Yu Narukami

**Yu Narukami** is a protagonist from Persona.

## Dsecription

He is a transfer student who came to Inaba to stay for a year, only to discover that a series of inexplicable murders is taking place. Soon, he and some classmates discover that these murders are taking place in another world, accessed by going inside a television. Yu then becomes the leader of a group called the Investigation Team in order to find the mysterious Inaba killer and bring him to justice.

## Trivia

* He has a low tolerance for bad riddles. He also does not like a certain story about a high school girl involved with vampires.
* While he is actually an unnamed character in *Persona 4*, he has the name Yu Narukami in *Persona 4 Arena*, which exists in the same continuity as *Persona 4* and remains as his canon title. In Persona Q2, however, he lacks this name despite not being the protagonist.
* He was initially nicknamed "Banchō" (番長, *Banchō*)**?** by Japanese fans for being the protagonist and his Persona Izanagi's leather long coat which is reminiscent of the stereotypical banchō. The title was eventually picked up by Atlus Japan for the mock title of Yu in *Persona 4 Arena*, though Atlus NA localizes "Banchō" as "Kingpin."
* When wearing the "Cheer Squad Outfit" in *Persona 4 Golden*, the other members of the Investigation Squad will mention how similar he looks to Izanagi.
* The calendar in his room in the Dojima Residence features both the logo of *Persona 3* as well as promotional art of the game featuring the protagonist of *Persona 3* and Thanatos. In *Persona 4 Arena*, his updated calendar features an image of Catherine from *Catherine* instead.
* He may also have knowledge of English (in the Japanese version) or Spanish (in the English version) when certain optional conversation choices are used during the conversation with a woman in Okina City appearing in *Persona 4 Golden*. He may also have basic knowledge of French, as there is a magazine in his room with the title *Prêt-À-Porter*. He may also (rarely) have French phrases in conversation choices.
* Unlike the rest of the Investigation Team, he uses his hands to break the card in order to summon his Persona, whereas the others use their respective weapons to do so.
	+ However, in *Persona 4: The Golden Animation*, Tohru Adachi also breaks his card in his hands. He doesn't do this in *Persona 4: Golden*, however.
* He has the same English voice actor as Adachi in *Persona 4*.
* He also shares the same Japanese voice actor as Touma Shikura from *Persona -trinity soul-*.
* In *Persona 4 the Animation*, Yu is the only party member who doesn't deny his Shadow's accusations, possibly because he has already learned from all his other friends' struggles and that his shadow was the last to appear.
* When the protagonist wears the Gekkoukan High School uniform, he imitates the *Persona 3* protagonist's victory pose when wielding a two-handed sword, a one-handed sword, a bow and an axe.
* In the instructional manual of *Persona 4*, the protagonist is named "Raidou Kuzuhona" in reference to Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV.
* In *Persona 4 Golden*, during the events of the ski trip when Yosuke says that it's the protagonist's turn to tell a scary story, the player can choose three options. The first being that he can tell the events of what happened when the boys tried to get back at them except calling Kashiwagi and Hanako "Kashiwagi and Hanako monsters," the second is that he can tell them about his experiences in the Velvet Room, mentioning a blue room and Igor (though he calls him a "man with a long nose"), the final choice being to refuse telling anything at all.
* In *Persona Q*, should the players choose *Persona 3* at the start of the game, before he introduced himself he is referred to as "Composed Boy."
	+ In the manga adaptation, *Persona Q -Roundabout-*, he is shown to be close with the *P3* hero, to the point the others think that it is like a date instead of friendship. It is possible because the two of them possess the same power. In another event, he also said that he feels something close between him and the protagonist should the players get him as the destined partner in Group Date Cafe, playing in *Persona 3's* storyline.
* In the anime, it is shown multiple times that Yu passes time by making paper cranes.
* Yu is the second tallest *Persona* protagonist in the series at 180cm, the tallest being Tatsuya Suou (who is only taller by one centimeter).
* When put in serious situations (such as the time in Persona 4 The Animation when he was catching a fish) he puts on glasses.
* It is possible he may be very fond of cats as shown in the game where he is given three quests (given by himself) to feed a stray cat that wanders the river bank. In front of Dojima's house there's also a stray cat and after certain conditions are met more cats will appear in front of Dojima's house ranging from 7 to 10 cats.
* In *Persona 4 the Golden Animation*, in his initial battle with Adachi and following him and Adachi seeing each other's memories, Adachi remarks that Yu's life is a "masterpiece" but was never shown.
* In *BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle*, set after the events of *Persona 4: Arena Ultimax* - Yu still wears his Yasogami uniform, despite having left Inaba following Golden Week. Yosuke brings this up, questioning why he's wearing it, leading Yu to state that he wore it so often, he didn't even realize he had been wearing the wrong uniform to school the entire time.
* Yu is mentioned as having defeated Mikuratana-no-Kami by dancing in *Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight* and *Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight*, meaning he was directly responsible for the events in both games.
* Yu is one of the 3 characters that never had their voice actor changed. The others being Yosuke and Yukiko.
* His name is very similar to the name the "Boy with Earring" has in the Drama CD, Yuuya Narumi
* Souji Seta is a name that the mangaka sometimes uses when he's playing games. He doesn't intend for the name to have a meaning that's connected to the character or the story.
* Before he was named by the spinoffs, manga, or anime he was referred to as Kosuke Tsukimori in the original instruction manual.

