Yu Narukami

Yu Narukami is the Protagonist of Persona 4. He begins the game by moving to Yasoinaba. Similar to Tatsuya Suou of the Persona 2 dualogy, he wields two-handed swords as his primary weapon. However, he is incapable of using alternative weapons, in contrast to the Protagonist of Persona 3. As the leader of the Investigation Team, the protagonist becomes deeply involved in the serial murder cases in the Inaba region shortly after arriving in town to live with his uncle.

Appearances

 * Persona 4: Protagonist
 * Persona 4 Manga: Protagonist as Souji Seta
 * Persona 4 The Animation: Protagonist as Yu Narukami
 * Persona 4 Arena: Playable Character as Yu Narukami
 * Persona 4: The Golden: Protagonist

Design
The protagonist has short, bowl-shaped gray hair with matching gray eyes, he had pale complexion, and is only one head shorter than Kanji. At school and in the Midnight Channel, he wears the school uniform of Yasogami High and wears gray glasses in battle. Additionally, he wears his lighter uniform in summer. On days off, he is shown wearing a black jacket and gray turtleneck shirt along with black pants. On days off in the summer, he wears a white collar shirt with short sleeves and brown pants. At the school festival while crossdressing, he uses a female uniform with black leggings as well as a wig with long, gray pigtails. The protagonist also has a black blazer which he occasionally is seen wearing in the manga adaption of the game.

During scenes with the basketball team in Persona 4 the Animation he wears Yasogami Highs black basketball uniform and his casual outfit during practice consists of a light blue tanktop and black shorts with yellow lines on the bottom. At home he only wears a different colored version of his casual clothes, unlike in the game where he is shown in his uniform while at home, and his skin is tan complexion.

In Persona 4: The Golden during the newly added Halloween event, he dresses as a magician, wearing a huge black top hat, a white chemise along with black suspenders and black pants. In winter, he now wears snow suit with beanie with yellow goggles, black turtleneck and possibly white sweater vest with black snow jacket with brown fur, black gloves, black pants, and black shoes. Even during colder days in winter he wear white winter coat with black and white pad scarf and matching black gloves on his school uniform.

Personality
Following with the tradition of the Shin Megami Tensei series, he is a silent protagonist (though, as with protagonist of Persona 3, he does technically speak when summoning a Persona), where his name and personality are decided and portrayed by the player's in-game actions and decisions.

In Persona 4 The Animation, he is depicted as quiet and polite. He has a dry sense of humor, and sometimes does questionable things which he thinks are funny. He also seems a bit naive and oblivious to certain situations. Overall, Yu is a much livelier character compared to his game counterpart. Before the awakening of his Persona, Yu seemed to be emotionless and cold at times (as well as occiasionally deadpan). Afterwards, however, he is known to value the bond of friendship between the members of the Investigation Team and is highly concerned about his friends. It is shown that he will go through great lengths in order to help others like most of his Social Links.

Persona 4

 * Date of Birth: Unknown, 1994
 * Zodiac: Unknown
 * Height: 180 cm (5'11")
 * Blood Type: Unknown
 * Initial Persona: Izanagi
 * Ultimate Persona: Izanagi-no-Okami
 * Weapons: Two-Handed Sword
 * Arcana: Fool, World



The Protagonist first appears in the Velvet Room, which is shown in a first person point of view. There he encounters Igor and his assistant, Margaret. Igor reads the Protagonist's future, and asks him his name, giving players the chance to name him. Igor remarks that a mystery awaits the Protagonist, and that it is his fate to discover it. Igor then introduces Margaret, and bids farewell to the Protagonist. The Protagonist later awakens from his subconscious, and reminiscences about his old school prior leaving.

Upon reaching Yasoinaba, the Protagonist meets up with his uncle Ryotaro Dojima, who introduces his daughter, Nanako Dojima, to the Protagonist. On the way back to the Dojima residence, Dojima stops by the gas station to refill his car, and the Protagonist is welcomed by an attendant of the Moel Gas Station, who offers him a job in the gas station. Before they drive off, the attendant gives the Protagonist a handshake. Shortly after the Protagonist begins to feel somewhat sick, but dismisses it as carsickness as they go on their way.

Later, after the Protagonist falls asleep, he awakens in a fog-ridden area. There, he hears a voice, telling him to follow it if he wishes to find the truth. The Protagonist eventually encounters a human presence, but the heavy fog makes it impossible to see the other person. The voice claims to be intrigued by the Protagonist, and decides to lend him his power for the time being. The next day, the Protagonist enrolls into Yasogami High School and befriends Chie Satonaka and Yukiko Amagi, and befriends Yosuke Hanamura the next morning after he helps him from his bicycle accident.

Yosuke later invites the Protagonist to Yasoinaba's delicacy store as a sign of gratitude. However, he changes his plans when Chie overhears his invitation, and takes both the Protagonist and Chie to Junes' food court. He then reveals that his father is the manager of this particular Junes, and that Yosuke himself transferred in about a year back. Chie later tells the Protagonist and Yosuke about the urban legend of the Midnight Channel, and asks them to try it out. The Protagonist also meets Saki Konishi, an upperclassman and Yosukes senpai who is working at the Junes. Later in the night, the Protagonist tries to gain access to the Midnight Channel and sees a blurred image of a female student in his TV. Intrigued, the Protagonist touches the screen of his TV, and discovers that he can reach his hand inside the TV set. Much to his horror, the TV pulls him in, but gets stuck instead because the TV screen was too small for his size. He manages to pull himself out and accidentally knocks himself on the head.

