The Fool, the same one shared by his initial Persona Izanagi and the Wild Card, but during the battle against Izanami he receives, from the union of the strong bonds he has created, the Arcana of "The World" that allows the evolution of its original Persona, Izanagi, into Izanagi-no-Okami. His entire personality is decided and portrayed by the player's in-game actions and decisions. As a result, Soejima designed him to look more ambiguous than the Protagonist in Persona 3. His character design stayed relatively similar to the initial conception, with his tone and expressions changing the most. In order to emphasize his being from a city, Yu was given a distinct stylish haircut to contrast Inaba's citizens.
Yosuke Hanamura
Yosuke Hanamura is a teenager who moved to Inaba a year before Yu and whose father is the manager of Inaba's Junes Department Store. In order to emphasize his origins from the city Shigenori Soejima gave him accessories such as headphones and a bicycle as well as a stylish haircut. Little changes were made to his design in the making of the game. Befriending Yu shortly after the game's beginning, Yosuke is shocked to find that his friend [|Saki Konishi] becomes the second victim from Inaba's murders. Noticing clues between the victims and the Midnight Channel, Yosuke and Yu go to the TV world to investigate her death. He ends up confronting his Shadow who represents his resentment of living in a small country town with little to do, as well as his inner wish for something exciting to happen. With help from Yu and Teddie, Yosuke accepts his other self and forms the Investigation Team alongside him to figure out who Saki's killer is.Yosuke's Shadow becomes the Persona Jiraiya, a red-scarved humanoid whose head vaguely resembles that of a cartoon ninja frog decked with shuriken on his hands, as well as bell-bottoms. As the first Shadow, Soejima designed it to make it similar to Jiraiya to convey the fact that Shadows and Personas are the same thing. Yosuke dual wields blades ranging from blunt wrenches to knives to kunai in battle. Throughout the player's interaction with Yosuke, he overcomes Saki's death and confronts his feelings about Inaba accepting it as an enjoyable town despite his initial feelings. After this, Jiraiya evolves into Susano-o, a humanoid wearing a blue jumpsuit surrounded by a large sawblade with a flame rising from his head. Apparently, unused audio suggests that Yosuke could have been a romance option for the protagonist, but was removed at the last minute for unknown reasons. In the re-release Persona 4 Golden, Yosuke's Persona can evolve once more into Takehaya Susano-o, gaining a fireman's outfit, a large afro-like fireball spouting from his head, and sawblades beneath his feet.
Yosuke serves as the player's Social Link to The Magician; in the animated series, Yu's friendship with Yosuke is signified by Yu's use of Jack-o'-lantern.
During the events of Persona 4 Arena, Yosuke is now a third-year student at Yasogami High School and he begins to hear rumors that the Midnight Channel is back. He goes to investigate alongside Yu, Yukiko and Chie, and fights using Jiraiya. He also serves as the main character of the manga Persona 4 The Magician that focuses on his life in Inaba before the game's start.
Yuri Lowenthal enjoyed playing Yosuke owing to the large number of events the character goes through despite being initially a comic relief.
Takahisa Maeyama portrays Yosuke in the stage play.
Chie Satonaka
Chie Satonaka is an upbeat girl with an obsession with kung fu, even using those techniques in battle. Although initially reluctant, she goes into the TV world when her best friend Yukiko Amagi is thrown in, putting her in danger. There, Chie encounters her Shadow who represents her jealousy of Yukiko's feminine side and talents, as well as her wish and need to maintain control over Yukiko. With Yu's and Yosuke Hanamura's help, Chie confronts her other self and joins the Investigation Team.Following the encounter with her Shadow, Chie receives the Persona Tomoe Gozen, a muscular female figure wearing a yellow outfit and armed with a naginata, that she uses in combat while she performs kicks. Throughout Yu's interactions with Chie, she discovers that she genuinely wanted to protect Yukiko without any underlying selfish motivations. After this, Tomoe evolves into Suzuka Gongen, whose yellow jumpsuit turns black and is decked in silver samurai armor. The desire to protect people eventually inspires her to seek a career as a police officer. In the re-release Persona 4 Golden, Chie's Persona can evolve to a third level to become Haraedo-no-Okami, which has golden armor and a long flowing cape.
Chie serves as the player's Social Link to The Chariot; this is symbolized in the animated series by Yu's usage of the Persona mitama.
She is playable in Persona 4 Arena alongside Tomoe Gozen; In Persona 4 Arena, Chie joins Yu, Yosuke and Yukiko to investigate the TV world after seeing the Midnight Channel. When she enters, she is forced to fight her friends as well as a man, Akihiko Sanada.
Minami Tsukui portrays her in the stage play.
In the designing of the character, various sketches were made with some of them being reminiscent to previous Persona characters.