History Characters / Persona4TheInvestigationTeam

* NonconformistDyedHair: He dyes his hair blonde in order to make himself look manlier and like a JapaneseDelinquent. During the ''Golden'' epilogue, he 's shown with his natural black hair, symbolic of him no longer being insecure of his own looks.

* ChivalrousPervert: He's quite perverted, yes, but he's still a NiceGuy who's loyal to his friends.

In his Social Link, Yosuke reveals that he initially hated Inaba but has grown to love it and despite being hated by Saki, he did genuinely love her. He later reveals that he was jealous of Yu and used the murder case to play hero and hide his insecurities. Yosuke later asks him to punch him to get rid of his jealousy and frustration, and they end up in a brawl; Yosuke realizes that he can form genuine, close relationships with people regardless of where he is and resolves to live his life to the fullest. He gives the protagonist a bandage after their fight, representative of their friendship.

Through her Social Link, the protagonist and Chie become closer through training together at the Samegawa Floodplain. Over time, the protagonist learns of how Chie enjoys creating notoriety for herself, in hopes of being feared by delinquents and protecting the weak. Chie also reveals some halfhearted fears that others don't see her as feminine due to her attire and behavior. She and the protagonist protect several students from gangs of bullies, including a middle school friend of Chie's. Late in the Link, the protagonist has the option of beginning an intimate relationship with Chie - whatever the player decides, Chie resolves to protect the town she loves and will give the protagonist some matching wristbands. If her Link was finished, she reveals on the hero's second-to-last day in town that she wants to become a police officer under Dojima's guidance. By the time of ''VideoGame/Persona5'', she's mentioned on a TV show that while she's still in training, she's notable for knowing kung fu.

In the earlier stages of her Social Link, Yukiko still desires to leave Inaba and pursue interior design in order to become more independent. However, friendly teasing from the Inn's staff and pestering from an [[{{Paparazzi}} irresponsible TV crew]] who want to make a program that would ruin the reputation of the Inn eventually make her realize that she has a supportive family and friends that she wants to help and defend - the protagonist/Yu can choose to pursue a romantic relationship with Yukiko at this point. Regardless of what is chosen, she will give the protagonist a charm from the Tatsuhime Shrine, where the two spent much of their discussing Yukiko's future. She resolves to accept her duty and manage the inn when the time comes.

In his Social Link, Kanji meets a little boy who lost his friend's doll and to cheer him up, he makes him a new doll, which turns out to be so impressive the boy offers to buy more for his friends. Kanji [[NotWhatItLooksLike is later accused of bullying the boy because people saw him giving money to a scary-looking man and assumed the worst]], but the protagonist/Yu encourages him to tell the truth about his dolls instead of hiding it and inviting trouble from the police. Kanji learns to take pride in his hobby and opens up his own handicraft class. He gives the protagonist a cute strap from his handmade work.

In her Social Link, Rise is continuously pestered by her past manager to return to showbiz despite her misgivings. She reveals that as a child she was a shy bully magnet, until her debut as a star, which she thought would help her win some friends; what she saw was people seeing her more as "Risette" than her true self. Eventually, after numerous reminders of her past, Rise realizes "Risette" is still an aspect of herself she shouldn't discard and resolves to return to showbiz come spring, evolving her Persona. She gives the protagonist/Yu a signed photo of herself genuinely smiling. Like the other girls, a romantic relationship can be pursued with Rise in the later stages of her Link, but she very clearly has a crush on Yu and will flirt with him numerous times regardless of whether a relationship is actually taken with her.

[[caption-width-right:350:Let's go! Himiko!]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Go, Kintoki-Douji!]]

* SelectiveObliviousness: Even after repeated failures at cooking and being specifically told as such to their faces, Chie, Yukiko, and Rise seem completely incapable of understanding that they're {{Lethal Chef}}s. In Yukiko's Social Link, she's a bit more self-aware, and realizes ethat the boxed lunch she handed you probably isn't any good, so she decides not to give any to Nanako.

Teddie is a denizen of the Midnight Channel, taking the form of a talking bear mascot that actually has nothing inside. In the early stages of the game, he helps th party navigate the TV World and exposits about the nature of the fog and Shadows. During summer break, he leaves the TV and is revealed to have grown a human body - from then, he freely explores Inaba with the rest of the group and takes up residence with Yosuke. While friendly and cheerful, Teddie is also rather selfish and whiny, constantly annoying the party with his antics. He seems to have some sort of amnesia and doesn't really know what he is or what to do with his life.

