Junpei Iori

Junpei Iori is a playable character from Persona 3.

Appearances

 * Persona 3 / FES / Portable: Playable Character
 * Persona 3 Portable (F ): Magician Social Link
 * Persona 3 (Manga): Major Character
 * Persona 3 The Movie: Major Character
 * Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade -Ao no Kakusei- / -Gunjou no Meikyuu- / -Souen no Kesshou-/Chapter 4: Pledge of Indigo/Final Chapter: Beyond the Blue Sky
 * Persona -trinity soul-: Cameo
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character/Navigator
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Playable Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth -Roundabout-: Major Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P3: Major Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P4: Supporting Character

Design
Junpei has dark buzzcut hair, grayish eyes, and a goatee. He is shown to be taller than both the male and female protagonist, yet slightly shorter than Akihiko. He is often seen with both of his hands on his belt, except while wielding a two-handed sword.

While at school and in Tartarus he is in the school uniform of Gekkoukan High, along with a purple collared shirt, a baseball cap, a silver necklace, and a chain attached to his pants. On weekends off, he wears a black leather jacket with a white shirt, black pants, his hat, and necklace. On summer days off, he wears a faded black tank top and navy blue jeans. He never seems to be without with his hat except in two anime scenes (Group Picture and Resolve) and Persona 3 The Movie or his necklace, which is not worn while in Yakushima for summer vacation, Kyoto while on free time, or in the hot springs.

In Persona 4 Arena Ultimax he is now 19 years old. His hair is now slightly grown out, and wears his hat backwards. He reappears wearing an aqua baseball player uniform with a black tank top and white gloves.

The baseball cap/s that he wears is almost never seen without him. It is on three occasions that he is seen without it: When he bows to Mitsuru during a visit to Chidori, Mar. 5, 2010/ graduation day, and in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax when he bows to the opponent before the fight.

Personality
"Everyone's so uptight these days. They just need to chill out... You know, take it easy for a change. Well, that'll be that. But for now, let the good times roll... Karaoke, anyone? Let's celebrate our future!"

- Junpei, in the alternate ending of Persona 3

Junpei is portrayed as somewhat goofy, perverted and upbeat. Despite this, he is capable of being kind and caring, and he often cracks jokes and calls people "dude" to make them feel better. After school, he is seen reading manga or playing video games which are his hobbies. His bedroom in the dorm is a complete mess with stuff scattered everywhere.

His Arcana is the Magician, which fits with his occasionally immature personality and tendency to act before he thinks. While he sometimes acts immature, he is not of the malevolent sort or a bully. As the series progress, Junpei becomes more mature into a responsible young man, and he is capable of being serious in certain missions and other events when seriousness is necessary.

He becomes jealous of the protagonist's special power (regardless of gender), and this often results in outbursts aimed at the protagonist out of frustration (his jealousy over the protagonist's abilities were especially pronounced in Spring of Birth). In the female protagonist's case, he even implies a degree of sexism, which Mitsuru calls him out for. This is partly because he wants to be a leader, something which Akihiko and Mitsuru seem to deny.

Other times, he is shown to be upset, depressed or angry as a result of his father's alcoholism who he resents and has a poor relationship with. It could be argued that almost everything he does is a facade to hide his poor self-esteem. Besides these displays of negativity, however, Junpei's attitude usually remains carefree and light-hearted.



His personality undergoes a change once he meets Chidori and gets to know her, showing a more caring and romantic side to him than what he usually shows to others (although a friendly side becomes apparent in the female protagonist route, it does not develop as far as Junpei's relationship with Chidori). Junpei becomes touched and happy when his relationship with Chidori advances, and in Persona 3 The Movie, he buys a gift for her. It could be thought that Junpei is sensitive to love because of the lack of love and affection in his life. However, Chidori's sudden reluctance to see him anymore startles him, and he falls into a depressed state. It is gradually revealed that Chidori and Junpei developed feelings for each other. Chidori self-mutilates, which greatly upsets Junpei and he tries to talk her out of it.

