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"So... you understand. I think that looking to the future is a great way to live. But, that doesn't mean that other ways of living are wrong. No one knows which road leads to happiness."
—Ryoji Mochizuki to the protagonist, Persona 3

Ryoji Mochizuki is a non-playable character from Persona 3. He is a transfer student who enrolled into Gekkoukan High School later in the story and became known for his flirtatious nature.

Appearances[]

Design[]

Ryoji has black, swept back hair, blue eyes, and a beauty mark under his left eye. He wears the school uniform of Gekkoukan High School, with the added detail of folded black sleeves. He also wears black suspenders, a watch with crossed straps on his left wrist, and a yellow scarf. He is never seen without his scarf except in Kyoto.

In the movie and Reload, his skin has a slightly warm complexion. In the original anime cutscene, his skin was very pale.

Personality[]

Pre-December 2nd[]

"Hmm... I'll have the limited-time combo with chili garlic fries and a coffee. Oh, and one smile, please!"
—Ryoji acting playful with the protagonist, Persona 3 Reload

With his debut in early November, Ryoji is introduced as an outgoing, naive, playboy-type who quickly finds a reputation for flirting with every girl in school. He immediately becomes a popular figure among both his classmates and the wider set of Gekkoukan's female students, remarked by many to be very physically attractive. Although not meaning any harm, his attitude makes some of his peers (such as Yukari) upset. He shows little concern for other peoples' boundaries and generally fails to pick up on the social clues expressed by those who dislike him or his flirtatious nature. His personality is similar enough to Junpei's to lead to the two of them becoming good friends within a few weeks.

As a result of Ryoji's heavily restricted limelight in Persona 3 and FES, a great deal of his character is developed in additional content or adaptations. Persona 3 The Movie #3: Falling Down gives Ryoji considerably more screen time and insight into personality than the original game. While his obliviousness and womanizer habits remain, added to these is a great stubbornness and desire to help people. At the beginning of the movie, Makoto Yuki falls into a difficult depression brought on by a combination of his circumstances and Pharos' words to him. Ryoji slowly combats this through sheer force of will. Set on befriending Makoto, Ryoji spends a great deal of time with him– working a job with him, performing a help service at school with him, and remaining by his side as a persistently positive role model. Despite knowing him for "minimal time", Ryoji is willing to dedicate himself to the happiness of his classmate. The movie develops a Ryoji Mochizuki who is incredibly attentive, caring, and unwilling to give up on Makoto in spite of his attempts to push Ryoji away from him.

His Social Link, as seen in Portable, is one which demonstrates a considerably softer, kinder side of his personality. As opposed to his portrayal in the movies, Ryoji is generally very calm and considerate of the protagonist's feelings. The Link starts him off relatively carefree and flirtatious before settling into a more serious and sensitive attitude around the female protagonist. He attempts to get through to her his genuine feelings of affection, having quiet conversations with her and making an open effort to respect her. On top of an ability to be more composed and appreciative than he is depicted outside of the Fortune Social Link, the Link also exposes the uncertainty he harbors. Ryoji admits that his existence grants him fear and uneasiness. While often very spunky and carefree, Ryoji also finds himself settling into a scared, sensitive, and fragile person who desperately wants to rely on the protagonist while also being afraid to take too much of her for himself. He is very selfless and self-conscious, and is consistently pained by it. He feels that his personal wants and what he believes is best for the female protagonist do not align.

Persona 3 Reload expands on ideas touched upon in Portable and the stageplay: a great love for and interest in humanity. His hangout events show his interest in the world around him, and a great appreciation for the protagonist in opening his eyes to it all, "expand[ing his] horizons". In particular, Ryoji latches on to the concept of relationships between people. He wishes to understand why people form connections between each other and to define the meaningful connection between the protagonist and himself. Through it all, he is characterized as genuinely curious and warmhearted. When he realizes his feelings towards the protagonist are that of love, Ryoji focuses on how happy he was to be able to have such an experience. A new scene during the four days of career experience depict Ryoji's deep concern for Junpei and a greater insight to his care for people outside of the protagonist.