The next morning, the Protagonist, Yosuke and Chie have a discussion about their discovery, and come to the conclusion that they all saw the same female student. The Protagonist tells Yosuke and Chie about how he was sucked in the TV, and the latter two assume it was a weird dream. Chie later tells them her family plans to buy a wide-screen TV, and asks Yosuke what he would recommend among the cheap sets that Junes carry. The trio go to the electronics department of Junes, and go over the TV sets on display. The Protagonist tries to re-enter the TV, this time, using a wide-screen TV large enough to insert his body in. Seeing the Protagonist stuck midway inside the TV, Yosuke and Chie try to hide him. Yosuke runs off in a panic to use the bathroom, only to come back as a number of people are approaching, and he and Chie accidentally push themselves and the Protagonist in the TV, and the three fall on the other side of the TV, the Midnight Channel.

Inside the Midnight Channel, the trio is shocked to see their surroundings and begin to panic. The trio anxiously tries to find the entrance from which they came, but after failing to do so, they decide to check around the area. In their exploration, they find a room with a noose and a stool, covered with posters of a woman wearing a kimono. However, all the faces on the posters are ripped off. At this point, everyone begins to feel a bit sick, so they decide to head back the way they came. Eventually, they encounter a bear, who urges them to leave the television world. The trio confesses their inability to doing so, and losing his patience, the bear summons a stack of three TVs, and promptly pushes them into the stack, forcefully ejecting the trio out of the Midnight Channel.

The next day, during a school assembly, the team learns that Saki had passed away in a violent accident. Devastated, Yosuke swears to investigate the Midnight Channel, and they conclude that the female student they witnessed on the Midnight Channel must have been her. He asks the Protagonist to help him, as he is the only one who is able to enter the TV. The Protagonist and Yosuke enter the Midnight Channel one more time, leaving Chie behind to keep her out of harm. Inside the Midnight Channel, the Protagonist and Yosuke once again encounter the bear, who introduces himself as Teddie. Infuriated by their presence, Teddie angrily asks them whether they are responsible of "throwing people" inside the Midnight Channel. Upon learning that the Protagonist and Yosuke aren't responsible, Teddie makes the pair promises to help find the culprit, and gives them a pair of glasses, allowing them to see through the fog in the Midnight Channel.



During their investigation, the Protagonist and Yosuke are ambushed by monsters that Teddie calls Shadows. The Protagonist hears a voice, calling out to him to awaken his true self, and is presented with a tarot card. Crushing the card, the Protagonist awakens his initial Persona, Izanagi, and dispatches the Shadows. Bewildered by his power, Teddie is intrigued by the Protagonist and comes to respect him, much to Yosuke's dismay.

The Protagonist and Yosuke later end up in Saki's family's liquor store. In there, they hear an inner voice of Saki expressing her hatred towards Yosuke for being annoying and Junes for ruining her family's business. While Yosuke is surprised and devastated by this revelation, another 'Yosuke' makes his entrance, and mocks him for hating having a boring life and wanting to be the hero that would solve the case of Saki's death. Under Yosuke's continuous declination of his shadow's taunts, the other 'Yosuke' transforms into a Shadow and attacks them. The Protagonist defeats the shadow using his Persona and Yosuke is forced to come to terms with his true feelings, which awakens his first Persona, Jiraiya. The Protagonist and Yosuke leave the Midnight Channel and are angrily scolded by a worried Chie in the real world.

Later on at night, the Protagonist tries to tune in the Midnight Channel once again, and encounters a blurry image of a young woman in kimono. Yosuke concludes that it is an image of Yukiko Amagi, as the image shown is wearing the same kimono as Yukiko wore during a TV interview. To further complicate the issue, Yukiko hasn't been showing up to the school, and Chie becomes worried. Yukiko later reveals she's been busy helping out at her family inn and has been forced 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 is dressed up as a princess in a journey of scoring herself a "hot stud", or a Prince Charming. As Yukiko's behavior in the TV was rather bizarre and out of what she would normally do, Yosuke calls 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 create the Investigation Team, dedicated to investigating the origins of the Midnight Channel and solving the bizarre murder cases.



Through the Investigation Team's activity within the Midnight Channel, however, they all express the same question upon the Protagonist's latent talent of invoking his Persona without having to face his other self. As the story progress, the Protagonist receives 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 again after the Investigation Team continuously ignores the threat; this time, however, the letter directly tells 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's 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, but during midnight, the he is shocked to see Nanako's silhouette in the Midnight Channel, who is revealed to have been kidnapped. The Investigation Team eventually find out Nanako's kidnapper and the one sending the threat letters based on bits of information salvaged by Dojima. The Investigation Team finds out the true murderer is actually Taro Namatame, the lover of Mayumi Yamano, the first victim.

The Investigation Team eventually succeeds in saving Nanako, but Nanako's health begins to deteriorate critically after her exposure to the Midnight Channel, inevitably falling into a coma. The Protagonist's decision on what to do with Namatame will determine whether she will wake up or die from the coma. 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 through the his hospital room's TV. Depending on the Protagonist' decisions of dealing with Namatame, Nanako may die or awaken once again.

Neutral ending
The Neutral Ending is the result of the player calming the Investigation Team down and failing to identify the culprit. This will result in Nanako being revived but remaining in a coma and Teddie returning to the TV world. The game then skips to the Spring where we see the Protagonist preparing to return home and Ryotaro asking him if he's ready, telling the Protagonist that it is too bad that Nanako is unable to see him off due to her hospitalization. The Protagonist finally returns home, leaving the mystery unsolved.

