Fanfic / Fate/Reach Out

The official cover^note …depicting Shirou to the left holding the card representing the Servant Saber class and Avenger to the right wearing a headband, both dressed in Yasogami High's winter uniforms. The author refuses to elaborate.

"Welcome to Inaba, Yu Narukami... or should I say Shirou Emiya?"

— Summary's closing line

Fate/Reach Out is a Persona 4 and Fate/stay night crossover by Vegeta the Third (also known as Kishou, a fellow troper). The project has been collaborated partly with Nameless Flame Wielder of Fate/Black Reflection, but has since been excused from the project due to conflict of work and time.

Borrowing from similar plotlines of Shirou's pre-fire identity, Shirou Emiya was once known as Yu Narukami, who was thought to have died together with his parents in the Fuyuki Fire. His guardian Taiga Fujimura decides one day to find his living relatives so he could cope and move on with the loss of his stepfather Kiritsugu. With time, diligence, and the timely help of a blue butterfly, she locates the Dojimas.

In hopes to build a family connection, Taiga reluctantly allows Shirou to spend a year long stay with them in Inaba. But a dark cloud looms over the once quiet town. With the help of his new friends, mysterious benefactors, and the power of Persona, Shirou faces his first great trial as an Ally of Justice: the Inaba Serial Murder Case.

This story is also hosted on three different sites in addition to FanFiction.Net: Spacebattles, Sufficient Velocity, and the Beast's Lair, each with their own dedicated fan following and updated at the same time.

This Fanfic has examples of:

• Adaptational Upbringing Change: Shirou was originally Yu Narukami. Instead of being The Ace and a Cloudcuckoolander, he's somewhat familiar with supernatural events already and aims at being a Hero of Justice. He also suffers from intense hidden Survivor Guilt and lives with his guardian and surrogate sister Taiga Fujimura until she introduces him to his birth family.
• Accidental Misnaming: Marie can't remember Adachi and Dojima's names very well, calling them Akechi and Niijima instead.
• Accidental Pervert:
  • Teddie. In his defense, he really didn't know how to hold an unconscious girl.
  • Shirou, when he trips and crashes into Izumi Aoyama face-first. His knee-jerk reaction is to push himself away from her, which of course only makes things worse.
  • Yosuke, who ends up crashing into a woman much like Shirou above. He ends up rambling about how that sort of thing happens in anime and usually ends up getting the guy knocked out, only for her to instead ask him out.
• Accidental Truth: Right after watching Shirou across the street getting along with a voluptuous unknown girl, an envious Yosuke sarcastically asks him if he had "another miraculous recovery or some bullshit luck" and somehow ended up copping a feel. Shirou guiltily winces.
• Actually Pretty Funny:
  • After getting into a Funbag Airbag accident, Shirou is berated by the busty girl in question who accused him of possibly being a stalker from her old school in Tokyo despite the fact they are in Okina City at the time. Shirou snarks back that if asked he will "tell the jury that he got lost in the Aoyama Twin Towers"^note formally known as the Shin-Aoyama Building, "Aoyama Twin" are two identical 300ft tall office buildings and a distinctive feature of Minato-ku, Tokyo, which made her smile for a moment (probably it helped that he accidentally got her surname right) before remembering she was supposed to be upset with the Accidental Pervert.
  • Yosuke too after another Funbag Airbag incident. He goes on rambling that this sort of thing tended to end poorly in anime and was lamenting his bad luck before the girl in question starts laughing at how hilarious it was.
  • Igor's reaction when Pixie asked him and Margaret whether they poop or not.
• Adaptational Curves: Downplayed. While Shirou is still fit for someone his age, his musculature is noted as not being "ripped" due to being a teenager. This is in contrast to various new material that shows that Shirou does posses an incredibly well muscled body even in his teenage years. In a way, it's a similar comparison to his 2006 DEEN adaptation body style over anything recent that has come out◊.
• Adaptation Dye-Job:
  • Izanagi's appearance is slightly different to his canon portrayal to match his user. This apparently works on the same principles that morphed Adachi's Persona into Magatsu-Izanagi in canon.
  • The Persona Angel sports the demure design from Shin Megami Tensei instead of the Gnosticism-based and bondage-inspired appearance canonical to Persona 4.
• Adaptation Name Change: In the canon game Mitsuo's dungeon was named "Void Quest", but here it's called "Moon Voidainia".
• Afraid of Their Own Strength: The reason Shirou isn't so hot on the Social Link system is because, as a magus, he sees the enormous abuse potential inherent in it. Through the bond and with the help of a Persona of the matching Arcana, he can know exactly what the other person is feeling and what to say to get them to feel better, and later at higher Ranks, to do what he wants. In other words, even with the best intentions in mind, if Shirou is not very careful with what he says and does, he can emotionally abuse or manipulate them into pretty much anything. Yosuke, in rare moment where he isn't placing his foot into his mouth, tells him it's most likely that this fear of abusing said power is why he got it in the first place.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Mitsuo's death is played as being rather tragic, as even if he'd killed someone, he was being manipulated by Satsuki, and dies unable to understand how his "big sister" would do what she is to him.
• Almost Kiss: Shirou and Shadow Chie. Unlike most examples, this is to Shirou's benefit.
• Alpha Bitch: Chie sees Ai Ebihara like the quintessential example of this trope.
• Alternate Character Reading: Marie calls Shirou "Four" after hearing his name the first time because she thought it's written with the kanji for "Fourth" and "Son". He explained that his name can be read as "samurai warrior" instead, but she stuck to her first choice because it's "not as catchy."
• Ambiguous Gender: Subverted. Teddie noticed right away that the Mysterious Fox was female. Just to be sure, Shirou asked her about it and she confirmed it with a nod.
• Ambiguously Human: The Velvet Room residents as in canon. Shirou was rather alarmed when he heard from Marie that Igor and Margaret never leave, just sitting there for days or even weeks between his visits.
• Amnesiac Resonance: The Mysterious Fox can't remember her real name, but became euphoric when Teddie proposed calling her "Tama-chan" (meaning "ball" or "jewel") for the time being because of how she looked when all curled up, hinting that the epithet stirred some strong emotion in her. See Mythology Gag page.
• Amnesia Missed a Spot: Kirei went around erasing memories of Shirou being chased by Wraiths, but he missed two things: First Kaede, one of the Track Club girls, who got lost looking for her friends and was spared from the Masquerade-mandated Laser-Guided Amnesia by pure luck and second, the fact that Makidera's friend Himuro had snapped a photo that she later won't remember ever taking. Both inconsistencies made Rin suspect that something Magecraft-related was going on and, as Fuyuki's Second Owner, she set about finding out what it was.
• Anchored Ship: Shirou and Chie by mutual agreement. After her Shadow confessed to him against her conscious wishes, Shirou basically proposed a do-over where he'll pretend that That Didn't Happen until she feels ready to act in her own accord. Chie observed that Shirou was avoiding the issue in his own way, but she appreciated the fact he wasn't judging her from all the dirty secrets that her Shadow revealed, as well as the chance to have more time to sort things out.
• And the Rest: At first Rise had trouble remembering there was more people than just Shirou who came to her rescue. A Defied Trope soon after as she realized this and made a point of befriending the entire Investigation Team.
• Anger Born of Worry:
  • During her Motive Rant, Shadow Taiga angrily complained how much Shirou's tendency to let himself get strung along in his unhealthy willingness to help others worries her. Interestingly, Taiga uncomfortably noted that her Shadow sounded a lot more like a concerned girlfriend worrying about her significant other rather than his older sister of sorts or legal guardian.
  • Taiga through... well, all of Chapter 26. It's a miracle Shirou didn't give her a heart attack.
  • The Persona Pixie really didn't take kindly the harm and pain that Shirou has inflicted on himself during the last five years due to his improper magecraft self-training.
    Pixie: He's a bloomin' idiot! For years he got the wrong method down and hasn't gotten anyone to correct him because of mage paranoia! He made impish bad magic by smoldering his own nervous system! I reiterate! HE TURNED! HIS NERVES! INTO! A CONDUCTOR! And he needs someone to teach him the RIGHT way so he doesn't STUPID himself to death again! [glares at an embarrassed Shirou] Dumbass!
• Animal Stereotypes: When Investigation Team realizes that the Fox would be charging them money for the healing leaves.
  Chie: [sighs] I guess the myths are true. Foxes really are tricky little sneaks.
• Answers to the Name of God: Shirou's Personas have their own personalities and behave accordingly to their myths, even though they're aware of their nature as figments of his psyche. In Izanagi's case, as the creator god in Japanese mythology and Shinto, well...
  Shirou: [to himself] Thank God for small favors.
  Izanagi: Thou art welcome.
  Shirou: ... Was it just him or was his first Persona more vocal lately?
• Anti-Villain: Izanami to a somewhat greater extent in canon. She actually finds that she's rooting for Shirou to win her game...so in order to remain impartial and give him a challenge, she removes her own compassion and moral restraint. This has additional purposes, as she gives the aspect of herself she removed form as Marie (thus providing the role of someone for Shirou to eventually save), and putting herself in the role of the villain Shirou ultimately has to overcome to pass her test.
• Apathetic Citizens: Yosuke rightfully complains that people in Inaba were more disappointed that Yukiko didn't turn out to be the next victim of the serial murder case than relieved that she returned home safe and sound after being missing for 5 days.
• An Arm and a Leg: Shirou loses his left arm in the Boss Battle against Shadow Kanji.
• Armor-Piercing Response: When Naoto asks Taiga if there's a difference between not wanting friends and can't find them the latter answers it depends and whether Naoto gave up or not. Then proceeds to tell the detective that coming from someone who wishes they were a teen again, not to rush headfirst into growing up. Note that this response follows two questions that had Naoto floundering.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When confronting him, Shadow Mitsuo tries to get his human self to answer several basic questions about their "sister" Satsuki, like asking him when her birthday is or what her eye color is, and he's unable to answer.
• Ascended Extra: The Mysterious Fox has its role expanded compared to the game, where it's mostly a helpful NPC/Team Pet. In this story, "Tama" becomes a non-combatant team member in her own right and helps the Investigation Team both in and out the TV World.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: During Golden Week, the group sans Shirou had to chase Teddie into Yukiko's Castle. There was a monstrously powerful shadow (Contrarian King) that was able to No-Sell their techniques, so they turned tail and ran.
• Awful Truth: Kotomine bluntly tells Shirou the type of person Kiritsugu was before he found him in that fire.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Kotomine and Shirou when going against Yomotsu-Ikusa and Yomotsu-Shikome.
• Badass Bookworm: Shirou picked up a reading habit after Taiga gave him a lot of books as a send-off gift after his trip with the Dojimas to Fuyuki and from then and on he can often be found with his nose in a book. He also does well enough in school to score among the top ten ranking sophomores during the first set of midterms at Yasogami.
• Badass Bystander: Taiga Fujimura, who pulled off a Cavalry Attack outside of the TV World with a "borrowed" motorcycle to stop an ATM robbery by crashing the side of the thief's escape car. She then proceeded to drag him out of the driver seat and beat him up until the guy was practically thanking the cops for arresting him and ending his misery. It's every bit as awesome as it sounds.
• Beat the Curse Out of Him: The Investigation Team seems to have a fondness for this trope and Get A Hold Of Yourself Man. In their defense, the considerable Magic Enhancement they get to their physical abilities as Persona-users in the TV World makes Slapstick a lot more palatable to the reader. For particular examples:
  • During the fight against Shadow Yukiko, Yosuke slapped a Fear-inflicted Shirou to his senses.
  • In chapter 31, Chie breaks a Charm spell on Yosuke via Groin Attack.
• Berserk Button:
  • Chie reacts strongly to anything that might threaten Yukiko, especially if that something is rookie detective Adachi suggesting that the then-missing girl could be the serial killer. He got tackled to the wall for that one before Yosuke managed to hold Chie back.
  • When Shirou thought Shadow Yukiko killed Yosuke, he outright lost it.
  • Taiga hates being called "Tiger". Her Shadow didn't just gleefully push this trigger, but rather tap-danced on it. She's slowly growing out of it and can take it in stride if a student calls her like that by mistake — "slowly" being the key word here. Pro tip: don't try your luck.
• Beware the Nice Ones: The Investigation Team is well aware that Shirou's polite and accommodating to a fault, however he won't tolerate any nonsense from any of them that could put the team's lives in danger as the Boss Fight against Shadow Rise well demonstrated.
• Big Bad Friend: Shirou makes good acquaintances with "Nami", the gas station attendant, during his part-time job at MOEL.
• Big Damn Heroes: Kotomine to Shirou against Yomotsu-Ikusa and Yomotsu-Shikome.
• Big Fancy House: The Dojimas were positively flabbergasted at the sheer size and classic Japanese style of the Emiya Residence in Fuyuki.
• Big Good: Philemon kickstarted the plot by betting that Shirou would win against the evils of the Fog.
• Big "NO!": Shirou and Yukiko herself to Nanako when the latter asked for a taste of the Lethal Chef's handmade lunch.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • Romantic issues aside, Shirou gets along with Chie the best in the Investigation Team mainly because of their strong sense of justice and their high regard of the ideals of heroism.
  • The rapport between Chie and Taiga was as strong as it was immediate. Shirou and Dojima Sweat Drop at the sight.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: Rise had to perform for a big concert in Okina City as part of her tour on her birthday, June 1st. The fact that none of her staff, not even her manager, remembered it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and made her take the decision of abandoning her "Risette" persona and the stage.
• Bond One-Liner:
  • The Persona Lilim after the Mini-Boss fight of Marukyuu Striptease dungeon. See Double Knockout below.
  • Shirou signaled his finishing blow against Shadow Rise just like practitioners of Japanese archery calls their on-target shots, as if saying that it was just another bull's eye for him.
• Boob-Based Gag: Izumi Aoyama has a huge chest, prompting a very flustered Shirou who just acquainted himself with them face-first to remark "How do you have a spine?"
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Once Rise finds out that Morooka was mean to Shirou on his first day in Yasogami, she declares that the teacher is "so on [her] shit list".
• Brains and Brawn: Yosuke and Shirou as the Brains and Brawn respectively. As a partial inversion, Shirou does better at school than Yosuke.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Yosuke when describing his first girlfriend:
  Yosuke: I'm telling ya man, I'm on cloud nine whenever I'm with her! She laughs at my jokes, is really friendly, and even made two coworkers break down in tears with just a few words!
  Shirou: That's… that last part is hardly a quality to praise someone for.
  Yosuke: Yeah, but these two were a constant pain in my ass.
• Break Them by Talking:
  • Shadow Selves' whole M.O.
  • Kirei attempted this after realizing Shirou's obvious desire to continue Kiritsugu's dream. Before Shirou could gather the wherewithal to retort, Taiga suddenly stepped in and made Kirei shut up with her fist. After he left, Taiga hugged Shirou and only then he allowed himself to break down into tears.
• Breather Episode:
  • Fuyuki Gaiden chapters usually comes after particularly tense developments, especially emotionally charged ones such as battles against someone's Shadow, as it was the case with Yukiko's and Rise's.
  • The aptly titled "Calm Before the Storm" is a mostly humorous chapter interspaced with a few reactions to Kanji's reappearance in the Midnight Channel. Then everything took a turn for the foreboding when Yosuke ran into a then-unidentified female character — later revealed to be Satsuki Yumizuka from Tsukihime who asks him out on the spot.
• Bro Fist: Yosuke and Shirou the first time they refer to each other as partners. This and other Handshake Substitutes are likely to occur when either of them pull off something particularly nifty in the TV World.
• Broken Hero: Shirou is his usual distorted, emotionally-damaged self. This raises some alarm bells with his allies because of his lack of self-preservation during critical times.
• Bromantic Foil: Yosuke as in canon. Deconstructed here in that hanging out with a Clueless Chick-Magnet like Shirou who unwittingly hogs most of the girls' attention isn't fun at all, prompting Yosuke to try harder in order to not be passed over, which doesn't really help him as it was the case with his "Operation Up Close and Personal".
• Brown Note: The Fear status effect acts like this in the story by inducing frightening hallucinations on its victim. It caused Shirou to become paralysed by his memories of the Fuyuki Fire until Yosuke slapped him out of it. When Yosuke himself was the target later on, things didn't work out so well for him.
• Busman's Holiday: Subverted. Dojima thought he was going to have to deal with police work during the family trip to Fuyuki when he heard a crash followed by some yelling inside Shirou's house and suspected that a thief had just snuck in. It was Taiga punching Kotomine across the room
• Butterfly of Doom: Shirou is told of his still-living relatives in Inaba. The Power of Social Links are just the start of things to come in conflict with his ideology. Made more literal as it is a butterfly actually Philemon that starts the ball rolling.
• Cabin Fever: Marie calls the trope by name when she complained about always having to stay in the Velvet Room. When she realized that Margaret occasionally leaves the Room with Shirou for his magecraft lessons, she all but invited herself to tag along.
• Call-Back:
  • When Chie tried to get Yukiko to stop calling the fox "Usagi" (Japanese for "rabbit") after already settling on a different name, she said "let's not turn this into another Chosokabe". This is a reference to an easy-to-miss "dungeon" conversation between the girls where Chie complained that her dog, named "Muku" to everybody except for Yukiko who insists on calling him "Chosokabe", seems to like the latter more than his owner.
  • In chapter 34, Yosuke had an Accidental Pervert moment that almost exactly mirrored Shirou's Suggestive Collision with Izumi Aoyama two chapters prior, but with reversed reactions. That is, whereas Izumi berated Shirou for it like a Tsundere heavy on the "tsun" is wont to as his dialogue became increasingly snarky and she slowly warmed up to him, Yosuke profusely apologized to the girl he ran into, who found the whole situation and his reaction in particular Actually Pretty Funny and even asked him out on the spot. His unusual stroke of good fortune was in fact an indication of the opposite when it turns out the girl in question is, of all people, Satsuki Yumizuka, in full Dead Apostle mode, apparently having skipped town during the events of Tsukihime to seek refuge in Inaba and obviously up to no good, making this also an example of Cerebus Call-Back.
• Call-Forward: A hint to the events of Persona 5 is dropped when Shadow Teddie calls Moon Voidania as a "Palace", capital letter included. Later, Satsuki says that by rejecting his Shadow to the point of nonexistence, Mitsuo was due for an imminent mental shutdown even if she hadn't killed him.
• The Call Put Me on Hold: For the cast of Fate/stay night except Shirou who got to answer a different Call to Adventure in Inaba. Due to the agreement between Philemon and Nyarlathotep, the Holy Grail War was postponed for a year time past its canonical start.
• The Cameo: Izumi Aoyama is a character from the unreleased Harem Protagonist visual novel, which the author of Fate/Reach Out personally helped work on.
• Cannot Talk to Women: Shirou thinks he's an example. Yukiko doesn't buy it.
  Shirou: I'm sure if someone took the time to get to know you, you'd be more comfortable around other guys. I can understand how difficult it is interacting with the opposite sex.
  Yukiko: Really? Why's that?
  Shirou: Because I'm not very good at talking with girls.
  Yukiko: [blinks]
  Shirou: [blinks back]
  Yukiko: [fights valiantly a losing battle against a laughing fit] Pffffffffffffffffahahahahahaha! Ahahahahaha! [some time later] You-ohohohoh... You are such a liar! Hahaha!
• Can't Argue with Elves: From chapter 19, right after Yosuke had been rendered unconscious during battle.
  Pixie: (...) Granted, this is a good thing since humans have been known to exploit stuff, and as the fairy godmother once told me: 'Humans are the reason we can't have nice things.' Because they're greedy jerks and lose our stuff, like this sheath here, but still! Of course, what would I know, I'm just a figment of some—
  Shirou: Pixie. Yosuke?
  Pixie: Oh. OH! Right.
