A page for the characters of Shin Megami Tensei IV.

For characters as depicted in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and characters that debut in that particular game, see its respective character page.

Unmarked spoilers below!

open/close all folders

Samurai

Flynn

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (JP), Keith Silverstein (EN)

The protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei IV. Flynn is a quiet young man living in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado during the late-1400s who becomes a demon exterminating Samurai after being chosen in the yearly Gauntlet Ritual.

All-Loving Hero: Should he choose to obliterate existence, the White hail him as such. Should he refuse, they blame his messianic tendencies.
Alternate Self: The past version of Flynn was also implied to have been present at Blasted and Infernal Tokyo as well, but Law and Chaos aligned, respectively.
- In Blasted Tokyo, past Flynn partnered with Kiyoharu and succumbed to the poison, leaving the survivors without much of a fighting chance.
- In Infernal Tokyo, past Flynn partnered with Kenji and saved him from demons at the cost of his life. This inspired Kenji to become a Demonoid.
- The Hunter Memos for Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse reveals that the Flynn from the White Ending ended up regretting his choice. His soul then split off into two Flynns that guide alternate Walter and Jonathan in their mangas Demonic Gene and -Prayers-.
- An alternate Flynn appears in the DLC of Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, being from an alternate timeline where Nanashi didn't make his contract with Dagda, and where he was busy attempting to gather hope to restore Maskado's power, only to end up dying when Jonathan prematurely activated the Yamato Perpetual Reactor and swallowed Tokyo up in a black hole. Defeating Stephen allows him to return to defeat Merkabah and Lucifer to gain the spirits of goodwill and spite, allowing Masakado to remove the firmament above Tokyo. He represents choosing the "Neutral" route of SMT.
Black Mage: The general consensus is that it's good to raise his Magic high and give him attacks of every element.
Bottomless Magazines: Like every other SMT character with a gun, there's no need to worry about ammo here. Do we really need ammo management when the game is as hard as it is already?
Canon Name: "Flynn" is his default name, similar to "Hawk"/"Aleph" in Shin Megami Tensei II, although he can be renamed. Even more canon in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, where he's referred to as Flynn in the dialogue (the fact that it's set after an alternate version of one of the endings notwithstanding).
The Champion: He becomes this to Tokyo in the Chaos ending, to Mikado in Law, and to both in Neutral.
Doomed Hometown: His home village gets burned down by demons and most of its residents get turned into monsters themselves thanks to the Black Samurai spreading books.
Dreaming of Things to Come: The game opens with you having a prophetic dream that you will change the course of the world.
Everything's Better with Samurai: He's the biggest, baddest Samurai there is, and he can end up becoming Tokyo's savior.
Famed In-Story:
- On the Law route, Flynn is memorialized after his death and remembered in Mikado as a Messiah who preserved peace. There's even a statue made of him to replace the one of Aquila.
- On the Neutral route Flynn becomes the Champion of Tokyo, acknowledged as the strongest Hunter there is and seen as a symbol of hope by the common people. His reputation is bolstered even more after defeating Merkabah and the Demon Lord Lucifer. Meanwhile, the people of East Mikado place him in higher regard than Hugo or even Hope, and the mere mention of his name is all it takes for the recalcitrant ones to meekly obey the evacuation order. One veteran Samurai compares the people's faith in him to faith in God, as uncomfortable as the concept makes him.
- On the Chaos route, Lucifer all but states that Flynn will be the next King of the fallen Mikado.
Fire-Forged Friends: With Jonathan, Walter, and Isabeau.
Foil: To Nanashi, due to their respective roles in their stories. Both of them are the main silent protagonists in their respective games, both are reincarnations of important people in-story, and the starting demon for both of them is a Centaur, but Flynn is a blue-clad Samurai born in a more peaceful world, and later accepted into nobility, bearing a dignified and mature air to him.
Greed: He can use Fundraise on any foe he can communicate with, and the bosses are all disgusted by his love for money.
Guile Hero: He can make dialogue choices (that don't affect alignment) in boss battles. The right one can debuff the boss and buff yourself.
Hallucinations: He appears in both Demonic Gene and Prayers as one. In the first, his face is fully wrapped in shadow, with only an inhuman white smile or frown to convey his apparent emotional state. In the latter, his face is covered with a kerchief with a sun mark. This doesn't stop him from being somehow physical, capable of slaying Amy in the backstory of Prayers during Jonathan's childhood and saving him later on the story, or interacting with Walter in Demonic Gene. He has appeared in both, apparently to give each manga's protagonist (either Walter or Jonathan) a talk about their respective alignments. In Prayers, the kerchief comes off as the demon Asuma fused himself with unleashes the monstrous Angel growing within the Cocoon.
Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Though his default name is "Flynn", in series tradition you're free to name the Hero whatever you like. Like with previous voiced Megami Tensei games, the voiceovers get around this by either omitting your name or referring to you with other terms such as pronouns and "Master".
Heroic Mime: For the most part, but he does has a couple of voiced, though insignificant lines:
(occasionally when opening the menu) "Burroughs."
(when using the Assist or Assist Rush command) "I summon you!"
Heroic Willpower: Giving the appropriate responses to bosses, whether by crapping all over their arguments or responding to whatever they do without any reaction whatsoever allows Flynn to either raise his own stats, debuff the bosses, or even restore all his HP.
Hime Cut: A rare male example. It isn't that evident since he wears his hair up in a ponytail, but his bangs and sidelocks are somewhat cut like it. The Strange Grease helm from the Vanity Pack DLC has his hair worn loose, showing that he clearly has a hime cut.
Hope Bringer: His role in the Neutral route as well as the quests concerning Amaterasu and The Fair Folk's Lady Danu. He becomes a potent symbol of hope to the residents of Blasted Tokyo as well, by quashing both Pluto and the Ancient of Days' genocidal plans, giving the old humanity the chance to survive God's Wrath. In Infernal Tokyo, he is the local Akira's hope for a better future when removing the anarchy under Kenji and when stopping Sanat's rampage.
Inexplicably Awesome: Unlike the Hero, Aleph, or the Schwarzwelt soldier (ordinary humans who can't use magic), or the Demi-fiend, Nanashi, or the Nahobino (all three directly blessed by deities/demons), there is no explanation given as to why Flynn can use magic.
Kick the Dog: Some of his dialogue options are just plain cruel, such as denying knowing Issachar after getting into the Samurai while he didn't.
The Musketeer: Flynn acquires a Bruce Gun after the battle with the Minotaur, which gives him a fallback physical Shoot attack whenever you need to Shoot without using MP.
Multiple-Choice Past: Oddly enough, Jonathan and Walter both remember you siding with them, regardless of whom you did join during the initial route split. No explanation of this is given, although there are implications that they might in fact be Alternate Universe versions of the people he knew.
Omnicidal Maniac: Chooses to wipe out all of Tokyo because it's "unclean" in the Law ending, burns Mikado to the ground in the Chaos ending, and destroys the entire universe in the bad ending as a Mercy Kill.
Rainbow Pimp Gear: By virtue of being a Virtual Paper Doll, it's more than possible to create an odd combination.
Reincarnation: Of the man who originally controlled the National Defense Divinity Masakado, who gave his life to create the Firmament to protect Tokyo from God's wrath (of ICBMs).
Samurai Ponytail: His hair is styled after one, fitting for a Mikado Samurai.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Whenever he picks the right answer to a boss' taunt, knocking the wind out of their sails or powering himself up.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His design borrows a number of elements from the main character of Shin Megami Tensei I.
Time Travel: The Shadow faced Flynn of Demonic Gene does this after conversing with Walter one last time. Whether he's part of a Stable Time Loop or planning to change the events that lead Walter to get bitten by Amaymon is unknown.
Undying Loyalty: In contrast to past SMT protagonists, demons that join him are more than willing to continue fighting for him if he perishes in battle, rather than abandoning him for being weak. Additionally, if a demon is afflicted with Lost status, they always express joy upon reuniting with him.
Unwitting Pawn: He and his friends are assigned a quest to rescue some people from Kagome Tower who are designated as VIPs. As it turns out, this is because those three people are actually three of the four Archangels, and the quest giver, Sister Gabby, is the fourth one, Gabriel. He contributes to the Archangels taking over Mikado and turning it into a divine dictatorship without knowing it until they reveal their identities and intentions.
Virtual Paper Doll: Can be equipped with a wide array of items that change his appearance on the field.
Where I Was Born and Razed:
- He and Lucifer burn his home of East Mikado to the ground in the Chaos ending, so he can then rebuild it as the land of pure freedom he and Walter dreamed of.
- In the neutral route, East Mikado is destroyed to get rid of the Fantastic Racism so that the Luxurors (or what's left of them), Casualries, and "Unclean Ones" are all on equal ground. (It's downplayed in that Isabeau evacuates all of the people beforehand.)

Isabeau

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (JP), Eden Riegel (EN)

A young woman whose family has served the Monastery for generations. She is chosen in the same Gauntlet Ritual as Flynn, and becomes one of his first allies.

Action Girl: She's a demon hunting samurai who fights with swords, guns, magic and demons.
Amazon Brigade: She uses a female-only demon team of Kali, Isis, and Dakini in her Law path boss fight and Jeanne D'Arc, Valkyrie, and Pallas Athena in her Chaos path boss fight.
Better to Die than Be Killed: In the Law and Chaos paths, she chooses to commit suicide rather than die at Flynn's hands.
Boyish Short Hair: She has the bangs and sidelocks of a hime cut, but the back is cut short.
Coat Cape: She wears her longcoat like this.
Combat Medic: Uses healing spells alongside thunder ones.
Driven to Suicide: She ends up committing suicide if you choose Chaos/Law.
Everything's Better with Samurai: She's a Samurai just like the MC, Jonathan and Walter.
Face–Heel Turn: In the Law and Chaos paths, she refuses to follow your and Jonathan/Walter's plan and attacks you.
Fond Memories That Could Have Been: In the Law and Chaos paths and before her suicide, she admits that if there was another way they may be together.
Implied Love Interest: To Flynn. It only ends well on Neutral.
Informed Attractiveness: Many characters are drawn attractively, but it's worth pointing out that some characters have expressed interest in her. Walter gets excited at the prospect of seeing her embarrassed, while on the Law route, an NPC in Shibuya Station tells you he saw a "cutie" heading towards Camp Ichigaya and even called out to her.
Neutrality Backlash: By the time of the alignment lock, she's one of the few Samurai that doesn't want to commit genocide, one way or another. Unfortunately, not only does Lucifer hate her for relying on her belief in God instead of physical power to back it up, but the Archangels can't bear to look at her because she read manga for entertainment. Cue Flynn, siding with said maniacs, heading off to pillage. What little strength she had to fight Flynn erodes when Flynn wins - she takes it very hard.
Otaku: She gets a tad excited when manga is involved.
Shock and Awe: Uses thunder spells in combat.
The Smurfette Principle: Was the only female to be chosen in the most recent Gauntlet Rite, and the only girl in the group of four.
Summon Magic: Like all Samurai, she can use her Gauntlet to contract and summon demons.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Her design borrows a number of elements from the Heroine from Shin Megami Tensei I. She similarly uses Zio and Dia spells and is the most prominent female party member.
The Unchosen One: While Flynn, Jonathan and Walter are from the very beginning pointed out as key players in the fate of humanity, and both Jonathan and Walter appear in Flynn's prophetic dreams, Isabeau doesn't seem to have any mystical default backup, and thus has much less extreme points of view than the other main characters.
What the Hell, Hero?: In the Law and Chaos paths, Isabeau will ask you if you will be forgiven for annihilating Tokyo or the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, respectively. Answering "I will be forgiven," will enrage Isabeau and boost her attack. Answering "No, but it must be this way," and Isabeau will instead scold you for your pessimism, dropping your defense instead. Answer "It doesn't need to be forgiven," and your remorselessness will shock Isabeau and cause her to lose her next turn.
Isabeau: "It must be this way...?" I never thought I would hear such pessimism from you. You disappoint me, Flynn.
Flynn lost his fighting spirit...
Yaoi Fangirl: According to her Hunter file in Apocalypse, Isabeau seems to have been reading... um, gay romance novels◊.

