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"My father was wrong. Death as deliverance... That is not an ideology anyone should ever embrace!"
—Takeharu Kirijo, Persona 3

Takeharu Kirijo is a character from Persona 3.

Appearances[]

Design[]

Takeharu's appearance is that of middle-age man in his forties, having black hair and gray eyes. He wears an eyepatch over his right eye and wears a gray suit, red tie and black vest. He assumes the look of a bold, resolute and grizzled businessman and his appearance often makes others tremble upon first glance.

Personality[]

"One time, my father made a promise. He swore that he would atone for endangering our generation, even if it cost him his life... But, I... I wanted him to live... I... I became a Persona-user to protect him..."
—Mitsuru Kirijo crying when her father dies, Persona 3

Takeharu is firm and bold in everything he does, which frightens people that he first meets. He is particularly strict with his daughter but it is shown multiple times that he means the best for her.

He feels especially guilty that his daughter inherited his mistake. Mitsuru later reveals that he had feelings of shame and guilt and this burdened him, and she fought to ease this burden.

Profile[]

Aegis: The First Mission[]

Takeharu is mentioned in Aegis: The First Mission. At that time, he is the head of the Kirijo Group, and he gives the team training Aigis on Yakushima orders to refocus their efforts into destroying the Shadows after they become out of control in order to protect civilians.

Persona 3[]

Takeharu is the father of Mitsuru Kirijo and the son of Kouetsu Kirijo. He is the current head of the Kirijo Group.

SEES first meets Takeharu on summer vacation when Mitsuru offers to take them a location owned by her family to relax. Although they initially see him as frightening, he is gradually revealed to have a gentle side. After some time, he explains the nature of how the Dark Hour came to be as well as the fates of the researchers who caused it, including Eiichiro Takeba when he shows the party a tape of Eiichiro's parting words. As a result of his explanation, Takeharu was assumed to be the only real adult survivor of this ten year old incident.

Kirijo

Mitsuru cries beside her dead father.

Later, it is revealed that he knew that the recording was doctored all along by Ikutsuki. Takeharu confronts him after Aigis has already restrained the party but is ultimately murdered at the hands of Ikutsuki, although not without landing a shot on his foe himself. He dies in his daughter's arms at Tartarus, and the resolve Mitsuru acquired after her father's death evolved her Persona.

Persona 3 FES[]

Takeharu makes a brief appearance during the flashback into Mitsuru's past on the 25th floor of Ptolomea. He is shown to be the leader of the Kirijo Group squad that ventured into Tartarus and witnesses firsthand his then-young daughter's Persona taking out a Shadow. While his fellow employees were delighted at the prospect, Takeharu was however unhappy with Mitsuru becoming a Persona user, as this meant she would now have to bear the burdens of the family, when she should be forging her own path and becoming her own person.

Gallery[]

Persona 3
Persona 3 The Movie
Reload

In Other Languages[]

Language Title
Flag of Japan Japanese 桐条 武治 (Kirijou Takeharu)
Flag of South Korea Korean 키리조 타케하루 (Kirijo Takeharu)

Etymology[]

  • The name Takaharu means "military, martial" (武) (taka) and "cure" (治) (haru).
  • Takaharu's surname Kirijo means "paulownia" (桐) (kiri) and "article" (条) (jo).
    • Paulownia is called "Empress Tree" or "Princess Tree" in Japan. It was once customary to plant a Paulownia tree when a baby girl was born. There is a Paulownia Mall in the game which the Kirijo Group apparently built.

Trivia[]

  • In a response to fan questions during a Persona Stalker Club segment, the Persona team explained that during an investigation on Tartarus, Takeharu was attacked by Shadows. His eye was injured during the attack, thus why he wears an eyepatch.
  • In the Japanese P3P fanbook released in 2009, it is said that Takeharu is 46 years old.


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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