• Car Fu: "Cavalry Attacks" are a thing in this story. A thing that happened once outside the TV World (see Badass Bystander above).
• Cartwright Curse: Yosuke has a really rotten luck with his Love Interests. Saki Konishi not only didn't return his feelings, but there's the strong implication that she died hating his guts. His best friend is a Clueless Chick-Magnet who unwittingly keeps most of Yosuke's female friends from thinking of him as boyfriend material. For the hat trick, the one girl that showed a romantic interest in Yosuke turns out to be a literal monster with unrevealed intentions involving him.
• The Casanova: Shirou often gets mistaken for one. Taiga had a hilarious Freak Out when a One Dialogue, Two Conversations phone call made her think he was already a womanizer, Yosuke's wondered whether he was actually using magic to get so popular with the opposite sex, and Rise straight-out asked him what he was really aiming for, if anything, by getting along so well with each and every the girl in the Investigation Team. For the record, the answer to all this is the same: he's definitively not trying to get into anyone's pants, but that doesn't make much of a difference for a Clueless Chick-Magnet like him.
• Casanova Wannabe:
  • Yosuke as in canon, but here he takes it even further by trying to make a pass at Shadow Yukiko. At least his logic was somewhat sound: if he could appease her by appealing to her desire for a "prince", the I.T. might have been able to rescue Yukiko without a fight. In the best-case scenario, he gets the real Yukiko as a girlfriend. What actually happened was that Shadow Yukiko failed to remember him and when she did, she dismissed him as an "another peasant suitor".
  Motivated by both noble and selfish intentions, [Yosuke] stepped forward with an eager smile and spoke in his best British accent. "Allow me, my princess! I shall be the dashing hero who will whisk you away by the powers love and magic!"
  Chie was gobsmacked by his sudden charisma, but passed as she picked up the intentions. "Love and—Hanamura!"
  • He tried to do "Operation Up Close and Personal" (aka Operation Babe Hunt 2.0 from Golden) by himself after Shirou decided exploring Okina was a better use of his time. After failing miserably, he finds Shirou getting Izumi Aoyama's phone number^note (actually the contact info of the kickboxing class she attends to, but the implication of her wouldn't mind seeing Shirou again was clear enough still), much to his mortification and jealousy.
• Catch a Falling Star: Shirou to Chie the second time she falls into the TV World, even if he consciously knew she didn't hurt herself too badly the first time.
• Caught in the Rain:
  • How Shirou and Chie first met. On the way to his first school day at Yasogami, Shirou noticed a then-unknown girl sheltering from the rain under a gazebo. He offered to lend her his umbrella, but she politely refused, saying that she didn't want him to get soaked for her sake and that a friend (Yukiko) should pass by soon enough and let her share her umbrella. Chie then received a text message from her friend saying that she was already at the school and Shirou offers to share his umbrella with her as a compromise, oblivious to the romantic implications Chie was well aware of.
  • Played unromantically later on. Yukiko took refuge from the rain under the same gazebo while dressed in her work kimono when an unknown high school student (Mitsuo) suddenly appeared behind her and insistently asked her out despite her refusals and obvious uneasiness, the rain and her confining clothes making it difficult for her to simply leave. The weather and the hour also made it unlikely for anyone else to show up, but somebody did arrive (Shirou and Chie, going home after a trip into the TV World) and made Mitsuo leave.
• Charm Person:
  • Discussed. Yosuke outright asks Shirou if he's got "some sort of innate magecraft sorcery" after witnessing Chie giving "probably the most over the top moe reactions possible" when he offered to help her studying. Yosuke is mistaking this for an entirely different trope.
  • Fate/Reach Out incorporates the "Charm" Status Effects from Persona 3's battle mechanics. Amorous Snake from Rise's dungeon successfully inflicted the ailment on Yosuke, who almost managed to stab Yukiko in the back while under its control. For just desserts, one's of Shirou's Personas — Lilim — did the same with Rain Wheel, commanding the enemy Shadow into running over Amorous Snake for the party's sake.
• Chekhov's Boomerang: In chapter 7, Shirou tried to Trace a normal katana to defend himself from Ghoul in that dream the protagonist of the game had during his first night in Inaba. Instead, he gets a half-sword, half-polearm that six chapters later he will discover is his first Persona's weapon, the naginata Ame-no-Nuhoko. Later on in chapter 32, Shirou purposely Traces Izanagi's spear and wields it as javelin to deliver the finishing blow to Shadow Rise.
• Chekhov's Classroom: using Kantian Philosphy, not only is Morooka able to give an Armor-Piercing Question to Shirou's desire to be a hero, but also sums up the problem surrounding Mitsuo's belief in that he's a hero. As well as Adachi and Nametame's motives for their actions during the Inaba Murders.
• Chekhov's Hobby: During the second trip to the TV World, Shirou mentioned that he wanted to cast Reinforcement on Yosuke's clothes but dismissed the idea because, if he got it wrong, the botched spell would just break them instead. Twelve chapters later, Shirou deliberately over-Reinforced the swords he used to stab Yomotsu-Shikome so the weapons would explode inside his enemy.
• Chekhov's Skill:
  • Unlike canon, Shirou managed to dodge metal-poster-wielding Taiga's counter because his battle experience in the TV World translates to real one together with the extra awareness and advice provided by his Personas even though the ability to summon them does not. This fact allowed him to keep himself alive during Yomotsu-Ikusa and Yomotsu-Shikome's attack in Fuyuki until help arrived.
  • In chapter 27, Yosuke rhetorically asked Shirou whether he could discern any specific conversation among the typical racket of Junes' food court in an effort to prove the effective privacy of their "special headquarters". It turns out that his magus self-training allows him to do just that, almost refuting the point Yosuke was trying to make. The next chapter, this skill was put to good use to follow Kanji around unnoticed in order to guard him from the kidnapper.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Shirou as usual.
• Cigarette of Anxiety: In chapter 33, Ryotaro felt he really needed a smoke after his only lead on the whereabout of then-missing Rise Kujikawa and potential breakthrough in the serial murder case was destroyed, and to make thing worse, every attempt to identify the amnesic Marie didn't pan out either. Subverted only because he was about to visit the latter at the hospital and thus a strictly non-smoking area.
• Clark Kent Outfit: The fruits of Shirou's years of physical self-training aren't obvious at all in his usual clothes. A swimsuit or battle-related Clothing Damage is an entirely different story.
• Classic Villain: Given that the Shadow Selves are everything their originals deny, with the increased characterization this fic gives them, all of them fit this trope.
  • Shadow Yosuke represents Envy, Wrath, and Pride.
  • Shadow Chie represents Envy and Lust.
  • Shadow Yukiko represents Envy, Lust, and Sloth.
  • Shadow Taiga can be considered an Aversion. Being born from an adult psyche with long-standing unresolved problems, this Shadow Self can't be easily explained away via Single-Issue Psychology and doesn't act as a clear-cut foil of their progenitor. Because of this, Taiga actually manages to accept her Shadow without rejecting her first.
  • Shadow Teddie represents Sloth and Wrath, believing that Ignorance Is Bliss and that one should stop caring about seeking the truth, viewing Satsuki's vistory as inevitable, as well as desiring to kill Teddie's friends so as to drive him into even more despair.
• Closet Geek: Naoto is apparently a closet YuYu Hakusho fan, to the point of creating their own "Spirit Gun" by painting runes onto their hand.
• Clothing Damage: Oddly inverted. After a trip into the TV World, clothes are restored to the same condition they had before entering. Injuries and other battle damage remain unchanged.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Shirou, of course. There is Sakura from canon, Chie already has a crush on him by the time her Shadow appears, Taiga was confronted with her not-so-sisterly feelings by her Shadow and Yukiko's slowly growing an attraction to him. Then he wins Rise's heart through an unintentional Declaration of Protection. And on top of the "canon" girls, he got Izumi Aoyama's phone number without even trying. Yosuke even wondered if this trope was the result of "some sort of innate magecraft sorcery".
• Combat Clairvoyance: Shadow Rise thanks to her Supreme Insight skill. Partially Subverted thanks to Shirou who became a major Spanner in the Works during her Boss Fight because his magecraft acted as a Wrong Context Magic for her.
• Combat Parkour: Jiraiya, who combines Double Jump and Flash Step to bounce off everything and attack from blind spots, and to a lesser extent Yosuke.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • Subverted. Yosuke tried to beat Shadow Chie before it could gather power with Chie's rejection. However, as long as Chie doesn't reject it, attacking her Shadow also hurts her in the process.
  • Done more successfully later during the Boss Fight against Shadow Chie. Being the manifestation of Chie's insecurities made her an easy target of Yosuke's taunting and her "throne" doesn't make the best place to sit on during battle from a tactical standpoint.
  • This is how the Persona Lilim became the MVP of the Mini-Boss fight in Rise's dungeon, who took advantage of Amorous Snake's usage of Stagnant Air to boost her Marin Karin skill and Charm Rain Wheel into finishing off the already weakened Shadow and then directed the lion-shaped chariot into attacking Rain Leg Musha, who managed to pull off a Taking You with Me on its former ally, ending the fight.
  • On the antagonists' side, Shadow Rise fought a lot smarter than her predecessors, which caused no end trouble for the Investigation Team. She targeted elemental weaknesses, used her superior agility and Supreme Insight for all they were worth, and even took advantage of Rise's trademark Sensor Character skills as a Persona User to keep tabs on the I.T. as they make their way through the dungeon in order to learn more about them. Shadow Rise also realized that Shirou was by far her most problematic opponent and focused on him from the start of the battle, which marked him as the preferred target of both her attacks and her words, making every effort to get under his skin and rile him up into making a mistake. This Shadow knew how to improvise when in a disadvantage too, resorting to tactics like using Rise as a Human Shield, powerful Non-Elemental Desperation Attacks and even trying to assure her mutual destruction with the I.T. in the end.
  • This is also how Shadow Kanji turns the tables on the Investigation Team. Taking advantage of Shirou being Poisoned (and thus having his attack power reduced) and having a Pixie (a support Persona with very low physical stats) equipped, Nice Guy used Heat Riser on itself and then snuck on him, catching him on an immobilizing hold that the shadow knew he didn't have the strength to break away on his own at the time. Shadow Kanji wasted no time in hitting Shirou as hard as possible, severing his arm. The only reason Shirou didn't die there and then is that the Near-Death Experience brought his mind back to the Fuyuki Fire and that made him summon, or likely get possessed by mother-effin' Kagutsuchi.
• Comically Missing the Point: Taiga bides Shirou (and Nanako) goodbye with a peck on the cheek, then turns to Ryotaro who looks at her with obvious surprise in his face at her actions^note this happened just the day after he asked Taiga if she "loved [Shirou] that way" and she says to him "You're not getting one".
• The Confidant: Yukiko for Yumi Ozawa, once the latter's father returned to her and her mother's lives. Somewhat Subverted in the sense Yukiko wasn't sure how to help her friend the first time Yumi told her about her family problems and her advice, while on point, wasn't something Yumi was ready to hear just yet.
• The Consigliere: Shirou might be The Leader, but Yosuke is the one who stops him from Digging Himself Deeper due to his lack of social graces.
• Continuity Nod:
  • A throwaway comment from Igor implies that the story follows the events of the female route of Persona 3 Portable. Later on it's revealed that Kotone Shiomi's fate left Theodore heartbroken and made Elizabeth abandon her duties as a Resident of the Velvet Room in search of way to rescue her despite of her reduced interaction with the previous Wild Card.
  • When Chie is advised to join a school club, she discovers that Yasogami used to have a female tennis team, but the lack of members make them disband for the year. Given the above point, it follows that the FeMC most likely joined the tennis club at Gekkoukan High School and she, Rio, Yuko and Kazushi visited Inaba as part of sports fellowship at Yasogami two years ago.
  • During the Dojimas' visit to Fuyuki, Taiga draws father and daughter's attention to the "new and improved" Hyatt Hotel as an example of the redevelopment effort over the last ten years. The previous incarnation of the same hotel was destroyed with demolition charges by Kiritsugu Emiya in Fate/Zero.
• Contractual Purity: Rise is an In-Universe example and once lambasted the hypocrisy of marketing an Idol Singer as both a sex symbol and a wholesome role model.
  Rise: [to her manager] Oh, that's right! I can't talk about sex because I'm supposed to be an innocent stereotype and role model for young girls! It's completely unrealistic! And every idol company has been doing this same crap for, what, thirty years now? If idols are supposed to be role models, then we shouldn't play onto some escapist fantasy!
• Contrived Coincidence: Shirou's Mobstacle Course started a highly unpredictable chain of events that ended up with Tohsaka figuring out that he is a magus.
• Corpsing: There is an In-Universe example in the second Fuyuki Gaiden, where Rin mightily struggles to not laugh herself sick in front of Kotomine at the realization that Shirou basically wants to use his powers as a magus for "world peace".
  Rin: [Inner Monologue] I'm not going to laugh. I'm not going to laugh in front of the damned fake priest! I'll laugh all I want at this stupid, ridiculous goal later in the comfort of my home, but damn it not now!
• Covert Pervert: In the game, Yukiko's hidden perverted side mostly came out if she was Drunk on Milk or in a relationship with the protagonist. Here it's a tad more obvious because a) sometimes the story is told from her point of view, and b) her Stupid Sexy Friend Shirou and stupidly manly things he does when his Chronic Hero Syndrome is triggered make it easier for her to entertain more off-color thoughts involving the guy.
• Cower Power: Referenced. When Mitsuo's bravado falls apart in front of Kanji after he tried to start a fight with the alleged delinquent, the latter mockingly asks him if his sister is going to come up and make apologies for him again.
• Crash-Into Hello:
  • How Shirou and Naoto met in chapter 23. Also an Early-Bird Cameo for the latter.
  • It happens again in chapter 27 at Tatsumi Textiles, after which Shirou and Naoto finally introduce themselves.
• Crazy-Prepared: Downplayed with Rise. After working as an Idol Singer in high demand, she got used to being constantly on the move and to always carry what she calls the "essentials" on a trip. Fortunately for Chie and Yukiko at the school campout, this includes a zipped-up bag full of silicone earplugs (for Hanako's snoring) and some snacks and bottled water (greatly appreciated after they utterly ruined their group's dinner).
• Cruel to Be Kind: Shirou doesn't mince words to tell Yukiko just how bad her cooking is in order to help her improve. Given her stated plans to leave Inaba after graduation, it really couldn't go any other way.
• Cry for the Devil: invoked Once defeated, Shadow Chie's cries elicited this reaction in- and out-of-universe.
  Shadow Chie: Please, Don't leave me… Yukiko. All I wanted was to feel needed, to feel like I belonged with someone, somewhere. If you're gone… what will happen to me? All the years together, all the laughs we shared, doesn't it matter Yukiko? Why do you want to leave me? Yukiko…
• Cry into Chest: Played for Laughs. Yukiko to Shirou after coming out of denial about how much of a Lethal Chef she is.
• Cuddle Bug: Rise is more touchy-feely than Shirou is used his friends to be. The first time she hugged him and accidentally(?) caused a Bait-and-Switch Sentiment moment, he briefly went into "shutdown mode".
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Pissed off Kanji vs. Biker Gang. They never had a chance.
• Cute and Psycho: Satsuki "Sacchin" Yumizuka is as cheerful and cute as she is utterly bonkers. Her Establishing Character Moment in Chapter 35 has her happily cooking dinner for her little "brother" while encouraging him to follow through with his homicidal fantasies.
• Cuteness Proximity: Rise had to restrain herself from "[jumping] up and [squeezing] the cute out of [Ayane]" when she met her.
• Cute Sports Club Manager:
  • Chie was encouraged by the teachers into becoming one for Yasogami's soccer team. A bit of a Subversion because most of the soccer team is so unmotivated and lazy that they ended up bringing out her inner "dominatrix bananahead", prompting Chie to pick up the slack for their overworked and often absent advisor and basically take over as their de facto coach.
  • Ai Ebihara is even a harsher Subversion, who outright told the basketball team that she wasn't going to lift a finger for them despite being assigned as their manager.
• Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Taiga threatens Kotomine to keep himself away from Shirou and his family or she will "kill [him] with [her] shinai, unfeminine roar, and high heels."
• Damned by Faint Praise: Shirou's compliment of Yukiko's first attempt at cooking a boxed lunch. Their conversation briefly delved into Snark-to-Snark Combat due to his choice of words.
  Shirou: But I didn't pass out. That's a good sign of progress.
  Yukiko: Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.
• Damsel in Distress: Discussed:
  "Well then," Yosuke smiled. "Now we have a plan; Emiya fights, Teddie supports, I investigate, and Satonaka…" he paused as he stared at the lone girl of their party. "Well, try not to get kidnapped, alright?"
  "Ha-ha, very funny," said lone girl deadpanned.
• Dance Battler: Shadow Rise.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Shirou initially feared summoning the Persona Eligor due to his demonic roots as a Duke of Hell from the Ars Goetia, but he proved to be completely noble and badass during the Shadow Yukiko fight.
  Eligor: [to Charming Prince] If [[thou calls itself royalty, than accept death with dignity!
• Dartboard of Hate: A variant. In the third Fuyuki Gaiden, Ayako's practicing at Homurahara archery dojo and, annoyed at the mistaken but not totally incorrect idea that Shirou is too careless with his popularity with the opposite sex, she visualizes him as her target to shoot at, scoring a bullseye and delivering her arrow to the dead center of his imagined heart.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • The first "Fuyuki Gaiden" (right after chapter 21) is focused on Taiga (with expected results).
  • The second one (after chapter 26) follows Rin around.
  • The third Fuyuki Gaiden (after chapter 32) is narrated by Ayako.
  • The first Inaba Chorus is narrated by Yosuke, Yukiko, Rise, and Chie. Each of their sections focusing on themselves and Naoki, Yumi, Ayane, and the club captains Daisuke and Kou, respectively.
• Dead Man Walking: According to Satsuki, even if she hadn't killed and devoured Mitsuo, his repression of his Shadow into nonexistence would have led to an inevitable mental shutdown.
• Deadpan Snarker: Yosuke, probably even more than his canonical portrayal.
  Yosuke: [after seeing Shadow Chie's rejected form] And I thought I had issues.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Yu Narukami's parents died in the Fuyuki Fire.
  • Technically, Yu as well, since the fire effectively turned him into the Blank Slate Shirou emerged from.
  • Satsuki kills and devours Mitsuo after he fails to reconcile with his Shadow and unlock a Persona.
• Death Glare: According to Nyarlathotep, Philemon shot an impressive one at him when he mentioned Tatsuya Suou in the context "letting people making their choices by their own accord".
• Death of Personality: Except for his body, the Fuyuki Fire consumed everything Yu Narukami ever was, leaving only Blank Slate of a child that eventually grew into the person known as Shirou Emiya.
• Death Seeker: When the Team watches the Midnight Channel in Chapter 54, they see Satsuki's Shadow in what looks like a dungeon, wearing prison clothes, and ignoring the camera, outright begging for someone to kill her before she ends up killing someone else.
• Declaration of Protection:
  • Shirou to Yukiko in chapter 28 to try to allay her fears of encountering her kidnapper again, mirroring a similar Dialogue Tree choice from the game. The fact that he absolutely meant it while remaining matter-of-factly about it made Yukiko's skip a beat, blush and stammer all together.
  • Shirou to Rise during the fight against her Shadow, even though he didn't quite phrase it like that. His words greatly impressed her despite being the very first thing he said to her mere seconds after they met because her social skills and ability to read people told her he was completely honest about it and that his confidence wasn't feigned.
• Deconstruction Crossover:
  • Shirou's initial misgivings on the Social Link system are discussed in later chapters. After he tells Yosuke about it, the latter comments on the practicality of getting stronger without the risk of having to fight Shadows all the time by simply mingling and making friends, to say nothing of how easy would be to get a girlfriend if Shirou's Personas can simply coach him, Cyrano-style. Shirou instead points out how easily the power of the Wild Card can be abused and go to the wielder's head even way before taking combat into consideration.
