MarketList of Persona 3 characters
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List of Persona 3 characters

Atlus's 2006 role-playing video game Persona 3 focuses on the exploits of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), a group of high-schoolers defending their home city from monsters known as Shadows. Persona 3 is set in a fictional Japanese city in the year 2009. Due to past events, there is a hidden period between one day and the next, known as the "Dark Hour", during which most people become unconscious, and Shadows feed on the minds of those still aware of their surroundings. In addition, a large tower called Tartarus, filled with Shadows, rises out of the ground during the Dark Hour. SEES is composed of students attending Gekkoukan High School. The player names and controls the game's protagonist, who leads SEES in its exploration of Tartarus. Persona 3 mixes elements of role-playing and simulation games: during the day, the player attends school, and is able to spend time with other characters, forming relationships known as Social Links. These Social Links, when formed, have gameplay benefits, increasing the player's proficiency in battle.

SEES members
The , or SEES for short, is officially a school group of Gekkoukan High School. In reality, they hunt down Shadows and investigate the Dark Hour with the support of the Kirijo Group. All of the members of SEES are Persona-users, who live together in a specialized dorm. In the final events of the game, the group is re-designated as the . Protagonist :Voiced by: ::English: Yuri Lowenthal (male), Laura Bailey (female)Japanese: Akira Ishida (male), Marina Inoue (female) The protagonist is the nameable main player-controlled character of Persona 3. He is named in the film adaptation, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, and most of his appearances. Having moved into the dorm in the introduction of the game, he learns his ability to summon The Fool arcana Persona and the Death arcana Persona before he's later appointed the team's leader in combat. He is unique among his cohorts in that he has the ability to carry multiple Personas and switch between them during battle. Over the course of the game, he also gains of The Judgement Arcana and of The Fool Arcana in Persona 3 FES. With the power of the Wild Card he has access to over 150 different Personas. Within the simulation elements of Persona 3, the player is able to form Social Links with characters in-game, each represented by one of the Major Arcana and granting various bonuses during Persona fusion, increasing the player's proficiency in battle. In Persona 3 Portable, released on the PlayStation Portable in 2009, an option was added to control a female protagonist. Unlike the male protagonist, the female protagonist through her dialogue opinions, is shown to be a very upbeat and energetic person, sometimes pulling jokes on her friends, so they could be considered opposites. Later games explain that the two protagonists exist within different timelines. In the manga adaptation of Persona 3, he is portrayed as a quiet teenager who often tired or drowsy, who likes to eat and cook food. In the animated movie adaptation, he is portrayed as an ambivalent individual with an initially neutral viewpoint on the film's themes of life and death, making his growth via newfound experiences the focus of the movie. Yukari Takeba :Voiced by: ::English: Michelle Ruff, the Protagonist helps Yukari mend her relationship with her mother. If the protagonist makes the correct choices, Yukari will fall in love with him. If the player chooses not to date any girls, Yukari will appear for all the dating events. In ''Persona 3: FES's The Answer'', Yukari is the group member who is most reluctant to go back into battle against the Shadows and seems that she only wants to move on with her life. However, she fell in love with the protagonist, and as such, is bitter and jealous towards Aigis, who was not only able to spend the last moment with the protagonist before his death, but also inherited his powers. As such, Yukari constantly shows random mood swings towards her. After witnessing the protagonist's sacrifice and the burden he must carry, she finally overcomes her jealousy, apologizing to Aigis and offering to become her roommate. Yukari appears as a playable character in the fighting game Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. After the end of Persona 3, Yukari decided to put herself through college working as a model, and her proficiency with a bow landed her the television role as , otherwise known as , on Phoenix Sentai Featherman Victory, which is part of the Phoenix Sentai franchise, a show in the series that parodies the Super Sentai series. While filming on location, a real helicopter appears with Mitsuru