Jonathan

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (JP), Orion Acaba (EN)

A young Samurai born to an upper class family who is chosen in the same Gauntlet Ritual as Flynn. Despite being born to the Luxuror caste, he supports equality for all castes in East Mikado.

Badass Boast: Some of his quotes in battle:
"I hope you're prepared!"
"My demons are a bit different!"
"Such is a Samurai skill!"
Bilingual Bonus: Jonathan is a play on 良よい, which means "good".
Blow You Away: Uses wind spells as well.
Character Death: In all four routes he will die regardless, even in the Neutral Route.
Fantastic Racism: Despises demons.
Foil: To Walter. Jonathan is a Luxuror who wants equality for everyone, whereas Walter is a Casualry who believes the classes should be removed in favor of might makes right. Walter is also very headstrong and impulsive, while Jonathan is calm and more rational. These foreshadow their alignment in the grand scheme of things.
Hallucinations: In his childhood, he received a vision of Flynn in Prayers.
Horrible Judge of Character: He could be excused for trusting the archangels because he is the game's designated Law Hero. The problem is that he also puts faith in Hugo of all people.
Human Sacrifice: Volunteers to die to summon Merkabah, an embodiment of YHVH's will.
An Ice Person: Uses ice spells in combat.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: At the start of the game, Jonathan has a somewhat egalitarian view of things, he supports Flynn and Walter's rise to samurai status from being casualries, and he supports equality for all castes. However, after seeing the destruction that Lilith's plans have caused, he begins to fear the potential consequences of change, and before long he supports the Archangels' plans to destroy all of Tokyo in a black hole in order to keep the status quo in Mikado. Jonathan from the beginning would disapprove of such zealotry.
Killer Rabbit: In Prayers, his favored demon is Al-mi'raj, who appears as a chibi rabbit out of battle and as a towering monstrosity in it.
Lawful Stupid: His ultimate Fatal Flaw is his blind faith in authority figures, particularly the Archangels. His knee-jerk reaction to their plan to suck Tokyo into a black hole is outright horror, but he goes along with it because they're God's chosen messengers — they must know best, right?
Messy Hair: Has curly dark brown hair down to his neck. Comments from Eiji Ishida in the artbook says they based his hair on Brian May's.
My Country, Right or Wrong: He adores the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado to the point of near-blindness as to its very real problems. He often reminds the party that their duty as Samurai is to Mikado, regardless of personal feelings.
Nice Guy: Even when he's angry, he's extremely polite and agreeable. In the Neutral Route when Merkabah is taking his form, he goes back and forth between insulting Flynn and being nice, while also insulting him for being born of common stock.
Status Quo Is God: He wants everything to stay the same so that "peace" may last forever. He even states at one point that neither Mikado or Tokyo should change. His genuine fear of change is cemented when he prepares to go kill Lilith without Walter at his side. He'll tell you that reform invariably brings chaos because the innovations are necessarily unproven and uncertain. For that reason, the way things have been must never change. It's not even a matter of the best of all possible worlds; any discord is hideous in his eyes. While he has pretty much the opposite reaction to the Archangels' plans to annihilate Tokyo, this is justified by his strong faith blinding him to their manipulations.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: Amber eyes to match his scarf, and complete the analogous color scheme between himself, Flynn, and Walter.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His design borrows a number of elements from the Law Hero from Shin Megami Tensei I.
Taking the Bullet: He was the one saved in this fashion in his childhood in Prayers when he was saved from Amy's Flaming Sword attack. His rescuer, his wet nurse Nicola, did not survive. Later in the story, he's forced into a hallucinatory experience in which he is forced to relive the attack... and everyone keeps Taking the Bullet for him, until Aquila Plaza is filled with corpses.
Tender Tears: Side with him during the initial route split and Jonathan cries tears of relief that you choose to accompany him.
Utopia Justifies the Means: Places the peace of Mikado above all, and as Merkabah works to annihilate Tokyo for the sake of that peace.

Walter

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (JP), Matthew Mercer (EN)

A young Samurai from a Casualry family chosen in the same Gauntlet Ritual as Flynn, who wishes to change the corruption he sees in the world with his own two hands. The Protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei Demonic Gene.

Absurd Phobia: He is the son of fisherman... but he's scared of fish.
Ambition Is Evil: His quest for strength in order to change the corrupt and caste based societies around him is ultimately what causes him to embrace the darker sides of the Chaos alignment.
Badass Boast: Some of his quotes in battle:
"Behold, my demons!"
"I hope you're prepared!"
"Most unlucky for you!"
Bait-and-Switch: A lot of Walter's initial statements about the freedom to choose and disgust over Mikado's caste system would paint him as an egalitarian, only for him to turn out to be The Social Darwinist who is content with the strong getting their way over the weak as long as they earned it.
The Berserker: Favors physical moves such as Critical Wave. In Demonic Gene, he gets worse when delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to a couple of Ashura-kai thugs who had harmed Gina, though this is at least partly due to Amaymon's presence within him. After fusing with Hiruko, limbs start flying.
Bilingual Bonus: "Walter" is a play on "悪" わる, which means "bad".
Blood Knight: Takes to the life of a Samurai like fish to water because he enjoys fighting demons. For the same reason, the strife of Infernal Tokyo also suits him.
Body Horror:
- Walter volunteers to be absorbed by Lucifer, only to become Lucifer's engorged, pulsating left arm. Gets even creepier in Lucifer's second form, where Walter becomes a grotesque fetus-like creature still attached to Lucifer's left arm.
- Even in Demonic Gene he is not safe after getting bitten by Amaymon. He has mouths appearing on his body, has long demon tentacles with mouths on the end emerge from wounds. He uses this to devour the Minotaur under the demon's influence. As time passes, he's losing more control, as seen when he fights against Yaso-Magatsuhi and doesn't even understand what happened - Amaymon's influence is getting stronger. Later on, Hiruko forcibly opens one of these mouths and crawls down as Amaymon is chewing her to forcibly fuse with Walter.
Book Dumb: He's not book smart and is completely uninterested in reading when the Baker wants to talk about books early in the story. Borders on a Fatal Flaw as he so easily comes to believe what Lilith says and comes to side with the Chaos alignment, and a big part of why Infernal Tokyo's Might Makes Right atmosphere is so appealing to him is precisely because it's simple and uncomplicated.
Character Death: He dies in all four routes, even in the Neutral Route.
Childhood Friends: With Gina. After absorbing Hiruko, it very briefly looks like he still wants to protect her from the Ashura-kai. Actually, he just wants her alive to pretty much eat her.
The Corruption: In Demonic Gene he gets bitten and infected by Amaymon, who says that it will make him hunger for the power of demons.
Deadpan Snarker: He can get pretty damn snarky on occasion, especially when it comes to the various strange situations that he and others find themselves in.
Enemy Within: Amaymon in Demonic Gene.
Foil: To Jonathan. Walter is a Casualry who believes the classes should be removed, whereas Jonathan is a Luxuror who wants equality for everyone. Walter is also very headstrong and impulsive, while Jonathan is calm and more rational. These foreshadow their alignment in the grand scheme of things.
Foreshadowing: That small infatuation for Hikaru early in the game may be a hint to point out how he and Lucifer merge together in the end.
Fusion Dance: Both in the main game and Demonic Gene. In the first, he fuses with Lucifer to restore his power; in the second, he absorbs Hiruko through Amaymon's mouths, resulting in a monstrous, unwilling fusion of all three participants. What's worse, Hiruko is still alive in there, and it looks like she wants to further add Gina to the mix. In the end he's successful in ejecting Hiruko, but remains a Half-Human Hybrid with Amaymon.
Future Me Scares Me: A non-time-travel version of this is one reason why he's happy to sacrifice himself to restore Lucifer. He's afraid that as he ages and weakens that he'll become grasping and covetous of security, which worries him as he believes he'll become like Jonathan.
Graceful Loser: After defeating him and Lucifer in the Law path, he'll concede you have the right to do as you please, as you were stronger.
Hallucinations: In Demonic Gene after Amaymon infects him, making him see Amaymon under Hugo's robes, and once he sees a Tokyo resident as Flynn.
Half-Human Hybrid: Walter becomes half demon by the end of Demonic Gene.
Hell-Bent for Leather: Puts on a leather outfit in Demonic Gene after arriving in Tokyo. Bad boy indeed.
Human Sacrifice: Volunteers to let Lucifer absorb him in order to restore the fallen angel's full power.
I Choose to Stay: At the end of Demonic Gene Walter remains in Tokyo while Gina teleports back to Mikado. Due to the Sky Tower collapsing, Walter has no way to return.
Idiot Ball: Grabs it during the second half of the game and holds on with both hands. Depending on the scene anyways. He does show some intelligence at certain points during the second half.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Quick to anger and call others out, but still tries to do what he believes is right.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He and Jonathan initially have quieter discussions over the status quo, and Walter initially has a rather egalitarian view of society, that everyone should be equal in social status. However, soon after meeting Lilith, his views rather quickly change into an extremely social darwinistic viewpoint of "the weak should be ruled by the strong" which is just another heirachy, though one determined by raw strength rather than birthright, a viewpoint that Walter from the beginning of the game likely wouldn't really support.
More than Mind Control: Said to be enthralled by the Witch of the Night according to the prophecy about The Child of Carnage, but he actually sides with her completely according to his own will.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Goes by the title "Child of Carnage" in Lilith's prophecies.
Never Learned to Read: Stated to be illiterate in the manga. At least he knows enough mystic script to work the Gauntlet.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: If you go with Jonathan after the group splits up, Walter goes through Camp Ichigaya by himself and wipes out a good chunk of the Ashura-kai, including Tayama. However, you only get to see the results (i.e. dead bodies) and not the assault itself.
One-Man Army: At Camp Ichigaya, if you went with Jonathan, it's implied that he single-handedly destroyed all of the National Defense Divinities there, along with some unfortunate Ashura-kai thugs.
Playing with Fire: Uses fire in combat.
Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Has dreams of Flynn in Demonic Gene despite never knowing such a person. After his mind gets zapped with the knowledge from the book that Burroughs translated, he gets a dream of a burning Tokyo with the Black Samurai telling him to come; later still, he has a Body Horror nightmare with Amaymon, showing he's the demon's carrier.
Resist the Beast: His fusion with Hiruko was unwilling, and after a while he manages to assert enough willpower to expel her and try to protect Gina from Hiruko's retaliation.
The Social Darwinist: Comes to believe that the world is shaped by the strong.
Super-Strength: In Demonic Gene, he destroys a wall with a punch, enabling him and Stan to escape the prison.
Stress Vomit: In response to Hugo ordering the continued excavation of mystic relics from Tokyo even after the Black Samurai is captured:
"Excuse me, but I'm feeling an overabundance of yellow bile that must be relieved. I'll see you hence."
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His design borrows a number of elements from the Chaos Hero from Shin Megami Tensei I.
Unskilled, but Strong: In Demonic Gene his fighting style is crude, but he's strong enough to take down opponents more skilled than him due to being self taught.
Walking Shirtless Scene: His bare chest is constantly exposed through his open Samurai robes.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Realizes that following Lilith may put the world at risk, but thinks Tayama and the Archangels crossed the Moral Event Horizon with their tyranny, so Lilith's scheme is still a much better alternative, to him. Notably, he defects from the Samurai immediately after the Archangels take over Mikado.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Has icthyophobia (fear of fish). Unfortunately for him, he's from a family of fishermen, so he was around fish all the time.
Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Despite being rough and crude, Walter talks with a strangely sophisticated speech pattern.

Navarre

Voiced by: Shintaro Ohata (JP), Liam O'Brien (EN)

An elitist, ill mannered Samurai from a Luxuror family who works as chamberlains for the king.

For tropes concerning his appearance in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, see that character page.