Towards the end of November, Chidori attempts to attack Junpei, and throwing him into distress. This same night, Takaya shoots Junpei in the stomach, killing him. His death and subsequent revival by Chidori, an act which caused her own death, sent Junpei back into a depressed state. Only with the discovery of Chidori's sketchbook and the pictures of him that she drew did he find the strength bounce back, resolving to be a better friend to all those close to him.

In The Answer, he decides to leave the past as it is, contrary to Yukari's feelings.

Persona 3
Junpei Iori is one of the protagonist's friends. Junpei feels insecure and often hides this with humor and boasting. His insecurities lead to jealousy, toward the protagonist. Junpei fights with a two-handed sword, but wields it more like a bat due to his lack of combat training. Like most of the playable characters, Junpei is a student at Gekkoukan High School, and has been in Yukari's class before.

Akihiko Sanada found him during the Dark Hour, crying and disoriented in a convenience store. As soon as Junpei discovers he has the ability to summon a Persona, he joins SEES and moves into the dorm, an action which irritates Yukari Takeba. Junpei is glad to join the team, as it gets him away from his alcoholic father, whom he resents.

Junpei fancies himself as a ladies man, and has a somewhat dirty mind. He makes quick and inaccurate assumptions about the protagonist and Yukari's relationship, when she mentions 'last night'. Junpei is usually the first to comment on how attractive the ladies of SEES are. On vacations, he attempts to pick up the local women, usually dragging his guy friends along.

Junpei is eager to fight, because playing hero makes him feel important. He commonly neglects his school work and uses SEES to boost his low-self esteem. Junpei grows jealous of the protagonist, due to his Wild Card ability and position as the field leader of SEES. Junpei acts recklessly, often attempting to prove himself to his teammates. Junpei ends up falling for Chidori Yoshino, a member of Strega.



Chidori's loyalty to Takaya Sakaki and Junpei's position with SEES ends up conflicting, resulting in Junpei being fatally shot by Takaya. Chidori sacrifices herself and uses her Persona to restore Junpei to life. He becomes more focused due to her death, and his Persona, fusing with Chidori's Persona Medea, becomes Trismegistus. Chidori's residual power remains with Junpei, allowing him to regenerate health over time.

Junpei remains loyal to the protagonist and SEES until the end of Nyx's defeat. On Graduation Day, he remembers the promise SEES made and runs to him on the roof.

FES / Portable
In these updated versions of Persona 3, if the protagonist encourages Junpei to go see Chidori on the days 11/06, 11/11, 11/14 and 11/22 (the day of her "death"), Chidori will be revived on 01/21.

Chidori will be seen in the hospital, alive but with little memory, only recalling someone in her dreams, which is presumed to be Junpei. Junpei, along with Yukari and Fuuka, cry in happiness to see such a thing. According to the doctor that looked after her, her mysterious revival is likely to due to the flowers he placed on her as a sort of memorial. Apparently, whenever the flowers threatened to wilt, Chidori would revive them using her own life. The doctor theorizes that the flowers may have given Chidori back her life due to the numerous times she had revived them.

Later, back at the dorm, it's possible to find Junpei crying in a corner away from the others. Sobbing, he says that he's crying out of joy because today is the happiest day of his life.

Portable
Junpei represents the Magician Arcana Social Link for the female protagonist route. Junpei can only be friends with the female protagonist because of how he feels towards Chidori. During some point of his social link, Junpei found out someone was taking candid photos of the female protagonist, and he subsequently helps her find the culprit. When his S.Link is maxed, Junpei will give the female protagonist a pig key holder, an item he used to keep his house keys. Since he moved to the dorm, he had kept his house keys with him, due to the circumstances involving his father.

The Answer
When Junpei becomes trapped in the dorm, he and Koromaru form an independent party to search for supplies in the Abyss of Time. Aigis ends up discovering a supply route before Junpei, which causes his party to disband. Junpei then becomes playable again. Unlike Yukari, Junpei isn't bothered by the thought of returning to fight the Shadows.

