History Characters / PersonaTheHeroes

** Maki (Mary):
** Masao "Mark":
** Kei (Nate):
**
**

** Maki
** Masao

**

%%* BeautyMark

Dragged along to participate in the "Persona" game to settle [[TheBet a bet]] between Mark and Brown, the protagonist and his other classmates catch a glimpse of a little girl crying. [[LightningCanDoAnything Lightning flashes]], and those who haven't played before are knocked out, sent into the border between consciousness and unconsciousness. A GuardianEntity named Philemon meets Naoya in a dream, asking him to state his name. Upon doing so, Philemon is impressed, for not everyone who comes to his realm knows who they really are. The protagonist gains the ability to summon his Persona, and is then sent back to reality. Upon regaining consciousness, he finds himself in the school infirmary, the last of his classmates to wake up. The school nurse and their homeroom teacher Saeko Takami urge the group to go to the hospital to have themselves checked, opening up an opportunity to visit Maki again.

Maki Sonomura is a frail girl who has been sick all of her life. She had to make frequent trips to the hospital as a result of her illness, and as of the start of the game, she has been confined to a hospital bed for an entire year. When she's not in too much pain, she often paints disturbing still-life pictures, escapes into her "Ideal" world, and waits for her friends to come to visit her. Kandori takes advantage of this by kidnapping Maki from the hospital, and uses her unconscious mind as a test subject for his DEVA System, creating an alternate version of the city that is a reflection of Maki's "Ideal" version of Mikage-cho. In this world, Maki is healthy, demons wreak havoc everywhere, the hospital and police station do not exist, and the city has two sides, one light and one dark, divided in half by an ominous barrier.

Part of Maki accepts, and at the same time rejects this development. Thus, three manifestations of her psyche actually emerge: The "Ideal" Maki which joins the party, Mai (Mae in the NA version), and Aki (Maggie in the NA version), the latter two being alternate selves that represent her innocence and malevolence respectively. The "Ideal" Maki remains the same age, while Mai and Aki manifest as Maki's child self. Depending on how the protagonist handles himself, the "Ideal" Maki will either succeed in turning the city back to normal and save her true self or become ridden with guilt about her deep-seated nihilistic wishes and lose her identity forever.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He starts out acting like a total {{Jerkass}}, especially to Masao, but eventually gets better.

* AgentScully: He is the most openly skeptical party member regarding the Persona game at the beginning. This being an UrbanFantasy, he swiftly eats crow.

* AgentMulder: Along with Ayase, she believes in the supernatural properties of the Persona game when Brown introduces it to her.

* AgentMulder: Along with Elly, she believes in the supernatural properties of the Persona game when Brown introduces it to her.

* DiskOneNuke: Technically nearly everyone in the party can use Gozu Tennoh, the level 18 Persona that trivializes the game with Megidola, but Mark's Chariot arcana gives him the best affinity with it, letting him trivialize random encounters until just a little over the halfway point.

* NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: [[spoiler:In the manga, having come to terms with his brother's death, Naoya wants to change himself and tells "Kazuya" to return to him, realizing that he is one of his "other selves". Aki attempts to break him again by doubting his identity and his habit of rubbing his earring but Naoya pulls it off, as he doesn't need it anymore. With Naoya accepting him, "Kazuya" disappears and Naoya finds himself with his "other self" at Alaya Cavern, who rewards him with the strongest Persona of the Emperor Arcana, Vishnu. The scene greatly resembles whenever a character in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' accepts their Shadow Self]].

* SuddenlyVoiced: He has a few lines of spoken dialogue in ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment''.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: [[spoiler:In the manga, having come to terms with his brother's death, Naoya wants to change himself and tells "Kazuya" to return to him, realizing that he is one of his "other selves". Aki attempts to break him again by doubting his identity and his habit of rubbing his earring but Naoya pulls it off, as he doesn't need it anymore. With Naoya accepting him, "Kazuya" disappears and Naoya finds himself with his "other self" at Alaya Cavern, who rewards him with the strongest Persona of the Emperor Arcana, Vishnu. The scene greatly resembles whenever a character in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' accepts their Shadow Self]].

* TheKirk: He's presented with a few [[MoralDilemma moral dilemmas]] during the course of the game, which will prove what kind of person he is. These options are usually represented by the conniving Kei and the more headstrong Masao. Your choices will significantly affect the [[MultipleEndings outcome of the story]].

* WeaksauceWeakness: The proverbial crack in Kei's armor is the [[EarWorm Satoshi Tadashi theme]] that is played. Kei ends up singing along to the song, even though he hates it!

%%* CainAndAbel: The Abel to Kazuya's Cain in the manga.

* WouldHurtAChild: Tried to attack Aki in the manga without thinking twice. Lampshaded by Aki herself, who calls him on it.

