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[[Characters/Persona4TheInvestigationTeam The Investigation Team]] ([[Characters/Persona4YuNarukami Yu Narukami]] | [[Characters/Persona4NaotoShirogane Naoto Shirogane]]) | [[Characters/Persona4ShadowsAndPersonas Shadows and Personas]] | [[Characters/Persona4SLinksAndNPCs Social Links and NPCs]] | '''Antagonists''' ([[Characters/Persona4TohruAdachi The Killer]])]]-]]]
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[[Characters/Persona4TheInvestigationTeam The Investigation Team]] ([[Characters/Persona4YuNarukami Yu Narukami]] | [[Characters/Persona4NaotoShirogane Naoto Shirogane]]) | [[Characters/Persona4ShadowsAndPersonas Shadows and Personas]] | [[Characters/Persona4SLinksAndNPCs Social Links and NPCs]] | '''Antagonists''' ([[Characters/Persona4TohruAdachi The Killer]])]]-]]]
'''Antagonists''']]-]]]
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See [[Characters/Persona4TohruAdachi The Killer's page here]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:'''The Fog''']]
!!Ameno-sagiri
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amenosagiri_transparent.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Fog Bringer]]
--> ''"[[FogOfDoom To defy me is a senseless act that goes against your world's wishes. Now, let everything vanish into the sweet fog of illusion.]]"''
Ameno-sagiri is the power in the Midnight Channel that created the fog and is the one responsible for pushing it into the real world. It possesses Adachi after his defeat by the Investigation Team to explain itself. Ameno-sagiri's goal is to cover the world in fog and convert mankind into blissfully ignorant Shadows because it earnestly thinks that's what humanity wants. The Investigation team has to fight him to put a stop to the spreading of the fog.
In the True Ending, the GreaterScopeVillain reveals that Ameno-sagiri was simply an avatar it created to go about its business.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:'''The Fog''']]
!!Ameno-sagiri
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amenosagiri_transparent.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Fog Bringer]]
--> ''"[[FogOfDoom To defy me is a senseless act that goes against your world's wishes. Now, let everything vanish into the sweet fog of illusion.]]"''
Ameno-sagiri is the power in the Midnight Channel that created the fog and is the one responsible for pushing it into the real world. It possesses Adachi after his defeat by the Investigation Team to explain itself. Ameno-sagiri's goal is to cover the world in fog and convert mankind into blissfully ignorant Shadows because it earnestly thinks that's what humanity wants. The Investigation team has to fight him to put a stop to the spreading of the fog.
In the True Ending, the GreaterScopeVillain reveals that Ameno-sagiri was simply an avatar it created to go about its business.
to:
[[/folder]]
[[folder:'''The Fog''']]
!!Ameno-sagiri
[[quoteright:300:https://static.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:300:The Fog Bringer]]
--> ''"[[FogOfDoom To defy me
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Mangle them, Magatsu-Izanagi!"'']]
-->''[[YouMeddlingKids "Dammit! You're all such a pain in the ass!]] I'll [[IllKillYou kill you]], just like [[SerialKiller I did those other ones!"]]''
->'''Arcana:''' The Jester, Hunger[[note]]Lust in the JP version[[/note]] (''Golden'')\\
'''Persona:''' [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Magatsu-Izanagi]]\\
'''Weapons''': Pistols\\
'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MitsuakiMadono (Japanese) and Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (English)\\
'''Stage actor:''' Masami Ito (''[=VisuaLive=]'' and ''[=VisuaLive=] Evolution'')
\\
Originally a side character turned antagonist, Adachi became a Social Link in ''Persona 4 Golden'', representing the [[EvilCounterpart Jester]] ''and'' [[TheHedonist Hunger]] [[note]]Lust of the Thoth Tarot in the JP version[[/note]] Arcanas.
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Adachi is a
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After trying to force himself upon Mayumi Yamano in a fit of lust, he accidentally pushed her into the
Ameno-sagiri is
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His social link focuses on his laziness and dissatisfaction with his job while dropping subtle hints about his true feelings, and is unique in that it can be leveled up at night as well as day[[note]]Ranks 1, 2 and 6 are done in the
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While he claims to be much more mature than the Investigation
For the tropes related to before the reveal and his Social Link click [[Characters/Persona4SLinksAndNPCs here]].
For tropes relating to him
In the True Ending, the GreaterScopeVillain reveals that Ameno-sagiri was simply an avatar it created to go about its business.
Added DiffLines:
* AccidentalMurder: [[DependingOnTheWriter It depends on the adaptation]] on his knowledge of the TV world when he killed Mayumi:
** His first murder was one of these. He accidentally pushed Mayumi completely into the TV during what is implied to be either an attempt to rape her or scare her, unaware that people could go completely inside the TV and die inside.
** Played with in ''Golden: The Animation''. He was already aware of his powers at that point and intentionally pushed her in, but didn't outright intend to murder her.
* AdaptationalBadass:
** His game version is a relatively low-tier boss, much less complicated than both the Kunino-sagiri fight that came before him and the FinalBoss that follows him. His anime version, on the other hand, demonstrates the power to summon multiple copies of [[{{Superboss}} the Reaper]] and fights Yu on basically even footing, even having an advantage for a large chunk of the fight.
** In ''Golden: The Animation'', he effortlessly dispatches several of Yu's late stage Personas, and Magatsu-Izanagi is capable of one-shotting the FinalBoss.
** The manga adaptation has him dominating Chie, Yukiko and Naoto at the same time without much effort, before proceeding to battle the Protagonist to a stalemate. Magatsu-Izanagi also has the ability to stretch and grow additional arms.
** In general, every appearance Adachi makes that isn't in ''Persona 4/Golden'' implies that canonically he's at least as powerful as Yu with ''just'' Magatsu-Izanagi. The kicker is that in the games, he's not just fighting Yu, but the whole Investigation Team by his lonesome, and from a gameplay perspective he's probably intentionally made an easy boss as a warm-up for the much more punishing FinalBoss.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Practically ''all'' adaptations following the original game make him at least somewhat more sympathetic. He even gets to join in on cheering Yu on during the final battle in ''Golden''.
* TheAloner: He's not that keen on hanging around or depending on other people, finding it troublesome and believing true freedom to lie in solitude.
* AmbiguousSituation: When you first meet him, he is seen vomiting at the sight of Mayumi's dead body. It's left ambiguous whether or not he's faking it, or he's really shocked that he had just murdered someone.
* ArchEnemy: While he is this to the Investigation Team as a whole, being the killer they had spent most of the year in pursuit of, he is especially so to two particular members:
** The first is the protagonist himself. Not only is their animosity personal as Adachi had been a [[BigBadFriend close friend]] [[WeUsedToBeFriends to the Dojimas]], but Adachi serves as the protagonist's EvilCounterpart and ShadowArchetype. ''Golden'' also implies that Adachi is [[GreenEyedMonster jealous of the protagonist]], having everything that Adachi could have wanted despite their similar circumstances.
** He is also one to Yosuke. Adachi murdered Saki Konishi, the girl whom Yosuke had feelings for, with Yosuke angrily making it clear that he will never forgive Adachi for what he's done. Adachi on his part, however, simply laughs it off and spares Yosuke no second thought. There is also the fact that much like with the protagonist, Adachi is Yosuke's EvilCounterpart, being the person that he could have turned out had he never gotten over the SmallTownBoredom that he experienced when he first moved to Inaba.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: He states that the only reason why he became a detective is that so he could legally use a gun without having to go through the process of earning a license to bear arms. Naturally, Japanese police have to take firearms classes and get certified to use a gun as part of their training. And that's not even getting into Japan's extremely strict gun control laws, which includes passing a written test with at least a 90 percent score, a doctor's note saying you're mentally stable enough to own a gun, and have an interview with the police as to why you should be allowed to own one. Considering that Adachi proves that he isn't the most stable cop on the force, it's a wonder any of the other cops even let Adachi near a gun. Of course, given that Adachi is such a compulsive liar, one must take his claims with a grain of salt.
* TheAtoner: It's implied that, after being apprehended, he is inspired by both the Investigation Team's optimism and Dojima's kindness, and tries to honor their wishes, even showing up to give encouragement to the protagonist in the final battle (in his own way). The epilogue in ''Golden'' furthers this, revealing that he's been fully cooperating with the police and behaves himself in prison.
* AttemptedRape: Implied with Mayumi -- he accidentally pushed her into the Midnight Channel before he could have his way with her.
* AxCrazy: He quickly descends into this after the reveal. This is especially prevalent in ''The Animation'', where his DissonantSerenity quickly descends into the deranged tantrum of a PsychopathicManchild.
* BadassInANiceSuit: He's shown wearing a suit all the time, even when incarcerated in ''Arena''. He once complains about how it got dirty while he was chasing down a lost cat, but the department wouldn't reimburse him for dry cleaning. His costume in ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight'' is called a "Fitted Suit."
* TheBadGuyWins: In the Bad, Neutral and Accomplice endings, he gets away [[KarmaHoudini scot-free]] from his crimes. This is especially so in the Accomplice ending, where he effectively blackmails the protagonist for burning the warning letter that could have incriminated him.
* BatmanGambit: Pretended to be a bumbling detective in front of the Investigation Team in order to make them believe the police to be even more ineffective than they were, thus making them keep saving the people, thus feeding Namatame's delusion...
* BattleThemeMusic: "A New World Fool", shared with Kunino-sagiri.
* BecomingTheMask: Implied in ''Golden''. If the MC maxes his Social Link (without taking the Accomplice Ending), Adachi will support him during the final boss fight, implying that Adachi still considers him a friend, despite all that has happened.
* BeneathSuspicion:
** No one suspects the goofy, bumbling detective, [[SarcasmMode right]]?
** When Yu forms a Social Link with someone, he gradually gains sharper insight into that person's feelings and true intentions. While he was probably spot-on with ascertaining that Adachi cared for the Dojimas, he misconstrues the young detective's enthusiasm regarding the serial murder case as a desire to see it solved instead of delight in the bedlam it was producing.
* BerserkButton:
** He takes being rejected by women very poorly to the point where he threw Mayumi and Saki into the TV.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' hints that insulting Dojima has become one for him. In ''[=P4AU=]'', when the police were questioning him, he was being pretty passive and cooperative. When one of them starts talking ill of Dojima, Adachi proceeds to rip into the officer by bringing up the cop's own crooked, unethical methods, using dirt he had heard while he was still on the force and said cop flipping out.
* BigBad: Adachi is the one whose actions kick off the plot, and he is responsible for most of the conflict in the story. While there is a GreaterScopeVillain with its own plans, Adachi's [[ForTheEvulz personal]] [[TheHedonist goals]] don't really intersect much with them.
* BigBadEnsemble: With the Fog-Bringer, who is responsible for the apocalypse Adachi is hoping to see. However, they are both only pawns to the GreaterScopeVillain.
* BigBadFriend: ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 4 Golden]]'' adds him as a Social Link. Max it out, and you'll be able to summon Magatsu Izanagi. Also if you became great friends with him, but don't choose to follow with the Accomplice End, Adachi's dialogue during the Team confrontation against him changes slightly; [[WeUsedToBeFriends it becomes more of a discussion between ex-friends]] (the Protagonist and Adachi).
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Even ''before'' he gets outed as the murderer, there are a lot of hints that he's not very nice under it all. Underscored during his Social Link in ''Golden''.
* BlatantLies: When you first corner him and ask him question about the cases, his answers directly contradict everything your team just put together (for example, he claims he only spoke with Saki a few times, when in reality, he repeatedly questioned her about finding Mayumi's body). This is the final nail in the coffin that he is the killer you are looking for.
* BlowYouAway: He frequently uses wind attacks.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: In Ultimax. Adachi considers his murders a game, and the Investigation Team arresting him and saving the world to be him losing the game. As the loser, he must now abide by the rules of the world that bored him, which means he's not going to let Sho Minazuki destroy everything and make his loss pointless. While Adachi still doesn't believe in the ideals of the heroes, he's a GracefulLoser and he's not going to let their victory go to waste.
* BreakingSpeech: While making your way through Adachi's dungeon, he insists the Investigation Team did all this, pursuing the true killer, out of boredom with their ordinary lives. He asks how is that any different from him killing Mayumi and Saki because he too was bored.
* BreakoutVillain: Initially just a one-off antagonist like the previous villains, Adachi's popularity led to developers giving him a more active role in future games. He got Social Links in ''Golden'', and actually invokes the option of becoming great friends with the protagonist/Yu to the point of his crimes never being exposed, due to the protagonist/Yu leaving the town without telling anyone about Adachi's deeds (the Accomplice End); following that, Adachi's appearances in other games and animated adaptations have all been expanding his past to try and make him less devious, or at least someone tragic that devolved into a killer, also showing that he indeed turned a new leaf.
* BrilliantButLazy: He's far from stupid. He is, however, a humongous slacker, even going so far as to encourage Nanako to take shortcuts in her homework that involved reviewing a short children's picture book.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Downplayed, but when he's confronted for his culpability in the murders, he had to take some time remembering his second victim's name. Invoked in ''Golden'', potentially, during Yu's confrontation with him at the climax of the Jester/Hunger Social Link.
-->'''Adachi:''' What do you think will happen if I shoot you?\\
'''Hero:''' You'd commit one more crime.\\
'''Adachi:''' You're right. That's all it would be.
* ButtMonkey: Constantly being yelled at by Dojima and treated like a joke by his peers. [[DeconstructedTrope This causes his more malicious side to run loose.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The numerous adaptations and spin-offs (particularly ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'') have fleshed him out into a more complex character than the PsychopathicManchild presented in the original game.
* ChildHater: Downplayed example. He seems to have a sort of grudge against teenagers, considering them to be naïve and entitled. His words imply that he resents them for having the opportunities he was not able to have as a kid. Subverted with Nanako as he did appear to like her and during her death, it's implied he's actually taking it hard and has to tell himself that it was Yu's fault as a way to manage his potential guilt on how his game ended up targeting someone he cared about.
* CityNoir: His dungeon, Magastu Inaba, is an urban wasteland consisting of sidewalks and roads glued together by police tape and street signs.
* ClassicVillain: He embodies both Lust and Sloth.
* CombatStilettos: Magatsu Izanagi uses them to stomp on downed opponents.
* ContinuityCameo: In ''VideoGame/Persona5''. He does not appear in person, but he appears on television on 12 December, being interviewed by a detective for the murders he committed years ago.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Adachi is this to the antagonist of ''Persona 3'', Takaya Sakaki. Both have many similarities, such as being {{Straw Nihilist}}s, abusing their powers to use Personas to kill people, and the fact they use revolvers as weapons. However, they also have differences as well.
** The first is their physical appearances. Takaya appears as an albino whose unkempt appearance would make him a DevilInPlainSight. Adachi, on the other hand, looks like an ordinary guy who would be less likely to stand out, especially in the small town of Inaba. This makes him harder for players to identify him as the Killer.
** How they received their Personas are also different. Takaya's Persona was artificially created and forcefully implanted into him when he was just a child. Adachi, on the other hand, was given a genuine Persona by [[GreaterScopeVillain Izanami]]. Because of Takaya's Persona not being the real deal, he is not able to properly control it and is weaker compared to an actual Persona user. Adachi is able to easily control his Persona, and media outside the games have shown that his Persona is exceptionally powerful. Interestingly, the two nevertheless summon their Persona in the same way: clutching their head, as though in pain.
** They also carry out their plans differently. Initially, Takaya and Strega directly antagonize [=SEES=] out of fear that they could end the Dark Hour and take away their powers. Adachi instead relies on the Investigation Team to succeed in their rescue efforts so as to keep his cat-and-mouse game going, and deliberately divulges information to the Investigation Team to help them rescue the abductees.
** While Takaya fashions himself as a herald of Nyx through his cult, his actions have no bearing on Nyx's arrival nor does Nyx even acknowledge his existence. Adachi, on the other hand, is deemed as Izanami's chosen representation of what humanity desires due to his actions having the greatest effect on Inaba even if he was for the most part unaware of her existence.
** Their relationships to the other human antagonists also differ. Takaya, while genuinely evil, still cared about Jin and Chidori and fought beside them as equals. Jin in particular was unshakeably loyal to Takaya and followed him unquestioningly. Adachi manipulated and exploited Namatame and Mitsuo and always fights alone.
** Takaya and Makoto Yuuki never shared any personal animosity in the original games and Takaya barely acknowledges him above the rest of SEES when they fight. This is averted in ''Reload'' where they do team up once, with Takaya expressing interest in Makoto's power, though Takaya loses interest in Makoto once the latter rejects his nihilistic philosophy. Adachi and Yu, on the other hand, are played up as ArchEnemy counterparts in the anime and ''Arena'' games, and their grudge in the Persona 4 storyline adaptations is considered personal given that they had a genuine friendship that Adachi betrayed. Their respective Personas also reflect this --Takaya has Hypnos, brother of Thanatos, which has a few parallels mythologically but looks nothing like Thanatos or Orpheus. Adachi has a literal PalletteSwap of Yu's Izanagi as his own Persona.
** Both men are nihilists who believe life has no meaning due to negative experiences in their pasts and use this as motivation for their misdeeds. However, Takaya was a legitimate TragicVillain who was forcibly given Persona powers through unethical experiments and is now dying because of the drugs he needs to take in order to keep said Persona powers from killing him, and he genuinely has nothing to look forward to other than a short, empty life full of pain. Adachi, on the other hand, is ultimately a spoiled manchild throwing a tantrum because he isn't getting the life he thinks he's entitled to; he does have a stable job and people who would gladly reach out to him if he would only let them in (Dojima and the protagonist), but chooses to shun the good things he could have in favor of short-term satisfaction, something that he comes to realise once he's defeated. And for all his nihilistic spiel, as pointed out by Yukiko, Adachi is actually afraid of dying unlike Takaya.
* ContrivedCoincidence: His first two murder victims happened to be people who appeared on the Midnight Channel. Both Namatame and the Investigation Team ended up misinterpreting the Midnight Channel as a predictor of who the next victim would be, something that Adachi played to his advantage.
* CoverBlowingSuperpower: All suspicions of him being the Killer are confirmed when he seemingly vanishes from a hospital room with a large TV in it and he's then found brooding in Mayumi Yamano's room in the Midnight Channel. This is Lampshaded by Yosuke.
* CurbStompBattle: The manga adaptation has him toy with Chie, Yukiko and Naoto at the same time. He easily dodges their attacks and dishes out more brutal counterattacks in return. What's more impressive is that he didn't even have to summon Magatsu Izanagi.
* CurbStompCushion: In the manga, while he does kick Chie, Yukiko, and Naoto's asses, once they [[HeroicSecondWind unlock their awakened personas]], the three of them manage to back Adachi into a corner. He's then forced to [[LetsGetDangerous summon Magatsu Izanagi]] to take them down.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: He's a lot more competent and professional at his job as a detective than you see him prior to Dojima's accident, and there's his erudite rattling off of the Criminal Procedure Code to piss off a detective beating him up in ''Ultimax'', meaning that he could've had an honest living working at the same level as Dojima hadn't he turned to murder.