When the player opens the door leading to the flashback about Junpei's past, the player sees him taking a stroll at Paulownia Mall to forget about his depressing coexistence with his alcoholic father. There he, by chance, meets Koromaru and gets along easily with him. Two school partners then appear and invite Junpei to have some drinks at the Escapade Club, but he rejects their proposal since he's not still the legal age to drink and, besides, he wasn't in the mood because of his father. After the flashback he tells Aigis that his father has slightly overcome his addiction, but he still drinks a fair amount of alcohol.



Before the battles between the SEES members, Junpei acts as the rational voice of the team. He tries to calm everyone down and solve the problem without the need for battle. When this fails, he forms a team with Koromaru to battle Aigis and Metis for the keys. When the pair are defeated by Aigis, they become two of the torches that surround the arena, along with Akihiko and Ken, and is later followed by Yukari and Mitsuru.

After the True key is forged, Junpei and the rest of SEES decide to open the door that leads to the past Paulownia Mall, where they find a giant door that leads to the moment in time when the protagonist sealed Nyx and they encounter Erebus.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Junpei returns as a playable character in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. He is the coach of the little league and one of the Shadow Operatives Auxiliary Team (reserve team). After giving a good speech and advice to the team despite their loss, he dozed off in the train, tired. He was then daydreaming that he won the WBC (World Baseball Championship) for his team and proposed to Chidori, only to be waken up by the conductor at Inaba Station, telling him this is the last stop. Coincidentally, Yukari calls him and she was surprised that he's in the same location where her, Ken, Koromaru, Labrys and Kikuno are headed and tells him to wait for them at the station but his phone's batteries dies. He decides to head to the convenience store, thinking that it's a good place to charge his phone and get a snack. But his luck went worse when the red fog appears and he has to fight Shadow Yukari and being mocked by General Teddie for being a yapping idiot and also a mook when he wins. Soon he decides to find his friends and end up with some misadventures.

Junpei's leitmotif is called "Mr. Easy-Going Man". The console version of the theme features more rock/guitar instrumentals compared to the original arcade version.

His cross necklace was sent by Chidori.

Playstyle
Junpei is a hard-hitting character with the capability to use Trismegistus to set up for several wall bounce combos. Swapping out his two-handed sword for a bat, Junpei's moves are more baseball-based and have the ability to reflect certain projectiles with a precisely timed swing. He can also summon Trismegistus overhead and use fire moves to control the distance between him and the enemy. However, while he does have multiple tactical options, he can be limited by his average attributes.

Junpei's battle style is greatly influenced by the baseball scorecard right next to his SP Gauge; understanding how to use this is key to Junpei's gameplan. Every time Junpei manages to hit his opponent with his bat, he gets a single, or a runner on a base. In the same way, reflecting projectiles with the bat counts as a single as well. This continues until he gets a runner on all bases, after which hits get a runner back to home base, thus scoring a run and adding another point to his scorecard. Each run scored progressively gives Junpei the capacity to deal more damage per hit. In addition, the number of runs he scores is kept between rounds. Once the scorecard reads 10 runs, he automatically activates his install, Victory Cry, when his current combo ends which, upon activation, will stay with him until the end of the match. Victory Cry, other than giving him an overall boost and slowly regenerating his HP (not unlike Spring of Life), will make bat hits as Clean Hits which will increase untechable time, which gives Junpei more room to perform combos.

While this should mean that after 13 hits have been made with the bat, Junpei is at maximum power, there are other factors to consider. When Junpei gets tagged with an attack or a combo, he receives an out, with three outs clearing the runners from their bases, forcing Junpei to fill the field again to continue scoring points. In addition when Junpei whiffs his bat, he gets a strike, with three strikes resulting an out. But when Junpei's bat gets blocked, Junpei gets a ball with 4 balls giving him a runner on base. When using his Supers, Junpei is able to allow the runners to all score points, after which he himself scores a home run. Thus at the price of his runners at their bases, Junpei can further advance toward his quota.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Junpei's co-op attack is a single powerful hit against the target.

