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1[[WMG:[[center:[-''VideoGame/Persona4'' '''[[Characters/Persona4 Main Character Index]]'''\
2[[Characters/Persona4TheInvestigationTeam The Investigation Team]] ([[Characters/Persona4YuNarukami Yu Narukami]] | [[Characters/Persona4NaotoShirogane Naoto Shirogane]]) | [[Characters/Persona4ShadowsAndPersonas Shadows and Personas]] | [[Characters/Persona4SLinksAndNPCs Social Links and NPCs]] | '''Antagonists''' ([[Characters/Persona4TohruAdachi The Killer]])]]-]]]
3
4The antagonists of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''.
5
6'''Every person listed here is a WalkingSpoiler. Thus, expect all spoilers ahead will be unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
7
8For tropes relating to the characters appearing in ''Persona 4: Arena,'' click [[Characters/{{Persona 4 Arena}} here.]]
9
10----
11[[foldercontrol]]
12
13[[folder:'''The Suspect''']]
14!!Mitsuo Kubo
15[[quoteright:268:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mitsuo.png]]
16[[caption-width-right:268:The Copycat Killer]]
17
18-->''"[[AttentionWhore All the cases...All on me...]]"''
19
20->'''Voiced by:''' Tsuyoshi Takahashi (Japanese), Creator/KyleHebert (English)
21\
22A student from another school in Inaba. A loner all his life who only found solace in video games, he is first seen trying to ask out Yukiko on the protagonist/Yu's first day of school. He fails, as with everyone who does so, and spends the next several months as a recurring background character, loudly complaining about the latest happenings to anyone who will listen.
23\
24After the Investigation Team manages to save three victims in a row, King Moron is found dead, arranged in the same manner as the first two victims, and Kubo appears on the Midnight Channel, taunting the viewers to catch him if they can. Now the biggest suspect in the case, the Team rushes into the TV after him, tracking him to a dungeon inspired by an old-school 8-bit RPG. There, they find him facing down his Shadow, which claims that he's "nothing."
25\
26After his Shadow is defeated, the Team drags him back to the real world, where he claims responsibility for the murders and relishes in the attention his actions gained him. Unfortunately for the Investigation Team, it's quickly proven that he was a mere copycat killer, with Morooka as his only victim. Nothing is stated about him after this, other than that the police admitted they made false charges after Namatame becomes the next suspect.
27----
28* AbhorrentAdmirer: He tries to flirt with Yukiko and make her leave with him. She's clearly uncomfortable around him, and his attempts at flirting are so bad that she doesn't even realize that's what he was trying to do until after he leaves.
29* AdaptationalAttractiveness: 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. The anime enlarges his eyes, reduces the definition of his lips, and generally gives him a more boyish appearance.
30* AdaptationalExpansion: ''The Animation'' delves into more of his perspective, including his attempts to take credit for the murders only to be mocked online.
31* AdaptationalVillainy: As bad as he is in the game, he's even worse in the anime. He hits on Yukiko a second time, and [[WouldHurtAChild threatens Nanako in the supermarket]] just for being in his way.
32* AssholeVictim: Not only did he kill Mr. Morooka, he ''also'' took credit for the other two murders as well, coming face-to-face with the ''real'' killer and being promptly thrown into the TV. He would've been an ''actual'' victim if it weren't for Yu and the rest of the Investigation Team saving him.
33* AttentionWhore: He claims to be the infamous serial killer of Inaba, and even goes as far as to murder someone and replicate the killer's crimes, just so people will pay attention to him. When the Investigation Team finds out, [[DisappointedByTheMotive they're incredulous that attention was his motive]].
34* AxCrazy: He even gets thrown into the loony bin at the end.
35* BaitAndSwitch: Given the previous events so far, you'd expect Mitsuo to at least accept himself and his Shadow would become a Persona. He outright rejects it further after its defeat, causing it to simply disintegrate.
36* BarrierChangeBoss: To some extent since his Shadow uses wall spells.
37* BelievingTheirOwnLies: After being constantly ignored even after his confession, Mitsuo actually believes he is responsible for the murders of the first two victims.
38* BeYourself: Subverted. Unlike the other "victims" up to his point, he refuses to accept his Shadow since it'd mean coming to terms with being an EmptyShell. During his boss fight, unlike the previous Shadows, Shadow Mitsuo never says that he's "the true self", instead saying "Come.. I'll end your emptiness". This indicates that Mitsuo was so caught up in his delusions that he has become no different from his Shadow.
39* BigBadWannabe: Kubo claims responsibility for killing Mayumi Yamano, Saki Konishi and Kinshiro Morooka. In truth, he only killed Morooka. In fact, his claims of being the killer only causes the real killer to attempt to murder him.
40* BlackEyesOfEvil: His eyes are entirely black, without any pupils. He's also one of the antagonists (though not the main one). Kanji even lampshades how creepy Kubo's eyes look.
41-->'''Kanji:''' Looking at those fish eyes really pisses me off!
42* ChekhovsGunman: His first appearance is on the first day of school, when he tries to ask Yukiko out on a date (and fails miserably). He doesn't show up for a while after that, but Kubo ultimately proves important to the plot.
43* CreepyMonotone: Not so much himself, but his Shadow doesn't show much emotion.
44* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of the {{Otaku}} character trope. Unlike most examples of otaku, Kubo is an example of how his indulgences make him an IneffectualLoner with a LackOfEmpathy. This toxic lifestyle and the impact on his social life is what drives him to [[AttentionWhore commit murder for the sake of attention]].
45* DirtyCoward: In ''The Animation'', he tries to heckle six-year-old Nanako at the grocery store, but flees when Yu shows up to stand up for her. Kubo's also shown taking his rage out on a punching bag with Kanji's face taped on it, but is too scared to actually confront Kanji face-to-face.
46* DiscOneFinalBoss: As a pretty clear-cut case of a RedHerring, he ''looks'' like a final boss if you aren't paying close enough attention.
47* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: He gloats when his Shadow disappears, not realizing that this essentially amounts to failing to come to terms with his own inner thoughts.
48* EmptyShell: To the point he kills Mr. Morooka and tries to take credit for two existing murders just to avoid feeling like he's nothing. Even his Shadow is depressed and unenergetic, with a CreepyMonotone for a voice.
49* EvilCounterpart: In the anime to Yu. They both suffer from loneliness (Mitsuo [[IJustWantToBeSpecial wants to be special]] while Yu [[IJustWantToHaveFriends wants friends]]), and Mitsuo's shadow even pulls a NotSoDifferentRemark on Yu.
50* EvilIsPetty: Kubo committed murder on Morooka purely because he wanted attention.
51* FameThroughInfamy: He wants people to pay attention to him so badly that he tries to take credit for the first two murders, and goes so far as to actually murder Mr. Morooka to this end.
52* FetusTerrible: His Shadow takes this form, also talking in CreepyMonotone and revealing Kubo's motivations for committing murder.
53* FillerVillain: He has little effect on the overarching plot beyond briefly throwing the Investigation Team off the trail and killing Mr. Morooka, as he isn't actually the killer and is immediately dealt with after being rescued from the TV world.
54%%zce* FishEyes: According to Kanji, at least.
55* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are several hints that he's not the actual killer.
56** Before his dungeon, the investigation team point out that whoever the killer is obviously had to possess a certain amount of strength to get the drop on Kanji. There's no way a wimp like him could pull that off.
57** In his dungeon, the deaths are presented as retro RPG encounters. For the "female announcer" and "corpse discoverer," Mitsuo is prompted to "fight" and they are "defeated," but for Mr. Morooka, not only is he referred to by name, the prompt given is "kill."
58** He talks a lot about the murders, but never the kidnappings, and indeed doesn't seem to see how they're connected. He also doesn't recognize Kanji or Rise, and takes a while to identify that Yukiko is there (all of whom he supposedly kidnapped and threw into the TV) and seems confused that the Investigation Team is there. This makes it clear that he only knows about the murders from the news and doesn't know the murders and kidnappings were linked, which is something only the killer and Investigation Team would know.
59** His Shadow has the normal boss battle music, "I'll Face Myself -Battle-". For someone who is claiming to be a serial killer, you'd think he'd have a special boss theme, but he does not. This is changed in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'' where he does get his own boss theme, but even then it isn't unique; it's just an 8-bit remix of the normal boss music.
60** And finally, there's the elephant in the room: If his shadow manifested in the TV world, that means he didn't have a Persona, and therefore ''couldn't'' have pushed others into the TV ''or'' entered on his own.
61* ForTheEvulz: He only killed Mr. Morooka and claimed responsibility for the murders of Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi to [[AttentionWhore garner attention]].
