Rei (Persona Q)

Rei is a major character from Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.
==Appearances==
*Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Playable Character
**Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth -Roundabout-
**Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P3 / Side:P4: Major Character
==Design==
Rei appears as the spirit of a young girl with long wavy blonde hair with white flower-shaped hair clips scattered throughout. These could potentially be white chrysanthemums, as they are commonly associated with funerals. She also has lime green eyes, which change to dark brown once her memories return. She wears a Yasogami High School uniform with a yellow cardigan over the school regulation top, similar to how Yukiko Amagi wears hers.
As Niko, she somehow appears slightly older than her current appearance.
==Personality==
In the beginning of Persona Q, Rei is shown to be shy and easily shaken, usually taking to hiding behind Zen in interactions. As she begins to gain resolve to leave the alternate Yasogami High School, she grows more outgoing and markedly more cheerful. She shows a particular interest in anything she can eat and conversations involving her frequently turn towards food as she mishears much of what they say, interpreting it to similar-sounding edibles.
Even as she becomes more confident around the cast, she stays by Zen's side and other members of the team comment on their close relationship. Rei often has trouble communicating with him, but appreciates what he's done for her immensely and events in the Group Date Cafe show she hopes he is the "destined partner" that the labyrinth promises to reveal. Through the story, she also develops a fondness for Yukiko, looking up to her as a big sister and addressing her as "Yuki."
As the labyrinths clear, she begins to grow more and more distressed at the thought of reaching the end of the labyrinths as Zen regains more and more of his memories. Although she tries to stop him, he continues to seek out the truth of why they were there.
When the final chest is opened and Zen returns her memories to her, Rei quickly falls into despair. She realizes that even though she has had this additional time since her death, she has yet to find a purpose for her existence. After Zen and both teams rescue her from the Clockwork God, they help Rei realize that she did indeed live her life by becoming a change in other peoples' lives, even if by a little. Rei regains her confidence and is thankful that she met Zen and everyone else.
==Profile==
=== Past ===
12 years prior to the game, Rei was originally a girl named Niko, who died from a terminal illness and was brought to Chronos in order to be guided towards the afterlife. However Niko did not react to Chronos, and simply stood wordlessly. Supposedly, Niko had fallen into such a deep despair that she could not even scream or cry. Chronos became interested in Niko, and decided to try to get her to react by creating a false Yasogami High born from her memories. However, this idea backfired as Niko suddenly began to talk about how she dreamed about going to Yasogami High during her operation, and hated how everyone was able to enjoy living while she was left to die alone despite working hard. Crying for Chronos to kill her, Niko began to try and gouge her own eyes out.
Filled with remorse, Chronos suddenly shielded her eyes and took away her memories, leaving her without any idea of who she was or why she was in the False Yasogami High. Chronos was then named Zen by the memoryless Niko, who said he was a good person. Zen then gave Niko the name Philei, but she changed the name to Rei instead, since Philei was too difficult to pronounce. Zen then sealed away his own memories and hid them away along with Niko's personal belongings inside large chests, which eventually produced the labyrinths. He also deployed his minions to guard the chests and made them hostile to all intruders including himself, so their time in the false Yasogami High cannot be interfered, although the Clockwork God sent Persona users into it to remove the guardians and make Zen continue his mission. Zen then wanted to help Rei find the meaning for her existence, and planned to tell her the truth when she was ready. This indicates that Rei is actually a ghost and the false Yasogami High School is an alternate reality inside the underworld.
===Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth===
Rei is a mysterious girl who is found alongside Zen within the alternate Yasogami High School, though the circumstances of her meeting the team is different depending on the route taken. She has lost her memories, but after meeting the cast she desires to return to the real world with them. As the labyrinths clear, it becomes apparent that the way for the members of SEES and the Investigation Team to return to their worlds is tied to Zen and Rei's memories and the reasons behind the creation of the labyrinths.
In battle, Rei and Zen fill a single team spot. While Zen uses physical attacks, Rei can use curative magic. Zen reveals the healing powers she had came from him, and he bestowed them on her when near him to have her fight. Once she is captured, her power returns to him.
After the Best Friend was defeated, a group of Shadows appear and capture Rei, forming into the Captor Spider which has trapped her on his back, in which Zen attempts to fight in order to save Rei and to end his mistake and guilt.
After the Clockwork God, or Zen's other self was defeated, Zen consoles Rei to let her know that her meaning in life had been merely of her own existence, that she was able to make small changes and live life to its fullest. After saying goodbye to their friends, both Zen and Rei return to the Sea of Souls.
==Stats==
===Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth===
* Since Rei and her partner, Zen share the same skill pool, Zen will not lose these moves and may learn them when he reaches their respective levels even if Rei permanently leaves the party after defeating Best Friend.
* All low tier skills are automatically replaced by their higher tier counterparts upon obtaining them, if possible.