* SelectiveObliviousness: Even after repeated failures at cooking and being specifically told as such to their faces, Chie, Yukiko, and Rise seem completely incapable of understanding that they're {{Lethal Chef}}s. In Yukiko's Social Link, she's a bit more self-aware, and realizes that the boxed lunch she handed you probably isn't any good, so she decides not to give any to Nanako.

The third rescue subject of the Investigation Team, her Midnight Channel dungeon is the Marukyu Striptease, wherein her Shadow appears as her in a flashy gold bikini and teases a lot about showing off her "stuff". This all stems from Rise's fear that everyone stereotypesher as an airheaded, indecent pop star, while in truth she just wants to be loved for who she is. Shadow Rise possesses analytical skills that allows it to predict the party's every move, eventually making it impossible to beat; it takes an inexplicable surge of power from Teddie to defeat it. Rise comes to terms with her Shadow and it becomes her Persona, but at the same time Teddie's existential doubt comes to a head and ''his'' Shadow emerges. Rise takes Teddie's place as MissionControl and helps the party defeat it, then she joins the Investigation Team.

Teddie is a denizen of the Midnight Channel, taking the form of a talking bear mascot that actually has nothing inside. In the early stages of the game, he helps the party navigate the TV World and exposits about the nature of the fog and Shadows. During summer break, he leaves the TV and is revealed to have grown a human body - from then, he freely explores Inaba with the rest of the group and takes up residence with Yosuke. While friendly and cheerful, Teddie is also rather selfish and whiny, constantly annoying the party with his antics. He seems to have some sort of amnesia and doesn't really know what he is or what to do with his life.

* SelectiveObliviousness: Even after repeated failures at cooking and being specifically told as such to their faces, Chie, Yukiko, and Rise seem completely incapable of understanding that they're {{Lethal Chef}}s. In Yukiko's Social Link, she's a bit more self-aware, and realizes that the boxed lunch she handed you probably isn't any good, so she decides not to give any to Nanako.

* ExpositionFairy: Shares it with others at times, but the trope most consistently applies to him.

The third rescue subject of the Investigation Team, her Midnight Channel dungeon is the Marukyu Striptease, wherein her Shadow appears as her in a flashy gold bikini and teases a lot about showing off her "stuff". This all stems from Rise's fear that everyone stereotypes her as an airheaded, indecent pop star, while in truth she just wants to be loved for who she is. Shadow Rise possesses analytical skills that allows it to predict the party's every move, eventually making it impossible to beat; it takes an inexplicable surge of power from Teddie to defeat it. Rise comes to terms with her Shadow and it becomes her Persona, but at the same time Teddie's existential doubt comes to a head and ''his'' Shadow emerges. Rise takes Teddie's place as MissionControl and helps the party defeat it, then she joins the Investigation Team.

* AdaptationalProtagonist: Whilst he and the rest of the Investigation Team are protagonists of their own playable stories in Persona 4 Arena, it’s Yosuke who is considered to be the protagonist of the manga adaptation as a whole.

* TheConsigliere: Played with. Whilst Yu is still the leader and decides on many of the group’s plans, Yosuke is also shown to be integral with figuring out the killer’s modus operandi and he helps shapes the group’s strategy thanks to his calm rationality. However becomes blinded with rage during Nanako’s kidnapping to the point that following his advice leads to the bad ending. It’s only when he’s calmed down by Yu that he regains his focus, and both him and Naoto help Yu connect the dots on who the real killer is.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Yosuke's clearly attracted to girls but many, many moments during the story bring his sexuality into question. Namely his tendency for [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday denying he's into guys]] even when [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial nobody brought that up]]. That's not even getting into the massive amount of HomoeroticSubtext during his social link, including being able to give him a CoolDownHug and him claiming [[PlayerCharacter Yu]] is more than a friend to him late into his social link.

* LethalChef: To say the least, she believes that adding squid ink to chocolate would help give the treat some "character", entirely basing this assumption on how the two are of a similar color. In a more memorable instance, she somehow manages to make ''completely flavorless food''.