62* FromNobodyToNightmare: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] While he ''did'' kill Morooka, he is dealt with quickly and not presented as much of a threat despite it. Even his Shadow and its boss form just show him as desperate and pathetic rather than dangerous.
63* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Mitsuo's otaku behavior and lack of any real friends led to him slowly losing his mind. This eventually morphs into him becoming so desperate for attention that he'd commit murder just to have people notice him.
64* {{Gonk}}: His eyes and facial expression make him look like a deranged Gerber Baby.
65* HateSink: He isn't portrayed at all sympathetically. Not only are all the party members completely disgusted with him, they found him creepy and repulsive even before he killed one person and claimed credit for all the other crimes.
66* HoistByHisOwnPetard: By claiming to be the killer, he gets put right in the killer's sights and thrown into the TV world himself, where he would have [[KarmicDeath become another victim]] if he wasn't rescued in time.
67* IJustWantToBeSpecial: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], as it drives Mitsuo to commit murder just to get attention. It's also shown that his {{otaku}} behavior and isolation have driven him to become so lonely that he considers FameThroughInfamy to be better than being ignored.
68* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: His Shadow may be a manifestation of his terror about being "nobody."
69* ItsAllAboutMe: His motive is nothing more than to gain attention, no matter how warped it is.
70* JackTheRipoff: Kubo claims to be behind the three murders in Inaba, but he's actually only behind the murder of Mr. Morooka. He copied the real killer because he wanted attention. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't replicate Mayumi and Saki's cause of death (difficult to do so in the first place given that they were killed by the Shadows of the TV World), so he simply hit Morooka in the head with a blunt object. He also messes up how the body is found, leaving Morooka hanging from a water tower instead of an electrical pylon like Mayumi and Saki. The real Killer even scoffs at the shoddy manner he replicated the crime scene.
71* {{Jerkass}}: Even apart from murdering someone and claiming to be a serial killer solely because he wanted attention, Kubo's also a misanthrope on par with the actual killer. His EstablishingCharacterMoment is trying to hit on Yukiko when she's clearly having a bad day, and immediately reacting in anger then storming off when he's rejected.
72* KickTheDog: In the anime, he threatens Nanako when she tries to get the same item as he does in Junes. Luckily for Nanako, Yu is there to tell Kubo off.
73* LockedOutOfTheLoop: The main key that he is not the true culprit is his lack of knowledge about the TV World. The Investigation Team only point this out after finding out that he is nothing but a copycat killer.
74* LonersAreFreaks: He was already a creep before the events of the story. Whether it was his loneliness that caused him to be this way or the other way around is unclear.
75* MachineMonotone: His Shadow, which takes the form of a giant 8-bit soldier.
76* MusicalSpoiler: In the original [=PS2=] version of the game, while he claims to be the killer, the fact that his boss fight uses the standard boss theme says otherwise. ''[[UpdatedReRelease Golden]]'' does give him a unique boss theme, but it's nothing more than an 8-bit arrangement of the standard boss theme.
77* MythologyGag:
78** His Shadow Boss seems similar to the final boss of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'', the game that started this series, which certainly fits with his dungeon theme.
79** The character himself shares aspects with both Hazama from ''If'' and Nakajima from the original ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory: Megami Tensei'' novel, being a loner student with access to supernatural means who kills a teacher.
80* NoSocialSkills: Due to his isolation and {{Jerkass}} personality, Mitsuo clearly has no idea how to act around other people his age. His very first scene has him getting overly familiar with Yukiko, calling her a pet name ("Yuki"), and asking if she wants to go with him when she has no idea who he even is.
81* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Just ''look'' at those eyes and fish lips.
82* ObviouslyEvil: Even ''before'' he murders King Moron, his creepy behavior and NonStandardCharacterDesign don't bode well for him at all.
83* {{Otaku}}: While he's obsessed with video games and the like (as seen from his dungeon and ''The Animation''), he's actually a deconstruction of the trope. Kubo does like those things, but his lack of friends and bad social skills have left him feeling isolated. He ends up committing murder because he thinks that the attention that comes from [[FameThroughInfamy being an infamous serial killer]] is better than being a nobody.
84* PsychopathicManchild: He's around 18 years old, yet acts like an immature brat with NoSocialSkills. His Shadow taking the forms of a literal '''baby''' and an 8-bit toy soldier drives the point home.
85* PutOnABus: Following his rescue from the TV world, he is immediately arrested and taken into police custody, never being seen again for the rest of the game.
86* RedHerring: His entire purpose in the plot, as his actions and claims throw the Investigation Team off the trail of the real killer. Notably, Kubo did commit one of the murders, but he's just a CopycatKiller in the end.
87* ShadowArchetype: He represents what any of the Investigation Team members could have become without the other members' friendship and support. Unlike them, he does not have any real friends or companionship, and [[PsychopathicManchild he's so messed up in the head]] that he ultimately rejects his Shadow instead of accepting it and gaining a Persona.
88* SlasherSmile: Does one of these at the beginning of episode 11.
89* SmallNameBigEgo: He claims that he's the notorious serial killer, but in reality is nothing more than a CopycatKiller who's out of his depth.
90* TheSociopath: His Shadow may be a manifestation of his inability to experience strong feelings. Said Shadow speaks with a CreepyMonotone and takes the form of a giant 8-bit soldier.
91* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Claims that Mayumi was a stupid announcer, that Mr. Mooroka was a bastard, and that Saki was a bitch. He most likely does this to make his claim of him being the serial killer of Inaba seem more believable.
92* SpannerInTheWorks:
93** Killing Morooka throws a massive wrench in the Investigation Team's attempts to piece together The Killer's patterns and motives. Initially, they assumed that The Killer targets people who appeared on TV and the Midnight Channel based on the pattern of the victims and abductees. But because Morooka did not fit either criteria, the Investigation Team were briefly left at a loss, even doubting that the Midnight Channel had any connection to the murders.
94** The Killer considers him this, saying that if Mitsuo turned himself and took credit for the crimes, it would be likely that the Kidnapper would believe the Killer had been caught and would stop "saving" people. Because of this, the Killer decides to throw Mitsuo into the TV in hopes that he'll die and thus be ruled out as the true culprit.
95* StalkerWithACrush: Appears this way towards Yukiko. When Yukiko calls him out once the Investigation Team had caught him, Mitsuo, still delusional, asks if he'd gotten her attention. In the anime, he tries it again while on the end of his power trip from killing Morooka, but gets scared away by Chie and Kanji.
96* SympathyForTheDevil: In ''[[Anime/Persona4TheAnimation The Animation]]'', once Mitsuo is arrested again, the news constantly ridicules and demeans him for it. This actually angers Kanji for how they look down on him.
97* TarotMotifs: The Reversed Hermit, representing isolation, loneliness, and withdrawal from the world.
98* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Because of his insanity, he never wonders how he ended up in the TV World or even asks whether is he in reality or not. This is what causes Chie to doubt Kubo being the actual killer.
99* VillainousBreakdown: Although he was already insane, Kubo falls even further into insanity after his confession is ignored and he refuses to accept his own Shadow. Kubo's goal was FameThroughInfamy; when he just gets mocked and ridiculed instead of being thought of as dangerous, Kubo really loses it.
100[[/folder]]
101
102[[folder:'''The Lead''']]
103!!Taro Namatame
104[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/taro_namatame.png]]
105[[caption-width-right:300:The Savior]]
106[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see Kunino-sagiri]]\
107https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kunino_sagiri_transparent.png[[/labelnote]]]]
108
109--> ''[[ObliviouslyEvil I...I'm going to save her! Don't interfere!]]''
110
111->'''Voiced by:''' Koji Haramaki (Japanese), Zach Hanks (English), Creator/MatthewMercer (English, ''The Animation'')
112\
113Once a 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.
114\
115After 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 as a twisted fusion of his own messianic complex and Nanako's innocence. Now cornered, Namatame transforms into an entity known as Kunino-sagiri by merging with the Shadows around him. He also plays a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the case; should the player choose to simply let him take the blame for the murders, they will be "rewarded" with the Bad Ending. If the Protagonist/Yu convinces his teammates that something still seems off about the case, the game will move the player closer to the Normal and True Endings.
116\
117Should 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: after witnessing the deaths of Mayumi and Saki, Namatame concluded that anyone who appeared on the Midnight Channel would be murdered in the real world, and made it his life's mission to "save" them by hiding them inside the television. Unfortunately, his understanding of the TV world was ''extremely'' flawed, and his actions could have very easily caused ''more'' deaths.