--> '''Major Personas:''' Matsu, Verdandi
--> '''Weapons:''' Bows, handguns

%%* TheBlank: The Ideal Maki first appears as this due to TheReveal.

--> '''Primary Arcana:''' The Chariot
--> '''Major Personas:''' Ogun, Susano-o
--> '''Weapons:''' Axes, shotguns

%%* CainAndAbel: The Abel to his stepbrother, [[spoiler:Kandori's]] Cain.

-->'''Elly:''' "What a shame, it was over too soon. I wanted to experience the feeling for a while longer."

* PutOnABus: The Protagonist, Masao and Yuka are absent in the second games.

* WackyHomeroom: All of them are members of class 2-4, and all of them are quite the bunch. Of course, it just so happens that all nine of them (from the loner with a killing drive to a habitual liar to an air headed kogal) happen to be the only ones that can solve the crisis the town is facing.

The main character of ''Persona'' and designated leader of the group. He is most commonly dubbed "Boy with Earring", but with the loss of the earring in the original North American version, it was shortened to simply "Boy". The manga refers to him as "[[ComicBookAdaptation Naoya Toudou]]," the audio dramas as "[[AudioPlay Yuya Narumi]]," and the novelization as "[[{{Novelization}} Jihei Suzakuin]]".

He's the main powerhouse of the team and, because of the inability to take him out of the party in both quests, has the highest level growth. He wields one handed swords for his physical attacks and sub-machineguns for his ranged attacks, and his Initial Persona is Seimen Kongou of the Emperor Arcana.

* TheBusCameBack: He is reunited with his friends in the epilogue of of ''Eternal Punishment'' after being absent for the entire game.

* CanonName: He is the only ''Persona'' protagonist to never have either an [[VideoGame/{{Persona 2}} official]] [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} name]] or a name bestowed by Atlus themselves in either an [[VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} adaptation]] or a [[VideoGame/{{Persona 5}} spin-off]] of their game. He is even unnamed in ''VideoGame/Persona2'' and is simply known as "Boy with Earring." Despite this, fans prefer to refer him by "Naoya Toudou", the name he goes by in the manga adaption.

* ChickMagnet: Maki, Eriko and Yuka all have feelings for him.

* TheGhost: He is completely absent in both the ''VideoGame/Persona2'' duology and only appears in flashbacks and [[spoiler:as a demon's disguise to trick Eriko]]. Despite this, his friends often mention about him and even note how similar he is to Tatsuya. A person presumed to be him is heard entering the Parabellum Bar and is greeted by Maki and Eriko.

* HelloInsertNameHere: Not only his first name, but his surname and 'nickname', as well. (The "[[ShadowArchetype other self]]" found in the Alaya Cavern will cite all of these to prove he ''is'' you).
* HeroesPreferSwords: He's the main protagonist, and his preferred melee-weapon is a one-handed sword.

* TheReliableOne: Being the most level headed and emotionally stable member of the group, his friends fully support him as their leader and let him decide on the choices they have to make.

[[folder: Maki Sonomura (Mary)]]

Maki Sonomura is a frail girl who has been sick all of her life. She had to make frequent trips to the hospital as a result of her illness, and as of start of the game she has been confined to a hospital bed for an entire year. When she's not in too much pain, she often paints disturbing still-life pictures, escapes into her "Ideal" world, and waits for her friends to come visit her. Kandori takes advantage of this by kidnapping Maki from the hospital, and uses her unconscious mind as a test subject for his DEVA System, creating an alternate version of the city that is a reflection of Maki's "Ideal" version of Mikage-cho. In this world, Maki is healthy, demons wreak havoc everywhere, the hospital and police station do not exist, and the city has two sides, one light and one dark, divided in half by an ominous barrier.

Part of Maki accepts, and at the same time rejects this development. Thus, three manifestations of her psyche actually emerge: The "Ideal" Maki which joins the party, Mai (Mae in the NA version), and Aki (Maggie in the NA version), the latter two being alternate selves that represent her innocence and malevolence respectively. The "Ideal" Maki remains the same age, while Mai and Aki manifest as Maki's child self. Depending on how the protagonist handles himself, the "Ideal" Maki will either succeed in turning the city back to normal and save her true self, or become ridden with guilt about her deep-seated nihilistic wishes and lose her identity forever.

Despite being the main heroine of the SEBEC route, Maki is unplayable on the Snow Queen route, playing a very minor role: Another version of her, credited as the "Masked Girl", appears as one of the Night Queen's allies, and claims to be responsible for everything that has happened. She and the Masked Boy (actually a masked Kandori) merge with the Night Queen for her battle with the heroes, but are defeated. Afterwards, Mark reveals that he left the Ideal Maki behind at SEBEC, tying the Snow Queen route back into the main story.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler:At the conclusion of the game, before everyone returns to the real world. The "Ideal Maki" confesses her love to the MC, and kisses him as a parting gift, since she's only a fragment of the real Maki and can't go with him.]]