    Shirou: Yosuke, you're missing the point. Say you had this power, and you used it to get closer to Satonaka. Your Chariot Persona would resonate with her, telling you what she feels and be a clue as to what to say to make her happy, and get closer to her. Then when the bond is strong enough, you go to the next person, like Amagi-san, and use a new Persona all over again. I did some reading, and if Social Links are really represented by the Major Arcana, then that means you could link with 22 different people representing an Arcana, not counting Thoth or Hermetic equivalents. So, if you want to make Links with all 22 people, what do you do?
    Yosuke: [smiles] I get their respective Personas and then tell them exactly what they want to hear. [realization hits, smile vanishes] Oooooooh.
    • Yosuke then argues that it won't happen because Shirou must've been given the ability because he wouldn't abuse it, thinking it more as an example of "Potentially Bad Powers, Good People".
    • This didn't go unnoticed In-Universe. It's implied that one of the reasons why Margaret insisted on forming a Social Link with Shirou is because she realized his reluctance towards the "Power of Bonds", which could have serious consequences later on in his journey. Shirou was impressed at her request, as he never expected "her of all people to put her money where her mouth was", and it seemed to work too as he didn't show any real reluctance to form a Social Link with Teddie the next chapter.
  • In the same vein Persona 4 deconstructs the protagonists' Character Archetypes, this story does the same with Taiga Fujimura and shows some of the inherent issues lurking just below such a typical anime-like personality if translated to real life. Specifically that someone with a Sensei-chan personality would be viewed as kind of pathetic rather than endearing.
• Delayed Reaction:
  • During the phone call where Dojima convinces Taiga to not bring Shirou back to Fuyuki after she learns about the first death of the murder case, he argues that Shirou is not in more danger than any of his friends in Inaba. Taiga hangs up and the narration veers in a different direction for a little while until she suddenly notices how odd it's for Shirou to make friends so quickly. She immediately phones back and finds out that he was walking home with two girls (Chie and Yukiko) after his first day at Yasogami, which prompts a second Delayed Reaction where she realizes that, even though Shirou's close acquaintances around his age are few and far between, most of them are good-looking girls, herself (shamelessly) included. Cue an Oh, Crap! reaction and heavy drinking at the idea of him growing up to be a womanizer.
    Taiga: …Oh who the hell am I kidding?! SHIROU'S A WOMANIZER! THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US!
  • From the second Fuyuki Gaiden, right after Rin's calm façade slips when she hears news of Shirou due to the negative effect that his absence has been having on Sakura so far.
    Ayako: Whoa, slow down there. You seem rather excited to see your boyfriend again.
    Rin: [Inner Monologue] Well, I wouldn't exactly— BOYFRIEND?!
• Deliberate Injury Gambit: Subverted. Kanji realized that Mitsuo was trying to get beat up by him on purpose. He instead decided to leave him unharmed, but not without calling the guy out with a short but scalding "Reason You Suck" Speech.
  Kanji: You're not worth beating up. There's no fun in pushing around a weakling, and I'm already in enough trouble as it is. Then there's probably the fact that you're trying to play martyr by getting me to fight you. Get beat up, call the cops, spin some sob story to them and blame everything on me, right?
• Demoted to Dragon: Mitsuo ends up having his role as the Disc-One Final Boss supplanted by his "sister", Satsuki, due to him working under her orders. While his Shadow is still fought in it's respective dungeon, it's downgraded to just being a powerful Mini-Boss much like Shadow Teddie in the aforementioned dungeon.
• Designated Villain: Invoked Izanami does this to herself. She creates Marie in order to remove her bias towards Shirou's victory in order to be an impartial judge and the villain Shirou needs to defeat in his desire to be a hero. She is also aware of Philemon and Nyarlothep's newest bet, yet she plays along because having Shirou in her test for mankind suits her plans.
• Destroy the Evidence: Dojima had a hunch that Rise's kidnapping might have gotten caught on tape by the outdated yet still functioning street cameras of the Yasoinaba Shopping District. He's proven right, but Adachi "accidentally" pushed the record button and taped over the relevant portion of the footage and the only clue Ryotaro was left with is the fact that the kidnapper drives a van.
• Determinator: Shirou as always, which is not always a good thing, like when persisting in finishing a Dungeon Crawling run despite he and the rest of the team being too tired to continue. Thankfully, he does listen to reason if nobody is in immediate danger.
• Dialogue Tree: Parodied. When Morooka orders Shirou and Yosuke to help the Student Health Association, the latter sees three options in his head: "Punch him", "Punch harder", "Kick him in the nads."
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Shirou and Teddie at times.
• Did You Actually Believe...?: Kanji was incredulous that Mitsuo would think him stupid enough to fall for a Deliberate Injury Gambit so he could get attention by Playing the Victim Card.
• Dirty Old Man: Among Yasogami's unique faculty, Shirou's least favorite teacher is not Morooka, but rather Mr. Yamada. Unlike King Moron who is a Stern Teacher whose caustic advice basically boils down to "work hard and don't blow it", the Geography teacher's flattery of his female students — especially Yukiko — skates too close to sexual harassment for Shirou's tastes.
• Discontinuity Nod:
  • Unlike the game, Margaret doesn't ask for money to recall a Persona from the Compendium. She does so the first time as a joke, though. Apparently, she simply wanted to see Shirou's reaction and his flabbergasted face didn't disappoint.
  • While Rise didn't manage to summon her Persona right away after accepting her Shadow, she still had a much easier time at in than Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko before her.
• Diving Save: Chie to Yosuke, pushing him out of the way of his Shadow's attack.
• Don't Go in the Woods: Exploited. The forest near Miyama is widely believed to be haunted and only thrill-seekers would likely go there. This is precisely the reason why Shirou fled to the forest when chased by Yomotsu-Ikusa and Yomotsu-Shikome. That way the fight could break out without Innocent Bystanders being caught in the middle.
• Don't Think, Feel: Taiga Fujimura didn't know what to do with herself and her newfound romantic feelings when saying goodbye to Shirou after his visit for Golden Week. In the end she advised herself to forgo conscious thinking and ended up kissing him on the cheek.
• Dope Slap:
  • Yosuke's go-to admonishment when Shirou is acting too Shirou-like. It started when the team leader had a Stay in the Kitchen moment with Chie to keep her out of the TV World.
  • Does it again when Shirou's Chronic Hero Syndrome regarding the wishing ema gets the better of him.
  • Shirou returns the favor in order to get Yosuke's head back in the game after getting distracted with his girlfriend, unknown to the both of them, laid some heavy hypnosis on him.
• Double Knockout: During the Mini-Boss fight of Marukyuu Striptease, the Persona Lilim Charmed Rain Wheel into attacking Rain Leg Musha, who refused to go down without a fight and leading both Shadows into their simultaneous defeat.
  Lilim: And that, my duckies, is what happens when an unstoppable wheelie meets an unmovable samurai. The. End.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Readers knowledgeable with Fate/stay night will notice right away why Shirou spending a year away from Sakura is a bad idea.
  • Related to the above, Shirou is absolutely convinced that he's never done anything to warrant a girl's romantic interest. About that…
  • Dojima asked Sakura about her parents once and things immediately got awkward. If you know about Fate/Zero, you'll realize that his faux pas was a lot bigger than he knew.
  • As it happened in canon, recurrent conflict in the story stems from the fact that people surrounding Shirou only slowly come to realize how truly distorted and borderline inhuman his Chronic Hero Syndrome really is. Any reader who previously played the Unlimited Blade Works route of the game may appreciate exactly how fitting and plain wrong is for a person with an unique and highly-functional personality disorder that makes him derive happiness only by helping others, especially by saving them from immediate danger, like Shirou to be in the shoes of the protagonist of Persona 4.
  • Tohsaka is honestly impressed and a little jealous how easily Sakura can put on a cold and distant façade to keep normal people away as a magus is wont to, not having a clue why that's the case.
  • There is a more lighthearted example in chapter 22, where Shirou promises to teach Chie how to prepare a lunchbox. The poor unsuspecting fool.
  • In chapter 31, Adachi "accidentally" taped over the street footage of the kidnapper taking an unconscious Rise into a van. Although unstated in the text, readers who played/watched Persona 4 to the end know there's no way that didn't happened on purpose.
  • The third Fuyuki Gaiden reveals that Taiga is planning on taking a leave of absence for the rest of the school year and moving to Inaba as soon as she can set her businesses in order in Fuyuki. Shirou and the rest of the town don't suspect a thing.
  • Yosuke finally gets a girlfriend! Too bad she's Satsuki "Sacchin" Yumizuka and he doesn't have a clue the mess he's in.
• Dream Walker: Shirou experiences dreams involving his active Social Links just like the Player Character in Persona 4. In this story and to his great chagrin, his Personas of the matching Arcana can see and remember all the rather silly/embarrassing stuff that tends to happen in them, like him rescuing Taiga from a Kotomine-styled dungeon and Chie from a Flygon (really).
• Dropping the Bombshell:
  • Margaret casually dispels Shirou's misconception about her and Igor being magi.
  • Rise announces her retirement from showbiz to a large live audience during her concert in Okina City.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: While he understand the need for secrecy, Yosuke would rather people to know about the supernatural heroics he and his friends get up to. Interestingly, this isn't less about him being a Glory Seeker and more about a desire for his normal life to give him a break for once for all the danger he faces in the TV World.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Discussed and unsuccessfully invoked. After Shirou ran away from her and the Dojimas without any apparent reason at all, Taiga followed after him but she lost his trail once he walked into a forest. Then she improvised to lure him out.
  Taiga: [loudly] Dammit Shirou this isn't funny! You made Nanako-chan cry, you jerk! [thinking] It was probably a stretch of the truth, but Shirou always had a weakness for sad young girls. It was a hero thing.
• Ear Ache: How Yukiko defused the fight between Kanji and Shirou in chapter 28 before it could really get started. To say that Kanji and his ear weren't amused would be a gross understatement.
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • In chapter 14, while the initial three are waiting for Shirou to complete his Magic Circuit they hear rattling chains, signifying the possible appearance of a Reaper.
  • Naoto makes an early appearance in chapter 23, a little after the start of Golden Week in the game's timeline. Shirou bumps into the P.I. because he let Nanako drag him around during the girl's first visit to a train station as big and crowded as Fuyuki's.
  • Rin's Day in the Limelight in the second Fuyuki Gaiden can be considered one of her.
  • The Shadows Nice Guy and Tough Guy appear at the entrance of Kanji's dungeon, but they don't really hamper their advance at this point.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Everyone has elemental weaknesses and strengths, so as a whole the party tries to cover one another when an enemy attempts to use it against them.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Turns out that Rin's Walking Tech Bane status isn't a very well kept secret from Ayako, who gives her the appropriate nickname of Analog.
• Empty Chair Memorial: The spare chair next to the kitchen table at the Dojimas', as Shirou discovered the first morning the three of them ate breakfast together. After an uncomfortable moment, Ryotaro defused the situation by reminding Nanako that her late mother surely wouldn't mind Shirou, her nephew, using it.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • Shirou tries to explain the many supernatural phenomena he finds in Inaba with his limited knowledge of thaumaturgy. For example, he mistook the TV World for an extensive Boundary Field and Igor for a magus.
  • It's not only Shirou. Sakura and Kirei thought that the entities that attacked Shirou during Golden Week (Yomotsu-Shikome and Yomotsu-Ikusa) were Wraiths.
  • From her phone conversations with Dojima and Shirou, Taiga thinks Shirou has become a womaniser. This causes her to start drinking heavily. It only gets worse when she mistakes Shirou's description of Chie for herself (see I Have This Friend below for the details).
  • Tohsaka's poorly thought-out excuse for her interest in Shirou's return to Fuyuki and the Archery Club — actually due to how badly Sakura has been missing him — made Ayako come up with the theory that they dated before he moved to Inaba. See Mistaken for Romance below.
• Epic Fail: "Operation Up Close and Personal" manages to be even a bigger fiasco for Yosuke than in canon, which is impressive considering that his scooter doesn't get totalled this time around. Unlike Yu Narukami, Shirou saw his friend's plan for the waste of time it was and decided to shop around Okina Station and acquaint himself with the town's layout instead. Not only Yosuke made a bigger fool of himself standing alone by his "motorcycle", but also the next thing he knows of Shirou is when he catches sight of a cute and well-endowed girl their age pushing a piece of paper into the redhead's hands and giving him a "call me" hand gesture.
  Shirou: Are you okay?
  Yosuke: [too emotionally drained to raise his voice] Just peachy. After all, I sat under the sun doing nothing for three hours, and you were invited to go kickboxing with a girl. Guys do not just get invited to kickboxing with total strangers.
  Shirou: [fights back the urge to point out the obvious hypocrisy]
  Yosuke: But I guess it's okay. I mean, she's beautiful, young, and full. Soooo full. And unless you had another miraculous recovery or some bullshit luck, there's no way you could have touched her breasts or something, right?
  Shirou: [winces guiltily] Uh, well, about that...
  Yosuke: [Eye Twitch] I hate you. I hate you so… soooo… soooo much.
• Establishing Character Moment: The very first thing the Persona Lilim does after Shirou Fused her was try to seduce him without a care for Igor and Margaret unconcernedly watching the whole thing. The same scene also serves as this trope for the Persona Angel, whose first known action in the story is to summon herself to play cockblock and advise Shirou against debauchery.
• Everyone Can See It: Kou Ichijo's crush on Chie. Played With in that she does notice how nervous and awkward he's around her, but given that she and Yukiko hang out together pretty much all the time and how much of a Dude Magnet the latter is, Chie wrote him off as yet another "Yukiko fanboy" and mistakes any sign of his attraction to her as one for Yukiko.
• Evil Learns of Outside Context: Satsuki was originally unaware of the TV world and Personas, but once she and her "brother" end up in it, she quickly plots to use it to her advantage and try to awaken his Persona after dealing with the Investigation Team.
• Expy: The Persona Pixie is a huge one to Navi and pretty much a homage to every bratty Fairy Companion ever.
• Face Palm: Yosuke, often because of Shirou.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Probably as a nod to the game where Chie is used to Railroad the MC into teaming up with Yukiko for the first stakeout, she realizes in chapter 28 that she can either a) accompany Shirou to Okina City to follow Kanji around and leave her best friend in Yosuke's company or b) stay with Yosuke and miss her chance for an investigation-justified date with her crush. In the end, she picks the latter.
• The Fair Folk: Shirou's second Persona, Pixie, is one of these, and she can think and talk on her own. As a magus, Shirou's well aware of the non-Disneyfied myths surrounding entities like her and considers Pixie as the closest thing he'll ever meet to a well-meaning fey — even though she's rather fond of calling him an idiot. And because she is one of the Fair Folk, she knows about Avalon. She even has a You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! moment when she realizes that it was in Shirou's body this whole time and he didn't even know about it.
  Pixie: Well, the best way would be to take that golden sheath out of your body and put it in your friend!
  Shirou: [blinks in confusion] What golden sheath?
• Fairy Companion: The Persona Pixie genuinely tries to fulfill the role and be helpful, but she tends to get sidetracked on her own musings and complain about humans.
• Fake Memories: Satsuki used her Mystic Eyes to make Mitsuo believe she's his sister and that his parents are away in a second honeymoon.
• Falling Chandelier of Doom: Shadow Yukiko used one of these in her fight to take Yosuke out of it.
• Fandom Nod: Ayane's Blush Stickers reminds Rise of Pikachu, which is a common In-Joke among the Persona 4 fandom, resulting in quips like "Ayane, I choose you!"^note a reference to the fact the player has to choose between her and Yumi as the Social Link of the Sun Arcana or that Ayane is about to "evolve" whenever she actually blushes.
• Fastball Special: Chie does this to herself by having her Persona boost her up for a high kick against Shadow Kanji.
• Fatal Attractor: Yosuke. He discovered that Saki (probably) hated his guts after she died, two girls he's been at least physically attracted to (Yukiko and Rise) only have eyes for his best friend, and when he finally gets a Relationship Upgrade, it turns out that his first girlfriend is a freaking vampire.
• Fee Fi Faux Pas:
  • Yosuke chastises Shirou for trying to keep Chie from going back to the TV World to rescue Yukiko with the line "That world is no place for a girl". Actually something of a Subversion. Chie was naturally annoyed with Shirou for coddling her, but a bigger part of her was overjoyed that someone was treating her with the same care and deference that guys usually reserve only for Yukiko.
  • During the family trip to Fuyuki, Dojima asks Sakura if her parents are really okay with her staying so late at Shirou's house and she explains that her brother and grandfather won't mind as long as she gets back before dinnertime. Dojima takes the hint and decides to avoid the topic of her parents from then and on. If you know her backstory, you'll realize it's a whole lot worse than that.
• Female Gaze: In Chapter 34, when Shirou strips for a swim.
  When that was done, Shirou then bent over to remove his shoes and sweat pants, revealing a pair of orange trunks underneath. Stopping above his knees, they allowed a good view of his strong calves. Chie was stuck staring between his leg muscles and his rear end, but stuck to the latter as he bent lower. Another thought circled her overheating head, and it was "Huminahuminahuminahuminahuminahumina…"
• First-Name Basis:
  • In the heat of the moment, Shirou called Rise by her first name as he reassured her that the Investigation Team was going to save her from her Shadow, making quite an impression on her because people are usually only interested in "Risette". Afterwards he kept doing it without giving it much thought as it's also the case with Sakura, which Rise took as her cue to call him "Shirou-kun" in return.
  • It must be noted that a guy calling a girl by her given name or vice versa is a pretty big deal in Japan and it's usually done only between lovers or family members, something that Chie and Yukiko awkwardly pointed out to Rise at the campout. The fact the former idol not only was A-OK with this, but also considered being on first-name basis with Shirou a point of pride, didn't do Chie's self-esteem issues any favors.
• First-Person Smartass:
  • Shirou in the visual novel, especially the sequel. Increasingly Subverted here as hanging out with the Investigation Team and their colorful and silliness-prone personalities brings more and more of his snark from his narration to his dialogue.
  • Being his "Other Selves", Shirou's Personas took after the guy and are a Talking to Themself version of this trope, basically providing him with a whole mental peanut gallery of Snarky Non-Human Sidekicks that only he can hear in the real world.
• Flat "What":
  • Shirou, Yosuke and Chie's reaction to Shadow Yukiko's Midnight Channel special.
  • Shirou's reaction to summoning a Duke of Hell, Eligor of the Chariot Arcana.
• Fluffy the Terrible: Charming Prince gets nicknamed "Prince-kun" by Yukiko.
• Foil: Shirou and Mitsuo of all people. They both have messed-up ideas of what it means to be a hero, but while Shirou cares nothing for recognition and is surrounded by normal people who keep him grounded and work together with him to rescue people, Mitsuo is an Attention Whore who has the support of a Lady Macbeth and literal monster encouraging him to make his fantasies a bloody reality by exterminating the "villains" he thinks the world is best without.
• Follow the White Rabbit: While following after Shirou who was running away without apparent reason at all, Taiga encountered the same blue butterfly that previously led her to find proof of the identity of Shirou's biological parents. Trusting her gut, she broke into a mad chase after it that ended with her meeting a tree, shoulder first, losing conciousness and waking up in time to be attacked by her Shadow Self.
• Food as Bribe: Shirou treats Izumi Aoyama to udon after their Accidental Pervert moment in chapter 33. Her Growling Gut didn't leave her with much room to refuse.