Bad Ending
In the Bad Ending, if the player decides to find and kill Namatame after Nanako is hospitalized, Nanako will die. The Protagonist will then have to move back to his hometown, never finding the real culprit.

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 Tohru Adachi, who was also the one sending him the threat letters. Cornering him, the Investigation Team manages to defeat Tohru 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 to turn 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 heartfelt 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 to leaving the Dojima Residence, Nanako gives to Protagonist a letter. After bidding farewell to his friends, should the Protagonist decide to regroup the Investigation Team one last time in Junes, this unlocks the True Ending. In it, the Investigation Team become 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 the Protagonist even though his game is over, there's still something he couldn't shake 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 it all, monitoring their actions within the bizarre murders and the Midnight Channel, and the conductor is the one who gave the Protagonist, Adachi, and Namatame their power to enter the TV as well as their Personas. Igor would later then tells the Protagonist that he is going to grasp a truth even his powers cannot predict, and he will play a role in assisting the Protagonist. Igor then gives the Protagonist the Orb of Sight, which erases lies and reveals the truth, playing an important part of the final boss fight.

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's power to invoke a Persona 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 other peoples' Personas 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 if he is not satisfied with his accomplishments yet. Chastising the Protagonist's 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 loss towards her as well.

In the Protagonist's final confrontation with Izanami, he discovers that Izanami isn't dying after depleting her HP to zero. Using the Orb of Sight, it's revealed that like in the myth, Izanami is already dead, as she loses her current form and reveals her true form of a large skeletal corpse beast, revealing her true form, Izanami-no-Okami.

When Izanami-no-Okami is on the verge of being defeated, she tries to send the Protagonist to the underworld with her "Thousand Curses", but her attacks is repeatedly intervened by the Protagonist' comrades, each shielding him from harm. 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 power of the 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, defeating Izanami with one powerful strike, known as "Myriad Truths".

Upon Izanami's defeat, Izanami tells the Investigation Team that she will no longer interfere with humanity, 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 them to see the bright future of the world he had created with his own eyes. The fog on the Midnight Channel then lifted, revealing a beautiful, peaceful land which Teddie remembers was once the world he lived in. The story ends with the Protagonist bidding a heartfelt farewell to his friends and leaves Yasoinaba; as the train leaves the station, the Protagonist pulls out a group picture of the friends that he spent his year in Inaba with whilst Teddie's voice is heard in the background, promising that someday they will meet again.

Persona 4 Manga
In the manga, his name is Sōji Seta (瀬多 総司, Seta Souji). 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' demanding careers.

Persona 4 The Animation
In the anime, he is given the name Yu Narukami (鳴上 悠, Narukami Yuu). It can also be assumed that he likes (or works with) origami as shown in the more recent trailer of the anime. He is shown recording many of the more embarrassing moments on the Midnight Channel such as with Kanji. Yu starts off wearing the Yasogami High School uniform like in the game, but in the most recent trailer he arrived in Inaba he wearing his winter clothes instead of his uniform. For much of the first episode he wears his uniform buttoned up like most students, but he unbuttons the jacket upon releasing Izanagi.



When he, Yosuke, and Chie go inside of the TV world and encounter Kuma (Teddie), who gives Yu his glasses. They first encounter shadows during their first excursion into the Midnight Channel, as opposed to their second as in the game. Chie is knocked unconscious leaving just Yu and Yosuke. Yu then summons Izanagi for the first time, defeating the shadows.



Chie regains consciousness after the battle was over and the three of them are kicked out of the TV world by Kuma. Later at school, they discover that Saki Konishi had been murdered. Yosuke says that he thinks it was Saki in the TV during the Midnight Channel. The three of them meet at Junes where Yu decides to go with Yosuke into the tv world, leaving Chie alone at Junes. When Yu and Yosuke arrive in the TV world, they meet up with Kuma again. Kuma takes them to where Saki was and while there, they start hearing voices. Yosuke, angered by the voices, runs into the Konishi liquor store. Yosuke, confused by the whole situation, then meets other self. The other self then changes into a shadow and charges at Yosuke which forces Yu to use Izanagi for battle. The battle rages, with Yosuke still denying his other self, forcing Yu to hit him, to which Yu remarks "Oops, wrong person". Yosuke then comes to terms with his other self, weakening the shadow and allowing Izanagi to finish him off. They return to Junes to a upset Chie who states that the both of them will treat her to food to make up to her. They both reluctantly agree. While going home, Yu and Yosuke both agree to work together to solve the case.

When Yu, Yosuke, and Chie discover that Yukiko is gone, they set off to find her. Returning to the TV World, they arrive at her castle. Chie charges ahead, leaving Yu and Yosuke to deal with the Shadows that show up. When they reach Chie, they have to deal with her other self who has turned into a Shadow. During the battle, Yu remembers that his ability is unique for being like the number "zero", which he uses to change his Arcana to that of the Magician. He then switches Izanagi for Pyro Jack which leads to Yu and Yosuke teaming up for the final blow against Chie's shadow. Chie accepts her other self allowing to her gain her persona. The three then leave the TV World so that they can regroup and recover.

When Yu, Yosuke, and Chie reach Yukiko and her Shadow self ,Yu saves Chie and Yosuke from a falling chandelier by summoning Ara Mitama. As the battle continues they are still unable to defeat Yukiko's shadow by the flames blocking them except Chie. As the shadow was weakened, Yu attacks with Yosuke and Chie to finish Shadow Yukiko and thus defeat her Shadow.

