Naoto Shirogane

Naoto Shirogane is a playable character in Persona 4. A skilled private detective, Naoto is a refined, serious youth, with formal speech and body language.

Appearances

 * Persona 4: Playable Character
 * Persona 4 Manga
 * Persona 4 The Animation: Fortune Arcana
 * Persona 4 Golden: Playable Character
 * Persona 4 Arena: Playable Character
 * Persona x Detective Naoto: Protagonist

Design
Naoto is androgynous in appearance, with short blue hair, blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin. She wears Yasogami High's gakuran, save for one optional occasion in which she wears a seifuku-style school uniform. Naoto is often seen wearing formal clothing such as blue shirts, ties, and her trademark blue cap. On days off during winter, she wears a dark blue coat with a light blue bowtie and yellow buttons, and plaid blue pants. Naoto's summer outfit, however, is reminiscent of the clothing of Kyouji Kuzunoha and consists of a light blue shirt and a yellow necktie.

In Persona 4 Golden during the ski trip in the winter, she wears a snow suit with a white hoodie, light blue snow jacket, dark purple gloves, dark pants, and gray shoes, with a pair of goggles hanging around her neck.

In Persona 4 Arena, her appearance is the same as in the game.

In Persona x Detective, Naoto is seen with much longer, nearly waist-length hair. Her trademark cap is absent and she wears a gray suit with a white shirt and a blue tie.

Personality
Having lost both parents in a car accident during childhood, Naoto acts very mature in spite of being young of age. As a descendant of a lineage of famous detectives, she wears formal clothing and speaks formally in a deep voice, wishing to be treated as an adult, and expresses frustration at being treated like a child by the police force. It is also implied in the story that Naoto has (like the other female party members) no talent in cooking.

Persona 4
A well-known detective, Naoto was dubbed the "Detective Prince" by the media. She is first mentioned when the department which Ryotaro Dojima works has no lead upon their investigations for the bizarre murder case, resulting in Dojima's superiors employing Naoto to assist them, an action which greatly disturbs Dojima. Furthermore, Naoto claims that the only rewards she wants for solving the case is the truth, and wants no assistance from other departments, further annoying Dojima.

Naoto first appears on-screen during the Investigation Team's investigation of Kanji Tatsumi as the potential next victim. Incidentally, Naoto was also to deduce that Kanji would be the next victim, and tries to seek clues by speaking to him. During that time, Naoto expresses interest in the case, which Kanji mistakes as Naoto being interested in him. This results in Kanji becoming shocked and conflicted about his feelings towards Naoto, and more importantly, his sexuality.

Naoto later enrolls at Yasogami High School, immediately attracting the admiration of others. However, her serious nature often leads to her shunning and ignoring her admirers and classmates. Later, during one of the Investigation Team's meetings regarding the suspect of the case, Mitsuo Kubo, Naoto appears and chastises the Team's efforts, deeming their investigation as nothing more but a "game." She tells them that their game is about to end, and that Yasoinaba will soon return to its peaceful, rustic self. Annoyed by her words, Rise Kujikawa tells Naoto that she is the one who was treating the case like a game. Surprised by the idol, Naoto reluctantly accepts that what Rise said might be true, lamenting that detectives are just employed for the time being, and once the case has been solved, they are simply pushed aside.

After the arrest of Mitsuo Kubo, the first suspect of the case, Naoto remains suspicious and decides to become bait to lure the culprit. She is interviewed by a TV show and subsequently kidnapped and thrown into the Midnight Channel. Through the Team's efforts to gather clues, they found out that Naoto, despite her professional personality, is actually a workaholic who chooses to ignore the police department's advice and work alone. As such, she is often deemed a kid trying too hard by the officers.