• The Fool: The Wild Card, as expected of the Tarot Motif. Shirou matches the archetype particularly well in social interactions, where his painfully honest and oblivious ways accomplish quite a lot, which is not always for the best. Following the Tarot Motifs, it's been suggested by Word of God that Shirou can be considered a Reversed Fool and that part of Shirou's Character Development will be righting himself.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The first time Shirou fully summoned Izanagi, he had a vision of Igor and Margaret just like Yu in the anime, but he also caught a glimpse of "a glowing sheath surrounded in darkness, and a girl standing in an open green meadow", which are Avalon and Saber just like Shirou oneirically saw them in the visual novel pre- and post-dream cycle, respectively.
  • When Shirou stuck his head into a TV for the first time, the landscape morphed into a Field of Blades.
  • The Persona Pixie, as one of The Fair Folk, recognized Avalon's presence in Shirou's body.
  • Taiga tends to overreact at the idea of Shirou becoming a womaniser and get annoyed at the suggestions that their relationship doesn't really look like one between siblings nor one expected of a legal guardian and her ward. Later on her Shadow revealed that Taiga's feelings for Shirou aren't a clear-cut example of familial affection.
  • The fox reacted with utmost joy when given the name "Tama-chan" by the Investigation Team. See Mythology Gag page for a possible reason why.
    Shirou: [aloud] It does have a nice ring to it. [thinking] Tama the fox. It actually sounded familiar, but [he] couldn't remember why.
  • Shinji Matou, with his usual charm, commented in chapter 5 that Shirou may have a chance with the ladies now that the redhead will be away from him, but that "it would be a rainy day in Inaba before [Shirou] could snag someone like Risette, let alone any other babe". Twenty-seven chapters later, Shirou meets Rise in Inaba/TV World (on a rainy day to boot) and makes such a powerful first impression on the girl that Yosuke was left enviously snarking about why didn't Shirou just went and proposed to her for good measure.
  • Teddie has a surprising good understanding of magecraft. He learned Reinforcement by watching Shirou and once called magi "technologically repressed fuddy-duddies", which caught the magus' attention because he never quite mentioned that trait of their culture around the bear.
  • Naoto apparently had a habit of making a "Spirit Gun" as a kid by painting runes on their hand.
• Forgotten Birthday: The last straw that pushes Rise to retire is that the only person who remembers her birthday is her grandmother.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • Word of God says that Chie's presence during the second trip to the TV World on April 15th (the fight against Shadow Yosuke) will have consequences throughout all the storyline.
  • In the game, Ryotaro Dojima had to cancel the family outing on Golden Week because of an unsolved ATM robbery. Here, the thieves were captured before they could flee (see Badass Bystander entry above), allowing the trip to take place as planned. Their chosen destination ended up being Fuyuki city.
  • Unlike canon, Kirei Kotomine meets Shirou well before the Holy Grail War at a time when it's obvious that the adoptive son of Kiritsugu Emiya is foolishly yet earnestly following the latter's ideals^note this takes place not long after Yukiko's rescue, the first big achievement of the Investigation Team. The sight of it seems to rub Kirei the wrong way to the point he can't resist telling him about Kiritsugu's past as the Magus Killer. His words affected Shirou a lot, but Kirei also clued him in on several things he didn't have much chance of finding out on his own and paved the way for Taiga to become more than the Unwitting Muggle Friend.
  • Shirou's magus skills made him an obvious choice to stalk/guard Kanji unnoticed, which ended up inverting the line-up for first stakeout operation. This time Chie and Yosuke watched Tatsumi Textiles while the team leader and Yukiko followed Kanji and Naoto around. They still got caught but only because the detective spotted Yukiko and recognized her from her speculated involvement as a surviving victim of the murder case.
  • Rise getting kidnapped and rescued before Kanji allowed her to enroll into Yasogami early enough to attend to the school campout. For his part Kanji opted for skipping it as he tried to in the game, and thanks to the fact he didn't miss three full weeks of school because of the TV World this time around, the teachers didn't force him to participate as in canon.
  • It seems Shirou makes for a better "vessel" for Kagutsuchi than Teddie or Sho Minazuki, his presence alone in Inaba seeming sufficient for him to change his plans from the ones in the game. Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you realize their "births" makes them no different from each other, even though they took completely opposite lessons from the experience.
  • Because of Shirou's actions, Shadow Teddie isn't encountered until Mitsuo's dungeon, having thrown his lot in with Satsuki, and by the time he appears he's already encountered Teddie and had him reject him.
• The Four Loves: Referenced by one of Shirou's Personas after Taiga gave him a goodbye peck on the cheek before he took the train back to Inaba.
  Cu Sith: Amore, Cu Shirou. Hints of love and affection are evident in the one you call sister. It's all kinds as well. Family Storge is most evident, followed by platonic Agape, affectionate Phileo, and... is that a hint of Eros I smell?
• Freak Out: Played for Laughs. Taiga had three of these, each episode more severe than the one before, during her Day in the Limelight in the first Fuyuki Gaiden at the mistaken realization that: 1) Shirou could grow up to be a womanizer, 2) already be one and 3) might have just tried to "womanize her".
• Freud Was Right: Shirou notices in Chapter 35 that the Shadow Selves the Investigation Team has met so far consistently express their interest in "over the top sexcapades into the unknown," which he encapsulates into the line "libido issues".
• From Bad to Worse: Played for laughs. Class 2-2 realizes that as much as they didn't like Morooka, they really don't like Kashiwagi. Some even seeing it as Laser-Guided Karma for some wanting the beligerant teacher dead.
• Fusion Fic: Shirou takes the place of the Silent Protagonist of Persona 4 who "died" in the Fuyuki Fire this time around.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • Similarly to the Servants' status menu in the visual novel, Shirou can visualize information about one of his Personas as a RPG-like status screen by using Structural Analysis on the Persona Card.
    Shirou: It feels like I'm in some sort of video game…
  • In the game, bringing a Persona of the matching Arcana to a Social Link event speeds up its development. In this story, this is because said Persona can actually speak and advise Shirou in his head or, as it happened with Pixie in chapter 20, let him know when he's messing things up.
  • When the Investigation Team tried to fight the Contrarian King without Shirou, things got so bad that they had to scram. This makes a lot of sense once you consider how the battle plays out in the game: Contrarian King is immune to wind, absorbs fire and resists physical attacks, meaning that the only way a Yosuke/Chie/Yukiko party of that level could efficiently hurt him is Chie's ice attacks, which the boss is weak to in the Updated Re-release. Persona 4 being an Atlus game, this is in fact a bad strategy because Chie's Persona is a Magically Inept Fighter with a low Magic stat and Contrarian King's AI is coded to use his That One Attack more frequently if knocked down by a weakness.
  • Persona Users with a low Luck Stat have a higher chance to be inflicted with a Status Effects. This could explain why Yosuke can fall for Satsuki's Hypnotic Eyes, whereas Shirou and Taiga can't be hypnotized by her and Kotomine, respectively.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man:
  • Shirou was in the receiving end of this trope during Yukiko's rescue. Twice. Yosuke and then Chie slapped him out of his Heroic BSoD. The first time, Charming Prince used a Fear-inducing skill that forced his memories of the Fuyuki Fire to resurface. With the experience still fresh in his mind, he suffered a similar episode later at the sight of a big conflagration caused by Shadow Yukiko.
  • In The Inner Child, Kirei threw one of his Black Keys at Shirou during their Back-to-Back Badasses fight to snap him out of the Fear-inducing trance right before Yomotsu-Shikome could finish him off with a Mudo spell.
• Gone Horribly Right:
  • Shirou's encouraging words to Chie were so effective that they worked against the Investigation Team during their confrontation with her Shadow because it was him saying them. As an unfiltered outlet of her feelings, Shadow Chie positively relished the fact Shirou didn't think ill of her because of the dirty secrets she already revealed, making her crush on him all too obvious and prompting Chie to freak out at the thought of Yosuke and Teddie figuring it out too. As a result, Chie's rejection of her Shadow soon ensued. Unsurprisingly, Shirou took the hint and minded what he said for the rest of the fight.
  • Played for Laughs in the third Fuyuki Gaiden. Homurahara Kendo Club needed a sparring partner above their level to improve their swordsmanship and one of their members decides to ask the "Tiger of Fuyuki" for help, realizing too late why nobody else did just that before. Taiga heeds the request earnestly and basically takes over of the club's captaincy to shape them up with her characteristic shinai-wielding enthusiasm.
    Kendo Club Member 1: This is all your fault, you know.
    Kendo Club Member 2: My fault?!
    Kendo Club Member 1: You had to blab out loud that Fujimura-sensei is a kendoka, and now she's running us ragged in these sessions!
    Kendo Club Member 2: Well, Sensei was upset about our last match and really wanted us to shape up. I didn't think the rumors around "The 'T' of Fuyuki" were true!
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: Angel and Lilim have this interpersonal dynamics going on and, among other things, they disagree on Shirou's love life. Notably his Personas sure know how to pitch their cases to the aspirant hero — Angel argues that "heroes of the past have an unfortunate track record of acting on impulse than chastity" and Lilim points out that a big part of a hero's mystique is how sexually attractive they are.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Invoked by Shadow Teddie when he tells Shirou that he's determined to stop him from uncovering the truth about the murders. When Shirou asks wjhy he'd stop them and just stand by while innocent people die, Shadow Teddie notes that Shurou really has to ask, he wouldn't understand it even if told.
• Good Counterpart: Though probably not intentional, Yosuke comes off as Shinji Matou's, he's basically what Shinji would be if he was actually redeemable or even vaguely likeable. When Yosuke even learns about Shinji, he immediately approves of Shirou decking the bastard in the face in retribution for bruising Sakura.
• Got Volunteered: Shirou and Yosuke into helping with Health Week at Yasogami. All courtesy of King Moron, of course.
• Gratuitous Spanish: How Taiga greets the Dojimas to Shirou's house in chapter 23. Considering that the characters speak Japanese and Taiga's an English teacher, this is probably also an example of Keep It Foreign.
  Taiga: We're here! Casa de Emiya!
• Greater-Scope Villain: In the prologue we find out that Nyarlathotep has taken Angra Mainyu's place in the Holy Grail via Loophole Abuse.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Many of the early Investigation Team members are secretly envious of certain trait of another member. Their Shadows love spilling the beans.
  • Defied by Shirou who decided to never let Shinji know that he's now friends with Rise.
• Groin Attack: Probably due to their size and in retribution for almost strangling her, Chie consistently aimed at Shadow Kanji and his Elite Mooks' groins during the Boss Battle against them.
• Growing Up Sucks: In a rather depressing scene, Shadow Taiga reveals that she would rather stay in the best years of her life, which was during high school and before her maturity was called into question. That's part of the reason why she became a teacher, only to discover that even teenagers think poorly of her and her antics.
• Growling Gut:
  • The trigger of the Romantic Spoonfeeding scene below.
  • Izumi Aoyama wanted to complain about Shirou's attempt to use Food as Bribe against her, but her tummy accepted his invitation in her stead.
• Guardian Angel: The Persona Angel is a self-proclaimed example for Shirou and wants to lead him down the path of righteousness. Also very fond of Nanako, but too much of a prude by Lilim's standards. Then again, most people are Sour Prudes by Lilim's standards.
• Handsome Lech: As mentioned in Casanova Wannabe, Yosuke is a would be ladies' man, the problem is his canon "pure disappointment when he opens his mouth" which immediately removes any real suitors from following up and he would even mess up with shallow girls as noted by both Lilim and Rise.
• Happy-Ending Massage: Tough Guy certainly made it sound like Shirou knew how to use his hands, as the girls in the team definitely noticed.
• Harem Genre: Discussed. The Persona Angel has very strong negative opinions on the genre for obvious reasons. Lilim likes to compare Shirou's life to one but isn't that fond of it either. According to Word of God, Lilim doesn't like how such stories gets stuck in the Will They or Won't They? instead of having the protagonist have his way with his Love Interests.
• Harem Seeker:
  • Lilim is one by proxy who wants Shirou to Marry Them All — or at the very least "snag" them all. The interesting part is that she's one of Shirou's Personas, meaning that probably there is a deeply buried part of his mind that wishes for such a thing.
  • On the other hand, Angel in an Inversion who hates the Harem Genre with a passion and exhorts Shirou to aim for a monogamous relationship. Being also one of his Personas, it could be that another, more vocal part of his mind rejects the idea of him playing the field.
• Heads or Tails?: How Chie opted for becoming the Cute Sports Club Manager of the soccer team instead of the basketball team at Yasogami.
• Healing Factor: As in canon, Shirou has one by virtue of Avalon. Pixie points out that this is all that's stopped him from killing himself for the last five years by healing the damage done to his nerves whenever he forges a Magic Circuit.
• Hearing Voices: How Shirou interacts with his Personas in the real world. Interestingly, they can't hear his thoughts unlike other Spirit Advisors in fiction, so to talk back to them he actually has to speak aloud or at least whisper loud enough for them to listen his voice through his ears.
• Heel Realization: Downplayed. Yukiko had one when she realized just how horrible her cooking really was when Shirou insisted in her tasting her own handmade lunch, and how bad was for her and Chie to insist in having him and Yosuke eat their (even worse) curry during the campout.
• Heh Heh, You Said "X": The way how Shirou promised to cure Chie and Yukiko of their Lethal Chef tendencies got Lilim giggling.
  Shirou: [in full Serious Business Supreme Chef mode] However I do agree that last night was the worst meal I have ever eaten. I vow to later pound out any bad habits and fill you up on proper techniques so that you may pass as adequate cooks. Is that understood?
  [Chie, Yukiko and even Rise blush]
  Lilim: Teeheehee! Get it, Angel? He said "pound"!
  Angel: Yes, Lilim, I heard.
  Lilim: And in the same sentence, he even said "fill—"
  Angel: Yes, yes, I heard that too.
• Heir to the Dojo: The Mitsuzuri family has a great tradition of martial arts with a history that goes back to several samurai clans around the Heian Period. Ayako is the current heir apparent and her specialties in decreasing order of prowess are naginatado, kyudo and more recently kendo.
• Helpless Good Side: Satsuki's Shadow is to this to her regular self. Given It's implied to be what remains of her humanity, its existence reveals that deep down she is horrified by what she has become and the amount of people she's killed to the point of longing for someone to finally finish her off before she takes another life.
• He-Man Woman Hater: Daisuke Nagase, the captain of Yasogami's soccer team, as in canon. Although he gets along just fine with Chie, their new Cute Sports Club Manager, because he sees her as One of the Boys and can't help but appreciate how her Drill Sergeant Nasty routine helps to whip the team into shape.
• Heroic BSoD: Played for Laughs when Yosuke saw Shadow Kanji's Midnight Channel Special.
  Yosuke: So, uh… dude. Yeah, like… dude! What I mean is… DUDE!
  Shirou: Meet up tomorrow at Junes? Dude?
  Yosuke: Huh? Y-Yeah, sure, du- I mean, yeah, see you tomorrow.
  • Played more seriously and also downplayed when Yosuke finds out that his new girlfriend, Satsuki, is a vampire. He's not outright in denial about it, but until Shadow Teddie outight confirms it, he's still hoping that it wasn't actually the case.
• Heroic Build: While no description has been given yet, Shirou is stated to have a toned body that can be easily hidden.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Teddy has a case of this when it comes to his worth. When he can't help the group, it gets worse.
• Hero-Worshipper: Rise towards Shirou, who uniquely within the Investigation Team got to know him first when in full Determinator Chronic Hero Syndrome mode, which made quite the impression on her and she even privately called him "Hero-kun" before getting used to his name. Interestingly for this trope, Rise seems to admire Shirou because he tries to help people despite his shortcomings and not only as result of the awesome things he pulled off while fighting her Shadow.
• Hitler Ate Sugar: It's revealed to the reader in chapter 26 that Yomotsu-Shikome and Yomotsu-Ikusa's attack against Shirou was a case of guiltiness by association and Loophole Abuse. Nyarlathotep "poked some bitter souls" to act on their ancient grudge on Izanagi (i.e. not Shirou, therefore fulfilling the letter of his non-interference agreement with Philemon) and they attacked him only because he's his host of sorts as a Persona User.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Amorous Snake used Stagnant Air to make it easier for it to Charm one of the party members and turn him or her against the rest of the Investigation Team. Lilim took advantage of the fact the Stagnant Air affects foe and friend equally to return the favor and Charmed another Shadow into defeating Amorous Snake for her.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Sans the "sub-" part unlike canon. With the characteristic subtlety of her kind, Shadow Yukiko outright stated that if Chie were her "prince", she'd be "willing to try something new". Everybody present, even Shirou, turned to the real Yukiko for clarification but then Shadow Yukiko dismissed Chie as unfit for the role for reasons similar to the ones from canon plus what she learned from Shadow Chie's confessions (the latter due to the events of the altered timeline).
• Hope Spot: Just when it looks like Chie managed to accept her Shadow without a fight, the latter breaks into a knowing smirk and systematically tears apart her confession, denouncing how Chie was mostly paying lip service to acquire her own Persona instead of being motivated by genuine acknowledgement of her repressed feelings.
• Hormone-Addled Teenager: Except for Shirou and his "shonen hero"-level denseness, the whole Investigation Team as of chapter 34 is this. Kind of unavoidable given that they're all mostly normal 16-17 year old high schoolers or a Casanova Wannabe of a bear.
• Horrifying the Horror: Kotomine actually drives fear into Yomotsu-Ikusa during their battle.
• Hot as Hell: Lilim, dangerous sex demons from Judeo-Christian lore. As Shirou's Persona and just like Eligor, Lilim has his best interests in mind, giving her a more Dark Is Not Evil characterization. However, given her particular sense of values, what she considers best for Shirou happens to involve him having his way with "any and EVERY girl he could want", which doesn't sit well with the guy.
  Lilim: I think I'll hang around if your life is like an episode from a harem show.
  Shirou: My life is not a harem show!
• House Husband: Yukiko remembered a dream of Shirou as this trope to her during the girls' Slumber Party at the school campout.
• How Do I Shot Web?:
  • During his first battle after obtaining Jiraiya, Yosuke discovered that summoning one's Persona wasn't as easy as Shirou made it look. And no, Calling Your Attacks doesn't really help. On the bright side, even when unsummoned the possession of a Persona grants a considerable enhancement to his physical skill, particularly true for speed and reflexes in his case, which allowed him to get by until he figured out how to summon.
  • Shirou himself struggles with performing Persona Fusions on his own, but he doesn't really complain because he's used to Magikarp his way up power. For example, when his first attempt to fuse Ippon-Datara resulted in a Fusion Accident that got him Sarasvati instead, he was just glad to obtain a Persona of the High Priestess Arcana for Yukiko's Social Link.
• Human Shield: Shadow Rise falls back to this when Shirou and his magecraft pushed her into a corner.
• The Hyena: Deconstructed. Yukiko is prone to laughing fits at the oddest of times, something that once put the whole team in danger during the fight against Shadow Rise. Shirou tersely chewed her out for getting distracted in a life-and-death situation and to bring her attention back to the battle, but by then the damage was already done. Her loss of focus made her waste a precious opportunity to heal Yosuke and Chie and forced Shirou to fight the Shadow practically on his own for a while in order to keep the enemy from targeting the rest while they were still vulnerable.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Yosuke comes off as this to Shirou, especially in social and detective situations.
• Hypnotic Eyes: Satsuki has them as part of her Dead Apostle skill set. Notably, she used them to give Mitsuo Fake Memories, like making him believe she's his sister and that his parents are away in a second honeymoon.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: While a Casanova Wannabe and Hormone-Addled Teenager like Yosuke probably shouldn't be giving relationship advice, he's not wrong when he told Shirou that doing nothing while Chie, Yukiko and Rise keep pining for him wasn't a good idea (not that Shirou had even realized the situation until that moment). Lampshaded by Pixie:
  Pixie: For once, Yosuke has a point.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • Shirou's remarks on Naoto after their first meeting. Taiga, naturally, couldn't let that one go.
    Shirou: [about Naoto] What a strange boy.