* DeathByAdaptation: In the live action ''Visualive: The Evolution'', he is struck down by the hero. His body disappears, and that's the last you see of him for the remainder of the story, giving the implication that he died. Subverted, since the ''Ultimax Stageplay'' shows that he survived.
* DesignItYourselfEquipment: Because he wasn't allowed to carry his gun off-duty, Adachi modified a toy gun to shoot real bullets.
* DetectiveMole: It doesn't help him ''too'' much, since two better detectives are on the case and outrank him, but it does let him drive Namatame into doing some very foolish things. It also gives him a convenient excuse to wander around the town without looking suspicious.
* DirtyCop: Claims the only reason he became a cop was so he could legally carry a gun, which is justifiable enough, given Japan's strict gun control laws. Though the veracity of those words is ambiguous, given his immaturity and tendency to run from the truth (and his encyclopedic knowledge of interrogation law).
* DissonantSerenity:
** When he's revealed as the killer, he at first acts as a cliché evil murderer, and does nothing but taunt the party and laugh at the victims' deaths. However, when he's later confronted in Magatsu Inaba, he seems to completely drop any pretense, and tries to rationalize with the party as to why he's become as cynical and bitter in the first place, and only loses his cool when the fighting starts.
** This is played up in ''The Animation'', where he's eerily calm and soft-spoken even as he's beating Yu to the ground and making his BreakingSpeech.
** He gets called out on this in December by Kanji when he sounds more annoyed that Namatame won't be convicted rather than genuinely upset.
* TheDitz: Or at least, [[ObfuscatingStupidity plays a very good one]].
* DrivenToSuicide: He casually decides to blow his head off with his gun after the Investigation Team defeats Magatsu-Izanagi and the Reapers in ''The Animation''. He's interrupted by Ameno-Sagiri taking over his body.
* DrunkWithPower: Started when he realized his power to enter the TV World (and throw people in), and it just kept snowballing from there. He also gets [[LaughingMad scarily gleeful]] when he's allowed to let Magatsu-Izanagi loose.
* DuelBoss: In both anime adaptions, Yu has to fight Adachi alone.
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: As soon as he's outed as the culprit his eyes become dull and lifeless, reflecting is fatalistic view of the world and his role as the GreaterScopeVillain's avatar of emptiness.
* EducationMama: His parents only cared about his grades when he was in school and [[AssimilationAcademy the school was more or less the same way]].
* EntitledBastard: He thinks that his hard work in his youth means that the world ''owes'' him success and an intimate relationship. Because he has neither, [[NeverMyFault he feels it's the fault of life, society, and the women around him]]. He also talks about his power to throw people into TV sets as if it was given to him to make up for his unsuccessful lot in life.
* EntitledToHaveYou: He becomes disgusted with the thought of Mayumi being sexually active with Namatame, arguing that he "had his eye on her first."
* {{Ephebophile}}: He, a 27 year-old man, tried to hit on high-schooler Saki Konishi while interrogating her. Her rejecting his advances, as well as slapping him for being a pervert, is part of the reason why Adachi threw her into the Midnight Channel, leading to her death at the hands of the Shadows in the TV World.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It's implied that he does genuinely care for Nanako during his Social Link and from his reaction to her death, it's possible that he didn't expect her to somehow end up on TV, and Namatame's delusions led him to kidnap her and accidentally set up her death.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He's genuinely shocked when Yu betrays his friends in the accomplice ending and essentially punishes him for it by blackmailing him; in the ''Golden'' anime adaptation he's even disappointed by the outcome.
* EvilAllAlong: He spends most of the game as a seemingly amicable detective, only to be revealed as the game's resident AxCrazy SerialKiller right before the final dungeon.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood:
** His aloof upbringing and the various misfortunes that befell him in the past have resulted in this mindset. Being treated with genuine kindness confuses him and he'll try to laugh it off, poke holes in the motivations behind the altruism, or simply flee. In the ''Golden'' anime, Yu gets a brief look at past events from Adachi's perspective, and finds out his earlier kindness caused Adachi to feel anger and revulsion. When Dojima's kindness has a stretcher sent to Adachi, he literally can't speak for his shock. While he cooperates with police, afterwards, Dojima mentions Adachi refuses to even see him. It's implied Adachi was trying to push his former boss away.
** He assumes the Investigation Team is there to kill him and tells them to leave once he's defeated, since the Shadows will finish him off. He's utterly baffled when they tell him he's an idiot.
* EvilCounterpart: To Yu, Yosuke, and Teddie, respectively.
** Of all the malicious beings that have qualities similar to Yu, Adachi stands out by being his complete equal and opposite. While Yu used his newfound powers to help people and wanted to gain friends, Adachi became DrunkOnTheDarkSide and ended up ''losing'' friends. The point is hammered home by his Persona, Magatsu-Izanagi, which is literally a more twisted version of Yu's own Izanagi. In the English dub, the two even share the same voice actor.
** Like Yosuke, a lot of Adachi's misfortune serves as part of the game's comedic relief, and him frequently being yelled at by Dojima mirrors Yosuke often drawing the ire of the other members of the Investigation Team. Furthermore, both Yosuke and Adachi are rather lustful towards women, and while it wasn't as strong as his feelings towards Mayumi, [[{{Ephebophile}} Adachi also had an unreciprocated crush on Saki]], even attempting to seduce her during his questioning of her (made much more blatant in ''The Animation'') only to be violently rejected. But while Yosuke doesn't let his unluckiness and disrespect from his peers bother him too much, Adachi's grates on him to the point that it's part of his motivations. While Yosuke is a ChivalrousPervert that still loves Saki in spite of learning that she secretly hated him, Adachi is a StrawMisogynist who was angered by Saki spurning his advances enough that it was [[NotGoodWithRejection part of the reason he killed her]]. To top it all off, Adachi's motivation for his villainous actions is that he was bored of Inaba after being transferred there from the city by his superiors, just like how Yosuke initially felt after being forced to move there by his parents.
** Finally, both he and Teddie share a nihilistic mindset and believe that life is empty as a result. However, the conclusions they draw from that belief differ greatly. With the help of the party, Teddie understands that being empty isn't inherently bad, as he can create his own meaning and his life can be filled with good things. This is in contrast to Adachi, who concludes that the emptiness of life makes it all worthless and uses it to justify his crimes.
* EvilIsPetty: Both of his initial murders are for incredibly petty and perverted reasons; the first one was just him throwing a temper tantrum because a celebrity he had a crush on had an affair, and the second was just because he saw a high school girl talking to an older man and deemed her a "whore" who had to die. All of the other attempted murders were strictly ForTheEvulz; when they find out, the Investigation Team even lampshade how petty and childish Adachi is.
* EvilLaugh: Has an extremely unsettling one after the protagonist burns the warning letter in the Accomplice Ending.
* ExasperatedPerp: The Investigation Team questioning him about Ms. Yamano's disappearance, his questioning of Saki and the warning letter he sent leads to him getting frustrated and impatient enough to blurt out something only the Killer would know.
* FauxAffablyEvil: On the surface, he appears to be a goofy and EndearinglyDorky detective. However, beneath that dorky exterior lies an AxCrazy lunatic. Even though he retains his sense of humour, it only serves to accentuate his creepiness.
* FightingFromTheInside: In the manga, he resists after Ameno-Sagiri takes over, helping Soji and the others defeat it.
* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: Even though he's now outed as the Killer for the rest of his life and has to serve a jail sentence later, he realises that something is ''very'' wrong after reading through Namatame's reports which were almost a carbon copy of how he heard about the Midnight Channel, prompting him to send a letter to the Investigation Team to warn them that there's more to the case than it seems and to find out how the Midnight Channel rumor started in the first place. This potentially causes Izanami to be uncovered.
* FluffyTamer: Possibly due to his knowledge of how the TV world operates and the powers Izanami bestowed upon him, Adachi is capable of controlling the Shadows. In ''The Animation'', he's able to use ''three Reapers'' as his {{Elite Mook}}s against the Investigation Team. This ability becomes an important plot point in ''Ultimax'' when Sho Minazuki wants to use Adachi to control the monstrous Hi-No-Kagutsuchi.
* {{Foil}}: To many characters on the Investigation Team, as his "Jester" social link is an alternate take on the Fool. The Team is unsure of what exactly it's doing, but is determined to find the truth, while he is perfectly content with simply drifting through life, looking for the easiest and most amusing solutions. Specifically, though, he has a few direct opposites.
** First off is Yosuke. While both characters are initially upset about moving to the countryside, Yosuke overcomes it by bonding with others, while Adachi snaps from the boredom.
** He's also the EvilCounterpart to Teddie. While Teddie is a Shadow who desperately wants to be more human, Adachi is a human who has "the same goal" as the Shadows. Teddie became drunk off the pleasures of the human world once he attained a human form, while Adachi became drunk off the power to enter the TV World. Rise lampshades this if you ask about Teddie while meeting at the food court during December.
** His attitude toward personal success and relationships is the opposite of Yu. Where Yu has to strive for those around him in relationships and develop himself, Adachi expects success to come to him.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are quite a few hints throughout the game that Adachi is more than who he appears to be:
** He is one of the few major characters who does not have a Social Link in the original game which highlights his importance to the plot.
** He is one of the few characters who does not have a Social Link but does have a character portrait in the original game, which sticks out like a sore thumb once you start getting Social Links from everyone up to supernatural otherworldly ladies dressed in blue and foxes you meet in the woods.
** Even in the UpdatedRerelease, his Social Link arcana is unique in that it does not exist in reality, indicating that the bond between him and the protagonist is all an act. From Rank 7 onwards, his Social Link can only progress in story cutscenes which only occurs for story-driven events such as Teddie and the Investigation Team. And even once his true Arcana: ''Hunger'' (Lust in the Japanese version) is shown, the Arcana in question is from the Thoth tarot deck instead of the standard Rider-Waite deck the rest of the Social Links are based on. The only other cards from the Thoth deck that have been used in Persona are the Aeon, Universe and Apostle Arcanas, the latter of which only appears in [[VideoGame/Persona5Strikers a spin-off]] of ''Persona 4'''s [[VideoGame/Persona5 sequel]], the second at the very end of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' for the protagonist, and the Aeon by non-human characters like [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Aigis]] from ''Persona 3'', and [[AmnesiacGod Marie]] from ''Golden''.
** In ''Golden'', Adachi has a very irregular schedule and some of his ranks require meeting him at nighttime.
** He acts extremely suspicious at times, mostly loitering around at Junes (the place where Shadow World can be entered) and claiming that "he is busy" even though he is clearly not.
** The Personas associated with the Jester arcana are based on [[ObviouslyEvil evil or mischievous figures]].
** You can see hints at his StrawMisogynist tendencies if you choose certain options in his Social Link.
** The first time you see Adachi, Dojima asks him how long he's going to act like a rookie. Key word: ''[[ObfuscatingStupidity Act]]''.
** When he comes across the Investigation Team at Junes after Yukiko was rescued, he's seen talking to himself about how the town's gotten a lot more interesting with the ongoing serial murder case, which foreshadows his view of the whole affair as a game.
** At the start of Rise's arc, he seems ''far'' too eager to declare the case over and the murderer caught after arresting someone who just happened to be outside Rise's shop on an extremely flimsy pretext.
** When Adachi is having dinner with the Dojimas after Mitsuo's arrest, he expresses gratitude that he could stop seeing suspects in every '''shadow'''.
** During the events of Nanako's kidnapping, before the revelation of the kidnapper's identity as Namatame, various hints point to Adachi as a possible suspect. When the protagonist is in the interrogation room, the Investigation Team is guessing the identity of her kidnapper, who is thought to be the killer at the time. Should the player pick the option "Someone Dojima knows", everyone will turn and stare at Adachi who would be quick to defend himself. Adachi makes a legitimate point by saying that Dojima doesn't seem to have any other friends, but that only makes Adachi ''more'' suspicious.
** Whoever delivered the warning letter to Dojima's house without attracting suspicion would be someone who regularly visits their house. Adachi is the only visitor to the house apart from the Investigation Team.
* ForTheEvulz: By his own admission, he kick-started the entire plot for what amounts to needing some entertainment.
-->"Reasons...? None, really. I could do it, that's all. And it was fun... I guess that's my reason?"
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Used to wear glasses in his youth. He can get a pair of glasses in ''Arena Ultimax'' via DLC.
* FreudianExcuse: It's implied via his [[UnreliableExpositor possibly unreliable exposition]] and more or less outright stated in ''Golden: The Animation'' that his misanthropy was a result of him isolating himself and focusing on his studies so he could become successful in life, which led to his perception of people souring as he watched others make the connections that he failed to. When he actually got the job he wanted in the police force, he found that all of his hard-fought accomplishments were overlooked in favor of younger talent, leading him to believe that HardWorkHardlyWorks. Combine both, and you get a sociopathic PsychopathicManchild who believes relationships to be a sham, thinks the world is inherently cruel, and takes the first ounce of control he's been given in his life to mean that he's automatically entitled to everything.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Of course, the way he presents the above motivations makes him come off as a brat throwing a tantrum rather than elicit any form of sympathy in the moment, which the Investigation Team calls him out on. The only real tragic element that they find to Adachi's character is that they could've turned out like him if they had made different choices in life.
* FriendlessBackground: It's implied that prior to meeting the Dojimas Adachi never had any friends in his youth, preferring to keep to himself and focus on his studies.
* GlassCannon: In spite of being the normal route's [[PreFinalBoss penultimate boss]], Adachi is rather frail for the point you fight him, though he can still pack a helluva punch nonetheless. He can throw out [[BlowYouAway Magarudyne]], [[ShockAndAwe Maziodyne]] and Vorpal Blade, all of which dish out a ton of damage thanks to his high strength, Power Charge and Heat Riser. He also wields good status buffs and effects (along with Ghastly Wail for a OneHitKill). While you'll likely beat Adachi before long, he can fuck you up in a hurry if you don't take him out quickly.
* GracefulLoser: After he's defeated, he actually acts like this despite the trouble he gave the team:
** He agrees to accept punishment for his crimes in whatever manner you choose. To his surprise, they instead drag him out into the real world and force him to take account for his actions. In addition, for all his rants about how much he hates ThePowerOfFriendship, he acknowledges that if he'd been more like the protagonist, maybe things would've turned out better for him.
** Taken to higher levels in ''Arena Ultimax.'' The way he sees it, he lost his "game" and as such must suffer all of the consequences of losing, which is why he fights against Sho Minazuki because his punishment cannot continue if the world he found too boring ceases to exist. He also harbors no grudge against the Investigation Team and is actually secretly happy he can still be friends with Yu.
* GreenEyedMonster:
** Part of his fall into evil is his jealousy towards those who end up more successful in life than him.
** ''Golden: The Animation'' implies that he is one to Yu. When Yu moved in with the Dojimas, Adachi felt subconsciously threatened that Yu was taking Adachi's place as a second family to the Dojimas. He's also jealous of how Yu has a successful school life with loyal friends to support him, which Adachi didn't have.
* GrinOfAudacity: His SmugSmiler expression becomes this when he lackadaisically tries to feign ignorance when asked about his role in the murders, despite him being in the TV World being evidence that he had one.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: He claims to have devoted a significant portion of his youth to his studies. When life didn't pan out the way he liked despite his efforts, he took all the wrong lessons from the fallout. ''Persona 4 Golden the Animation'' pretty much implies [[SincerityMode that he is actually being sincere about this]].
* HateSink: [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on the adaptation]], it's either played straight or {{Subverted|Trope}}:
** His original characterization in the vanilla game is meant to present him like this. He's an unrepentant murderer who instigates the deaths of others for his own amusement, and acts like [[NeverMyFault everyone except himself is at fault]] for how rotten his life is. However, this ended up backfiring hard and he became [[BreakoutVillain beloved within the fanbase]] precisely for his evilness.
** Subverted with ''Golden'', which fleshes out his personality as a more sympathetic character beyond the PsychopathicManchild of the original, or at least established that some of his NiceGuy feelings were indeed genuine.
* TheHeavy: He's the one who is really moving the plot along and the one that the team is after. In fact, the GreaterScopeVillain came to the assumption that Adachi's desires represent humanity's wishes as a whole, as he had been the most active and impactful participant in their experiment.
* HeelRealization:
** Of a sort. He's fully aware of how evil he is, but he only stops blatantly denying it after his VillainousBreakdown and subsequent defeat by the Investigation Team. It was extremely humiliating, and it left him humbled and at their mercy. Instead of killing him (as he expected), they instead haul him back to the real world (metaphorically and literally), demanding him to face the consequences of his actions just like everyone else. The final nail comes when he learns that Dojima (who had pretty good reasons to hate him) had requested, as a personal favor, that an EMT with a stretcher be sent out to treat and apprehend the exhausted Adachi because they had been partners. Adachi is completely unable to say anything. He later confesses to the first two murders, and shows full cooperation with the police.
** In the True Ending, the Team receives a letter from the recently-convicted Adachi, which contains his suspicions about a higher being orchestrating the entire thing, the few vague clues he can offer. When the protagonist finally does face that being, Adachi is there to... call them a bitch too, and tell you you should think so too and thus kick its ass, since you're not like him.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: Realising this is how the player identifies Adachi as the killer, musing over the facts of the first two murders, the mysterious warning letters sent to Yu's house, and the fact that despite the increase in police presence throughout Inaba, nobody suspicious was noticed by the locals, and [[EurekaMoment realising]] that Adachi, as a police officer, can [[BeneathSuspicion walk around in plain sight without getting noticed]], and has easy access to both murder victims as well as the Dojima residence.
* HiddenDepths: For a guy who claimed to have only joined the police so he can be legally allowed to carry a gun, ''Ultimax'' shows that Adachi can rattle off the Criminal Procedure Code without effort. This, alongside flashbacks of his past in ''Golden: The Animation'', implies that Adachi did start off as an idealistic young cop whose idealism was crushed by constant setbacks in life.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He writes threatening letters that mention the word 'kill', even though he knew Namatame genuinely thought he was saving people, has a radical change in attitude after Dojima's accident and [[INeverSaidItWasPoison makes what essentially amounts to the same slip of the tongue]] ''twice''. Ironically he had been intentionally "letting slip" clues to the investigation team earlier before revealing himself as the killer as a genuine slip up. In addition, the letters narrow down the culprit to people with unfettered access to the Dojima house, meaning the Investigation Team, Nanako, Namatame, Ryotaro Dojima, and Adachi.
* HumansAreBastards: Believes humanity and the world it's crafted to be annoying, dull, and hypocritical.
-->"If crimes could be solved by appealing to morality, we wouldn't need the police!"
* {{Hypocrite}}: His belief that humans are hypocrites is ironic because of how much of a hypocrite he really is. He makes other people's lives miserable while still acting like he's the only one who's had a rough existence, calls the Investigation Team self-righteous for their responses to his long tirade against how much humanity and reality suck, and claims that they're only pursuing him because they wanted some excitement in their boring lives. Then again, he probably [[HypocrisyNod knows it and just doesn't care]].