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* StatusBuff: Yosuke learns ones that increase hit and evasion ratings, Chie can increase damage, Kanji can increase damage or defense, Rise can heal the party, and Naoto can learn self-only magic boosts.

* JackOfAllTrades: Most of Yosuke's stats are reasonably high [[BornUnlucky aside from his Luck]], and he learns a variety of magic and physical skills to go with them, along with healing skills to keep his and the rest of the party's health up. His main weakness is that he doesn't excel in anything, as Chie and Kanji are better physical attackers, Yukiko and Teddie are better magic attackers who can also heal the party, and Naoto learns a much wider variety of magic skills, allowing her to hit almost any enemy's weakness.

* MagikarpPower: Although his wind magic is consistently competent, Yosuke's physical damage output falls into this trope, as he learns no new physical skills between Sonic Punch and Brave Blade. His utility as a JackOfAllTrades downplays its severity, though.

** Gameplay-wise, Yosuke falls into this in ''Golden''. He's a JackOfAllStats still, but the buffs all the cast received mean that he's overshadowed by everyone else.

* PowerupLetDown: His level 8 Social Link grants him a mid-powered healing spell, but by the time you've actually gotten him up to that point there's very little reason to actually use him as even a backup healer.

** Kanji accepts his Shadow by hugginh him in the manga, and Yukiko does the same to hers in the anime.

** Kanji accepts his Shadow this way in the manga, and Yukiko does the same to hers in the anime.

* {{Dominatrix}}: Shadow Chie's motif.

* AttentionWhore: Her Shadow - FanDisservice incarnate. Outside the stage, Rise would rather just stay away from the public spotlight.

* FanDisservice: Shadow Rise/Risette, as she appears on the Midnight Channel, is ''very'' sexually forward. Like other Shadows, this trait is a part of Rise's personality, but her Shadow turns it way up.
** Shadow Rise first appears in just her underwear, says she's going to strip down naked, and is incredibly flirtatious. However, this attitude is portrayed as strange and disturbing, because the real Rise is nothing like that, even as Risette.
** Her boss battle has Shadow Rise moaning lustfully and grinding on the stripper pole she's hanging from, even when she's attacked. Even Yosuke finds it off-putting instead of titillating.

* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: Shadow Rise. After taking off enough of her health- even if you empty her entire health bar- she will use Supreme Insight on her next turn, rendering her invulnerable to all attacks. A few rounds later, the battle ends and progresses onward.

* MonsterClown: Shadow Teddie goes for this instead.

* StrawNihilist: Shadow Teddie. To further drive the point home, Shadow Teddie's Ultimate Move is appropriately named "[[ShoutOut Nihil]] [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Hand]]".

** The female members in the beauty pageant, but Chie, Yukiko and Rise in the swimsuit portion.

* BestFriend: To Yukiko, since childhood.

* BestFriend: To Chie, ever since they were little kids.

* ButtMonkey: Frequently suffers a great deal of misfortune and is often teased by the others for his hobbies, older looks, sexuality, and lack of intelligence.
** In game mechanics, he gets slapped with this at the last minute -- the TrueFinalBoss ''absorbs electricity'', meaning he's a bad choice unless you built him solely for physical attacks or took the precaution to keep his Elec Break skill.

* {{Catchphrase}}: People note how Kanji often yells "Damnit" whenever he is frustrated or excited. Yukiko makes fun of this in ''Q2'' by giving him the codename "Damnit Skull".

* FaceOfAThug: Scarred with prominent nose and ear piercings.

* KnuckleCracking: His idle battle animation.

* NakedPeopleAreFunny: While on the beach, he comes wearing a speedo. In the process of trying to stop Teddie from taking off the girls' bathing suits, he loses his speedo in the process and unknowingly walks up naked to Yu and Yosuke. Yosuke promptly freaks out, with Kanji [[DelayedReaction not immediately getting the memo]], before Yosuke tells him to cover himself with some seaweed.

* RealMenWearPink: His conflict. He believes real men certainly do not, though in the resolution of the Emperor Social Link is that one's hobbies do not equate to one's sense of self.

* TattooedCrook: {{Downplayed}}; he's a JapaneseDelinquent with a tattoo of a black skull on his left arm.

