Akihiko Sanada

Akihiko Sanada is a recurring character in the Persona series.

Appearances

 * Persona 3: Playable Character
 * Persona 3 Manga
 * Persona 3 FES: Playable Character
 * Persona -trinity soul-
 * Persona 3 Portable: Playable Character, Social Link: Star (female route only)
 * Persona 4 Arena: Playable Character

Design
Akihiko has short silver hair, grey eyes, skin of pale complexion and wears a white band-aid above his left eye. He wears a slightly modified school uniform of the Gekkoukan High School, where he replaces the standard jacket with a red sweater vest. Additionally, he wears black leather gloves. His standard summer outfit consists of a red v-neck t-shirt and white pants, while he is seen wearing a white jacket and a red scarf, as well as white pants on winter days. He is never seen without his gloves except during the trip to Yakushima while he is on the beach and briefly during the school field trip in Kyoto.

During his flashback scene in Persona 3 FES which takes place of an unspecified amount of time before the beginning of Persona 3, a much younger Akihiko is depicted, having softer facial features and a band-aid around his nose. He wears a red shirt under his white chemise and black pants.

In Persona 4 Arena, a 20 year-old Akihiko is seen. He has another band-aid on his right cheek, a cross shaped scar on the left side of his head, and stubble. He wears brown pants, and the left thigh of his pants is bandaged, while the right has several tears on it. He wears reddish brown boxing gloves and a matching cape. He does not wear a shirt, and he seems to have been injured by a huge animal, as he has three scars on his chest, and a few scars on his arms as well. In addition, he carries a machete, a bottle of water, large knife, and an evoker with him.

In the non-canon Persona -Trinity Soul- anime, taking place 10 years after the events of Persona 3, Akihiko is now an adult and considerably more mature. His skin is slightly tanned and he doesn't wear the band-aid above his left eye. Akihiko is seen wearing a black suit-like outfit together with a light brown collar shirt and red tie.

Personality
A cool and well-respected upperclassman, Akihiko is serious and determined, as well as cracking small jokes on small occasions (such as with Junpei, though this happens not as often), and tends to show his excitement for a big challenge. He never gives up and always tries to get stronger in order to protect what is dear to him and feels guilty for not being able to save his sister, Miki, from the fire. He acts like a older brother for the younger S.E.E.S. members and especially in Persona 3 Portable if the player chooses to play as the female protagonist, Akihiko is shown to care a lot about her. Akihiko is on good terms with Shinjiro and keeps in touch with him even after he quit S.E.E.S., and cares a lot for him, as shown when Akihiko finds out about the drugs Shinjiro uses in order to prevent his Persona from going berserk. This part of Akihiko's personality is demonstrated once again after Shinjiro gets killed (or falls in a coma, in case the player manages to max Shinjiro's Social Link before his demise in female protagonist's storyline in the portable version), when he is seen grieving his death (or desperately begging Shinjiro to wake up, in the case of the coma).

Persona 3
Akihiko Sanada is the captain of the Gekkoukan High School boxing team and, along with Mitsuru Kirijo and Shinjiro Aragaki, one of the original member of S.E.E.S.. He and Shinjiro grew up in an orphanage together with Akihiko's little sister, Miki, who died in a fire that destroyed the orphanage. Devastated by her death and feeling powerless that he could not save her, Akihiko vowed to become stronger. He took up boxing so he could learn how to fight, becoming a champion student boxer in the process.

Shinjiro and Akihiko remained friends after Miki's death. However, an incident occurred during an early S.E.E.S. mission which put a strain on Akihiko and Shinjiro's relationship. Shinjiro's Persona went berserk while combating a shadow, killing an innocent bystander (Ken Amada's mother) in the process. Feeling guilty, Shinjiro immediately left S.E.E.S. Akihiko used the incident as a springboard to focus even more on his strength and fighting the shadows. He began to criticize his friend for retreating when others needed his help. Throughout the game, Akihiko repeatedly tries to talk Shinjiro into joining S.E.E.S. again. When Ken Amada joins the party, Akihiko, with the aid of the Protagonist, forces Shinjiro to join.

During the events of the Strength and Fortune full moon battles, Akihiko is unsettled and distracted by the absence of Ken and Shinjiro. He later realizes the date: October 4th, the day Shinjiro's persona killed Ken's mother. He leaves the others in search of Ken and Shinjiro, finding them both behind Port Island Station along with Strega member Takaya Sakaki, who has interrupted Shinjiro and Ken's conversation and intends to kill them both. He has already shot Shinjiro and was aiming to shoot Ken; but Shinjiro stops Takaya from killing Ken by taking another bullet despite knowing that Ken has made a vow to kill him to avenge his mother's death. Shinjiro's last words are a request that Akihiko take care of Ken, and he states that his death is how things should be. Mourning the loss of his friend, Akihiko nonetheless finds himself amazed that Shinjiro could face death so bravely and vows to face difficulty head on. This resolution causes his Persona to evolve into into Caesar. He is one of the first characters to express his determination to fight Nyx, despite knowing she cannot be defeated.