* IgnoredEpiphany: Unlike Namatame, he fails to recognize ThePowerOfFriendship, thinking it to be bogus, and believes Yu to be a dumbass even when he's defeated by both. He can't fully bring himself to ignore that he was ultimately at fault though, and broods over the fact that if he had been more like the protagonist, things may not have turned so sour.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Like Yosuke, in many ways, he's bored out of his skull by the quiet country life of Inaba. But when he gets his powers, he starts using them for murder and mayhem. Furthermore, this attitude seems to stem from his frustration and disappointment on how his life turned out despite working hard and following the path set out in front of him.
* IndirectSerialKiller: Subverted; he tricks [[UnwittingPawn Namatame]] into pushing most of the people into the T.V. world, but thanks to the efforts of the Investigation Team, no one is killed.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison:
** He ends up giving himself away when he said that Namatame put the victims inside the TV -- no one but the Killer and the Investigation Team would have known that was how the victims were murdered.
** Adachi also gave himself away even before he was listed as a suspect. When the Investigation Team discovered Namatame's diary which had the names of all the people he put inside the TV, Adachi showed no surprise and proclaimed that Namatame was the Killer. Naoto later pointed out that most of the people listed were classified as by the police as mere "disappearances" and any connection between them and the murders had yet to established. On the other hand, Naoto had somewhat perjured herself in that regard, as she referred to the list names as 'victims' as a whole, even the ones who weren't killed, and Adachi could have easily explained away his statement as being in regard to what she herself claimed about them. Therefore, Naoto doesn't bring up that particular point until Adachi makes a more obviously guilty statement, using it as further circumstantial evidence of his guilt now that he's proven he knows more about the murders than he should.
** In the animation, even earlier, when he helps the Investigation Team take down Rise's fanboy stalker, he shows no confusion as to their bizarre actions, which indicates he already knows the disappearance victims are people who appear on TV and that the disappearances and killings are linked, all things the police haven't figured out yet.
* InsaneTrollLogic:
** Unlike the other social links, his progresses more easily if you act like a jerk, just not to him. Nicely encapsulated in how the only way to further ascend his dungeon [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption is to jump down a giant, gaping hole]].
** Adachi himself indulges in this. For instance, he keeps insinuating that he only put Mayumi and Saki into the TV and that it was the world itself that killed them. The world shaped by the thoughts and feelings of all humanity. Therefore, everyone is responsible for their deaths, including the Investigation Team. They rightfully point out why that's bullshit.
** If you confront Adachi alone and tell him you believed in him, he tells you it's your own fault because the version of him that you believed in just existed inside your head. Your decision betrayed you, so why should you complain about it to him?
* InterfaceSpoiler:
** In the original, the fact that he's one of the few major characters who doesn't have a Social Link at all might make the player suspicious.
** The original spoiler is removed in ''Golden'', but replaced with an even bigger one -- he has a Social Link now, but you can only rank it up to 6 the normal way, and after that it increases through the plot. A character with no Social Link could mean anything; a character with a plot-tied Social Link is ''clearly'' important. Then again, at the time of ''Golden'''s release, though, Adachi's true role had been a LateArrivalSpoiler for quite some time, and it's perfectly possible that the player might be juggling too many Social Links at once to notice.
** There's also the fact that Adachi's link is not only a 0 tarot card, but a Thoth tarot as well, specifically being the counterpart to the other 0 which is the Investigation Team. If the Investigation Team is the protagonists, then the other 0 must be...
** Early in the game after the Investigation Team saves someone, the game will cut to a mysterious figure wandering around the fog-covered shopping district. Sharp-eyed players can notice that the mysterious figure resembles Adachi's character model.
* InVinoVeritas: Averted, as while he becomes genuinely inebriated, he's just as duplicitous in his "helpful" drunken babble and never implicates himself.
* IronicName: The kanji used to spell his name translates to "transparent." While he is pretty transparent about the police's movements, regarding his own actions, he... [[SerialKiller isn't.]]
* {{Irony}}:
** Adachi in his MotiveRant comments how people like him, despite their hard work, will always get overshadowed by people with natural talent. Ironically, supplementary materials show that Adachi's power of the Persona is exceptionally gifted to the point of becoming an InstantExpert. Despite having no prior experience in the TV World, he's able to hold his own against the much more experienced Investigation Team.
** He also claims to have joined the police force solely because he could legally carry a gun. ''Persona Stalker Club'' reveals protocol prevents him from carrying it off-duty.[[note]]This is real-life protocol used by Japanese law enforcement agencies to prevent such a thing from taking place.[[/note]]
** A confessed misanthrope who resents almost everyone around him for supposedly keeping him down and not giving him proper respect has nothing but positive emotions towards his partner and superior Ryotaro Dojima, who never hesitates to use insults or violence against Adachi if he screws up or is being a nuisance. Such fondness was never enough to make Adachi turn himself in, or hesitate to feed the world to the Shadows, but it's notable nonetheless.
* IShallTauntYou:
** In ''Persona 4 Golden'', Adachi mocks you for actually burning the evidence that could've convicted him if you actually pursue the Accomplice Ending. He even takes your cell number and taunts you as you're boarding the train, knowing that he's getting off scot-free.
** This is also his primary tactic when dealing with the Investigation Team.
* ItGetsEasier: If him vomiting at the sight of Mayumi's dead body was genuine, it implies that Adachi was actually horrified that he had just killed someone, especially since he had never thrown a person into TV World before. But shortly afterwards, he had no compunctions throwing Saki into the TV. And later on, he even says that he "got a kick" out of throwing Mitsuo in as he hadn't thrown anyone in since Saki.
* ItIsBeyondSaving: His worldview on humanity itself.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Whatever pain and misery other people go through, especially those of the families of his victims, is apparently insignificant to his suffering.
* JadedWashout: Adachi's cynicism can be stemmed from dissatisfaction towards his job and being stuck in "the boonies". This causes him to believe that society ought to owe him something in return for his troubles, and is what drove him to murder Mayumi and Saki because they rejected him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Once he shows his true colors, he fits a little too comfortably into them.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Develops into one after you beat him; he sends the Investigation Team a letter helping them to expose the GreaterScopeVillain and cheers Yu on in his own... special way during the actual fight.
* KarmaHoudini: In the Bad, Neutral and Accomplice endings, [[TheBadGuyWins he gets away scot-free with his crimes]]. Especially the case in the Accomplice ending, where he takes the opportunity to blackmail Yu after the latter destroys Adachi's confession letter, betraying everything the Investigation Team stood for.
* KickTheDog:
** His casual attitude toward the killings he committed. Even if you believe that he didn't know Mayumi would fall into the TV and die, it's clear that he was out to harm her from the beginning.
--->"I was just trying to punish the stupid bitch a little for betraying me."
** In the anime, Magatsu-Inaba is this to the Investigation Team. It's blatantly a wrecked and torn-down version of Inaba which Adachi formed. This hits Yukiko hard when she recognises the ruins of her Inn and Yosuke is ForcedToWatch a replay of Adachi's memories of shoving Saki into the Midnight Channel.
* LackOfEmpathy: Adachi encourages Yu to adopt this mindset when he gets older, claiming that life is tough enough as it is without having to be bogged down by the feelings of those around him.
* LargeHam: After getting outed as the culprit, he drops any hints of innocence and replaces it with utterly ham-fisted douchebaggery.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: Some of his appearances in spin-off material quickly spoil his identity as the Killer.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' is the worst about this, as he is blatantly identified as the Killer in his first scene.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight'' downplays this, as while nothing is explicitly stated, the fact that he of all people is a playable DLC character instead of more important supporting characters like Dojima should be a major red flag.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' averts this during his EasterEgg cameo on the TV on 12/12; he is only identified as "Suspect Under Investigation", and no hints are given about his identity.
* LaughablyEvil: Say what you will about Adachi, but you can't help but find him ''hilarious'' thanks to his goofy facial expressions and his needless [[IShallTauntYou heckling of the Investigation Team]].
* LaughingMad: Breaks into one in the Accomplice Ending should the protagonist burn the warning letter, accompanied with a new character portrait that is unsettling to say the least.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
-->"Games like this gotta have surprises or they get boring fast."
* {{Lestrade}}: Justified -- since he was behind the whole scheme, he was always a step ahead of the Team. Therefore, it was imperative for him to play dumb as to not arouse suspicion.
* LivingWithTheVillain: Your biggest hint to finding the killer is the fact that he's welcome at the Dojima household any time, giving the opening he would have needed to send the hero a threatening letter without arousing suspicion.
* MadonnaWhoreComplex: He accused Mayumi of being a whore upon learning she was sexually active with Namatame. Then he accused Saki of being a whore because of the ''mere sight'' of her coming near Namatame.
* ManipulativeBastard: He first manipulated Namatame into attempting to commit the murders with delusions of messianic grandeur, then tries to manipulate the Investigation Team into [[RedHerring chasing after Namatame]].
* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: He just wanted some cheap thrills and laughs. Once he's aware that his actions will have apocalyptic repercussions, he's pretty cool with it.
* MisanthropeSupreme: Adachi despises humanity, believing that deep down, [[HumansAreBastards everyone is just as selfish and cruel as he is]] and refuses to accept that one could truly be good at heart.
* MoralityPet: Nanako, of sorts. She's one of the few people whom he genuinely treats nicely. As shown in ''Persona 4 Golden: The Animation'', he was actually pretty close to the Dojima family before Yu arrived. Once she dies, he seems notably beaten down and [[NeverMyFault starts repeating to himself that "It's all Yu's fault"]].
* MoralSociopathy: In ''Ultimax'', it's clear that while he's still an unpleasant person, he's determined to ensure that no one doubts the conclusion that he's the killer or questions the outcome of the case, even if it means that he's punished for it. The reason? It's part of the "rules" he plays by.
* MotiveDecay: His first two murders were largely motivated by jealousy and a MadonnaWhoreComplex, respectively. All of the other ones were just ForTheEvulz. Despite this, he still manages to be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkcmxrkHXD0 one of the more realistic depictions of a serial killer]], psychologically.
* MotiveRant: He goes into one just before the Investigation Team fights him. Part of it was SmallTownBoredom, and part of it was feeling like there was AlwaysSomeoneBetter than him in spite of how hard he worked. Adachi tells the Investigation Team that the reason he committed the first murder was because he found out a celebrity he was crushing on had a sexual affair with a married man, and he threw a temper tantrum that she was "spoiled". And the second murder had a similar reason: when the killer spotted a high school girl talking to an older man, he accused her of being unchaste and murdered her for being "a whore". From then on, Adachi fell headfirst into ForTheEvulz, as he committed the rest of the attempted murders strictly because he thought he could get away with it. The Investigation Team is [[DisappointedByTheMotive aghast that their entire adventure started because of one man's childish, perverted insecurities]].
* MurderByInaction: As he makes sure to let the Investigation Team know, he himself didn't kill Ms. Yamano and Saki; he merely threw them into the Midnight Channel and let the Shadows do it for him. Of course, they point out to him that since Adachi had some idea of what would happen to them when he put them in, that doesn't make much of a difference.
* NeckLift: Does this to [[MissionControl Rise]] during the manga. He then loads his revolver and prepares to shoot her in the abdomen before Chie stops him.
* NeverHadToys: He hints at this, complaining that his parents made him spend his childhood studying.
* NeverMyFault: He got a bad shake, that's all, his idiot superiors dumped him in Inaba, they overreacted. Besides, he was gentlemanly, there was something wrong with those "stupid bitches" for getting it in their head to reject him. Besides, they were just playing Namatame, right? Really, he did the world a favor. For the record, [[InsaneTrollLogic you're all just as bad if not worse for going on this adventure to stop him]], selfish brats... Yeah, you get the idea. Though it's implied he was being truthful about what he got in Inaba.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: It's all but implied Adachi would have completely gotten away with the murders if he hadn't sent the threatening letters to Yu, as he eventually uses it to figure out the Killer's proximity to the Dojimas and a police officer being in on it all along. It's even the evidence that's required to arrest him.
* NightmareFace: [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/c/c4/Creepy_Adachi_2.png Adachi's scowl]] just looks ''wrong'' on his face. Like a SlasherSmile someone flipped upside-down. It goes to show what an ugly person he is on the inside. The one he makes [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/a/aa/Creepy_Adachi_4.png during the Accomplice Ending]] is ''worse''. Mainly because it's the face of a murderer who knows that he just got away with everything and has you, the idiot who covered for him, under his thumb ''forever.''
* NoodleIncident: What got him transferred to Inaba. While he claims it was a small slip-up that got blown out of proportion, his crimes in this game imply it was ''much'' more serious. ''Persona 4 Golden: The Animation'' seems to imply that he's actually telling the truth. Adachi was actually a [[HardWorkHardlyWorks serious, hard-working cop at his youth that just never got along with people (possibly due to having to focus on his studies), and got shafted because of it]].
-->"I was supposed to be the best of the best, and instead they stick me in the boonies."
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He intentionally plays up his status as Dojima's BumblingSidekick throughout the game to lure suspicion away from himself.
* ObviouslyEvil: The Personas of the Jester/Hunger Arcana in comparison to those found in the Fool Arcana. While the entities in the latter are mostly [[NobleDemon noble at best and neutral at worst]], the ones in the former are either overtly sinister (Baphomet, Chernobog, Pale Rider i.e. The Horseman of Death, Gurr, Kumbhanda) or immensely egotistical (Loa and Saiten Taisei aka [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest The Monkey King]]). If that wasn't enough, one of them is the outright archenemy of Take-Mikazuchi, Kanji's initial Persona, and the ultimate incarnation is Adachi's own Persona, the evil counterpart of the hero's.
* OhCrap:
** After his SayingTooMuch moment below, particularly in the anime.
** Also in the anime: during the height of his Breakdown, he attempts to make good on his threats to kill Yu with a massive lightning attack while emptying his gun at the same time... only to nearly shit a brick when the smoke clears and Yu is standing there ''completely unharmed''.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Adachi suddenly becomes more competent and helpful near the game's end, dropping the ObfuscatingStupidity as he does. This is a subtle implication that he's getting desperate, as he knows he's running out of time to throw the Investigation Team and the other cops off of his trail.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: In ''Golden'', if the player does not complete Rank 6 of Adachi's Social Link by November, they will lose the opportunity to see the remaining events.
* PetTheDog: Whenever he upsets Nanako with his apparently offhanded attempts to toy with Yu, he's quick to try and lift her spirits.
* PoliceAreUseless: Shares this attitude with the Investigation Team, but for different reasons. Being a police officer himself gives him a veritable front row seat to all the bureaucratic hand-wringing, shortcuts, pitfalls, and misfires of law enforcement that he finds himself lamenting over, more out of the consequence that as a detective, he has to get yanked around by these incompetent decisions. The fact that they can't seem to find the Killer out, despite him being smack dab in their midst, possibly amplifies this sentiment.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Is quite misogynistic, considering any woman who doesn't give in to his advances to be a "worthless bitch".
* PreFinalBoss: He's fought right before Ameno-sagiri, the FinalBoss of the normal route, though he's [[GlassCannon pretty easy to deal with due to his relatively low health.]]
* PrecisionFStrike: In the manga, he screams "Go to hell!" before launching a lightning attack at Soji, and muttering "... Fuck. You pest... You pest!!" when Soji survives.
* PsychopathicManchild: Outright called immature by Naoto and Yukiko. Despite his claims to the contrary, it's quite clear that he's basically throwing a massive temper tantrum.
* PullingTheThread: When all the clues are assembled (how the TV world and Personas works, the timeline of kidnappings and deaths, the threatening letters at the Dojima house) and through deductive reasoning, it becomes clear that he is the only person who could have been the true killer.
** To make use of the TV world, the killer had to have a Persona. This fact rules out the Investigation Team who all entered the TV world after Mayumi's death, all except the protagonist (who obviously didn't do it) got their powers after Saki's murder, and all except the protagonist, Yosuke, and Chie were victims themselves. It also rules out Mitsuo, who clearly doesn't have a Persona when he enters the TV.
** Because he has been incarcerated since his encounter in the TV world, Mitsuo Kubo could not have kidnapped Nanako, which means he couldn't have sent the threatening letters at the Dojima house either. Mitsuo's entry into the TV world is also anomalous: The other victims were kidnapped in front of their own homes per Namatame's modus operandi; Mitsuo, on the other hand, disappeared inside the police station as he was about to confess his crimes, which brings up the question of how did Mitsuo get into the TV world? Mitsuo couldn't have entered himself because he clearly has a Shadow inside it (therefore no persona, therefore no way to enter on his own) and if he did know about the TV world and its role in the murders, he would've pushed Morooka in instead of bludgeoning him, which was a clear clue he wasn't the real serial killer. Namatame only managed to get away with kidnapping people because he was BeneathSuspicion as a deliveryman going to people's homes, but that wouldn't work in the middle of a police station, especially since the police would recognize him due to his being part of the investigation for Yumeno's murder. Whoever pushed in Mitsuo had to be a third party who wouldn't look out-of-place at a police station... like one of the only two named police officers.
** The culprit would have to been able to closely monitor the Investigation Team to know they were rescuing people and know where the Protagonist lives to be able to deliver the letters. Since nobody suspicious has been spotted spying on the team or the Dojima residence, it would have to be someone who has regular access to a months-long case, ''and'' Dojima's house, ''and'' the Investigation team, which rules out people like acquaintances of the kidnap victims, or the other Social Links.
** The Investigation Team is never seen on the TV when they go on their rescue missions, as there is no gossip about it, meaning the general population is unable to identify the members of the Team, nor connect the true nature of the TV world to the rescue missions. Whoever is sending the letters is not some random stranger, and would have to be someone who can link the Midnight Channel with the Investigation Team's activities, so the letters cannot be mistaken as a prank or coincidence.
** Combining both of the previous points, the question arises as to why the letters were not sent to any of the other Team members' houses. The Protagonist's house is also the home of a detective who is actively investigating the case, making it an incredible risk to deliver a message that could have been sent to six other, less risky locations; the only reason for this to happen is if the killer ''knew'' they could be seen accessing the Dojima house without suspicion (say, they were someone who regularly entered as a guest), but couldn't be sure for the others.
** Despite such high-profile and bizarre cases, nobody suspicious has been seen in or around Inaba, ''especially'' around the first two victims, Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi, despite both of them having media attention on them around the time of their deaths. The culprit thus has to be someone who would have a valid reason to approach both of them and not be suspicious. This means that the killer couldn't have been a stranger, ruling out shadows exiting the TV world like Teddie, who would've not only been a stranger in his human form, but also seem rather suspicious in his bear costume, or outsiders to Inaba like Hiiragi, who, while associated with Mayumi, is ''not'' associated with Konishi, and she would be seen as suspicious due to her celebrity status.
** The police investigate Namatame the normal way due to his affair with Mayumi, and he's let go as he has a solid alibi. Killing someone via the TV world requires being in their physical presence, so even ''if'' Namatame had killed Saki (which he denies), there's no way he could've killed Mayumi. And his killing Saki also contradicts his stated motive, as he would have immediately realized the dangers of the TV world if someone he'd pushed inside had actually died, instead of the Investigation Team inadvertently fueling his misconception by rescuing all his victims.