coming out of it, asking Yukari for her help in a new emergency. Within the events of the game, her Persona is Isis. She is portrayed by Maho Tomita in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade. Junpei Iori :Voiced by: ::English: Vic Mignogna, Initially, Junpei fights because "playing hero" makes him feel like less of a loser. He uses his place in SEES to prop up his low self-esteem, neglects his classwork, and snaps at the protagonist out of jealousy over his unique Persona abilities. Junpei only becomes more serious after he meets Strega member Chidori. They fall for each other, and though she continues to fight SEES, her feelings for Junpei eventually come into conflict with her loyalty to Takaya and her fear of death. When Takaya fatally attacks Junpei, Chidori uses her Persona powers to save his life at the cost of her own. Junpei becomes a more-focused and determined young man after Chidori's death. In Persona 3 Portable, Junpei becomes the Social Link for the , representing action, initiative, and immaturity, Mitsuru loses all will to fight after Ikutsuki kills her father, since restoring the family honor is meaningless without a family. She regains her resolve thanks to some intervention from Yukari. She decides to take over leadership of the Kirijo Group after the conflict with Nyx is finished and she graduates high school. In the Social Link, representing life brought forth from motherhood, the protagonist will help free her from some of the expectations attached to her family name. In order to attract such an ambitious young woman he must maximize his Academic statistic, and rank first in his class for at least one exam. If the player makes the correct choices, Mitsuru will fall in love with the protagonist. Mitsuru appears as a playable character in Persona 4 Arena, which takes place over two years after the events of "The Answer". Now 20 years old, Mitsuru is a university student and the leader of the Shadow Operatives, a group composed of Persona users that fights Shadows. She joins Aigis and Akihiko to search for the Anti-Shadow weapon Labrys that disappeared from her plane. Her Persona is Artemisia. She is portrayed by Asami Tano in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade, the Persona 4 Arena stage play, and the Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Song Project stage play. Akihiko Sanada :Voiced by: ::English: Liam O'Brien, Suzie Yeung (Reload) Her meekness makes her the target of bullying by several female students. In May, one of her bullies is found outside of the front of the school gate, unconscious. A rumor begins to spread that she was attacked by a ghost inside Gekkoukan. SEES later learns from Natsuki Moriyama that she and her friends—the students responsible for bullying her—had locked Fuuka in the school gymnasium; the same day, they returned to let her out for fear that she would commit suicide, but found no one inside. Mitsuru realizes that Fuuka has been trapped inside Tartarus, which replaces Gekkoukan during the Dark Hour. The team locates her inside the tower that night - during a full moon - and finds that she had been able to avoid detection by Shadows. During the return trip, Akihiko realizes that the Arcana Shadows are appearing on full moons, and Fuuka senses two Arcana Shadows attacking Mitsuru and Yukari at the entrance of Tartarus. Due to the Shadows frequently changing their weaknesses, Mitsuru and Yukari find themselves unable to land a hit and are defeated before the rest of SEES can back them up. Worse, Natsuki has been beckoned into Tartarus, putting her in danger as well. Fuuka is able to summon her Persona for the first time, and finds that she can detect the weaknesses of the enemies, allowing SEES to defeat them. The ordeal causes her to fall unconscious for several days, after which Fuuka accepts Mitsuru's offer to join SEES, and moves into the dorm with the rest of the team. She replaces Mitsuru as the player's support character, and Mitsuru becomes an active combatant in battle. In June, Yukari asks her to research an incident related to Gekkoukan which occurred ten years ago, as she believes Mitsuru is hiding something about the origins of Tartarus, as well as her father's death. Her Personas are and of The Priestess Arcana. In the Social Link, representing contemplation and inner knowledge, the protagonist helps Fuuka become more confident and believe in herself. She appears in Persona 4 Arena as a non-playable character in the game's story and as an optional commentator. Soejima, in his designing Fuuka, tried to make her not seem weak or helpless. In addition, he worked to "convey her strong will through her facial expressions." She is portrayed by Marina Tanoue in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade. Aigis :Voiced by: ::English: Karen