    Taiga: I don't know. He kinda reminded me of you.
    Shirou: Don't be ridiculous, Fuji-nee.
    Taiga: Polite, blunt, a workaholic—
    Shirou: Let's just hurry home.
  • After "Operation Up Close and Personal" crashed and burned, Yosuke gets mad at Shirou because the Clueless Chick-Magnet just went and got a beautiful girl's number. Never mind the fact he invited Shirou to Okina City with the stated purpose of picking up girls.
  • Chie, Yukiko and Rise found it wrong on many levels when Yosuke tried to convince them to wear the swimsuits he brought for them for the School Campout. They turned to leave without a further word when Shirou simply started to strip down to his swimming trunks because their Stupid Sexy Friend and team leader was actually on board with the idea of taking a dip in the mountain river. The girls wordlessly did a complete 180 and snagged all the swimsuits out of the other guy's hands and change into them because they realized the playing along with Yosuke's hormone-addled plan meant that they could stay and indulge themselves with the eye candy too.
  • Shirou once commented on the unsubtle sexual imaginary invoked by Shadow Selves and chalked it up to "libido issues." The Persona Lilim — who's for all intents and purposes a succubi that sprung forth from his own subconscious — retorted that's rich coming from the team's "magic stud."
• Identity Amnesia:
  • Shirou, who completely forgot that he was once known as Yu Narukami prior to the Fuyuki Fire.
  • Marie as per canon for Persona 4: The Golden, who was found first by the police instead of the Velvet Room this time around.
• I Gave My Word: Shirou promises to give Shadow Kanji's Elite Mooks — Nice Guy and Tough Guy — a massage if they let the Investigation Team explore the Steamhouse unimpeded. Let's just say Yosuke wished Shirou wasn't a man of his word.
  Yosuke: How the hell did I get roped into this?!
• Ignorance Is Bliss: Shadow Teddie strongly promotes this view, even dropping the trope name and mentioning how the Clock Tower and Church do whatever it takes to keep their secrets hidden from the masses.
• I Have This Friend: Chapter 22 has an amusing Subversion. Taiga called Shirou to check on him and, at her insistence, he asked her for advice on this love problem of his where he accidentally discovered that a girl had a crush on him in less-than-ideal circumstances. Reluctant to outright say Chie's name or speak of the other things he learned from her Shadow, but aware that Taiga needed a least a little bit of information on her to work with having never meet Chie before, Shirou gave his surrogate sister a rough description of the girl that happened to match Taiga's almost spot on. This created an One Dialogue, Two Conversations situation where Taiga thought Shirou heard some off-color gossip about her and himself going around due to all the time she spends at his house and that he was using this trope as a roundabout way to make her confess or deny the rumors. Cue hilarious Freak Out involving the phone call being cut short and lots of booze.
  Taiga: [screaming in her mind] I REFUSE TO BE WOMANIZED!
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
  • Yomotsu-Ikusa runs Kotomine through with a spear. The man pulls it out and breaks it.
  • Shirou finishes off Shadow Rise with the Boom, Headshot! version of this trope.
• Indirect Kiss: Defied. After sharing some of her instant noodles with Shirou, Chie realizes that this trope will come into effect the moment she puts her chopsticks in her mouth. After Yosuke mentions the new meat menu at Junes, she jumps at the opportunity to eat steak and gives the rest of her soba bowl to Shirou.
• Inexplicable Treasure Chests: The Investigation Team is surprised to find these in Yukiko's Castle. Noticing the obvious parallels to videogames, Yosuke is at first excited at the possibility of finding new weapons or valuables, but the spoils turned out to be real world stuff that somehow find its way into the TV World for the most part.
• Informed Ability:
  • Averted. Taiga's Character Development after confronting her Shadow and taking a step away from her Growing Up Sucks mindset incidentally makes her Master Swordsman status take a more prominent role than in the visual novel where it comes to the fore maybe once per route and only serves to underscore just how superior Saber's skill is compared to normal people. Notably, she becomes the de facto captain's of Homurahara's Kendo Club and Ayako takes the opportunity to learn swordsmanship from her.
  • Also Averted with Satsuki Yumizuka's Mystic Eyes of Enchantment. In Tsukihime, the fledgling vampire barely used her then-unnamed Hypnotic Eyes once when she unsuccessfully tried to make Shiki hers, and only in some of the routes. Here, Satsuki relies on them for Undead Tax Exemption purposes, like making Mitsuo believe she's his sister so she can have a place to stay in Inaba, and even uses them to make the shadows in Mitsuo's dungeon obey her. Later she demonstrates how powerful she is by using them on the Investigation Team, forcing them to unhand Mitsuo.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl:
  • Shirou is the Spear Counterpart of this trope due to his Clueless Chick-Magnet tendencies and his compete obliviousness to the effect his trained physique has on the fairer sex (and Yosuke).
  • Marie's No Social Skills shine through more than her blunt manner of speech, like her lack of acquired behaviors a girl of her apparent age would have such as sitting in a way that won't give a guy (Shirou) an upskirt view the first time she meets him.
• Innocent Innuendo:
  • Shirou, still leery of the implications of having a Social Link with Nanako (see Deconstruction Fic above), gets hit with this contextless request:
    Nanako: I'm sorry to wake you, but... Can I sleep with Shirou-nii?
    Virtual Soundtrack: [Record Needle Scratch]
    Shirou: What?!
    Nanako: I'm sorry. But your house is so big and scary. I tried sleeping on my own, really, but I just can't get used to it.
    Shirou: [sighs in relief]
  • When Margaret proposed to form a Social Link with Shirou, she stated that "she wishes to be entangled in his fate, and do anything he asks out of her" (paraphrased). He blushed as he noticed the innuendo and the fact that an Ambiguously Human entity like her may or may not have meant it that way. In the end, Shirou opted for diverting the conversation in a different direction.
  • Shirou was at the other end of this trope for a change when he promised Chie and Yukiko to pound and fill them up... as in, pound any bad cooking habits out of them and fill them up with on the proper techniques, that is. His Persona Lilim found his choice of words pretty funny.
• Innocently Insensitive: At one point when Shirou is talking about his magic to Teddie, Chie, and Yosuke, he notes that one of the only things that he can do is Projection Magecraft, which he calls effectively useless to disparage his nature as a third-rate magus. Thanks to Shirou having compared Teddie's ability to create things like the glasses to Projection early on, which Chie overheard, Teddie starts disparaging his own skills before Shirou clarifies that the bear's item creation abilities are vastly superior the Projection.
• Insistent Terminology: Yosuke doesn't call and won't let others call his ride a "scooter". It's a motorcycle, "just, you know, smaller".
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite the fact Shirou doesn't form Social Links with the same people like Yu did in canon, the characters that got passed over still get their storylines explored because other members of the Investigation Team doing it in his place, with one exception:
  • Morooka "volunteered" Yosuke and Shirou into helping out the Student Health Association where they meets Naoki Konishi, with them realizing that Saki's brother isn't holding himself together very well after his sister's murder.
  • Chie becomes the club manager of Yasogami's soccer team and starts to hang out with both Kou Ichijo and Daisuke Nagase after practice.
  • Yukiko joins the Drama Club and becomes the one person Yumi Ozawa decides to confide in about her problems with her father.
  • Rise joins the music club and becomes interested in helping the shy Ayane Matsunaga to come out of her shell.
• Instant Cosplay Surprise: Doubles as a Shout-Out. Before the fight against Shadow Yukiko, she uses her powers to morph Shirou, Yosuke and Chie's clothes into something more princely: Zero (sans mask), Suzaku (pre-R2) and Cornelia's outfit and dress uniforms, respectively. Also a bit of an In-Joke among Persona 4 fans, given that most of their Japanese voice actors had roles in both series.
• Instant Expert: Rise had a much easier time learning to summon her Persona than the previous members of the Investigation Team. This seems to be a nod to how she was able to act as the party's support immediately after accepting her Shadow.
• Instant Sedation: Rise gets kidnapped via drugged Rag the moment she steps through the door to her Grandmother's place.
• Insult of Endearment: Mitsuo doesn't like when his "sister" call him "Mitsy", but tolerates it because she's the only person who treats him well.
• Interface Spoiler:
  • A rare non-videogame example in chapter 22, a.k.a. Taiga's Day in the Limelight, where the title has the words "The Sun" in bold letters. Considering how unlikely is for Shirou to join a cultural club in Yasogami, this probably means that Taiga will eventually become the eponymous Social Link. Confirmed in chapter 26.
  • There is a similar example in the second Fuyuki Gaiden, hinting that Rin will become the Tower Arcana Social Link.
  • The hat trick: The third Fuyuki Gaiden hints Ayako Mitsuzuri will be The Moon.
  • A downplayed version of this trope is italicized words denote the deeper hidden thoughts that the Shadows will exploit.
• Internal Reveal: By the end of the Golden Week arc, Shirou spilled the beans about Magecraft and the murder case in Inaba to Taiga. He kept the stuff about Personas to himself because he thought it'd be just too much to shallow at once for her.
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: Shadow Rise's battle was basically a one-sided version of this, a constant stream of innuendo even as she tried to kill them. The fight ended up with her being Impaled with Extreme Prejudice by Shirou. Make of that what you will.
• Ironic Echo: With a dash of Dramatic Irony. Shirou refrained from telling Taiga about most of the supernatural happenings in Inaba (Personas/Teddie/TV World) under the rationale that it would be too much for her after learning about the existence of Magecraft. Later she uses almost the same words and argument to not tell him about the confrontation with her Shadow.
  He/She had enough on his/her plate to worry about.
• Irony: Mixed with Hypocritical Humor. Given all the unwanted attention she gets from the opposite sex, Yukiko greatly appreciates having a gentlemanly, if rough around the edges, friend like Shirou. On the other hand, being one of the few guys who isn't a Hormone-Addled Teenager around her is precisely what allows Yukiko to act like a typical teenager herself and occasionally have less-than-chaste Imagine Spots about her Stupid Sexy Friend.
• I Shall Taunt You:
  • Yosuke taunts Shadow Chie by calling her a "banana head". It works well enough for Shirou to blindside her with a Zio spell.
  • Mitsuo tried to taunt Kanji for a Deliberate Injury Gambit, but he failed because his "Reason You Suck" Speech for Kanji was just too off the mark to work. Mitsuo also made the mistake of mentioning Naoto, which made Kanji wonder what would the detective do in his situation and that was putting Mitsuo down with words only and walking away.
• Is That Cute Kid Yours?: The first time she met Taiga at the Dojima's, Chie first assumed she was Nanako's mom because of their similar hair and eye colors together with the fact that Taiga looked just old enough to be feasibly the mother of a six year old girl.
• It's a Long Story: Chie when trying to convince Yukiko to stop calling the fox "Usagi". See Call-Back above for details.
  Chie: Let it go, Yukiko. Let's not turn this into another Chosokabe.
  Shirou: Chosokabe? The samurai clan?
  Chie: Long story.
• I Work Alone: Subverted. Shirou tried to keep Yosuke out of the murder case because of the inherent dangers involved, but Yosuke persevered until Shirou accepted his help. This event also signals the moment when Shirou established the Magician Social Link with Yosuke.
• Japanese School Club: Averted. Shirou shows no interest in joining extracurricular activities at Yasogami, giving more priority to the TV World or part-time jobs.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: At least partially deconstructed, and discussed in the forum threads. Chapter 45 features a brief flashback showing Mr. Morooka was genuinely trying to teach his students important philosophical lessons... Right before the scene where he's found dead on the water tower. However, his students don't seem to care for it due to his abrasive attitude. Nameless_Flame on Spacebattles highlights how this mentality simply doesn't work for a teacher:
  Morooka was an example of a teacher with great lessons to teach, but with a personality that was practically averse to teaching them. Even if there were background hints that he was actually genuinely concerned with his students' futures, he always came across as more angry at anyone that valued anything remotely modern (as opposed to archaic rural values) than anything else. While one can say he has good ideas, conveying those ideas in a way that doesn't reek of almost childish disdain and remaining open to new ideas is also kind of important to a philosophy teacher. If anything, his words of wisdom are buried by his own hypocrisy and refusal to engage his students as anything but brats, leading to pushback that feeds into a self-fulfilling prophecy about their behavior and values.
• Kamehame Hadoken: How Chie makes Tomoe Gozen cast her starter ice spell as a projectile like this, down to the pose. Chie only missed intoning the attack as "Bu-Fu uh-Ken!".
• Kicked Upstairs: Naoto (correctly) deduced that Kanji could be the next victim of the murder case, but the police were less than convinced about it and even less thrilled at having to send one of their own to guard him. To kill two birds with one stone, they agreed to let the civilian investigator play bodyguard, thus furthering Naoto's official involvement in the case and getting the "annoying kid" off of their backs.
• Kill and Replace: A variant. It's implied that Satsuki Yumizuka killed Mitsuo's parents and hypnotized him into believing she was family. Later after draining Mitsuo's blood and killing him, she confirms that she did indeed kill them.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Shirou spears Shadow Rise in the face just as she's gloating that she dodged his previous attack.
• Lady Macbeth: Mitsuo's "sister" seems to get a kick out of cheerfully encouraging him into villainy. Or as she puts it, "anti-heroism".
• Lame Pun Reaction: Yosuke, right after Shirou disarms Shadow Kanji by creative use of thermal dilation and contraction on its weapons.
  Chie: In other words, you've been scienced! So up yours!
  Yosuke: "Scienced", Satonaka? Really?
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Ryotaro and Nanako were made to forget Yomotsu-Ikusa and Yomotsu-Shikome's attack with Magecraft. The following chapter reveals that the same happened to the "Track Team Trio," except for Makidera.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Subverted when Shirou caught Yosuke wasting valuable time while on a literal deadline to rescue Kanji.
  Shirou: [flatly] So this is where you are.
  Yosuke: Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-SHIT-irou! Wh-Wh-What a surprise!
• The Leader: Shirou for the Investigation Team. One could go on and on about his shortcomings, but it's undeniable that he's the go-to team member for calling the shots during a fight.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • In Chapter 20, Yosuke internally describes Shirou as being oblivious regarding girls at "shonen hero levels." While neither of the main source materials are really "shonen," it still sort of fits.
  • Similarly, in the first Inaba Chorus, Yosuke tongue-in-cheek calls Shirou "possible eroge protagonist in another life", which is both exactly the type of game Fate/stay night was in its initial release and Shirou's role in it.
• Lecherous Licking: Rise at the sight of a shirtless Shirou. Probably a reference to her first appearance◊ in the opening of Persona 4: Arena.
• Lethal Chef: Chie and Yukiko as per canon, but Shirou made it a personal mission to defy this trope after the "Mystery Food X" incident. In the Social Link event where Yukiko gives out a bento box to eat, Shirou has her taste it, finally realizing how terrible her cooking is and can only wonder in horror at how bad the campout curry really was. This also made Shirou realize just how much Yukiko and Chie will have to unlearn before he can really teach them anything.
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Taiga Fujimura when learning about the Investigation Team. To say this person wasn't amused would be an understatement.
  Taiga: —AND OF ALL THE STUPID, BULLHEADED STUNTS YOU COULD THINK OF, YOU'RE TRYING TO CATCH A SERIAL MURDERER WITH MINIMAL WAGE BUDGET WEAPONS, TWO HIGHSCHOOL GIRLS, A KID IN A BEAR SUIT, THE NEWS MEDIA, AND A MAGIC TRICK THAT YOU COULDN'T GET RIGHT FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS?!
  Shirou: It's actually five years—
  Taiga: LIKE THAT MAKES ANY DIFFERENCE!
  Shirou: —And Yosuke's helping too.
  Taiga: WHO THE HELL CARES?!
  Yosuke: [far away] [doubles over in pain for no apparent reason]
• Letting the Air out of the Band: The opera motif in the Velvet Room simply stopped when Pixie went and asked Igor and Margaret whether they poop or not. This is doubly hilarious if you know that canonically Belladonna and Nameless provide the background music in Persona 3 and Persona 4 as well, implying that the two of them got Stunned Silent too by Pixie's question.
• Line-of-Sight Name: The amnesiac Marie decided on that name for herself because Adachi compared the way how she suddenly appeared in front of his and Ryotaro's car in the middle of the night with the "Bloody Mary" Urban Legend.
• Literally Shattered Lives: Berserk!Shadow Yukiko's end.
• Literal-Minded: Teddie.
  Yosuke: That's like the number one way not to get into someone's pants.
  Teddie: I have to search her pants?
• Living Emotional Crutch: After Shirou moved to Inaba, Sakura reverted into her uncaring and gloomy self who apparently only bother smiling when Taiga is around. That's barely the tip of the iceberg of the effect that his absence is having on her.
• Longing for Fictionland: Kanji thinks this may be why Mitsuo confronts him on the street like he's some sort of manga villain.
  Kanji: [to Mitsuo] Look, chickenshit, I don't care who you are or what you do for your free time. Just leave me out of your damn LARPing or else I'll give a good, painful reminder of who I really am.
• Long-Lost Relative: Shirou to the Dojimas. If not for Taiga and Philemon he would still be ignorant about them and they would have still believed him to be dead.
• Loophole Abuse: This is why the banished Nyarlathotep is currently in the Holy Grail.
  "As usual, I can't take all the blame: I act on the wishes of mankind, after all. A little over a decade ago, this thing happened to be stirring and made a wish to bring together all the evils in the world. It was subtle at first, but as the days went on, it would grow exponentially stronger and louder, as if begging to be realized. So I thought, 'what else could I do but answer that request?' And… here we are. While the wish interfered with my banishment, it didn't outright violate it either… though to be honest, I didn't struggle a whole lot out of it."
• Loved I Not Honor More: A Double Subversion. Yosuke kept on putting Kanji's rescue on the back burner to make time for his girlfriend. Shirou caught them together close to the start of the rainy days preceding the deadline and decided that enough was enough and all but dragged Yosuke to the next TV World trip.
• Love Epiphany: During the confrontation with her Shadow, Taiga is outright told that she loves Shirou "that way", which is something she never consciously considered until that point.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Chie, her physical skills are the best, her speed is good, but she has a very small mana pool. She only resorts to magic when she's certain she'll win the Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors.
• Magic Enhancement: Persona Users receive a considerable buff to their physical abilities in the TV World, including strength, speed and reaction times. This is the reason why Yosuke fights like a ninja and Chie can kick a Shadow through a wall. Shirou combines it with Reinforcement magecraft to give himself Super-Toughness. The team refers to this as getting "Personafied".
• Magikarp Power: The power of the Wild Card. Shirou is quite surprised to hear that his starter Persona, Izanagi, qualifies as "weak".
• Malicious Misnaming: Downplayed due to Vitriolic Best Buds, but in Chapter 41, Chie gives Yosuke the insulting, but somewhat deserved, moniker of "Homophobura".
• Masquerade: Shirou felt particularly pressured to rescue Rise on the off, off chance that the death of such a public figure through supernatural means could catch the attention of someone related to the Mage's Association, something that could end with a lot of people getting their memories rewritten, if not outright Killed to Uphold the Masquerade.
• The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Inverted. Yosuke Hanamura devoting too much time to their relationship with some unrelated to their flavor of the supernatural made the Investigation Team take more time rescuing Kanji than the rest wanted to.
• Meet Cute: See Chie and Shirou's example of Caught in the Rain above.
• Mental World: The TV World warps itself according to the people who find themselves within it. Shirou and Yosuke discovered that sticking one's head into a random TV is enough to fill the landscape with some sort of image of their inner worlds. In Shirou's case, a hill of swords.
• Meta Guy: The Persona Lilim has shades of this. She considers Shirou's love life a "harem show" (her own words) and provides unsolicited commentaries when something Harem Genre-y happens.
  Lilim: Oh yeah, the first ever conflict of the love polygon. This is gonna be good.