** The culprit would have to have some physical strength to be able to overpower an adult woman (and two teenagers) and throw her into the TV, thus making it likely that the killer is also an adult, not one of the teenaged or child characters. This includes Nanako, despite fitting a lot of the criteria[[labelnote:Including]]The fact that she lives with the protagonist, meaning that she would've sent the warning letters without suspicion, and she would've likely partially know what's going on, thanks to overhearing Dojima and the Investigation Team[[/labelnote]].
** Despite also fitting the bill for many of those criteria, Ryotaro Dojima has been pushing for the investigation of the murders and kidnappings, when the rest of the station is just aching to close the case and be done with it; barring some convoluted, insane rationale, a smart killer would want the cases to be dropped ASAP, so why not have that happen by letting the corrupt police force just take their usual course?
* RealityWarper: Possesses a considerable amount of control over his area of the TV World, capable of outright barring the entrance to it from outsiders, creating multiple copies of himself, manifesting large scale illusions, kicking people out of it if you don't play by his rules, or even stopping the player from escaping it with spells or items. Adachi outright says that it seems the TV World itself is protecting him, apparently due to him desiring the same things the Shadows want, giving him considerable influence over his surroundings, enough to even shield himself from Rise's scanning abilities at first.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His persona, Magatsu Izanagi, is basically a blood-red version of Izanagi.
* RedemptionEqualsLife: After he's defeated, he tries to convince the Investigation Team to let him get killed off by Shadows in Magatsu Inaba. They refuse to let him do that, take him back to the real world, and he willingly cooperates in confessing to his crimes, even aiding the team in figuring out who The Conductor is from prison... [[InsultOfEndearment while still calling him a dumbass, although this time is much more affectionate than hateful.]] Dojima later notes that Adachi has become a model prisoner and seems to be working on bettering himself.
* RedemptionRejection: During his Social Link, at first. You can try to appeal to him before delving into his dungeon, but he flatly refuses, even adding for posterity that a) he hates people who try to appeal to his better nature in person, and b) if crimes could be solved by appealing to morality, there'd be no need for police.
* RedBaron: Magatsu-Izanagi is also known as the "Tempter of the Void."
* ReplacementGoldfish: For the old lady in his Social Link, as he has the same first name as her son who is usually away on business.
* ReverseGrip: Magatsu-Izanagi wields its weapon like this.
* SayingTooMuch: Adachi accidentally outs himself when he claims in the Investigation Team and Dojima's presence that it was Namatame who "put them in". Earlier on, it's a plot point that the police ''don't'' know how the murders were committed (which is what reveals Mr. Morooka's death as the work of JackTheRipoff, as he ''did'' have a clear cause of death), so how'd he find out?
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In ''Golden'' he leaves the country if the Protagonist keeps his involvement a secret, but doesn't confront him...
* SerialKiller: Technically, he ''isn't'' one, as he only has two victims: Mayumi and Saki, and you need three to be officially considered a serial killer. The other victims were either Namatame's work (and all were rescued) or Mitsuo's. He does fit the ''spirit'' of the trope, however, as Namatame was his UnwittingPawn he intended for Namatame to unknowingly kill the victims with the TV world.
* ShadowArchetype:
** Persona-wise, to Yu (his being the EvilTwin of Izanagi); motive-wise, to Yosuke (both share the same SmallTownBoredom); but most of all, to the whole Investigation Team -- whereas its members [[BeYourself learn to accept themselves and each other for who they are and take responsibility for their actions]], Adachi [[NeverMyFault ignores his own faults, blames others for his problems, and keeps running away from the truth]].
*** He's actually meant to be a counterpart to the main character in the sense that Yu uses his power to help people, while Adachi uses his power to harm. This is more apparent in [[Anime/Persona4TheAnimation the anime]], where Yu had his own personality. The Golden further emphasizes this as Adachi had a similar childhood to Yu's and they share a mutual fondness for magic tricks. Furthermore, where the Investigation Team and especially the main character make friends, form bonds, have fun, relate to others, and generally try to do as much good as they can in their small town, Adachi stays isolated, broods over his less-than-glamorous situation, and thinks himself above everyone else, which leads him into his nihilistic viewpoint and his mission of destructive chaos.
*** Made even more apparent in ''Persona 4 Golden''. He becomes a Social Link representing the Jester Arcana, which is an alternate version of the Fool Arcana that Yu represents. Moreover, should you get the bad "Accomplice" ending, Adachi will mockingly refer to you as his "partner" -- ''Yosuke's'' affectionate nickname for Yu, perhaps reflecting that the protagonist has effectively swapped his "true" bond with Yosuke (which was based on trust, equality and a mutual desire to do good) for the "corrupt" bond with Adachi (which was based on deception and power imbalance). This also strengthens his status as Yosuke's EvilCounterpart.
** While it's easy to miss, he can be one to Shu Nakajima, especially once Adachi's backstory is fleshed out in ''Golden'' and its animated adaptation. Like Shu, under pressure from [[EducationMama his parents]], Adachi had devoted his youth to his studies at the expense of his social life. And like Shu, Adachi developed deep-rooted jealousy towards those who were more talented than him. But while Shu realised under the tutelage of the protagonist that grades were not everything and learned to broaden his horizons beyond sticking to the "right" path of a good college and career, Adachi carried on the same path as he did and ultimately found himself in an unsatisfying and dead-end job. Had Shu not met the protagonist, it is likely that he would have ended up like Adachi.
* ShockAndAwe: He uses lightning abilities during the battle.
* ShooTheDog: In the additional months added in ''Golden'', it's revealed that Adachi refuses to talk to or see Dojima in order to provoke this. It doesn't work, since Dojima remarks that Adachi has forgotten how persistent he is, and eventually gets through to him.
* ShutUpKirk: He has quite a few one-liners to shut down the Investigation Team when they express indignation over what he's done and why he did it. Perhaps the most concise and to-the-point one is his response to calling him "a sad human being" or asking him what he'll tell Dojima.
-->"You say the dumbest shit."
* SignificantDoubleCasting: In the English version, both he (TheHeavy) and Yu (TheHero) are voiced by Creator/JohnnyYongBosch.
* SlasherSmile: Once when you chase him into the Midnight Channel. In the Accomplice End, when you burn the letter incriminating him, he laughs with a new character sprite.
* SmallNameBigEgo: For all his talk about being smarter than the hicks he shares a town with and being a criminal mastermind who got away with murder, the only reason the Investigation Team manage to narrow down and identify him as the true culprit is because of his own stupidity.
** The warning letter he sent to the Dojima home without being noticed put him on a very short list of people who could do that.
** By first trying to waylay suspicion to Namatame by saying how his list of victims "[[INeverSaidItWasPoison settles it]]", and later blurting out that Namatame "[[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay put them all in]]" when cornered, he pretty much incriminated himself with ''[[SayingTooMuch his own goddamn mouth twice]]'', [[EpicFail and the second time in front of his friend and the only good detective in town]].
** He thinks he's the center of the universe, and relishes in his status as the Killer. Too bad for him, as he's just a pawn of the GreaterScopeVillain.
* SmallTownBoredom: His main motivation behind instigating Namatame's kidnappings, as he saw the cat-and-mouse game between Namatame and the Investigation Team as means to get excitement in his mundane life in Inaba.
* SmugSmiler: After being exposed as the true culprit, Adachi's main expression changes from ButtMonkey to this. Whenever he reverts back to the goofy grin he had before, it now takes on a whole new level of smugness that was never there before.
* SmugSnake: Overly confident in his plans? Check. Outwardly arrogant and mocking of the heroes? Check. Aspiring for greater power only to turn out to be a pawn of a GreaterScopeVillain? Oooohh, check.
* TheSociopath: Adachi practically embodies this trope. LackOfEmpathy for others? Check. Unwillingness to form genuine relationships with others? Check. ManipulativeBastard? Check. [[ItsAllAboutMe Grandiose sense of self-worth?]] Check. [[TheHedonist Pathological need for stimulation]] to the point that he would resort to murder? Definitely. On the other hand, unlike true sociopaths, Adachi genuinely cares for the [[MoralityPet Dojimas]]. It's just that he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold buries those feelings deep down]] and is unwilling to admit them.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Moreso in ''The Animation'', where his voice is made softer and raspier in order to contrast with Yu's, due to them sharing the same voice actor.
* SourOutsideSadInside: Despite his SourPrude attitude, he's shown to have some deep-rooted apathy and depression whenever he's alone. For all his claims that he finds fun in the bedlam caused by the murders he had committed, he can't even find satisfaction in his own sadism and depravity.
* SourPrude:
** When he accuses Saki of "fooling around" with Namatame, he acts disgusted with the thought of her being sexually active, then he mutters about his high school life.
** He also projects this attitude towards success and intimacy upon the Investigation Team.
* StalkerWithACrush: To Mayumi and, to a lesser extent, Saki (because he thought Namatame, who "stole" Mayumi, was her sugar daddy).
* StrawMisogynist: Considers any woman who doesn't willingly give themselves in to him either a bitch or a whore.
* StrawNihilist: When confronted, he delves into a rant about the pointlessness of life and how much easier it would be if everyone were to become Shadows. The Investigation Team calls him out on this, saying that he's just throwing a temper tantrum. On top of that, he's a {{hypocrite}}, because he thinks life is meaningless yet he doesn't want to die.
-->"Those who succeed in life, they just happen to born with the magic ticket called 'talent.' If you don't have it, you can either accept or deny that fact until you die. That's your only choice. Once you realize that, all you have left in life is despair, the ultimate game over. Wouldn't it be better if that kind of reality was wiped away?"
* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: He intends to merge the Shadow world and the real world basically because he can't conceive of anyone being happy in the world the way it currently is. The rest of the Investigation Team outright calls him childish for it.
* SuperEmpowering: Those AdaptationalBadass moments are suggested to be the result of being backed by Ameno-sagiri, who gives him control over Shadows and the TV world along with a power upgrade. Even after Ameno's defeat some of his power as a Sagiri remains in Adachi.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: Gets these when inside the Midnight Channel, along with his RealityWarper powers mentioned above.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Certainly sees it this way at the very least. To his credit, besides Dojima, the Inaba Police force seems pretty incompetent.
* TarotMotifs: As to be expected from an evil Social Link character, Adachi represents the Reversed Fool/Jester and the Reversed Strength/Hunger/Lust. His lack of maturity and his hedonism are indicative of the former while his unwillingness to face reality and habit of running away from the truth align with the latter.
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: In such a small town like Inaba, it would be incredibly easy to fly under the radar by just not doing anything extraordinary. That makes it hurt more when the Investigation Team finds out that Adachi, the bumbling comic relief detective who works under Dojima, is the killer. It's hard to believe that a man the Dojimas have had over at their house for dinner several times is actually a closet MisanthropeSupreme who was willing to end the world just for kicks.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Gets upgraded to this in ''Golden'' if you succeed in maxing his Social Link, where he cheers on Yu with the rest of the cast during the final battle, but does so by mockingly stating that if Yu gives up, he's no better than he is.
* TrickBoss: He starts out as a [[PreFinalBoss deceptively easy boss]], then [[FinalBoss the Fog-Bringer]] [[DemonicPossession possesses him]] and takes over.
* {{Troll}}: He constantly taunts your party as you progress through his dungeon.
-->'''Adachi''': Ahaha! I told you all to come, and you actually came!? Don't you guys have anything better to do? What a bunch of losers... "Let's find the culprit ourselves!" "Let's meet up today at the special headquarters today!" Am I right, or am I right? Man, it's embarrassing. How old are you guys? Ahahahahahahaha! Oh crap, my stomach's hurting... C'mon... You're all students, right? Shouldn't you be studying instead of wasting your time with this? Study hard, get into a good college, work at a respectable company, marry a cute girl... Why are you guys so desperate when it comes to something so useless? Won't you regret it once you're adults?
* TrueCompanions: When all is said and done, despite Adachi denying it, Dojima is this to him:
** Dojima cares enough about him to call in an ambulance to get his injuries treated immediately. The fact that his boss still cares enough about him for this surprises the hell out of Adachi and he seems to be touched.
** By the epilogue, Dojima is stated to visit him in prison regularly, and ''Ultimax'' shows that Adachi is secretly glad that they can still be friends.
* UngratefulBastard: While you definitely had it coming, his response to you burning the warning letter that could have incriminated him as the culprit is to blackmail you for abetting a murderer and rub the fact in your face.
* UnreliableNarrator: When he recounts his crimes, his rose-colored view of them is complemented by the player being shown exactly what happened. This is made more explicit in the anime, where the Investigation Team bears witness to full-on recreations of his past misdeeds while he narrates in a lackadaisical manner.
* UnskilledButStrong: Due to going into the TV World for the first time, he lacks the battle experience of the Investigation Team. However, his Persona Magatsu Izanagi is incredibly powerful, and he's able to hold his own against the Investigation Team despite them being far more experienced in using their Personas than him.
* UnwantedAssistance: Feels this way toward the old lady in his Social Link and Dojima, whenever his boss deigns to be nice to him. Given who he is, he can never outright rebuke either of them. It also shows that he has no idea how to react to people who want to genuinely help him.
* UnwittingPawn: His letter to Yu at the end of the game hints that he somewhat suspected he was being played by the GreaterScopeVillain Izanami, and his voicing such helps give the Investigation Team the little push it needs to flush out the true mastermind.
* VictoryIsBoring: In the special Accomplice ending for ''Golden: The Animation'', Adachi laments how boring it is once Yu leaves, even though Adachi had effectively won by blackmailing Yu for burning the warning letter.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: While ''Persona 4'' has its fair share of dark moments, it is comparatively the most light-hearted and optimistic game out of the whole series. Adachi in contrast, does have his LaughablyEvil moments, but is still an AxCrazy serial killer and a [[TheSociopath Sociopath]].
* VillainBall: The very warning letters he sent to Yu ultimately unraveled his game of cat and mouse. The messages he sent contradict Namatame's agenda of saving people, which causes the Investigation Team to realise that Namatame wasn't responsible for the murders and that there was another player involved. Not only that, but the warning letters also serve as a red flag that whoever sent them was familiar with Yu, which narrows down the list to Adachi.
* VillainHasAPoint: Adachi has a hefty, if warped, understanding of the game's greater themes: the controversial nature of truth, the dissonance between perception and reality, the fickleness of human thought, and the arbitrary nature of who gets the things needed for success in life. While the heroes rebuke him during their battle, they come to the realization that they could become just like Adachi if they don't work towards bettering themselves. Rise points this out after Adachi asks whether the Investigation Team wants to catch the killer to fulfill their sense of justice or to alleviate their boredom. In conclusion, Adachi's ''premises'' (that life is random and most people are selfish and morally grey) are correct, but his conclusion (that life holds no meaning) is not.
-->'''Rise''': To be honest, I can't completely deny what he said... But that doesn't justify what he did... Right, Senpai?
* VillainousBreakdown:
** When confronted at the end by the team once they rebuke his views in his face and call him out for his immaturity, he loses his smugness and lashes out at them in fury.
** Taken up a notch in the anime after the team gets their HeroicSecondWind and begins defeating the Reapers one by one. He really does sound like a child throwing a tantrum.
* VocalEvolution: In the English dub, Johnny Yong Bosch voices both Yu and Adachi. Since Yu [[TheQuietOne doesn't speak much]] outside of battle grunts and calling Personas, Johnny's voice for Adachi is pretty much his regular speaking voice. In the anime though, where Yu [[SuddenlyVoiced actually gets to speak more]], Adachi's voice is made more raspier, softer, and higher pitched to differentiate him from Yu, and to better fit both his fake role of Dojima's bumbling partner and his real one as the true culprit. This carries over into any spin off or adaptation from then on, although his voice loses the raspiness, his voice still maintains the higher pitch and sleazyness.
* VomitingCop: His first appearance. It's left ambiguous as to whether this was real or him faking it.
* WalkingSpoiler: The fact that he's a somewhat major character throughout the story - and a Social Link in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]''.
* WhatTheHellHero: In the Accomplice ending, Adachi gives a scathingly mocking one to the protagonist for burning the warning letter. While he took the opportunity to blackmail the protagonist, his off-guard reaction at first showed that he didn't expect that the protagonist had it in him to abet a killer simply due to personal feelings.
* WhenIWasYourAge: Part of Adachi's motive rant against Saki after pushing her into a [=TV=] in a Yasoinaba Police Station interrogation room.
-->"When I was in school, I wasn't allowed to do anything except to study my ass off."
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Actually does pull his gun on the Investigation Team during their final confrontation, but prefers to then duke it out with them using his Persona. In ''Golden'', with a currently-maxed Jester link, you have the option to confront Adachi alone over their past friendship before the Investigation Team unites to tackle his dungeon the next day. With Adachi's RealityWarper abilities, he easily seals the entrance and teleports behind Yu with his gun pressed to his head, chiding his for his dumb actions of confronting a known adult killer alone. When Yu tries to claim Adachi doesn't truly have it in him to shoot his former friend, he gives a [[NearMisses near-miss]] warning shot besides Yu's head to demonstrate that yes, he ''does'', but he won't kill Yu straight away because [[VictoryIsBoring that wouldn't be any fun]], challenging him to return with the rest of his team and face him all together with their '[[ThePowerOfFriendship friendships]]' to make things more interesting for him.
* WouldHitAGirl: Has no qualms being abusive towards women who are his murder victims, even [[AttemptedRape trying to sexually assault]] Mayumi when she spurned him. The manga adaptation shows him giving a brutal beatdown on the female members of the Investigation Team when they tried to battle him, including performing a NeckLift on Rise, and he came very close to killing them.
* WouldHurtAChild: Has no qualms about murdering teenagers like Saki and the Investigation Team. The letters he writes also imply that he may have had a hand in trying to kill '''Nanako''' of all people, or at least knew she was going to be kidnapped by Namatame and did nothing to help her. On the other hand, he took it badly when Nanako died and the fact that he had to insist that "it was Yu's fault" to himself implies he regretted getting her involved and was trying to blame Yu for failing to save her rather than admit his own fault.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:'''The Fog''']]
!!Ameno-sagiri
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amenosagiri_transparent.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Fog Bringer]]
--> ''"[[FogOfDoom To defy me is a senseless act that goes against your world's wishes. Now, let everything vanish into the sweet fog of illusion.]]"''
Ameno-sagiri is the power in the Midnight Channel that created the fog and is the one responsible for pushing it into the real world. It possesses Adachi after his defeat by the Investigation Team to explain itself. Ameno-sagiri's goal is to cover the world in fog and convert mankind into blissfully ignorant Shadows because it earnestly thinks that's what humanity wants. The Investigation team has to fight him to put a stop to the spreading of the fog.
In the True Ending, the GreaterScopeVillain reveals that Ameno-sagiri was simply an avatar it created to go about its business.
----
** His first murder was one of these. He accidentally pushed Mayumi completely into the TV during what is implied to be either an attempt to rape her or scare her, unaware that people could go completely inside the TV and die inside.
