Yu Narukami

The Protagonist of Persona 4 is a student moving to Yasoinaba. Following the tradition of  Shin Megami Tensei series, he is a silent protagonist, where his name and personality is decided and portrayed by the player's in-game actions and decisions. Similar to Tatsuya Suou of Persona 2 dualogy, he wields two-handed swords as his primary weapon, however, he doesn't use alternative weapons, in contrast to the Protagonist of Persona 3.

Appearances

 * Persona 4: Protagonist
 * Persona 4 Manga: Protagonist (Named Seta Souji)

Persona 4

 * Initial Persona: Izanagi
 * Ultimate Persona: Izanagi-no-Okami



The Protagonist is first seen appearing first person view, where he ends up in the Velvet Room. In there he encounters Igor and his assistant, Margaret. Igor offers the Protagonist to read his fortune, and asks Protagonist to tell him his name, giving players the chance to name him. Igor remarks that a mystery awaits the Protagonist, and it is his fate to discover it. Igor would then introduce Margaret, and bid farewell to the Protagonist. The Protagonist later awakens from his subconscious, and reminiscences his old school prior leaving.

Reaching to Yasoinaba, the Protagonist later meets up with his uncle Ryotaro Dojima, who introduces his daughter, Nanako Dojima to the Protagonist. Later, in their journey, Dojima went to the gas station to refill his car's gas, and the Protagonist was welcomed by an attendant of the gas station, who offers him a job in the Gas Station. The Protagonist would later shake hands with the attendant.

Later, as the Protagonist fell asleep, he was surprised to awaken in a fog ridden area. In there, he hears a voice, telling him if he wishes to seek the truth, he should follow it. The Protagonist eventually encounter a human presence, however, the fogs deemed too heavy, and thus the opposing person cannot be seen. The voice exclaims to be intrigued by the Protagonist, and decides to lend him his power for the time being. The Protagonist would enroll into Yasogami High School the next day, and befriends Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi. The next morning, the Protagonist meets Yosuke Hanamura, and helps him to get up from his bicycle accident, befriending him.

Yosuke would later invite the Protagonist to Yasoinaba's delicacy store as a sign of gratitude. However, he changes his plans when Chie overhears his invitation, and took the Protagonist and Chie to Junes' food court instead. Chie later told the Protagonist and Yosuke about the urban legend of the Midnight Channel, and asks them to try it out. The Protagonist also came to know Saki Konishi, a senior of Yosuke working as a part time. Later in the night, the Protagonist tries to gain access to the Midnight Channel, seeing a blurred image of a female student in his TV, the Protagonist became intrigued and touched the screen of his TV. Much to his horror, the Protagonist found out that his hand is sucked into the TV, however, the TV was too small for his size, and he was stuck. The Protagonist eventually managed to pull himself out, and accidentally knocked himself on the head.

The next morning, the Protagonist, Yosuke and Chie expressed their bemusement of their discovery, as the all encounter the same female student, but they were surprised upon hearing the Protagonist' experience of being sucked into the TV. Chie would later asks Yosuke regarding the prices of a wide-screen TV, as her family was planing to buy one. The trio would later go to Junes, in there, the Protagonist tries to re-enter to the other side of the TV, this time, using a wide-screen TV large enough to cover his body. The Protagonist succeeds, and upon witnessing the Protagonist' actions, Yosuke and Chie accidentally pushed themselves, along with the Protagonist into the other side of the TV, the Midnight Channel.

Inside the Midnight Channel, the trio was shocked to see their surroundings, and becomes panic. The trio anxiously tries to return via searching the entrance they fell earlier, but failing to do so, they decided to check around the area. Eventually, they would encounter a Bear, who urges them to leave this place. The trio confesses their inability of doing so, and losing his patience, the bear summons three TVs, and promptly pushes them into the TVs, forcefully ejecting the trio out of the Midnight Channel.

The next day, during an assembly from the school reveals that Saki Konishi, passed away by a violent accident. Devastated, Yosuke swore to investigate the Midnight Channel, as the female student they've encountered earlier in the Midnight Channel is Saki Konishi. Yosuke requests the Protagonist to help him, as he is the only one who is able to enter the TV. Eventually the Protagonist and Yosuke would enter the Midnight Channel one more time, leaving the Chie behind. Inside the Midnight Channel, the Protagonist and Yosuke once again encounters the bear, who introduces himself as Teddie. Infuriated by their presence, Teddie angrily asks them whether are they responsible of "throwing people" inside the Midnight Channel. Upon learning that the Protagonist and Yosuke aren't responsible, Teddie promises to help, and gives them a pair of glasses, allowing them to see the fog ridden Midnight Channel clearly.



