Naoto Shirogane

Naoto Shirogane, also known as Detective Prince, 2000 IQ Killjoy Detective, Nao-chan, Nao-cakes, Intelligent-Looking Boy and Platinum Lady, is one of the main characters from the Persona series.
== Charactah Account ==
An androgynous girl who is a famous high-school detective, given the glorious title of "Detective Prince" by the media. Naoto is adept with revolvers, and her Persona is summoned by shooting the card. Naoto's initial Persona is Sukuna Hikona of the (Wheel of) Fortune Arcana, which later becomes Yamato Takeru.
Having lost both her parents in a car accident when she was very young, Naoto is an orphan who acts very mature in spite of her age. As a descendant of a respected lineage of famous detectives, she wears formal clothing, and deepens her voice when she speaks in a sophisticated, stilted manner. She is generally very serious, focused and mission-oriented. She rarely jokes around which can make her seem like a killjoy or party pooper when the team is involved in silly antics. In Persona 4 Arena, Kanji calls her out on this, saying she is too "uptight" and it makes her seem distant and on a different wavelength. One of Naoto's insecurities is her lack of friends; she has difficulty making friends and is lonely as a result.
Naoto's insecurities are her gender and age. She yearns to be seen as an adult, and expresses frustration at being treated like a child by the police force. She hates being looked down upon, and fears no one will take her seriously as a female, in a sexist occupation field. The sexism Naoto has tolerated and endured had made her self-conscious and ashamed of being female, making her struggle with the concept of femininity. In response, Naoto desired to be male; Naoto wanted to be viewed as male by society, adopted a male identity, never corrected anyone when people used male pronouns, avoided feminine clothing and wears platform shoes to appear taller. It is also implied Naoto began binding her chest to hide her large-sized breasts. 
== Appearance ==
=== Anime ===
* Persona 4 the Animation
* Persona 4 the Animation: No One is Alone
* Persona 4 the Golden Animation
* Persona 4 the Golden Animation: Thank You, Mr. Accomplice
=== Light Novels ===
* Persona x Detective Naoto
=== Manga ===
* Persona 4
* Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold
* Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena
* Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P3
* Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P4
* Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth Roundabout Special
* Persona x Detective Naoto
=== Video Games ===
* BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle
* Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
* Persona 4
* Persona 4 Arena
* Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
* Persona 4 Golden
* Persona 4: Dancing All Night
* Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight
* Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
* Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
== Trivia ==
* Shadow Naoto says that "Naoto" is a "cool manly name" but it won't let her change sexes, which may give the implication that Naoto changed her name. However, extra information reveals that Naoto is indeed her real birth name her parents gave her. Her parents didn't name her that with the intention of raising her as a boy and hiding her real gender. They thought that 'Naoto' was a fairly androgynous name and since she might grow up to be a detective, and knowing the sexism in the profession, they should avoid girly names which end in "-ko." Examples of -ko names in the game include Yukiko, Nanako and Noriko (Hanako may be a parody of idealized femininity).
* Shigenori Soejima, character designer and art director of Persona 4, stated in the annotations of Persona 4's artbook that Naoto was originally planned to be a boy.
* One of Naoto's usable weapons, "Athena Kiss R" might be a reference to one of Aigis' weapons, Kiss of Athena, both which take the name of Aigis' ultimate Persona, Pallas Athena.
* The gun left behind by the bonus boss in the Secret Laboratory is called Algernon, with its description stating that it was named after an experiment in finding happiness. This is a reference to the book Flowers for Algernon.
* Naoto is the last party member to join the Investigation Team, as Rise and Teddie both joined the party in the same dungeon.
* In the Japanese version, Chie compares Naoto's family to the Kindaichi family. Kosuke Kindaichi was a character in a series of detective novels that were popular in Japan and later spawned an unofficial spinoff named Hajime Kindaichi.
* In a special conversation added in Golden, Naoto will compare the protagonist to the hero of a detective novel she read as a child, describing said hero as "a cool, tough private detective, who made frequently impulsive decisions when pursuing his suspects," and then mentions his name as "Sam." The name and description fit Sam Spade, protagonist of the classic novel and film The Maltese Falcon. This is more explicit in the original Japanese version, wherein she says Sam's full name.
* If Naoto is spoken to while equipped with her Winter Clothes in the TV World, she will comment that she had her coat custom made, as she could not find a male size that would fit her.
* Naoto is the only party member whose Social Link can Reverse if the protagonist picks the wrong option during one of her Social Link events (the option that says "You're on your own." on the Rank 4 to 5 event), as well as having one of the two Social Links in the game that can be compromised in such a manner (the other being Ai Ebihara's Social Link).
* Naoto, along with Kanji, are the only members of the Investigation Team whose Social Links don't initiate automatically with the story.
** The TV world dungeons they're rescued from are also the only ones where there's just one occasion of the Team member's Persona awakening, which are their own (the protagonist and Yosuke in the liquor store, Chie and Yukiko in the Castle and Teddie sharing an occasion with Rise at the Strip Club).
* In Persona 4 Golden, when wearing a Gekkoukan High School uniform, Naoto imitates Aigis' victory pose and says her lines.
* In Persona 4 Golden, Naoto says that she has some experience playing a keyboard, since her grandfather suggested taking piano lessons when she was younger.
* In Persona 4, if the party fails to complete Magatsu Inaba by the 24th of December, Naoto will call that night, saying that Shadows have overrun the town and that she can't control them. She will then be heard screaming as she is attacked and presumably killed by a Shadow while still on the phone with the protagonist.
* In Persona 4, Naoto's critical attack is the only one to hit more than three times. While every other character hits the enemy three times when using a critical hit, Naoto hits four times (shooting three bullets and then kicking the enemy).
* Naoto is the shortest character of the Investigation Team; short stature tends to be a notable trait of many characters Romi Park has voiced.
* In Persona Q, should one choose Persona 3 at the start of the game, before she introduces herself Naoto is referred to as "Intelligent-looking boy."
* In Persona 5, Naoto is mentioned on a TV special as, "the original Detective Prince" who was then succeeded by the "next Detective Prince."
* During the skiing trip in Golden, Naoto has an Ace of Spades located on her hat, possibly as a reference to her being an "Ace Detective" as well as her aforementioned affinity for Sam Spade.
* In Persona 4 Golden, during the ski trip when Yosuke tells a scary story, heavily implied to be the situation regarding Fuuka Yamagishi's bullying, Naoto recalls having heard about such a case before, implying she was either in Tatsumi Port Island at the time, or heard of it at some point.
== Gallery ==
File:Naoto Shirogane Render 01.png
File:Naoto Shirogane Render 02.png
File:Naoto Shirogane Render 03.png
File:Naoto Shirogane Render 04.png
File:Naoto Shirogane 01.png
== External Links ==
* Naoto Shirogane at Megami Tensei Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:Persona