Buddha, Smed, myself, and Ven set sail on the open seas...
Play a couple of games....
...and return with a rank in each of our social links.
Ill go the extra mile and list my favorite male and female per game. Slight spoilers ahead!
Persona 1:
Kei Nanjo- He is far different than most Persona characters. He starts out as an utter pragmatist and a snobbish jerk. Over the course of two games he matures into a driven young man who strives to be the number one man in all Japan. He also learns to act with more humility and start actually making friends. His role in the Persona universe is also a big one, with him being probably the highest status Persona character in the series. His voice is also badass in Persona 1 Portable and his rifle in that game is cool.
Eriko Kirishima- A popular girl at her high school, the popularity did not get to her head. She is utterly kind and understanding, while at the same time has a sense of humor and is quirky. She has typical feminine hobbies, and wants to be a model, but her other passion, the occult, sets her apart. It is hilarious when she reacts to things that most normal people would find terrifying with utter glee and excitement. Her rapier is a nice style, and Her Personas are cool. She is a character who is rather static in Persona 1, is a dynamic character in Persona 2.
Persona 2 Innocent Sin:
Eikichi Mishima is a self proclaimed narcissist and a leader of a gang in his school. He is always hilarious to witness, and his character has surprising amount of depth behind him. For as over the top he is, his character and problems are surprisingly believable. He is also utterly reliable and would defend his friends from anything. His weapon is a sight to behold, a guitar case with a machine gun built in, truly a weapon as over the top as he is. Michel is truly a great character.
Maya Amano. You guys know shes my favorite Persona character by now. She is always trying to think positively and is upbeat, but she has some severe trauma that she has to endure and she tries as hard as she can to keep it from breaking her. She is a character with a ton of layers and depth to her. In a duology full of amazing and strong characters, she is probably the strongest. Her double pistols are an oddly violent weapon for one as bent on happiness and positive thinking as her, but they show another side to her.
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment:
Baofu is one badass dude. He has a style all his own, and his mo is completely different than almost every other Persona character. He seems to operate on the wrong side of the law, and early on, you find out that he may have a connection to the Chinese Mafia. He also seems to hate his Persona and Personas as a whole. Baofu just oozes style and an odd grit to him. I wish Persona had more characters like Baofu. He may appear shifty, but his morals are dead set. He fights with...weighted coins, an odd weapon but a hell of a unique one. As unique as Baofu himself.
Maya Amano. See above.
Persona 3FES:
two way tie for male
Shinjiro Aragaki is a hardened character like Baofu. In fact, I like him for similar qualities as Baofu. Shinjiro is also involved in bad things, he dislikes having a persona for...reasons, and he operates on his own terms. Shinjiro does not have much time to develop and that was the developer intent, and I find that kind of refreshing, all things considered. Even so, I ended up having an affinity for Shinjiro and it is kind of a shame that he didn't have more development. Shinjiro wields a heavy axe and is just a powerhouse in combat and is fun as hell to bring into combat.
Junpei Iori is the most realistic character in Persona 3 and the one that develops the most over the game. He starts out as a jealous whiner, and he goes through quite a bit of phases and in the end, ends up the most mature and rational member. He is one of the two normal characters in a sea of sort of bigger than the norm characters. He is a joker, but despite that, he actually has a darker and more cynical edge to him. Junpei has a natural friendship with the MC and Yukari but it is not smooth sailing, at all, its quite choppy, and I find it refreshing and interesting that its that way. Junpei wields a katana like a baseball bat, and its pretty hilarious.
Yukari Takeba, similarly to Junpei, has a crapton of character development over Persona 3, but unlike Junpei, she actually sort of has a breakdown. I find her character so refreshing and interesting. Many people don't like her for that very reason, but I stand behind her in that. Not everyone can cope and be stoic and heroic with what they have to go through. She gets better in the end and supports the rest of the crew. She wields a bow, and actually sort of sucks at accuracy. PLEASE HIT! -Miss-
Persona 4:
Kanji Tatsumi is a bonafide badass. Except for the fact that he cant take criticism at all, is worried about what everyone thinks about him despite him saying otherwise, and tends to explode in anger over everything. He is also loyal to a fault, the kindest person ever, and mature, where at the same time, very immature. Kanji is a character of contrasts, and it brings him to life in a cool way. He is also hilarious, and frequently steals scenes he is in. He wields a chair. He wields a damn chair.
Yukiko Amagi is a rather stoic character compared to most on my list. She does not develop much, and always stays the kind and caring protector of the group. Her two other sides though, her coldly vengeful side and her party girl side, are what make her stand out to me. They are both hilarious and greatly add to the character, in my opinion. I wish there was more of those two sides of her in vanilla Persona 4, but Golden adds more of both. She wield a folding fan.
Persona 4 Arena:
Kanji Tatsumi. See above.
Mitsuru Kirijo in this game basically for her playing style. KEEP CALM AND GETSU EI. Also her fur coat is awesome. Her role of the leader of the Shadow Operatives greatly interests me as well. She was not my favorite in Persona 3, but she has since gotten more interesting and her maturation as a role model and leader has been interesting to see. Still, how do you not know how to eat a burger. She wields a rapier.
Yup.