Post-December 2nd[]

"I was born from a collection of Shadows. But now I have a human form, so I can talk with you, laugh with you, cry with you."
—Ryoji, using his acquired humanity to empathize with SEES

Ryoji's rematch with Aigis marks the complete return of his memories as Death and understanding of his existence. The depictions of this version of him vary little in comparison to the him coming before it. Where he was previously bubbly, bright, and a bit insensitive, Ryoji becomes very mellow and apologetic. He harbors a great guilt for what he has done to the protagonist and Aigis, and what his existence marks concerning the end of the world. Despite being Death itself, Ryoji is incredibly sad to have to bring such a fate down upon the group he had spent the last month building a friendship with. Where Ryoji has zero obligation to care, he cares deeply. His great kindness leads him to beg SEES to take his life so that they need not suffer until the day of The Fall, going so far as to ask the protagonist multiple times and to appear before him as Thanatos in order to sway his decision. A conversation with Fuuka on December 10th will lead her to wondering if he's been spending his time crying.[1]

On New Year's Eve, Ryoji will accept any decision SEES chooses to make, understanding that it is their lives that only they know what to do with. He does not blame or criticize them for either option, being open to all ways of living, with his objections to them sparing him only resulting from a personal desire for the group to escape suffering. As Death, Ryoji wishes for the happiness of those he grew to befriend, and for humanity as a whole. He is incredibly thankful for the time he spent with the protagonist and the miraculous bond they got to share. The Nyx Avatar ultimately states it never minded the time it spent as Ryoji Mochizuki.

Profile[]

Persona 3[]

After the defeat of the twelve Greater Shadows, followed by the exposure of Shuji Ikutsuki's deceit and his simultaneous death, Ryoji arrives as a transfer student, claiming his parents are working overseas. In actuality, he is the being Ikutsuki tricked SEES into summoning. Ryoji's flirtatious personality immediately gains people's attention and his frequent antics with Junpei causes him to often get on Yukari's nerves. Aigis continually expresses an unknown feeling of hostility toward him and repeatedly warns the protagonist to keep his guard up around Ryoji.

Despite the warnings, Ryoji later befriends Junpei and Yukari, along with the protagonist and the other members of SEES. He proclaims to be from a rich family, and is apparently very popular with his classmates. During a school trip, Ryoji and Junpei attempt to get in a hot spring with girls by "mistaking" the time, and drag Akihiko and the protagonist into their scheme. The scheme goes wrong when Yukari, Mitsuru, Fuuka, and Aigis show up in the hot spring, much to Akihiko's panic and fear, as he knows Mitsuru will never believe it was an accident and will "execute" them if she catches them. Depending on the protagonist's actions, he could either escape from the girls' vision or get caught for being a "peeping Tom." Should the protagonist successfully avoid the girls, Ryoji and Junpei will faint from staying in the hot springs for too long.

Ryoji's true past is revealed after Aigis eventually senses who he really is. She confronts him one night during the Dark Hour on the Moonlight Bridge. At first, Ryoji can't remember what led him there, or why Aigis shows such hostility toward him. Aigis explains what she really is and her true purpose as an Anti-Shadow Weapon. She claims to have fought against Ryoji at that same location 10 years ago. This triggers his memories of his true identity, the anthropomorphic personification of Death, and Ryoji easily halts Aigis' assault, heavily wounding her. He faints after SEES arrives, but explains his true identity the next day.

Ryoji reveals that he was sealed inside the protagonist's body 10 years ago by Aigis, after she realized Death can not be defeated. Being locked away within the protagonist's body, he manifested as the form of a child known as Pharos, and defeating the twelve Shadows manifested him further into the real world as Ryoji Mochizuki. He explains that he is the "Appriser" of Nyx, and is destined to be the harbinger of Death (ultimately becoming the Avatar of Nyx). However, he feels misery and guilt because of the bond between the Protagonist and his other identity, Pharos. Thus Ryoji offers SEES the option to kill him, instead of facing Nyx, but gives them a month to think about it.

RyojiBed

Ryoji trying to convince the protagonist to kill him so SEES doesn't have to live their lives in fear until the end.

On December 31, Ryoji asks for SEES to make their decision. He invites himself into the protagonist's room and sits on his bed, where he issues an offer where the protagonist could kill him, so the memories of the Dark Hour (the cause of all of SEES' pain and suffering) can be erased, allowing them to live their lives as normal high school students until the inevitable arrival of Nyx on the promised day. In a further attempt to persuade the protagonist to kill him, Ryoji takes on his true form as Death.