118\
119In the extended true ending of ''Persona 4 Golden'', he can be seen running again for public office, determined to be a political force for good in Inaba as penance for his actions.
120----
121* AdaptationOriginConnection: In the original game, it's implied that Kunino-Sagiri was simply the merger of Namatame, his shadow self and the nearby shadows. However, ''Golden'' expands upon it by revealing that much like Ameno-Sagiri, Kunino-Sagiri was another aspect of Izanami.
122* AllForNothing: In reality, his plan to "save" people who appear on the Midnight Channel was completely pointless, as the Midnight Channel actually shows people who become prominent in the public consciousness, not people who are going to be sent into the TV world in the near future (he had inferred the wrong pattern from Mayumi and Saki, the first two victims), not to mention that he was completely unaware of the fact that if someone stays in the TV World for too long, they are ''killed'' by the Shadows there. Unlike Adachi or you, he clearly doesn't know how the Midnight Channel works at all.
123* AnimalMotifs: His design references the legend of the "Hare of Inaba". His family's delivery company has a hare for a mascot, and the same hare is on his cap, also he lives in a town called Inaba, making him the figurative hare of Inaba.
124* AntiVillain: He really does just want to do good, but a lot of people almost die because of his ignorance.
125* AngelicAbomination: Kunino-sagiri is a creature made of the Shadows that absorb into Namatame resembling an angel, based on Namatame's messiah complex.
126* TheAtoner: He initially promises to "save" people from the Killer in memory of his dead lover, Mayumi, but his actions wind up doing far more harm than good. In the end, he winds up filling this role properly, aiding the investigation team and trying to help the people of Inaba.
127* AttackItsWeakPoint: Kunino-sagiri's antenna is its weak point in the manga.
128* BarrierChangeBoss: His Quad Converge spell multiplies the power of one random element (which he then spams) by 4, and cuts all others to 1/4. It's kind of nasty, but so easily turned against him.
129* BattleThemeMusic: "A New World Fool" as Kunino-sagiri, shared with the Killer.
130* BigBadWannabe: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Thinking that the Killer used conventional methods to kill Mayumi and Saki as well as his interactions with Shadow Mayumi, he thought that the Midnight Channel was a safe haven. Guessing that the Killer was targeting individuals who were featured on TV, he thought that Yukiko was the next target, thus setting up his kidnapping method via putting them in the Midnight Channel and planning to retrieve them later, unaware that he's doing the same as the Killer.
131* BreakThemByTalking: Kunino-sagiri does this to Soji in the manga.
132-->"You think yourself a hero...? You want everything to go just as you see fit. But the real hero...is me...I'm the savior...I know...I know, in truth...how empty you are inside. Always obeying your parents and others, playing the part of the good little boy, to keep up appearances. You may have convinced yourself that you make your own choices now...but you're nothing but a puppet on strings.
133* BroughtDownToNormal: After his rescue from the TV world and Kunino-sagiri's defeat, it's implied that Nanatame lost the ability to enter the TV world himself or force others inside. When he tried to confess his crimes to the police, he was unable to replicate his methods and thus was let off without punishment.
134* TheCallHasBadReception: The cause of all his problems is his lack of understanding of the Midnight Channel and how it works, not helped at all by the Killer's manipulations.
135* CassandraTruth: He attempted to warn Saki Konishi about the Midnight Channel, but she was creeped out by his demeanor and didn't listen. He later attempted to warn the police about it, but was passed off as a lunatic. A few days later, Saki popped up dead.
136* CommonalityConnection: The reason for how he ended up having an affair with Mayumi Yamano. Both of them bonded over the stress of their work life, and how they came from Inaba.
137* TheChewToy: He's played for a chump by two of the main antagonists, has a grotesque fog god smuggled inside of him without his knowledge instead of an Izanagi Persona, nearly gets murdered and incarcerated due to a terrible misunderstanding, and in ''Golden''[='s=] new ending, it's implied that he outright loses the power to enter the TV World.
138* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Deconstructed. His obsession with trying to save people from The Killer, while well-intentioned, only causes him to play right into The Killer's hands. The Killer even lampshades this, mocking Namatame for being so caught up in the delusion that he still continued "saving" people even when it appeared that the killer had been caught.
139* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: A depressed layabout put to work as a delivery guy after his political career dried up... who turns out to be a dangerous, competent kidnapper and a major threat in a fight once his back's against the wall.
140* DefeatMeansFriendship: Once he's beaten in the Midnight Channel (and provided you spare him), he supports the team's efforts to stop the Killer.
141* DespairEventHorizon: He hits it after Mayumi dies and only gets worse as the events of the game continue. It makes sense, since his part of Izanagi represents despair. Thankfully, he gets better.
142* DidntThinkThisThrough: His plan to protect the killer's prospective victims by throwing them into the TV world hinges on him assuming that the TV world is safe. Were it not for the Investigation Team, the end result would have been involuntary manslaughter.
143* DiscOneFinalBoss: In spite of the build-up to his fight and all signs pointing to Namatame being the Killer you're chasing after, he ends up not being the one responsible. The battle against him is nevertheless appropriately tough, and WILL send you packing if you're not careful.
144* DrowningMySorrows: Falls into this after the scandal involving his affair. [[DespairEventHorizon The murders only worsen his problem.]]
145* EarlyBirdCameo: It's possible to talk to him in around May, well before he takes action.
146* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the extended epilogue of ''Golden'', it is revealed that Namatame has been released from prison early and has begun putting his life together again. When the protagonist returns to Inaba, he sees Namatame making a speech about his plan to return to public office again to atone for the mistakes he had done over the last year. [[VideoGame/Persona5 A few years later]], he is currently the state secretary of Inaba.
147* EasilyForgiven: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. After the Killer is apprehended, he is released from prison with his slate wiped clean. Apparently, [[ThrowTheDogABone none of the people he kidnapped pressed charges (including the Dojimas)]] and his incoherent ramblings and [[DePower inability to reproduce his methods]] were not enough to implicate him of any crime, which means there was basically a lack of evidence. The fact that he genuinely [[AntiVillain thought he was doing good]] [[ObliviouslyEvil and saving people at the time]], plus the fact that he ended up [[HeelFaceTurn helping the heroes catch the true culprit]] later on, and [[TheAtoner genuinely feels guilty]] for his actions may have contributed to this.
148* FinalBoss: If you fail to realize he's not the killer, fail to deduce the killer's true identity, or actually protect the true killer's identity in ''Golden'', he is the last boss you face in the game. Otherwise, he's a DiscOneFinalBoss.
149* {{Foil}}: To both Yu and Adachi, in their assigned roles as the agents of Despair, Hope and Emptiness respectively. Unlike both of them, he never awakened his Persona powers properly, leading to he and they following very different paths:
150** Much like Yu, he is trying to use his powers to save people. Unfortunately, his actions end up putting those he throws into the TV in danger, while Yu ends up rescuing them from death. Namatame is isolated from the rest of the town and has seemingly no points of contact other than his father who runs the delivery service, while Yu has an entire team of TrueCompanions behind him and a broad range of options for social interaction besides. On the flipside, both flail around trying to find out who the Killer is without realising who it is, and both are ultimately pawns of Adachi.
151** He and Adachi both arrive in town under acrimonious circumstances, one because he was fired for having an affair that went public, the other for an unspecified mistake that got him ReassignedToAntarctica. Both put people inside the TV, but for completely different reasons. Namatame is apologetic after he's captured and takes responsibility for his actions whereas Adachi is mostly remorseless even once he's stopped and [[NeverMyFault constantly dodging the blame for his actions]].
152* ForcedToWatch: Despite trying to save them both, he could only watch as Mayumi and Saki died violently on the Midnight Channel.
153* AGodAmI: Develops a messiah complex at some point, believing that he is a righteous savior protecting the innocent. The truth is a lot more complicated than that.
154* TheHeavy: While he turns out to not be the Killer, his actions nonetheless drive most of the plot. His kidnappings were what led to the formation of the Investigation Team and led to what it is now. The real killer deliberately manipulated him into serving this role, ensuring that the murder mystery ''he'd'' triggered would continue to wreak havoc in the town.
155* HeelFaceTurn: He's not exactly a villain to begin with, given his good intentions, but after he's given the chance to explain himself, he decides to support the Investigation Team, becoming an ally to them. His help proves crucial in finally finding the Killer, and kicking off the endgame.
156* HeelRealization: Throughout the game, he kidnaps people he saw on the Midnight Channel and throws them into the TV to protect them from a Serial Killer. He sincerely believes that the TV World is a safe place, and that they are returned to the real world after the danger has passed. What he doesn't realize is that they can't escape on their own, and once the fog lifts in the TV World, they will be killed by the Shadows. Once he himself enters the TV to escape police pursuit, it hits him just how wrong he was, and he does everything he can to assist the party as atonement.
157* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Fail to complete the Heaven dungeon on time and he learns the hard way why throwing people in the TV was a bad idea. One of the bad endings has the Investigation Team throw him back in the TV, where he will be killed by shadows just like the people he tried to save would have been.
158* IgnoredEpiphany: When questioned by the Investigation Team in the hospital, he admitted that when he entered the TV World for the first time, he realised that it was not the safe haven that he thought it was. However, caught up in his own messianic delusions and the trauma he had been through, he remained in denial.
159* IncitingIncident: Had Adachi not picked up on his frantic calls to the police, none of the kidnappings would've occurred as Adachi suggested he should do that after realizing that he has the ability to interact with TV's as well.
160* InterruptedSuicide: When the investigation team go to speak to him in the hospital, he is seen sitting by an open window he was trying to climb out of.
161* KarmicDeath: The Investigation Team has the option to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this on him by throwing him back into the TV after learning that he probably won’t be tried for nearly getting several people killed due to the supernatural nature of his crimes and after being taunted with this fact by his shadow. Unfortunately this ends up being [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] since he was being tricked into “saving” people by Adachi and doing so leads to a bad ending.
162* LateArrivalSpoiler: {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' as you need to watch two specific TV programs on separate days to learn that he wasn't the Inaba Killer, as he's noted as the state secretary of Inaba on one program, while the true killer is being interviewed on the second one.
163* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Essentially the reason behind Namatame being an antagonist. To his knowledge, throwing potential targets into the TV World is saving them from suffering the same fate of Mayumi or Saki. The fact that Yukiko and the others all survive is proof of this for Namatame. Having never stepped foot into the TV World himself, he had no idea of the dangers he was putting them in.
164* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After he realizes that his actions could have potentially caused ''more'' deaths, he's understandably horrified and [[HeelFaceTurn resolves to help the party going forward.]]
165* MythicalMotifs: Just like how the main cast are based off of Japanese gods, he is based of the legend of "Hare of Inaba". In the legend, after having his fur flayed off by a shark the hare asked Onamuchi's eighty brothers for help on how to regain his skin; the brothers gave him bad advice on purpose, telling him to bathe in the salty sea, causing the poor hare great pain. This is referenced by Adachi giving him malicious advice to start throwing people in the TV so they'd be safe, and this makes Namatame to unwittingly cause great pain for everyone involved. In the myth, Onamuchi later comes by the hare and offers him some actual good advice, telling him to bathe in the fresh water at the mouth of the river and then roll in cattails. This causes the hare's skin and his form as a god to be restored, and he rewards Onamuchi by telling him that he will be the one to marry a princess. This is referenced by the investigation team showing him compassion and helping him see the true nature of his actions, and thus he rewards them with vital info for solving the case. Also of note is the rabbit logo on his delivery company and also on his hat, and him being based in the town of Inaba, thus making him a true Hare of Inaba.
166* NewAgeRetroHippie: Kunino-sagiri has elements of this, including a billowy T-shirt with a heart and peace symbol on it, in addition to frequently making the two-fingered peace sign ([[{{Irony}} which he uses to attack]]).
167* NiceGuy: The only reason he's listed on the Antagonist page is because of the ObliviouslyEvil nature of his actions causing trouble for the people of Inaba. When he realizes his errors, he shows himself to be a good man who wants to protect innocent people.
168* NotMeThisTime: In the endings where you spare him but fail to catch the true killer, despite confessing to the multiple kidnappings, he flatly denies involvement in the murders of Mayumi and Saki. This is also brought up if you nail the killer; Dojima notes that he has shaky motives and an ironclad alibi.
169* ObliviouslyEvil: He genuinely believes he's "saving" people by throwing them into the TV. Unfortunately, because of his own flawed understanding of the TV World and the Killer's manipulations, he never realized that doing this would have actually killed them instead, and indeed is how the Killer offed the first two victims. Once he discovers the truth about the TV world, he is horrified and becomes desperate to atone.
170* PunnyName: Taro Namatame, as in Tarot.
171* RedHerring: Ultimately, it turns out he's not the one behind the murders, in spite of fitting a lot of the criteria prior to the fight against him.
172* SadlyMythtaken: Kunino-Sagiri in the original Japanese myth is just a minor fertility god. He's not an angelic abomination.
173* SanitySlippage: By the time the Investigation Team catches up to him, he is clearly losing his mind. His crazed and delusional demeanor [[NotHelpingYourCase does nothing to sway the Investigation Team away from believing he’s the real killer.]]
174* ShadowArchetype: For the entire Investigation Team. Just like them, he was trying to protect people from the Killer. However, he was completely alone, meaning he had nobody to keep his sense of reality in check, resulting in a series of mental breakdowns and a twisted messiah complex. It doesn't help that he was being manipulated by the killer into doing his work for him through exploiting his flawed understanding of the TV World.
175* SympatheticAdulterer: He knows that his affair with Mayumi was wrong, but he genuinely loved her, the feeling was mutual, and his relationship with his wife was often troubled even before the affair.
176* TacticalSuicideBoss: Makara Break is a move Kunino-sagiri will take advantage of during its first phase to keep you from reflecting its attacks back at it. Yet, it ''stops using anything other than ma-dyne spells'' the entire part of the fight that is Quad Converge. This allows you to feed him his own powerful magical attacks with impunity.
177* TarotMotifs: The reversed Judgement; a lack of reflection and self-evaluation. Overwhelmed by the despair and his own messiah complex, Namatame never really reflected on the decisions he had made and whether or not he's actually saving people. He admits to the Investigation Team in the hospital that he started to have his doubts, but nonetheless continued his kidnappings. Had he actually stopped to reevaluate his methods, perhaps none of the tragedies with Nanako's kidnapping would have happened.
178* ThrowTheDogABone: He manages to regain a normal life after the events of the game and the new ending in ''Golden'' even has him running for mayor. ''VideoGame/Persona5'' eventually reveals he became the state secretary for Inaba.
179* TooLongDidntDub: It's pretty noticeable when Matthew Mercer takes over for Namatame in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'', since Atlus reused all of his previous audio, only recording new lines for the parts where he talks about the game's new events.
180* TragicVillain: He’s only ([[ObliviouslyEvil technically]]) a villain because of a massive TraumaCongaLine and the manipulations of Adachi. He's not some insane SerialKiller, he's just a distressed man being manipulated into believing that he's the only one who can save people from the Killer.
181* TraumaCongaLine: This guy has had it ''rough'', to say the least:
182** He is stuck in a loveless marriage with his wife, whose singing career caused them to drift apart.
183** His affair with Mayumi is exposed, resulting in him being the subject of a public scandal that saw him losing his job and divorced with his wife.
184** Not long after, he discovered that the woman that he loved was found dead, and saw her die in front of his own eyes on the Midnight Channel.
185** He then fails to save Saki Konishi as well, and had to watch her die on the Midnight Channel just like Mayumi did.
186** He ends up becoming an UnwittingPawn to the Killer, who exploits Namatame's desire to save people by throwing them into the TV World, making him TheScapegoat for the very murders that he tried to prevent.
187** He later escapes into the TV World himself, only to find that he's trapped in the Midnight Channel with Nanako, where he ends up getting possessed by the shadows around him to become an angel-like monstrosity born from an aspect of a cognitive god.
188** When Nanako apparently dies by his actions, the Investigation Team became so pissed that they came very close to dumping him into the TV world the same way he did his victims which would result in him being killed.
189** Finally, there's his realization that his attempts to save people was what was endangering them in the first place.
190* TheUnfought: His Shadow shows up on the TV after Namatame is captured to taught the Investigation Team into throwing Namatame back in but is never fought. The Investigation Team mistake Kunino-Sagiri for his shadow but it was actually a monster implanted by Izanami.
191* UnwittingPawn: His original idea to throw people into the TV World came from the Killer, who would continue to sit back and enjoy the suffering he was obliviously causing. Ultimately, along with the Protagonist and the Killer, he is one of the GreaterScopeVillain's three "game pieces" -- Despair, in his case -- meant to determine what humanity desires most.
192* WhatTheHellHero: Though he may have had nothing but the best of intentions, Chie rightfully calls Namatame out on never questioning the nature of the TV World.
193[[/folder]]
194
195[[folder:'''The Killer''']]
196See [[Characters/Persona4TohruAdachi The Killer's page here]].