** Played with in ''Golden: The Animation''. He was already aware of his powers at that point and intentionally pushed her in, but didn't outright intend to murder her.
* AdaptationalBadass:
** His game version is a relatively low-tier boss, much less complicated than both the Kunino-sagiri fight that came before him and the FinalBoss that follows him. His anime version, on the other hand, demonstrates the power to summon multiple copies of [[{{Superboss}} the Reaper]] and fights Yu on basically even footing, even having an advantage for a large chunk of the fight.
** In ''Golden: The Animation'', he effortlessly dispatches several of Yu's late stage Personas, and Magatsu-Izanagi is capable of one-shotting the FinalBoss.
** The manga adaptation has him dominating Chie, Yukiko and Naoto at the same time without much effort, before proceeding to battle the Protagonist to a stalemate. Magatsu-Izanagi also has the ability to stretch and grow additional arms.
** In general, every appearance Adachi makes that isn't in ''Persona 4/Golden'' implies that canonically he's at least as powerful as Yu with ''just'' Magatsu-Izanagi. The kicker is that in the games, he's not just fighting Yu, but the whole Investigation Team by his lonesome, and from a gameplay perspective he's probably intentionally made an easy boss as a warm-up for the much more punishing FinalBoss.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Practically ''all'' adaptations following the original game make him at least somewhat more sympathetic. He even gets to join in on cheering Yu on during the final battle in ''Golden''.
* TheAloner: He's not that keen on hanging around or depending on other people, finding it troublesome and believing true freedom to lie in solitude.
* AmbiguousSituation: When you first meet him, he is seen vomiting at the sight of Mayumi's dead body. It's left ambiguous whether or not he's faking it, or he's really shocked that he had just murdered someone.
* ArchEnemy: While he is this to the Investigation Team as a whole, being the killer they had spent most of the year in pursuit of, he is especially so to two particular members:
** The first is the protagonist himself. Not only is their animosity personal as Adachi had been a [[BigBadFriend close friend]] [[WeUsedToBeFriends to the Dojimas]], but Adachi serves as the protagonist's EvilCounterpart and ShadowArchetype. ''Golden'' also implies that Adachi is [[GreenEyedMonster jealous of the protagonist]], having everything that Adachi could have wanted despite their similar circumstances.
** He is also one to Yosuke. Adachi murdered Saki Konishi, the girl whom Yosuke had feelings for, with Yosuke angrily making it clear that he will never forgive Adachi for what he's done. Adachi on his part, however, simply laughs it off and spares Yosuke no second thought. There is also the fact that much like with the protagonist, Adachi is Yosuke's EvilCounterpart, being the person that he could have turned out had he never gotten over the SmallTownBoredom that he experienced when he first moved to Inaba.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: He states that the only reason why he became a detective is that so he could legally use a gun without having to go through the process of earning a license to bear arms. Naturally, Japanese police have to take firearms classes and get certified to use a gun as part of their training. And that's not even getting into Japan's extremely strict gun control laws, which includes passing a written test with at least a 90 percent score, a doctor's note saying you're mentally stable enough to own a gun, and have an interview with the police as to why you should be allowed to own one. Considering that Adachi proves that he isn't the most stable cop on the force, it's a wonder any of the other cops even let Adachi near a gun. Of course, given that Adachi is such a compulsive liar, one must take his claims with a grain of salt.
* TheAtoner: It's implied that, after being apprehended, he is inspired by both the Investigation Team's optimism and Dojima's kindness, and tries to honor their wishes, even showing up to give encouragement to the protagonist in the final battle (in his own way). The epilogue in ''Golden'' furthers this, revealing that he's been fully cooperating with the police and behaves himself in prison.
* AttemptedRape: Implied with Mayumi -- he accidentally pushed her into the Midnight Channel before he could have his way with her.
* AxCrazy: He quickly descends into this after the reveal. This is especially prevalent in ''The Animation'', where his DissonantSerenity quickly descends into the deranged tantrum of a PsychopathicManchild.
* BadassInANiceSuit: He's shown wearing a suit all the time, even when incarcerated in ''Arena''. He once complains about how it got dirty while he was chasing down a lost cat, but the department wouldn't reimburse him for dry cleaning. His costume in ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight'' is called a "Fitted Suit."
* TheBadGuyWins: In the Bad, Neutral and Accomplice endings, he gets away [[KarmaHoudini scot-free]] from his crimes. This is especially so in the Accomplice ending, where he effectively blackmails the protagonist for burning the warning letter that could have incriminated him.
* BatmanGambit: Pretended to be a bumbling detective in front of the Investigation Team in order to make them believe the police to be even more ineffective than they were, thus making them keep saving the people, thus feeding Namatame's delusion...
* BattleThemeMusic: "A New World Fool", shared with Kunino-sagiri.
* BecomingTheMask: Implied in ''Golden''. If the MC maxes his Social Link (without taking the Accomplice Ending), Adachi will support him during the final boss fight, implying that Adachi still considers him a friend, despite all that has happened.
* BeneathSuspicion:
** No one suspects the goofy, bumbling detective, [[SarcasmMode right]]?
** When Yu forms a Social Link with someone, he gradually gains sharper insight into that person's feelings and true intentions. While he was probably spot-on with ascertaining that Adachi cared for the Dojimas, he misconstrues the young detective's enthusiasm regarding the serial murder case as a desire to see it solved instead of delight in the bedlam it was producing.
* BerserkButton:
** He takes being rejected by women very poorly to the point where he threw Mayumi and Saki into the TV.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' hints that insulting Dojima has become one for him. In ''[=P4AU=]'', when the police were questioning him, he was being pretty passive and cooperative. When one of them starts talking ill of Dojima, Adachi proceeds to rip into the officer by bringing up the cop's own crooked, unethical methods, using dirt he had heard while he was still on the force and said cop flipping out.
* BigBad: Adachi is the one whose actions kick off the plot, and he is responsible for most of the conflict in the story. While there is a GreaterScopeVillain with its own plans, Adachi's [[ForTheEvulz personal]] [[TheHedonist goals]] don't really intersect much with them.
* BigBadEnsemble: With the Fog-Bringer, who is responsible for the apocalypse Adachi is hoping to see. However, they are both only pawns to the GreaterScopeVillain.
* BigBadFriend: ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 4 Golden]]'' adds him as a Social Link. Max it out, and you'll be able to summon Magatsu Izanagi. Also if you became great friends with him, but don't choose to follow with the Accomplice End, Adachi's dialogue during the Team confrontation against him changes slightly; [[WeUsedToBeFriends it becomes more of a discussion between ex-friends]] (the Protagonist and Adachi).
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Even ''before'' he gets outed as the murderer, there are a lot of hints that he's not very nice under it all. Underscored during his Social Link in ''Golden''.
* BlatantLies: When you first corner him and ask him question about the cases, his answers directly contradict everything your team just put together (for example, he claims he only spoke with Saki a few times, when in reality, he repeatedly questioned her about finding Mayumi's body). This is the final nail in the coffin that he is the killer you are looking for.
* BlowYouAway: He frequently uses wind attacks.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: In Ultimax. Adachi considers his murders a game, and the Investigation Team arresting him and saving the world to be him losing the game. As the loser, he must now abide by the rules of the world that bored him, which means he's not going to let Sho Minazuki destroy everything and make his loss pointless. While Adachi still doesn't believe in the ideals of the heroes, he's a GracefulLoser and he's not going to let their victory go to waste.
* BreakingSpeech: While making your way through Adachi's dungeon, he insists the Investigation Team did all this, pursuing the true killer, out of boredom with their ordinary lives. He asks how is that any different from him killing Mayumi and Saki because he too was bored.
* BreakoutVillain: Initially just a one-off antagonist like the previous villains, Adachi's popularity led to developers giving him a more active role in future games. He got Social Links in ''Golden'', and actually invokes the option of becoming great friends with the protagonist/Yu to the point of his crimes never being exposed, due to the protagonist/Yu leaving the town without telling anyone about Adachi's deeds (the Accomplice End); following that, Adachi's appearances in other games and animated adaptations have all been expanding his past to try and make him less devious, or at least someone tragic that devolved into a killer, also showing that he indeed turned a new leaf.
* BrilliantButLazy: He's far from stupid. He is, however, a humongous slacker, even going so far as to encourage Nanako to take shortcuts in her homework that involved reviewing a short children's picture book.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Downplayed, but when he's confronted for his culpability in the murders, he had to take some time remembering his second victim's name. Invoked in ''Golden'', potentially, during Yu's confrontation with him at the climax of the Jester/Hunger Social Link.
-->'''Adachi:''' What do you think will happen if I shoot you?\\
'''Hero:''' You'd commit one more crime.\\
'''Adachi:''' You're right. That's all it would be.
* ButtMonkey: Constantly being yelled at by Dojima and treated like a joke by his peers. [[DeconstructedTrope This causes his more malicious side to run loose.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The numerous adaptations and spin-offs (particularly ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'') have fleshed him out into a more complex character than the PsychopathicManchild presented in the original game.
* ChildHater: Downplayed example. He seems to have a sort of grudge against teenagers, considering them to be naïve and entitled. His words imply that he resents them for having the opportunities he was not able to have as a kid. Subverted with Nanako as he did appear to like her and during her death, it's implied he's actually taking it hard and has to tell himself that it was Yu's fault as a way to manage his potential guilt on how his game ended up targeting someone he cared about.
* CityNoir: His dungeon, Magastu Inaba, is an urban wasteland consisting of sidewalks and roads glued together by police tape and street signs.
* ClassicVillain: He embodies both Lust and Sloth.
* CombatStilettos: Magatsu Izanagi uses them to stomp on downed opponents.
* ContinuityCameo: In ''VideoGame/Persona5''. He does not appear in person, but he appears on television on 12 December, being interviewed by a detective for the murders he committed years ago.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Adachi is this to the antagonist of ''Persona 3'', Takaya Sakaki. Both have many similarities, such as being {{Straw Nihilist}}s, abusing their powers to use Personas to kill people, and the fact they use revolvers as weapons. However, they also have differences as well.
** The first is their physical appearances. Takaya appears as an albino whose unkempt appearance would make him a DevilInPlainSight. Adachi, on the other hand, looks like an ordinary guy who would be less likely to stand out, especially in the small town of Inaba. This makes him harder for players to identify him as the Killer.
** How they received their Personas are also different. Takaya's Persona was artificially created and forcefully implanted into him when he was just a child. Adachi, on the other hand, was given a genuine Persona by [[GreaterScopeVillain Izanami]]. Because of Takaya's Persona not being the real deal, he is not able to properly control it and is weaker compared to an actual Persona user. Adachi is able to easily control his Persona, and media outside the games have shown that his Persona is exceptionally powerful. Interestingly, the two nevertheless summon their Persona in the same way: clutching their head, as though in pain.
** They also carry out their plans differently. Initially, Takaya and Strega directly antagonize [=SEES=] out of fear that they could end the Dark Hour and take away their powers. Adachi instead relies on the Investigation Team to succeed in their rescue efforts so as to keep his cat-and-mouse game going, and deliberately divulges information to the Investigation Team to help them rescue the abductees.
** While Takaya fashions himself as a herald of Nyx through his cult, his actions have no bearing on Nyx's arrival nor does Nyx even acknowledge his existence. Adachi, on the other hand, is deemed as Izanami's chosen representation of what humanity desires due to his actions having the greatest effect on Inaba even if he was for the most part unaware of her existence.
** Their relationships to the other human antagonists also differ. Takaya, while genuinely evil, still cared about Jin and Chidori and fought beside them as equals. Jin in particular was unshakeably loyal to Takaya and followed him unquestioningly. Adachi manipulated and exploited Namatame and Mitsuo and always fights alone.
** Takaya and Makoto Yuuki never shared any personal animosity in the original games and Takaya barely acknowledges him above the rest of SEES when they fight. This is averted in ''Reload'' where they do team up once, with Takaya expressing interest in Makoto's power, though Takaya loses interest in Makoto once the latter rejects his nihilistic philosophy. Adachi and Yu, on the other hand, are played up as ArchEnemy counterparts in the anime and ''Arena'' games, and their grudge in the Persona 4 storyline adaptations is considered personal given that they had a genuine friendship that Adachi betrayed. Their respective Personas also reflect this --Takaya has Hypnos, brother of Thanatos, which has a few parallels mythologically but looks nothing like Thanatos or Orpheus. Adachi has a literal PalletteSwap of Yu's Izanagi as his own Persona.
** Both men are nihilists who believe life has no meaning due to negative experiences in their pasts and use this as motivation for their misdeeds. However, Takaya was a legitimate TragicVillain who was forcibly given Persona powers through unethical experiments and is now dying because of the drugs he needs to take in order to keep said Persona powers from killing him, and he genuinely has nothing to look forward to other than a short, empty life full of pain. Adachi, on the other hand, is ultimately a spoiled manchild throwing a tantrum because he isn't getting the life he thinks he's entitled to; he does have a stable job and people who would gladly reach out to him if he would only let them in (Dojima and the protagonist), but chooses to shun the good things he could have in favor of short-term satisfaction, something that he comes to realise once he's defeated. And for all his nihilistic spiel, as pointed out by Yukiko, Adachi is actually afraid of dying unlike Takaya.
* ContrivedCoincidence: His first two murder victims happened to be people who appeared on the Midnight Channel. Both Namatame and the Investigation Team ended up misinterpreting the Midnight Channel as a predictor of who the next victim would be, something that Adachi played to his advantage.
* CoverBlowingSuperpower: All suspicions of him being the Killer are confirmed when he seemingly vanishes from a hospital room with a large TV in it and he's then found brooding in Mayumi Yamano's room in the Midnight Channel. This is Lampshaded by Yosuke.
* CurbStompBattle: The manga adaptation has him toy with Chie, Yukiko and Naoto at the same time. He easily dodges their attacks and dishes out more brutal counterattacks in return. What's more impressive is that he didn't even have to summon Magatsu Izanagi.
* CurbStompCushion: In the manga, while he does kick Chie, Yukiko, and Naoto's asses, once they [[HeroicSecondWind unlock their awakened personas]], the three of them manage to back Adachi into a corner. He's then forced to [[LetsGetDangerous summon Magatsu Izanagi]] to take them down.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: He's a lot more competent and professional at his job as a detective than you see him prior to Dojima's accident, and there's his erudite rattling off of the Criminal Procedure Code to piss off a detective beating him up in ''Ultimax'', meaning that he could've had an honest living working at the same level as Dojima hadn't he turned to murder.
* DeathByAdaptation: In the live action ''Visualive: The Evolution'', he is struck down by the hero. His body disappears, and that's the last you see of him for the remainder of the story, giving the implication that he died. Subverted, since the ''Ultimax Stageplay'' shows that he survived.
* DesignItYourselfEquipment: Because he wasn't allowed to carry his gun off-duty, Adachi modified a toy gun to shoot real bullets.
* DetectiveMole: It doesn't help him ''too'' much, since two better detectives are on the case and outrank him, but it does let him drive Namatame into doing some very foolish things. It also gives him a convenient excuse to wander around the town without looking suspicious.
* DirtyCop: Claims the only reason he became a cop was so he could legally carry a gun, which is justifiable enough, given Japan's strict gun control laws. Though the veracity of those words is ambiguous, given his immaturity and tendency to run from the truth (and his encyclopedic knowledge of interrogation law).
* DissonantSerenity:
** When he's revealed as the killer, he at first acts as a cliché evil murderer, and does nothing but taunt the party and laugh at the victims' deaths. However, when he's later confronted in Magatsu Inaba, he seems to completely drop any pretense, and tries to rationalize with the party as to why he's become as cynical and bitter in the first place, and only loses his cool when the fighting starts.
** This is played up in ''The Animation'', where he's eerily calm and soft-spoken even as he's beating Yu to the ground and making his BreakingSpeech.
** He gets called out on this in December by Kanji when he sounds more annoyed that Namatame won't be convicted rather than genuinely upset.
* TheDitz: Or at least, [[ObfuscatingStupidity plays a very good one]].
* DrivenToSuicide: He casually decides to blow his head off with his gun after the Investigation Team defeats Magatsu-Izanagi and the Reapers in ''The Animation''. He's interrupted by Ameno-Sagiri taking over his body.
* DrunkWithPower: Started when he realized his power to enter the TV World (and throw people in), and it just kept snowballing from there. He also gets [[LaughingMad scarily gleeful]] when he's allowed to let Magatsu-Izanagi loose.
* DuelBoss: In both anime adaptions, Yu has to fight Adachi alone.
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: As soon as he's outed as the culprit his eyes become dull and lifeless, reflecting is fatalistic view of the world and his role as the GreaterScopeVillain's avatar of emptiness.
* EducationMama: His parents only cared about his grades when he was in school and [[AssimilationAcademy the school was more or less the same way]].
* EntitledBastard: He thinks that his hard work in his youth means that the world ''owes'' him success and an intimate relationship. Because he has neither, [[NeverMyFault he feels it's the fault of life, society, and the women around him]]. He also talks about his power to throw people into TV sets as if it was given to him to make up for his unsuccessful lot in life.
* EntitledToHaveYou: He becomes disgusted with the thought of Mayumi being sexually active with Namatame, arguing that he "had his eye on her first."
* {{Ephebophile}}: He, a 27 year-old man, tried to hit on high-schooler Saki Konishi while interrogating her. Her rejecting his advances, as well as slapping him for being a pervert, is part of the reason why Adachi threw her into the Midnight Channel, leading to her death at the hands of the Shadows in the TV World.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It's implied that he does genuinely care for Nanako during his Social Link and from his reaction to her death, it's possible that he didn't expect her to somehow end up on TV, and Namatame's delusions led him to kidnap her and accidentally set up her death.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He's genuinely shocked when Yu betrays his friends in the accomplice ending and essentially punishes him for it by blackmailing him; in the ''Golden'' anime adaptation he's even disappointed by the outcome.
* EvilAllAlong: He spends most of the game as a seemingly amicable detective, only to be revealed as the game's resident AxCrazy SerialKiller right before the final dungeon.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood:
** His aloof upbringing and the various misfortunes that befell him in the past have resulted in this mindset. Being treated with genuine kindness confuses him and he'll try to laugh it off, poke holes in the motivations behind the altruism, or simply flee. In the ''Golden'' anime, Yu gets a brief look at past events from Adachi's perspective, and finds out his earlier kindness caused Adachi to feel anger and revulsion. When Dojima's kindness has a stretcher sent to Adachi, he literally can't speak for his shock. While he cooperates with police, afterwards, Dojima mentions Adachi refuses to even see him. It's implied Adachi was trying to push his former boss away.
** He assumes the Investigation Team is there to kill him and tells them to leave once he's defeated, since the Shadows will finish him off. He's utterly baffled when they tell him he's an idiot.
* EvilCounterpart: To Yu, Yosuke, and Teddie, respectively.
** Of all the malicious beings that have qualities similar to Yu, Adachi stands out by being his complete equal and opposite. While Yu used his newfound powers to help people and wanted to gain friends, Adachi became DrunkOnTheDarkSide and ended up ''losing'' friends. The point is hammered home by his Persona, Magatsu-Izanagi, which is literally a more twisted version of Yu's own Izanagi. In the English dub, the two even share the same voice actor.