* DistractedByTheSexy: In ''Golden'', if the protagonist/Yu puts on the Bath Towel costume and then talks to Rise, she will [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn ask you to put some clothes on because she can't concentrate]].

%%zce* GirlishPigtails: [[LettingHerHairDown Which she ditches]], at least temporarily, in the ''Golden'' epilogue.

* LettingHerHairDown: In the True Ending, her pigtails are untied, and her hair becomes extremely long and flowing.

* MindOverMatter: How she breaks her Persona card.
* MissionControl: Takes over the role once Teddie joins the active party.

* SensorCharacter: Her second-level Persona, Kanzeon, is the trope image.

* DoggedNiceGirl: Rise is going to flirt with Yu. A lot. Far, ''far'' above and beyond every other girl. Even if he turns down her romance[[note]]Which, unlike the girls, doesn't require outright rejection or friendzoning her, but simply not hugging her at Rank 8[[/note]]. Even in the ''Golden'' epilogue, ''months'' after the conclusion of the game.

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: He is the only guy on the group who is not attracted to [[MsFanservice Rise]] at all. This however, [[BerserkButton pisses her off]].

* ShrinkingViolet: She was revealed to be this before she became an idol. She had a FriendlessBackground by her own admission, and ultimately constructed "Risette" as a means to get people to like her more. While she ultimately got just that, it still felt hollow to her that the person people love isn't Rise, but the fabrication she had made for herself. This is actually present to a lesser extent even after her rescue from the TV World; she may seem exuberantly bubbly when around friends, but can actually be rather quiet and pensive when around people she isn't clearly familiar with, and clearly would rather just want some alone time whenever she feels down or stressed than to actively seek validation from other people.

* LoveHurts: Out of all the girls on the Investigation Team she takes it hardest if the protagonist befriends rather than romances her, and leaves hints of lingering bitterness in certain costume dialog segments and on Valentine's Day.[[note]]While she does display a similar attitude on Valentine's Day on routes where she's dating the protagonist, meeting up with her for their date afterward reveals that this is mainly due to nervousness.[[/note]] In spite of that, she's grateful for his friendship and seems to consider him her closest male friend.

* INeedToGoIronMyDog: If the protagonist takes the friendship route after her LoveConfession, she quickly says she has errands to run and runs off on the brink of tears. In a more lighthearted note, after her slapping Yosuke causes Yosuke to blame Chie for suggesting that Yukiko tutor him, and Chie to point out that it was his fault for asking for "[[DoubleEntendre private lessons]]," she says she has to get going.

* BustContrastDuo: As mentioned with Chie's folder, Yukiko and and her have this dynamic on top of their [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl usual one]]. Chie has a very boyish, androgynous frame that she's deeply insecure of, while Yukiko -- [[HiddenBuxom while the definition of conservative modesty in public]] -- has a very feminine frame overall that Chie can't help but be envious over. This is actually [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], as Chie has such intense envy over Yukiko's femininity that she feels like she needs to have her rely on Chie to give her any sort of self-importance.

* BustContrastDuo: She and Yukiko have this dynamic on top of their [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl usual one]]. Chie has a very boyish, androgynous frame that she's deeply insecure of, while Yukiko -- [[HiddenBuxom while the definition of conservative modesty in public]] -- has a very feminine frame overall that Chie can't help but be envious over. This is actually [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], as [[spoiler:Chie has such intense envy over Yukiko's femininity that she feels like she needs to have her rely on Chie to give her any sort of self-importance.]]

* ABirthdayNotABreak: Her birthday is on December 8, the first day that the DiscOneFinalDungeon of [[spoiler:Magatsu Inaba]] is available for completion. Since [[spoiler:the town of Inaba is shrouded in fog, Nanako is still in critical condition, the killer has been identified and things will get much worse by the end of the year]], it's safe to say Yukiko doesn't feel like celebrating.

* BustContrastDuo: As mentioned with Chie's folder, Yukiko and and her have this dynamic on top of their [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl usual one]]. Chie has a very boyish, androgynous frame that she's deeply insecure of, while Yukiko -- [[HiddenBuxom while the definition of conservative modesty in public]] -- has a very feminine frame overall that Chie can't help but be envious over. This is actually [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]], as [[spoiler:Chie has such intense envy over Yukiko's femininity that she feels like she needs to have her rely on Chie to give her any sort of self-importance.]]