The Investigation Team eventually manages to detect Naoto's location in the Midnight Channel, an industrial laboratory or military base filled with mechanical Shadows and falcon symbols, and sets out to rescue the detective. The Investigation Team eventually finds Naoto, along with her Shadow, who is busy preparing for a "body-altering operation." The other 'Naoto' taunts Naoto, saying that in reality Naoto is nothing more than just a child trying to play "superhero". Confused and surprised, Naoto denies the Shadow's claims. However, the Shadow then reveals a shocking secret: Naoto is actually female. It clarifies that the "body-altering operation" was to be a sex-change operation. Fueled by Naoto's rejection, her Shadow transforms and attacks the party.

Naoto's Shadow is a robotic doppelganger equipped with large toy-like laser guns, rocket feet and a jet pack, representing Naoto's resentment towards being treated like a child and not taken seriously, as well as the pressure she feels from working in an occupation dominated by men. It can also be something of a split personality, as it can talk seriously one minute, and act helpless and innocent the next, similar to how the Wheel of Fortune may act unpredictably. After defeating the Shadow, Naoto reveals that her parents were detectives as well, but were both killed in one of their investigations. She acknowledges her parents' passion for their job, and wishes to become a "hard-boiled" detective, inheriting the title of "Shirogane," but fears as long as she herself is a girl, she can never achieve her dreams.

She eventually realizing that what she wanted was not to become a man, but to be accepted as her true self, and her Shadow acknowledges her resolution, transforming into Sukuna-Hikona, her Persona. Later, during the Yasogami High cultural festival, she wins the beauty pageant despite not showing up for the second round (a swimsuit competition). In spite of her extremely masculine personality, she is a bit self-conscious of her body, as she refuses to wear a swimsuit and immediately steals her physical examination results from Teddie when Rise is about to reveal her bust size.

Persona 4 The Animation
Naoto is first seen at The Tatsumi's Textile shop, when she glances at Yu with suspicion before leaving. There, she later asks Kanji to meet up with her after school, confusing him. Naoto and Kanji do meet up, but Kanji chases after Yosuke and Chie after he discovers them spying on them.

Naoto is seen again at the Junes department store, where she tells the investigation team about Kanji.

At the Summer Festival, when Nanako was about to give up on finding Yu and leaves her Loveline magnifying glass behind, Naoto picks it up and tells her not to give up until the case is over, giving her a smile to encourage her.

After coming back to Inaba, she is seen in her room talking to someone on the phone concerning information about the Investigation Team and asking for "the material" to arrive as soon as possible.

On September 17, when she is inside of the TV world, she still wears her school uniform (despite her Shadow wearing her summer clothes like in the game). When her Shadow transforms, she is forcibly strapped onto a table, falling unconscious. She wakes to see her Shadow strike Yu and Yosuke with an eye beam, aging them, and as she begins to lose hope, Kanji snaps her back into her senses by saying that it doesn't matter how others view her, and that he felt the same way about not being accepted for who he is. After she is carried, unconscious again, by Kanji to escape from Beelzebub's ultimate attack, Naoto awakens and accepts her other self, which rises up reborn as her Persona, Sukuna-Hikona. As Naoto begins to understand the Investigation Team's secret, she collapses into Kanji's arms.

In October, Naoto helps Yu with the information regarding the death of Nanako's mother.

During the School Culture Festival, Naoto briefly appears on stage, but holds the curtain so that she couldn't be seen in her swimsuit and leaves promptly.

Social Link
The Protagonist creates the Fortune Arcana Social Link with Naoto after rescuing her, and teams up with her to solve a challenge given to the Shirogane clan by the "Phantom Thief." In the events of their investigation, the Phantom Thief's identity is revealed to be Naoto's grandfather, who wishes to help her get back her passion of investigating cases for the truth, rather than investigating for the sake of the Shirogane name.

