Ryotaro Dojima

Ryotaro Dojima is a character from Persona 4. He is Nanako Dojima's father and the protagonist's uncle from his mother's side. Ryotaro works as a police detective in Yasoinaba, and is helped by his assistant Tohru Adachi. He lives at the Dojima Residence east of Inaba.

Appearances

 * Persona 4: Supporting Character; Hierophant Social Link
 * Persona 4 Manga: Supporting Character; Hierophant Arcana
 * Persona 4 The Animation: Supporting Character; Hierophant Arcana
 * Persona 4 Golden: Supporting Character; Hierophant Social Link
 * Persona 4 The Golden Animation 
 * Persona 4 Arena: Supporting Character

Design
Ryotaro has short, grayish black hair, gray eyes, three-day stubble, and broad shoulders. He is frequently seen wearing a dark gray shirt with pulled up sleeves, a loose, light red necktie and a brown belt with a metal buckle as well as a pair of dress pants along with dark brown shoes. On his left arm, he has a silver wristwatch. Despite carrying it around most of the time, Ryotaro is never seen wearing his black jacket.

In Persona 4 The Animation, Ryotaro occasionally carries a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket.

Profile
Living alone with his little daughter Nanako, Ryotaro is shown to be a hard working detective. While he cares about his daughter, he has severe problems in being a father for her as she constantly reminds him of his deceased wife, Chisato. According to the events of his Social Link, Ryotaro did not understand the true meaning of the word "family" until the protagonist arrived, further pointing out the familial problems of the Dojimas. He is also worried about the protagonist's involvement in the case, and gets easily enraged when stressed.

Persona 4
Ryotaro lives alone with his daughter until the protagonist temporarily stays with them. His Arcana is the Hierophant, so increasing his Social Link empowers the player's Hierophant personas.

A detective of the Inaba police force, Dojima personally handled the mysterious serial killings. At the same time, his Social Link reveals that he was also pursuing an older case regarding a hit and run that killed his wife years ago. Because of this, he is often away from home, and comes home late, leaving his young daughter Nanako to look after herself.

Social Link
Going through the S.Link, Dojima and the protagonist bond through idle chatter about their lives at the dining table. Over the course of the story, Dojima then admits to the protagonist the fate of his wife-- she was killed in a hit-and-run while on her way to pick Nanako up from school. Ever since then, Dojima had been fervently searching for information to find the culprit, in hopes of avenging his wife's death and perhaps, ending his sorrows as well. This however, as shown in the later events of his Social Link, seems to be an excuse to avoid spending time with Nanako, who reminds Dojima of his wife too much.

Knowing it was probably a sedan made overseas that killed her, Dojima admits that the culprit has most likely already left the country. Dojima then confides into the Protagonist of his hopelessness at the situation, as he feels that he may just have to swallow his misery without being able to move on in life. This inner conflict is later on settled when Nanako attempts to run away from home, that Dojima realizes his role as a father, and reexamines his choices to live his life: to simply keep running away from reality, or to face the truth head-on and advance in life.

At the end of the S.Link, Dojima realizes that Nanako and the protagonist are his family, and that he needs to care for them more than his work. They celebrate the day they "officially" became a family with a cake. Dojima then gives the protagonist his very own personal Coffee Mug for him to drink with, as he "makes a fantastic cup of coffee, [if he says so himself]." Dojima admits to the MC that the mug that he was using before belonged to his late wife.

Trivia

 * Arc System Works originally wanted Ryotaro Dojima as one of the playable characters of Persona 4 Arena during the pre-planning stages when they were deciding on the cast. Takumi Iguchiya joked that instead of a Persona, he would summon Nanako Dojima to his aid. However, Atlus rejected that concept.