197[[/folder]]
198
199[[folder:'''The Fog''']]
200!!Ameno-sagiri
201[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amenosagiri_transparent.png]]
202[[caption-width-right:300:The Fog Bringer]]
203
204--> ''"[[FogOfDoom To defy me is a senseless act that goes against your world's wishes. Now, let everything vanish into the sweet fog of illusion.]]"''
205
206Ameno-sagiri is the power in the Midnight Channel that created the fog and is the one responsible for pushing it into the real world. It possesses Adachi after his defeat by the Investigation Team to explain itself. Ameno-sagiri's goal is to cover the world in fog and convert mankind into blissfully ignorant Shadows because it earnestly thinks that's what humanity wants. The Investigation team has to fight him to put a stop to the spreading of the fog.
207
208In the True Ending, the GreaterScopeVillain reveals that Ameno-sagiri was simply an avatar it created to go about its business.
209----
210* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: In ''the Animation'', giving it an otherworldly effect.
211* AdaptationalWimp: In ''The Golden Animation'', Ameno-sagiri shows up for all of a ''minute'' before being one-shotted by Yu. He doesn't even get any lines, making him more of a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere. To rub salt in the wound, by the time he showed up, Yu was visually spent from the prior battle with Adachi. To a lesser degree, in ''The Animation'', while Ameno-sagiri almost kills Yu and is only defeated with the help of the party's ultimate Personas[[note]]In Yu's case, he uses Lucifer, which requires the highest level to fuse and is one of the best Personas in the game[[/note]], he goes down after a fairly brief battle, in contrast to the game, where Ameno-sagiri takes significantly longer to defeat than [[GlassCannon Adachi]].
212* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: After his defeat, he points out that he'll always be watching and will return if mankind wishes it.
213* BattleThemeMusic: "The Almighty".
214* BigBadEnsemble: He's the one controlling the FogOfDoom that plagues the TV World and is seeping into the real world, while Adachi committed the murders. He's not the one ultimately responsible for the game's plot, though - that honor goes to the GreaterScopeVillain.
215* BlackEyesOfCrazy: A villain with black sclera. Well, only a single eye.
216* BlueAndOrangeMorality: "Mankind's desires are my desires."
217* DemonicPossession: Of Adachi, after the former's defeat.
218** There is evidence to support that Ameno-sagiri may have intervened and possessed Teddie's Shadow as well, or even brought it into existence. Rise senses a "strong presence intervene", and Shadow Teddie shares such traits as voice, diction, and eyes with Ameno-sagiri. Moreover, unlike almost every other Shadow, Teddie did not seem to understand a word his Shadow self said, which would be odd. It is also the only Shadow self in the game that transforms without being denied at all, and doesn't share the Arcana of its host. (Teddie's arcana is The Star, Shadow Teddie's is The Moon).
219* DidntSeeThatComing: Ameno-sagiri never expected people to [[EnlightenmentSuperpower overcome their Shadows and gain Personas]]. This is what gets him curious enough to let the Team test their resolve against him.
220* ElectronicEyes: In ''The Animation'' Ameno-sagiri's eye zooms in and out on itself like a camera lens. It even has writing on its eye like a brand.
221* EvilSoundsDeep: ''Very'' deep in the game, to the point where it's difficult to understand him. This is toned back in ''the Animation'', particularly in the Japanese version, where he is voiced by the high-pitched Creator/RyuseiNakao.
222* EyeBeams: A sweeping laser beam that hits the entire party.
223* FinalBoss: If all of the bad endings are avoided, he's the last boss you face in ''4'' if neither the True Ending nor the Hollow Forest in ''Golden'' are pursued.
224* FogOfDoom: The source of it.
225* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are at least a few hints that Ameno-sagiri is not the true mastermind.
226** He's a minor god in Japanese myth. A ''[=MegaTen=]'' game usually requires you to kill something bigger than that at the end of the story.
227** Despite technically being the FinalBoss, he's taken down normally with no twists and turns. Additionally, you usually unlock your own ultimate Persona during the last fight, so why not here-- especially when you can unlock the others at this time?
228** If you pay attention to the Velvet Room fusions before you fight him, you can actually notice endgame Personas at level 80+ that you aren't able to fuse without a LOT of grinding; sometimes level 90+ ones, such as Ardha.
229* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Subverted. It seems like this, but Ameno-sagiri was hinted to have possessed Teddie's Shadow earlier. This is more apparent in ''the Animation'' when Izanagi's killing blow stabs what looks like a miniature version of Ameno-sagiri.
230* GracefulLoser: After his defeat, he congratulates the Investigation Team for proving their strength and resolve.
231* IgnoranceIsBliss: Since he thinks this is humanity's mindset, he continues to preach to the Investigation Team that they should just stop fighting and embrace the fog.
232* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: "I never tire of observing '''fools like yourselves'''." Another hint that it created the Shadow that says this.
233* LightIsNotGood: His God's Judgement attack is a Light skill.
234* NoSell: In battle he spends a few turns generating more fog that leaves him immune to all damage.
235* {{Oculothorax}}: He's an eye with a torso.
236* PiecesOfGod: One of the fragments of the main GreaterScopeVillain.
237* SadlyMythtaken: Ameno-sagiri is a minor mountain god in the original Japanese myth and not a robotic eyeball that tries to take over the world with Shadows.
238* TechnicolorEyes: More like "Prism Eye".
239* VoiceOfTheLegion: Mixes his voice with Adachi's while possessing the latter.
240[[/folder]]
241
242[[folder:'''The Avatar''' (''Golden'' only)]]
243!!Marie (Kusumi-no-Okami)
244[[quoteright:245:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kusumi_no_okami.png]]
245[[caption-width-right:245:The Fog Bearer]]
246[[caption-width-right:245:[[labelnote:Click here to see Kusumi-no-Okami]]\
247https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kusumi_no_okami_hd.png[[/labelnote]]]]
248
249-->''"[[AmnesiacGod I remember...I remember everything.]]"''
250
251->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KanaHanazawa (Japanese) and Creator/EdenRiegel (English)
252\
253A new character and Velvet Room resident introduced in ''Persona 4 Golden'', and the Aeon (XX) Social Link.
254\
255Marie's true identity is Kusumi-no-Okami, a divine subordinate of Ameno-sagiri and one of three PiecesOfGod born from the GreaterScopeVillain, the other two being Ameno-sagiri and Kunino-sagiri. Her role is to gain insight into humanity's inner workings, and absorb the mists of Ameno-sagiri and Kunino-sagiri in the event of their defeat. If you complete the Aeon Social Link she regains her memories but is possessed against her will by Ameno-sagiri after his initial defeat, forcing the Investigation Team to fight her.
256\
257In the epilogue of ''Golden'', she becomes a weather forecaster under the alias of Mariko Kusumi, using her rediscovered powers to control the weather in the region and more or less ''announce what she's going to do each day on TV''. If romanced, she'll also confess her love for the Protagonist at the end of her weather report.
258----
259* ApocalypseMaiden: Intended to contain the fog should both Kunino-sagiri and Ameno-sagiri bite the dust.
260* AmnesiacDissonance: After losing her memories, she becomes your friend. Before losing them, she was your enemy.
261* AmnesiacGod: Is actually a divine underling of Ameno-sagiri called Kusumi-no-Okami.
262* AntiVillain: As one of the PiecesOfGod controlling the fog, she technically serves as the secondary BigBad. However, her AmnesiacDissonance means that she is pretty much in total opposition to their goals, and legitimately considers the Investigation Team to be her friends.
263* AttackReflector: Her Alienation Wall skill will reflect all physical attacks. Her Shell of Denial skill will reflect all magic attacks, including Almighty spells.
264* BarrierWarrior: As Kusumi-no-Okami, she can automatically reflect every kind of attack except Almighty.
265* BecomingTheMask: In the True Ending, like Teddie she abandons her life as a Shadow to live as a human. In her case, she becomes a weather forecaster under the alias "[[MeaningfulName Mariko Kusumi]]".
266* TheBerserker: Fights like one in her battle, as she's attempting to resist the fog's influence.
267* BigBadFriend: Is one of the many PiecesOfGod that command the fog.
268* BrickJoke: Seems Nanako was right about weather forecasters determining the weather, as shown when Marie takes the job in the extended epilogue.
269* CastFromHitPoints: Her Draining Fog attack sucks out the party's 50 SP but inflicts some damage on herself every time she uses it. Her Endurance stat is pretty low too, which makes the boss fight one-sided if the party has enough Breaker items and Repel Joue armors in their inventory.