During their investigation, the Protagonist and Yosuke are ambushed Shadows, causing the Protagonist to hear a voice telling him it is time to awaken his true self, and receives a tarot card. Crushing the card, the Protagonist awakens his initial Persona, Izanagi, and dispatch the Shadows. Bewildered by the Protagonist' ability, Teddie became intrigued to the Protagonist, comes to respect the Protagonist, much to Yosuke's dismay.

The Protagonist and Yosuke would later end up in Saki Konishi's family liquor store. In there, they hear an inner voice of Saki expressing her hatred towards Yosuke. Surprised and devastated, another 'Yosuke' makes his entrance, and mocks Yosuke. Under Yosuke's continuous declination of the other Yosuke's taunts, the other 'Yosuke' transforms into a Shadow and attacks them. The Protagonist later defeats the Shadow. Yosuke then accepts that the Shadow is who he is, and receives his initial Persona, Jiraiya. The Protagonist and Yosuke would later leave the Midnight Channel and was angrily scolded by a worried Chie in the real world.

Late in that night, the Protagonist tries to tune in the Midnight Channel once again, and encounters a blurry image of young woman in kimono. Yosuke concludes the images as Yukiko Amagi, as the image shown is wearing the same kimono as Yukiko wore during a TV interview, to further complicate manner, Yukiko hasn't been showing up to the school, and Chie became worried. Yukiko later reveals to be busy catering the Inn through the phone, and thus have to skip school. However, still worried, Yosuke suggests the Protagonist to tune in the Midnight Channel tonight as well.

During that night, the Protagonist encounters a weird show called "Princess Yukiko's search for Prince Charming" in the Midnight Channel, where Yukiko dresses up as a princess in a journey of searching herself a "hot stud", or prince charming. As Yukiko's behavior in the TV was rather bizarre and out of what she would normally do, Yosuke called the Protagonist, and suggests them to meet up in the Junes Food Court the next morning.

The Protagonist, along with Yosuke and Chie eventually sets out to rescue Yukiko, and along their way Chie faces herself, and receives her own Persona. The Protagonist, Yosuke and Chie later founded the Investigation Team, a team dedicated to investigate the origins of the Midnight Channel and the bizarre murder cases.



Through the Investigation Teams' activity within the Midnight Channel, however, they all expresses the same question upon the Protagonist' latent talent of invoking Personae without having to face his other self. As the story progress, the Protagonist would receive an anonymous threat letter telling him to stop his activities of saving people. Though the Investigation Team was worried, they've decided to continue watching the Midnight Channel, ignoring the letter's threat. The Protagonist eventually receives the threat after the Investigation Team continuously ignoring the threat, this time, the letter directly threatens the Protagonist that if he does not stop his actions, someone close to him will die.

The letter was later discovered by Ryotaro Dojima, and upon thinking about the Protagonist' possible connection with the recent chain of events, the Protagonist was detained in the Police station. Ryotaro eventually coerces the Protagonist to spend a a night in the police station. During Midnight, the Protagonist is shocked to see Nanako's silhouette in the Midnight Channel, who is revealed to be kidnapped. The Investigation Team eventually found out Nanako's kidnapper and the one sending the threat letters basing on bits of information salvaged by Ryotaro Dojima. The Investigation Team finds out the true murderer is actually Namatame, the lover of the Mayumi Yamano, the first victim.

The Investigation Team eventually succeeds in saving Nanako, but Nanako's health began deteriorate critically after her exposure to the Midnight Channel. Unfortunately, Nanako ultimately dies in December 3rd, with the Protagonist being the only one able to listen to her last words. The Investigation Team eventually manages to sneak in Namatame's ward. Grief ridden and devastated, the Investigation Team tries to kill Namatame by pushing him trough the his hospital room's TV. Depending on the Protagonist' decisions of dealing with Namatame, Nanako may die or awaken once again.