* ManInTheMachine: [[spoiler:Maki turns out to have been hooked up to a reality warping machine the whole time.]]

* RewatchBonus: When playing the game a second time, player will notice that Maki's mugshot in the hospital is different than that when she joins the party.

Masao doesn't believe in the demon summoning game "Persona" one bit. He holds a bet with classmate Hidehiko Uesugi to prove that he's right on it being a fake, with the loser having to treat everyone to a meal at Peace Diner. When nothing happens immediately, Masao assumes that he's won. Upon waking up at the clinic, Masao is thrilled that they were being sent to the hospital for a checkup, because this means that he gets to visit Maki again in the process. After the event where the ICU disappears and demons run rampant in the building, Masao awakens to his Persona along with the others, and urges the Protagonist to find Maki. While he's one of the required party members on the SEBEC route, he is unplayable on the Snow Queen route, making a cameo at the end notifying the party of the Ideal Maki's location when the dust settles.

* TheBigGuy: While he is one of the shortest member in the party, he is one of the best fighters in the party.
* CantCatchUp: Mark has a serious case of this, due to the game's [[UnstableEquilibrium leveling system]]. At the end game, most of your party will be at least level 70. Mark will be around 10-20 levels lower than that, and at that point in the game, it can be very hard to catch him up. Depending who you pick as your 5th member, they may also be victim of this.

* NiceHat: He's always see wearing a beanie cap.
* PutOnABus: He does not return in the sequel. The art book states that he went to college overseas to study art during ''2's'' timeframe, explaining his absence.

Kei was dragged along to join into the demon summoning game "Persona", which was started by a feud between Masao and Brown. For his part, Kei chooses to just watch, as he feels that everyone was just feeding Masao and Brown's stupid squabbles. He also witnessed the spirit of a sobbing little girl, and was incapacitated by bolts of lightning which sent him to Philemon's realm.

* GuestStarPartyMember: Potentially on the Snow Queen route. He accompanies you throughout the prologue, then leaves you once you return to St. Hermelin. His rerecruitment on that route is optional.

Reiji Kido is an antisocial transfer student of St. Hermelin who rarely shows up for class. He blames his Half-brother Takahisa Kandori for how his life has turned out, and believes that the latter must die. To this end, Reiji skulks around the SEBEC facility, waiting for a chance to confront Kandori. Despite his brusque tendencies, many girls of St. Hermelin take quite a shine to him. Reiji's Persona awakening was also triggered during the SEBEC incident, but he is less than willing to join the party unless certain conditions have been met early in the game. Reiji is adept at [[PowerFist boxing]], and an [[MoreDakka assault rifle]]. His Persona, Bres (Guni in the NA version), belongs to the Devil Arcana.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: He has a major female following at school because of his bad boy image. He doesn't give two shits.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: He has two primary Arcana unlike other Persona users from the first two game, a trait only the Wild Cards have. This is part of Reiji's development as it symbolizes his change in motivation.

* GoodOldFisticuffs: He's got the least range depending on formation, but that is remedied with very high damage and one of the best physical attack elements to have.

* JackOfAllTrades: When looked at individually at first, he fits the bill. Breas is strong to everything but spears (rare) and holy magic. He's got items for healing, a gun for far reaching enemies and his fists to deal damage to the undead and any magic resistant enemies. He's got a sound spell for groups and dark magic for light magic based foes. Fitting for a man who was going to go after Kandori alone.

* TarotMotifs: His arcana changes from Devil to Death in game. It's symbolic of how a man who was once possessed by a single drive (Devil) is now able to finally begin to put the past behind him and move on with his life (Death).

* XMarksTheHero: Has a "X" mark in his forehead is one of the heroes.

* CowardlyLion: He can gets scared easily but the moment he awakens his Persona, he is willing to fight back.

** Brown is an unabashed troublemaker, but in the Snow Queen Quest, when he sees the IronicHell inflicted to Toro and Devil Boy, he's utterly disgusted and claims he draws the line on pranks, one of the few moments that he's really serious in his words, and not just bragging.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: His used of puns and making jokes are to simply a cry for attention.

** You are made to draft two extra characters into your party for the Snow Queen route, and can choose from him, Kei, and Eriko.

Apart from her outwardly feminine hobbies, Eriko is also interested in the occult. Because of this, she is the only participant of the "Persona" ritual who is actually excited to be there. She somehow sensed that her friends were in grave danger after demons begin to appear in Mikage-cho. Eriko arrives just in time to help the group escape the hospital, awakening to Nike in the process. Off-hand, she expresses overly-ecstatic enthusiasm over the fact that her Persona is the "Goddess of Victory".