Adaptational Nice Guy: In the spin-off mangas -Prayers- and Demonic Gene, he acts more as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold as his insults towards Casualries are more in a joking manner.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the game, Navarre viewed Walter and Flynn with disdain since both were Casualries and thus of lower stations than he was. In particular he had a grudge towards Flynn for managing to upstage him during the training session on their first day. In the spin-off mangas, he has a more amicable relationship with Walter.
Advertised Extra: He is featured fairly prominently in promotional materials along with the other Samurai, but he goes insane a couple hours into the game and has an utterly negligible effect on the plot overall.
Break the Haughty: After Alraune captures him for his blood. He is taken out of the dungeon and eventually locks himself away and barely eats, with others hearing the laughter of a madman coming from his room. Gets worse later on; angels start searching for him, unwilling to allow him to leave Mikado, as he technically is among those to be purged. He's forced to hide in Kiccigiorgi until you can pick him up and take him to the safety of Shinjuku.
Butt-Monkey: Especially in Demonic Gene. Very strangely, this seems to be averted in Prayers...
Delinquent Hair: Has quite the pompadour.
Escort Mission: You have to escort him all the way to Fujiwara's bar. Because he's being persecuted by pretty much everything, you are forced to take the long way through Naraku until you reach the Sky Terminal and jump to Shinjuku to the bar.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He's not necessarily "evil", but as a Luxuror elitist, he has a hard time understanding why Jonathan and Isabeau, who are both fellow Luxurors, would care for and come to the aid of Flynn, who is a Casualry.
Jerkass: He practically badmouths everyone he meets.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In Demonic Gene and -Prayers- he's a much nicer fellow and jokingly insults Casualries in the banter between him and Walter.
Laser-Guided Karma: Tries to get his fellow recruits harmed, only to get caught by Alraune.
The Poorly Chosen One: He is chosen to be a Samurai at the beginning of the game, but it quickly becomes apparent that he does not have either the temperament or skills to excel in the role. You don't even make it halfway through the Noob Cave before he has a total mental breakdown and becomes a complete non-factor in the plot.
Sanity Slippage: After being saved from Alraune.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After the incident with Alraune, he has disavowed himself as a Samurai and begged his family to donate a large sum of money to Hugo so he could leave. And then much, much later in the game, he wants to leave everything behind and live where there are no demons.
Sore Loser: Hates losing, especially to the Casualry.
Spoiled Brat: The family he's from is incredibly wealthy. It's probably telling that during the training exercises, he admits that he's never held a blade any heavier than a dinner knife before, and his mother would probably faint from the sight. Oh, and he felled his first demon by landing a critical hit not with an intentional attack, but while tripping. But recruiting demons...well, he's obviously plenty used to bribing his way through life. His breakdown after Alraune's destruction makes it perfectly clear he had no idea what being a samurai would entail, other than the prestige.
Trauma Button: After the Alraune mess, demons become this for him. When you reunite with him after the angel takeover, he is obsessed with escaping to a place where there are no demons, and the mere thought of becoming a Hunter in Tokyo sends him into a traumatized frenzy.

Burroughs

Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (JP), Ali Hillis (EN)

A navigation AI installed to the Samurai's Gauntlets that serves as your Mission Control throughout the game.

Artificial Intelligence: While she's described as a fairy by the Samurai, this is what she actually is. Though they were correct in assuming Burroughs was something ethereal, with her being the goddess of Tokyo.
Benevolent A.I.: She's the Navigation A.I. installed in Gauntlets and she's helpful with the Mikado Samurai by providing directions and organizing quests.
Boss Warning Siren:
- She provides them. The most common form is:
  "I'm detecting a strong demon ahead. Do you want to go on?"
- She gives a very distinct warning if you trigger one of the random-encounter Fiends:
  "I detect a very dangerous demon nearby. You should consider getting out of here."
Catchphrase:
- "I'll register that as a new quest on the list."
- "Looks like the quest is going well."
- "Congratulations on completing the quest!"
Clarke's Third Law: The people of East Mikado consider her a "sprite" or "fairy", even though she's really just an advanced artificial intelligence.
Emotionless Girl: She states she doesn't have emotions, but she does show them from time to time.
Fusion Dance: She can fuse demons in battle using the Fusion Lite App, though its not as advanced or uses the full features of the Cathedral of Shadows. She can, however, cause demons to pass on skills they would not be able to otherwise.
God Was My Copilot: It's implied at the ending of the Neutral route that your Burroughs was the Goddess of Tokyo all along.
Humans Are Special: In the battle against Lucifer at the end of the Neutral route, she muses how humans can be like gods of both hope and despair.
Idle Animation: If you idle in an area or on the Tokyo map, she'll comment on it.
"Are you consulting your demons?"
"You look great just standing around!"
"Taking a break? Not a bad idea."
"Maybe I should relax too."
"Master? You're spacing out a little."
"Your last save was a while ago. Um..."
Mission Control: Provides directions and organizes your current quests.
Mundane Made Awesome: She makes quests out of a lot of things, from the reasonably quest-worthy (hunting demons and rescuing comrades) to the mundane (meeting friends on the roof, going out to buy and have breakfast). It doesn't matter if it's the latter, she'll congratulate you and give you the usual level-dependent EXP reward.
Nice Girl: She's always kind and helpful to Flynn and even genuinely tells him to be careful at the start of a challenge quest fight.
Projected Man: She only appears to you as holographic projections displayed by your Gauntlet.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one about White Issachar after scanning it during the battle against him in the Neutral Route.
The Reveal: The girl you see at certain points of your journey? That's Burroughs, the Goddess of Tokyo.
Ridiculously Human Robots: Expresses emotion, brags about you to her fellow navigation AI, and even has a human appearance, despite being an artificial program installed on your Gauntlet that states she doesn't have emotions.
Robot Buddy: She's a computer AI who will stick with you no matter what path you choose.
Robot Girl: She's a navigation AI with the appearance of an attractive human woman.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The game's creators consider her the B to Arthur's A.
Theme Naming: And in light of the above, with Strange Journey's AI naming referencing Arthur C. Clarke and Jules Verne, it's almost certain she's named for Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Undying Loyalty: No matter what your choice is, she'll follow you until the end. Even if you choose to end the universe, she will still guide you on how to do it, even if she carries a somber tone in her voice.
Virtual Ghost: Stephen is said to have based her on a woman who died. Said woman just so happens to be the Goddess of Tokyo.
What the Hell, Hero?: Calls you "pathetic" if you pick the game's few Neutral (which are typically indecisive) choices. Which is ironic since you revive her as a Goddess in that route.

Mido

Voiced by: David Lodge (EN)

The AI that runs the Cathedral of Shadows app.

Artificial Intelligence: He is to the Cathedral of Shadows app what Burroughs is to the Gauntlet as a whole.
Composite Character: Has the Minister's appearance and Igor's more friendly personality.
For Science!: The guy is dedicated to learning about demons.
Fusion Dance: You have to buy the Fusion app before you get him and the Cathedral of Shadows. Then he oversees the fusion of demons.
Large Ham: He sometimes makes interesting noises when the compendium has too many hits, a long oh when a new demon can be fused by being unlocked, and lets out a mighty laugh when you ask him who he is.
Oh, Crap!: Amusingly, he reacts this way in the event of a fusion error, frantically darting around with his mouth agape in horror.
Monster Compendium: The Demon Compendium keeps track of the demons you have gained.
Was Once a Man: He mentions in the talk section under "Who are you?" that he was once a man fascinated by demons and now rules the app. Likely he, like Burroughs, was based on a living entity and made this way by Stephen. The most likely candidate is the Minister who appeared in previous games.

The Eastern Kingdom of Mikado

Issachar

Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno (JP), Bryce Papenbrook (EN)

Flynn's childhood best friend, the two were close enough to be considered brothers. Longs to become a Samurai.

Call-Back: His role in the plot ends up being very similar to that of Amanojaku and the Hero's mother from Shin Megami Tensei I.
Childhood Friend: Issachar is Flynn's childhood best friend, having been together since they were young.
Developer's Foresight: During his boss battle, he has unique dialogue for every possible conversation skill, even ones that you probably won't have the App Points for yet except on a Reincarnation Start.
Fantastic Racism: After reading books and becoming a demon he shows severe contempt for the Luxurors.
Green-Eyed Monster: He resents that Flynn was chosen to become a Samurai while he was not. This contempt is part of what helps him transform into a demon.
Humanoid Abomination: Is transformed into a demon by books and knowledge he gained. He's mostly the same until he participates in battle, with his entire body twitching.
Mercy Kill: Flynn has the option of choosing to finish him and end his suffering or not. If he doesn't he'll have to finish him anyways. He simply makes his suffering last longer.
My God, What Have I Done?: If Flynn in the first question asked by Issachar chooses that he still views himself as a Casualry he'll make him falter about what he's done and lose a turn.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: The only real signs that he's demonic is his red eyes, which appear suddenly when talking to him later.
Refused by the Call: At the beginning of the game, Flynn and Issachar attend the Gauntlet Rite together. Flynn is chosen to become a Samurai, while Issachar is not.
Sacrificial Lamb: He's an old friend to Flynn who is given some early development and then killed off in order to give the Samurai personal motivation to come after the Black Samurai.

Hope

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (JP), Richard Epcar (EN)

Current leader of the Samurai.

The Chains of Commanding: Mentions several times that his position of authority means he can't be as open about his opinions as the samurai under him.
Cruel and Unusual Death: In Prayers. Whatever the demon did to him, he's left pretty much hollow, black smoke seeping out of his eye sockets and mouth.
Demoted to Extra: A relative example given his importance in 4 drops once you reach Tokyo, but in Apocalypse, he only appears during the three way showdown between Flynn's faction, Merkabah's faction, and Lucifer's faction. His portrait doesn't even appear for the few lines has (though this can at least be justified by the fact that Nanashi has no idea who he is). His also optionally appears in one of the DLC, however it is as a demon possessed mini-boss on the way to facing Hugo, the real boss of the DLC.
A Father to His Men: He cares for the Samurai he leads and the well-being of the people. Prayers reveals he is also a Friend to All Children.
My God, What Have I Done?: In the Chaos route, he is rather surprised when he learns that Flynn, the young Samurai that he mentored, became the impetus behind the destruction of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Word of God says that his facial design was based on actor Eiji Okuda.
Out of Focus: Going in, you'll be expecting him to be the Big Good, but he quickly leaves the spotlight as soon as Tokyo is accessible.
Star-Crossed Lovers: He was separated from the woman he loved when he became a Samurai and while he can't speak his own feelings because of his station, it's implied he feels some anger over the fact he was separated from her.

Hugo

Voiced by: Yohei Tadano (JP), Derek Stephen Prince (EN)

A former Samurai who became the Abbot of the East Mikado abbey. Despised by the Samurai for his complete lack of sympathy, thoughtfulness, and vision.

