Koromaru

Koromaru is a playable character from Persona 3.

Appearances

 * Persona 3 / FES: Playable Character
 * Persona 3 Portable: Playable Character; Strength Social Link (Female Protagonist only)
 * Persona 3 (Manga): Major Character
 * Persona 4 Arena: Mentioned by Aigis
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character (paired with Ken Amada)
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Playable Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P3: Major Character

Design
Koromaru is an albino. When he joined SEES, he was given a special Evoker for dogs, a metallic collar around his neck. He has a red armband on his left arm, a miniature, white T-Shirt, and very small angel-esque wings on his back.

In Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, he continues to wear his customised Evoker collar and wings, but also wears the orange jacket that Ken wore during the events of Persona 3 instead of a white shirt.

His "TV glasses" are red goggles.

Design Development
According to Shigenori Soejima, the idea of including a dog into the party was from the very beginning so the hard part was settling on a breed. Small dogs like Chihuahuas or Pomeranians couldn't be used because of their size, so the staff held a popularity poll to decide on its type. Dobermans would look too scary, although Koromaru's Cerberus was apparently modeled after one, so the final decision was between a Husky and a Shiba, although at first Soejima chose a Dalmatian. The poll decided on a Shiba, but a normal dog would look too plain, so the next move was choosing some clothes. Being a Shinto priest's dog, he thought of giving him the same garments. The wings attached to his costume were Yukari and Fuuka's idea.

Personality
Koromaru's personality is based on the famous dog. He is kind and loyal. Additionally, he exhibits numerous human characteristics, despite being a dog.

In Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, even though he gets along with everyone, he dislikes Kanji for some unexplained reason and refuses to let Kanji pet him.

Persona 3
Koromaru is a Shiba Inu who joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad in Persona 3. Koromaru was a stray dog that Fuuka Yamagishi and Yukari Takeba played with regularly. A housewife tells them that Koromaru's master, a monk from Naganaki Shrine, had died in an accident (about 6 months ago from June 20). Koromaru continued to protect the shrine and wait for his master's return. One night, a rogue Shadow is detected outside of Tartarus. The shadow wanders into the shrine area, where it is killed by Koromaru. Akihiko Sanada manages to reach the shrine, only to find the shadow defeated and Koromaru injured. Akihiko is very impressed at the dog's bravery and intelligence, and Mitsuru Kirijo makes sure that he receives the best veterinary care possible.

Shuji Ikutsuki decides to have a special Evoker made for Koromaru that he can wear and use as a collar. He also wears protective clothing and fights with knives. Koromaru joins SEES after he recovers from his injuries. Koromaru cannot communicate directly with his dorm mates, but they manage to understand him through his actions and from Aigis translating for him.

Koromaru exhibits intelligence far above that of most dogs. He is fiercely loyal, and particularly close with Shinjiro Aragaki, who often feeds him special food and takes extra care of him. He is a fan of a show called "The True Battles of Real Men", which exhibits acts of courage from real people. He begs the protagonist to take him to the theater for a special showing of the final episodes of the show. Koromaru whines and runs around after the movie until the protagonist agrees to purchase the boxed set after its release.

Koromaru is called "a white beast with red eyes" by Akinari Kamiki, whose pen is stolen by the dog. Akinari doesn't seem to angry about the theft of the pen, but he will not talk with the protagonist until he retrieves the pen.

FES
In the FES version of the main game, the protagonist can take Koromaru for a walk in the evenings. Typically, Koromaru goes to the shrine to play. Sometimes, a dorm mate will accompany the protagonist, where they have a conversation while Koromaru plays. In the event the protagonist goes alone with Koromaru, he will get a random item, or have an encounter with a Social Link, which will allow their relationship to deepen.

The Answer
Through Junpei's memories on the Abyss of Time, we can see Koromaru as a dog that stayed alongside Junpei during a night at the Paulownia Mall while he was depressed because of his father's alcoholism problem. Being as intelligent as he is, Koromaru understood Junpei was in need of someone to stay by his side, something Junpei realized by seeing the scene again and now remembers fondly. A few hours after that, the Dark Hour came into effect and Junpei met Akihiko and awakened to his Persona.

During the events that led Aigis to fight against the SEES members, Koromaru and Junpei team up, acting as a neutral party. They intend to beat everyone so they can calm down, then think clearly about what they really want to do.

Portable
Koromaru is now a Social Link of the Strength Arcana. However, his Social Link is only available for the female protagonist. You will need to get Dog Food from Fuuka to initiate this Social Link, and she will give it to you during one of her Social Link events. Koromaru's Social Link can be activated on the 15th August. You may only take Koromaru on walks after completing his Social Link.

Trivia

 * Koromaru appears to be based off, a famous dog of in Japan. Hachikō saw his owner, a Tokyo University professor, leave for work every day, and then he would wait for the professor at the train station in the evening. His owner died from a cranial hemorrhage while giving a lecture, but Hachikō continued to appear at the station, waiting for his owner to return. Hachikō appeared every night when the trains would arrive, hoping to see the professor. The dog's loyalty to his master caused him to return to the Shibuya station every day for almost ten years, something which inspired and impressed others. When Hachikō died, a statue was erected at the station in his memory, and Hachikō's remains were stuffed and placed in a museum.
 * Besides Shinjiro Arigaki, Koromaru is the only party member in Persona 3 to not get an ultimate Persona. Instead, Cerberus remains as his Persona throughout the entire game.
 * Aigis is the only one who can "understand" what Koromaru has to "say". Oddly, once Aigis awakens to the powers of the Wild Card in The Answer, she understands less and less whatever Koromaru tries to tell her. It seems that, by becoming more "human", Aigis also loses some of her non-human traits.
 * In Persona 4, quest #20 "We Wish Our Dog Would Return" is about helping a dog named Koro. However, it is a different dog.
 * When Aigis beats Yosuke Hanamura in Persona 4 Arena's versus mode, Aigis remarks that he resembles Koromaru because of his speed and adds that if he barked, he'd be exactly like him.
 * Koromaru is the only major character in Persona 3 to get a palette swap for a different character.
 * It is possible that in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, since all other members of SEES had graduated, Koromaru became quite close to Ken since he was still in school. This may be why he fights alongside Ken as one character.
 * As well, this could be a reference to the fact Koromaru was very close to Shinjiro Aragaki, as he was often the one to feed him, even while he was in the streets. Ken is possibly now the caretaker of Koromaru as Shinjiro once was.
 * In the Persona 4 Arena The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Official Design Work, concept art of Koromaru was originally shown that Koromaru was going to have puppies with another dog, who all wearing matching red scarves. However, whether Koromaru bred with another dog is never stated in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.
 * Yukiko Amagi would often call Koromaru by different names, specifically names of Japanese war generals, as Chie mentioned. Koromaru has been called Chosokabe, Masamune, and Nobunaga, by Yukiko, likely after Chosokabe Motochika, Date Masamune, and Oda Nobunaga, respectively.