Strassman, She is portrayed by ZAQ in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade and Kanon Miyahara in the Persona 4 Arena and the Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Song Project stage plays. Shinjiro Aragaki :Voiced by: ::English: Grant George, This prompted him to quit SEES. Shinjiro is a childhood friend of Akihiko, who continually asks him to forget the past and rejoin SEES. He continually refuses the offers, only returning to fight when he learns that Ken has joined the team as a Persona-user. When Shinjiro is lured by Ken behind Port Island Station to be killed, he accepts the death of Ken's mother as his fault, saying death is what he deserves. However, Shinjiro warns Ken that if he kills him, he will "end up like [Shinjiro] and will regret it." Takaya, a member of Strega, intervenes and attempts to shoot Ken, instead hitting Shinjiro, who sacrifices himself to save Ken. Before he dies, he tells Ken and the rest of SEES, "This is how it should be". At his funeral, it is learned that Shinjiro rarely attended school and was generally not well known among the student body. During the final confrontation with Nyx, the protagonist hears Shinjiro's voice cheering him on along with the voices of the living SEES members saying "Alright, let's do this". In battle, Shinjiro attacks with blunt weapons. He is forced to regularly take special suppressant pills to properly control his Persona, at the cost of his health. Shinjiro represents the Social Link of the , representing a source of fear and false illusions, (Ultimax onwards), Justine Lee (Reload) Takaya resolves to kill both of them first, but Shinjiro blocks his second shot, saving Ken's life. Ken briefly runs from the dorm following the incident; after being encouraged by Akihiko, however, he gains the resolve to return to SEES, and his Persona changes form. In battle, Ken wields a spear. He chose this as his weapon because it would compensate for his lack of height, although his height makes the weapon more difficult for him to use. His Personas allow him to use Electricity and Light magic to compensate for how difficult a spear is to use for him. Ken is the Social Link for the in Persona 3 Portable, representing the knowledge of what is right and wrong, In designing Ken, Soejima focused more on his appearance than his characteristics. He believes the shorts Ken wears give him a "nostalgic" look in contrast to the modern setting of Persona 3, noting in Art of Persona 3 that "kids these days hardly ever wear shorts." Because the character's design is focused on the idea that he is a young boy, Soejima jokingly wrote Ken's name as "Kid Amada" on concept sketches. Lizzie Freeman (Reload)Japanese: Chiwa Saito At the conclusion of The Answer, SEES learns that Metis is actually a facet of Aigis' personality, representative of Aigis' humanity, which she had rejected out of despair after the death of the protagonist. ==Antagonists==
Antagonists
Strega Strega is a group of three rogue Persona-users who use the Dark Hour for personal benefit. They set up an internet site called "Revenge Request", where users can contract Strega to commit assassinations and other illegal activities. They become enemies of SEES because SEES is trying to put an end to the Dark Hour, as Strega carries out its activities during the Dark Hour. Near the end of the game, the player discovers that Strega are artificial Persona users created by the Kirijo Group. They were picked up off the street and used as fodder for the corporation's experiments. Because their Personas were not awakened naturally, they must take Persona Suppressants supplied by Ikutsuki, drugs that keep Personas from killing their users, but have lethal side-effects. Takaya Sakaki :Voiced by: ::English: Derek Stephen Prince, He establishes a link between twelve greater Shadows that have been attacking the city, and the Dark Hour. He informs SEES that eliminating these twelve Shadows would eliminate the Dark Hour. However, after doing so, SEES learns that they were actually aiding in Ikutsuki's efforts to summon Nyx to Earth and bring about the end of the world. It is later revealed that ten years prior, Ikutsuki worked as a scientist at Kirijo's Ergo Research division, studying Shadows and performing various inhumane experiments while attempting to artificially induce Personas into individuals like Strega and Sho Minazuki, the latter of whom treated him as a father. When confronted, Ikutsuki reprograms Aigis and attempts to offer the members of SEES as sacrifices on a roof of Tartarus. At the conclusion of Persona 3, the protagonist is able to enter Nyx and becomes the Great Seal to keep it away from humanity, at the cost of their own life. In Persona 3 FES, during The Events of The Answer, Metis informs SEES that Nyx is not a malevolent being, and that a seal would ordinarily not be necessary. However, the Great Seal prevents humanity itself from calling out to Nyx through their own wishes for death. This accumulated malice of the human race manifested in a monster called Erebus, which is attempting to break the seal created by the protagonist. SEES is able to disperse it, thus breaking the time loop, although they suspect it will eventually reappear as humans continue to wish for death. Erebus reappears in Persona 4 Arena in Elizabeth's story mode, during which she destroys it, though estimates it will re-form within a year's time. ==Other characters==