After they rescued Yukiko, Chie asked Yu for a favor, which resulted in him being forced to join the basketball club as a new recruit (even though in the original game he can chose to be in basketball club or join the soccer club). When he was forced to be Ai's "boyfriend", as a result of Kou revealing that he likes Chie, he feels disturbed and awkward for ditching school as he spends time with Ai (usually he remains calm,and agrees with Ai like in the social links). During a basketball game, which Kou told Yu would be his last, Ai and Chie got into an argument forcing Yu to tell them to pay attention since it was Kou's last game. After the game, Yu, Yosuke, Chie, Kou, Ai, and Daisuke went to Aiya where Kou revealed that he was going to keep playing. Then as they were walking home, Ai told Yu that he no longer had to be her "boyfriend".

On May 1st, he met Kanji Tatsumi at school, and notices a stuffed bunny keychain Kanji had dropped. Yu, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko then decide to scout out Kanji. Yu and Yukiko were partnered up. While waiting, Yu and Yukiko conversed before Yu asked her for her contact information for the investigation. Yosuke and Chie then came running back with Kanji chasing them resulting into Yu and Yukiko also running. Later, Yu sees Kanji on the midnight channel.



While they were searching for information about Kanji, they asked Kanji's mother about him. He then sees a boy who knows Kanji, holding the bunny keychain that he saw when he first met Kanji. He asks him if he can borrow it in order to find Kanji's location. Teddie then manages to track down Kanji's location, the steamy bathhouse, using the scent on the bunny. As they reach the bathhouse, he and Yosuke were reluctant to enter, and even agrees with Yosuke to leave it be and run away thus leaving it to the girls. When the team fought Shadow Kanji, Yu then combined the Priestess and Magician Arcana to make Yamata no Orochi in order to defeat Shadow Kanji; however, he let Kanji deal the final blow to his other self. Kanji then joins the Investigation Team.

When Yu and his friends go to the school camping trip, he tries Chie and Yukiko's homemade curry with a great deal of courage after Yosuke had passed out from eating it. He then too almost passes out after trying it. Chie and Yukiko eventually order from the Aiya restaurant for everyone. When they were eating, he and Yosuke ask Kanji about Naoki Konishi, but Kanji got frustrated with answering questions about Naoki that he ended up finding Naoki to answer the questions himself. At the last day of the school camp out, Yosuke had planned out a day for all of them to go swimming, even going as far as bringing swimsuits for Chie and Yukiko. When Chie and Yukiko come back after changing, Yu says both Chie and Yukiko look good in their swimsuits which causes them both to become very embarrassed and blush. But after Yosuke says a perverted comment, it causes the girls to push them into the water.

On June 23, Rise appeared in the Midnight Channel After the programmed had ended, Yu received a call from Yosuke, who was extremely excited about the Rise bare-it-all show cast. Yu got annoyed and told him to calm down. He also told Yosuke to meet with him on the next day in the TV world along with the others. In the TV world, Yu immediately asked Kuma about Rise, and they end up finding her dungeon, a strip club.

The team had trouble fighting Rise's shadow, because she could analyze all of their moves and was able to avoid their attacks. After a while, she began to counterattack with their personas weaknesses. Before Rise's shadow began its final blow, Rise stopped her. The shadow decided to turn its attack to Rise but Kuma quickly stand in front of Rise and immediately charged towards the shadow with his sudden charged aura surrounding him. Rise's shadow was shocked because she couldn't analyze Kuma's weakness and lost to Kuma. Rise began to understand and started to accept her shadow. She had obtained her persona, Himiko.

However, a new problem occurred when Kuma's shadow began to appear. Kuma's shadow had the ability to pull everything into his black hole and Kuma was absorbed into it. When Yu was trying to shield Rise, Rise asked him to hold Himiko for her so that she can analyze the shadow's weakness. Meanwhile, Kuma's determination for not giving up had weakened his shadow and gave the opportunity for Himiko to analyze its weakness, by the shadow's chest. Izanagi hit it and it was destroyed. Kuma gained his persona, Kintouki-Douji. After it all ended, Yu walked Rise to her home. Rise thanked him for saving her life and quickly hold Yu's arm, showing her interest towards Yu.

While meeting at the Chinese Diner Aiya, Aika serves Narukami and his friends the special "portal to the meat dimension" dish, although after 40 minutes they are not able to get through it. While at the Junes Food Court, Kuma reveals them about human form that inside him after the battle. Then, they dismissed the meeting and hurried to get Kuma some changes for him. Yu. Yosuke and Kanji headed to Rise's home to checked on her condition. He is later tasked to retrieve Teddie's head from the Junes food court when Yukiko realizes that they have left it behind.

While returning to the Investigation Team, Yu runs into Mitsuo, who was in the process of threatening Nanako. Mitsuo seems to consider fighting back, but is too intimidated by the taller Yu and takes off. Later that night, after getting into a heated debate and ignored on 2ch, Mitsuo vows that he'll bring attention to himself and destroys his room, heading to the police station to turn himself in. Naoto appears the following day at the Junes food court and informs them that the murderer has turned himself in, and comments that he no longer is on the case, but that he feels the Investigation Team should "stop playing games" and move on with their lives. Quite upset by the dismissive attitude of someone their age, each of the members of the Investigation Team angrily retort that they're not "playing" and that each of them has been affected personally by the murders and by the abductions on top of it. Rise angrily accuses Naoto of being the one to take the cases so lightly and treat them like it's nothing more than a big puzzle game to solve. Naoto, surprisingly, acknowledges the possibility that he might be treating it like one big game and heads off. Later that night, the Midnight Channel appears with Mitsuo laughing maniacally and daring them to "come catch me, if you can". The screen goes dark as Yu's phone rings, Yosuke on the other line as Yu quietly tells them to meet up, they're going into the television. The episode ends with Yu hanging up his phone and grabbing his glasses off the table, preparing to head into the world inside the television.