Persona 3

 * "Hermes!" (Enemy weak to attack/Critical with Phys skill: Hermes)
 * "Trismegistus!" (Enemy weak to attack/Critical with Phys skill: Trismegistus)
 * "I can't lose to him/her." (Summoning Persona for the first time)
 * "Check this out!" (Using Persona skills: Trismegistus)
 * "Time to shake things up a bit." (Using Persona skills: Trismegistus)
 * "It's on!" (Using Persona Skills: Trismegistus)
 * "Home run!" (Delivering a Critical Hit)
 * "Awesome!" (Ally exploits weakness/Critical)
 * "Get 'em!" (Cheering on an ally)
 * "Here's our chance! Let's get 'em!" (Prompting All-Out Attack)
 * "Get back here, you son of a-!" (During All-Out Attack)
 * "Huh? Why not?" (Relenting from All-Out Attack)
 * "Yeah! It's my turn!" (Requesting Co-Op attack)
 * "Way to go Yuka-tan!" (Cheering on Yukari)
 * "Way to go, Senpai!" (Cheering on Akihiko, Mitsuru or Shinjiro)
 * "That one just won't die!" (Failed to defeat the enemy)
 * "Damn, I couldn't finish it off." (Failed to defeat the enemy)
 * "Here!" (Healing an ally)
 * "What the hell?!" (Attack misses, causing him to stumble)
 * "Damn it!" (Attack misses, causing him to stumble)
 * "Sorry to keep you waiting." (Standing up after being knocked Down)
 * "Damn. I blew it." (Standing up after being knocked Down)
 * "Ngh, you serious?" (Faint/Unconscious)
 * "I'm back, baby!" (Revived from Faint/Unconsciousness)
 * "Fear not, Junpei's here!" (Entering battle)
 * "Gotcha." (Changing battle tactics)
 * "All right. Fine." (Changing battle tactics)
 * "Who's the man!?" (Battle won: Hermes)
 * "Not bad, huh?" (Battle won: Hermes)
 * "Let's keep going!" (Battle won: Trismegistus)
 * "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" (Battle won: Trismegistus)
 * "Dude, we gotta pull together!"
 * "Ta da da da! Junpei has leveled up!" (Level up)
 * "Ta da da da! I'm da man!" (Level up)
 * "Mano-a-mano! Let's do this!" (Summoning Persona: Trismegistus)
 * "Crap, Slash attacks are out!" (Enemy resistant to Slash)
 * "Strikes are no good!" (Enemy resistant to Strike)
 * "That thing can't be Pierced!" (Enemy resistant to Pierce)
 * "Forget about using Fire!" (Enemy resistant to Fire)
 * "Dude, Ice is useless!" (Enemy resistant to Ice)
 * "Forget about Wind!" (Enemy resistant to Wind)
 * "Dammit, Electricity's out!" (Enemy resistant to Electricity)
 * "Light's not doin' a damn thing!" (Enemy resistant to Light)
 * "Darkness won't work!" (Enemy resistant to Darkness)
 * "Shit, Almighty won't work?!" (Enemy resistant to Almighty)
 * "Holy shit. It's Death." (Encountering Death)
 * "No, he's/she's not alone! I won't let him/her die!" (Final Nyx battle)
 * "Trismegistus... You damn copycat!" (Fighting ??? in The Answer)