Normal Ending
In the Normal Ending, the Protagonist manages to calm down the Investigation Team, and points out his doubts about Namatame being the murderer. The Investigation Team eventually found out the murderer of Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi is actually Toru Adachi, who was also the one sending them the threat letters. Cornering him, the Investigation Team manages to defeat Toru Adachi. However, after Adachi's defeat, it reveals that in actuality, Adachi was only playing a small role of the whole plan: He was controlled by a being named Ameno-sagiri, who plans turn to reality into a Shadow-ridden world. The Investigation Team eventually manages to defeat Ameno-sagiri, and proving humans' potential towards Ameno-sagiri, Ameno-sagiri promises to lift up the fog that has been infesting Yasoinaba, but exclaims that as long as humanity wishes for the fog to return, he will awaken once again. The Normal Ending ends with the Protagonist bidding a heartful farewell to his friends, and leaves Yasoinaba.

True Ending
The True Ending takes up following the events of Ameno-sagiri's defeat. Similar to the Normal Ending, the Protagonist decides to visit his friends one last time. Prior leaving the Dojima Residence, Nanako gives to Protagonist a letter. After bidding farewell to his friends, should the Protagonist decides to regroup the Investigation Team one last time in Junes unlocks the True Ending. In there, the Investigation Team became intrigued of Ameno-sagiri's last words of bestowing the others the power to venture into the Midnight Channel. However, since Adachi and Namatame did not face themselves, the Investigation Team eventually deducts that their powers came from the same source as the Protagonist.

The Protagonist later opens the letter received from Nanako earlier. It turns out that Adachi was the one who wrote to the Protagonist. In the letter, Adachi informs that Protagonist even his game is over, there's still something he couldn't shake it off, and it's up to the Protagonist to solve it.

The Investigation Team eventually realizes that Ameno-sagiri said that those who've awakened their powers are supposed to play their roles to override the world with shadows as well, meaning that there's actually a conductor behind monitoring their actions within the bizarre murders and the Midnight Channel, and the conductor is the one giving the Protagonist, Adachi, and Namatame their Personae. Igor would later then tells the Protagonist that he is going to grasp a truth even their powers cannot predict, and he will play a role in assisting the Protagonist.

Reminiscing his actions during his first visit to Yasoinaba, the Protagonist remembers the Gas Station Attendant, and eventually goes to visit her during the rain. In there, the Protagonist' powers to invoke Personae without facing himself is revealed: In actuality, the attendant took an interest in the Protagonist's potential, and decides to give his powers a little push through their handshake. The attendant also mentions that the Protagonist was not the only one she chose. Adachi, Namatame, and many others are awakened by her as well. She stirred the spark in the Protagonist so he could awaken others' Personae as well, and fulfill their role as to overrun the world with shadows.

However, the Protagonist's power of the Wild Card is something the Attendant did not foresee, and her plans are foiled. The Attendant also reveals that Ameno-sagiri is actually birthed from an aspect of her, and asks the Protagonist is he not satisfied with his accomplishment yet. Chastising the Protagonist' greed to reach out for the truth, the Attendant finally reveals her true identity: the great goddess Izanami. Izanami then tells the Protagonist that since he is so determined to stop her, she shall await the Protagonist in the other world, but tells him that he should also have the preparation to accept his lost towards her as well.

In the Protagonist' final confrontation with Izanami, after witnessing the sufferings of his comrades falling under Izanami's Thousand Curses, and subsequently falling to the curse himself, the Protagonist hears the voices of his friends, telling him to continue fighting on. Accumulating the powers and bonds he forged, the Protagonist channels the powers of his Social Links to his initial Persona, Izanagi, transmogrifying Izanagi into his true form, Izanagi-no-Okami. Enduring all of Izanami's assaults, the Protagonist ultimately summons Izanagi-no-Okami, ending Izanami with one powerful strike.

Upon Izanami's defeat, Izanami tells the Investigation Team that she shall not interfere with humanity no longer, and encourages them to live their lives with their own decisions, though she cannot ensure their happiness. Igor would later tell the Protagonist that due to his efforts, the fog within humanity's hearts has finally lifted, and tells him to see the bright future of the World he had created with his own eyes. The story ends with the Protagonist bidding a heartful farewell to his friends, and leaves Yaosinaba, but acknowledges the strong bonds he had forged, and thus he will always be inside their hearts.

Manga Adaption
In the manga, his name is Sōji Seta (瀬多 総司, Seta Sōji). In this portrayal he is depicted as being a distant, but otherwise friendly loner with a pessimistic outlook on life due to having to move frequently as a result of his parents' changing careers.

Trivia

 * In contrast to the previous Protagonist, this Protagonist is actually older than some of the main characters and is referred to as Senpai, instead of You or Him, by Kanji, Rise, and Naoto. He's also called Nii-Chan (or Big Bro in the English version) by Nanako, and Sensei by Teddy.