In the original NA version, like Kei, Eriko was given blond hair and fairer skin to match the localization. Her name was also changed into Ellen.

* BadassBookworm: Probably the second smartest member in the party with her knowledge of the occult. Gameplay wise, she has well-balanced stats with high magic and speed combined with average strength.
* BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica to Maki's Betty and the protagonist's Archie, with Eriko coming from an upper middle-class family that gives off the vibe of TheBeautifulElite.

* DitzyGenius: Intelligent, skilled with a rapier, and speaks fluent English. However, her of the occult and overconfidence in her skills make her miss the severity of the situation at times.

** We're never told on how wealthy her family is, but if she could afford overseas study, that must've spoken a lot for her status.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Elly is fascinated with demons and occult but even she trembles when she finds out the identity of Kandori's Persona.

** You are made to draft two extra characters into your party for the Snow Queen route, and can choose from her, Kei, and Hidehiko.

Yuka is a ''[[GyaruGirl kogal]]'' whose outward cheerfulness makes her popular with the boys. However, her penchant for lying and being glaringly frank at times gets her into a lot of trouble. Yuka's initial Persona is Houri of the Magician Arcana, which exclusively deals [[PlayingWithFire fire]] damage. She employs a [[WhipItGood whip]] and .45 handgun in battle. However, the keyword should be "Magician", as Yuka ends up being more of a mage like character.

* FeminineWomenCanCook: An implied baking example. In the Snow Queen Quest, Yuka makes a comment wondering where the Home Economy room is and she could've have a bigger role with the Ambrosia she made being a key item in the route, found within the game's files.

* GyaruGirl: A typical kogal. She wears a school uniform with a very short skirt, loose socks and high heels and she has dyed-blonde hair.

* LackOfEmpathy: In the Snow Queen Quest, Ayase comments that Toro and Devil Boy deserved their torture because they "needed some kind of wake up call" and recommends abandoning them.

Yukino was an ex-''[[{{Delinquents}} yanki]]'' who was reformed thanks to the efforts of her teacher Saeko Takami. Though she hasn't shed her yanki looks just yet, Yukino is well-recognized and trusted by the student body, acting as a mother figure of sorts to her friends. Despite her change of heart, Yukino still retains some of her punk ways, employing throwing blades and a double-barreled shotgun in battle. Her Persona, Vesta, is of the Empress Arcana and has both [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and Nuclear magic at its disposal.

Yukino was among those invited to help settle the bet between Brown and Masao, but doesn't actively participate in the "Persona" ritual, opting instead to watch and keep her classmates out of trouble. Even so, she is still affected by the result, sent to the border of consciousness and unconsciousness after being struck by lightning. Yukino awakens to her Persona in the hospital following a checkup and an unplanned visit to Maki Sonomura (who was also admitted there) that turns sour with demons suddenly wreaking havoc all over the place.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mip_vishnu_1.jpg Vishnu, King of Persona-users[[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:166:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/naoya_p1_8673.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Seimen Kongou]]\\

[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his Ultimate Persona]]\\

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mip_vishnu_1.jpg King of Persona-users[[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see [[:spoiler:Vishnu]]]]\\

[[quoteright:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Vishnu]]\\

-->'''Major Personas:''' Seimen Kongou, Amon Ra, Vishnu

-->'''Major Personas:''' Seimen Kongou, Amon Ra

* CanonName: He (along with the Female Protagonist of ''Persona 3 Portable'') is the only ''Persona'' protagonist to never have either an [[VideoGame/{{Persona 2}} official]] [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} name]] or a name [[WordOfGod bestowed by Atlus themselves]] in either an [[VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} adaptation]] or a [[VideoGame/{{Persona 5}} spin-off]] of their game. He is even unnamed in ''VideoGame/Persona2'' and is simply known as "Boy with Earring." Despite this, fans prefer to refer him by "Naoya Toudou", the name he goes by in the manga adaption.

Reiji Kido is an antisocial transfer student of St. Hermelin who rarely shows up for class. He blames his stepbrother Takahisa Kandori for how his life has turned out, and believes that the latter must die. To this end, Reiji skulks around the SEBEC facility, waiting for a chance to confront Kandori. Despite his brusque tendencies, many girls of St. Hermelin take quite a shine to him. Reiji's Persona awakening was also triggered during the SEBEC incident, but he is less than willing to join the party unless certain conditions have been met early in the game. Reiji is adept at [[PowerFist boxing]], and an [[MoreDakka assault rifle]]. His Persona, Bres (Guni in the NA version), belongs to the Devil Arcana.