By the end of the Fortune Arcana Social Link, Naoto acknowledges her passion for investigation, and thanks the Protagonist. Having recognized the change in her psyche and resolution, Naoto's Persona, Sukuna-Hikona, transfigures into Yamato-Takeru. Should the Protagonist choose to establish a lovers' relationship with Naoto, by the end of the Social Link, Naoto asks the Protagonist if it is weird for her to speak in a deep voice, and admits that she is in love with the protagonist. Should the Protagonist choose the second option, which results in the Protagonist replying that he likes Naoto's voice higher, Naoto will wear a seifuku during Dec 24th to meet the Protagonist, should the Protagonist accept her invitation, and spend the night together with him. Her gift for him is a handmade watch that notifies him of the distance of her location, reading Distance &lt;1m. In the Japanese version, Naoto instead asks the Protagonist whether is it weird for her to use male pronouns (僕, boku) to describe herself.

Persona 4 Golden

 * Initial Persona: Sukuna-Hikona
 * Ultimate Persona: Yamato-Takeru
 * 3rd-Tier Ultimate Persona: Yamato Sumera Mikoto

In Persona 4 Golden, the addition of bikes for the Investigation Team introduced a unique new way of obtaining skills for party members. By going on special forms of dates with each party member, involving the use of the bikes, the player is given the option of either having the party member in question learn a brand-new skill, or relearn any old skill that they have forgotten. The bike skills available to Naoto are listed below.

Additionally, like with Rise Kujikawa in Persona 4, each party member is able to learn new skills upon the player's progression of their Social Link. The social link skills that Naoto learns upon development of her Social Link are also listed below.

Persona 4 Arena
Her story mode begins a month before the game's actual starting date, after she is contacted by a man in the Japanese Self Defence Force to help them investigate Mitsuru Kirijo, the eldest daughter of the Kirijo group. When she asks why is she needed for this, the man reveals that this involves Shadows and Personas, interesting Naoto. It seems that they have been working with an almost invisible group still under the Government's support called Shadow Operatives, mainly because of their job to exterminate Shadows (creatures this same man had seen in the past) and because they work in the shadows.

They suspect Mitsuru Kirijo to be doing this not only to exterminate Shadows and help people but because there is some dark secret she is trying to hide, and they want to make it come to light. Naoto agrees thinking it's for the better good.

After meeting Mitsuru, she takes part in the escort team of a plane carrying something really important for the Kirijo Group, with a high security label, but the plane is hijacked and the cargo disappears. Naoto manages to put a transmiter in a suspicious van, and they track the signal to Inaba, where the cargo is supposed to be at. Naoto is told by Mitsuru she shouldn't get involved any further, and asks her to leave the case. Naoto understands Mitsuru is only thinking about the better good, but decides to keep on investigating.

A month later, she is contacted by the same man at the Self Defence Force, instructing her to meet up a person close to Mitsuru Kirijo called Detective Kurosawa, a close aid of Kirijo. Later she is also contacted by Chie in order to know if she's going to make it to their meeting.

Naoto meets with Kurosawa. He gives her information about Mitsuru's group and objectives. When Naoto asks him why is he doing this, Kurosawa replies that, no matter how much they investigate, they won't be able to find anything dirty in Mitsuru, because there is none.

He leads Naoto to where Mitsuru, Aigis and Akihiko Sanada meet, before entering a TV where they suspect the cargo is. Naoto decides to follow in order to keep on investigating and make sure everything is alright in that world.

Play Style
Naoto is best described as a morphing character who is mostly played at medium-to-long range but can shift to close range combat when her hand is forced. Unlike her fellow keep away characters, her strengths lie in the ability to shift her line of fire swiftly as well as being able to utilize traps, along with her original Shield of Justice (Seigi no Tate) Reversal Action being a secondary counter. Unique to Naoto, her opponent is given a special Fate meter which she can deplete using several attacks. When depleted to 0, she may use Hamaon and Mudoon to instant kill the enemy and, unlike most instant kills, is able to do so without the round being the last. She however has low health and not the best options to peel off a fierce enemy. However, some of her moves such as her jumping B and C can be used for long ranged pokes. Despite not being able to land possible OHKO's with her Hamaon and Mudoon, the latter can be great for pressure as Naoto can conceal her mixups inside the light.

Persona x Detective Naoto
Naoto is the main character in the spin-off novel. The novel is set after the game, where Naoto is in her final year of high school. However, she is in a different school and setting.