The protagonist is not given a second chance to reconsider his choices in this event.

December 31
This is a very important decision. You must choose wisely.
Let Ryoji Live Good ending; game proceeds
Kill Ryoji Bad Ending; game skips to March 3, then March 5


Accepting Ryoji's offer will result in a bad ending. The protagonist is shown pointing his Evoker to his head, presumably to summon his Persona and kill Ryoji, before the scene fades to black. All memories of The Fall are forgotten and rewritten if applicable. The date then advances to the 3rd of March, where Junpei, Yukari and the protagonist live their lives and attend Gekkoukan, meeting Aigis on the way. Junpei and Yukari do not recognize Aigis and her name is replaced by "Strange Girl."

The game then skips to the 5th of March, where the trio attend the third year's Graduation ceremony. Mitsuru steps up to the podium to hold a speech about last year, but the death of her father was seemingly rewritten without mentioning the Dark Hour and Ikutsuki's involvement in it, and similarly, Yukari omits the reason for her father's death. Unlike in later Persona games, the normal credits roll upon triggering this bad ending, but an extra scene post-credits displays Yukari, Junpei and the protagonist singing karaoke before the screen fades to gray, presumably implying that they were all killed by The Fall.

If the protagonist refuses Ryoji's offer to kill him, he provides the members of SEES with useful information regarding a confrontation with Nyx. When Ryoji leaves, he tells them to "look forward to the next year," presumably indicating that he himself hopes that they can put a stop to Nyx. The Adamah Block in Tartarus becomes available afterwards, the Fool Arcana Social Link maxes out, and the Judgement Arcana Social Link begins.

NyxAvatar

Ryoji, serving as an Avatar of Nyx

On January 31st, Ryoji appears at the top of Tartarus as the Nyx Avatar, bearing the potential and skills that the twelve previous Shadows possessed. Throughout the battle he shifts from one Arcana to another while explaining their motifs and purpose, up to his final final and true Arcana, Death. While arming an attack, he tells the protagonist not to regret anything, as this is the protagonist's "own decision."

After the protagonist manages to fend off the Avatar of Nyx, Ryoji laments that there should have been more people like SEES, then perhaps the Fall could have been avoided, and shrugs off the SEES' assault, and continues his summoning of Nyx. As SEES fall into despair, the protagonist rises upon the moon to face Nyx. Through the cheering of others, he manages to perform the Great Seal, thus stopping Nyx. Ryoji's voice reappears, commentating that the protagonist has found his answer to life, before fading away.

Portable[]

Main article: Social Link/Ryoji Mochizuki

Ryoji represents the female protagonist's Fortune Arcana Social Link, which automatically starts on November 9th.

His Social Link, although short-lived, talks about his time as a human on earth spending time with the female protagonist. He is first introduced to her through Junpei, and they become fast friends despite Aigis' hostility towards Ryoji. As time goes by, Ryoji develops strong romantic feelings for her, but is also strangely saddened when near her. He considers their relationship to be "forbidden love." He leaves her before the next full moon, teary-eyed.

After maxing out his Social Link, Ryoji gives the female protagonist his Faint Glow Ring as a memento of his time on earth, enabling the fusion of Norn. He claims he will survive his heartbreak if she keeps it.

Ryoji's alignment with the Fortune Arcana is manifested when he lets SEES decide on how to deal with Nyx, as the Fortune Arcana represents deciding one's fate, as well as seizing the opportunities provided by it.

Persona 3 Reload[]

"When I saw those couples in Kyoto, or when I visited you guys at the dorm... I realized that's what it really means to build a connection with someone. It's that feeling of overcoming something together, and keeping each other going. Both sides need to come to an understanding. That's how connections are built... Right?"
—Ryoji Mochizuki, Persona 3 Reload
Main article: Linked Episode

Ryoji is nearly identical to his original counterpart. However, he has a special Linked Episode where he will speak to the protagonist privately.