** Like Yosuke, a lot of Adachi's misfortune serves as part of the game's comedic relief, and him frequently being yelled at by Dojima mirrors Yosuke often drawing the ire of the other members of the Investigation Team. Furthermore, both Yosuke and Adachi are rather lustful towards women, and while it wasn't as strong as his feelings towards Mayumi, [[{{Ephebophile}} Adachi also had an unreciprocated crush on Saki]], even attempting to seduce her during his questioning of her (made much more blatant in ''The Animation'') only to be violently rejected. But while Yosuke doesn't let his unluckiness and disrespect from his peers bother him too much, Adachi's grates on him to the point that it's part of his motivations. While Yosuke is a ChivalrousPervert that still loves Saki in spite of learning that she secretly hated him, Adachi is a StrawMisogynist who was angered by Saki spurning his advances enough that it was [[NotGoodWithRejection part of the reason he killed her]]. To top it all off, Adachi's motivation for his villainous actions is that he was bored of Inaba after being transferred there from the city by his superiors, just like how Yosuke initially felt after being forced to move there by his parents.
** Finally, both he and Teddie share a nihilistic mindset and believe that life is empty as a result. However, the conclusions they draw from that belief differ greatly. With the help of the party, Teddie understands that being empty isn't inherently bad, as he can create his own meaning and his life can be filled with good things. This is in contrast to Adachi, who concludes that the emptiness of life makes it all worthless and uses it to justify his crimes.
* EvilIsPetty: Both of his initial murders are for incredibly petty and perverted reasons; the first one was just him throwing a temper tantrum because a celebrity he had a crush on had an affair, and the second was just because he saw a high school girl talking to an older man and deemed her a "whore" who had to die. All of the other attempted murders were strictly ForTheEvulz; when they find out, the Investigation Team even lampshade how petty and childish Adachi is.
* EvilLaugh: Has an extremely unsettling one after the protagonist burns the warning letter in the Accomplice Ending.
* ExasperatedPerp: The Investigation Team questioning him about Ms. Yamano's disappearance, his questioning of Saki and the warning letter he sent leads to him getting frustrated and impatient enough to blurt out something only the Killer would know.
* FauxAffablyEvil: On the surface, he appears to be a goofy and EndearinglyDorky detective. However, beneath that dorky exterior lies an AxCrazy lunatic. Even though he retains his sense of humour, it only serves to accentuate his creepiness.
* FightingFromTheInside: In the manga, he resists after Ameno-Sagiri takes over, helping Soji and the others defeat it.
* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: Even though he's now outed as the Killer for the rest of his life and has to serve a jail sentence later, he realises that something is ''very'' wrong after reading through Namatame's reports which were almost a carbon copy of how he heard about the Midnight Channel, prompting him to send a letter to the Investigation Team to warn them that there's more to the case than it seems and to find out how the Midnight Channel rumor started in the first place. This potentially causes Izanami to be uncovered.
* FluffyTamer: Possibly due to his knowledge of how the TV world operates and the powers Izanami bestowed upon him, Adachi is capable of controlling the Shadows. In ''The Animation'', he's able to use ''three Reapers'' as his {{Elite Mook}}s against the Investigation Team. This ability becomes an important plot point in ''Ultimax'' when Sho Minazuki wants to use Adachi to control the monstrous Hi-No-Kagutsuchi.
* {{Foil}}: To many characters on the Investigation Team, as his "Jester" social link is an alternate take on the Fool. The Team is unsure of what exactly it's doing, but is determined to find the truth, while he is perfectly content with simply drifting through life, looking for the easiest and most amusing solutions. Specifically, though, he has a few direct opposites.
** First off is Yosuke. While both characters are initially upset about moving to the countryside, Yosuke overcomes it by bonding with others, while Adachi snaps from the boredom.
** He's also the EvilCounterpart to Teddie. While Teddie is a Shadow who desperately wants to be more human, Adachi is a human who has "the same goal" as the Shadows. Teddie became drunk off the pleasures of the human world once he attained a human form, while Adachi became drunk off the power to enter the TV World. Rise lampshades this if you ask about Teddie while meeting at the food court during December.
** His attitude toward personal success and relationships is the opposite of Yu. Where Yu has to strive for those around him in relationships and develop himself, Adachi expects success to come to him.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are quite a few hints throughout the game that Adachi is more than who he appears to be:
** He is one of the few major characters who does not have a Social Link in the original game which highlights his importance to the plot.
** He is one of the few characters who does not have a Social Link but does have a character portrait in the original game, which sticks out like a sore thumb once you start getting Social Links from everyone up to supernatural otherworldly ladies dressed in blue and foxes you meet in the woods.
** Even in the UpdatedRerelease, his Social Link arcana is unique in that it does not exist in reality, indicating that the bond between him and the protagonist is all an act. From Rank 7 onwards, his Social Link can only progress in story cutscenes which only occurs for story-driven events such as Teddie and the Investigation Team. And even once his true Arcana: ''Hunger'' (Lust in the Japanese version) is shown, the Arcana in question is from the Thoth tarot deck instead of the standard Rider-Waite deck the rest of the Social Links are based on. The only other cards from the Thoth deck that have been used in Persona are the Aeon, Universe and Apostle Arcanas, the latter of which only appears in [[VideoGame/Persona5Strikers a spin-off]] of ''Persona 4'''s [[VideoGame/Persona5 sequel]], the second at the very end of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' for the protagonist, and the Aeon by non-human characters like [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Aigis]] from ''Persona 3'', and [[AmnesiacGod Marie]] from ''Golden''.
** In ''Golden'', Adachi has a very irregular schedule and some of his ranks require meeting him at nighttime.
** He acts extremely suspicious at times, mostly loitering around at Junes (the place where Shadow World can be entered) and claiming that "he is busy" even though he is clearly not.
** The Personas associated with the Jester arcana are based on [[ObviouslyEvil evil or mischievous figures]].
** You can see hints at his StrawMisogynist tendencies if you choose certain options in his Social Link.
** The first time you see Adachi, Dojima asks him how long he's going to act like a rookie. Key word: ''[[ObfuscatingStupidity Act]]''.
** When he comes across the Investigation Team at Junes after Yukiko was rescued, he's seen talking to himself about how the town's gotten a lot more interesting with the ongoing serial murder case, which foreshadows his view of the whole affair as a game.
** At the start of Rise's arc, he seems ''far'' too eager to declare the case over and the murderer caught after arresting someone who just happened to be outside Rise's shop on an extremely flimsy pretext.
** When Adachi is having dinner with the Dojimas after Mitsuo's arrest, he expresses gratitude that he could stop seeing suspects in every '''shadow'''.
** During the events of Nanako's kidnapping, before the revelation of the kidnapper's identity as Namatame, various hints point to Adachi as a possible suspect. When the protagonist is in the interrogation room, the Investigation Team is guessing the identity of her kidnapper, who is thought to be the killer at the time. Should the player pick the option "Someone Dojima knows", everyone will turn and stare at Adachi who would be quick to defend himself. Adachi makes a legitimate point by saying that Dojima doesn't seem to have any other friends, but that only makes Adachi ''more'' suspicious.
** Whoever delivered the warning letter to Dojima's house without attracting suspicion would be someone who regularly visits their house. Adachi is the only visitor to the house apart from the Investigation Team.
* ForTheEvulz: By his own admission, he kick-started the entire plot for what amounts to needing some entertainment.
-->"Reasons...? None, really. I could do it, that's all. And it was fun... I guess that's my reason?"
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Used to wear glasses in his youth. He can get a pair of glasses in ''Arena Ultimax'' via DLC.
* FreudianExcuse: It's implied via his [[UnreliableExpositor possibly unreliable exposition]] and more or less outright stated in ''Golden: The Animation'' that his misanthropy was a result of him isolating himself and focusing on his studies so he could become successful in life, which led to his perception of people souring as he watched others make the connections that he failed to. When he actually got the job he wanted in the police force, he found that all of his hard-fought accomplishments were overlooked in favor of younger talent, leading him to believe that HardWorkHardlyWorks. Combine both, and you get a sociopathic PsychopathicManchild who believes relationships to be a sham, thinks the world is inherently cruel, and takes the first ounce of control he's been given in his life to mean that he's automatically entitled to everything.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Of course, the way he presents the above motivations makes him come off as a brat throwing a tantrum rather than elicit any form of sympathy in the moment, which the Investigation Team calls him out on. The only real tragic element that they find to Adachi's character is that they could've turned out like him if they had made different choices in life.
* FriendlessBackground: It's implied that prior to meeting the Dojimas Adachi never had any friends in his youth, preferring to keep to himself and focus on his studies.
* GlassCannon: In spite of being the normal route's [[PreFinalBoss penultimate boss]], Adachi is rather frail for the point you fight him, though he can still pack a helluva punch nonetheless. He can throw out [[BlowYouAway Magarudyne]], [[ShockAndAwe Maziodyne]] and Vorpal Blade, all of which dish out a ton of damage thanks to his high strength, Power Charge and Heat Riser. He also wields good status buffs and effects (along with Ghastly Wail for a OneHitKill). While you'll likely beat Adachi before long, he can fuck you up in a hurry if you don't take him out quickly.
* GracefulLoser: After he's defeated, he actually acts like this despite the trouble he gave the team:
** He agrees to accept punishment for his crimes in whatever manner you choose. To his surprise, they instead drag him out into the real world and force him to take account for his actions. In addition, for all his rants about how much he hates ThePowerOfFriendship, he acknowledges that if he'd been more like the protagonist, maybe things would've turned out better for him.
** Taken to higher levels in ''Arena Ultimax.'' The way he sees it, he lost his "game" and as such must suffer all of the consequences of losing, which is why he fights against Sho Minazuki because his punishment cannot continue if the world he found too boring ceases to exist. He also harbors no grudge against the Investigation Team and is actually secretly happy he can still be friends with Yu.
* GreenEyedMonster:
** Part of his fall into evil is his jealousy towards those who end up more successful in life than him.
** ''Golden: The Animation'' implies that he is one to Yu. When Yu moved in with the Dojimas, Adachi felt subconsciously threatened that Yu was taking Adachi's place as a second family to the Dojimas. He's also jealous of how Yu has a successful school life with loyal friends to support him, which Adachi didn't have.
* GrinOfAudacity: His SmugSmiler expression becomes this when he lackadaisically tries to feign ignorance when asked about his role in the murders, despite him being in the TV World being evidence that he had one.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: He claims to have devoted a significant portion of his youth to his studies. When life didn't pan out the way he liked despite his efforts, he took all the wrong lessons from the fallout. ''Persona 4 Golden the Animation'' pretty much implies [[SincerityMode that he is actually being sincere about this]].
* HateSink: [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on the adaptation]], it's either played straight or {{Subverted|Trope}}:
** His original characterization in the vanilla game is meant to present him like this. He's an unrepentant murderer who instigates the deaths of others for his own amusement, and acts like [[NeverMyFault everyone except himself is at fault]] for how rotten his life is. However, this ended up backfiring hard and he became [[BreakoutVillain beloved within the fanbase]] precisely for his evilness.
** Subverted with ''Golden'', which fleshes out his personality as a more sympathetic character beyond the PsychopathicManchild of the original, or at least established that some of his NiceGuy feelings were indeed genuine.
* TheHeavy: He's the one who is really moving the plot along and the one that the team is after. In fact, the GreaterScopeVillain came to the assumption that Adachi's desires represent humanity's wishes as a whole, as he had been the most active and impactful participant in their experiment.
* HeelRealization:
** Of a sort. He's fully aware of how evil he is, but he only stops blatantly denying it after his VillainousBreakdown and subsequent defeat by the Investigation Team. It was extremely humiliating, and it left him humbled and at their mercy. Instead of killing him (as he expected), they instead haul him back to the real world (metaphorically and literally), demanding him to face the consequences of his actions just like everyone else. The final nail comes when he learns that Dojima (who had pretty good reasons to hate him) had requested, as a personal favor, that an EMT with a stretcher be sent out to treat and apprehend the exhausted Adachi because they had been partners. Adachi is completely unable to say anything. He later confesses to the first two murders, and shows full cooperation with the police.
** In the True Ending, the Team receives a letter from the recently-convicted Adachi, which contains his suspicions about a higher being orchestrating the entire thing, the few vague clues he can offer. When the protagonist finally does face that being, Adachi is there to... call them a bitch too, and tell you you should think so too and thus kick its ass, since you're not like him.
* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: Realising this is how the player identifies Adachi as the killer, musing over the facts of the first two murders, the mysterious warning letters sent to Yu's house, and the fact that despite the increase in police presence throughout Inaba, nobody suspicious was noticed by the locals, and [[EurekaMoment realising]] that Adachi, as a police officer, can [[BeneathSuspicion walk around in plain sight without getting noticed]], and has easy access to both murder victims as well as the Dojima residence.
* HiddenDepths: For a guy who claimed to have only joined the police so he can be legally allowed to carry a gun, ''Ultimax'' shows that Adachi can rattle off the Criminal Procedure Code without effort. This, alongside flashbacks of his past in ''Golden: The Animation'', implies that Adachi did start off as an idealistic young cop whose idealism was crushed by constant setbacks in life.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He writes threatening letters that mention the word 'kill', even though he knew Namatame genuinely thought he was saving people, has a radical change in attitude after Dojima's accident and [[INeverSaidItWasPoison makes what essentially amounts to the same slip of the tongue]] ''twice''. Ironically he had been intentionally "letting slip" clues to the investigation team earlier before revealing himself as the killer as a genuine slip up. In addition, the letters narrow down the culprit to people with unfettered access to the Dojima house, meaning the Investigation Team, Nanako, Namatame, Ryotaro Dojima, and Adachi.
* HumansAreBastards: Believes humanity and the world it's crafted to be annoying, dull, and hypocritical.
-->"If crimes could be solved by appealing to morality, we wouldn't need the police!"
* {{Hypocrite}}: His belief that humans are hypocrites is ironic because of how much of a hypocrite he really is. He makes other people's lives miserable while still acting like he's the only one who's had a rough existence, calls the Investigation Team self-righteous for their responses to his long tirade against how much humanity and reality suck, and claims that they're only pursuing him because they wanted some excitement in their boring lives. Then again, he probably [[HypocrisyNod knows it and just doesn't care]].
* IgnoredEpiphany: Unlike Namatame, he fails to recognize ThePowerOfFriendship, thinking it to be bogus, and believes Yu to be a dumbass even when he's defeated by both. He can't fully bring himself to ignore that he was ultimately at fault though, and broods over the fact that if he had been more like the protagonist, things may not have turned so sour.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Like Yosuke, in many ways, he's bored out of his skull by the quiet country life of Inaba. But when he gets his powers, he starts using them for murder and mayhem. Furthermore, this attitude seems to stem from his frustration and disappointment on how his life turned out despite working hard and following the path set out in front of him.
* IndirectSerialKiller: Subverted; he tricks [[UnwittingPawn Namatame]] into pushing most of the people into the T.V. world, but thanks to the efforts of the Investigation Team, no one is killed.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison:
** He ends up giving himself away when he said that Namatame put the victims inside the TV -- no one but the Killer and the Investigation Team would have known that was how the victims were murdered.
** Adachi also gave himself away even before he was listed as a suspect. When the Investigation Team discovered Namatame's diary which had the names of all the people he put inside the TV, Adachi showed no surprise and proclaimed that Namatame was the Killer. Naoto later pointed out that most of the people listed were classified as by the police as mere "disappearances" and any connection between them and the murders had yet to established. On the other hand, Naoto had somewhat perjured herself in that regard, as she referred to the list names as 'victims' as a whole, even the ones who weren't killed, and Adachi could have easily explained away his statement as being in regard to what she herself claimed about them. Therefore, Naoto doesn't bring up that particular point until Adachi makes a more obviously guilty statement, using it as further circumstantial evidence of his guilt now that he's proven he knows more about the murders than he should.
** In the animation, even earlier, when he helps the Investigation Team take down Rise's fanboy stalker, he shows no confusion as to their bizarre actions, which indicates he already knows the disappearance victims are people who appear on TV and that the disappearances and killings are linked, all things the police haven't figured out yet.
* InsaneTrollLogic:
** Unlike the other social links, his progresses more easily if you act like a jerk, just not to him. Nicely encapsulated in how the only way to further ascend his dungeon [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption is to jump down a giant, gaping hole]].
** Adachi himself indulges in this. For instance, he keeps insinuating that he only put Mayumi and Saki into the TV and that it was the world itself that killed them. The world shaped by the thoughts and feelings of all humanity. Therefore, everyone is responsible for their deaths, including the Investigation Team. They rightfully point out why that's bullshit.
** If you confront Adachi alone and tell him you believed in him, he tells you it's your own fault because the version of him that you believed in just existed inside your head. Your decision betrayed you, so why should you complain about it to him?
* InterfaceSpoiler:
** In the original, the fact that he's one of the few major characters who doesn't have a Social Link at all might make the player suspicious.
** The original spoiler is removed in ''Golden'', but replaced with an even bigger one -- he has a Social Link now, but you can only rank it up to 6 the normal way, and after that it increases through the plot. A character with no Social Link could mean anything; a character with a plot-tied Social Link is ''clearly'' important. Then again, at the time of ''Golden'''s release, though, Adachi's true role had been a LateArrivalSpoiler for quite some time, and it's perfectly possible that the player might be juggling too many Social Links at once to notice.
** There's also the fact that Adachi's link is not only a 0 tarot card, but a Thoth tarot as well, specifically being the counterpart to the other 0 which is the Investigation Team. If the Investigation Team is the protagonists, then the other 0 must be...
** Early in the game after the Investigation Team saves someone, the game will cut to a mysterious figure wandering around the fog-covered shopping district. Sharp-eyed players can notice that the mysterious figure resembles Adachi's character model.
* InVinoVeritas: Averted, as while he becomes genuinely inebriated, he's just as duplicitous in his "helpful" drunken babble and never implicates himself.
* IronicName: The kanji used to spell his name translates to "transparent." While he is pretty transparent about the police's movements, regarding his own actions, he... [[SerialKiller isn't.]]
* {{Irony}}:
** Adachi in his MotiveRant comments how people like him, despite their hard work, will always get overshadowed by people with natural talent. Ironically, supplementary materials show that Adachi's power of the Persona is exceptionally gifted to the point of becoming an InstantExpert. Despite having no prior experience in the TV World, he's able to hold his own against the much more experienced Investigation Team.
** He also claims to have joined the police force solely because he could legally carry a gun. ''Persona Stalker Club'' reveals protocol prevents him from carrying it off-duty.[[note]]This is real-life protocol used by Japanese law enforcement agencies to prevent such a thing from taking place.[[/note]]
** A confessed misanthrope who resents almost everyone around him for supposedly keeping him down and not giving him proper respect has nothing but positive emotions towards his partner and superior Ryotaro Dojima, who never hesitates to use insults or violence against Adachi if he screws up or is being a nuisance. Such fondness was never enough to make Adachi turn himself in, or hesitate to feed the world to the Shadows, but it's notable nonetheless.