The Investigation Team heads to Mitsuo's dungeon, Void Quest. Yu is still worried about his friendship with the rest of the team. As the team listens to an argument between Mitsuo and Shadow Mitsuo, the audience is suddenly taken back to the Junes food court, where the Investigation Team meets up and discusses Mitsuo's imprisonment and capture. As time goes by, Yuu watches as, one by one, he loses touch with each of the members of the Investigation Team; Yukiko becomes busier and busier with her family's inn business, Chie occasionally helps out and is busy studying for her tests, Kanji comments to Naoki that it feels strained to keep meeting up and do nothing, Rise's grandmother's tofu shop closes up and Rise moves away without a word - her number is disconnected when Yu tries to call her. After a meeting between the team is cancelled, as no one is able to show up due to conflicting plans, Yu is left in the Junes Food Court alone as Yosuke lets him know he's "done with that otherworld crap" and that he has to think about college and running the Junes business instead before heading back to work.



Later during the rainy night, Yu watches the clock and turns to his TV, hoping to see the Midnight Channel on once it strikes midnight. When nothing happens, he gets up and tries to enter through the television in his bedroom, finding that his fingers hit nothing but glass. Yu hears a sound and turns, suddenly faced with Shadow Mitsuo as he emerges from the darkness of the room. Shadow Mitsuo informs him that he's "empty, like me" and that friendship is nothing but an illusion; he is nothing and no one is there. Yu tries to summon his Persona one after another, watching as the cards remain blank and shatter, summoning nothing as the bonds he's worked to create have vanished on him. Trying one last time in desperation, Yu watches the card refuse to shatter- instead turning to crumpled paper in his hand as he lowers his head in shock. Shadow Mitsuo advances on Yu and reaches out for him, Yu denying that he's empty and backs away in fear before Shadow Mitsuo's hands lock around his throat and begins strangling him. As his vision begins to fade and Yu starts to give up, he sees a vaguely green light appear above Shadow Mitsuo's head and hears Yosuke's voice calling out to him, calling him "Yu" instead of "Narukami" for the first time and urging him to reach out and take his hand. Weakly, Yu reaches out and Yosuke catches his arm, pulling him out of the despair filled illusory world that Shadow Mitsuo had pulled him into after exploiting Yu's doubt and worry over losing his friends.

Back among his friends and touched by their concern, Yu reassures them that he's okay and turns angrily to Shadow Mitsuo, declaring that he is not empty and begins rapid-fire summoning all of the Persona he's collected thus far. With the help of the Investigation Team, Yu is able to finish off Shadow Mitsuo, his worry regarding his friends eased.

At the beginning of summer, Yu went to the store to buy another umbrella for Nanako, who secretly gave her first to the Fox. Realizing that he didn't have the money for it, he began to give up on the idea until he noticed the fox holding a wish with the words "Look at me" from Shu Nakajima. Asking how he could grant the wish, the fox notions to the job board where a poster from Mrs. Nakajima was posted, asking for a tutor. Meeting Shu for the first time, the young boy states that he has no intention of going to Yasogami High School. After few exchanges, Shu wonders if Yu would be any help. Later on, Yu starts working part-time as a day-care helper, and later notices two boys fighting over a Neo Featherman Robot. While attempting to stop the two, he accidentally causes the toy robot to break. Eri Minami shortly comes over and apoligizes for her son, Yuuta, and offers to pay for the broken toy. Yu explains how he was the one who broke the toy, and offers to pay for it.

Days later, during dinner, Ryotaro Dojima asks what was keeping Yu late at night, who replies that a fox asked him to take a part-time job and led him to many hardships. Ryotaro and Adachi laugh, thinking he was joking, leaving him embarrassed. He shortly reads a book from the "Timid Teacher" series, stating that he understood the feeling of embarrassment.

A few days later, while helping out at the day-care, he notices Yuuta and another boy fighting over the existance of the magical detective Loveline. Yuuta claims to have seen the character in real life while the other boy states that it was impossible, and that he was lying. A fight among the group of children shortly ensues, until Narukami gets an idea, and returns wearing Teddie's costume. Exhausted by playing with the children, he returns home by bus, only to find the Investigation group(except Teddie) with Nanako, thinking he was Teddie and asking what he was doing. Attempting to pass as Teddie, he shortly speeds off until he reaches the bottom of the bridge, thinking how hard things were for Teddie.

The next day, he sits at the shrine, talking to the fox about how hard it was to make money, when he heard a scream from Hisano Kuroda. Taking her to the hospital, he is told by Sayoko Uehara that aside from a small bump from when she was hit, she was fine. Sayoko quickly flirts with Yu, who leaves saying that he has work. While tutoring Shu, he is asked if school is fun, and replies that it was.

The next day, he attempts to take flowers to Hisano, but suddenly gets taken by Sayoko to Aiya's where she drinks and complains about how hard it was being a nurse and how she might quit her job before giving Yu her number. Waiting for the bus again, he suddenly meets up with Eri, who talks to him about her relationship with Yuuta and how she was unsure. Waiting at the bus stop for the third time, he finds Hisano has already been discharged, and listens to her talk about how she was moving soon, and shows him a comb that was given to her by her late husband before tossing it into the river, explaining that she lost all her feelings for him and that she shouldn't hold on to old memories. She leaves, saying how Yu was the spitting image of her late husband, and that she was glad to have met him. Yu suddenly sees the Guardian Fish with the comb stuck on its fin, and watches "Tanaka's Amazing Commodities" on an "Explosive Fishing Set".