<tabber>
Level 1=
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Level 99=
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==Battle Quotes==
===Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth===
* "Enemies, Zen!" (Battle start)
* "Yay, Zen, go get 'em!" (Battle start, responding to Zen)
* "And I'll do the healing!" (Battle start, responding to Zen)
* "Whoa, Zen, it's a snake! And it's all squirmy!" (Battle start, fighting Snake Shadow)
* "Oh, it's that evil-looking angel!" (Battle start, fighting Cupid Shadow)
* "Oh? Another doll!" (Battle start, fighting Earnest Calocy Shadow)
* "It's a tree Shadow in a kimono!" (Battle start, fighting Inviting Nyogo Shadow)
* "Oh... the twisting is making me dizzy..." (Battle start, fighting Happy Gene Shadow)
* "Wow, they look buff! Seriously buff!" (Battle start, fighting Beastly Gigas Shadow)
* "That guy's upside-down! He looks uncomfortable!" (Battle start, fighting Fierce Cyclops Shadow)
* "Dice! What should I bet on?" (Battle start, fighting Curse Dice Shadow)
* "Wow, it's a samurai!" (Battle start, fighting Rain Leg Musha Shadow)
* "Oh, it's a rare shiny!" (Battle start, fighting Hand Shadow)
* "A FOE... Are we going to fight it?" (Battle start, fighting low-leveled FOE)
*"Zen, now's our chance!" (Battle start, fighting Queen of Hearts)
*"Hnngh... I'm scared..." (Battle start, fighting Merciful Clergyman, responding to Zen)
* "Noooo! I don't want you! Go away!" (Battle start, fighting Kind Doctor)
* "I'll help too!" (Skill)
* "Ha!" (Skill)
* "Hang in there, guys!" (Skill)
* "I'm scared!" (Miss, Enemy)
* "Huh? We can't use our skills?" (Strength/Magic Bind)
* "That looks... delicious... mmm..." (Sleep)
* "Huh? I feel all frizzy..." (Paralysis)
* "O-Okay... I'll be right here..." (Low HP, responding to Mitsuru)
* "Truffles? I might feel better if I had one..." (Low HP, responding to Aigis)
* "Aww, is Koro-chan worried about me?" (Low HP, responding to Koromaru)
* "Leader! Are you okay?!" (Low HP, P3/P4 hero as leader)
* "Don't die, Vice Leader!" (Low HP, P3/P4 hero as vice leader)
* "Then let's switch to energy-saving mode!" (Low SP, responding to Zen)
* "Zen...? O-Our leader is..." (P3/P4 hero as leader dies)
* "Oh, no! Vice Leader!" (P3/P4 hero as vice leader dies)
* "Leave it to us!" (Follow-up Attack, prompt)
* "Give it all you got, Zen!" (Follow-up Attack, accept)
* "Let's rock their faces!" (Follow-up Attack, accept)
* "Zen! You're so cool!" (Follow-up Attack, enemies defeated)
* "Oh! It's still standing!" (Follow-up Attack, no enemies defeated)
* "Wow, everyone's really fired up!" (All-Out Attack, prompt)
* "Beat 'em up attack!" (All-Out Attack, accept)
* "We're on a roll!" (One Enemy defeated, less than 3 turns)
* "Zen, listen to our leader, okay?" (One Enemy defeated, more than 3 turns, responding to Zen)
* "We can do things without getting him mad now?" (Merciful Clergyman battle, vow lifted)
* "Huh? Did that nurse just...?" (Kind Doctor battle, Calm Nurse heals Kind Doctor)
* "Hnngh... it's not over yet..." (Kind Doctor battle, only Caring Nurse defeated, responding to Zen)
* "Huh...? No... stay away..." (Kind Doctor battle, 50% HP, responding to Zen)
* "Yay! You beat it!" (Battle end, P3/P4 hero as leader finishes)
* "Now that that's over, I'm hungry!" (Result, enemies defeated in more than 3 turns)
* "Oh... that was scary..." (Result, fighting high-leveled Shadow)
*"I've leveled up!" (Learning new skill)
*"Zen! We've gotten stronger!" (Learning new skill)
====Field Quotes====
* "My body feels so weak......." (After battle, low HP)
* "Sorry....... I'm just really tired..." (After battle, low HP)
* I can't go on.... I'm too hungry." (After battle, low HP)
==Gallery==
==Etymology==
The kanji of Rei means "jingle bell." It is a homophone for "zero" or "spirit" if written with different kanji.
In actuality, "Rei" is a mispronunciation of the second syllable of the Greek word "philé" meaning "friend," "beloved" or "lover." "Philé" was the name given to Niko by Chronos after she rejected her birth name for its demeaning meaning ("Niko" merely means "Second Child").
Her name could also be in reference is Rhea, the mythological consort of Cronus and mother of Zeus.
==Trivia==
* Rei is the only playable character in any Persona game to be deceased before the events of the games begin.
* To date, Rei is the second playable character to deny her own Shadow in the series after it was defeated, even though she leaves the party and is replaced by the functionally identical Zen from this point onward, with the first being Maya Amano.
** Coincidentally, both Rei and Maya hold their own rabbit dolls.
* Rei's situation bears similarities to Maki's, as both are girls who became nihilistic and apathetic due to their terminal illness, formed cognitive worlds based on their ideal selves as dungeons, and had their Shadow selves as bosses. However, unlike Maki who manages to make a full recovery, Rei succumbed to her illness.
* Rei's condition is the polar opposite of Hikari's. While Hikari is a living person with a "dead" spirit, Rei is a dead person with a living spirit.
** Their fate after the fourth dungeon of their respective games also mirror each other; While Hikari faced her own self and was bought back to life then joins the party, Rei faced her own self and fell into despair as she realized that she was in fact dead and leaves the party due to being captured by the Clockwork God.
* Rei has gone through seven redesigns. Most of her early designs depict her in white clothing to contrast with Zen's black clothing.
Category:Persona Q Allies