Shadow Yosuke



Shadow Yosuke is the first Shadow boss in Persona 4.

Appearances

 * Persona 4: Boss
 * Persona 4 Manga: Enemy
 * Persona 4: The Animation: Enemy
 * Persona 4: The Magician
 * Persona 4 Arena
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character

Profile
Shadow Yosuke appears in the ruins of the Midnight Channel's version of Saki Konishi's family store, openly stating Yosuke's motives in joining the Protagonist were purely self-gratification and indulgement in something new and exciting. He also dismissed the death of Saki as Yosuke's excuse for the excursion into the Channel, an unimportant event that led to something far more interesting. Yosuke's rage at the Shadow's words led him to deny it, prompting the Shadow to power itself up and try to kill him.

Symbolism
Shadow Yosuke appears as an animated frog with a whimsical body on top, an allusion of a proverb "frog in the well". Yosuke's Shadow represents his animosity toward living in a confined country town, as well as his wish for something of interest to happen. Shadow Yosuke, like the rest of the shadows to come, represents the reverse of his Arcana, the Magician. The reversed Magician represents one with power, but who is cruel and misuses that power. Shadow Yosuke has the power of insight into Yosuke's motives, but uses that power to mock and humiliate him. Upon transformation, it also tries to destroy the protagonist with its new strength, describing him as "(something) that bores me".

Similarities between Jiraiya and Shadow Yosuke

 * Shadow Yosuke's (SY) toad eyes and Jiraiya's Ears
 * SY's human eyes and Jiraiya's eyes
 * SY's toad mouth and Jiraiya's V-shaped section near his neck.
 * SY's human's scarf and Jiraiya's scarf
 * The camouflage pattern seen on SY's toad body appears at the end of Jiraiya's pants and sleeves.

Strategy
The fight with Shadow Yosuke is designed to teach the player about Guarding, and Shadow Yosuke always performs actions in this cycle: Wind of Oblivion → Power Charge → Attack → Guard. Simply guard whenever he Power Charges or Guards so that the player takes less damage from his physical attacks and don't grant him an extra turn when he uses Wind of Oblivion. The rest of the fight is easily handled due to Shadow Yosuke's weakness to Zio.

Battle Quotes

 * "I am a shadow... The true self... I'll crush everything that bores me... Starting with you!" (Battle Opening)
 * "Get out of my sight!" (Using Wind of Oblivion)
 * "Outta the way!" (Using Wind of Oblivion)
 * "What an eyesore!" (Using Power Charge)
 * "Get outta my face!" (Using Power Charge)
 * "What did I say!?" (Using Power Charge)
 * "How long can you survive this?" (After using Power Charge)
 * "Pain in the ass!" (Recovering from Knock Down)
 * "Dammit, don't underestimate me!" (Recovering from Knock Down)
 * "That's not gonna work!" (Recovering from Knock Down)
 * "Heh, that's it...? Boring..." (After HP is reduced by a certain amount)
 * "You're getting to be a real pain... Alright, I'm gonna crush you with everything I've got!" (After HP is reduced even more)
 * "What a freaking pain in the ass! Get out of my way!"
 * "Hah! That all you got? Boring!"
 * "You're going down!"
 * "So, you want me to get serious?" (unused)
 * "I'm coming after you with everything I got! Hope you're ready!"
 * "You dick! You're seriously pissing me off!" (unused)
 * "Your attacks are nothing!" (unused)
 * "Hah! What's the matter? You still wanna fight?" (unused)
 * "It's about time you get crushed!" (unused)
 * "Let's end this!"
 * "Dammit... I... I..." (unused defeated line)
 * "Damn you to Hell!" (Upon Defeat)
 * "This can't be!" (Upon Defeat)