Ryoji's Linked Episode revolves around answering his questions on what the meaning of seeking relationships are when parting is inevitable, concluding that it is overcoming something together and coming to a mutual understanding that builds meaningful bonds. One important motif is the music box, as Ryoji takes one from Kyoto as a souvenir and suddenly learns to play the melody on piano. On December 31st, should the protagonist spares Ryoji, he then gives the music box to the protagonist as a memento of him. The Music Box allows the protagonist to fuse Saturnus after sparing Ryoji.

On the final day of the game, if the protagonist clears all of Ryoji's Linked Episodes, he will receive an SNS message with a blank sender name and no subject that reads: "Thank you."

If the protagonist accepts his offer on December 31, "Kimi no Kioku" does not play in the credits. Instead, "Mystic" plays as a bad ending version of the credits roll, and the ending cutscene with Yukari, Junpei and the protagonist turns to grey and fades, implying that Nyx killed them all when they were singing karaoke.

Gallery[]

Persona 3[]

Persona 3 (Manga)[]

Persona 3 The Movie[]

Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade[]

Other[]

Videos[]

In Other Languages[]

Language Title
Flag of Japan Japanese 望月 綾時 (Mochizuki Ryōji)
Flag of South Korea Korean 모치즈키 료지 (Mochijeuki Ryoji)
Flag of Germay German Ryoji Mochizuki

Etymology[]

  • The name Ryoji means "design" (綾) (ryo) and "time, hour, occasion" (時) (ji).
  • Ryoji's surname Mochizuki means "full moon" (望月).
    • It can also mean "wish, desire" (望) (mochi) and "moon" (月) (tsuki/zuki) separately.

Trivia[]

  • Ryoji's true form as The Appriser is Thanatos, "the bringer of death."
  • In chapter 18.5 of the Persona 3 manga, where Ryoji changes his hairstyle in order to confuse Mitsuru on which one was the real Minato, he bears a strong resemblance to him, possibly due to his appearance being based on Minato. Ryoji manifested Minato's looks due to him being sealed in him.
    • However, he doesn't resemble the female protagonist during her route, despite Ryoji being sealed inside her too.
    • Along with this is certain artworks of Ryoji and either male or female protagonist, he seems to be taller than both.
  • During one of the events in his Persona 3 Portable social link, Ryoji states that he would love the female protagonist no matter if she were a boy or a girl.
    • Despite this, Ryoji's potential for romantic interest in the male protagonist would take another fifteen years to be shown explicitly, with the release of Persona 3 Reload.
  • Ryoji shares both his English and Japanese voice actors with the protagonist.
  • In one of the Linked Episode events in Reload, some students are dissatisfied about Ryoji taking their female partners out for dates and tried to confront him over it.

References[]