The next day, Yu recieves the ordered fishing set, and leaves, appearing at the festival the next day with giant bags under his eyes. He soon notices Hisano sitting by herself at a bench, and goes over to talk to her. He returns her comb, revealing that he spend all day fishing for the Guardian to retrieve it. He tells her that it must have been important to her, making her remember old memories about her and her late husband, and helping her realize that she had truly loved her husband. Later, Yu notices Shu running with the firework, and chases after him. Shu explains that he doesn't want any fireworks since he wasn't invited by any of his classmates to watch them during school, and how he thinks they were jealous of him. Yu hands him a magnetic Go game and explains to Shu that he needed another person to play and that it was fine to have fun with idiots once in a while. He offers to return the firework and runs off until he notices Eri lying on the ground bleeding from the head. He calls Sayoko, asking what he needed to do in order to help. Noticing Ai Ebihara standing nearby with a long scarf, he exclaims he needed to borrow it, and wraps it around Eri's wound. He then attempts to find ice, and recieves some from Aika, who appeared with a large cube of it for a delivery order. Eri shortly wakes up and Sayoko appears, noticing that everything seemed alright. Yu suddenly remembers that he needed to return the firework, and runs off, meeting up with Nanako later. He suddenly sees Shu who runs up to him and thanks him for doing what he did for someone like him. Yu and Nanako meet up with Yuuta and Eri, revealing that the Loveline Yuuta saw was actually Nanako in a costume, proving Yuuta right. Eri thanks Yu for bringing her and Yuuta together, and leaves. Sayoko appears stating how she may have forgotten about her true goal as a nurse, and thanks Yu for showing her the truth. Hisano thanks Yu for helping her regain her memories, and states that she will cherish them from now on.

Yu meets up with the rest of the guys while bringing the girls dressed in kimonos. Dojima takes Nanako away to play with the games, and Yu is left standing dumbfounded with the other guys after Teddie takes all the girls with him as his date.

On the school trip to Port Island, the investigation group visits the school and listens as Chihiro presents her speech. The group then proceeds to a classroom, where they listen to a lecture from Mr. Edogawa, before following the rest of their class to a "suspicious hotel", and reuniting with Teddie. The girls and the guys each experiment the various features in their rooms, ending with Yu asking "Do you want a commemorative photo?" and taking a picture with his cell phone of the guys in an awkward position.

While looking around, Yu discovers Chie protecting a young boy against a group of thugs. They begin to talk about her strengths and her purpose for defending the weak, when her phone suddenly rang, with a message from the rest of the group, saying that they found someplace to hang out. The scene then moves to Club Escapade, where the group discovers Naoto drinking by himself. They invite him to join them and all move to a room that Rise had reserved for free, in compensation for a sudden cancelled gig a couple years ago. In the room, Teddie, Yukiko, Rise, and Yu all appeared to be getting drunk before Rise calls out for the King's game. Yu presents the sticks to Rise, who offers them to each member of the group. Teddie is announced as the first king, and orders a smooch from number 3 (Kanji). Kanji was reluctant to follow these orders, so Teddie attempts to change the number before Yosuke reminds them that they cannot take back orders. Teddie suddenly jumps on Kanji in an attempt to kiss him, and Rise announces the next round. Yu was decided as the next king, and was offered suggestions by Yukiko and Rise before throwing a dart on target number 2, and announcing number 2 (Chie) to sit on his lap. Chie embarrasingly sits on his lap, before Yukiko moves over to hug him. Rise suddenly lies down on Yu's lap, resulting in all three girls around Yu. Yosuke complains to Yu about taking all the girls, in which he replies "It's because I'm the king."

Yukiko announces herself as the next King/Queen, despite never taking another stick, and orders Naoto to share an embarrasing secret from his past. Naoto claims to have no such secret, and instead shares his sad past in exchange for the group answering his own question. He asks about the group's relationship to the case, where a drunk Yukiko and Rise answer about their involvment with shadows, personas, and entering the T.V. Naoto, thinking that they were making fun of him, decides to give up and starts to leave after informing them that there was no alcohol in the drinks, and therefore that they must be drunk from the atmosphere. The group then meets in a ramen restaurant, where Yukiko, Rise, and Yu can vaguely remember the events from last night. Naoto informs them that the train back home will leave shortly, and the group agrees to buy a present for Nanako. Teddie complains that he can't move after eating many bowls of ramen, but the group simply prays around him, before leaving.

Back at school, they meet together at Naoto's request to talk about Naoto's thoughts on the case and how he believes that the case was not over yet. Later on they discover a figure who looks like Naoto on the Midnight Channel, and go in to save him. As the group begins destroying the shadows that began to appear, it appears as though Naoto was in no danger, until his shadow begins to share about his insecurities about being treated as a simple child and how he would be unable to change his fate, or his gender, revealing Naoto as a girl. Scared and worried, Naoto shouts to her shadow about how everything was untrue, and yells "You're not me" just as the investigation group ran into the room, transforming her shadow into a cyborg-like being. The team attempts to help Naoto, who was strapped onto an operating table, but runs after seeing Yosuke hit with a purple ray, which aged him into an old man.