In the novel, Naoto is assigned to investigate the disappearance of her old friend, Touko Aoi, who disappeared only recently. She travels to Yagakoro City, where she is partnered with Sousei Kurogami, who is her exact opposite and introduces himself as "mechanical." By working together, they soon find out about a website called the Mayonaka Site.

Battle Quotes

 * Come, Sukuna-Hikona! (Enemy weak to attack/Critical with Phys skill)
 * Come, Yamato-Takeru! (Enemy weak to attack/Critical with Phys skill)
 * All yours! (Using Persona skill)
 * Let's go! (Using Persona skill)
 * Persona! (Using Persona skill)
 * Someone finish this one off! (Attack doesn't kill enemy)
 * It's quite tenacious! (Attack doesn't kill enemy)
 * I'll have my revenge for that! (recover from Down/Dizzy)
 * I see, so it won't work! (enemy immune to element)
 * I'm ready to go! Just say the word! (All-Out Attack prompt)
 * Our moment has arrived! Let's go! (All-Out Attack prompt)
 * The enemies have fallen! Let's finish them off! (All-Out Attack prompt)
 * Okay, understood! (Performing All-Out Attack)
 * Precisely! (Performing All-Out Attack)
 * Here goes! (During All-Out Attack)
 * I hope you're prepared! (During All-Out Attack)
 * Let's end this! (During All-Out Attack)
 * Shall I take over? (Follow up attack)
 * Let me do this! Please! (Follow up attack)
 * Leave this to me! (Follow up attack)
 * Now then, what's next? (Victory)
 * That's what come for underestimating me! (Victory)
 * Elimination complete! (Victory)
 * You've become even more dependable! (Protagonist level up)
 * My skills have been honed! (Level up)
 * I gained a level! (Level up)

Trivia

 * Naoto is the only character in the game who has a Persona of the opposite sex, possibly in reference to Naoto's androgynous appearance.
 * Shigenori Soejima, character designer and art director of Persona 4, stated in the annotations of Persona 4's artbook that Naoto was originally planned to be a boy.
 * Naoto's casual summer clothes are similar to Kyouji Kuzunoha's.
 * One of Naoto's usable weapons, "Athena Kiss R" might be a reference to Aigis' Kiss of Athena.
 * In the North American release, the gun left behind by the bonus boss in Secret Laboratory is called Algernon, with its description stating that it was named after an experiment in finding happiness. This is a reference to the book Flowers for Algernon.
 * Naoto constantly ranks in the top 3 in character popularity polls.
 * In the Japanese version, Chie compared Naoto's family to the Kindaichi family. Kosuke Kindaichi was a character in a series of detective novels that were popular in Japan and later spawned an unofficial spinoff named Hajime Kindaichi.
 * Naoto is also the only human character of the Investigation Team who doesn't wear their school uniform in Persona 4 Arena.
 * Naoto's ground throw in Persona 4 Arena is based on her Wake-Up Hit. Her awakening supers Hold Up!/Hands Up! (localized as Raid in the US versions) and Critical Shoot are both parts of her critical hit.
 * Naoto is the only character in Persona 4 Arena who does not use her Persona for her Awakening Supers.
 * She is also the only character alongside Elizabeth to have an Instant Kill system (her foes' Fate Counters for her Hamaon and Mudoon spells which are supers) aside from the universal Mortal Blow attack.
 * Like Yu Narukami, she also gains an in-series Persona skill to her P4U moveset, in this case is the Double Fangs (Niren Kiba in Japanese) attack, though it is seen as a non-Persona attack instead.
 * Her Shield of Justice (Seigi no Tate) even evolves into a skill that is possible for Yamato Sumera Mikoto to gain in Persona 4: The Golden.
 * Naoto is the only party member whose Social Link can Reverse if you pick the wrong option during one of her Social Link events (the option that says "You're on your own." on the Rank 4 to 5 event), as well as having one of the two Social Links in the game that can be compromised in such a manner (the other being Ai Ebihara's Social Link).