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

 * Dun-dun-dun-DAH!!! (Character select)
 * 2 outs and the bases loaded...I'm up to bat! (Character select)
 * Looks like it's my turn! (Character select)
 * Alright, here goes! (Character select)
 * Uh. It's hard to take you seriously, looking like that. (vs. Shadow Teddie in Arcade mode)
 * I swear I just felt a huge chill go up my spine... (vs. Shadow Kanji in Arcade mode)
 * This guy's got the bearings of someone capable of getting things done. (vs. Shadow Yu in Arcade mode)
 * Uh, Wait a sec here. I think I brought a bat to an axe fight...! (vs. Shadow Labrys in Arcade mode)
 * Um, that topless cape look is pretty um... old. (intro vs. Akihiko)
 * Whoa, that looks so evil... (intro vs. Shadow Junpei)
 * N-N-N-No! I don't wanna be an ice sculpture!! (intro vs. Mitsuru)
 * Let's get the ball rolling! (Intro)
 * Let's play fair and square! (Intro)
 * The hero is here! (Intro)
 * Watch me make history! (Idle in battle)
 * So obvious! (Activating Super Flamingo Swing)
 * There's more to come! (During Super Flamingo Swing)
 * Combo Attack! (During Super Spin Swing)
 * I'm on a roll! (During Super Spin Swing)
 * I'm going to do this! (During Full Speed Slide)
 * Easy Now! (While Getting Hit)
 * Goodbye! (Activating Inferno Homer)
 * I'll Smash you! (During Inferno Homer)
 * Junpei Iori Style!! (During Super Vorpal Bat)
 * Time for a beatdown! (Activating Super Vorpal Bat)
 * I'm done playing! (During Super Vorpal Bat)
 * Well, time to do this! (Activating Victory Cry)
 * My trump card! (Activating Victory Cry)
 * I'm not playing around here! (Awakened)
 * I'll show you what a hero can do! (Awakened)
 * I've got stuff to protect too! (Awakened)
 * Can't let it end like this! (Awakened)
 * Playtime's over! (Awakened)
 * Here goes my special attack! (Activating his Instant Kill)
 * The perfect swing! (During instant kill)
 * Big Bang! (During Instant Kill)
 * Look at all this macho glory! (During Instant kill)
 * Come on, you're making me walk? (Round Victory)
 * Hey, pitcher, you scared or something? (Round Victory)
 * Ta-da-da-da! Junpei has leveled up! (Match Victory)
 * I've smacked something unworthy again! (Match Victory)
 * My battle has just begun! (Match Victory)
 * Justice Wins! (Match Victory)
 * Thank you! (Match Victory)
 * I never lose! (Match Victory)
 * Has my time come at last!? (After defeating Akihiko)

Normal Type

 * Generic
 * An amazing grand slam! Hehe! Today's MVP is once again Junpei Iori!
 * Tadaaaaah! A total victory for me!
 * Heheheh! No one can beat me when it comes to how fast you can swing a bat!
 * If you want a rematch, I'll accept whenever! We can even make it a baseball match if you want!
 * Well then, I've gotten pretty hyped up here, so it's time for a nostalgic session of "Junpei's Believe It, or Don't"!
 * Hehe, you were good. Though no one can win out over my love for Chidori!
 * Character Specific
 * Akihiko Sanada: Hehe, I scored a win off him! Who's da man!?
 * Ken Amada: You've grown into a fine man! Though you still have a ways to go until you reach my level of manliness, hahaha!
 * Kanji Tatsumi: Wow, he's got some muscles on him. Maybe it's because you walk a lot in the boonies...?
 * Naoto Shirogane: There's nothing I can't hit! Bullets, baseballs, it doesn't matter-I'll knock 'em out of the park!
 * Rise Kujikawa: I can't believe I ended up fighting the real Risette...! *gasp* Is this a behind-closed-doors thing? Are the paparazzi gonna come after me!?
 * Yosuke Hanamura: I get this odd sense of familiarity off him... Let's sit down and have a nice chat someday, kid!
 * Yukiko Amagi: Now that I get a closer look, she's an ideal Japanese woman! That's something you don't see much anymore! Man, the girls in the country are something else...!
 * Elizabeth: That was close...! It's been a while since my life flashed before my eyes like that... They say every rose has its thorns, but she was like, all thorns...
 * Labrys: You're... Aigis' older sister, right? I mean, seriously!? Beautiful robot sisters!?
 * Shadow Labrys: Aw man, I lost my shit for a minute there... But! Mere Shadows are no match for me!
 * Minazuki: Are you the mastermind behind this case? Sheesh, is this really how you get your kicks?
 * Shadow Junpei: If you're gonna imitate me, then make me look more manly! Am I really that evil-looking!?

