Shadow Teddie



Shadow Teddie is a boss in Persona 4.

Appearances

 * Persona 4 / Golden: Boss
 * Persona 4 The Animation: Boss
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character

Persona 4
He is fought after the Shadow Rise boss battle. The player will always begin the battle with full HP and SP, no matter what their previous condition was.

The appearance of Shadow Teddie is that of Teddie's normal bear suit but in a much larger form. The most noticeable features is his claws and the head has two giant holes in his face that expose nothing but darkness. This is a representation that Teddie is indeed 'hollow' in the inside. In addition, he emerges from the ground, subtly hinting at Teddie's true nature.

The Animation
In the animation, he appears in episode 10 after Rise confronts her shadow, saying that seeking the truth will only bring suffering. He then starts to destroy the striptease, sucking in everything and everyone as they try to hang on. However, Teddie ends up being sucked in, and confronts his shadow in an alternative world. Rise asks Yu, both having yet to have been sucked in, to hold Himiko down so she doesn't get pulled away. Yu calls upon Izanagi to do so while Rise tries to scan the area, but the fog is too thick to get a proper analysis. The only thing they can actually see in there is Teddie, his location being inside of Shadow Teddie himself.

Yu then has Izanagi attack the location before anyone else can be pulled in, thereby defeating Shadow Teddie. Everyone gathers around Teddie, saying they'll support him in his quest to find himself. Teddie is tearfully grateful, as his shadow becomes a Persona. Rise says she senses a great amount of power coming from it, and is happy for Teddie.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Shadow Teddie is the body the Malevolent Entity possesses for most of the story and uses to act as General Teddie. Using his power the Malevolent Entity is able to hide the shadow's eyes unless he wishes to show them or talk seriously. In P3 story mode he fights Yukari in this body in order to prevent her and Junpei from interfering in his goals. Later he abandons the vessel once it is no longer able to sustain him for a more suitable one: Sho Minazuki. Due to the Malevolent Entity controlling it Shadow Teddie doesn't disappear like the others upon defeat.

Symbolism
Shadow Teddie represents the reversed Star Arcana. The reversed Star represents depression, self-doubt and a fear of being alone. Depression is manifested via the large pit in which Shadow Teddie is found. This represents how those who are depressed feel trapped inside a hole that consumes them and keeps them trapped within its vicious circle. Self-doubt stems from the way that Shadow Teddie consistently preaches that living in delusion and ignorance is the only true bliss. Teddie's cracked face, revealing the void within him, shows that he is empty inside and doesn't know who he is or what his purpose in life is, thus his existential crisis.

Following this, Shadow Teddie also symbolizes the idea of nihilism. Nihilism argues that life has no purpose, meaning or truth, denying what most would hold to be true as one big illusion. Throughout Shadow Teddie's dialogue one gets the impression of nihilism, as he tells the characters there is no point in discovering "the truth [they] hold so dear", further implying that their efforts and struggles are pointless.

Persona 4
Shadow Teddie primarily uses Ice and physical attacks, along with a variety of buffs and debuffs meant to manipulate the damage output of himself and the party. However, most of his strongest attacks are heavily telegraphed; he uses Marakunda before Heat Wave, precedes Mabufula with Mind Charge, and uses Nihil Hand two turns after casting Ultra Charge. Shadow Teddie will only break these patterns if a dialogue event is triggered before he can use the attack associated with the buff/debuff, in which case he will immediately use his intended move the turn after he uses Nihil Hand. This will likely only be problematic if he used Mind Charge before the dialogue trigger, in which case the player should remember to guard after Nihil Hand to endure the incoming Mabufula.

At this point in the game, the player will not have much choice in terms of their party lineup. Yukiko can provide a valuable source of healing and decent damage, provided that she guards whenever Shadow Teddie casts Mind Charge. Chie and Kanji are both effective damage dealers (with the former also having a helpful Ice resistance), but require ample healing support to maintain their barrage of HP-draining physical attacks. Yosuke and the protagonist can double as backup healers, provided the latter is given the proper persona. The protagonist can equip Jack Frost, King Frost, or Ganga to protect himself from Mabufula, either on a permanent basis or as soon as the boss casts Mind Charge. A Persona with resistance or immunity to Physical damage is also useful for enduring Shadow Teddie's physical strikes, particularly if it has powerful attacks of its own or buffing spells.

Shadow Teddie's Nihil Hand can be negated by guarding the turn before the attack hits. If enough damage is done during the charging sequence, Shadow Teddie loses control of the charged energy and is knocked down, exposing him to an All-Out Attack. However, this is only a viable option in a New Game +, as the damage required to interrupt the charge is likely to be impossible for the party to inflict at this point without significant grinding - especially since Shadow Teddie will start preceding Ultra Charge with Nullity Guidance, an attack that instantly dizzies a target and inflicts decent damage.

If the player is aware of his patterns and prepared with resistances to his main forms of attack, Shadow Teddie becomes little more than a battle of attrition. Between his high HP, lack of weaknesses, and ability to Silence the party, he can take a while to defeat, but a constant barrage of non-Ice attacks will eventually wear him down.

Persona 4

 * "I am a Shadow, the true self. I will give you the truth you claim to hold so dear ... the inescapable fact, of your death here!"
 * Chie: "Was that creepy thing inside our Teddie?"
 * Yosuke: "I guess he was a lot more troubled than he looked ... we have to save him!"
 * "Foolish beings ... accept your end with dignity and grace!"
 * "Stop this futile struggling. Even if you resist, it will all come to naught!"
 * "What?! How can you summon such strength for such a futile endeavor?"
 * "Why do you still resist? Even if you win, naught but suffering awaits!"
 * "Anything you do is futile!"
 * "What is that I see in your eyes? Inescapable fear?" *laughs*
 * "The world needs me ... not you!"
 * "You ... are unnecessary in this world!"
 * "The only truth given to you is death. That's all."
 * "Ngh ... how impertinent!"
 * "Ngh ... how dare you?"
 * "It's useless!"
 * "Death suits you!"
 * "Say farewell to your friends!"
 * *laughs* "...Farewell!"
 * "Now, I shall release you from your suffering!"
 * "Your bonds will shatter!"
 * "How dare you ... senseless humans..."

Trivia

 * Shadow Teddie makes a small cameo in Persona 4 Arena, as a variant of Teddie's "PuppeTeddie" attack, accompanied by a high pitched scream.
 * Shadow Teddie's Arcana is the Moon according to analysis, despite representing the Reverse Star. This may be because the Moon tarot card is representative of all the qualities associated with the shadow self, including fears, anxieties, the repression of painful memories, and a general lack of destination or decisiveness. The Moon Arcana can thus be read as both a reflection of Shadow Teddie's true nature (that he is the shadow OF a shadow) as well as a reflection of all the qualities present in Teddie's state of mind at the time at which the player encounters this enemy.
 * When Shadow Teddie appears, Rise states that she felt a powerful presence intervene. This implies that the enemy is not just Teddie's Shadow, but includes also an early manifestation of Ameno-sagiri.
 * Right before the battle, the Shadow is interrupted by Teddie as it is about to reveal his true nature ("You are but a mere-"). There are two explanations to the fact that Shadow Teddie knows it: whether Teddie knows it and refuses to admit it, or the "more powerful presence" behind the Shadow infuses it with further knowledge.
 * One of Teddie's new moves in Ultimax involves another Teddie appearing in a similar manner that his Shadow did, and even performs Nihil Hand. While this is being carried out, Teddie's body is deflated, a callback to his state when his Shadow manifested after he managed to destroy Shadow Rise.