270* ClosedCircle: Her dungeon, [[BonusDungeon The Hollow Forest]], serves as this. You can't bring any money or items in with you and you can't take any money or items out. All you get are your Personas, special equipment, and whatever items you happen to find in the dungeon.
271* DeathSeeker: Part of an attempted HeroicSacrifice, she goes into the Midnight Channel and creates the Hollow Forest in an attempt to prevent the fog from returning.
272* DemonicPossession: When the Investigation team reach her and nearly convince her to come back with them, the fog takes over her and she attempts to kill the team.
273* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: You can hang out with her through her social link as Marie.
274* DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu: And romance her too, as Marie.
275* DisneyDeath: Seems to disappear after Izanami's defeat, only to show up in the Epilogue as a weather forecaster.
276* DownInTheDumps: Her dungeon, The Hollow Forest, consists of wrecked versions of places she's been to in her Social Link, such as bits of the food court at Junes and the sign.
277* TheDragon: She serves as this for Ameno-sagiri and Kunino-sagiri, though not of her volition.
278* EvilCostumeSwitch: When she regains her memories, she switches from her usual ensemble to a white and red robe.
279* FinalBoss: If you fail to determine Izanami's true role but fight her in the Hollow Forest, she becomes the last boss of ''Golden''.
280* GodIsGood: She is described as "The fertile will that protects those who live in this land and fulfills their wishes," providing something of a counterpoint to [[GodIsEvil Ameno-sagiri.]]
281* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Along with a healthy dose of red.
282* HelplessGoodSide: Forces beyond her control command her power, leaving her to unwittingly serve as Ameno-sagiri's [[TheDragon Dragon]]. Once Ameno-sagiri is defeated, her powers go out of control, and she must hide away to prevent her evil side from destroying the world.
283* HumanoidAbomination: Though she looks human, she's actually a Shadow representing an [[AnthropomorphicPersonification aspect of humanity]] as a whole.
284* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: What the added boss fight with her in ''Golden'' (if you max her Social Link before fighting Adachi) boils down to.
285* ImpliedLoveInterest: Even post-reveal, she gets a ''lot'' of ShipTease with the Protagonist/Yu.
286* InTheHood: A hooded cloak to go with her divine appearance.
287* KingOfAllCosmos: In the end, she becomes a weather reporter who changes the weather on a cheerful whim, but makes sure she doesn't cause a drought.
288* LightIsNotGood: She's the game's secondary BigBad.
289* LiteralSplitPersonality: While she, Ameno-sagiri, and Kunino-sagiri are PiecesOfGod, Marie represents their collective desire to protect humanity. When the desire to grant the wishes of humanity and the desire to protect them grew too distant from each other, her original personality split in two: Marie and Izanami.
290* MacabreMothMotif: She has a design that resembles a moth when in the form of Kusumi-no-Okami.
291* ManchurianAgent: Due to her amnesia, she wasn't aware of this fact while she was doing it.
292* MeaningfulRename: Her "Mariko" alias in the extended epilogue came from the names of her two identities.
293* TheMole: Her role in the large scheme of things was to blend in with humanity to determine their desire.
294* NonIndicativeName: Uses an attack called "Hot Lightning", but it actually does Almighty damage.
295* NoSell: As Kusumi-no-Okami, the only way you can even damage her normally is by using [[NonElemental Almighty]] attacks. (Though you receive "Breaker" items in The Hollow Forest that temporarily remove the resistance of your choice.)
296* OnceMoreWithClarity: All of Marie's overdramatic, hammy poems take a much darker turn as she recites them in the Hollow Forest.
297* OneWingedAngel: Her goddess form: a caped, mothlike giant that resembles Kaguya, the ultimate Persona of her Arcana.
298* OptionalBoss: The only way you fight her is by maxing out Marie's Social Link.
299* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance or decide not to enter the television on February 13th is to be rendered nonexistent.
300* ShadowArchetype: Kusumi-no-Okami pretty much serves as Marie's Shadow Self, what with its desire for blissful ignorance over the harsh reality Marie herself is struggling to face.
301* ShockAndAwe: Her Hot Lightning attack, despite being an Almighty skill.
302* ShooTheDog: After the first phase of her battle ends and she starts losing control of herself, she starts yelling that, among other things, she hates the Investigation Team so that they'll leave her alone. No one believes it.
303* SplitPersonalityMerge: In the True Ending, she merges with the rest of the PiecesOfGod after the Investigation Team's victory.
304* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The counterpart to Ryoji from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', being a friend of the party who turns out to be an amnesiac aspect of a powerful Collective Unconsciousness entity.
305* TakeAThirdOption: She locked herself into the Hollow Forest because at this point she only had two option: either release the fog inside of her to complete Ameno-sagiri's goal, or to erase herself and the fog along with her. The Investigation Team gets the idea to destroy the fog as it manifests inside her (her OneWingedAngel form) to free her from it.
306* TarotMotifs: Reversed Aeon-- destructive habits, repeating bad decisions, and an inability to move beyond them.
307* TearsOfBlood: Invoked in her helmet's design as Kusumi-no-Okami.
308[[/folder]]
309
310[[folder:'''The Mastermind''']]
311!!Izanami
312[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/izanami_p4g.png]]
313[[caption-width-right:350:The Goddess of Yomi]]
314[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Izanami as the Moel Gas Station Attendant]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/attendant_izanami.png[[/labelnote]]]]
315[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Izanami's goddess form]]\
316https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/10425.png[[/labelnote]]]]
317[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see Izanami-no-Okami]]\
318https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p4_izanami_no_okami_photoroompng_photoroom.png[[/labelnote]]]]
319
320--> ''"[[TrueFinalBoss Amazing...You've reached me at last]]."''
321
322->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RomiPark (Games) , Creator/DaisukeNamikawa (as Moel Gas Station attendant and Ameno-sagiri, Games), Creator/TakahiroMizushima (Moel Gas Station attendant, ''The Animation''), Creator/RyuseiNakao (as Ameno-sagiri, ''The Animation''), Chizu Yonemoto (''The Animation'') Creator/KarenStrassman (English), Creator/DerekStephenPrince (English, as Moel Gas Station attendant, ''The Animation''), Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (English, as Ameno-sagiri, ''The Animation'')
323\
324An extremely ancient and powerful [[AnthropomorphicPersonification manifestation]] of the [[UsefulNotes/CarlJung collective unconscious]] styled after a goddess from [[Myth/JapaneseMythology traditional Japanese folklore]], [[SchrodingersButterfly or perhaps its basis]]. You initially hear her name during a class lecture midway through the game: Izanami was the wife who [[DeathByChildbirth died in childbirth]] of a god named Izanagi. But when Izanagi went to bring his wife back from {{the underworld}}, he saw she had become a rotting corpse and fled. Enraged, Izanami chased after her husband to the entrance of the underworld, where Izanagi sealed her in. Izanami then threatened to curse 1,000 people to die every day unless she was freed, only for Izanagi to promise that each day he would give life to 1,500 new ones.
325\
326While 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 [[UnwittingPawn 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 [[AssimilationPlot plans to slowly turn all of humanity into Shadows]].
327\
328In 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 everything unfold [[FullBodyDisguise 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 granting Adachi's wish despite his defeat.
329\
330After the Investigation Team chases her through Yomotsu Hirasaka, Izanami nearly manages to kill them all. However, the power of the Protagonist's Social Links revives him, and he destroys her in a single attack with the power of the [[AllYourPowersCombined World Arcana]] in the form of Izanagi-no-Okami.
331----
332* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the anime. She's still arrogant but is far less condescending than her game incarnation.
333* AffablyEvil: Downplayed. She is polite and has noble motivations, but she's also [[SmugSuper very condescending and arrogant]].
334* AnthropomorphicPersonification: She's a manifestation of the negative aspects of humanity's collective desires.
335* AssimilationPlot: Her plan after determining Adachi was the winner of the [[HumanityOnTrial experiment]].
336* BadassArmfold: Her default pose when you fight her during her first phase, though she is in a straight-jacket in that form, so it's not like she can use any other arm position.
337* BattleThemeMusic: "Fog" as Izanami, "The Genesis" as [[OneWingedAngel Izanami-no-Okami]].
338* BeneathNotice: Why would anyone suspect a lowly gas station attendant to be anyone of note? Hell, why would ''the player...?'' She only appears on one major cutscene towards the beginning of the game, and doesn't even get a character portrait until after the reveal of her true identity.
339* {{Bifauxnen}}: Looks like a feminized Doppelganger of the protagonist.