Adaptational Villainy: In Apocalypse, in a DLC that takes place on the Anarchy path, Hugo has activated the Demon Gene that is within every human in Mikado in order to turn himself into a being of power second only to YHVH (in his words). Doing so turns everyone in Mikado into brainwashed demonic soldiers that Nanashi must cut down to reach Hugo. This is a pretty far cry from the Hugo that is rather friendly in the Neutral ending of 4, especially since Apocalypse takes place right at the end of 4's Neutral path.
Ambition Is Evil: Left the Samurai for the Monastery out of political ambition, and ever since has been ordering the Samurai around.
Easily Forgiven: Despite sending Samurai to the Unclean Ones country on flimsy (though correct) reasoning, staging public executions to eliminate political rivals, dissidents, and persons tainted by the Literature, the neutral ending sees him welcomed to Tokyo like all of the Mikado refugees and making plans to sample Tokyo alcohols with Fujiwara.
Hated by All: Played with. Jonathan admires him for his dedication to the kingdom, his fellow clergymen tolerate him, and un-enlightened Casualries are in awe of him. The Samurai, however, completely despise him. It's played straight in the Chaos ending, where he has a Heel Realization and realizes he has made enemies of everyone because he had far more power than he should have had and abused it for his goals.
Henpecked Husband: Humorously reveals this while trying to pass off the wife as being a friend's when he requests wine.
Jerkass: His first appearance has him usurping Hope's command over the Samurai and ordering them to break their oaths to go on a Suicide Mission. Walter later reveals that the mission to capture the Black Samurai is little more than a glorified treasure hunt to Hugo and the Monastery. When the time of the Black Samurai's execution comes, a guard will mention the event was made public so when Casualries flocked to see it, the Samurai could sweep through the empty city and scour it for more dissidents and proof of various crimes against the Monastery.
Large Ham: Tends to be loud and grandiose during his speeches.
The Man Behind the Man: Word of God has confirmed he's this to King Ahazuya. And Gabby is the woman behind him.
Manipulative Bastard: Gained the ear of King Ahazuya. K mentions he used to be a Samurai himself, but was much better with his brush than with his blade.
Obviously Evil: No, actually. He's greasy as hell and his actions ultimately allow the Archangels to enact their plans, but he's pretty much their patsy rather than a direct agent. All things considered, he's not that bad a guy: more obnoxious than evil.
Otaku: He really does like mystic relics. In the neutral route he's more interested in the opportunity to study Tokyo directly than upset over Mikado's imminent loss.
Smug Snake: A-yup. From his words to the tone to his very expression, everything about the guy just DRIPS with slime. He even foregoes the traditional white monk's hood for a specially commissioned gold one, solely to stroke his own ego.
Superboss: In Apocalypse, he serves as one in the Explosive Epidemic in Mikado DLC. Notably, he is a Timed Limit Boss, as you only have 25 turns to kill everyone in Mikado before finally facing Hugo himself down.
Surrounded by Idiots: He is having trouble dealing with his fellow monks as they attempt to record their Kingdoms history and scriptures into a PC as they keep on failing to understand how to work the device. It says a lot considering these are the intelligent thinkers of the nation.
Took a Level in Kindness: Nothingness Ending aside, he's implied to have undergone a Heel–Face Brainwashing courtesy of Merkabah. Even in Neutral, where Mikado's destroyed and he loses his power, he's a much nicer person, with his superior tone almost completely gone.

Gabby

Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (JP), Valerie Arem (EN)

The right hand woman of Hugo, she simply appeared one day and has been acting as his assistant ever since.

Behind Every Great Man:
- She is this to Hugo, coming up with many of the things he takes credit for.
- Gabby is revealed to be this to Tamagami in Kaneko scenario drafts, being the mysterious woman he met mentioned in Apocalypse that gave him all the knowledge to create the National Defense Divinites, Yamato Perpetual Reactor, and Demon Summoning Program.
Big Bad: The driving force behind the entire plot, alongside the other Archangels: she was behind the creation of Mikado, her original attempt to destroy Tokyo with the help of her brothers ended with Uriel, Raphael and Michael sealed away in Kagome Tower, and the expedition she sends down to the underground is ultimately to break them free so that they could continue their plans. Apocalypse reveals her machinations go even deeper than this, as she's the one who influenced Tamagami into creating the Yamato Perpetual Reactor and giving the angels an excuse to swoop in and take away free will.
Big Bad Ensemble: With Lucifer, though he's just trying to counter Gabriel and her brothers in his own way. Then there are the White, and in a very distant fourth, Tayama.
Fantastic Racism: When she reveals herself as Gabriel, she states that anyone who is filthy will be eliminated should they try to move to the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado. With the filth in question being the ability to reason for oneself.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Is what she poses as.
Louis Cypher: Surprise surprise. The nun-esque woman named Gabby is Archangel Gabriel.
Mysterious Employer: She's responsible for several of Hugo's official requests, and has several very important jobs for the party off the record. It's frequently remarked on how little is known about her.
Not Himself: Gabriel was decent enough in previous games, particularly II, to the point where she's the only named character other than the protagonists to survive all three routes in that game. Here, she's a vile manipulator who's willing to destroy all of Tokyo. Apocalypse justifies this in that none of the Archangels seen in this game are the genuine articles, as Merkabah is actually part of Satan.
Older Than They Look: She's been around since K was a young Samurai, but has a youthful appearance. She's been around far longer than that as well since she's actually Gabriel.
The Reveal: Shortly after the "Rescue the VIPs" quest in Shinjuku, she reveals that she's actually the Archangel Gabriel.
Took a Level in Jerkass: This is definitely Gabriel's darkest incarnation yet. Even Michael is more pleasant and affable than she is.
Will Not Tell a Lie: She can, however, express herself rather creatively. As seen when questioned about the Kagome Tower prisoners.

K

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smtiv_k.png

Voiced by: Yosuke Akimoto (JP), David Forseth (EN)

The former Commander of the Samurai who lost his arm and eye in the past, he is now the owner of a bar and gives out Quests.

Artificial Limbs: His prosthetic left arm, which has a scissor-claw on it.
The Bartender: Textbook example.
Berserk Button: Official orders from the Monastery being put on his blackboard. Doing it once just partially angers him, but Hugo doing it again is starting to make him lose his cool.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: The Samurai old enough to have been under his command feared him more than the demons they hunted.
Handicapped Badass: He was Hope's predecessor as commander of the Samurai, and was stronger than him before losing his arm.
Hidden Depths: In the Chaos ending, he accepts the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado being overrun with demons very well and is even thankful the Kingdom met its end in his lifetime.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Looks like Kurt Russell. Word of God says this was intentional, and used his look from Escape from New York as the base.
Only Known By His Nickname: He's called K, and he inherited the tavern from the previous owner called J.
Quest Giver: Gives these through the game.
Reincarnation: Implied by the Neutral ending, where he mentions Cafe Florida feels familiar.
Retired Badass: Retired commander of the samurai.
Took a Level in Kindness: He's mellowed out since he took over the tavern.

King Ahazuya

King Ahazuya Mikado

The ruler of East Mikado. Following his death at the hands of the angels, his corpse is possesed by Baal/Beelzebub and becomes the Red Knight.

The Exile: Was overthrown and exiled by the Four Archangels, forcing him and his court to escape to Tokyo.
Off with His Head!: In the quest "Rebirth of an Overlord", his armor falls apart upon his defeat, which reveals that only his head was inside there. Once Belzeebub is defeated, it's up to Flynn whether to give the head a proper burial or just leave it.
Revenge: Seeks vengeance against God for his exile, with the help of Baal.
Villain Team-Up: Allies himself with Baal/Belzeebub, as both of them share the same goal of getting revenge on God.

Tokyo

Tayama

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (JP), Travis Willingham (EN)

The leader of the Ashura-kai. He seeks to turn Tokyo into his own personal utopia.

Asshole Victim: It's hard to feel sorry for him whether you side with Jonathan or Walter given the things he's done and how smug he's acted the entire time. If you side with Jonathan, he's killed offscreen as Walter defeated him all by himself. If you side with Walter, you kick his ass in battle and he gets dragged into the Yamato reactor, where who knows what happens to him.
Big Bad Wannabe: He wants to bring order to Tokyo and considers himself the king of the city. Naturally Yamato-Takeru, one of the National Defense Divinities he enslaved, mocks him for thinking he was ever king as he disappears next to Tayama's corpse on Jonathan's route.
Co-Dragons:
- A pair of recurring thugs identified only as "The Glaring Man" and "The Unfriendly Man" appear to serve this role, though the player never meets them in combat. Both die in Walter's Roaring Rampage of Revenge on the Ashura-kai if Jonathan is sided with, though it is uncertain what happens to them if Walter's side is chosen.
- In a singular sense, there's Yamato Takeru, his bodyguard and the demon you fight in his place if you side with Walter.
The Don: He's the leader of the Ashura-Kai, a group that effectively functions like a criminal organization. He also has the reputation and publicity associated with the trope.
Dragged Off to Hell: His final fate should you side with Walter. Walter just kills him outright if you side with Jonathan.
Epic Fail: In Demonic Gene. He manages to briefly gain control of Gina, but bites more than he can chew, costing him a lot of Ashura-Kai manpower and infrastructure.
Everyone Has Standards: Everyone who learns of what his idea of "Utopia" is are disgusted by it.
Evil Sounds Deep: Has a really cool voice. Burroughs even notices it.
Expy: He serves a very similar role to Captain Jack from the previous game, being a purely-evil yet purely-human villain who functions as the main midgame antagonist and whose actions serve to drive the final wedge between the Alignment Heroes.
From Nobody to Nightmare: A former restaurant owner in Ginza says that he was a small fry before the ceiling went up.
Hate Sink: Let's not mince words, it's pretty hard to hate the great gods, angels, and demons of myth, especially since all of them can fight with you. Knowing this, the game gives you a greasy, tyrannical, kidnapping, enslaving, human farming mob boss to hate to your heart's content.
I Have Your Wife: He has his men kidnap one of Flynn's samurai comrades in order to blackmail the team in order to do his dirty work.
Kid with the Leash: Rare villainous example: Tayama controls six National Defense Divinities because he owns their Soul Jar. Each and every one of them despises him, and no few of them are delighted when you slay them. None more so than Yamato Takeru, whose medium is worn by Tayama as an earring.
Killed Offscreen: By Walter, if Jonathan is sided with at the first route split.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He tries to portray himself as a firm but fair man doing what needs to be done to maintain order in Tokyo after the Firmament caused so much infighting, and makes sacrifices to demons in the form of Red Pills under oath the demons won't go around attacking humans. But it's clear he only cares about maintaining his own dictatorship and created a system where himself and select few would prosper while many would suffer.
Oh, Crap!: In Walter's route, when Yamato Takeru is taken down, Tayama starts to descend into insanity and even has exclusive dialogue where he cries out to the Samurai not to activate the Yamato Reactor as you pick a decision.
Pædo Hunt: Horrifyingly, if the guy wasn't bad enough, one of the children implies as much.
Pig-tailed girl: When I grow up, I'm going to marry Mr. Tayama! Mr. Tayama says that age doesn't matter when there's love!
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In Demonic Gene, he pressgangs Gina into annihilating demons at their command, cutting out the Red business altogether and allowing them to enslave demons en masse with the threat she presents. When Demon Walter pops up, the entire force is overwhelmed. Before beating feet, he leaves Gina's amulet, with which she controls her powers, to allow her to fight back.
Sinister Shades: Wears lightly tinted sunglasses.
Smug Snake: All composure and arrogance he has completely disappears after Yamato Takeru is defeated.
Spared by the Adaptation: While he dies no matter what choices in the game you make, in Demonic Gene he doesn't suffer a gruesome fate unlike the game.
The Unfought: If you side with Jonathan you never get to face him due to Walter killing him before you arrive.
Utopia Justifies the Means: His idea of a utopia is a give and take relationship between mankind and demons. With humans who are unaffiliated with him being hunted down, captured, and processed into the red pills to feed demons.
Villain Has a Point:
- Like it or not, he's not bluffing when he explains just how important the Red Pills are. Of course, his own men go around actively antagonizing demons who don't try to eat humans and give out Reds like they're expendable and easy to produce, when they clearly aren't.
- He's not wrong when he warns you and Walter how completely fucked Tokyo will be if you open the gate to the Expanse, although he's clearly motivated more by maintaining his own power than the general populace's safety.
Villain with Good Publicity: A lot of people hate him, but others admire him for providing safety to the humans in the underground cities. Everyone who knows where the Reds come from that aren't a member of the Ashura-kai hate him anyway.
What You Are in the Dark: After watching humans destroy parts of Tokyo during infighting over scarce resources caused by the Firmament, he believes nobody ever takes the higher path when nobody's looking. This, in his eyes, justifies his atrocities by invoking "the greater good" - no matter what horrible things he does, it's all right since he's actually helping as many people as possible.
Tayama: When people get backed into a corner, they stop thinkin' about the consequences. They don't think twice about their fellow man when their own lives are on the line.
Yakuza: He looks like a yakuza leader and leads the Ashura-kai like a yakuza organization.

Kaga

Voiced by: Kahoru Sasajima (JP), Karen Strassman (EN)

A high ranking member of the Ring of Gaea.