Shadow Type

 * Generic
 * Time's up! It's game over! The world could not be saved... Too bad!
 * Hahaha! Even I can do something like this! Stop lecturing me like you're better than me!
 * Enough of you pushing your luck all the time. You're a worthless scumbag who can't live without depending on someone else!
 * Ahahaha! All weaklings can do is hang their heads and run home with their tails between their legs!
 * Someone of your skills was at least good as a warmup! So, who wants to be destroyed next?
 * Destroying the others to rise to the top. There's nothing easier to understand than that! Haha!
 * A certain baseball player said once: You can win a game of ball all by yourself!
 * It's been a while since I've been back, but you're still doing the same stupid stuff! It's so dumb that it's pissing me off!
 * Character Specific
 * Yu Narukami: Whoa, whoa, whoaaaa! Stop acting like a leader when you've got no skills. I'll trade spots with you anytime!
 * Junpei Iori: There's no way you'll pull off a grand slam. If you finally understand, then suck your thumb and watch me from the sidelines!

Trivia

 * Junpei shares the same Japanese voice actor, Kōsuke Toriumi, with Eikichi Mishina from the Persona 2 duology. Both characters share some similar personality traits, such as a rivalry with a female character who has feelings for the main character and a clear love interest.
 * Junpei's level up quote, "ta da da da!", is originally "teretettē" (テレッテッテー) in the Japanese version. The sound and rhyme likely allude to the viral jingle of the  series, otherwise commonly translated to onomatopoeia as "tērettē" (テーレッテー).
 * This eventually becomes an ascended reference, especially in Japanese by the announcer in The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold.
 * Junpei's original victory pose alludes to 's disco pose of .
 * The pose could also be a reference to when the New York Yankees Player, Wade Boggs jumped onto a horse after a World Series Baseball game.
 * The Shirt of Chivalry, a type of costume for males in FES and P3P, is noted for the kanji symbols on their backs that symbolizes the character themselves. Junpei's kanji means "Color" (色), as in his colorful personality. The kanji also means "dirty minded", "sexual desire" or "variety", a trait of Junpei used for humorous purposes.
 * Orignally in Persona 3 Portable there is a "good" ending of female protagonist with Junpei confessing his love for her like the other male teammates. This was scrapped from the finalized version but the data remains in the game disc and Junpei's Japanese voice casting for this ending can be heard.
 * If one hacks Persona 4, Junpei's character model can be found. This is almost certainly because Persona 4 was built on the Persona 3 engine, resulting in many leftovers including Japanese voice clips, music tracks, and portraits.
 * During his Persona summoning Junpei may say "I can't lose to him," referring to the male protagonist. He still says "him" in the female protagonist's route.
 * In the anime Persona -trinity soul-, someone resembling Junpei appears as a brief cameo in episode 13 when Ryou Kanzato is looking around as he is leaving the police department. Whether or not this is him has never officially been proven.
 * In Persona 4 Golden, if Yosuke Hanamura has the Gekkou Uniform equipped, he will mimic Junpei's victory pose after battles, as well as say Junpei's lines. Befitting since they are both of the Magician Arcana.
 * Junpei is the only Persona 3 character to summon Persona without using Evoker in other moves in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. Akihiko can be sometimes counted while not using his Awakening Super and Instant Kill.
 * Junpei is unique among Persona-users of the Magician Arcana, in that his two Persona are heavily physical based in an arcana known more for magical ability.
 * Ultimax reveals that Junpei is a fan of Rise Kujikawa. He's excited to fight her in his intro pose, and he has a special win quote if he wins against her.
 * In Ultimax, Junpei's Clean Hit mechanic is actually pre-dated by Guilty Gear character Sol Badguy (as the introduction of the mechanic was introduced in Guilty Gear XX Slash-onwards).
 * The theme of the clean hit also befits Junpei's baseball theme as well, as a clean hit is a term used for baseball, and in other fighting games that share this rare mechanic, it is described mainly as a type of hit landed directly at the central point of the target at the right positioning.
 * Answering a fan question for the Persona Stalker Club show, Atlus said that the necklace Junpei wears during Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is from Chidori's favorite apparel brand, which she gave to him as a gift.