* IShallTauntYou:
** In ''Persona 4 Golden'', Adachi mocks you for actually burning the evidence that could've convicted him if you actually pursue the Accomplice Ending. He even takes your cell number and taunts you as you're boarding the train, knowing that he's getting off scot-free.
** This is also his primary tactic when dealing with the Investigation Team.
* ItGetsEasier: If him vomiting at the sight of Mayumi's dead body was genuine, it implies that Adachi was actually horrified that he had just killed someone, especially since he had never thrown a person into TV World before. But shortly afterwards, he had no compunctions throwing Saki into the TV. And later on, he even says that he "got a kick" out of throwing Mitsuo in as he hadn't thrown anyone in since Saki.
* ItIsBeyondSaving: His worldview on humanity itself.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Whatever pain and misery other people go through, especially those of the families of his victims, is apparently insignificant to his suffering.
* JadedWashout: Adachi's cynicism can be stemmed from dissatisfaction towards his job and being stuck in "the boonies". This causes him to believe that society ought to owe him something in return for his troubles, and is what drove him to murder Mayumi and Saki because they rejected him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Once he shows his true colors, he fits a little too comfortably into them.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Develops into one after you beat him; he sends the Investigation Team a letter helping them to expose the GreaterScopeVillain and cheers Yu on in his own... special way during the actual fight.
* KarmaHoudini: In the Bad, Neutral and Accomplice endings, [[TheBadGuyWins he gets away scot-free with his crimes]]. Especially the case in the Accomplice ending, where he takes the opportunity to blackmail Yu after the latter destroys Adachi's confession letter, betraying everything the Investigation Team stood for.
* KickTheDog:
** His casual attitude toward the killings he committed. Even if you believe that he didn't know Mayumi would fall into the TV and die, it's clear that he was out to harm her from the beginning.
--->"I was just trying to punish the stupid bitch a little for betraying me."
** In the anime, Magatsu-Inaba is this to the Investigation Team. It's blatantly a wrecked and torn-down version of Inaba which Adachi formed. This hits Yukiko hard when she recognises the ruins of her Inn and Yosuke is ForcedToWatch a replay of Adachi's memories of shoving Saki into the Midnight Channel.
* LackOfEmpathy: Adachi encourages Yu to adopt this mindset when he gets older, claiming that life is tough enough as it is without having to be bogged down by the feelings of those around him.
* LargeHam: After getting outed as the culprit, he drops any hints of innocence and replaces it with utterly ham-fisted douchebaggery.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: Some of his appearances in spin-off material quickly spoil his identity as the Killer.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' is the worst about this, as he is blatantly identified as the Killer in his first scene.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight'' downplays this, as while nothing is explicitly stated, the fact that he of all people is a playable DLC character instead of more important supporting characters like Dojima should be a major red flag.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' averts this during his EasterEgg cameo on the TV on 12/12; he is only identified as "Suspect Under Investigation", and no hints are given about his identity.
* LaughablyEvil: Say what you will about Adachi, but you can't help but find him ''hilarious'' thanks to his goofy facial expressions and his needless [[IShallTauntYou heckling of the Investigation Team]].
* LaughingMad: Breaks into one in the Accomplice Ending should the protagonist burn the warning letter, accompanied with a new character portrait that is unsettling to say the least.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
-->"Games like this gotta have surprises or they get boring fast."
* {{Lestrade}}: Justified -- since he was behind the whole scheme, he was always a step ahead of the Team. Therefore, it was imperative for him to play dumb as to not arouse suspicion.
* LivingWithTheVillain: Your biggest hint to finding the killer is the fact that he's welcome at the Dojima household any time, giving the opening he would have needed to send the hero a threatening letter without arousing suspicion.
* MadonnaWhoreComplex: He accused Mayumi of being a whore upon learning she was sexually active with Namatame. Then he accused Saki of being a whore because of the ''mere sight'' of her coming near Namatame.
* ManipulativeBastard: He first manipulated Namatame into attempting to commit the murders with delusions of messianic grandeur, then tries to manipulate the Investigation Team into [[RedHerring chasing after Namatame]].
* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: He just wanted some cheap thrills and laughs. Once he's aware that his actions will have apocalyptic repercussions, he's pretty cool with it.
* MisanthropeSupreme: Adachi despises humanity, believing that deep down, [[HumansAreBastards everyone is just as selfish and cruel as he is]] and refuses to accept that one could truly be good at heart.
* MoralityPet: Nanako, of sorts. She's one of the few people whom he genuinely treats nicely. As shown in ''Persona 4 Golden: The Animation'', he was actually pretty close to the Dojima family before Yu arrived. Once she dies, he seems notably beaten down and [[NeverMyFault starts repeating to himself that "It's all Yu's fault"]].
* MoralSociopathy: In ''Ultimax'', it's clear that while he's still an unpleasant person, he's determined to ensure that no one doubts the conclusion that he's the killer or questions the outcome of the case, even if it means that he's punished for it. The reason? It's part of the "rules" he plays by.
* MotiveDecay: His first two murders were largely motivated by jealousy and a MadonnaWhoreComplex, respectively. All of the other ones were just ForTheEvulz. Despite this, he still manages to be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkcmxrkHXD0 one of the more realistic depictions of a serial killer]], psychologically.
* MotiveRant: He goes into one just before the Investigation Team fights him. Part of it was SmallTownBoredom, and part of it was feeling like there was AlwaysSomeoneBetter than him in spite of how hard he worked. Adachi tells the Investigation Team that the reason he committed the first murder was because he found out a celebrity he was crushing on had a sexual affair with a married man, and he threw a temper tantrum that she was "spoiled". And the second murder had a similar reason: when the killer spotted a high school girl talking to an older man, he accused her of being unchaste and murdered her for being "a whore". From then on, Adachi fell headfirst into ForTheEvulz, as he committed the rest of the attempted murders strictly because he thought he could get away with it. The Investigation Team is [[DisappointedByTheMotive aghast that their entire adventure started because of one man's childish, perverted insecurities]].
* MurderByInaction: As he makes sure to let the Investigation Team know, he himself didn't kill Ms. Yamano and Saki; he merely threw them into the Midnight Channel and let the Shadows do it for him. Of course, they point out to him that since Adachi had some idea of what would happen to them when he put them in, that doesn't make much of a difference.
* NeckLift: Does this to [[MissionControl Rise]] during the manga. He then loads his revolver and prepares to shoot her in the abdomen before Chie stops him.
* NeverHadToys: He hints at this, complaining that his parents made him spend his childhood studying.
* NeverMyFault: He got a bad shake, that's all, his idiot superiors dumped him in Inaba, they overreacted. Besides, he was gentlemanly, there was something wrong with those "stupid bitches" for getting it in their head to reject him. Besides, they were just playing Namatame, right? Really, he did the world a favor. For the record, [[InsaneTrollLogic you're all just as bad if not worse for going on this adventure to stop him]], selfish brats... Yeah, you get the idea. Though it's implied he was being truthful about what he got in Inaba.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: It's all but implied Adachi would have completely gotten away with the murders if he hadn't sent the threatening letters to Yu, as he eventually uses it to figure out the Killer's proximity to the Dojimas and a police officer being in on it all along. It's even the evidence that's required to arrest him.
* NightmareFace: [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/c/c4/Creepy_Adachi_2.png Adachi's scowl]] just looks ''wrong'' on his face. Like a SlasherSmile someone flipped upside-down. It goes to show what an ugly person he is on the inside. The one he makes [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/a/aa/Creepy_Adachi_4.png during the Accomplice Ending]] is ''worse''. Mainly because it's the face of a murderer who knows that he just got away with everything and has you, the idiot who covered for him, under his thumb ''forever.''
* NoodleIncident: What got him transferred to Inaba. While he claims it was a small slip-up that got blown out of proportion, his crimes in this game imply it was ''much'' more serious. ''Persona 4 Golden: The Animation'' seems to imply that he's actually telling the truth. Adachi was actually a [[HardWorkHardlyWorks serious, hard-working cop at his youth that just never got along with people (possibly due to having to focus on his studies), and got shafted because of it]].
-->"I was supposed to be the best of the best, and instead they stick me in the boonies."
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He intentionally plays up his status as Dojima's BumblingSidekick throughout the game to lure suspicion away from himself.
* ObviouslyEvil: The Personas of the Jester/Hunger Arcana in comparison to those found in the Fool Arcana. While the entities in the latter are mostly [[NobleDemon noble at best and neutral at worst]], the ones in the former are either overtly sinister (Baphomet, Chernobog, Pale Rider i.e. The Horseman of Death, Gurr, Kumbhanda) or immensely egotistical (Loa and Saiten Taisei aka [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest The Monkey King]]). If that wasn't enough, one of them is the outright archenemy of Take-Mikazuchi, Kanji's initial Persona, and the ultimate incarnation is Adachi's own Persona, the evil counterpart of the hero's.
* OhCrap:
** After his SayingTooMuch moment below, particularly in the anime.
** Also in the anime: during the height of his Breakdown, he attempts to make good on his threats to kill Yu with a massive lightning attack while emptying his gun at the same time... only to nearly shit a brick when the smoke clears and Yu is standing there ''completely unharmed''.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Adachi suddenly becomes more competent and helpful near the game's end, dropping the ObfuscatingStupidity as he does. This is a subtle implication that he's getting desperate, as he knows he's running out of time to throw the Investigation Team and the other cops off of his trail.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: In ''Golden'', if the player does not complete Rank 6 of Adachi's Social Link by November, they will lose the opportunity to see the remaining events.
* PetTheDog: Whenever he upsets Nanako with his apparently offhanded attempts to toy with Yu, he's quick to try and lift her spirits.
* PoliceAreUseless: Shares this attitude with the Investigation Team, but for different reasons. Being a police officer himself gives him a veritable front row seat to all the bureaucratic hand-wringing, shortcuts, pitfalls, and misfires of law enforcement that he finds himself lamenting over, more out of the consequence that as a detective, he has to get yanked around by these incompetent decisions. The fact that they can't seem to find the Killer out, despite him being smack dab in their midst, possibly amplifies this sentiment.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Is quite misogynistic, considering any woman who doesn't give in to his advances to be a "worthless bitch".
* PreFinalBoss: He's fought right before Ameno-sagiri, the FinalBoss of the normal route, though he's [[GlassCannon pretty easy to deal with due to his relatively low health.]]
* PrecisionFStrike: In the manga, he screams "Go to hell!" before launching a lightning attack at Soji, and muttering "... Fuck. You pest... You pest!!" when Soji survives.
* PsychopathicManchild: Outright called immature by Naoto and Yukiko. Despite his claims to the contrary, it's quite clear that he's basically throwing a massive temper tantrum.
* PullingTheThread: When all the clues are assembled (how the TV world and Personas works, the timeline of kidnappings and deaths, the threatening letters at the Dojima house) and through deductive reasoning, it becomes clear that he is the only person who could have been the true killer.
** To make use of the TV world, the killer had to have a Persona. This fact rules out the Investigation Team who all entered the TV world after Mayumi's death, all except the protagonist (who obviously didn't do it) got their powers after Saki's murder, and all except the protagonist, Yosuke, and Chie were victims themselves. It also rules out Mitsuo, who clearly doesn't have a Persona when he enters the TV.
** Because he has been incarcerated since his encounter in the TV world, Mitsuo Kubo could not have kidnapped Nanako, which means he couldn't have sent the threatening letters at the Dojima house either. Mitsuo's entry into the TV world is also anomalous: The other victims were kidnapped in front of their own homes per Namatame's modus operandi; Mitsuo, on the other hand, disappeared inside the police station as he was about to confess his crimes, which brings up the question of how did Mitsuo get into the TV world? Mitsuo couldn't have entered himself because he clearly has a Shadow inside it (therefore no persona, therefore no way to enter on his own) and if he did know about the TV world and its role in the murders, he would've pushed Morooka in instead of bludgeoning him, which was a clear clue he wasn't the real serial killer. Namatame only managed to get away with kidnapping people because he was BeneathSuspicion as a deliveryman going to people's homes, but that wouldn't work in the middle of a police station, especially since the police would recognize him due to his being part of the investigation for Yumeno's murder. Whoever pushed in Mitsuo had to be a third party who wouldn't look out-of-place at a police station... like one of the only two named police officers.
** The culprit would have to been able to closely monitor the Investigation Team to know they were rescuing people and know where the Protagonist lives to be able to deliver the letters. Since nobody suspicious has been spotted spying on the team or the Dojima residence, it would have to be someone who has regular access to a months-long case, ''and'' Dojima's house, ''and'' the Investigation team, which rules out people like acquaintances of the kidnap victims, or the other Social Links.
** The Investigation Team is never seen on the TV when they go on their rescue missions, as there is no gossip about it, meaning the general population is unable to identify the members of the Team, nor connect the true nature of the TV world to the rescue missions. Whoever is sending the letters is not some random stranger, and would have to be someone who can link the Midnight Channel with the Investigation Team's activities, so the letters cannot be mistaken as a prank or coincidence.
** Combining both of the previous points, the question arises as to why the letters were not sent to any of the other Team members' houses. The Protagonist's house is also the home of a detective who is actively investigating the case, making it an incredible risk to deliver a message that could have been sent to six other, less risky locations; the only reason for this to happen is if the killer ''knew'' they could be seen accessing the Dojima house without suspicion (say, they were someone who regularly entered as a guest), but couldn't be sure for the others.
** Despite such high-profile and bizarre cases, nobody suspicious has been seen in or around Inaba, ''especially'' around the first two victims, Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi, despite both of them having media attention on them around the time of their deaths. The culprit thus has to be someone who would have a valid reason to approach both of them and not be suspicious. This means that the killer couldn't have been a stranger, ruling out shadows exiting the TV world like Teddie, who would've not only been a stranger in his human form, but also seem rather suspicious in his bear costume, or outsiders to Inaba like Hiiragi, who, while associated with Mayumi, is ''not'' associated with Konishi, and she would be seen as suspicious due to her celebrity status.
** The police investigate Namatame the normal way due to his affair with Mayumi, and he's let go as he has a solid alibi. Killing someone via the TV world requires being in their physical presence, so even ''if'' Namatame had killed Saki (which he denies), there's no way he could've killed Mayumi. And his killing Saki also contradicts his stated motive, as he would have immediately realized the dangers of the TV world if someone he'd pushed inside had actually died, instead of the Investigation Team inadvertently fueling his misconception by rescuing all his victims.
** The culprit would have to have some physical strength to be able to overpower an adult woman (and two teenagers) and throw her into the TV, thus making it likely that the killer is also an adult, not one of the teenaged or child characters. This includes Nanako, despite fitting a lot of the criteria[[labelnote:Including]]The fact that she lives with the protagonist, meaning that she would've sent the warning letters without suspicion, and she would've likely partially know what's going on, thanks to overhearing Dojima and the Investigation Team[[/labelnote]].
** Despite also fitting the bill for many of those criteria, Ryotaro Dojima has been pushing for the investigation of the murders and kidnappings, when the rest of the station is just aching to close the case and be done with it; barring some convoluted, insane rationale, a smart killer would want the cases to be dropped ASAP, so why not have that happen by letting the corrupt police force just take their usual course?
* RealityWarper: Possesses a considerable amount of control over his area of the TV World, capable of outright barring the entrance to it from outsiders, creating multiple copies of himself, manifesting large scale illusions, kicking people out of it if you don't play by his rules, or even stopping the player from escaping it with spells or items. Adachi outright says that it seems the TV World itself is protecting him, apparently due to him desiring the same things the Shadows want, giving him considerable influence over his surroundings, enough to even shield himself from Rise's scanning abilities at first.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His persona, Magatsu Izanagi, is basically a blood-red version of Izanagi.
* RedemptionEqualsLife: After he's defeated, he tries to convince the Investigation Team to let him get killed off by Shadows in Magatsu Inaba. They refuse to let him do that, take him back to the real world, and he willingly cooperates in confessing to his crimes, even aiding the team in figuring out who The Conductor is from prison... [[InsultOfEndearment while still calling him a dumbass, although this time is much more affectionate than hateful.]] Dojima later notes that Adachi has become a model prisoner and seems to be working on bettering himself.
* RedemptionRejection: During his Social Link, at first. You can try to appeal to him before delving into his dungeon, but he flatly refuses, even adding for posterity that a) he hates people who try to appeal to his better nature in person, and b) if crimes could be solved by appealing to morality, there'd be no need for police.
* RedBaron: Magatsu-Izanagi is also known as the "Tempter of the Void."
* ReplacementGoldfish: For the old lady in his Social Link, as he has the same first name as her son who is usually away on business.
* ReverseGrip: Magatsu-Izanagi wields its weapon like this.
* SayingTooMuch: Adachi accidentally outs himself when he claims in the Investigation Team and Dojima's presence that it was Namatame who "put them in". Earlier on, it's a plot point that the police ''don't'' know how the murders were committed (which is what reveals Mr. Morooka's death as the work of JackTheRipoff, as he ''did'' have a clear cause of death), so how'd he find out?
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In ''Golden'' he leaves the country if the Protagonist keeps his involvement a secret, but doesn't confront him...
* SerialKiller: Technically, he ''isn't'' one, as he only has two victims: Mayumi and Saki, and you need three to be officially considered a serial killer. The other victims were either Namatame's work (and all were rescued) or Mitsuo's. He does fit the ''spirit'' of the trope, however, as Namatame was his UnwittingPawn he intended for Namatame to unknowingly kill the victims with the TV world.
* ShadowArchetype:
** Persona-wise, to Yu (his being the EvilTwin of Izanagi); motive-wise, to Yosuke (both share the same SmallTownBoredom); but most of all, to the whole Investigation Team -- whereas its members [[BeYourself learn to accept themselves and each other for who they are and take responsibility for their actions]], Adachi [[NeverMyFault ignores his own faults, blames others for his problems, and keeps running away from the truth]].
*** He's actually meant to be a counterpart to the main character in the sense that Yu uses his power to help people, while Adachi uses his power to harm. This is more apparent in [[Anime/Persona4TheAnimation the anime]], where Yu had his own personality. The Golden further emphasizes this as Adachi had a similar childhood to Yu's and they share a mutual fondness for magic tricks. Furthermore, where the Investigation Team and especially the main character make friends, form bonds, have fun, relate to others, and generally try to do as much good as they can in their small town, Adachi stays isolated, broods over his less-than-glamorous situation, and thinks himself above everyone else, which leads him into his nihilistic viewpoint and his mission of destructive chaos.
*** Made even more apparent in ''Persona 4 Golden''. He becomes a Social Link representing the Jester Arcana, which is an alternate version of the Fool Arcana that Yu represents. Moreover, should you get the bad "Accomplice" ending, Adachi will mockingly refer to you as his "partner" -- ''Yosuke's'' affectionate nickname for Yu, perhaps reflecting that the protagonist has effectively swapped his "true" bond with Yosuke (which was based on trust, equality and a mutual desire to do good) for the "corrupt" bond with Adachi (which was based on deception and power imbalance). This also strengthens his status as Yosuke's EvilCounterpart.