Badass Bandolier: Her kasaya, which she wears like an artillery belt, has six hourokudama ^noteold Japanese-style bombs or grenades attached to it.
Blood from the Mouth: When she takes a hit from Xi Wangmu.
Determinator: She believes that no matter if one is weak or strong you should struggle with all your might to survive.
Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices herself, along with several of her fellow Gaians, to weaken Xi Wangmu enough for Flynn to defeat it.
It's Personal: Twofold. Her whole reason for opposing the Ashura-kai is because they tried to force her parents to hand her over to them when she was a child, with her parents sacrificing themselves so that she could escape. The only reason she accepted the mission to kill Xi-Wangmu and reclaim Ikebukuro is because that district was her birthplace and home.
Regret Eating Me: Both her and her fellow Gaeans definitely make Xi Wangmu regret eating them by weakening her.
Victoria's Secret Compartment: Keeps her phone there.
We Hardly Knew Ye: She gets a unique portrait and a section dedicated to her in the artbook, but dies minutes after you meet her.

Hikaru

Voiced by: Marina Inoue (JP)

A strange high school girl who is interested in Flynn, Jonathan, Walter and Isabeau. She is usually hanging out with Skins and Fujiwara.

For other tropes regarding this character, see Lucifer's entry below.

Genki Girl: Cheerful, upbeat, and quite friendly... this makes her more of an oddity than the Samurai in post-apocalyptic Tokyo.
I Never Said It Was Poison: When you first meet her, she directs you to the Juraku Bookstore to find the Black Samurai... but as Jonathan notes after she leaves, they have not told the people of Tokyo about the literature aspect of her crimes. She's not the Black Samurai, but she is her Greater-Scope Villain.
I Never Told You My Name: Explains that she's become a fan of the Samurai, but Jonathan notes later that they never gave their names.
Joshikousei: Appears to be a teenage girl wearing a Japanese high school uniform.
Meaningful Name: Hikaru can mean "light" in Japanese, and more than once she gives the party directions when otherwise they would be completely lost. Her real name, Lucifer, means much the same.
Power Floats: Hovers in place after revealing her true identity as Lucifer.
Psychotic Smirk: Wears one after revealing her true identity as Lucifer.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has unusual red eyes. She IS a demon, after all.
Ret-Gone: Fujiwara and Skins lose all memory of her after the alignment lock since the Hikaru identity is no longer needed.

Skins

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji (JP), Jamieson Price (EN)

A mysterious man in military gear with a patchwork face, carrying a massive katana with him. He's usually hanging out with Hikaru and Fujiwara.

Cool Sword: Has a Japanese longsword that's as tall as he is, although he can't draw the blade. Said sword belongs to Masakado, which also functions as his medium.
Dub Name Change: From Tsugihagi in the Japanese version to Skins in the English version.
Facial Horror: His face is all cut up, stitched together, and stapled back in place. Angels did this to him.
Meaningful Name: Tsugihagi can mean "patchwork" in Japanese.
Named After the Injury: Is called Skins because he looks like his face once fell off and they had to staple it back in place. A flashback shows that he was initially annoyed with the nickname but it grew on him. We never find out his actual name.

Fujiwara

Voiced by: Junpei Morita (JP), Kyle Hebert (EN)

A middle-aged man that runs a bar in Shinjuku called Cafe Florida. He's usually hanging out with Hikaru and Skins.

Beware the Nice Ones: He's the only man in Tokyo who genuinely scares Tayama. In the Neutral ending, he dismantles the Ashura-kai on the sheer force of his reputation.
Big Good: Of the residents of Tokyo. His thoughts and opinions about the situation Tokyo is in have more meaning than the opposing factions, though he lets you take whatever decision you want to take.
Cool Shades: Has lightly tinted, thick framed sunglasses on.
King Incognito: He says that he used to be a newspaper reporter before the ceiling appeared and runs Cafe Florida out of nostalgia for the place. It's a front: he's the co-head of the Hunter Association, along with Skins. It was initially thought that he was also Defense Minister Tamagami, but IV Apocalypse reveals that they are different people.
Meaningful Name: The Fujiwara clan were one of the most powerful families of medieval Japan, and served as The Man Behind the Man to the Emperors for almost four hundred years. Ergo, it's the perfect name for a King Incognito.
Only Sane Man: It's only hinted at on every route besides Neutral, but he and Skins are actually the only ones who really know what's going on around here.
Quest Giver: He gives these out to other Hunters to keep up with what's going on around Tokyo. This also a means for him to find the adequate person to help hopeless Tokyo from their crappy situation.
Smoking Is Cool: He holds a cigarette in his hand — the same hand that's also holding a non-empty cup that miraculously never spills its contents — though he's never shown actually smoking.

Nozomi

Voiced by: Laura Bailey (EN)

A friendly hunter with a side-hobby of photography.

For tropes concerning her appearance in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, see that character page.

Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Black Maria names her the new Lady Danu and passes on the powers needed for her to fulfill her new role. The actual ascension, however, was not seen onscreen, but is implied to happen as time goes on.
Character Portrait: Averted, which is odd since she has a unique sprite, all her lines are fully voiced, and she appears throughout the game.
Faux Action Girl: In the first quest with her as a party member, 2/3 of her skills is blocked by the boss, greatly increasing his chance of Smirking. In the second, she is constantly kidnapped by the Wicker Man hordes before she can get in on the action. However, she does gradually become annoyed and aware of this, to the point of having a another quest where she asks for a wine that is rumored to make women stronger. You never get to see her showing off new strength.
- In case of the wine quest, she indirectly forces you to run around downtown Ginza where demons possess Macca Beam and Wastrel Beam and you need the money to get through the areas.
Guest-Star Party Member: During her quests.
Legacy Character: She becomes the next Lady Danu after the original version, now Black Maria, entrusts her with Lady Danu's powers.
Quest Giver: How you meet. Later she contracts you as, basically, a bodyguard.

The Terminal Guardian

Voiced by: Keith Silverstein (EN)

An eccentric Demon Hunter mercenary employed by the Ashura-kai to keep Tokyo's Terminals out of the hands of "interlopers". Each time Flynn discovers a Terminal, he must defeat the Guardian's demons before he can use it. Notable for changing his appearance every time he is encountered.

Beware the Silly Ones: Despite his oddities, he is a skilled Hunter and has a lot of powerful demons at his command. By endgame, he's using powerhouses such as Mara and Shiva. And to make it even more apparent, his last two fights upgrade him to the major boss theme instead of the miniboss theme.
Continuity Nod: During the ninth encounter with him, he summons Barong and Rangda, a rather suspicious combination of demons. Defeat them, and he, in true Shin Megami Tensei fashion, fuses them to create Shiva. Of course, you can do the same.
Creepy Crossdresser: His "heavily made-up girl" disguise in Shibuya.
Determinator: Even after the Ashura-Kai has been dismantled, he's not going to let you near those terminals dammit!
Developer's Foresight: His disguise depends on where you fight him, and the demon(s) he summons depends on how many times you've encountered him so far. His dialogue will always match his current disguise-demon combination, even unlikely combinations such as encountering him for the first time in his "Intuitive Man" disguise (which he wears in the final dungeons). What's more, every single one of his lines is fully-voiced. A comprehensive dump of his dialogue can be found here.
Double Entendre: When he summons Mara:
"Intuitive Man": "Even you won't be able to beat off this magnificent schlong. Hehe, get it? Beat off?"
Dragon Their Feet: Keeps doing his job after the destruction of the Ashura-Kai.
Gameplay and Story Integration: There are three terminals he doesn't guard: Mikado and Sky, which are off-limits to the people of Tokyo, and Ginza, which is controlled by the Gaeans who aren't going to let an Ashura-kai agent block access to it.
Graceful Loser: When you beat him after finding the last terminal, he finally admits defeat and returns to his family.
Goldfish Poop Gang: He manages to be a one-man Poop Gang, wielding a different demon team (and disguise) each time Flynn encounters one.
Master of Disguise: He can perfectly change his appearance to look like anything from a hot girl to a short old man. The only thing that remains the same is his voice, but he even changes the personality and tone of his voice to go with the appearance.
Oh, Crap!: After the first terminal that you defeat him at, he freaks out every time he runs into you again.
Optional Boss: Technically, all of his fights are this. You don't have to fight him at all to complete the game, but doing so makes long trips across Tokyo far more convenient.
Otaku: The whole reason for his Master of Disguise shtick is because he was inspired by old anime reruns.
Outdated Outfit: In his "anachronistic man" disguise in Tennozu, which would not look out of place in Mikado.
Punch-Clock Villain: While he takes his job very seriously, he's only doing it to feed his family and because its the perfect opportunity to role-play. When he finally surrenders, he admits that it's a good time for him to take up a clean job instead.
Running Gag: Each time you defeat him, except after his eighth and ninth encounters, he warns you with something along the lines of "It ain't gonna go like that next time!"
Sequential Boss: His last fight on Neutral. You fight Barong and Rangda, and when you beat them, he fuses them into Shiva.
Two Aliases, One Character: Even if it's obvious to the player that he is just one guy, his Master of Disguise tendencies cause some NPC's to believe that the Terminal Guardian is actually a group of hunters.

National Defense Divinities

Voiced by: Yuri Lowenthal (EN) (Koga Saburo), Doug Erholtz (EN) (Tenkai), Richard Epcar (EN) (Omoikane), Kyle Hebert (EN) (Michizane), Liam O'Brien (EN) (Yamato Takeru)

Japanese deities who have pledged loyalty to Tokyo and Japan as a whole. They're patriots who protect the people and the country in their own way, even if it means they must antagonize the very humans they are trying to protect. During the interim 25 years, Tayama has gradually obtained the mediums for five of the seven deities, and is using them as his special enforcers. Gets his hands on a sixth thanks to the Samurai.

Animated Armor: Michizane is a animated armor filled with purple electricity.
Anti-Villain: None of them are bad guys, but the ones working for Tayama don't have a choice since he enslaved them.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Koga Saburo after he's brought back as one of Tayama's minions. It's more noticeable in the Japanese version cause he roars at the beginning of the fight.
Dark Is Not Evil: Yaso Magatsuhi, who like the others is a defender of the nation and its people despite being the personification of disaster, evil, impurity, etc.
Disc-One Final Boss: Yamato Takeru is the last boss you face before you head to Blasted Tokyo, if you chose to go with Walter. If you chose to go with Jonathan, Yamato is already on his last breath when you encounter him.
Fate Worse than Death: Michizane considers his enslavement to Tayama and being revived again and again by him to be this.
I Cannot Self-Terminate: All the ones under Tayama's control. Some like Tenkai will even be overjoyed at defeat or tell their opponent to defeat them.
Ignorance Is Bliss: Tenkai says this about the horrible truth concerning Red Pills, which is why he is protecting the people from learning the terrible secret. Of course that's only because Tayama is forcing him too. He is ecstatic upon being defeated and that things will begin to really change.
Mushroom Samba: What Yaso Magatsuhi causes. It releases a sweet scent that slowly induces euphoria, until it comes to a head and basically causes you to become drunk. In short order, Walter reveals himself to be a fisherman scared of fish, Jonathan does cat imitations, meowing and all, Isabeau cracks extremely stupid jokes about demons, and the less said about Flynn, the better (although according to Jonathan, he took off his pants and did something with his nose).
Optional Boss: Yaso Magatsuhi is the only one that is never a mandatory fight (Yamato Takeru is only fought if you join Walter at the split). His only role in the story is to suddenly appear and cause a Mushroom Samba which ends with the party being imprisoned. On your way out of the dungeon, you never fight him and only will if you come back later.
Order Versus Chaos: Interesting in that the group is made of demons of Law, Neutral, and Chaos alignment. Yet all are working as a greater whole to save the nation.
Our Dragons Are Different: Koga Saburo is a green skinned, faceless humanoid with bone like armor for floating arms and across his body, and those purple orbs? Those are his eyes.
Patriotic Fervor: Patriotism is Good. They're all trying to protect humans and the people of the nation.
Pokémon Speak: Yaso Magatsuhi is only capable of saying its own name.
Reforged into a Minion: The ones enslaved by Tayama after he gets their mediums.
Seers: Tenkai is one and reads the stars to know what is to come.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Koga Saburo might be preventing humans from getting Red Pills, but he was doing it to prevent them from losing their humanity and becoming demons by eating one.
Worthy Opponent: Tenkai considers the Samurai one since the stars told him about their meeting.