### *Persona 4 Arena*

* Yu and Teddie are the only characters that do not face their shadow self in their *Persona 4 Arena* story mode. Yu does face his shadow self in his Arcade Mode though and immediately picks up that his Persona and Shadow cannot co-exist.
* Yu shares many similarities and parallels to his fellow Wild Card wielder and predecessor, Aigis:
	+ They share Room 2-2 as their default stage.
	+ They are the only characters to have received themes that are full remixes of a battle theme (Reach Out To The Truth and Heartful Cry) from their original game.
	+ They both change their Personas to their alternate forms during their Instant Kills.
	+ In their story modes, before they proceed to the Announcement Room to confront General Teddie, they both must fight Elizabeth, who wishes to see them unleash the Wild Card's true power. In addition to this, they are the central characters of Elizabeth's own story mode, where she pursues them both in order for her to understand the true potential of the Wild Card.
		- In Aigis' story mode, Elizabeth saves her from the Malevolent Entity's deceptions and illusions and will confront her for almost giving in to them, and will deliberately let her win, along with reminding her that she is never alone and her bonds will lead her to the truth. This scene is extremely similar to the scene when Margaret confronts Yu in the animation finale when he also gave in to illusions Izanami created.
* Yu's Furious Action "Big Gamble/Kenkon Itteki" is based on his critical-hit animation from *Persona 4*.
* Sometimes when Yu K.O's the opponent, he will say, "I should leave them be" a reference to an early prompt in *Persona 4*, where the text box would say, "You should leave him be" after seeing Yosuke get injured.
* Yu, Naoto and Mitsuru are the only characters who possess skills in their movesets they do not naturally learn in their original games; however, in Yu's case, in the original *Persona 4*, it's possible to re-create an Izanagi with the skills Swift Strike and Ziodyne.
* Despite having various expressions in the art book of *Persona 4 Arena*, Yu is shown with only three expressions throughout the game.
* Almost true to Daisuke Ishiwatari's previous affiliation with the company SNK, Arc System Works in *Ultimax* includes a secret move for Yu that is uncanny to Geese Howard/Rock Howard's Deadly Rave attack, in that it's a multi-sequence input super with a total of 10 inputs. However, due to the more complex route, it plays a lot more akin to Order-Sol's Dragon Install: Sakkai since *Guilty Gear XX Slash*, another pre-dated Deadly Rave reference.
* Yu and Yukiko are the only two characters whose Auto-Combo's second inputs in *Ultimax* do not change out of the rest of the Investigation Team's.

* Yu wears his Yasogami uniform despite no longer being a student at the school. Yu states he wore it as wearing anything else in the TV world "didn't feel right."
* In the second episode of the 2017 anime series Gamers!, the characters Keita Amano and Tasuku Uehara play the arcade version of *Persona 4 Arena Ultimax*. Tasuku's Teddie defeat's Keita's Yu, without losing any HP.

### *Persona 4: Dancing All Night*

* Yu is the only playable character to have a completely different story mode portrait instead of the original used in-battle and *Arena*.