340* BitchInSheepsClothing: Like Ameno-sagiri, before the actual fighting starts she loves to rail on about how what she's doing, despite its blatant unfairness, is just and for the good of mankind and what mankind wants and how going against her in that makes you wrong. Once you actually confront her, she of course becomes quite arrogant and vicious, addressing your party as "mere mortals" and the like since they oppose the wishes for humanity. This ''may'' be due to the party opposing her desire to grant humanity's wish instead of actual malevolence, as she will congratulate the protagonist upon defeating her and showing that the wish of the few can overcome the desire of the many, but then again...
341** If you've sought out the true ending and saved Marie, she refers to the fog as "pointless". The fog, the basis of her entire plan and its outcome.
342* BlueAndOrangeMorality: She wants to abide by her experiment and only acts because she believes that's what humanity truly wants. The problem is that she really does not understand humans all that well, and the "true desire" she perceived is not something the Investigation Team wants.
343* CharacterPortrait: It's worth noting that even though she's the third character you meet[[note]]Fourth in Golden, since you see Marie after you meet Dojima and Nanako, but before you go to the gas station[[/note]] and appears on rainy days throughout the entire game, she doesn't get a portrait until ''after'' you've figured out she's the one responsible for everything that happened in The True Ending.
344* ChekhovsGunman: Minor character who offers you a "contract" on your first day in town? Turns that gas station attendant is the GreaterScopeVillain.
345* TheChessmaster: Used three {{Unwitting Pawn}}s in trying to figure out [[BlueAndOrangeMorality mankind's desires.]]
346* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: Like all [[OurGodsAreDifferent deities]] in the [[TheVerse Persona universe]], [[AnthropomorphicPersonification she comes from and sees herself as an agent of humanity's desires]]. As such, [[InvokedTrope she gives this as the reason you'll never be able to beat her]].
347* ClippedWingAngel: Izanami-no-Okami looks like it will be this due to its decrepit appearance and its reduced stats. [[SubvertedTrope However, she gets higher HP, several party debuff spells, hard-hitting Almighty spells that can cause status ailments, an attack that instantly kills those afflicted with any status ailment, and gets two turns in a row each time.]]
348* CreepyGasStationAttendant: Zig-zagged as the gas station itself is well off and in a town and that she's pretty friendly and normal-looking. Later...
349** Adults don't really mind her, but kids find her particularly off-putting, with Nanako regarding her as strange, and the Spacy Girl NPC seeing her as both a man and a woman.
350* DamageSpongeBoss: The amount of punishment she can take is ''immense'', and she doesn't even have the highest HP in the game.
351* DarkReprise: Her second theme, ''The Genesis'', incorporates an extremely creepy, dirge-like version of the investigation team's main theme ''I'll Face Myself''.
352* DeathGlare: Shoots a particularly [[NightmareFace menacing]] look at the Investigation Team before they fight her.
353* DidntSeeThatComing: In the anime, even though Yu was perfectly content in living in a LotusEaterMachine she created for him, Margaret breaking into it pretty much ended that plan.
354* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Seriously, the gas station attendant?
355* {{Doppelganger}}: As seen from her CharacterPortrait, her goddess form looks disturbingly like the Protagonist, [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith at least from his]] [[AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder point of view]]. This also serves a bit of a ContinuityNod to ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'', where [[EldritchAbomination Philemon's]] own UnwittingPawn Tatsuya [[CallingTheOldManOut punches him]] [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu in the face]], only to find that behind Philemon's mask... [[AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder is Tatsuya's own face]]. [[GreaterScopeVillain Nyarlathotep]] similarly shows up with Tatsuya's face, after the hero's actions make him Nyarlathotep's unwitting pawn in ''Eternal Punishment''.
356* DuelBoss: After defeating her in her second form, Izanami sends the party into the Underworld though the Protagonist is later brought back, forcing him to fight Izanami by himself.
357* EldritchAbomination: Her degraded appearance was so legendarily hideous this is the best description for it.
358* EvenEvilHasStandards: She outright calls Adachi evil as you progress through her dungeon.
359* EverybodyHatesHades: Subverted. She is the antagonistic goddess of death, but her core motivation is essentially philanthropy, however warped.
360* EvilCannotComprehendGood: She's incapable of understanding why the Investigation Team resists her plan. Of course, she isn't technically "evil", she just has problems understanding humans.
361* FaceDeathWithDignity: More so in ''The Animation'' as she's completely composed and somewhat delighted when Yu Narukami eradicates her with Izanagi-no-Okami's Myriad Truths.
362* FallenHero: [[SchrodingersButterfly At least in her myth]]. In ''Golden'', Marie is eventually revealed to be the positive aspects of the story.
363* FemmeFatalons: She has 14 in total, and those 12 massive claws are not just for show.
364* FightingAShadow: All your attacks eventually go right through her first boss form, forcing you to use the "Orb of Sight" to reveal her true self.
365* {{Foreshadowing}}: Plenty of it.
366** The player might not remember it for long, but when the gas station attendant gives you a handshake, you actually ''do'' feel dizzy. Since the Attendant was Izanami, she gave you the ability to enter the TV World.
367** There's a lecture partway through the game that serves no purpose but to bring players unfamiliar with her myth up to speed.
368** In ''the Animation'', the Gas Station Attendant can be seen in Episode 22 where fog starts engulfing Inaba. When a man in a gas mask goes insane, the attendant is there, but his reaction is unfazed at most. Not surprising for the person who actually instigated it.
369* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: In both her goddess and true forms. It [[EldritchAbomination doesn't last]] when [[OneWingedAngel she gets serious]].
370* FullBodyDisguise: Twice; not only is her gas station attendant form fake, but so is the goddess form she initially presents to the Protagonist.
371* TheGameNeverStopped: In the anime, the True End episode has Yu confront her in the streets, where she drops hints that he'd be horrified if he knew what was really going on. It turns out the boss fight against her and the conversation are happening ''at the same time'' and all of his friends are being swallowed up by Shadows.
372* GenderBender: As the gas station attendant, she appears rather androgynous - her lack of dialogue portrait until TheReveal makes it even harder to tell what gender she is. In the Japanese game/anime and the English dub of the anime, the attendant speaks with a male voice, but in the English dub of the game the attendant speaks with a husky, yet distinctly-feminine voice. Nanako describes the attendant as being male. When she reveals herself as Izanami, she loses the male voices. In English, her voice loses the huskiness and becomes more obviously feminine.
373* GlamourFailure: The gas attendant does a horrid job trying to conceal her existence. Starting from when she gave you a handshake you had an odd headache for whatever reason to the fact that the attendant only appears on rainy days, the only thing that makes her able to fool you is that the first and only major encounter with her prior to TheReveal is at the start of the game, and she never reveals herself as Izanami or plays any other role until the endgame.
374* GodCouple: Was a goddess married to the god Izanagi.
375* GracefulLoser: Regardless of her grand plan being undone and questioning why the protagonist continues fighting a fruitless effort, she congratulates the Investigation Team when she is finally defeated.
376-->"Children of man… Well done…!"
377* GreaterScopeVillain: She is responsible for the awakening of Yu, Adachi and Namatame's Personas, and controlled [[AssimilationPlot the fog]] through Ameno-sagiri. But after giving her three [[UnwittingPawn pawns]] their powers, she doesn't do anything but watch for the majority of the year. It's only after the true culprit behind the serial murders is defeated that she involves herself through Ameno-sagiri, and only after Yu confronts her after guessing that she had something to do with it that she directly gets involved.
378* {{Herald}}: She hands the Protagonist and his two counterparts the keys to the CallReceptionArea.
379* [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist By Her Own Petard]]: She is defeated by one of her three {{Unwitting Pawn}}s and his new found friends, who refused her Adachi-derived judgment on humanity.
380* HumanityOnTrial: Her motivation for giving the Protagonist, Namatame and Adachi their powers. This version lacks the KillAllHumans results, instead leading to her deciding she knows what is best for humanity and doesn't care if humans disagree with her.
381* HumanoidAbomination: Her human and goddess disguises make her look human, when in fact she's a shape shifting AnthropomorphicPersonification of humanity.
382* ISurrenderSuckers: Though she did lift the fog as Ameno-sagiri, she reveals that she was going to bring it back anyway sometime in the near future.
383* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She is doing what she feels is best for humanity, but she can nonetheless be very condescending when she makes her points. Played down in the anime.
384* JustToyingWithThem: After her HP is depleted in OneWingedAngel it turns out that she was pulling punches the entire time since she keeps fighting anyways before wiping out the party with Thousand Curses. When Yu [[NoSell shrugs off the attack]] she pulls out [[ShockAndAwe Oho Ikazuchi]] which does 999 damage (the highest HP amount for the game). It's implied that despite her HP getting depleted, she didn't actually take any real damage before Izanagi-No-Okami was used against her, on top of her holding back attacks that could have ended the fight much sooner.