• Metaphorically True: Yukiko answers Naoto Shirogane's questions about her kidnapping in a way that, while completely true, gives the other party the impression that she was kept under a drug-induced hallucinatory half-awake state, thus making her testimony completely useless to them.
• Mighty Glacier: Shirou, his attacks are stronger than anyone else, his Persona powers together with his Reinforcement give him Super-Toughness, but he's noticeably slower to the punch than Yosuke or Chie on top of Persona switching slowing him down further.
• Mirror Character: Shirou and Kagutsuchi the Shinto god that got Izanami killed by childbirth if you stop to think about it. Yeah, you read that right. The two of them were born to a cursed inferno and survived by caring for nothing but themselves. The difference is that while Shirou was saved from it by his father, Kagutsuchi was murdered by his for it, which made the current version of the fire god take diametrically opposed views on the meaning of his survival to Shirou's.
• Mistaken for Romance: Ayako's got the Entertainingly Wrong theory that Rin and Shirou might have been in a relationship that they either kept to themselves or it didn't become serious enough to be called one. The fact that her best friend didn't claim victory in their private bet to get a boyfriend before the other seems to support the latter scenario, but Ayako musses it could also be that Shirou having to leave Fuyuki due to family reasons put the relationship on hold and that Rin's otherwise-inexplicable interest in his return means she intends to pick up things where they left off.
• Mobstacle Course: Shirou runs through the streets of Miyama, making an effort to avoid passer-bys when possible or shoving them aside when it wasn't. He was being chased by two Invisible to Normals creatures trying to attack him, so it was that or let people get trampled and killed by them in their zeal to catch him. Unusually for this trope, this became plot-relevant later on because one of the people he ran into turned out to be someone who knew him by sight — Kaede Makidera from Homurahara's Track Team — who inadvertently ended up clueing in Rin that something was going on with Shirou.
• Moment Killer:
  • Yosuke and Teddie's arrival interrupted a kiss between Shirou and Shadow Chie. Unusually for this trope, this was a very good thing.
  • Chie's elementary and middle school acquaintance Takeshi interrupted a moment between her and Shirou when the latter was a bit moved that someone for once didn't dismiss his For Great Justice ideals.
• Money Spider: Averted. Unlike the game, the party doesn't get any money from fighting Shadows, only occasional bits from their remains. This loss of income balances out with the fact that Margaret doesn't charge Shirou for retrieving Personas from the Compendium.
• Mood Whiplash: There's a moment of levity during Shadow Kanji Boss Battle when Nice Guy and Yosuke basically start playing ping-pong with their Heat Riser and Dekaja spell, respectively.
• More than Mind Control: While Satsuki does use her Hypnotic Eyes on Mitsuo in short bursts, no small part of her influence over him is simply because she plays the role of a doting big sister that believes in him.
• Mr. Fixit: The "Fake Janitor", also known as Shirou Emiya, is one in canon, who earned that nickname by going out of his way to repair school equipment for free. Here, this trope gets a lampshade with a dash of realistic consequences when much of the stuff that only he kept in working order at Homurahara gave up the ghost after he transfered to Yasogami and the student council got into budget problems after having to purchase replacements in a hurry.
• Mukokuseki: Shirou's natural red hair and almost golden eyes counts as an Aversion, as it makes him very memorable among the Japanese population. This becomes a plot point in the second Fuyuki Gaiden because it allowed Tohsaka to recognize him in a blurry picture, which started an unforeseeable chain of events that led her to discover that he was a magus.
• Multitasked Conversation: Done by Taiga when delivering the things she gathered for Shirou to take with him to Inaba.
  Taiga: [to Shirou, after handing over his archery equipment] It doesn't hurt to practice what you already know. Consider it a hobby to keep yourself safe while you're down there.
  Narration: What Dojima heard was a way to keep Shirou occupied and not act on impulse, to which he approved of. What Shirou heard was a way to stop using magecraft for the duration of the case, which he had mixed feelings about.
• Mundane Utility:
  • The Velvet Room is a "place [that] exists between dream and reality, mind and matter" and shapes itself to suit its guest according to a metaphorical representation of his or her journey. Persona 4's version of it also comes with comfy seats and a fully equipped and lavishly stocked actual mini-bar, something that Shirou and Margaret certainly appreciate.
  • The Persona Angel used a low-powered Hama spell in Marukyuu Striptease as a light source.
• Muscle Angst: Downplayed. Chie once admonished Yosuke for thinking that something as dangerous like their Dungeon Crawling trips to the TV World could give him the "rock-hard abs and pecs" he always wanted and that he shouldn't look for supernatural shortcuts for physical training. He retorted that Chie should tell that to the resident magus and team leader who is, in Yosuke's own words, "frigging ripped". Of course, everyone knows how ironic this statement is due to the fact that Shirou has a very intense workout regiment and thus doesn't use magic.
• My Fist Forgives You: By proxy. Shirou kicked Yosuke in the shin in Chie's place for wasting valuable time for no good reason when they should be exploring Kanji's dungeon. Considering that the alternative was to let Chie score another "critical hit to the nads" on his person, Yosuke decided that this was the lesser of two evils.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Played for Laughs. Yukiko has a moment of horrified realization when she learns firsthand just how bad her cooking really is and reacts to the memory of Shirou and Yosuke passing out because of her and Chie's curry at the campout as if they almost got the guys killed.
• Mythology Gag: It's got its own page.
• Naginatas Are Feminine: Ayako and her mother are experts at wielding a polearm. The latter plays the trope straighter, as she is a perfect Yamato Nadeshiko in her daughter's eyes.
• Naked on Arrival: This is how the amnesiac Marie is found in the middle of the rain by Dojima and Adachi during her first appearance in the story. Played realistically because the very first thing the police detectives did was wrap her in a blanket and drive her fast to the nearest hospital out of fear of her suffering hypothermia.
• Named by the Adaptation: Several characters who only went by descriptors in the source game are given names in the fic:
  • Yu Narukami's parents — or rather Shiro's — are named Seta (father) and Miya (mother, née Dojima).
  • NPCs "Spacy Girl" and "Errand Boy" got proper names: Haruka and Hiraku, respectively.
  • "Shana-chan", who is implied to be the elementary schoolgirl Kanji helped that caused him to be ostracized due to his ability to sew.
  • The Investigation Team brainstormed name ideas for the Mysterious Fox, who rejected all but Teddie's suggestion: Tama-chan. She (and probably more than a few Fate/EXTRA players) really liked the name.
• Narm Charm: An In-Universe example. While Rise thought that Shirou's Who Are You? speech during the battle against her Shadow should have been too sappy to be taken seriously by itself, the "pure honest conviction in his words" made her actually believe that she could be saved.
• New Transfer Student: Being the new kid in a small-town high school made the protagonist of the game a recognizable face in Yasogami. Shirou's even more unusual appearance, excessively accommodating personality and a few WTF-inducing moments made him even more famous/infamous than that.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Yosuke discovered that Yukiko was one in Rise's dungeon. To his disappointment too, as he hoped to look good to her and perhaps Invoke a Security Cling scenario with her. Instead, Yukiko was completely enthused by the fact Marukyuu Striptease ended up playing out a lot like a horror movie when Shadow Rise turned off the lights.
  Yosuke: Say, Amagi-san? Want me to be your front guard?
  Yukiko: No.
  Yosuke: I-I insist, Amagi-san, after all, you don't know what kind of Shadows lurk in the, well, shadows. They could be hideous monsters, like, having see-through guts, or wielding chainsaws!
  Yukiko: [tenses at his words]
  Yosuke: Or, or even having the ability to summon arms that pop up from the ground and pull you underneath!
  Chie & Teddie: Aaaaaaah!
  Yukiko: I know! And in the dark too! Isn't that exciting?!
  Yosuke: [jaw drops]
  Yukiko: So many dark corridors and a Shadow could pop up at any moment! Maybe they'd be a pair of zombies bound together in skewers, or a giant blob that can dissolve skin and bones! Why, think of the traps that we could encounter here!
  Teddie: Please don't.
• Nightmare Sequence: Yosuke's narration mentions one he had after the Epic Fail that it was "Operation Up Close and Personal", involving Clueless Chick-Magnet Shirou "being surrounded by buxom women while his motorcycle melted in the hot sun."
• Nobody Poops: Hilariously Parodied. Pixie nonchalantly asks Igor and Margaret whether they poop or not in Chapter 35. Igor said he does — although the way he said it makes it impossible to tell if he was serious or not — and Margaret simply avoided looking at anyone in the face.
• No Guy Wants an Amazon: As in Persona 4, Chie thinks poorly of herself because of this trope. Unlike canon, Shirou makes clear from the start, albeit in his own Innocently Insensitive way, that he doesn't consider her unfeminine or less attractive because of her tomboy traits. This leads her to harbor a crush on him much earlier than what is possible in the game, feelings that her Shadow is all too happy to act on, making the confrontation a whole lot more complicated.
• Non-Elemental: Megidola.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Shirou quickly picks up on the fact that Yasogami High is less mindful of the dress code than his former school, and decides to wear his uniform jacket semi-unbuttoned. Yosuke comments how Shirou pulls off the open-coat look pretty well.
• No-Sell:
  • After confronting her Shadow, Taiga became immune to magecraft that effects minds and thus Kotomine couldn't made her forget what she's learned. It's hinted it's her latent Persona's doing.
  • The same applies to Shirou, who shrugged off Satsuki's Hypnotic Eyes without even noticing. Given that her powers seems to work just fine in Yosuke, the implication seems to be that hypnosis counts as a Status Effects and Personas with a low Luck Stat like Yosuke's are more vulnerable to them.
  • Teddie is also immune to Satsuki's Hypnotic Eyes due to his own eyeholes not working the same way as human eyes, and he can't be turned because he has no blood to drain.
• No Social Skills: A downplayed case in comparison to other examples of the trope, but Shirou definitely doesn't think like a normal teenager and it shows in how he treats people, especially if they have more than a casual acquaintance with him. In some cases he comes across as accommodating and very dependable, in others as insensitive or downright cruel.
• Nothing Is Scarier: The readers aren't told what happened to Mitsuo's parents after Satsuki came along. We know he's a victim of hypnosis and that he believes they're away enjoying a second honeymoon. The worrying part is that they left their car behind… This is eventually averted when Satsuki confirms that she murdered them.
• Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Chie wasn't precisely pleased with the less-than-talkative Shirou and Yukiko:
  Chie: So, you ever heard of the Amagi Inn, Emiya?
  Shirou: A few times.
  Chie: Well, Yukiko's family runs it. It's been going on for generations. It's the pride of Inaba!
  Yukiko: Mhm.
  Shirou: I see.
  Chie: …Amagi Inn has been in a lot of magazines as a hidden treasure. Yukiko's going to inherit it someday.
  Yukiko: Mhm.
  Shirou: I see.
  Chie: …It attracts a lot of visitors in because of its natural hot springs?
  Yukiko: Mhm.
  Shirou: I see.
  Chie: …Emiya, Yukiko thinks you're cute.
  Yukiko: Mhm.
  Shirou: I see.
  (Double Take)
  Yukiko and Shirou: What?!
  • It might double as a Mythology Gag to the game. If romanced, Yukiko will embarrassedly confess on her Christmas Eve event that she pretty much fell in love at first sight with the protagonist, even though it took her a while to figure it out.
• Not-So-Forgotten Birthday: Subverted. The fact that nobody remembered "Rise's" birthday while everybody knew about "Risette's" concert happening on the same day was the thing that finally made her decide on retirement.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Subverted. Shirou's Chick Magnet status is bad enough that Rise felt obligated to outright ask him whether he's The Casanova with one hell of a knack to pretend to be a Clueless Chick-Magnet, or just that oblivious, before keeping on being The Tease with him. Deciding that he really doesn't have ulterior motives to be nice to all girls marked the initiation of the Social Link of Lovers Arcana between them.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • Shirou. So much that Yosuke rated it at "shonen hero levels". His Persona kind of alleviate this. Like when Eligor tells him that Chie wanted to train with him alone or Cu Sith points of Taiga feels some level of passionate love for him rather than just sibling affection when she kisses him on the cheek before he returns to Inaba after Golden Week.
  • Yukiko is a milder example in that she notices certain things and is blind to others. For example, until spelled out for her — by Shirou himself of all people — she didn't know why guys approached her so frequently. This trope plays out strangely when the two of them interact. In chapter 28 and right before the establishment of his Social Link with Yukiko, Shirou said and did many little and not-so-little things that unwittingly charmed the girl, but for her part Yukiko seemed to miss how much of an effect they had on her and explained away her reactions as her inexperience talking with boys together with him being a natural but well-meaning smooth-talker.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The Investigation Team defeating the Contrarian King.
• Ominous Foreshadowing: The closing scene of chapter 34 is notable for evoking this reaction in the audience despite nothing overly threatening happening. Rather, the way things went in Yosuke's favor for once is actually a big part of what makes the situation suspicious. The next chapter confirms it: he just met and befriended Satsuki Yumizuka from Tsukihime, making it all but certain that things will end poorly for everybody involved.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: See I Have This Friend above.
• One-Hit Kill: The Mudo spell, which Yomotsu-Shikome was getting ready to cast to Shirou. Kotomine hypothesized that it would have likely destroyed his soul.
• One of the Kids: Taiga, as per canon. Her Shadow points out that she never takes things seriously.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Everybody present was surprised at what made Taiga Squee in Never the Same (see entry below for the reason).
  • Taiga also surprises Rin the first school after Golden Week by showing vulnerability for the first time in her knowledge. Somewhat subverted because Rin decided to ignore it and chalk up the whole thing to an "off day."
• Ouija Board: Referenced. Nami compares the Midnight Channel to a talking board, giving Shirou an important hint to how it actually works. Whether "he" intended to help him or not, is yet to be seen.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Squared. In the second Fuyuki Gaiden set during Golden Week, Rin gets a little too emotional at the misunderstanding that Shirou was coming back from Inaba due to the negative effect that his absence has on Sakura. Ayako remarks on this, but Rin manages to play it down by inventing that she looking forward to Shirou's return because he owes her a favor that she intends to collect. In the next Fuyuki Gaiden, Ayako observes that Shirou's hardworking and accommodating personality makes it very unlikely for him to ask favors from anyone, implying that he must have been pretty comfortable with Rin to do so. Both instances of this trope make Ayako wonder if there's more to her joke about Shirou and Rin dating than she knew.
• Painting the Medium: When the story is narrated from the point of view of character who will later develop a Shadow Self, thoughts closer to their repressed feelings are formatted in italics.
• Pajama-Clad Hero: Kanji Tatsumi was thrown into the TV World in their nightwear.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Subverted. Unlike the game, Rise makes an actual effort to keep people from recognizing her as "Risette." She even had to burn through the allowance she received from her grandmother for helping out at the tofu shop to buy hats, sunglasses and other items to change her appearance.
• Partially Civilized Animal: The fox as in the game, but even more prominent here at times. For example, once the fox pulled out a soroban — Japanese abacus — to tell the team how much they had to pay for the healing leaves after making some calculation on it.
• Passionate Sports Girl: Replace "sports" with "martial arts" and that's Ayako Mitsuzuri to a T. She learned Naginatado from her mother and is the heir apparent to the family dojo, learned Kyuudou at the same time that Shirou did in Homurahara and soon became the captain, and uniquely to this fic she's starting to pick up Kendo from Taiga by unofficially joining the kendo club. Quite the Spirited Competitor, she considers each of them her Worthy Opponents in one way or another, however the guy arguably brings out her competitive streak the most because he's insanely good with bow and arrow and genuinely seems to think absolutely nothing of his own talent, a contradiction that irks Ayako to no end.
• Phoney Call: Cleverly invoked. Unlike other Spirit Advisors/Not So Imaginary Friends in fiction, Shirou's Personas can't hear his thoughts and he has to actually speak aloud for them to perceive his words through his sense of hearing via Synchronization. To avoid looking like a case of Talking to Themself when he needs to speak with one of his Personas in public, Shirou pretends to hold a phone call with them so people will think nothing of hearing only his half of the conversation if eavesdropped.
• Phrase Catcher: People at Yasogami came up with the nickname "Fake Janitor" for Shirou, the same one he had at Homurahara, completely on their own.
• Place of Power: Shirou discovered that the TV World contains a lot more ambient mana than most places in the real world. Using his Magic Circuits and casting spells is also easier in there.
• Plain Jane: Part of Chie's self-esteem issues, as Shirou learned from her Shadow. This is why Takeshi — her and Yukiko's acquaintance from elementary and middle school — being Innocently Insensitive about it made Shirou cut his words short.
• Police Are Useless: Kanji feels this way in Chapter 27, citing they wouldn't do anything about the biker gang, they couldn't catch the killer, and a Badass Bystander (Taiga) had to catch the ATM robber.
• Politeness Judo:
  • Leave it to Shirou to find a way to talk back to King Moron on his first school day while remaining perfectly polite and sincere about it. Subverted in that Morooka still got offended and added the "sweet talker" to his "shit list".
  • Shirou also was rather polite to make Mitsuo stop hitting on Yukiko, actually taking the time to explain him why he shouldn't persist on asking a girl out after she already said no. Although, his not-quite-Death Glare and Chie's Knuckle Cracking in the background might have had something to do with Mitsuo's hasty retreat.
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure:
  • Despite being probably one of the most well-adjusted magi to modern society and technology in the Nasuverse, there is a lot of pop culture Shirou is ignorant to. For example, his friends and especially Yosuke were baffled that he had pretty much no idea who Risette was or why it was such a big deal that she was about to perform in Okina City.
  • While a lot less relevant to the plot, Yosuke was particularly offended that Shirou didn't know who Hirohiko Araki from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fame is.
• Post-Kiss Catatonia: Shirou found himself at the receiving end of the hug variant of this in a platonic moment in chapter 33, where a very grateful Rise thanked him for coming to her rescue from her Shadow.
• The Power of Friendship: Social Links, naturally.
  • When Shirou is having it explained to him, he is incredulous towards the idea that he gets stronger just by making friends before Igor and Margaret further explain.
  • Interestingly, he also questions the ethics pertaining the idea of cultivating relationships for power, but he was reassured that it's the other way around: a meaningful connection with someone is its own reward, even if it happens to give him a power bonus, and that it's simply not possible to form a true Social Link without personal investment and genuine reciprocation.
• Power of Trust: Being a Determinator with a Chronic Hero Syndrome who routinely puts Honor Before Reason may lead Shirou to an early grave, but it comes with the side benefit that his word may as well be traded on the precious metals market. His Declaration of Protection to Yukiko went a long way to reassure the girl that he had her back both within the TV World in combat and in the real world if the kidnapper targeted her again. For a more mundane but not less impressive example, Shirou managed to convince the Mysterious Fox to sell him her healing leaves on credit after Teddie spoke on his behalf due to the trust he has in his "sensei".
• Power Perversion Potential: Yosuke wonders if Shirou's Structural Analysis can be used to find out any girl's three sizes. Eighteen chapters later it's revealed that he can, albeit indirectly, when Yosuke tricked him into using Structural Analysis on their clothes with some creative wording by telling the redhead he needed their measurements for some purchases, which turned out to be swimsuits for the School Campout as in canon.
• Primal Fear: Chie has a fear of bugs and Fear of Thunder. Shirou has a fear of fire due to the Fuyuki Fire.
• Production Foreshadowing: Izumi Aoyama from the Kickstarter Visual Novel Harem Protagonist (which Kishou is writing for, and Izumi is the character he contributed most to) makes a brief appearance in Chapter 33.
  • However, due to personal reasons halting work on the game, Izumi's cameo appearance was retconned into an unnamed character.
• The Promise: After getting the first idea of how deep Shirou's desire to help people actually runs, he and Taiga exchanged promises. This is also the moment that established The Sun Social Link between them.