** While it's easy to miss, he can be one to Shu Nakajima, especially once Adachi's backstory is fleshed out in ''Golden'' and its animated adaptation. Like Shu, under pressure from [[EducationMama his parents]], Adachi had devoted his youth to his studies at the expense of his social life. And like Shu, Adachi developed deep-rooted jealousy towards those who were more talented than him. But while Shu realised under the tutelage of the protagonist that grades were not everything and learned to broaden his horizons beyond sticking to the "right" path of a good college and career, Adachi carried on the same path as he did and ultimately found himself in an unsatisfying and dead-end job. Had Shu not met the protagonist, it is likely that he would have ended up like Adachi.
* ShockAndAwe: He uses lightning abilities during the battle.
* ShooTheDog: In the additional months added in ''Golden'', it's revealed that Adachi refuses to talk to or see Dojima in order to provoke this. It doesn't work, since Dojima remarks that Adachi has forgotten how persistent he is, and eventually gets through to him.
* ShutUpKirk: He has quite a few one-liners to shut down the Investigation Team when they express indignation over what he's done and why he did it. Perhaps the most concise and to-the-point one is his response to calling him "a sad human being" or asking him what he'll tell Dojima.
-->"You say the dumbest shit."
* SignificantDoubleCasting: In the English version, both he (TheHeavy) and Yu (TheHero) are voiced by Creator/JohnnyYongBosch.
* SlasherSmile: Once when you chase him into the Midnight Channel. In the Accomplice End, when you burn the letter incriminating him, he laughs with a new character sprite.
* SmallNameBigEgo: For all his talk about being smarter than the hicks he shares a town with and being a criminal mastermind who got away with murder, the only reason the Investigation Team manage to narrow down and identify him as the true culprit is because of his own stupidity.
** The warning letter he sent to the Dojima home without being noticed put him on a very short list of people who could do that.
** By first trying to waylay suspicion to Namatame by saying how his list of victims "[[INeverSaidItWasPoison settles it]]", and later blurting out that Namatame "[[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay put them all in]]" when cornered, he pretty much incriminated himself with ''[[SayingTooMuch his own goddamn mouth twice]]'', [[EpicFail and the second time in front of his friend and the only good detective in town]].
** He thinks he's the center of the universe, and relishes in his status as the Killer. Too bad for him, as he's just a pawn of the GreaterScopeVillain.
* SmallTownBoredom: His main motivation behind instigating Namatame's kidnappings, as he saw the cat-and-mouse game between Namatame and the Investigation Team as means to get excitement in his mundane life in Inaba.
* SmugSmiler: After being exposed as the true culprit, Adachi's main expression changes from ButtMonkey to this. Whenever he reverts back to the goofy grin he had before, it now takes on a whole new level of smugness that was never there before.
* SmugSnake: Overly confident in his plans? Check. Outwardly arrogant and mocking of the heroes? Check. Aspiring for greater power only to turn out to be a pawn of a GreaterScopeVillain? Oooohh, check.
* TheSociopath: Adachi practically embodies this trope. LackOfEmpathy for others? Check. Unwillingness to form genuine relationships with others? Check. ManipulativeBastard? Check. [[ItsAllAboutMe Grandiose sense of self-worth?]] Check. [[TheHedonist Pathological need for stimulation]] to the point that he would resort to murder? Definitely. On the other hand, unlike true sociopaths, Adachi genuinely cares for the [[MoralityPet Dojimas]]. It's just that he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold buries those feelings deep down]] and is unwilling to admit them.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Moreso in ''The Animation'', where his voice is made softer and raspier in order to contrast with Yu's, due to them sharing the same voice actor.
* SourOutsideSadInside: Despite his SourPrude attitude, he's shown to have some deep-rooted apathy and depression whenever he's alone. For all his claims that he finds fun in the bedlam caused by the murders he had committed, he can't even find satisfaction in his own sadism and depravity.
* SourPrude:
** When he accuses Saki of "fooling around" with Namatame, he acts disgusted with the thought of her being sexually active, then he mutters about his high school life.
** He also projects this attitude towards success and intimacy upon the Investigation Team.
* StalkerWithACrush: To Mayumi and, to a lesser extent, Saki (because he thought Namatame, who "stole" Mayumi, was her sugar daddy).
* StrawMisogynist: Considers any woman who doesn't willingly give themselves in to him either a bitch or a whore.
* StrawNihilist: When confronted, he delves into a rant about the pointlessness of life and how much easier it would be if everyone were to become Shadows. The Investigation Team calls him out on this, saying that he's just throwing a temper tantrum. On top of that, he's a {{hypocrite}}, because he thinks life is meaningless yet he doesn't want to die.
-->"Those who succeed in life, they just happen to born with the magic ticket called 'talent.' If you don't have it, you can either accept or deny that fact until you die. That's your only choice. Once you realize that, all you have left in life is despair, the ultimate game over. Wouldn't it be better if that kind of reality was wiped away?"
* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: He intends to merge the Shadow world and the real world basically because he can't conceive of anyone being happy in the world the way it currently is. The rest of the Investigation Team outright calls him childish for it.
* SuperEmpowering: Those AdaptationalBadass moments are suggested to be the result of being backed by Ameno-sagiri, who gives him control over Shadows and the TV world along with a power upgrade. Even after Ameno's defeat some of his power as a Sagiri remains in Adachi.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: Gets these when inside the Midnight Channel, along with his RealityWarper powers mentioned above.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Certainly sees it this way at the very least. To his credit, besides Dojima, the Inaba Police force seems pretty incompetent.
* TarotMotifs: As to be expected from an evil Social Link character, Adachi represents the Reversed Fool/Jester and the Reversed Strength/Hunger/Lust. His lack of maturity and his hedonism are indicative of the former while his unwillingness to face reality and habit of running away from the truth align with the latter.
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: In such a small town like Inaba, it would be incredibly easy to fly under the radar by just not doing anything extraordinary. That makes it hurt more when the Investigation Team finds out that Adachi, the bumbling comic relief detective who works under Dojima, is the killer. It's hard to believe that a man the Dojimas have had over at their house for dinner several times is actually a closet MisanthropeSupreme who was willing to end the world just for kicks.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Gets upgraded to this in ''Golden'' if you succeed in maxing his Social Link, where he cheers on Yu with the rest of the cast during the final battle, but does so by mockingly stating that if Yu gives up, he's no better than he is.
* TrickBoss: He starts out as a [[PreFinalBoss deceptively easy boss]], then [[FinalBoss the Fog-Bringer]] [[DemonicPossession possesses him]] and takes over.
* {{Troll}}: He constantly taunts your party as you progress through his dungeon.
-->'''Adachi''': Ahaha! I told you all to come, and you actually came!? Don't you guys have anything better to do? What a bunch of losers... "Let's find the culprit ourselves!" "Let's meet up today at the special headquarters today!" Am I right, or am I right? Man, it's embarrassing. How old are you guys? Ahahahahahahaha! Oh crap, my stomach's hurting... C'mon... You're all students, right? Shouldn't you be studying instead of wasting your time with this? Study hard, get into a good college, work at a respectable company, marry a cute girl... Why are you guys so desperate when it comes to something so useless? Won't you regret it once you're adults?
* TrueCompanions: When all is said and done, despite Adachi denying it, Dojima is this to him:
** Dojima cares enough about him to call in an ambulance to get his injuries treated immediately. The fact that his boss still cares enough about him for this surprises the hell out of Adachi and he seems to be touched.
** By the epilogue, Dojima is stated to visit him in prison regularly, and ''Ultimax'' shows that Adachi is secretly glad that they can still be friends.
* UngratefulBastard: While you definitely had it coming, his response to you burning the warning letter that could have incriminated him as the culprit is to blackmail you for abetting a murderer and rub the fact in your face.
* UnreliableNarrator: When he recounts his crimes, his rose-colored view of them is complemented by the player being shown exactly what happened. This is made more explicit in the anime, where the Investigation Team bears witness to full-on recreations of his past misdeeds while he narrates in a lackadaisical manner.
* UnskilledButStrong: Due to going into the TV World for the first time, he lacks the battle experience of the Investigation Team. However, his Persona Magatsu Izanagi is incredibly powerful, and he's able to hold his own against the Investigation Team despite them being far more experienced in using their Personas than him.
* UnwantedAssistance: Feels this way toward the old lady in his Social Link and Dojima, whenever his boss deigns to be nice to him. Given who he is, he can never outright rebuke either of them. It also shows that he has no idea how to react to people who want to genuinely help him.
* UnwittingPawn: His letter to Yu at the end of the game hints that he somewhat suspected he was being played by the GreaterScopeVillain Izanami, and his voicing such helps give the Investigation Team the little push it needs to flush out the true mastermind.
* VictoryIsBoring: In the special Accomplice ending for ''Golden: The Animation'', Adachi laments how boring it is once Yu leaves, even though Adachi had effectively won by blackmailing Yu for burning the warning letter.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: While ''Persona 4'' has its fair share of dark moments, it is comparatively the most light-hearted and optimistic game out of the whole series. Adachi in contrast, does have his LaughablyEvil moments, but is still an AxCrazy serial killer and a [[TheSociopath Sociopath]].
* VillainBall: The very warning letters he sent to Yu ultimately unraveled his game of cat and mouse. The messages he sent contradict Namatame's agenda of saving people, which causes the Investigation Team to realise that Namatame wasn't responsible for the murders and that there was another player involved. Not only that, but the warning letters also serve as a red flag that whoever sent them was familiar with Yu, which narrows down the list to Adachi.
* VillainHasAPoint: Adachi has a hefty, if warped, understanding of the game's greater themes: the controversial nature of truth, the dissonance between perception and reality, the fickleness of human thought, and the arbitrary nature of who gets the things needed for success in life. While the heroes rebuke him during their battle, they come to the realization that they could become just like Adachi if they don't work towards bettering themselves. Rise points this out after Adachi asks whether the Investigation Team wants to catch the killer to fulfill their sense of justice or to alleviate their boredom. In conclusion, Adachi's ''premises'' (that life is random and most people are selfish and morally grey) are correct, but his conclusion (that life holds no meaning) is not.
-->'''Rise''': To be honest, I can't completely deny what he said... But that doesn't justify what he did... Right, Senpai?
* VillainousBreakdown:
** When confronted at the end by the team once they rebuke his views in his face and call him out for his immaturity, he loses his smugness and lashes out at them in fury.
** Taken up a notch in the anime after the team gets their HeroicSecondWind and begins defeating the Reapers one by one. He really does sound like a child throwing a tantrum.
* VocalEvolution: In the English dub, Johnny Yong Bosch voices both Yu and Adachi. Since Yu [[TheQuietOne doesn't speak much]] outside of battle grunts and calling Personas, Johnny's voice for Adachi is pretty much his regular speaking voice. In the anime though, where Yu [[SuddenlyVoiced actually gets to speak more]], Adachi's voice is made more raspier, softer, and higher pitched to differentiate him from Yu, and to better fit both his fake role of Dojima's bumbling partner and his real one as the true culprit. This carries over into any spin off or adaptation from then on, although his voice loses the raspiness, his voice still maintains the higher pitch and sleazyness.
* VomitingCop: His first appearance. It's left ambiguous as to whether this was real or him faking it.
* WalkingSpoiler: The fact that he's a somewhat major character throughout the story - and a Social Link in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]''.
* WhatTheHellHero: In the Accomplice ending, Adachi gives a scathingly mocking one to the protagonist for burning the warning letter. While he took the opportunity to blackmail the protagonist, his off-guard reaction at first showed that he didn't expect that the protagonist had it in him to abet a killer simply due to personal feelings.
* WhenIWasYourAge: Part of Adachi's motive rant against Saki after pushing her into a [=TV=] in a Yasoinaba Police Station interrogation room.
-->"When I was in school, I wasn't allowed to do anything except to study my ass off."
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Actually does pull his gun on the Investigation Team during their final confrontation, but prefers to then duke it out with them using his Persona. In ''Golden'', with a currently-maxed Jester link, you have the option to confront Adachi alone over their past friendship before the Investigation Team unites to tackle his dungeon the next day. With Adachi's RealityWarper abilities, he easily seals the entrance and teleports behind Yu with his gun pressed to his head, chiding his for his dumb actions of confronting a known adult killer alone. When Yu tries to claim Adachi doesn't truly have it in him to shoot his former friend, he gives a [[NearMisses near-miss]] warning shot besides Yu's head to demonstrate that yes, he ''does'', but he won't kill Yu straight away because [[VictoryIsBoring that wouldn't be any fun]], challenging him to return with the rest of his team and face him all together with their '[[ThePowerOfFriendship friendships]]' to make things more interesting for him.
* WouldHitAGirl: Has no qualms being abusive towards women who are his murder victims, even [[AttemptedRape trying to sexually assault]] Mayumi when she spurned him. The manga adaptation shows him giving a brutal beatdown on the female members of the Investigation Team when they tried to battle him, including performing a NeckLift on Rise, and he came very close to killing them.
* WouldHurtAChild: Has no qualms about murdering teenagers like Saki and the Investigation Team. The letters he writes also imply that he may have had a hand in trying to kill '''Nanako''' of all people, or at least knew she was going to be kidnapped by Namatame and did nothing to help her. On the other hand, he took it badly when Nanako died and the fact that he had to insist that "it was Yu's fault" to himself implies he regretted getting her involved and was trying to blame Yu for failing to save her rather than admit his own fault.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:'''The Fog''']]
!!Ameno-sagiri
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amenosagiri_transparent.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Fog Bringer]]
--> ''"[[FogOfDoom To defy me is a senseless act that goes against your world's wishes. Now, let everything vanish into the sweet fog of illusion.]]"''
Ameno-sagiri is the power in the Midnight Channel that created the fog and is the one responsible for pushing it into the real world. It possesses Adachi after his defeat by the Investigation Team to explain itself. Ameno-sagiri's goal is to cover the world in fog and convert mankind into blissfully ignorant Shadows because it earnestly thinks that's what humanity wants. The Investigation team has to fight him to put a stop to the spreading of the fog.
In the True Ending, the GreaterScopeVillain reveals that Ameno-sagiri was simply an avatar it created to go about its business.
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
It's not really his Shadow; he appeared on TV because it was what the Investigation Team wanted to see (that is, a justification to exact revenge on who they believed at the time was the killer). As Naoto points out right before the Ameno-sagiri battle, those weren't his true intentions at all.
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* TheUnfought: His Shadow shows up on the TV after Namatame is captured to taught the Investigation Team into throwing Namatame back in but is never fought. The Investigation Team mistake Kunino-Sagiri for his shadow but it was actually a monster implanted by Izanami.
to:
* TheUnfought: His Shadow (or rather, what the Investigation Team believes to be his Shadow) shows up on the TV after Namatame is captured to taught taunt the Investigation Team into throwing Namatame back in but is never fought. The Investigation Team mistake Kunino-Sagiri for his shadow but it was actually a monster implanted by Izanami.
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None
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* EarlyBirdCameo: It's possible to talk to him in around May, well before he takes action.
to:
* EarlyBirdCameo: It's possible to talk to him in around May, at several portions of the game, well before he takes action.his true role in the plot is revealed.
Changed line(s) 298 (click to see context) from:
* OptionalBoss: {{Zigzagged}}. The only way you fight her is by maxing out Marie's Social Link and it's possible to fight the TrueFinalBoss without doing this; however, fighting her is required for the GoldenEnding. Additionally, if Hollow Forest is unlocked, the player will have no choice but to clear it.
to:
* OptionalBoss: {{Zigzagged}}. The only way you fight her is by maxing out Marie's Social Link and it's possible to fight the TrueFinalBoss even without doing this; however, fighting her is required for the GoldenEnding. Additionally, if Hollow Forest is unlocked, the player will have no choice but to clear it.
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None
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* FinalBoss: If you fail to determine Izanami's true role but fight her in the Hollow Forest, she becomes the last boss of ''Golden''.
to:
* FinalBoss: If you unlock the Hollow Forest but fail to determine Izanami's true role but fight her in the Hollow Forest, role, she becomes the last boss of ''Golden''.
Changed line(s) 298 (click to see context) from:
* OptionalBoss: {{Zigzagged}}. The only way you fight her is by maxing out Marie's Social Link, but fighting her is required for the GoldenEnding. Additionally, if Hollow Forest is unlocked, the player will have no choice but to clear it.
to:
* OptionalBoss: {{Zigzagged}}. The only way you fight her is by maxing out Marie's Social Link, but Link and it's possible to fight the TrueFinalBoss without doing this; however, fighting her is required for the GoldenEnding. Additionally, if Hollow Forest is unlocked, the player will have no choice but to clear it.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
So, it turns out that if you unlock Hollow Forest, you HAVE to clear it. Even before entering the TV World, trying to select "Go back to town" or "Go back home" will only result in a message saying "You should focus on saving Marie right now."
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* OptionalBoss: The only way you fight her is by maxing out Marie's Social Link.
* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance or decide not to enter the television on February 13th is to be rendered nonexistent.
* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance or decide not to enter the television on February 13th is to be rendered nonexistent.
to:
* OptionalBoss: {{Zigzagged}}. The only way you fight her is by maxing out Marie's Social Link.
Link, but fighting her is required for the GoldenEnding. Additionally, if Hollow Forest is unlocked, the player will have no choice but to clear it.
* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearanceor decide not to enter the television on February 13th is to be rendered nonexistent.
* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance
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* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance or decide not to enter the television on February 13th.
to:
* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance or decide not to enter the television on February 13th.13th is to be rendered nonexistent.
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* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The counterpart to Ryoji from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''.
to:
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The counterpart to Ryoji from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''.3}}'', being a friend of the party who turns out to be an amnesiac aspect of a powerful Collective Unconsciousness entity.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
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* FinalBoss: If you avoid all of the bad endings, he's the last boss you face in ''4'' if neither the True Ending nor the Hollow Forest in ''Golden'' are pursued.
to:
* FinalBoss: If you avoid all of the bad endings, endings are avoided, he's the last boss you face in ''4'' if neither the True Ending nor the Hollow Forest in ''Golden'' are pursued.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
It's important to note the circumstances in which Ameno-Sagiri is the last boss faced, rather than simply saying that he is; after all, a playthrough can end with Kunio-Sagiri as the Final Boss too. Also, since fighting Kusumi-no-Okami is required for the best possible ending (and you actually can't exit the TV World if you decide to go in until Hollow Forest is cleared), she's worth mentioning as well.
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* FinalBoss: The last boss you face in ''4'', if the True Ending is not pursued.
to:
* FinalBoss: The If you avoid all of the bad endings, he's the last boss you face in ''4'', ''4'' if neither the True Ending is not nor the Hollow Forest in ''Golden'' are pursued.
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* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance or leave the television without completing the Hollow Forest.
to:
* RetGone: Marie's fate should the Protagonist decide not to request Margaret to look into Marie's disappearance or leave decide not to enter the television without completing the Hollow Forest.on February 13th.