Akira (Unmarked Spoilers)

Akira

^{Click here for spoilers}

Voiced by: Hozomi Goda (JP), Patrick Seitz (EN)

The man really in charge of Kiyoharu's survivors, as Kiyoharu is in no shape to do so. He wishes to free his people from their harsh situation. This is actually the first Akira that is met, and is from Blasted Tokyo. As he has been infected by Pluto's poison, he asks Flynn and co. to take down Pluto for him.

The second Akira is a demonoid from Infernal Tokyo. He wishes to overthrow Kenji and become King of Tokyo, but since he lacks the power to do so himself, he has Flynn and co. to do it for him.

The last Akira is never met, but was present in the main timeline as Aquila, the first Samurai of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado.

And as of Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, it turns out that Nanashi is the reincarnation of Akira of the main timeline. For tropes concerning his reincarnation in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, see Nanashi's character page.

Alternate Self: Three of them.
Butt-Monkey: Demonoid Akira gets used as a punching bag, cleans off filth, and does something using his teeth when he needs to go past demon guards found in Infernal Tokyo. This is a daily routine until the events of the game.
The Chains of Commanding: Infernal Tokyo's Akira realizes very quickly that being a benevolent King of Tokyo is going to be a very tough task.
Cumbersome Claws: Human-turned-demon Akira is described as awkwardly manipulating his old smartphone with his clawed hands, but manages it.
Death by Origin Story: Before the worlds began to diverge, each Akira started as a member of the Counter-Demon Force whose older sister was kidnapped by Angels and placed into the Cocoon. His attempts to get his sister back vary in each world:
- In Blasted Tokyo, the cocoon was whisked away by angels to parts unknown due to the lack of a ceiling.
- In Infernal Toyko, the angels were defeated by Kenji, but by the time the cocoon was forced open, all the occupants have died.
- In the main timeline Tokyo, Akira climbed the ceiling on his own. However, due to Year Outside, Hour Inside, his sister was long dead by the time he arrived.
Dirty Coward: Demonoid Akira. His first response to Sanat appearing was to cowardly flee and abandon his own followers, while Sanat went around challenging everyone who it believed was worthy. His own men who believed in him were pissed that he betrayed his own beliefs just to save his own skin. That being said, he is quite aware of his own limits and Sanat's brutality had already claimed the leaders of several sectors with massive casualties and is implied to have leveled Camp Ichigaya.
Foil: To himself. Blasted Akira is polite, well-respected, and seeks to embrace Chaos by living in harmony with demons in order to restore a world ravaged by the forces of Law. Infernal Akira is boisterous, a Butt-Monkey, and seeks to restore Law to a world ravaged by the forces of Chaos.
The Good King: Legends speak very highly of King Aquila in your timeline, and the civilians in Infernal Tokyo note an immediate improvement in their quality of life after he takes power.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Survivor Akira has goggles and a gas mask, but he exposes his face despite Pluto's poison. He and Kiyoharu are the only residents of Blasted Tokyo to show their faces, and Kiyoharu is explicitly insane.
Nice Guy: Akira is a pretty sweet guy, no matter which version of him you're talking about. Survivor Akira is more directly polite and idealistic, while Demonoid Akira is more friendly and gregarious.
The Nicknamer: Demonoid Akira immediately pegs Walter as "Bad Boy" and Jonathan as "Goody Two-shoes". Apocalypse reveals that main timeline Akira gave Skins his nickname.
Order Versus Chaos: Akira's two Tokyos represent worlds that were devastated by Law and Chaos. Blasted Tokyo's Akira wished to bring in Chaos to help rebuild a world destroyed by Law, while Infernal Tokyo's Akira wished to bring about a world of equality under Law, as those who were weak, such as himself, don't have much of a chance to survive in the world where Chaos rules.
Posthumous Character: Aquila. Even in the Clipped Wings DLC he's already died by the time Mastema has sent Flynn back as he refers to him as the late Aquila.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Akira in Blasted Tokyo plays it straight, but in Infernal Tokyo, this is what he's trying to become rather than perpetuate the Asskicking Leads to Leadership philosophy that's become the law of the land.
Reincarnation: In Apocalypse, it turns out that Nanashi is the reincarnation of the Neutral-aligned Akira.
Small Name, Big Ego: Pre-Character Development, Demonoid Akira likes to brag about his so-called accomplishments.
Spell My Name With An S: Not only is Akira/Aquila subjected to it, but late in the Neutral Route an NPC suggested that Aquila named the areas around Mikado using bastardized versions of Tokyo's areas, such as Kichijoji to Kiccigiorgi.
Summon Magic: Aquila's two favorite demons were the Minotaur and the Tyrant Aeshma. Aeshma is kept safe as data by Mastema, while Minotaur guards the path down in Naraku to Tokyo.
Walking Spoiler: Well, seeing as how we're really talking about three versions of the same person.

Kiyoharu

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (JP), Derek Stephen Prince (EN)

The man in charge of Blasted Tokyo's survivors and a firm worshiper of God. He has unfortunately gone insane because the angels of said God tortured him to insanity.

Break the Believer: Unusually, it's an avatar of God, the Ancient of Days, that does this to him, by informing it's only returned to Blasted Tokyo to reduce humanity to cinders.
Cloud Cuckoolander: The years have not been kind to his sanity.
Deranged Dance: He's sometimes seen dancing a strange dance to emphasize his service to God has driven him insane.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has cross shaped scars across his body.
Heroic BSoD: Suffers a complete breakdown in the "Ancient One of the Sun" DLC when he realizes that Ancient of Days seeks to kill off humanity and that Kenji, who he opposed all those years ago, was right.
Significant Double Casting: In the Japanese version, he shares his voice actor with Jonathan, showing how he is a predecessor Law Hero and that Blasted Tokyo is a result of Flynn's past life siding with Law.
Younger Than They Look: He appears elderly, but he's actually in his early forties. The events 25 years ago shattered his mind and drove him into faith, and the Ancient stomped whatever remained.

Kenji

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (JP), Jamieson Price (EN)

The King of Infernal Tokyo. He and a friend sided with the demons after learning about God's scheme, which unleashed the demons upon mankind using the Yamato Reactor. He later chose to become a Demonoid after his friend died defending him from demons.

Blood Knight: Loves fighting. Or at least he did. Now he's depressed and tired of it until his lust for battle awakens when fighting the Samurai.
Climax Boss: He's the last boss you face before alignment lock.
Combat Pragmatist: After his lust for battle is rekindled he stops caring about how he wins.
Cynicism Catalyst: His friend's death makes him realize humans are too frail to fight demons on equal terms, even with a team of demons backing them up, sparking his desire to become a Demonoid.
Energy Being: His Demonoid form is a head of pure energy.
Final Boss: Of the Nothingness Ending, due to the following "boss" not putting up any sort of fight.
Orcus on His Throne: Spends all his time sitting in the reactor room at Camp Ichigaya.
Playing Possum: Plays dead during the battle to catch his foes off guard.
Puny Earthlings: Believes that humans are too frail to defend against otherworldly opponents alone without significant... augmentation.
Sadistic Choice: Gave one to everyone in Tokyo. Become a Neurisher and spend the rest of your life as human cattle or become a Demonoid and fight each other to the death.
Significant Double Casting: In the Japanese version, he shares his voice actor with Walter, showing how he is a predecessor Chaos Hero and that Infernal Tokyo is a result of Flynn's past life siding with Chaos.
Was Once a Man: Became a Demonoid after his friend's death.

Other Supporting Characters

Stephen

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steven_smtiv.png

Voiced by: Cho (JP), Dave B. Mitchell (EN)

First appearing in Shin Megami Tensei I, Steven shows up throughout the game to provide help from time to time. His main goal is to revive the Goddess of Tokyo by having Flynn reject the all other paths to follow his own. All other tropes on him can be found on the main series character page.

Ambiguously Human: His ability to teleport at will, the echo in his voice, his glowing glasses, and the fact that he's been alive since the first game makes you wonder...
Big Good: He's essentially the Commander Gore of the game.
Chekhov's Gunman: In the neutral route.
Mr. Exposition: Especially in the Neutral Route, where he gives Flynn a huge hint on what to do upon returning to his world.
What Happened to the Mouse?: As both he and the little girl are both key members to the Neutral Route, the two disappear without a word in the other routes.

The Black Samurai

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_samurai_1.png

Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (JP), Valerie Arem (EN)

A mysterious warrior clad in black armor who has been attempting to distribute books throughout East Mikado before fleeing to Tokyo. Her real "name" is Yuriko, and she's the leader of the Ring of Gaea. In Demonic Gene, she introduces herself as Hiruko, and appears to have no relation to Lilith.

For general tropes regarding this character, see the Lilith section in Shin Megami Tensei Forces of Chaos.

Black Knight: She's a mysterious villain in black armor and an evil counterpart to the heroes.
Body Horror: In Demonic Gene, as Gina zeroes in her and Walter's location, her copied body starts breaking down into a mass of demonic flesh.
The Corrupter: Played with. She spreads novels and political theories around East Mikado that turn their readers into demons...with the caveat that apart from playing book deliverywoman, she's not actually doing anything. The books help the Casualries understand just how warped the caste system is, and their unfettered rage and resentment turn them into demons. She regards it as a favor, since she's setting them on a path to achieve their own desires.
Defiant to the End: Subverted. When she's captured, it appears her last words before her execution are to taunt Hugo and encourage the forming rebellion...except it turns out she's not dead.
Disc-One Final Boss: If you go with Jonathan to kill her, she's the last boss you face before the Expanse Gate is opened.
Even Evil Has Standards: Is as horrified as anyone else to by how Tayama makes Red, describing it as "true evil."
Evil Is Petty: She tries to spoil Isabeau on the ending on the manga Isabeau is reading.
Evil Twin:
- Looks like Gabby under her helmet.
- In Shin Megami Tensei IV: Demonic Gene she appears as a black haired Gina.
Fallen Angel: Her design in this game a demonic variant of the Four Archangels, including have a white face, several robotic glowing eyes, and black feathered wings. Though most of her body is organic instead of robotic.
Feather Motif: Instead of her usual snake motif from previous entries.
Forbidden Fruit: Invokes the Trope Namer during her execution speech:
"Adam did not eat the apple because he desired it. He ate it because it was forbidden. Now the apple has been set before all of you. Eat well!"
Fusion Dance: Her true motives with Walter in Demonic Gene.
Killed Offscreen: By Jonathan, if Walter is sided with at the first route split.
Knight of Cerebus: The game is comparatively lighthearted up until her appearance—even Navarre's rescue in Alraune's Domain ends with no named or on-screen human casualties. But once she shows up, Mikado really starts to hurt very hard: Citizens of Mikado transform into demons from reading her Literature and the Samurai are forced to break a 1500-year-old code to come to Tokyo and hunt her down, which in turn sets the very Apocalypse into motion...
Meaningful Name: Her name, Yuriko, means "lily child" as a play on Lilith.
Omnicidal Maniac: In Demonic Gene, contrasting with Gina's mission to annihilate all demons.
Paper-Thin Disguise: While Hiruko's black-haired Gina suit is near-perfect, she hardly bothers acting like her (not even claiming to be her), including slipping out of her Demonica into casual clothes in front of Walter and acting very flirty with him.
Playing with Syringes: In Demonic Gene, both Hiruko and Gina were part of a human experiment to manufacture a "higher being" from scratch from human genes and demonic flesh - Hiruko was born of the enormous pile of leftover corpses, Gina was the perfected product of the experiments.
Powered Armor: The black Demonica she wears.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Wears a black Demonica with red lenses.
Undignified Death: In Demonic Gene after she stabs Walter and Gina her body falls apart and slowly disintegrates. She watches as her last attempt to do harm to the two fails as they heal within seconds.
Unexplained Recovery:
- After her bout with Body Horror as described above, she rises again, dusts herself off, and makes off for the Sky Tower.
- She also manages to rise from her execution in Mikado none the worse for wear.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Granted, she certainly planned to instigate some doom, specifically Mikado's, but her actions caused Hugo to remove the restriction on the Samurai traveling to Tokyo, which resulted in the Archangels being freed, which resulted in Lucifer being freed, which resulted in all-out war between Law and Chaos once again. It's... never really made clear exactly how much of this she was counting on.
Villain Has a Point: Some of what she says does have merit, like how similar humans and demons are. However, she's using this to try to convince the Samurai to join her, and she succeeds in convincing Walter.
Villainous Breakdown: In Demonic Gene, Hiruko really doesn't like it when Walter reasserts himself and recovers from the unwilling fusion, and starts lashing madly at both him and Gina.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Even if humans are turning into demons, she feels that this just a side effect of informing them of the truth.
What Happened to the Mouse?: If you chose not to spare her, you never see her again after she issues you the quest to activate the Yamato Reactor. If Jonathan's route is of consideration, it's most likely that after you and Walter parted ways with her, he came in and killed her as assigned. In the Chaos ending, you see a glimpse of her, but she then disappears, leaving it up to you to decide whether that was really her or an illusion.

