Fog (霧, kiri) is an important plot element in the Persona 4 and some of its related media.
Appearances[]
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Persona 4[]
The fog is a substance originating from the Midnight Channel. Like the normal fog found in the real world, the substance obscures vision of what it covers, making it hard to travel through the fog due to its thickness and tendency to cause fatigue. Only those wearing glasses are able to see through the fog and move normally.
The fog keeps the Shadows residing in the Midnight Channel from going berserk, unless a Persona User is nearby. Once a month, the fog lifts, causing the shadows to go berserk and try to kill any normal humans in the Midnight Channel.
The fog’s purpose is to blind people from the truth in order to let them live in blissful ignorance. Once Tohru Adachi is outed as the killer in December, the fog enters Inaba and remains there. People begin to embrace the fog and its remains, their behavior and beliefs shifting and becoming erratic. If nothing is done conderning Shadow Adachi in Magatsu Inaba, then the people of Inaba will become shadows near Christmas, killing the Investigation Team. Once Adachi is defeated, along with Ameno-sagiri, another being who spreads fog and utilizes it in order to cloud people’s judgement, the town returns to normal.
Izanami sought to spread the fog to Inaba and eventually the world as it was the collective wish of humanity to embrace blissful ignorance. She is eventually defeated by the will of the minority who sought to embrace the truth and congratulates them, with the fog now truly lifting, revealing the Midnight Channel's true appearance upon her defeat.
Persona 4 Golden[]
In Persona 4 Golden, after Ameno-Sagiri’s defeat, the fog bearer, Marie, must then carry the fog within her and enter the Hollow Forest, which will become the grave of her along with the fog. Eventually, the fog takes control of her after she becomes Kusumi-no-Okami and attempts to deny the truth in order to live in blissful ignorance, similar to what the fog did to the residents of Inaba during December 2011.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax[]
The Red Fog (赤い霧, Akai Kiri)is a sinister substance which spreads into the real world, transforming Inaba into something similar to both the TV World and the Dark Hour, transmogrifying the land and turning Yasogami High School into a giant tower, similar to how Gekkoukan High School becomes Tartarus during the Dark Hour during Persona 3. The fake Shadow Selves are able to operate for some time in this fog, and General Teddie knows all that happens within it. The Red Fog causes Persona Fragments to disperse from people as they fight the shadows, leading them to the top of the tower. It's mentioned that normal humans will transform over time if they stay in the Red Fog too long, and that it is hard to see in it without glasses.
It is later revealed that the Malevolent Entity is the fog itself when he transfers himself from General Teddie to Sho Minazuki. The fog allowed him to cause unbelievable pain to those who reside in it, causing their bones to feel like breaking and even making it harder to breathe. This power is gone once he summons his own physical form, but upon his defeat and without the fog to keep it together, the town returns to normal.