Other characters
Igor :Voiced by: ::English: Dan Woren,Japanese: Isamu Tanonaka, is the long-nosed man who presides over the Velvet Room and aides the player in Persona fusion. The protagonist uses this newfound power to seal away Nyx. Despite the death of Isamu Tanonaka due to myocardial infarction in 2010, the animated movie adaptation in 2013 still uses his original voices recorded in the game. Igor appears in the anime series Persona: Trinity Soul as a fortune-teller, and interacts with the series' protagonist Shin Kanzato. Elizabeth :Voiced by: ::English: Tara Platt Elizabeth is portrayed by Asami Yoshikawa in the Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Ultimax Song Project stage plays and Riyu Kosaka in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade. Elizabeth returns in Persona 4 Arena as a playable character, where she is accompanied by the Persona and wielding a book as her weapon. Her nickname in the game is . Elizabeth's story mode ends with her gaining insight on the nature of the Wild Card from Yu Narukami and Aigis, and she gains her own Fool arcana, signifying the start of a journey. Theodore :Voiced by: ::English: Travis Willingham, Bryce Papenbrook (Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth onwards)Japanese: Junichi Suwabe Like Elizabeth in the male protagonist's route, he maintains the Persona Compendium, from which the player may retrieve previously owned Personas for a price, and gives the player special requests in exchange for special rewards. These requests include tasks such as retrieving specific items or creating Personas with specific abilities. He is later mentioned in Persona 4 Arena by Elizabeth, and appears in a non-playable capacity in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. Theodore is portrayed by Ire Shiozaki in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade. Margaret Margaret also appears in Persona 3 Portable as the person-in-charge of the Vision Quest Chamber, which simulates special battles based on their memories with rewards. The party may challenge her upon completions of all the battles. Ryoji Mochizuki :Voiced by: ::English: Yuri Lowenthal, Upon meeting him, Aigis says he is dangerous, and warns the protagonist to be cautious around him. Ryoji and Aigis eventually meet on the Moonlight Bridge during the Dark Hour. It is here Ryoji regains memory of his past, realizing he is actually a human manifestation of Death, or The Appriser. Ten years prior to the events of Persona 3, the two fought on the same bridge, and Aigis, unable to defeat Death, sealed it inside the protagonist, who was a child at the time. Ryoji informs SEES that his purpose is to summon Nyx to Earth, who will bring about the end of the world. He asserts that Nyx is impossible to defeat; however, he offers SEES an alternative. If they were to kill him, their memories of the Dark Hour would vanish, allowing them to continue living unaware of their impending death. The player is given the choice to either kill Ryoji or spare him; if the latter is chosen, SEES fights Ryoji, who has transformed into Nyx Avatar, on the roof of Tartarus. Ryoji is portrayed by Keisuke Ueda in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade. He is the Social Link of the in Persona 3 Portable, representing fate and opportunities provided by it, ::Japanese: Yuka Komatsu (original game),Japanese: Yuki Kaji (Zen), ::Japanese: Hirofumi Tanaka He also makes an appearance in Persona 4 Arena, having been promoted to Detective and working under Mitsuru. He is seen in Inaba at her request. Takeharu Kirijo :Voiced by: ::English: Derek Stephen Prince (all games except Reload), Grant George (Reload) ::Japanese: Kōji Totani (original game), He rejects the ideology of his father, who believed death was a form of deliverance. Persona 4 characters With Persona 3 Portable, Atlus inserted cameo appearances by two characters from Persona 4. A younger version of Yukiko Amagi, a playable character in Persona 4, makes an appearance in Persona 3 Portable. She is seen when the player's character visits Inaba, the setting of Persona 4, in a new event added in Persona 3 Portable. Noriko Kashiwagi, the player's (second) homeroom teacher in Persona 4, also makes an appearance during Junpei's "Operation Babe Hunt", making a pass for Akihiko. The same cameo appearance also happened in the movie adaptation. ==Social Links==