The group attempts to avoid Shadow Naoto's attacks, resulting in Teddie and Yu being hit with the aging ray. As Kanji attempts to console Naoto about how it only mattered what each person thought about themselves, Teddie suddenly remembers a skill that would help, and uses Energy Shower to help Yosuke, Yu, and himself regain their youth. Yu fusion summons Beelzebub, and severly weakens Shadow Naoto with poweful spells before activating Megidoloan, and running away with the group, just as the spell was released, destroying the building as well as defeating Shadow Naoto.

Naoto talks about how she tried to ignore the childish side of herself, and accepts her shadow and her, recieving Sukuna-Hikona and joining the group. The next day, the group meets with Naoto to talk about her experience when being taken, and hands her a pair of glasses. Later, the group agrees to visit the hospital to check for any irregularities after being exposed to the T.V. world, as well as any clues to what Teddie was. In the lobby, no irregularities were discovered and Teddie's X-rays came up mysteriously fuzzy, leaving things a mystery. Teddie reveals to have taken the results and planned to announce them to the group. Rise reads the results, and questions whether the results were accurate, which led to Naoto embarrassingly taking the results shredding them. Yu talks with Kanji about how he could help Naoto, and that they should stay good friends.

Some time later, while Yu was watching T.V. with Nanako, he is later offered some coffee by Dojima. Dojima explains his promise to his wife about making coffee, and shortly leaves after recieving a phone call. The next day, Yu i accidentally cuts himself while making lunch, and discovers an old photograph of the Dojima's near the river while looking for a band-aid. Asking Nanako about the picture, he learns about how her mother died in an accident, and how Dojima seemed to have been deeply affected by the event. Later, Yu takes Nanako with him to meet the rest of the group, explaining that she promised a date with Teddie while they would study. That evening, Nanako who suddenly got sick, so Yu had to stay home to take care of her while Dojima went back to the office to read a mysterious letter that was left for him. He listens to Nanako as she wonders whether her father really loved her, and how she wanted to ask if he could come to her parent-teacher conference.

The next day, Yu goes to Dojima's office to drop-off some clothes when he began talking with Adachi about his obsession with recent case and the "hit-and-run" crimes. He later follows Dojima to Aiya's where he learns about how Chisato Dojima was killed without any witnesses or clues. Dojima talks about his frustration and how he wants to keep things secret from Nanako. Yu tries to convinve him to think about Nanako more, but he angrily tells him to stay out of this. Yu tells Nanako that Dojima promised to come to the conference, and hands her the framed photograph. He talks with Nanako about heaven, and listens as she wonders if she would be able to go and meet her mother there.

Yu meets up the the investigation group during lunch and asks Naoto for any information about Chisato's case. She informs him that although they are still working on the case, there isn't enough information to help solve it. That evening, Yu listens as Dojima tells Nanako about thow he wouldn't be able to keep his promise, and starts to scold him about how he should pay more attention instead of focusing so much on the case. Ryotaro begins to yell, but Nanako overhears them, and runs away. Yu and Dojima begins searching for her around town, but with no luck. Yu suddenly recalls their talks about heaven, and notices an ambulance heading for Samegawa River. Dojima suddenly runs off, and Yu chases after him, discovering Nanako sitting at the riverbank. Dojima tells Yu to go talk to her, but Yu tells him that what she really needed was her father. Yu watches as the two reconcile while smiling.

The next day, Dojima comes home bringing a cake, explaining that it was the anniversary of when the three of them became a family. Yu listens as Dojima thanks him for everything he did, and how he thinks about him as one of the family. Yu becomes surprised as Dojima gives him coffee from Chisato's old mug, saying that Chisato would probably wanted Yu to have it, and thanks him. The scene ends with a picture of the Dojimas sitting next to a picture of Nanako, Dojima, and Yu.

A few days before the school festival,most of the class seems to have voted for the Group-Date cafe (submitted by Yosuke as a joke). The group meets on the rooftop shortly after to talk about the girls entering the Beauty Pageant. Yu spends 30 min. convincing the girls to enter the pageant, and is later seen with Kou helping out Daisuke in a soccer match. Yu overshoots the ball and accidentally hits Ayane Matsunaga. He takes her to the nurse's office, and apoligizes for the accident. She assures him that it was fine, and starts to leave before tripping over and falling on the ground. Yu helps her get to the riverbank, and listens as she talks about playing in the school band, and how she began practicing hard to meet everyone's expectations. He is present the next day as Chie and Yosuke fight about entering the boys in the "Miss" Yasogami Pageant, but it appears that he doesn't mind since he says that he will do his best in the contest. He talks with Rise about dressing them up, and listens as she mutters about her feelings about herself and "Risette" before telling her that they should buy the supplies that they needed.

On the first day of the festival, Yu was seen setting up sticks for the King's game, but was shocked when he was told by Chie that they wouldn't need them. He later sits on the girl's side of the table when they decided to try and show an example, surprising Yosuke with his responses and slightly disturbing him throughout the act. Yu is then seen watching the band talk about the surprise changes in the group, and attempts to vouch for Ayane before she stops him and leaves. He listens as Ayane cries about how she was frusterated, yet happy for remembering how much she loved music after practicing so much. He then follows her around the festival, and later meets up with Ebihara, who asks about his relationship status, before dragging him to a stall called "The Long-Nosed Fortune-teller's Manor" to ask about the truth on his love life. There he hears a familiar voice talk with Ebihara about revealing his secrets before he tells her "not to go there".

He is seen the next day in the "Miss" Yasogami Pageant, dressed in a lontai style uniform, and making the female members of the group blush. He is seen backstage talking to Rise about whether she wanted people to see her, and later in the crowd watching the contestants for the Miss Yasogami Pageant(saying "It's a pleasure" when Yukiko came out). Yu later finds Rise on the rooftop, listening to her talk about her feelings about her confusion after hearing about Kanami. He tells her that Risette is another part of her, and that it will be difficult to completly accept herself. The scene ends with a picture of the group on Yu's desk, signed by Rise.