  Taiga: So please. Whatever you do in your life, whether it's fixing junk for a living or going into god-knows-where for rescues… I'll support you all the way. Just promise me that you'll come back alive each time.
  Shirou: I'll come back alive, Fuji-nee. I promise.
• Properly Paranoid: Due to his Chronic Hero Syndrome and the Crazy Preparedness (read paranoia) that comes with being a magus, even a poorly-trained one like him, Shirou made a habit of always carrying the Fog-filtering glasses Teddie gave him just in case he has to jump into a TV in a hurry. This came in handy during his visit to Fuyuki on Golden Week, when two otherwise-invisible fog demons appeared in the real world and tried to kill him.
• Public Domain Character: Most Personas as in canon, but it also applies to Kaihime, Taiga's Persona.
• Publicly Discussing the Secret: Yosuke invokes this in chapter 27 as a Hidden in Plain Sight tactic for the Investigation Team to hold their meetings in the middle of Junes' food court. He gives the rest of the team Dungeons & Dragons character sheets with their Persona's name on them and instruct them to speak about the murder case and their adventures in TV World as they're simply running a Tabletop RPG campaign, so any talk about magic, victims, monsters, etc. won't catch anyone's attention even if eavesdropped.
• Punched Across the Room: Taiga got the drop on Kotomine and decked him across the room when he started trying to break Shirou's view of who Kiritsugu was.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
  • Taiga shutting up Kotomine.
  • Pixie ranting about Shirou's borderline suicidal self-training.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: As Obliviously Beautiful as Yukiko may be, she does know how to "stare cutely" to get away with stuff, mostly to get random guys to leave her alone without offending them. Subverted once when she almost succeeded at making Shirou stop asking her to taste-test her own food, but he remained firm after his Personas reminded him that the whole point of their cooking lessons is help her out of her Lethal Chef status.
• Real Men Cook: It tends to give people a pause how good Shirou fends off for himself in the kitchen. First the Dojimas, then Chie and later on Rin.
• Recursive Fanfiction: Chapter 27 references and brings into the story's canon an omake posted by a fan on SpaceBattles.com titled "Yasogami's Fake Janitor."
• Rescue Romance:
  • Yosuke was actually looking forward to fight Shadow Rise for a chance to Invoke this trope with the Idol Singer. He even asked his friends for feedback to make the best and most heroic first impression. Needless to say, they weren't amused.
    Yosuke: How about "Hey babe! Name's Yosuke Hanamura! And I want to be your boyfriend for life!"? No, too long, I need to make a good first impression. Maybe if I make a dynamic entrance with Jiraiya and whisk her off her feet? I could play a cool song to go with it. I wonder if I have one of hers on my player—
    Chie: For crying out loud, Hanamura! We're on a mission to save Rise-chan! Stop treating this like a pick-up date!
    Yosuke: I-I'm not! I just want to make sure she likes us!
    Shirou: Whether she likes us or not is pointless, Yosuke. Chances are we'll have to end up fighting her Shadow.
    Yosuke: [blushes] [grumbling] Well, I guess I'll impress her with my actions instead of my words. Dating can wait after.
    Chie & Shirou: [roll their eyes]
  • Made worse later on by the fact that Shirou, being Shirou, ended up stealing his thunder without really meaning to.
    [Yosuke's] friend didn't even care about Risette and here he was making a proclamation of her protection before he could? Might as well propose to her on the spot while [he was] at it! "Damn you, Shirou Emiya…!"
• The Resenter: Shirou's obvious heroic traits come to aggravate the envy Yosuke felt towards the protagonist in the game. This results in his Shadow going the extra mile to try and kill Shirou when it goes berserk.
• Right Behind Me:
  • In chapter 16, the day after the fight against Shadow Yosuke:
    Yosuke: Just what am I supposed do, anyway? Roll up to him before school starts and say 'Yo! Emiya!'?
    Shirou: Yes?
    Yosuke: Gah!
  • Later in chapter 26.
    Shirou: [to Ryotaro] I was actually wondering when to start calling you 'Doji-nii'.
    Ryotaro: Seriously? That's the best you could come up with?
    Shirou: I almost considered 'Ryuu-nii' but I didn't think that would be fair to Fuji-nee.
    Taiga: Hmmhmm~! No, it wouldn't!
    [Shirou, Ryotaro, Sakura and possibly Nanako jump in surprise]
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: It's possible that for once Namatame's messianic delusions were actually right in Kanji's case, given the implication that he threw the latter into the TV World just in time to save his life from a murderer — just not the one Namatame thought was going to attack Kanji.
• Romantic Spoonfeeding:
  • More like not-quite-forceful chopstick-feeding, but the time when Chie shared some of her instant noodles with Shirou managed to come across as endearing if very, very awkward.
  • Subverted with Shirou and Yukiko. During their cooking lessons, Shirou had Yukiko taste her own food by holding a morsel of it for her with his chopsticks. The romantic implications of the gesture quickly abandoned her mind once he realized just bad her handmade lunch really was.
• Romantic Wingman: An unintended case. During the first stakeout, Yukiko easily picked out the fact her best friend wanted to go with Shirou after it became necessary to split up the party and tried to refuse his request to accompany him to give Chie the chance, however Yukiko totally missed why Chie wanted to tag along in the first place.
• Rousing Speech: Shirou's Personas as a group encouraged him in his mind to keep fighting even when all hope seemed lost against Shadow Rise.
  Izanagi: Stand. Stand and fight for truth!
  Eligor: You have faced the fires of hell once, Fool, and you can do it again!
  Angel: May my blessing, however small, grant you second wind, child.
  Pixie: Hey! You can't let the last good memory with Yosuke be a concert! I won't accept it!
  Lilim: And I won't accept you dying before getting laid! You are going to snag that idol, dammit!
  Valkyrie: There is glory in death, but not a premature one. You have so much left to do.
  Cu Sith: You promised Cu Taiga! A true man NEVER breaks a lady's promise!
• Rule of Symbolism: Discussed. At one point Shirou asks why the Velvet Room looks like the interior of a limousine, commenting that it must be impractical to get anything done in such a cramped space. Margaret explains that the form and shape of the Room changes according to its guest and can be seen as a metaphor of the destiny they are to overcome.
  Margaret: You could say this limousine is a metaphor on your long trip through the shrouded mystery of both worlds.
  Shirou: I don't think this room suits me though. When I think of limousines, I think of someone who has privileges and wealth but is careless of them. It's more of a symbol of how powerful they are but are at the same time blinded by it.
  Margaret: [glances briefly at Shirou] I suppose that metaphor fits you as well.
  Shirou: [realizes that he just insulted himself] Point taken.
• Run or Die: Yomotsu-Ikusa and Yomotsu-Shikome merits this reaction from Izanagi. Makes sense given his myth. They were mythological demons sent by Izanami to chase after him once he abandoned her, and Fuyuki Park is basically an entrance to Yomi.
  Izanagi: Run. For thine sake, RUN!
• Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: After Shirou pretends to have a phone conversation with Pixie (see Phoney Call above), his Persona plays along and ends it with "Yay! Click."
• Saying Too Much: Shirou, while explaining Taiga why you don't mess with the secrecy of Magecraft, mentions Inaba in the same sentence. The person listening to him had absolutely no reason to relate both things until that point. His first Persona put it the best:
  Izanagi: Thou damneth.
• School Clubs Are Serious Business: A realistic, Downplayed variant. It's kind of a big deal in Japan for a high school student to lack extra-curricular credits, so Mr Kondo advised Yukiko, Rise and Chie to join a school club, who opted for the Drama Club, the Music Club, and manager duty for the soccer team, respectively. It's mostly a nominal obligation and they aren't expected to put real effort into it, but the three of them find it a nice respite from fighting Shadows in the TV World.
• School Uniforms are the New Black: The story makes a convincing argument as to why the Investigation Team wears their school uniforms in the TV World. Shirou observes that most of their weapons can be smuggled into Junes either hidden in their baggy uniforms or school bags (his katana requires a special bag designed to carry a shinai, though), and if they ever get asked about it, they can say they're from Cram School.
• Schrödinger's Gun: Amusingly Deconstructed. In the game, Ai Ebihara is eventually assigned as the manager of whatever sport club the protagonist decided to join for no other reason that for them to become acquaintances. In this story things play out more realistically, just reversed, with Ai being tasked to assist the sports team Chie doesn't pick between basketball and soccer simply because she asked the advisor first and because Ai is technically just making up on missed credit. To make the parody even more obvious, Chie ended up flipping a coin to decide.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Mitsuo, when Kanji opts for stepping on his foot instead of beating him up to a pulp after the guy tried to provoke him into a fight.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Shirou considers that Shinji Matou wouldn't get away with half of the stuff he does when flirting with girls or blowing off steam if not for the fortune under his family name.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: An offscreen example. While Shirou visited Fuyuki for Golden Week, the rest of the Investigation Team went to the TV World had a run-in with the Contrarian King, the boss of Yukiko's Castle. Quickly realizing that they had little to no chance of defeating it, they opted for a Tactical Withdrawal. It doubles as an In-Joke to Persona 4 players (see Gameplay and Story Integration above for the reason).
• Second-Person Narration: The Inaba Chorus intermissions are narrated like this.
• Secret Test of Character: Just like in canon, Izanami is testing humanity whether or not it deserves to continue on depending on how they confront the truth.
• Security Cling:
  • Chie + bugs/thunderstorms/horror movie scenario + a nearby Shirou = This Trope.
  • Teddie ended up clinging to Tama in Marukyuu Striptease when Shadow Rise powered down the lights.
  • Unsuccessfully Invoked by Yosuke in the same scene with Yukiko, who turned out to be a huge horror movie buff, completely at odds with her Yamato Nadeshiko image.
• Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time: Shirou notes that while bring Naoto along to satisfy the detective's curiosity about the TV World, the emtional state of the latter makes it obvious that they may end up facing Naoto's shadow, something the Investigation Team is not ready for.
• Sensei-chan: Deconstructed. Taiga became a teacher in her old high school because she didn't really fit in anywhere else after graduating. Unfortunately, her childish behavior didn't earn her the respect she wanted from her students and Taiga felt mocked anytime they called by her nickname.
• Sensory Overload: Downplayed, but no less effective. Teddie smells the emotional state of the people that are thrown into the TV World but is unable to track down Rise because of the different dungeons causing too much psychic interference. Fortunately, Teddie can track down someone's location by singling out the "scent" of his or her particular psychological issues. The caveat is that the Investigation Team needs to first learn enough about each kidnapped victim for this to work.
• Serious Business: Shirou considers "Mystery Food X" a sin that must be purged from the face of the Earth with a zeal that would give more than a few Knight Templars a pause. In order to accomplish this noble mission, he unilaterally decided to give resident Lethal Chefs Chie and Yukiko cooking lessons, and he was so serious about it that neither of them even tried to argue against it.
• Sexy Mentor: Margaret becomes a magecraft teacher of sorts for Shirou in chapter 29.
• Shadow Archetype: When the Investigation Team encounters Mitsuo and his Shadow, and when the latter says that he just wanted to become a hero, Shirou gasps, clearly seeing that Mitsuo is what he could have become if his dream had twisted him.
• Shameful Strip: Rise suffered this at the hands of her Shadow in front of a pseudo audience of the latter's clones while chained to a stripper dance pole. That and a nasty Breaking Speech pushed the girl into rejecting her Shadow before the Investigation Team could get to her.
• Share the Male Pain: Let's just say, the infamous "critical hit to the nads" didn't go unnoticed by Shirou or their classmates.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • Said verbatim by Shirou to Pixie about Chie. His second Persona simply talked right over him, ignoring his complains.
  • Squared in the second Fuyuki Gaiden. Noticing that Rin was showing too much interest in hearing news about Shirou (mostly out of concern for Sakura, mostly), Ayako teasingly asked that if she was that eager to see her boyfriend again. Tohsaka, being Tohsaka, didn't let being caught flatfooted pass and took advantage that Ayako happened to call Shirou by his first name to turn the tables on her and remarked that's something a girlfriend would say, reducing Ayako into a Luminescent Blush.
• Sherlock Scan: Shadow Rise pulls this off on Shirou, identifying he had a major case of Survivor Guilt.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • A number of Shirou's Personas are this about him and the girl representing the Social Link of their Arcanas.
    • Eligor of the Chariot Arcana doesn't even try to be subtle about Shirou×Chie. Doubles as Genius Bonus if you take "[Eligor] causeth the Love of Lords and Great Persons" thing from the Ars Goetia into account.
    • While a lot more laid-back about it, Cu Sith is rather fond of Shirou×Taiga.
    • Sarasvati thinks he and Yukiko compliment each other well.
    • Pixie is kinda hoping for Rise.
    • Ippon-Datara said a single word during his introductory chapter, and it was to show his support for Shirou/Marie.
    • Lilim ships him with everybody. Preferably at the same time. In proper Hot as Hell fashion, she's less keen on romance and all about him getting laid.
    • Notably, the Persona Angel of the Justice Arcana is an exception who tries to Defy this trope with conservative views on relationships, and especially disagrees with Lilim on the matter.
  • Shirou himself counts as a low-key example, who put in a good word for Kou with Chie but didn't push the idea further than that.
• Ship Tease: As expected from a crossover between a Visual Novel and a game that is one part Life Simulator, there are a lot of moments where Shirou is shipped with the female Social Links as they appear. Interestingly enough, their appearance in chapter 33 gave rather heartwarming tease between Kanji and Naoto.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Shirou's Personas have an In-Universe shipping war going on because each of them favors a different girl in his life. See Shipper on Deck above for details.
• Shout-Out: Has its own page.
• Shrines and Temples: Tatsuhime Shrine is a run-down example of this trope from the game. Here, Shirou recognizes the remnants of what used to be a Kyuudou (Japanese martial art of archery) training ground for the late priestess of the shrine and apparently plans on renovating it for his own use.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Taiga doesn't approve Shirou's inherited dreams of becoming an "Ally of Justice". That doesn't mean Kotomine can just talk trash about Kiritsugu in front of Shirou.
  Taiga: You! Big! MEANIE!
• Siblings in Crime: Mitsuo and his "sister", actually Satsuki Yumizuka who used her vampiric hypnosis to make him believe she was his older sister.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts:
  • The president and vice-president of the Drama Club, as Yukiko accurately Lampshaded by quoting Chie.
  • Yosuke Hanamura and his first girlfriend as well. The latter being Satsuki Yumizuka, this is not a good thing.
• Side Effects Include...: The less-than-safe dietetic products advertised in Tanaka's Amazing Commodities. Being Tanaka, he warns his audience about it at Rattling Off Legal speeds.
  Tanaka: Warning: sideeffectsofSlimmingFoodincludenauseaandvomittingifbothtakenatonce.
• Simple-Minded Wisdom: Kanji, in his usual blunt manner, tells Naoto not to feel bad of a simple mistake of getting personally involved and that other people shouldn't get angry when it happens. It serves as a bit of Ship Tease material.
• Skewed Priorities: The Persona Lilim's Rousing Speech to Shirou during Shadow Rise's Boss Battle is, well, very her.
  Lilim: And I won't accept you dying before getting laid! You are going to snag that idol, dammit!
• Slapstick: Mostly Justified. The Magic Enhancement that Persona User receive in the TV World and their casual access to healing magic make the Slapstick typical to Persona 4 a lot less cringe-worth in this story.
• Slave to PR: By proxy, even. Rise's Contractual Purity as an Idol Singer becomes a plot point later on when Shirou realizes that her yet-to-be-aired Midnight Channel Special has the potential to destroy her career after seeing what her Shadow was like, especially if broadcast right after the announcement of her already-controversial hiatus. In order to protect Rise's reputation, he decides to talk the Investigation Team into completing her dungeon all in one go and even agrees to get into debt with the Mysterious Fox for her pricey healing leaves.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: With the worlds of Persona 4 and the Nasuverse respectively for each side, there's bound to be clashes.
• Slumber Party: Rise insisted on having the outdoors version of a sleepover after sneaking into Chie and Yukiko's tent during the school campout. Not even Hanako loudly snoring right next to them deterred her any.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: Rise seems to have got it worse for Shirou than she did for the protagonist in the game, and that's saying something considering that she was practically the latter's fangirl. Played With somewhat that she's quite the extrovert and a people person and only stammers or gets visibly flustered around him when he catches her off-guard.
• Sneeze Cut:
  • During the Let Me Get This Straight... scene above in Fuyuki, Yosuke somehow felt Taiga's dismissal of his contributions to the Investigation Team all the way to Inaba as a sudden spike of pain.
  • While discussing the fact that not every person who appears in the Midnight Channel ends up in the TV World and facing their Shadows, Yosuke mistakenly mentioned Taiga as an example and the narration briefly jumps to focus on her as she sneezes during a sparing match.
• Someday This Will Come in Handy: Subverted. Yosuke's "Risette facts" end up being worthless because they are her idol persona's trivia not Rise's.
• Spirit Advisor: His Personas for Shirou, especially during battle and in the context of Social Links where they can outright resonate with what people representing their Arcana are feeling. The latter is one of the reasons why Shirou is wary of the Social Link system as a whole, however he certainly appreciates their opinions and their second guessing of his actions in areas he is admittedly not very good at. Like women or self-preservation.
• Spit Take: Shirou didn't understand what Yosuke meant about having a girl "up close and personal" behind him as they rode his motorcycle, so Lilim spelled it out for him as he was drinking a glass of water. Cue this trope.
• Squee: Taiga's reaction to Nanako calling her "Tiger-nee". Yeah, you heard that right.
• Stage Magician: Similarly to Yu Narukami, Shirou picks up a keen interest in stage magic despite the fact he's already capable of very real Thaumaturgy.
• The Stations of the Canon: A Subverted Trope. The story follows the events of the game closely until Yukiko's rescue, but from then and on the Butterfly Effect starts to show. For example:
  • Taiga appeared one night on the Midnight Channel after her Badass Bystander moment, but she left Inaba before the kidnapper could locate her. This fact apparently made the later either hesitate about trying to throw Kanji into the TV or waste time trying to find her. By then, Kanji already has a bodyguard of sorts in the famous teen detective Naoto Shirogane who followed him at all times, making any approach difficult.
  • Rise became the talk of the town earlier than canon because of her concert in Okina, and the kidnapper ended up throwing her into TV before getting the chance to approach Kanji.
  • Shirou's presence in Shadow Rise's Boss Fight and his magecraft allowed the Investigation Team to Subvert the Hopeless Boss Battle by circumventing her Supreme Insight skill. This also precluded the circumstances that led to the fight with Shadow Teddie, something that does NOT shape to be a good thing in the long run.
  • And then just as Mitsubo's dungeon appears, Naoto finds out about the TV World and the Investigation Team's activities, thanks to Kanji. This one event was enough to make people posting in the fic's thread on Spacebattles alone to declare the stations of canon to have been completely derailed.
  • As a result of the above and Satsuki's involvement in the plot, Mitsuo himself becomes basically a ghoul minion of his "sister" who is the new Disc-One Final Boss, and the poor guy is murdered by Satsuki when he fails to accept his own Shadow (though granted he stopped being at all relevant to the plot in the original game once he was arrested, but still). And because Rise's Shadow wasn't defeated by Teddie, Teddie's Shadow becomes Satsuki's second in command, and becomes the mid-boss of her dungeon. Also, Naoto has decided to investigate Satsuki by going to Misaki Town, having learned that Satsuki had come from there, but also not knowing that she might accidentally stumble right into the events of Tsukihime. Thankfully she stops and leaves instead of questioning Shiki.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Shirou on occasion, as expected of his pre-Character Development self. Just ask Yosuke, who felt right to Dope Slap him because of how badly he almost messed things up with Chie while trying to dissuade her from going with them into the TV World to save Yukiko. Although Yosuke would give you the exact opposite reason to why she was left speechless.
  "'That world is no place for a girl'?" Yosuke repeated in an incredulous tone. "Are you sexist, or just stupid?!"
