Shuji Ikutsuki

Shuji Ikutsuki is a character from Persona 3. He is Director of Gekkoukan High School as well as adviser to the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.

AppearancesEdit

• Persona 3 / FES / Portable: Non-playable character
  • Persona 3 Manga
  • Persona 3 The Movie
  • Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade -Ao no Kakusei- / -Gunjou no Meikyuu- / -Souen no Kesshou-
• Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
  • Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Manga)
  • Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Stageplay

DesignEdit

Ikutsuki is a middle-aged man with dark brown eyes, long wavy brown hair and a goatee. He wears a tan jacket over his brown turtleneck. He wears glasses. Soejima designed Ikutsuki as an adult who "your instincts tell you not to trust."^[1]

PersonalityEdit

Ikutsuki's true personality is somewhat difficult to pinpoint as he lacks a detailed backstory and he exhibits a sharp shift in his final hours. It can be argued that either one of his personalities were the real one, while the other was a manifestation simply to further his goals or a distortion based on the circumstances.

While he is acting as the adviser of SEES, he is quite polite and sophisticated, never needing to change his tone or manner. He is friendly, always accompanied with a gentle smile and a set of bad puns and unfunny jokes to provide comedy relief when it is needed, and perhaps not needed. It is implied the chairman knows more than he lets on but nonetheless he is the main source of knowledge for the group regarding all things related to the Dark Hour and thus acts as guidance for SEES.

After the defeat of the twelve Shadows, Ikutsuki shows a very different side of him to the party at the entrance of Tartarus. Manipulative, his dialogue speckled with evidence of his twisted savior complex, and his lack of remorse for what he's done; he is far from the chairman SEES knew, something Aigis comments on if asked by the player a little after the event. He then becomes hostile, attempting to kill the ones who relied on him and thought of him as a trustworthy figure.

ProfileEdit

Persona 3Edit

Ikutsuki is the Chief Director of the High School and both chairman and adviser of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, SEES. His proper demeanor and bad puns lead to him being considered lame by most of the students there. He is also the adviser for the special group formed by the game's heroes. He was trained to enter the Dark Hour, although he lacks a Persona so he doesn't directly fight against the Shadows.

In truth, Ikutsuki is working toward a completely opposite end, sharing Mitsuru Kirijo's grandfather Kouetsu Kirijo's dream of The Fall and the coming of Nyx. He was one of the scientists involved in the experiments at Gekkoukan ten years ago, including the creation of Artificial Persona Users.

Ikutsuki manipulates SEES, especially Mitsuru and Akihiko Sanada, as well as Strega to destroy the twelve Arcana Shadows, promising them that once they do so they will eliminate the Dark Hour. But killing the twelve Arcana Shadows actually melds them together, allowing for the re-emergence of the thirteenth Arcana, Death. It is Death's function to summon Nyx and destroy the world.

On November 4th, 2009, after his lies are discovered, on the top of a tower, Ikutsuki reprograms Aigis to sacrifice the members of SEES as offerings for Nyx, and then kills Takeharu Kirijo who had taken advantage of Aigis' inner fight and tried to shoot Ikutsuki himself. When Aigis breaks the programming and frees SEES, Ikutsuki falls to his death from the top of Gekkoukan High School's observational roof (Lower Tartarus) after being wounded in the stomach by a bullet (it is ambiguous if it was an intentional suicide or him forgetting that there's no footing behind him). His mission to revive Death was already complete by the time of his death.

Persona 4 Arena UltimaxEdit

He first shows up in the beginning of P3 Story Mode, where he parrots his words about the Fall before Sho cuts him down and laughs at him and his goals. Ikutsuki has been confirmed dead by SEES as they found his body. Though they are confused thanks to the copies of him that Sho Minazuki made and the similar mannerisms of the Eerie Voice.

Ikutsuki adopted Sho as a child and was his favored test subject, eventually putting a Plume of Dusk inside him in the hopes it would give him a Persona, but that resulted in Minazuki and his own Persona instead. Minazuki wouldn't obey and attempted to kill Ikutsuki for putting Sho in danger. He eventually sought to erase Minazuki, which resulted in Sho falling into a coma. Now that he was no longer useful Ikutsuki placed Sho in a hospital, where he paid the medical bills to keep him alive in this state indefinitely.

GalleryEdit

Persona 3
Concept artwork of Ikutsuki's full body appearance Finalized art Concept artwork of Ikutsuki (cinematics) Ikutsuki's various expressions

Persona 3 The Movie
Ikutsuki in Persona 3 The Movie Ikutsuki falling to his death

Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade
Ikutsuki as he appears in Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade -Ao no Kakusei- Ikutsuki as he appears in Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade -Gunjou no Meikyuu- Ikutsuki as he appears in Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade -Souen no Kesshou-

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Manga)
Ikutsuki appears in Sho's nightmare seen in the manga adaption

Persona 4 Ultimax Stageplay
Ikutsuki as he appears in Ultimax stageplay

TriviaEdit

• His Japanese name contains 月, which is the symbol for "Moon," something which plays an important role in the game. This could serve as foreshadowing because the Greater Shadows only appear on Full Moons, hinting that he is involved with their creation. Ryoji Mochizuki is another character with "Moon" in his name.

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ Atlus (2006, 2014). Persona 3: Official Design Works. Kadokawa Enterbrain - UDON Entertainment. pg. 53.

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