"The ambitious branch president of SEBEC. Sinister rumors circulate about him..."
—PSP introduction
Takahisa Kandori is a former graduate and student council president of St. Hermelin High School and in the present the head of the Mikage-cho branch of SEBEC, which is used as a front to further development of the DEVA System. Using the reality-altering system, Kandori enters Maki Sonomura's mind, allowing him to make contact with her malevolent Id, Aki, through which he is able to gain control over half of Mikage-cho. While ultimately successful in becoming a demigod, Kandori becomes nihilistic in his outlook, losing his interest in the power he had accrued, and is on the verge of giving himself up to the group of St. Hermelin students who had fought their way to him when Kei Nanjo pelted him with insults and taunts, prompting him to prepare his Persona Nyarlathotep and enter his final battle.
In the confrontation with him, he asks only one thing of the party: kill him so he can experience death. In the end, Nyarlathotep possesses his body, forcing him to transform into a stronger form, called "God Kandori", before finally allowing him to die at the party's hands.
During the Snow Queen Quest, Kandori appears younger in a reflection of his St. Hermelin High School days, called the Masked Boy. He is an ally to the Night Queen alongside the Masked Girl, but assists the party for his own amusement. He and the Masked Girl merge with the Night Queen and attack the party, but are defeated. Despite this, the Masked Boy says that this is a minor setback and that he will have to take things into his own hands.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment[]
"A Persona user that once attempted to destroy the world. He was defeated by Nanjo and Elly and allegedly died four years ago..."
—Persona 2: Eternal Punishment introduction
During the events of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Takahisa Kandori (now called Guido Kandori in the NA version, which also retcons "Guido Sardenia" as nothing but an alias) is brought back to life through the power of Kotodama performed by the New World Order and poses as Guy Shinjo (Hisataka Shinjo, 神条 久鷹 in the Japanese version), the secretary to Tatsuzou Sudou. During the course of the game it is revealed that Nyarlathotep summoned him via rumors to develop the Joker Separation Machine that literally extracts Kegare from humans.
He is fought in the Undersea Ruins alongside Chizuru Ishigami, who is implied to have developed feelings for him, which he at least partly reciprocates. If the player has chosen Nanjo's route, he will be fought against along with four X-2 robots. He suggests that he is Nanjo's "Shadow" while Nanjo assumes the "Light" role. When defeated, he encourages Tatsuya Suou to conquer the Shadow (Nyarlathotep) which has been toying with his fate but refuses to flee the collapsing ruin and stays with Chizuru to die despite the pleas of his old adversaries. He expresses some regret for his chosen path, but he admits he also believes he's too old to change. After his second death, Maki expresses regret that she wasn't able to speak to him again and later his half brother Reiji Kido, who wanted to kill him in the first game, shows signs of forgiveness and combines both brothers' name for Reiji's unborn child.
Kandori is a boss in the second part of Tatsuya's scenario, appearing before Tatsuya as he goes through the NWO base to find Shiori and free the other captured people. Before and after the battle he speaks of Tatsuya and Maya's role, the contradictions of creation, and how both himself and Tatsuya have been manipulated and exceeded the roles given to them by Nyarlathotep.
Strategy[]
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment[]
If the player chooses Nanjo's route, Kandori along with four X-2 robots will be fought in the Undersea Ruins instead of Chizuru Ishigami. Initially Kandori will remain defending until the X-2 robots are defeated. The robots can be dealt with Lightning Fusion Spells easily. Kandori's unique spell Unperishable Black, which halves all party member's HP, can be negated by spell Tetraja or item Silver Manisha. Since Kandori is strong against all kinds of elemental attacks, instead of inflicting diminished damage directly, it is quicker to repel his attack damage back to himself. Repelled damage ignores defensive attributes of either party unless the damage dealer can nullify the said attack. It is possible to summon two versatile Personas with Lightning spells and Shot-repelling attribute (Strength Umayadono-Ouji and Star Heinir), the rest can be protected by spell Tetrakarn so Kandori will eat up his own Rain of Arrows attack five times in the best case. Kandori's normal attack and X-2's two of three attacks are Shot type as well, making the Shot-repelling resistance alone very valuable in this battle.
Conceals player status and HP/SP gauges for 16 actions.
Battle Quotes[]
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment[]
To be pitied by [Kei] again...Light has its role, shadows have their role...that's just the way it is... (Before Initiating Battle)
I grow weary of talking...come on! (Contact)
Do you have the time for that? (Escape)
What's wrong? (Basic attack)
Weak... (Casting a spell)
Do not disappoint me. (Casting a spell)
At least this makes this fun. (Casting a spell)
Is that all you've got? (Casting a spell)
Is that all, gentlemen? (Casting a spell)
Nyarlathotep! (Casting a spell)
Well... done! (Upon defeat)
Gallery[]
Megami Ibunroku Persona[]
Kandori as the Masked Boy in Megami Ibunroku Persona
Volume 6 Cover
Volume 7 Cover
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment[]
Kandori as seen in Eternal Punishment
Takahisa Kandori in Eternal Punishment, sans sunglasses.
Kandori's portrait in Eternal Punishment
Kandori as he appears in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP).
PERSONA 20th Anniversary Festival[]
Etymology[]
The name Takahisa means "hawk, falcon" (鷹) (taka) and "long time" (久) (hisa).
Takahisa's surname Kandori means "god, deity" (神) (kan) and "take, fetch, take up" (取) (tori/dori).
Trivia[]
The two spherical objects in Kandori's hands seem to be Baoding Balls, which are used to improve manual Strength and Dexterity of a person. It's also used to aid in recovering from an injury, or for meditation purposes.
It is never specified what kind of kotodama is performed by the New World Order to revive Kandori, but given the Japanese context, it is likely to be Furu no Koto (布瑠の言).
If the player follows Kei's route in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, the player can find a document that Kandori wrote called "Research and theory on artificially creating Persona users." This would be expanded on in Tatsuya Suou's scenario in the PSP rerelease.
Kandori's surname consists of 神—meaning "god"—and 取—meaning "to take." This fits Kandori's characterization as one who seeks to take the power of gods.
When confronting Takeda, Kandori will attack the party with Maragi before running away from the battle. However, not only does he lack that spell when fought as a boss, but this special Maragi will affect even party members whose Personas void, drain, or repel fire attacks.
Kandori was the 18th student council president of St. Hermelin High School, and the student council president at the time of the original Persona has him as his role model.
Kandori bears similar regrets of being manipulated by greater powers as Lucifer from Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse; both are aware of themselves being mere pawns in a grand conspiracy, but believed that they were too entrenched into it for any sort of redemption.
The antagonist of the Persona 2 spinoff manga trilogy Tsumi To Batsu, Yakumo Kusaka, shares several traits similar to Kandori. This includes being the CEO of a renowned conglomorate known as Nymphéa, formed of individuals capable of using Personas, intent on exploiting a special system called the Black Book to alter reality.