• Stock Jokes: Lilim tricks Shirou with a "losersayswhat" kind of joke to make him say "all of them" aloud when Yosuke asked him which girl in the Investigation Team he was actually aiming for romantically.
• A Storm Is Coming: During the closing scene of chapter 34, Yosuke runs into a girl in a raincoat during a downpour. The moment she asks him out is underscored by Dramatic Thunder.
• The Straight and Arrow Path: Before leaving back to Inaba at the end of Golden Week, Taiga rounds up and return Shirou's old archery equipment back to him. She did it specifically so he would have a way to fight other than plowing headfirst into danger.
• Stripperiffic: Shadow Rise the first time the Investigation Team meets her.
  Yosuke: Such an itsy-bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikini!
• Stupid Sexy Friend:
  • Shirou for Chie. Years of dedicated physical self-training has granted him with the kind of toned musculature that it's easy to hide under normal clothes but that a big fan of Martial Arts Movies like her can't help but… appreciate.
  • Shirou for Yukiko, too. In her case, it's more his bravery and strength in the battlefield mixed with his politeness and kindness outside of it what gets her Covert Pervertness going.
  • Forget all the above. As of his accidental striptease moment in chapter 34, Shirou has proved himself to be this for all of his human teammates. To wit, the sight of his trained musculature as he prepared himself for a swim left Chie's brain too Distracted by the Sexy to form any coherent thought, Yukiko feeling too hot for her school jersey, Yosuke with a severe Muscle Angst and Rise... well, the former Idol Singer "drank the view for all its worth" while slowly licking her lips.
• Super-Reflexes: A realistic variant. Due to his self-training, Shirou's a very short reaction time. In chapter 20, he deflected a stray soccer ball before it could hit Chie in the back of the head. Kou and Daisuke tried to recruit him for their sport clubs because of it.
• Super-Senses: As a magus, Shirou can buff himself with a form of this through Reinforcement, one of the only two spells he can use at the start of the visual novel. Its first plot-relevant application was during the Investigation Team's stakeout on Tatsumi Textiles, where Shirou's enhanced hearing allowed him to keep tabs on the place while keeping the team from being noticed by Kanji and Naoto.
• Support Party Member: Teddie, who retains his Sensor Character status and now can produce useful expendable items with his powers.
• Surprise Party: Shirou and Nanako held a small one for Ryotaro's birthday on May 16th. The two of them even baked a cake for the occasion.
• Survival Mantra: Played for Laughs. Taiga tries to fight the urge to get herself a freaking drink this way. It doesn't work.
  Taiga: Remember Taiga, getting drunk off your ass won't help anyone. Getting drunk off your ass won't help anyone. Getting drunk off your ass won't help anyone.
• Survivor Guilt: Shirou, as per canon. Shadow Rise pegging it was enough to make him mad.
• Synchronization: As it happened in Persona 4: The Animation, Persona-users can feel any harm that afflicts their Personas, albeit in a diminished form. They can also use their Personas as a secondary set of sensory inputs, i.e. see and hear things from their Persona's perspective, which is described as "trippy" before getting used to it. Rise has it worse because her Sensor Character of a Persona can perceive even more than that. The sharing harm aspect of it applies to the Shadow Selves if they haven't been rejected yet, making taking them out before going berserk a huge no-no.
• Take That!:
  • The first chapter pokes some fun at the silent nature of the game's protagonist.
    Nyarlathotep: Any other kid should do just fine, especially a mute one.
  • In Chapter 35, Shirou observes that predicting the result of Persona Fusion is complicated and that he can't really get to the underlying mathematics involved. This is a rather common complain among players about how the games in the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona franchises handle Demon/Persona Fusion.
• Talk to the Fist: Taiga's counter against the Tao of Lecter.
• Technically a Smile: Ayako notes the difference between Taiga's smile and her "Smile", capitalization intended.
  On the surface, it had the image of a pleasant, happy, generic smile that anyone can make. But you can make out the small facial differences, like how the lips were strained to stay that way, or how the eyes were closed a little too tightly. But what differs a smile from the Smile is the fact that the former was genuine and the latter promised a swift death.
  Man, and I thought only Rin knew how to pull that gesture off.
• Technology Marches On: invoked Subverted. Shirou carries an outdated cellphone for the year the story is set (2011) just like the protagonist in the opening animation of the game, but that's because of his personal tendency to keep old appliances in working order for long after their average life expectancy.
• Tempting Fate:
  • Taiga declares that there's no way "anything dark, sinister or unusual" could happen while Shirou is in Inaba.
  • Hilariously Invoked when Kanji is waiting in hiding for the best time to ambush-tackle Shirou in chapter 28, but when the latter said "What's the worst that could happen?" the brawler just couldn't resist such a perfect cue to action.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Rin may not be the most devout of Christians, but when Kirei insisted in being called by his title as an ordained priest (mostly to annoy her, of course), she reluctantly relented.
  Kirei: Do indulge me, Rin. We are still in the sanctum of God, so my title does hold merit. Unless you wish to speak in the confessional?
  Rin: [through gritted teeth] Good evening, Father Kotomine.
  Kirei: There, now. Was that so hard?
  Rin: [thinking] Yes. Yes it was.
• Third Wheel: The Persona Eligor chides Shirou for attempting to bring in Yosuke to a training session with Chie. Considering his myth, you may see why a matchmaker like Eligor has no patience for this trope.
• This Explains So Much: Played with. After learning that Shirou puts himself through excruciating pain every time he forges a Magic Circuit, a character asks him if he's in fact a masochist. Pixie reacts at the suggestion with astonished realization, as if Shirou's behaviour so far finally made sense to her. It's difficult to say whether she was being sarcastic or not.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!:
  • From Dead Greenery:
    Shadow Taiga: I have every right to say that name. Because we share the same face. And that's my name, too, bitch.
  • Also done by Nyarlathotep in Never the Same.
    I'm the all-powerful granter of wishes and desires! I'm the Holy Grail, bitch!
• This Is Gonna Suck: Said word-for-word by Yosuke when Taiga plans on putting the Investigation Team through a Training from Hell in order to be ready to face Mitsuo and Satsuki. Shirou then tells him that is an understatement.
• This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!: The girls' reaction when Yosuke brought swimsuits for them to the School Campout. While agreeing that it was a little creepy of him, Rise appreciated the present... until she realized that Yosuke deliberately picked out the same bikini her Shadow was wearing two weeks ago.
• Token Religious Teammate: The Persona Angel, who was rather irked by the fact the she emerged from the sea of Shirou's soul just in time for Rise's strip club-inspired dungeon.
  Chie: [upon seeing what Marukyuu Striptease is like] Oh my God.
  Angel: Please do not utter the Lord's name here. It's used enough in these places.
• Too Good to Be True: When it seems like the team will be able to rescue Kanji without a Boss Battle, Shirou gets immediately suspicious. And sure enough, Shadow Kanji's Elite Mooks suddenly appear, blocking the exit and thus creating the opportunity for Kanji to reject it.
• Too Much Information: Shadow Kanji referring to his weapons — two giant Mars symbols — as his sex toys.
  Yosuke: Uh... did he just call his weapons—
  Chie: SHUT UP, HANAMURA!
• Trade Snark: Taiga very much looks forward to enjoy a "Shirou Emiya class™ dinner" after weeks since the last one.
• Trap Door: Yukiko's Castle has them. Let's just say Shadow Selves are trolls like that.
• Tsundere:
  • Yosuke guesses that King Moron does in fact have a soft spot for actually earnest and hard-working transfer student Shirou Emiya. Of course, Morooka would rather die than admit it out loud, but it shows for time to time in his own particular way. For example, instead of sending him alone to help out the Student Health Association as he did in canon with Yu Narukami, Morooka also enlisted Yosuke for the task. Naturally it totally ruined the latter's plans for that afternoon, but it let them share the workload between the two of them.
  • Marie as in the Persona 4: The Golden. Lilim lampshades it by sing-songing "Tsun alert! Tsun alert!" in Shirou's mind.
• Two-Person Pool Party: Kanji was invited by his Shadow to one. Needless to say, he wasn't enthused with the idea.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: As oblivious to romantic tropes as he is, Shirou doesn't understand why Chie got so flustered when he offered to share his umbrella with her on a rainy morning.
• Undead Tax Exemption: The vampire Satsuki Yumizuka pretends to be "Satsuki Kubo" — the older sister Mitsuo Kubo never had but believes he does thanks to her Mystic Eyes — in order to give herself a place to stay and a cover identity.
• Unholy Ground: The Park where the fire happened in Fuyuki. The place was essentially a gateway to Yomi.
• Unprovoked Pervert Payback:
  • Yosuke is a frequent victim of this as in canon.
  • There's a notable Subversion in chapter 34 where Yosuke gets into an Accidental Pervert moment with an unknown passerby and then he profusely apologizes to her by fearfully discussing this very cliche in full Motor Mouth mode. The girl in question found the situation too funny to get mad a him and even asked him out on the spot. Although given the Ominous Foreshadowing in the scene that he missed, this may not be a good thing in the long run.
• Unstoppable Rage:
  • Invoked by Shadow Kanji with his special skill "Roar of Wrath" during his Boss Battle against the I.T. as in the game. Shirou simply counters with Me Patra, but the moment of inattention costs him dearly.
  • In the same fight, Chie goes berserk at the sight of a maimed Shirou as he bleeds out. Sadly, this doesn't give her that much of an edge in the fight.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Inverted with Shirou for Yosuke. If it were not for the former cockblocking the latter out of an unsupervised weekend together with their significant other, who knows what his vampire girlfriend would have done to him.
• Unwitting Muggle Friend: Taiga as in canon. Subverted with the Internal Reveal by the end of the Golden Week Story Arc.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Kanji's mother feels this way about him, stating he used to be so kind and thoughtful to others only to go around picking fights. She doesn't want him to, even if its for her.
• Use Your Head: Kanji found a lot of use out of this.
• Verbal Backspace: Rise is upset with still having to carry Risette's troublesome baggage after leaving the showbiz and being unlucky enough to be thrown into the TV World. Then this happens:
  Rise: [to herself] Not one thing had gone right since [I] quit!
  Shirou: Rise?
  Rise: [to herself] ...okay, so maybe all this was worth it after all.
• Verbal Tic:
  • Subverted. The Persona Cu Sith prepends Shirou and Taiga's name with the word "Cu", but this isn't an example of this trope. See Genius Bonus entry in the YMMV page for the details.
  • Ippon-Datara is fond of giving single-word answers.
• Villainous Crush: Interestingly Played With. When Izanami realizes that she's actually becoming rather fond of the idealist Shirou and interested in him beyond mere curiosity, she decides that won't do as she can't pick favourites among her three chosen ones or the results of her test for mankind will be meaningless. In order to remain impartial, she Defies this trope by detaching the part of herself that cares for him onto a separate vessel, Kusumi-no-Okami (aka Marie), so she would not be obstructed by moral compassion or restraint, and thus providing Shirou with both someone to save and a suitable villain who would become a proper trial for him to try to overcome in order to become a hero.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Satsuki "Kubo" at least plays the part for her boyfriend Yosuke.
• Virtual Soundtrack: The forum version of the story comes annotated with Youtube links to soundtrack pieces for every other scene, usually of either franchise for obvious reasons.
• Wall of Weapons: Thanks to their long lineage of martial artists, the Mitsuzuri family dojo has "an entire closet full of weapons. Mostly swords and polearms, with the odd exotic weapon like a chain knife."
• Weapon-Based Characterization: While there's the obvious Shirou using swords and Yosuke canonically using Dual Daggers, Word of God has stated that Chie will be using different kung-fu oriented weapons before finally settling on one.
  • Whip: Chie's choice of weapon for Yukiko's rescue. Shirou wasn't really convinced that a chain whip was an adequate complement to her kung-fu, but he trusted in her judgement. For his part, Yosuke had entirely different concerns on the matter.
  • A simple staff is her weapon for Rise's rescue, which takes place before Kanji's dungeon due circumstances, when asked she said it was for the simplicity, but while no one really believed it, no one questioned it either.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 24: Shirou ends up being chased by Yomotsu-Ikusa and Yomotsu-Shikome in the real world. Sakura registers them as two wraiths chasing after Shirou so she has to go to Kotomine Kirei for help. Meanwhile, Taiga ends up facing her Shadow Self. Yes, really.
  • Chapter 45 is a series of holy shit moments. Mr. Morooka's body is discovered by Shirou, who rushes to find Taiga, only to discover she's been pushed into the TV by someone. However, Teddie informs the team that three people entered, but none left, meaning Morooka never entered the TV World. When the Investigation Team search for Taiga, she rescues herself from Mitsuo's dungeon, and reveals her Persona to the team. And as they're leaving the TV world, Kanji and Naoto are waiting for them, with the former apparently having told the latter about the TV World, meaning she's found out before she's even been kidnapped herself.
• Wham Line:
  • Nyarlathotep mentions a previous "tenant" living in the Holy Grail. Previous being the key word.
  • Taiga's closing line in Never the Same, hinting that she's aware that she's awakened to her Persona.
    Taiga: [to Sakura] Let's just say I made a new friend. And her name is Kaihime.
  • Taiga delivers another in Shoot for The Moon.
    Taiga: Can I ask you to keep an eye on Sakura-chan while I'm away?
    Ayako: Of course, Sens-EH?!
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Nanako calls out her father, Taiga, and even Sakura for picking on Shirou at home. She's so certain he's right that she's his Justice Social Link.
  • While Taiga roughhousing with Shirou is normal to him, Dojima points out that she was using a steel poster to hit him and when she mistakenly hit Dojima instead, he gained a concussion. She never once apologized to Shirou and her reaction to being called "Tiger" is rather violent.
  • Likewise, Taiga calls Dojima out since every discussion seems like an interrogation (which he acknowledges) and he did ruin the mood by pointing out they leave tomorrow.
• What Would X Do?: Asking himself what would Naoto do when Mitsuo tried to goad him to hit him allowed Kanji to not fall for a Deliberate Injury Gambit.
• Who Are You?: Shadow Rise to Shirou after he managed to find a workaround for her Supreme Insight skill. Rise observed that his answer would have sounded too sappy to be taken seriously were not for the absolute conviction in his voice and whole body language and the fact he preceded his words by giving the Shadow a run for her money.
• Wife-Basher Basher: Shinji and Shirou's falling out happened because he hit Sakura hard enough to leave bruises. Shirou promptly returned the favor when Shinji's answer for this was because he wanted to. When Yosuke hears about this incident...
  Shirou: And then there's Shinji Matou. We used to be close, but not so much.
  Yosuke: Because of the move?
  Shirou: Because he would hit his sister hard enough to leave bruises.
  Yosuke: What? Why?!
  Shirou: Because 'he felt like it'.
  Yosuke: Please tell me you punched the bastard for that.
  Shirou: And I haven't regretted it since.
  Yosuke: 'atta boy.
• Wistful Amnesia: Strongly implied to be the case for the Mysterious Fox. She knows she had a name different to the current one, but can't remember it.
• With Friends Like These...: Chie and Shirou sabotage Yosuke's attempt to make a good post-rescue first impression on Rise by repeating all the pick-up lines he considered using before fighting her Shadow but didn't get the chance to. It ends up working better that way because the interplay made Rise laugh and helped her to relax around the team.
  Yosuke: Ahahaha, they're such kidders! I didn't say that. At all. I never said any of that.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: The Wild Card for Shirou, especially the Social Link system. See Afraid of Their Own Strength and Deconstruction Fic above.
• Worf Had the Flu: Kotomine didn't immediately take down the two wraiths attacking Shirou and believes its because he's past his prime (among other reasons). And Shirou couldn't summon a Persona outside of the TV World due to a lack of prana.
• Wrong Context Magic: Shirou's magecraft for Shadow Rise. His Reinforcement made him faster, tougher and stronger than her Supreme Insight could assess he was and his Tracing provided him ordinary swords that appeared in his hands at the last possible moment, making it next-to-impossible for the otherwise untouchable Dance Battler to accurately judge his attack range or fight him effectively at close quarters.
• Yaoi Fangirl: Seeing Kanji and Naoto together started to give Chie ideas. Then the rest of the girls of the Investigation Team (even Tama) started to get caught in the homoerotic fantasying mood and turned their eyes to Shirou and Yosuke, which the latter quickly realized the meaning of.
  Yosuke: [Giving Someone the Pointer Finger] Don't you effing dare!
  Rise: [unapologetic] Too late!
  Shirou: [confused] Am I missing something here?
  Yosuke: [annoyed] How I loathe your gift of obliviousness, Shirou Emiya…
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As a crossover with Persona 4, this trope is bound to happen.
  • Gone Horribly Right in Chie's case where Shirou's accepting words encouraged her and her Shadow because it was him saying them, pushing Chie further into denial of her repressed emotions.
  • Shirou gets one from Taiga in chapter 26 when she tells him that he makes certain people, her and Sakura particularly, happy just by being alive and being there for her was enough, it rocks Shirou's core feeling about himself (sinful that he survived the fire where others died). Those who have read all three routes of the VN know that this is a big deal.
• You Can See That, Right?:
  • The Investigation Team's reaction at the sight of Shirou conversing/haggling with the Mysterious Fox.
    Yosuke: Our leader is making small talk with a fox. The guys at school are never gonna believe this.
    Chie: I'm right here and I don't believe it.
  • Happens again when they see the fox using an abacus.
    Chie: Uh, did it just do what I think it did?
    Yosuke: [rhetorically] You mean make a calculation?
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: Given all the countermeasures the Shadows have in place there's no stopping them from going berserk. Subverted with Taiga, who managed to accept her Shadow without rejecting it first, albeit not without a literal fight. Admittedly, she got very lucky and several circumstances conspired in her favor, like the heart-to-heart Taiga had with Shirou that allowed her to work out some of her issues before the confrontation and the fact that Shadow Taiga didn't have an audience to denounce Taiga's secrets, which kept her from falling for the typical knee-jerk reaction of rejecting her Shadow to shut her up.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
  • Pixie's reaction to finding one of the Fey greatest artifacts (Avalon) inside Shirou.
    OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshOHMYGOOOOOOOOSH!
  • Yosuke's response to finding out that Shadow Chie can cast Mazio, a spell his Persona is weak to:
    Oh, that's such bullshi-IAAH!
  • Taiga, numerous times through Chapter 26 after learning the various aspects of Magecraft. Like Shirou using his spine to make a circuit.
  • Yosuke's reaction at the sight of Yukiko enthusiastically wanting to join Chie and Shirou's study sessions right after she slapped him (twice) for proposing the almost same thing as the magus.
  • The Investigation Team reaction at the initial price of the fox's healing leaves.
    Everybody: What?!
    Chie: That's more than the cost of our armor and weapons!
    Yosuke: Hell, that's more than I made all year at Junes! Are you saying that some stinking leaves are worth more than I'll ever amount to?!
    Fox: Yip!
• You Just Told Me: Naoto uses this trick on Rise Kujikawa as confirmation that this person was in fact the second survivor of the Serial Murder Case but is trying to keep it hidden. However, unlike in Mystery Literature, this only pissed off the other party and the private detective was unable to get any further information after that.
• You Must Be Cold: Shirou lends Rise his school jacket after the confrontation with her Shadow left her with little more than her underwear on.
• You Remind Me of X:
  • Shirou states that Yosuke reminds him of Shinji. It's a lot more touching, and depressing, than you think.
  • Ayane Matsunaga from Yasogami's Music Club reminds Rise of her timid pre-Risette self. Less seriously, Ayane's Blush Stickers also reminds Rise of Pikachu.
• You Will Be Spared: Shadow Rise offers to allow the party to live and spread the message of Rise's death, but naturally they refuse. So she hits them with a Megidola and it ends up nearly being a Total Party Kill.

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