Charon

Voiced by: Rokurō Naya (JP), Dave B. Mitchell (EN)

The Ferryman tasked with shuttling dead souls across the River Styx.

Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Has to fill extensive paperwork on the souls he ferries. He's so up to his knees in paperwork that he's willing to bring souls back to the realm of the living if they pay him a little cash.
Cool Old Guy: The first time you die, you get a free pass, and he's willing to give you a tab for a single resurrection if you don't have the cash on hand to pay him immediately and the option to pay him in Play Coins. On the other hand, the instant you have the money, he'll appear and help himself, and if you die again without having ponied up, he'll just have his assistants throw you into a ditch. And if you make it clear you don't want to pay up one way or the other, he'll resign himself, hand you a number and tell you to go to the end of the queue.
Dimensional Traveler: His henchmen can open portals to dead timelines.
Easy-Mode Mockery: The second time you die, his henchmen will laugh at you, unlock Easy Mode and send you back.
Every Man Has His Price: He's willing to let you back after you're killed if you grease his palms.
Game-Over Man: He's the first entity you see after you get a Game Over.
Lazy Bum: Somewhat. The main reason he even considers allowing you to pay him to look the other way and send you back is because he doesn't want to fill more paperwork than he already has in his plate.
Prophet Eyes: His eyes are completely milky white.
Take a Number: If you refuse his offer to come back to life, he'll hand you a number. A very, very long number...
Those Two Guys: He's joined by two henchmen. They are loyal enough that they want to see their boss happy, so in the DLC they open portals to dead timelines where you can harvest valuables to either pay Charon or strengthen yourself and your demons so you will be strong enough to survive and avoid his attention.

Alignment Representatives and/or Big Goods

WARNING: The following characters are major Walking Spoilers. As such, all spoilers within these folders will be left unmarked. It is strongly recommended that you complete all four endings before reading their respective entries, as well as the For the Past, For the Future DLC quest before reading the Neutral representative's entry and the Clipped Wings DLC quests before reading Mastema's.

Nihilism

The White

A quartet of enigmatic spirits that constantly speak to Flynn in his dreams. Their motives are shrouded in mystery until the end, where it is revealed they wish to bring about a permanent end to the war between Law and Chaos by returning all to nothingness.

Anthropomorphic Personification: Of mankind's despair over the fact that God regards them as nothing more than disposable tools.
Apocalypse How: They want to do a Class Z, but since destroying all of existence is impossible, they've decided to settle for a Class X-4.
As Long as There Is Evil: So long as humans suffer and despair due to God, they will return. Doing the "Ancient One of the Sun" and "The Eternal Youth" DLC after beating them has them bring up how they will continue to return.
Despair Event Horizon: They passed this long, long ago. Their race name isn't "Archaic" for nothing. And they're effectively trying to push Flynn over it, with the DLC missions "Ancient One of the Sun" and "The Eternal Youth", pitting him against the Ancient of Days and Sanat.
Four Is Death: There are four of them, and they want to push Flynn into annihilating all of existence.
Go Mad from the Revelation: In the Law scenario, Gabriel says that the White were driven into insane despair by attaining knowledge "beyond their ken". Considering they pretty much condemn any action as playing into God's hands, it probably means they gained total knowledge of God's nature and reach.
Hypocrite: For being embodiments of despair they seem to enjoy what they do a bit too much...
Laughing Mad: If Flynn accepts their proposal to destroy the universe.
Not So Above It All: Believe it or not, you can actually convince them to talk to you despite being completely apathetic and omnicidal.
Omnicidal Maniac: They seek to return the universe to utter nothingness, claiming it is the only way to truly stop YHVH and end humanity's suffering.
Secret A.I. Moves: White Isabeau has "Impossible Slash", a skill not available for the normal Isabeau.
Shapeshifter Guilt Trip:
- Each of them takes on the appearance of one of Flynn's closest allies (K, Hugo, Isabeau, and Issachar) in order to sway him to their side. However as the one that takes Issachar's form puts it, he's the only one who holds true power when compared to the others.
- At the end of the Neutral path, an NPC in Ginza says that his wife and daughter appeared to him as "white shadows," urging him to join them in death. However, his reply that he would "do his best" instead dispelled them.
Shoot the Dog: How they rationalize their omnicidal mania, figuring that as the Vicious Cycle of Law and Chaos and manipulation at God's hands through both will go on forever it'd be better if the entire universe just died.
Straw Nihilist: Their only point as that the war between Law and Chaos sucks so much it's better to kill everything. As your friends point out, it's nothing but defeatist hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: Their end goal is to use the Yamato Perpetual Reactor to cause a chain reaction that will completely erase everything from existence, viewing it as a Mercy Kill for all of humanity from the constant cycle between Law and Chaos.
Tender Tears: The White taking Issachar's form has them.
Tragic Dream: It is revealed in Hunter Memos DLC in the sequel that their goal is not possible in the grand scheme of things: every possibility observed becomes real and branches off into countless parallel universes, meaning that destroying all existence is impossible and futile from the beginning as their plan only destroys a single universe. Of course, it is still possible for them to succeed in a single universe. If anything, this revelation would only reinforce their despair; they can only ever stop a single incarnation of YHVH, not every single one of Him.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: They view their plan as a Mercy Kill due to how corrupt and crapsack the world is.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: They are this, and have since become embodiments of humanity's own WDoW tendencies.

Law

Merkabah

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (JP), Orion Acaba (EN)

The throne chariot of God, and the leader of the forces of Law. Summoned to the world via the Four Archangels and Jonathan's soul fusing together, his goal is restore peace to Mikado by destroying Tokyo, believing it has become too defiled and demon-infested to be allowed to exist. He harbors the Great Spirit of Goodwill needed to restore Masakado to full power.

All Your Powers Combined: Is made up of the Four Archangels, as well as Jonathan's soul.
As Long as There Is Evil: After defeating him in the Neutral Route, Merkabah warns that as long as humans cannot live without clinging to the Lord, it shall return.
Badass Boast: One of his quips in battle:
"Such is the power of Light!"
Blatant Lies: Merkabah calls Flynn and Isabeau foolish to turn against the salvation the Lord offers them, when as Merkabah shows in the Law route it always intended for them to die for being amongst the unclean.
Disproportionate Retribution: Why did it want Isabeau killed? Because she read manga. It ultimately makes Merkabah feeling sympathy for her after killing her feel very hollow.
Dragon with an Agenda: There is some implication that the Arch Angels are basically acting on their own steam without God's input. Mastema, another high ranked angel, is horrified by their actions and claims that God's will is much less punitive than what the Arch Angels plan. And (in this installment), we never actually interact with God in any way, so it's hard to say how much of their actions are really His will.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Though it's hard to agree with much of what the Arch Angels do, the one thing you can likely agree with is that they dismantle the castes in Mikado upon taking over, believing that all humans are equal in God's eyes. This is, of course, after purging Mikado of anyone who has been "tainted" by foreign literature...
Fantastic Racism: Anything that comes in contact with Tokyo is viewed as unclean or filth or just opposing it will make it view someone as filth, and doesn't even exempt itself from that.
Fantastic Slur: He and his components are fond of the term "Filth" for the denizens of Tokyo.
Faux Affably Evil: Merkabah may be unfailingly polite, but it comes across as infuriatingly condescending and he's not above lying through his teeth. This on top of his full willingness to commit genocide and, as revealed in Apocalypse, perpetuating the Vicious Cycle of Law versus Chaos in service of keeping YHVH in the big seat.
Final Boss: In the Chaos route. You do still fight Merkabah in the Neutral route, it's just that you always fight it before Lucifer.
Guest-Star Party Member: In the Law Route. He packs a number of spells that Jonathan didn't have, such as the -karn spells.
A Head at Each End: Has Michael's face at the end of its tail in its first form. Said face is attached to what is basically a dragon shaped head.
Heroic Suicide: Commits it with you at the end of the Law route, as he feels that you and even he, having been exposed to Tokyo's "Filth", are unsuitable for the utopia he wishes to create.
Knight Templar: As usual for Law.
Light Is Not Good: His goal is noble, but his methods certainly aren't.
No Place for Me There: His motivation for committing Heroic Suicide with you in the Law ending. He feels that being exposed to the "Filth" / "Unclean Ones" of Tokyo renders him and you to be unfit to exist in the new holy utopia of Mikado.
Ominous Pipe Organ: The theme for the second phase of his boss fight comes with one.
Pet the Dog: The one unambiguously decent thing the Archangels do? Abolish the caste system.
Pride: In its second form it cannot believe that mere filth could ever hope to last so long against it and says that humanity's filth could never hope to stand against the power of its light.
Redemption Demotion: His guest ally version is much weaker than his enemy counterpart; He does approximately double digits to most enemies using his normal attacks.
That Man Is Dead: In the Neutral route, his response to Isabeau calling him Jonathan is this.
This Cannot Be!: Says this when defeated on the Neutral route, where it cannot comprehend how it could be defeated.
Two-Faced: His second form gives off this vibe, with half of its body appearing demonic and the other half looking angelic.
Villainous Breakdown: Unlike Lucifer, he does not take defeat well in the Chaos ending. In Neutral it takes its defeat better, but still cannot understand how it could be defeated.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Being the Knight Templar he is.
Worthy Opponent:
- Seems to regard Flynn as this if you respond correctly to his first Boss Banter question, calling Flynn the "Light for the Unclean Ones" in contrast to his "Light for the Lord", inviting you to test your resolve against his. Though he subverts it in his second form where he cannot comprehend how mere filth can still be standing against him.
- In the Archangels' individual battles, Uriel and Michael regard you as this, while Raphael and Gabriel see you as just another piece of Filth.

Chaos

Lucifer

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (JP), Matthew Mercer (EN)

The Overlord of demons and leader of the forces of Chaos. Unlike Merkabah, he has been present in Tokyo for some time... as the actually-not-so-average schoolgirl Hikaru. He responds to Walter's desire to remake the world, and absorbs his body to return to full power. He harbors the Great Spirit of Spite needed to restore Masakado to full power.

General tropes on Lucifer, as well as those regarding this particular incarnation, can be found on his character page.

Neutral

Masakado

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (JP), Richard Epcar (EN)

The guardian deity of Tokyo and the only National Defense Divinity not controlled by Tayama. The giant rock in the middle of Ginza is his head; the rest of his body is the barrier between Tokyo and Mikado. The massive katana held by Skins is his medium, though it has been stuck in its sheath for over 25 years... until the protagonist draws it in the Neutral route. Tasks the player with reviving the Great Spirit of Hope by inspiring hope in the people, then with recovering the Great Spirits of Goodwill and Spite from the angels and demons so that the barrier between Tokyo and the outside world might be removed.