  1. "I wonder if Ryoji-kun will come back for New Year's Eve... What is he doing now...? Is he crying, like before?"
    —Fuuka, Persona 3 Reload
Characters
Playable Male protagonist - Female protagonist - Yukari Takeba - Junpei Iori - Akihiko Sanada - Mitsuru Kirijo - Fuuka Yamagishi - Aigis - Koromaru - Ken Amada - Shinjiro Aragaki - Metis
Social Link Kenji Tomochika - Hidetoshi Odagiri - Bunkichi and Mitsuko - Kazushi Miyamoto - Chihiro Fushimi - Isako Toriumi - Keisuke Hiraga - Yuko Nishiwaki - Maiko Oohashi - Pharos - Bebe - President Tanaka - Mutatsu - Mamoru Hayase - Nozomi Suemitsu - Akinari Kamiki - Rio Iwasaki - Saori Hasegawa - Ryoji Mochizuki
Major Igor - Elizabeth - Theodore - Shuji Ikutsuki - Officer Kurosawa - Takaya Sakaki - Jin Shirato - Chidori Yoshino - Takeharu Kirijo - Kouetsu Kirijo - Eiichiro Takeba - Natsuki Moriyama - Nyx - Erebus - Margaret
Minor Kiyoshi Sakuma - Mr. Edogawa - Mr. Ekoda - Ms. Miyahara - Ms. Ounishi - Mrs. Terauchi - Kikuno Saikawa - Yuu Kimijima - Souta Aizawa - Kyouka Sayama
Cameo Yukiko Amagi - Noriko Kashiwagi - Man Drinking Alone
Location
Port Island Gekkoukan High School - Paulownia Mall - Iwatodai Station - Port Island Station - Naganaki Shrine - Dorm - Moonlight Bridge - Velvet Room
Tartarus Blocks: Thebel - Arqa - Yabbashah - Tziah - Harabah - Adamah - Monad Depths
Abyss of Time Malebolge - Cocytus - Caina - Antenora - Ptolomea - Judecca - Empyrean
Other Kyoto - Great Seal
Music
Albums Original Soundtrack (JP / US / FES / Portable) - Bonus CD - Burn My Dread -Reincarnation- - Spring of Birth OST - Midsummer Knight's Dream OST - Falling Down OST - Winter Of Rebirth OST - Persona 20th Anniversary All Time Best Album
Songs "Burn My Dread" - "Aria of the Soul" - "Want To Be Close" - "When the Moon Reaches for the Stars" - "Iwatodai Dorm" - "Mass Destruction" - "Color Your Night" - "Deep Breath Deep Breath" - "The Meaning of Armbands" - "Deep Mentality" - "It's Going Down Now" - "Changing Seasons" - "Current Net Price Tanaka" - "Battle Hymn of the Soul" - "Kimi no Kioku" - "P3 FES" - "Mass Destruction -P3fes version-" - "Heartful Cry" - "Brand New Days" - "Soul Phrase" - "A Way of Life" - "Time" - "Wiping All Out" - "More Than One Heart" - "Fate is In Our Hands" - "One Single Word" - "One Hand, One Heartbeat" - "One Determination" - "Sound of the Beast" - "Storm for a Butterfly" - "Light in Starless Sky" - "My Testimony" - "Self Redemption"
Archives
Terminology Persona (Initial / Prime / Ultimate) - Persona user - Shadow - Wild Card - Evoker - Attack Properties - Tactics - All-out Attack - Shuffle Time - Dark Hour - Moon Phase System - Full Moon Operations - SEES - Kirijo Group - Nanjo Group - Strega - Artificial Persona user - Suppressants - Apathy Syndrome - The Fall - Death - Who's Who - Phoenix Ranger Featherman R - Plume of Dusk
P3RE: Shift - Theurgy - Combat Characteristics
Lists Arcana - Personas (P3 - FES - P - R) - Shadows - Bosses (P3 - FES) - Skills - Items (Heart Items / Vending Machines) - Status Effects - Elizabeth's Requests - Activities - Calendar - Trophies (Portable / Reload) - Steam Profile Items - Patches and Updates
School Life Daily Life - Seasons - Social Link - Social Stats - Yen - Class - Studying - Movie Theater - Bed - Part-time Jobs - Shrine - Tanaka's Amazing Commodities - Crane Machine - Chagall Café - School Club - Linked Episode - Computer - Refrigerator - Gardening / Books / DVDs / Cooking - Studying - Fortune Telling
Other Media
Games FES - Portable - Reload - Dancing in Moonlight
Productions The Movie - The Movie: Escape from the Dark Hour - the Weird Masquerade: -Ao no Kakusei- / -Gunjou no Meikyuu- / -Souen no Kesshou- / -Ai no Seiyaku- / -Hekikuu no Kanata e- - Persona Stalker Club - 「PERSORA AWARDS」 - PERSORA AWARDS 2 - PERSORA AWARDS 3 - Persora -The Golden Best-
Drama CDs A Certain Day of Summer - Daylight / Moonlight - Character Drama CD Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 / Vol. 4 / Vol. 5 - New Moon / Full Moon - Portable Vol. 1 / Vol. 2
Publications Manga - Shadow Cry - Memento Mori - Owari no Kakera - Alternative Heart - Velvet Blue - Persona Magazine - Dear Girls Comic Anthology - Dengeki Comic Anthology - Tartarus Theater - Persona VS
Mobile Games The Night Before - Persona Ain Soph - Social - Escape - Illust Puzzle - Broken Shadow - Aegis: The First Mission - Qix - Chaining Soul - Em
Events Music Live 2008 - Music Live 2009 - Music Tour 2010 - Music Live 2012 - Music Fes 2013 - Music Box 2014 - Super Live 2015 - Livehouse Tour 2015 - Super Live 2017 - Super Live 2019- 25th Anniversary Symphonic Concert
20th Anniversary Festival - 25th Anniversary - 25th FES
Miscellaneous Merchandise
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