Persona 4

Persona 4 is a murder mystery and a dungeon-crawler, but mostly it’s a game about making deep social connections with its characters. Its cast is realistic, flawed, likable, and well-developed. The twenty-odd characters you can get to know all have their own arcs through which you help them overcome their fears and become better people. It’s very easy to get attached to these characters - that is, after all, the point.

Waifu Tier

ⓘ

The best of the best. Only one character may be in this tier for a given work or medium. This character... is Mai Waifu.

• 

  Naoto Shirogane

  from Persona 4

  Naoto is smart, mature, and serious. At age 15 she’s already a respected and well-known detective. She risks her own life to help the Investigation Team solve the Inaba murders and her investigative and analytical skills are an invaluable asset along the way. That makes her very attractive, but that’s not why she’s my waifu.

  Naoto is insecure about her identity. She wants to be a successful “hard-boiled” detective, worthy of the family name passed through a line of famous detectives. She’s had to fight hard to be treated as an adult, but her youth will pass; more problematic is her gender in a male-dominated field. As a result, she wears a boy’s school uniform and speaks like a male.

  As the player character in Persona 4 Golden, you can express admiration for Naoto’s neglected femininity. This initially shocks her, but if you play your cards right she realizes that there’s appeal in exploring this suppressed side of herself - at least, there’s appeal in exploring it with you. The clearest visual symbol is that for you alone, she’ll wear a girl’s uniform, but the significance runs far deeper than the visual. It’s a tremendous level of trust, vulnerability, and intimacy. She shares with you and you alone a side of herself she’d been terrified to reveal, and with your support it blossoms.

  By the game’s epilogue, Naoto has embraced her full self. She no longer feels the need to present a constrained, constructed identity in public. It’s reflected in her wearing clothes that are more flattering of her female features, but again this is just a symbol of her new confidence - the confidence that you helped her find.

  That’s why she’s my waifu.

Harem Tier

ⓘ

The characters who, while not quite waifu material, rise above the rest.

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  Chie Satonaka

  from Persona 4

  I actually found Chie a bit annoying at first, but like most of Persona 4 Golden’s social link characters she grows as a person over the story and in her case she becomes someone quite special.

  Chie struggles a bit to find her place. Her brash, tomboyish manner contrasts with her best friend Yukiko’s feminine grace, leaving her with an inferiority complex. In turn, Yukiko envies Chie’s courage and strength and free spirit, so Chie encourages the dependence Yukiko feels and uses it as a source of self-worth.

  Through the events of Persona 4 Golden and the support of the player character, Chie comes to embrace who she is and realize she’s not inferior and vow to be a more true friend to Yukiko. She still seeks to be strong enough to protect those close to her, but her reasons are no longer selfish. She decides she wants to become a police officer to protect her friends and her town.

  Chie is one of the first friends you make in Persona 4 Golden and one of the first to join the Investigation Team. Chie’s impulsiveness and directness give her an appealing level of honesty - you always know where you stand with her. Further, her energy and enthusiasm are contagious, and her generally upbeat outlook is quite charming.

• 

  Rise Kujikawa

  from Persona 4

  As a teen idol, Rise is familiar with projecting a manufactured image to make others happy. Consequently she’s impressively quick to understand and accept her shadow when confronted with it in the Shadow World, where she’s remarkably perceptive and becomes a very effective navigator and support for the entire party despite lacking combat abilities herself.

  Rise quits show business during Persona 4 Golden and retreats home to Inaba, fearing she has no true self. Through meeting, working with, and befriending the Investigation Team, she comes to realize that “there’s no such thing as a ‘me’ who isn’t me.” All the versions of herself are just different sides of her own full true self.

  Rise can be competitive and mischievous, but is sweet and compassionate and quick to offer comfort to those that are hurting. Having gained a new understanding of her identity, at the end of Persona 4 Golden she returns to show business because of the joy it brings to her fans.

Imouto Tier

ⓘ

From the Japanese for "little sister", characters at this tier are not love interests in the romantic or sexual sense, but are characters that make you want to protect and nurture them.

• 

  Nanako Dojima

  from Persona 4

  Nanako is an adorable, kind little girl who puts on a brave face despite relatively tragic circumstances - her mother died in a car accident, and her father keeps distant by diving into his work. She’s initially distant toward the player character, but warms to him and adopts him as a big brother. The player character can also work to bring Nanako and her father closer together, making the three of them a true family.

  Nanko is sweet, reliable, and works hard to take care of her father and try to keep positive. It’s easy to like her, and to feel good about being the family she’s been missing. The game does a great job making you want to protect her and ensure her happiness.