For general tropes on the character, see the main series character page.

As Long as There Is Evil: A heroic example; he warns that so long as humanity exists, the Forever War between the angels and demons for control of humanity will continue on. He's perfectly willing to drive the angels and demons out of Tokyo since it's what's best for humanity, but knows that it won't permanently fix the problem.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: When connected with his original body, he is GIGANTIC, close in size to Tokyo itself.
Awesome, but Impractical: As a player-controlled demon, he can cast Guardian's Eye, giving you three more Press Turns to work with...but it costs 255 MP.
Barrier Maiden: A literal barrier—his body forming the Firmament prevented the destruction of Tokyo when the ICBMs went off. For what Tokyo would look like if not for him, see Blasted Tokyo.
Big Good: Of the Neutral Route. For the backstory, he shares the role with Mastema.
Boss Remix: The theme for his DLC boss fight is this game's Neutral theme running on demon steroids.
Bragging Rights Reward: Defeating his combined form in the last DLC lets you create a usable version of him. His power is insane, starting off with an Almighty attack that will hit every enemy and count as hitting a weakness without fail. As he levels up he drains damage from fire, ice, electricity, force (thus partly replicating his boss battle's nigh-impregnable defense), and his final ability gives the player an extra three half Press Turns. But you already beat the strongest enemy in the game. So the most use you'll get out of him is to spread his Guardian's Eye and Curse Thy Enemy around your troops and hunt down the five-Press Turns-per round Fiends.
The Computer Is a Lying Bastard: Strangely in your favor; even though his Shadow form has six turn icons per turn, he spends three of them doing Flavor Text actions that don't actually do anything, meaning he only really has three icons, much like many other bosses. That said, he can also use Guardian's Eye to give himself three extra half-turn icons, giving him six functional turns.
Elemental Embodiment: Masakado at full power is a giant of earth, fire, and stone.
Emotion Eater: He can devour Hope, Spite, and Goodwill as substitutes for the power he lost in the past when he became the Firmament.
Flavor Text: At the start of each of his turns, he uses three skills that don't actually do anything: "Move Slowly", "Aim Carefully", and then either "Prayer" or "Clench Fist". He starts with six turn icons, so he only has three effective turn icons, much like regular bosses (although Guardian's Eye can expand that to five).
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: The background behind his boss battle is that he's completely lost his mind in his attempt to shield Tokyo from the incoming nuclear missile. Defeating him brings him back to his senses so he can finish the job. Note that merely doing this is still the game's ultimate challenge!
Heroic Sacrifice: Most of his body and power were lost forming the barrier over Tokyo. His previous summoner went with it.
Mighty Glacier: His complete form is immune to anything that doesn't pierce resistances, possesses incredibly strong attacks, but will always waste his first three Press Turns (out of six) moving slowly and aiming carefully.
More Teeth than the Osmond Family: It's not terribly clear in his initial sprite, but in the cinematics... eugh.
Power Echoes: He's incredibly powerful, and his voice has an eerie echo to him.
Power Incontinence: Sure, he made the barrier over Tokyo, but once it was there it stayed there. Even after he regained his power by consuming the Great Spirit of Hope he couldn't take down the barrier because the other two Great Spirits were doing their own thing.
Purposely Overpowered: His Shadow learns some extremely powerful skills, including one that can grant three extra turns and another one that hits for Almighty damage and is considered a weakness to enemies that hit it. That's because Masakado's Shadow requires you to defeat every single DLC Superboss, so by the time you get it, you've most likely got a good enough party to kill anything in the game that there's almost no point to having him other than to fill your Compendium and for catharsis.
Superboss: The last DLC involves fighting him in his completed form. He's so ludicrously overpowered that you'll probably need the allies you get from previous DLC chapters, and their Game-Breaker abilities, just to stand a chance. Remember: Atlus gets off on your tears!
Time-Limit Boss: When fighting his Shadow, you must kill him in 10 turns or Tokyo will be nuked into pieces.
The Unseen: Has no role in any other route.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Justified because he's an immortal demon who has Seen It All, but his first reaction upon seeing Flynn again?
"Ah. You've reincarnated."
Undying Loyalty: While he has no choice but to obey the wishes of the person holding his medium, his ultimate loyalty is to the city of Tokyo and its citizens.
Walking Spoiler: You're not supposed to know that he even exists unless you end up on the Neutral path.

Mastema

Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (JP), Doug Erholtz (EN)

Previously appearing in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Mastema takes on a reduced role in this game. Here, he is an ally of Tayama and helps in the Red-creating process. After letting the Samurai reach Reverse Hills, he disappears from the plot and never appears outside of a sidequest in which Gabriel asks Flynn to kill him.

DLC, however, gives him an expanded role. Specifically, he's one of the Big Goods of the backstory. After Aquila made it to the surface, Mastema decided to aid him. He helped Aquila fight off the demons until Aquila's death, at which point the Archangels decided to proceed with their plan. As this was going on, Mastema took Flynn from the future and had him defeat the Archangels. Uriel, Raphael, and Michael were sealed away while Gabriel escaped.

Bait-and-Switch Boss: You get the usual boss warning before entering his room the first time you encounter him and a battle against him starts .... until he reveals he was just messing with you and he ends the fight before you even get a turn.
Big Good: For the Mikado portion of the backstory, aiding Aquila to set up the region and sending Flynn in order to stop the Archangels in the Clipped Wings DLC.
Defector from Decadence: Later portions of the game and the Clipped Wings DLC make it clear Mastema has separated himself from the Archangels and the other angels on their side, all of whom seek to kill everyone in Tokyo after establishing Mikado.
Demoted to Extra: At first, Mastema has a seemingly reduced role compared to his previous appearance in Strange Journey. Ultimately subverted by late game and the DLC; along with Masakado, Mastema is one of the Big Goods of the game's backstory.
Enigmatic Minion: Mastema's goal and motives are far more vague than the other angels shown in the game. Not only does he mind very little when Flynn leans to Chaos path, Mastema is shown to believe the religious doubts caused by the events of the game will naturally lead people to seek God by their own volition, a very stark contrast to the genocidal intentions of the Four Archangels leading the Law forces. Further questions about his loyalties are raised in the Clipped Wings DLC, where he turns out to be responsible for sealing away three of the Four Archangels.
Expy: Whereas his Strange Journey incarnation takes on the negative aspects of Satan, this one gives him the better qualities.
Fantastic Racism: Calls the people of Tokyo "Unclean Ones" like the Angels and people of Mikado do. However, in the Clipped Wing DLC he calls them human, suggesting that his attitude before is just an act to blend in with other angels.
Knight Templar: Averted. He's one of the most understanding Law aligned major characters the franchise has.
Necessarily Evil: When encountered at present, it is shown Mastema helped make deals with Demons on the behalf of the Lawful Ashura-Kai for Red Pills, and protects Midtown from those who seek the pills. Unlike Tayama, who wants this condition — which he calls “Utopia” — to go on forever, Mastema is simply trying to keep order in Tokyo long enough for humanity to rise up and free themselves of the current situation of being trapped beneath the ceiling.
Nice Guy: He genuinely wants what's best for humanity here, even accepting the outcome of the Chaos route.
Paper-Thin Disguise: He doesn't do a very good job at hiding his identity as M.
Superboss: Acts as one of the ultimate bosses of the Law route.
Took a Level in Kindness: Compare Strange Journey Mastema to IV Mastema. They barely have anything in common.
Troll: While he's a lot kinder in this game he isn't above messing with people, specifically when he pretended to be an enemy but then immediately say that he was just messing with you when the boss fight starts.
The Unfought: In Chaos and Neutral paths, he cannot be fought.
Unreliable Narrator: Mastema claims that God Is Good, and horrified by the genocidal, Knight Templar tendencies of the Archangels. It's impossible to tell if he's lying or misinformed about YHVH, talking about the Great Reason/Axiom as introduced in the sequel, or that YHVH genuinely is benevolent in this particular dimension, but Blasted Tokyo has not two beings which directly contradict his claim: Pluto and the Ancient of Days (though to be fair, Blasted Tokyo is a reality picked by The White in order to convince you to side with them).
What Happened to the Mouse?: Mastema from IV doesn't make an appearance at all in Apocalypse, despite the fact the latter is an Alternate Timeline with a common history until the point of divergence. There are mass produced versions of him in the final dungeon YHVH's Universe, suggesting he's actually one of many angels.
You Bastard!: His defeat on the Law route gives off this vibe.
You Will Be Spared: The Clipped Wings DLC reveal Mastema spared Gabriel before the events of the main game, as the other three Archangels are sealed nd a "rat can do nothing by itself". He was right until Lilith began spreading books, making it possible for Gabriel to send Samurai to rescue the other three.

Manga-exclusive characters

Gina

A childhood friend of Walter's that appears only in the Shin Megami Tensei IV: Demonic Gene manga.

Artificial Human: Born as an experiment to create a docile artificial angel.
Childhood Friends: With Walter.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Tayama threatens her with this.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: After her little chat with Abdiel, she's shanghaied into serving the Ashura-Kai.
Glass Cannon / Lightning Bruiser: Hits really hard and very fast, and even has a Healing Factor, but it's not good enough to save her from torture or Hiruko's attack.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Hiruko's last, spiteful attack. Walter tries to shield her, but is hurt just as much.
Healing Factor: Gina's body quickly heals the stab wound Hiruko causes.
Holy Burns Evil: Her charm severely wounded Amaymon when she threw it at him, and it seems it harms the Black Samurai as it enters her proximity. Later, it turns out it's part of the control mechanism for her power.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Walter starts hammering at her defenses after she escapes from another Ashura-kai ambush.
Only Sane Man: The most level headed of the prentice Samurai and the most able to keep Walter under control.
Teleporters and Transporters: She is only able to do this once thanks to her charm at the end of Demonic Gene, where she returns home to Mikado and lets everyone know of Walter's decision.
Tomato in the Mirror: With the Black Samurai. She already remembered Tokyo, Tayama has photos of her as a small child taken in a lab full of slaughtered scientists and Body Horror abominations, and apparently she appeared in a Mikado lake as a young girl with no memory of her former life. Abdiel later has a chat with her and Walter, confirming she's an artificial angel made of mixed demonic and human elements, created for the explicit purpose of killing demons.
Tsundere: First thing she does after finding Walter in Tokyo is hug him. Next thing is slap him.

Asuma

A Casualry childhood friend of Jonathan's who eventually becomes a Samurai. Appears only in the Shin Megami Tensei IV: Prayers manga.

Fusion Dance: He eventually becomes a demon. Jonathan's angelic form breaks the fusion, drawing the human Asuma out.
Face–Heel Turn: After becoming a demon, he doesn't hesitate to send his new subordinates to battle against the Samurai, and join them in.
Literal Split Personality: The demon he fused himself with became independent after being torn out by Jonathan, killing Hope and unleashing the huge Angel of the Cocoon.
Mass "Oh, Crap!": The good news, Asuma isn't a demon anymore. The bad? His demon side killed Hope and released a titanic angel upon the Samurai.

Stan

A former Samurai Walter meets at prison when awaiting judgment. Appears only in the Shin Megami Tensei IV Demonic Gene manga.

Badass Boast: He challenges anything, demon or human, after he escapes the Ashura-Kai facility. Then he catches sight of the demonic Walter assaulting Gina and immediately reverts to Dirty Coward mentality.
Conspiracy Theorist: Has the attitude down pat. Turns out many of the relics burned down in the fire Walter was accused of had been collected by him.
Dirty Coward: He's utterly terrified of demons.
Oh, Crap!: When meeting with Tayama; the guy's Psychotic Smirk can't have helped.
Otaku: Is utterly excited to at last enter Tokyo.
The Stool Pigeon: Of the Betrayer Barry flavor with some Petty Peter, when interrogated by Tayama.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Had he stayed in his cell, he could have saved Walter and Gina a fair bit of grief.

Characters / Shin Megami Tensei IV

Edit Locked