The November events show Yu differently from the original game (due to him being the player's avatar). Instead of his usual calm and collected demeanor, he falls into depression and starts panicking, causing him to act near to the point of recklessness. The event during December, in which he has to decide to throw Namtame into the T.V world or spare his life, is the combination of both the bad and true endings of the game: in his vengeful hatred for Namatame, he forcefully drags him and almost throws him into the T.V. world, but stops when he recalls Nanako's smile in a flashback. He calms down and rethinks the stituation, deciding to spare Namatame's life and continue the search for the true culprit. While the other members leave and meet up at the hospital to talk to Namatame (except Yosuke and Yu), Yu cries for the first time at his inability to prevent Nanako's death and save her.

In December 6, while in Magatsu Inaba, Yu faced Adachi alone while the others continuing fighting the Reapers that Adachi had summoned. After Yu defeated Adachi, Ameno-sagiri took control of Adachi's body and began merging with the other shadows. As Yu tried to re summon Izanagi, he was hit by several shadows and fell unconscious. Yosuke's persona evolved to Susano-O and saved Yu, and the rest of the team's persona evolved to their ultimate forms, giving Yu enough strength to summon Lucifer, and defeat Ameno-Sagiri.

Battle Quotes

 * "Izanagi!" or the name of any of his other Personas, e.g. "Pixie!", "Satan!", "Jack Frost!" and etc. (Enemy weak to attack/Critical with Phys skill)
 * Persona! (Using Persona skill)
 * Zio! (When he uses a Zio spell sometimes)
 * Tch! (Using Persona skill/takes damage)
 * Hup! (While changing Persona)

Trivia

 * In contrast to the previous Protagonists, Yu 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 Aibou (partner) by Yosuke, Onii-Chan (or Big Bro in the English version) by Nanako, and Sensei (meaning teacher) by Teddie.
 * In doujin fan works, Yu is often given the joke name Banchou (Gang Leader) in reference to Izanagi's appearance, which is akin to that of a gakuran-clad youth gang leader's prevalent image in post-war Japan.
 * His critical attack with his weapon is very identical to the Persona 3 protagonist's critical attack when he is carrying Two-Handed Swords, although he is more balanced of the two with Two-Handed Swords, since those are the only weapons he can use.
 * His battle stance is very similar to Tatsuya Suou's battle stance in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
 * Yu is the second tallest member of his party, but is still a full head shorter than Kanji.
 * The calender in his room in the Dojima Residence features both the logo of Persona 3 as well as a promotional art of the game.
 * He and the protagonist of Persona 3 gain special powers during their last battles (The World and The Universe arcanas, respectively) that can withstand any attack like Death for the protagonist of Persona 3 and Oho Ikazuchi for The Protagonist of Persona 4. Death inflicts 9999 points of damage, while Oho Ikazuchi inflicts 9999 points of damage.
 * When he hears Jika Net Tanaka (Tanaka's amazing commodities shopping song) in the TV on Sundays he describes it as a cheery song unlike the Protagonist of Persona 3, who describes it as an annoying song, implying that despite the player's choices, he and the Protagonist of Persona 3 retain their own opinion.
 * He is the only one that can equip Nanako's gifts.
 * In the Anime series, the protagonist's last name is Narukami which is a reference to a reocurring entity in the series, and also a reference to his initial element Electrity, since Narukami is the Japanese god of Thunder. Narukami (鳴神) literally means "Howling God" in Japanese.
 * The protagonist has at least basic knowledge of the Korean language as there are various books in his room which are written in Hangeul, the Korean writing system.
 * It's possible he's fond of cats. One of the reasons is that he only makes two request to himself in the game: Feed The Cat and Cat Needs Food Badly!, the goals of which are obvious. The second reason is that in the side of the Dojima residence, there is a cat, and he can choose to spend time with him to increase his Understanding, and after a certain amount of time, more cats appear there.
 * The reason they made Yu fond of origami in Persona 4: The Animation could be because the player can choose to do part-time volunteer work making origami figures without getting paid to do so.
 * As of Arena and Persona 4 The Animation, he is the 4th main character in the Persona series, after Tatsuya Suou, Maya Amano, and Aigis, to have a canonical name, and the eigth in the series as a whole, after Akemi Nakajima, Aleph, Serph, and Tamaki Uchida.
 * In episode 19 of the anime, he said his hobby is the change and fusion of Personas.
 * In the anime version of the group date scene, Yosuke gave him the nickname "Yuko/Yuuko".
 * Some of Yu's moves in Arena are named after certain expressions, such as Kenkon Itteki (乾坤一擲 lit. For All or Nothing) and Shishijunjin (獅子奮迅 lit. Lion Flourished Swiftness). He is also the only character to gain spells for his main persona he couldn't gain otherwise; Izanagi had no access to Ziodyne, but in P4A it is one of Yu's SP moves. (Izanagi-no-Okami originally had access to Ziodyne however. Also, normal Izanagi with proper fusion can receive Ziodyne.)
 * Yu's Kenkon Itteki R-Action is based on his critical attack in the original Persona 4 (the third hit).
 * Yu's theme in Persona 4 Arena is a remix of Reach Out to the Truth (First Battle/Miniboss Version), the main battle theme of Persona 4. The original battle version is used as the mirror match theme between Persona 4 only characters.