Akihiko is often depicted as aloof, and in some cases, completely unaware of fanbase of female students, who often follow him around school. He finds this irritating and will sometimes complain to the protagonist about it. He is eager to train and fight, to a fault. Early on in the game, when he is injured due to a fight with one of the twelve full moon shadows, he will repeatedly express interest in fighting despite being unable to. This draws criticism from Mitsuru, who views Akihiko's eagerness to fight as Akihiko treating their work as a game.

The Answer
Akihiko does not originally come to see the closing of the Dorm. He only arrives after Mitsuru calls him over, and he becomes trapped in the dorm with them. During the debate over how to use the keys to the past or the present, Akihiko chooses the present with the support of Ken Amada.
 * Initial Persona: Caesar

A door to Akihiko's past reveals how he was recruited to S.E.E.S. After a boxing match during his years as a middle school student, Mitsuru Kirijo approaches him with a gun (an Evoker) and offers him a new way of fighting.

Persona 3 Portable
Akihiko is a new Social Link if the player pursues the female protagonist's route. However, his Social Link is of the Star Arcana instead of the Emperor. The Social Link is initiated by talking to him starting on May 25th with level 4 Charm or higher.

In this Social Link, Akihiko will express his desire to gain strength in order to protect others and concern for the well-being of the protagonist, who at earlier parts of the game he treats as a little sister. As time passes, the player sees Akihiko as not just a "cool upperclassman" that many of the girls in school fawn over, but as a man who cannot cope with the darkness of his past and cannot socialize well with others because of it. He later on grows more anxious towards the Female Protagonist, to the point of asking her if there was any way for her to stop fighting.

The Social Link then freezes until after the events on October 4, where Akihiko admits that his treatment of the Female Protagonist, that is similar to the treatment of his deceased sister Miki, would be considered as opening up and sharing the burden with her. Thus his resolution to stop the Dark Hour now serves a different purpose: to protect the people he loves and cherishes, including the Female Protagonist.

At the end of the social link, Akihiko gives the player a rabbit doll (stating that the doll is reminiscent of her and of his memories of a happier Miki) and finally comes to terms with his own past, at last looking forward to creating a better future. The rabbit doll grants the ability to fuse Helel, the lightbringer.

It is possible for the player to have a romantic relationship with him, though the player has to choose special dialogue choices that are scattered throughout certain ranks of his Social Link. If the player chooses all of the correct dialogue and has accepted the offer to be Akihiko's "girl" at Rank 9, the Lovers Route for this Arcana will be triggered.

Persona 4 Arena
After graduating from Gekkoukan High, Akihiko went to college. He decided, however, to perfect his punch and travelled the world in his pursuit of becoming stronger. Around that time, he had also become associated with Mitsuru's Shadow Operatives and is called upon to help retrieve Labrys in the TV world in Inaba. During the "tournament", he comes across Chie Satonaka and becomes impressed by her resolve to protect Labrys, though she has never seen her before and reminds him of his reasons for fighting. After the incident, Akihiko decides that after everything is over and some time passes, he wishes to leave the Shadow Operatives to return to school and become a police officer.

Playstyle
Akihiko is the token boxer character with a special mechanic dubbed the Cyclone meter which affects his combos and super moves. Not only does Akihiko have a snappy offense and multiple ways to close the gap between him and his opponent, he also is blessed with Paralysis on some of his attacks and can ignore projectiles and some normals. He is also not as reliant on his Persona compared other characters as well and thus Persona Breaks don't really affect him as much as others. All being said, he has no reliable option against opponents that like to fight at long range and is quite heavy, becoming something of double edged sword. He's also an example of a Rekka style character, a character that links special moves with other special moves.

Persona -trinity soul-
In the uncanon Persona -trinity soul-, Akihiko has become an informant to Ryou Kanzato in the ten year span from Persona 3. Ryou is often seen talking to Akihiko about persona users and the Reverse cases on a cellphone. After Ryou disappears, Akihiko takes over as police chief. He reveals that he, Touru Inui, and Ryou Kanzato were part of some society that strives to not only cover up Persona phenomenon, but to prevent it from happening. Now an adult, Akihiko can no longer able to summon his Persona, Polydeuces (or more likely Caesar). Akihiko gathers Shin Kanzato, Megumi Kayano, and Takuro Sakakiba to help him fight Marebito.