Social Links
Kenji Tomochika :Voiced by: ::English: Joe Zieja (Reload)Japanese: Kenji Nojima (drama CDs, Persona 3 The Movie), Wataru Hatano (Reload) is a classmate of the protagonist; he is attracted to older women and is attempting to ask out his ethics teacher. He is the Social Link for the , representing action, initiative, and immaturity. He is the Social Link for the , which symbolizes momentary victory. However, if playing the female path in Persona 3 Portable, Rio Iwasaki replaces Kazushi as the Chariot Social Link. Keisuke Hiraga :Voiced by: ::English: Griffin Burns (Reload) He is the Social Link for the in Persona 3 Portable, representing fate and opportunities provided by it. He is the Social Link for the , representing leadership and decision-making. Yuko Nishiwaki :Voiced by: ::English: Shelby Young (Reload) which she is able to overcome with the help of the protagonist. In Persona 4, set two years after the events of Persona 3, Chihiro is now the Student Council President. She is the Social Link for , representing the knowledge of what is right and wrong. Nozomi Suemitsu :Voiced by: ::English: Paul Castro Jr. (Reload) He is the Social Link for the , representing a source of fear and false illusions. Andre Sogliuzzo (Bunkichi, Reload) Kōji Yada (Bunkichi, drama CDs), Naoki Tatsuta (Bunkichi, Reload) Maya :Voiced by: Yuka Komatsu The player later discovers that Maya is actually the protagonist's homeroom teacher . Maya is the Social Link for the , representing the search for answers by looking to one's self. However, if playing the female path in Persona 3 Portable, Saori Hasegawa replaces Maya as the Hermit Social Link. Maya's name and both Innocent Sin Online are both references to Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Maya's Japanese name, "Y-ko", and the MMO being called "Devil Busters Online" is a reference to a character in the very first Megami Tensei game. Maiko Oohashi :Voiced by: ::English: Grace Lu (Reload) She is the Social Link for the , representing the inability to take action. Pharos :Voiced by: ::English: Aleks Le (Reload)Japanese: Akira Ishida He represents the Social Link for the , representing the end of the old and the beginning of the new, which advances automatically as the story progresses. Initially, his memory is fragmented, but by the end of the Link, he clearly remembers who he is and what his purpose is. Pharos and the protagonist last talk in November, during the day rather than the Dark Hour. He says goodbye to the protagonist, who later learns that he and Ryoji Mochizuki, a student at Gekkoukan High School, are the same person. Pharos is portrayed by Keisuke Ueda in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade. Tanaka :Voiced by: ::English: Patrick Seitz (Reload) Mutatsu :Voiced by: ::English: Aaron LaPlante (Reload) Mamoru Hayase :Voiced by: ::English: Yong Yea (Reload) and is only encountered during Maiko's Social Link. Rio Iwasaki :Voiced by: Saori Hayami (drama CD) is a student of Gekkoukan High School. The female protagonist can become friends with her by joining either the tennis club or volleyball club. She is childhood friends with Kenji Tomochika and is friends with Yuko. She secretly has a crush on Kenji. She briefly appears in the Persona: 3 The Movie. If playing the female route she replaces Kazushi. Rio Iwasaki is the Social Link for the . Saori Hasegawa is a student of Gekkoukan High School. She can become friends with the female protagonist by joining the Library committee or Health committee. She needs encouragement to stand for herself by the female protagonist. She briefly appears in the Persona: 3 The Movie. If playing the female route, she replaces Ms. Toriumi as the . ==Reception==
Reception
The cast of Persona 3 was well received by critics. Damian Thomas of RPGFan wrote in his review of Persona 3 that he was able to connect with the game's cast "in a way that I can't in most RPGs. Some of the relationships are humorous, some are heartbreaking, and some are downright goofy." He also wrote that, because the game takes place over the course of a school year, the player is able to see the characters "grow and develop as you interact [with them]." Patrick Joynt of GameSpy found the Social Link stories of Persona 3 to be "universally fascinating", adding, "We were honestly worried about our friend from Kendo pushing his knee too hard; our friend's relationship with a teacher was sad to watch; and the tragedy of the old couple who owns the local bookstore will move anyone with an ounce of decency." ==References==
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