385* KarmaHoudini: In all endings except the True Ending, she gets away scot-free due to no one able to find her true presence.
386* KickTheDog: During her confrontation with Yu at the shopping district in ''Golden'', she calls Marie a "stunted dwarf of a life" and a "rubbish" who is only suitable for "getting rid of that pointless fog".
387* KnightTemplar: Downplayed, in that it's more due to her [[BlueAndOrangeMorality naivete about humans]] than thinking that she is the ultimate moral authority in things. She still refuses to reconsider her judgement until the fight is punched out of her, though.
388* LightIsNotGood: She's one of the Co-creators of Japan and the Goddess of Death, has a black, white and red color scheme and uses [[InfinityPlusOneElement almighty]] and death based powers. Despite all that, she's a WellIntentionedExtremist at heart.
389* LiteralSplitPersonality: While Ameno-sagiri and Kunino-sagiri are avatars of Izanami, Izanami-no-Okami represents Izanami-no-Mikoto's desire to grant the wishes of humanity. When the desire to grant the wishes of humanity and the desire to protect them grew too distant from each other, the original goddess split in two. Marie reabsorbs the other parts of herself after the defeat of Izanami-no-Okami.
390* LotusEaterMachine: In the anime her goal was changed from turning humanity to trapping them in their own individual dream worlds. She offers Yu the chance to never leave his friends, even though it's the exact same day. He gladly accepts this, up until Margaret breaks into it.
391* MadGod: Unable to reconcile her dual purposes of fulfilling mankind's wishes and protecting them once humans began to indulge in delusion and self-destructive behavior, her soul and being fragmented.
392* MakingASplash: World's End, which manifests as an immense flood that causes great damage and inflicts status ailments.
393* TheManBehindTheMan: Technically, the goddess behind the three men and two minor gods.
394* MasterOfIllusion: A relatively rare GreaterScopeVillain example.
395* MythologyGag: ''Persona 4'' is the first ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' game since the original ''Megami Tensei'' Famicom duology ([[TitleDrop in which she was reincarnated]]) that a version of Izanami is a key participant in the plot.
396* NominalImportance: Subverted to [[UnreliableNarrator screw with the player]]. She doesn't get a name or a portrait until after TheReveal.
397* NonIndicativeName: Has an attack called "Kuro Ikazuchi", as well as a scripted attack called "Oho Ikazuchi". Despite "Ikazuchi" being the Japanese word for "Thunder", both attacks do Almighty damage.
398* NotMeThisTime: When Naoto does her [[TheSummation Summation]], Izanami admits to her accusations, except for creating the Midnight Channel; it already existed and she only created a bridge between it and our world.
399* ObliviouslyEvil: Especially in the anime. She believes that she is doing humanity a favor by [[LotusEaterMachine trapping them in worlds shapped by their own desires]]. If what Yu had was any indication, the perfect worlds she tries to give humans can easily turn into [[AndIMustScream worlds of eternal suffering instead of a paradise]], and she appears completely clueless about it.
400* OneHitKO: Her OneWingedAngel has two different moves that kill instantly. The first is Summons to Yomi, which instantly kills anybody with a status ailment. When her HP is depleted, she will use Thousand Curses, which instantly kills a party member and prevents them from being revived. She will use this to wipe out the entire party, but thankfully Yu wil be able to get back up and gain Izanagi-No-Okami, which allows him to NoSell the attack.
401* OneWingedAngel: When the Orb of Insight is used to reveal her true form, she gets much stronger and doesn't hold anything back.
402-->"Well then... allow me to show you my full splendor..."
403* PhysicalGod: Unlike Adachi, her claim to be a goddess is not exaggerating.
404* PsychoElectro: Her final form is immune to Electric attacks to counter Izanagi, and favors the usage of two Almighty attacks that resemble intense lightning storms, Kuro Ikazuchi (Black Thunder) and Oho Ikazuchi (Great Thunder).
405* RealityWarper: Turned Yomotsu Hirasaka into the Midnight Channel, and by extension is responsible for it morphing with each new victim. By the end of the game [[AssimilationPlot it starts affecting the real world]].
406* RedEyesTakeWarning: Has blood red eyes in her undisguised forms.
407* RuleOfSymbolism: The final dungeon can be considered a continuation of Izanagi and Izanami's story, with the former finally returning to Yomotsu Hirasaka to [[MercyKill put his wife to rest]]. Izanami's true gruesome form is a reference to when Izanagi came to rescue her and accidentally looked at her on their way back.
408* SealedEvilInACan: Averted. Her myth makes it sound like she should be sealed away on the other side of the TV. In actuality, [[VillainsOutShopping she's been working at the gas station all year]].
409* ShadowArchetype: For the entire human race. Though if her myth and motivations are to be believed, [[FallenHero this wasn't always the case]].
410* {{Shapeshifting}}: A human form, a goddess form, and her rotted true form are the only forms you get to see. Given what her fragments look like, she probably has much more than this.
411* StupidGood: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] horrifyingly. Izanami [[BlueAndOrangeMorality sees all humans equally]], to the point she decides that a [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who murdered two people [[ForTheEvulz for fun]] is the best example of humanity's true desire [[MetaphoricallyTrue because his actions were the most prolific]] amongst her three pawns, and then tries to help him give everyone what he believes they really want: [[AssimilationPlot Oblivion]]. The Investigation Team actually ''do'' admit that Izanami might not be wrong about what most of humanity wants before fighting her, it's just that they don't want that kind of world.
412* TarotMotifs: Reversed World, fittingly enough. An inability to grow after shedding the part of herself she deemed unnecessary, assuming she knows what's best for everyone when she really doesn't, and a lack of gratification from the end of the "game" she played with the protagonist.
413* ThisWasHisTrueForm: Izanami's goddess form is another lie fabricated by the fog. Using the Orb of Sight, her true form is revealed as a giant rotting corpse with eight arms. This is likely a reference to the story of how Izanagi was shocked to see Izanami's appearance during her time in the Underworld.
414* TrueFinalBoss: She is the last possible opponent that the Investigation Team can face off against, and can only be fought if players pursue the True Ending, which is locked behind a specific series of choices that need to be made after fighting the FinalBoss(es).
415* TheUnfettered: Her only rules are defined by how she views mankind's wishes. Outside of those thin barricades, she can do ''anything'' to advance whatever goals are necessary.
416* UndeathlyPallor: As befitting the dead goddess of the Underworld, she looks like she hasn't seen the sun for millennia.
417* UnreliableNarrator: In her gas station disguise, she doesn't even have a {{character portrait}} until her true purpose is revealed. [[NominalImportance Why would someone without a portrait ever be important]]? Beyond that, the gas station attendant never appears in the main storyline outside of the opening scene - she's only ever found hanging around the gas station on rainy days, and she has no voice acting save for the opening scene[[note]]Which isn't all that unusual, as ''everyone'' is voiced in the opening scene[[/note]], suggesting she's just one of the many unimportant [=NPCs=] hanging around Inaba.
418* VillainHasAPoint: Her talk before the battle against her makes it clear that it's the humans in general who want to live in blissful ignorance, and Naoto admits that she is right about most people. That said, Chie points out that ''they'' don't want that kind of world, with Rise expressing a similar sentiment on the party and Dojima's behalf after the Sleeping Table battle, and so the party opposes her as a result.
419* VillainTakesAnInterest: In humanity in general, but she specifically narrows it down to three individuals. When confronted at the end, she states that she was "drawn" to the potential in the three of you.
420* TheVirus: How her fog works, slowly turning humanity into Shadows.
421* WellIntentionedExtremist: She and the other Sagiri just want to give humanity what they've always wanted: everlasting peace. The only problem, and a large one at that, is that they [[BlueAndOrangeMorality don't quite get humans]]. Because of this they eventually decide that [[TheSociopath one crazy killer]]'s actions summed up humanity's true desire the best, and thus the best way to achieve their goal is to turn everyone into Shadows, living mindless, meaningless existences.
422* WomanScorned: Her mythos has her being abandoned and sealed away by her husband after her untimely death.
423* WorthyOpponent: Lauds the Investigation Team's efforts after they defeat her.
424* XanatosGambit: Her goal was to determine what humanity wanted and grant that wish, so from her perspective, it didn't matter which of her three pawns proved victorious. Although Yu's victory foils her AssimilationPlot and ultimately leads to her destruction, it also shows her what humanity truly wishes for and allows her to grant that wish, so in a sense, she still accomplished her goal.
425[[/folder]]

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