** He also points out that the Investigation Team shouldn't feel too bad about their initial lack of progress, since they saved his and Yukiko's lives. After [[spoiler:Mitsuo commits a copycat murder]], demoralizing the others, he insists that they continue because the police are incompetent.

** When [[spoiler:Inaba is covered by the fog]], he quickly gets the idea to [[spoiler:use his TV World glasses to see through it.]]
** There's one moment that's easy to miss, occurring about mid-game during Rise's introduction. When the guys go down to scope out the Tofu shop, Kanji is the only one who questions [[spoiler:why Adachi, a plainclothes detective, is out front directing traffic instead of a regular beat cop]].

* HeCleansUpNicely: Throughout the game, he looks like a stereotypical punk, with a leather jacket and, according to his mother, bleached hair. [[spoiler:In the True Ending, however, he's practically unrecognizable, as he wears glasses, has a clean, white shirt, and has his natural black hair combed over.]]

** She gets kidnapped and locked away by General Teddie in the first ''Arena'' game because her Persona's scanning abilities would immediately have revealed him [[spoiler:as a fake]].

* {{Deuteragonist}}: Fitting for the idol singer in the spin-off about dancing, she becomes this in ''Dancing All Night'', being the one who taught the Investigation Team their moves, being the designated leader of the story mode's B-Team- the younger members and Teddie- and [[spoiler:the Coup de Grace at the end of the FinalBoss is following a three-way performance between Yu, Kanami, and her]].

* LettingHerHairDown: [[spoiler:In the True Ending, her pigtails are untied, and her hair becomes extremely long and flowing.]]

* SensorCharacter: By way of [[SuperSenses smell]]. As the plot progresses, though, his senses dwindle to the point of being obsolete when Rise joins, which frustrates him, but he becomes instrumental in finding [[spoiler: Adachi]], someone even ''Rise'' couldn't sense. It's implied to be because [[spoiler:Adachi's personality afforded him greater control over the TV World than most of its prior victims, enabling him to shield himself from Rise's scrying abilities. As an original occupant of said world, Teddie's weaker sensing abilities are nonetheless able to pick up Adachi's trail even through his defences]].

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:When cornered, Adachi flees into the TV World to escape the team's pursuit, discovering that his similar desires to the shadows around him enable him [[RealityWarper greater control over his surroundings]] compared to past victims. He outright gloats that it feels like the world itself is protecting him, enabling him to thwart Rise's scanning abilities to locate him in the fog, but as an original inhabitant of the TV World, Teddie's weaker sensing abilities are nonetheless able to find Adachi despite his obfuscation]].

* ShrinkingViolet: She was revealed to be this before she became an idol. She had a FriendlessBackground by her own admission, and ultimately constructed "Risette" as a means to get people to like her more. While she ultimately got just that, it still felt hollow to her that the person people love isn't Rise, but the fabrication she had made for herself. This is actually present to a lesser extent even with Rise after her rescue from the TV World; she may seem exuberantly bubbly when around friends, but can actually be rather quiet and pensive when around people she isn't clearly familiar with, and clearly would rather just want some alone time whenever she feels down or stressed than to actively seek validation from other people.

* ShrinkingViolet: She was revealed to be this before she became an idol. She had a FriendlessBackground by her own admission, and ultimately constructed "Risette" as a means to get people to like her more. While she ultimately got just that, it still felt hollow to her that the person people love isn't Rise, but the fabrication she had made for herself. This is actually slightly [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] even with Rise after her rescue from the TV World; she may seem exuberantly bubbly when around friends, but can actually be rather quiet and pensive when around people she isn't clearly familiar with, and clearly would rather just want some alone time whenever she feels down or stressed than to actively seek it from other people.

* BigEater: Most often mentioned with Chie - Kanji implies she's the sole reason the Meat Lover's Combo at the Junes food court is always sold out. She actually mentions she's a little self-conscious about eating so much. Beyond her, Kanji can eat quite a bit too, and Teddie at one point eats ''eleven'' bowls of ramen ([[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome though this results in a stomachache so bad he is unable to move]]). One of the overarching side goals throughout the game is getting Yu to eat the Aiya Rainy Day Special, a comically-oversized beef bowl that requires maxing every social stat but expression to finish it.