Persona: 9 Reasons Yu Narukami Is The Best Protagonist In The Franchise (2024)

Persona is known for its blending of the modern world with supernatural elements in a story-driven RPG. However, what draws in most of the fanbase is the colorful cast of characters. Each mainline Persona game features different silent protagonists and cast members. Yu Narukami, known as Souji Seta in the manga, is arguably one of the more popular protagonists of the entire series, and he made his debut in Persona 4 back in 2008.

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The original Persona 4 Arena Ultimax was released back in 2013, but has since received a remaster for 2022. While Narukami is just one of many playable characters in P4: Arena Ultimax, he loses the status as a "silent protagonist" and is able to narrate and speak during in-game cutscenes, having a more fleshed out personality than what he had in Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden.

9 Has The Power Of The Wild Card

Like Persona 3 and Persona 5's protagonist, Makoto Yuki/Minato Arisato and Ren Amamiya/Akira Kurusu, Yu Narukami has the power of the Wild Card. In the Persona universe, the Wild Card is able to use and create multiple Personas while gaining strength from the bonds they form with other people.

Narukami's ability to change Personas in the middle of battle can help gamers get out of tough spots in Persona 4/Golden. The Persona 4 anime takes this up a notch by having him fuse high-level Personas fairly early in the story.

8 He's The Best "Big Bro"

Persona 4/Golden has some memorable Social Links, but some of Narukami's best Social Links are with the IT members and his family, the Dojimas. Many of the Social Links require Narukami to have high social stats, but Nanako's rank 6 requires max Expression. Even if players forgo Nanako's Social Link (which isn't recommended), much of the in-game scenes with Nanako and Narukami show how strong their bond is.

Nanako even affectionately refers to him as "Big Bro." It should also be noted that while Narukami keeps a level head in most situations, Nanako being in danger/kidnapped causes him to get reckless, demonstrating how protective he is of his family and friends.

7 Leader Of The Investigation Team

Narukami's best friend, Yosuke Hanamura, decides to form the Investigation Team to uncover the kidnappings and murders taking place around Inaba. However, the role of leader is passed to Narukami, and for good reason. Although quiet, Narukami shows good leadership qualities and is the one to calm everyone down in the Good/Canon Ending when confronting Namatame.

This is averted in the Bad Ending where he, like the IT, gives in to revenge and throws Namatame into the TV. Despite this, Narukami's ability to put aside emotions and seek out the truth is one of his defining qualities.

6 "Specialist"

Narukami and the Investigation Team made a return in Persona 4: Dancing All Night. Unlike Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, Persona 4: Dancing takes place in the Persona 4's canon timeline. This was the first "dancing" game in the Persona series.

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However, it was this game that upgraded Narukami to "meme status" thanks to his dance to the song "Specialist." In Persona 4, this song would play when listening to classroom lectures. The "Specialist" song was remixed for Persona 4: Dancing and was more upbeat with a catchy tune. It's not hard to find fans (and non-fans) linking to Narukami's "Specialist" dance on Twitter or Reddit.

5 Anime: Yu Narukami Has Insecurities

Thanks to the "Specialist" dance and personality in spinoffs (mainly the anime), Narukami's been labeled a "chad" by the fandom. The irony is that Yu's personality in the Persona 4 is noble, calm, and a bit dorky. Since the anime allows Narukami to talk, viewers get to see how he responds to the people and situations around him. A strong example is Persona 4: The Animation episode 12, where Narukami gets trapped in a "dream world" by Shadow Mitsuo.

In this, it's hinted that Narukami fears being alone and losing the connections he has with his closest friends. Unlike Ren Amamiya in Persona 5: The Animation, the anime allows Yu Narukami to grow and overcome his flaws, pulling him farther away from the "silent protagonist" role he had in his debut game.

4 Dry Sense Of Humor

In Persona 4/Golden, players have different dialogue options to choose from. More often than not, some responses are very snarky and can get humorous reactions from other characters. The anime seems to pull from the less-serious responses, making Yu a bit of an oddball and more than willing to play along in his friends' antics (ex: the crossdressing event).

While the anime doesn't coincide with the game canon, Narukami's portrayal in the anime was enough to influence his personality in future spinoff games: Persona 4 Arena, Arena Ultimax, and even Persona Q. He's got less of this sarcastic edge in Persona 4: Arena, but it's still a lot of character for someone who originally started as a silent protagonist.

3 Anime: Overcame His Shadow

While gamers haven't seen Shadow Makoto/Minato or Shadow Ren/Akira, they've seen Shadow Yu in Persona 4 spinoffs. Shadow Yu in the anime is different from Shadow Yu in Persona 4: Arena Ultimax, in which he's just portrayed as someone who wants to fight and talks down on his opponent. The anime-Shadow Yu says how "life without connections is miserable" and is a callback to Narukami's fear in episode 12.

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Shadow Yu reveals that Yu doesn't want to go back home to where he has no friends. In fact, Yu was willing to stay imprisoned in Izanami-no-Okami's illusion where he was trapped in a time loop with visions of his friends and the Dojimas. With some help from Margaret, Yu snaps out of his trance and overcomes his Shadow. Unlike the rest of the IT, Yu never fights his Shadow in the anime. Whether this is because he's more skilled than his teammates or because he knows what he has to do, is up to the viewer.

2 Has A "Canon Name"

At this point, every current Persona protagonist in existence has a canon name. Fans still debate whether Akira Kurusu is more "canon" than Ren Amamiya, but it seems Narukami's past this problem.

While there are still fans who refer to Yu Narukami as Souji Seta, the countless Persona 4 spinoffs have always used "Yu Narukami" since the anime, giving him some more canon consistency over Makoto/Minato and Ren/Akira.

1 The Accomplice Ending

This ending can only be unlocked by getting Tohru Adachi's Social Link to Rank 6 before in-game November 4th in Persona 4 Golden. Gamers are then given the choice to suspect Adachi as the killer, or protect him by lying to the IT. In "Accomplice," Narukami burns the ransom note Adachi anonymously sent to the Dojimas. He protects Adachi by playing ignorant to the case, and it ends with Adachi calling Yu as he leaves Inaba.

What makes this ending so crucial is that it got many fans speculating that Atlus was going to put an Accomplice Ending for Goro Akechi when Persona 5: Royal was first announced. This, of course, didn't end up happening, but the fact that Narukami can potentially betray his friends and family just because he had some common ground with Adachi, is disturbing. The Accomplice Ending shows a dark side to Yu Narukami that was not there in the original Persona 4.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is available on PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

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