Battle Quotes

 * Polydeuces! (Summoning Persona: Polydeuces)
 * Caesar! (Summoning Persona: Caesar)
 * That's how it's done! (Summoning Persona for the first time)
 * I've been waiting for this. (Prompting All-Out Attack)
 * Okay--NOW! (During AOA)
 * Well, I guess that's one way to go. (After denying All-Out attack)
 * Damn, I couldn't finish it off. (The foe survives from an attack)
 * I can't lose to an underclassman. (First time summoning in battle)
 * I'm fighting for him as well. (While summoning Caesar)
 * Don't overdo it. (Healing an ally)
 * Nice timing! (Being healed by an ally)
 * Amazing as always! (After Mitsuru hits a weak/critical spot)
 * You're pretty good too, Takeba! (After Yukari hits a weak/critical spot)
 * Good job, Takeba! (After Yukari hits a weak/critical spot)
 * You really are smart! (After Koromaru hits a weak/critical spot)
 * Alright, good job! (After anyone hits a weak/critical spot)
 * Ok, everything's going according to plan. (Battle Won: Polydeuces)
 * We did it. (Battle Won: Polydueces)
 * I'll do my best until the very end. (Battle Won: Caeser)
 * Did you see that, Shinji? (Battle Won: Caesar)
 * I've regained my honor. (Recovering from knockdown)
 * Finish... it... (When Instantly knocked out by weakness)
 * Man, that's one hell of a foe... (Attack misses)
 * How did he dodge that...? (Attack misses)
 * Damn you! (Landed a critical hit, Persona: Caesar)
 * K.O! (Landed a critical hit, Persona: Caesar)
 * And...! (Getting One More)
 * Here's our chance! (Getting One More)
 * Say your prayers! (Landed a critical hit, Persona: Caesar)
 * Don't worry. I can still keep going. (Battle won. Low at HP)
 * I won't hold back! (Summoning Persona: Caesar in The Answer when fighting 2-on-2)
 * My skills have improved. (Level up)
 * Let me pitch in! (Requesting Co-op Attack)
 * Tch, Slash attacks aren't working. (Enemy resistant to Slash)
 * Strikes are useless against it. (Enemy resistant to Strike)
 * Tch, Pierce attacks aren't effective! (Enemy resistant to Pierce)
 * It's resistant to Fire. (Enemy resistant to Fire)
 * Ice is useless, huh? (Enemy resistant to Ice)
 * Wind isn't working? (Enemy resistant to Wind)
 * Electricity doesn't seem to work on it. (Enemy resistant to Electricity)
 * It's resistant to Light. (Enemy resistant to Light)
 * Darkness won't work!? (Enemy resistant to Darkness)
 * Don't tell me it's resistant to Almighty attacks?! (Enemy resistant to Almighty)
 * Don't give up! We have to believe in him/her! (Final Nyx battle)

Trivia

 * Akihiko's Persona, Polydeuces, is a something of a giveaway towards his connection with Shinjiro if looked at in small depth. Polydeuces - other than being a celestial body - is another name for Pollux, who is one of the Gemini Twins with the other being Castor, the latter of whom is the Persona for Shinjiro. Both of whom (Personas) share a similar physical stature, facial build, and focus on sheer strength.
 * This connection also gives away Shinjiro's fate; Polydeuces was immortal and Castor was not, and in their myth, Castor dies (in response, Polydeuces requests to share his immortality with Castor, which leads to the two brothers forming the Gemini Twins constellation).
 * Akihiko is left-handed, thus his fighting style represents a southpaw stance, but when using gloves the protagonist uses an orthodox style. He is also one of two Persona-users in the game who use his left hand when handling his Evoker (the other being Jin Shirato of Strega).
 * Akihiko has a band-aid above his left eye, just like the protagonist of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, although his is in the right eye.
 * The Shirt of Chivalry, a type of costume for males in FES and P3P, is noted for the kanji symbols on their back that symbolizes the character. Akihiko's kanji means "Fight" (闘), a very fitting sign for his character.
 * One of the portraits in Persona 4 Arena is an edited version of the one used in Persona 3 Portable during All-Out Attacks and co-op attacks.
 * In Persona 3 FES: The Answer, when the group is trying to see what is wrong with Aigis, Akihiko voice's turns into Mitsuru's voice, this only happens once.
 * According to Zen United, the European publisher of Persona 4 Arena, Akihiko's appearance in said game was originally going to be modelled after Jason Statham and how he looks in the Transporter movie series. Soejima was asked to redesign him to look more "wild or rugged" by Wada, the game's director, after they noticed that no other character in the roster would be able to fill that role.