History Persona4 / TropesGToN

* MythologyGag:
** There are references, both subtle and not-so-subtle, to several [=SMT=] games, both in and out of continuity. These range from the pink alligator of ''VideoGame/Persona3'''s Sun Link and Rise talking about a mysterious power failure two years ago during her show at a Port Island night club (same game, Hermit {{Boss Battle}}), to the Fox's Macca leaves or the explicit mention of Detective Kuzunoha.
** For references to the events in ''VideoGame/Persona3'':
*** Nanako's birthday is [[spoiler:October 4th]], which is an... ''eventful'' day in ''Persona 3''.
*** The protagonist has a ''Persona 3'' calendar on the wall in his room.
*** The ''P3'' MC's Persona from ''Persona 3'' was Orpheus, this game's protagonist's Persona is Izanagi. These two share [[OrpheanRescue a similar story]]: they both went to the underworld to rescue their lover from the clutches of death, but had to leave them behind. Orpheus screwed up and lost his lover, but Izanagi actually ''left'' Izanami in the underworld after he realized she was all rotted from spending too much time in the DeathWorld. "Learning when to let go" is a big part of "Facing the Truth", which is ''Persona 4'' 's big theme.
*** One of Teddie's weapons is the "[[VideoGame/Persona3 Strega]] Claw," described as a weapon for an "agent of revenge."
*** In ''Golden'', one of the costumes you can equip is the Gekkoukan High School uniform. Your party members not only imitate the end-battle poses of SEES, but even their end-battle quotes.
*** A new event in ''Golden'' involves the protagonist, Yosuke, and Kanji going to Okina to try and fail miserably at picking up girls, in reference to the disastrous "Operation Babe Hunt".
*** In Kanji's Social Link, the boy he bonds with asks for a plushie of a pink alligator. Similarly, Rank 5 of Adachi's Social Link in ''Golden'' sees Nanako read a picture book involving a pink alligator. This alligator is the main character of the story written by Akinari, from the Sun Social Link in ''Persona 3''.
** The Persona Alice is created by fusing Belial and Nebiros. This is a reference to ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', in which the demons Belial and Nebiros summoned Alice for their own designs.
** The requirements to fuse Mahakala, the Ultimate Persona of the Death Arcana, are one big reference to the Fiends the Demi-Fiend fought in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'': Matador, Daisoujou, Hell Biker, White Rider[[note]]the only one of the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse to appear in the vanilla version of the game[[/note]], Trumpeter and Mother Harlot.
** [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/c/c9/YukikoP4.jpg Yukiko]] seems to resemble the old, SNES-SMT-era (and later ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'') design of [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/8/8b/Amateratsu.jpg Amaterasu]] (who serves as her ultimate Persona).
** The appearance of Magatsu [[spoiler:Izanagi]] looks like the berserk starving demons of VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga. It also seems to be a reference to the enemy used "Reverse" Personas featured in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}''.
** Right before [[spoiler:Naoto's]] dungeon, the MC can reply in on conversation with "[[VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga I do not comprehend]]".
** In the instruction manual of the American version, the protagonist is named [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha.]]
** Another nod to ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', one of the drinks you can get from a vending machine is ''Cielo Mist''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLx-TQsxPAU Long Way]] sounds a bit like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DhfGkXHXfE Monado Mandala]] if one pays close attention.
** The subplot where Rise was supposed to be in the town and act as the chief of the lone station for a day is [[Anime/PersonaTrinitySoul very, very familiar]].
** In [[spoiler:Kubo's]] dungeon, you hear a dialogue warning not to go out due to fears of a killer on the loose. On the surface, it sounds like it's referring to this game but word-for-word, it's a recreation of the opening scene in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''.

** Teddie's character suffered greatly from this, due to a rushed localization and ExecutiveMeddling that insisted on his DubNameChange. In the original Japanese version, he comes across as much more childish and innocent, as evidenced by his Japanese voice, which sounds much more like that of a child, as opposed to his dub voice, which made him sound the same age as the other characters. His hitting on the girls is supposed to represent his innocent repetitions of what he hears others say, rather than genuine perversion, as best exemplified with him saying that he wants to "score" with one of the girls, a term he learned from Shadow Yukiko.[[note]]In English, "score" as used in a sexual context is gender-neutral; however, the word he uses in Japanese, "gyakunan" specifically refers to a woman hitting on a man, meaning he doesn't fully understand what it means.[[/note]]

* JurisdictionFriction: At one point in the story, the prefectural police threaten to take over the serial murder case from the Inaba PD due to their inability to make any progress in it, which prompts Dojima to go out and [[DrowningMySorrows drown his sorrows]].

** Teddie's character suffered greatly from this, due to ExecutiveMeddling that insisted his name be changed from Kuma to Teddie, and a rushed localization. In the original Japanese version, hecomes across as much more childish and innocent, as evidenced by his Japanese voice, which sounds much more like that of a child. His hitting on the girls is supposed to represent his innocent repetitions of what he hears others say, rather than perversion, as best exemplified with him saying that he wants to "score" with one of the girls, a term he learned from Shadow Yukiko.[[note]]In English, "score" as used in a sexual context is gender-neutral; however, the word he uses in Japanese, "gyakunan" specifically refers to a woman hitting on a man, meaning he doesn't fully understand what it means.[[/note]]

** Teddie's character suffered greatly from this, due to ExecutiveMeddling and a rushed localization. In the original Japanese version, Teddie comes across as much more childish and innocent. as evidenced by his Japanese voice, which sounds much more like that of a child. His hitting on the girls is supposed to represent his innocent repetitions of what he hears other say, rather than perversion, as best exemplified with him saying that he wants to "score" with one of the girls, a term he learned from Shadow Yukiko.[[note]]In English, "score" as used in a sexual context is gender-neutral; however, the word he uses in Japanese, "gyakunan" specifically refers to a woman hitting on a man, meaning he doesn't fully understand what it means.[[/note]]

** Teddie's saying that he wants to "score" with one of the girls, a term he learned from Shadow Yukiko. In English, "score" as used in a sexual context is gender-neutral; however, the word he uses in Japanese, "gyakunan" specifically refers to a woman hitting on a man, meaning he doesn't fully understand what it means. As a result, he comes across much more like a creep in the English version, when he was meant to sound more naive in the Japanese.

** Wind Boost, a passive skill that strengthen Wind-based damaging skills by a 25%, is ''notoriously'' hard to come by. Unlike its Fire/Elec and Ice counterparts that can be obtained from Personas reaching level 15 and 18, respectively, Wind Boost can be obtained at ''level 40'' at the earliest. Complicating matters three of the five Personas that learn it ''require'' lots of LevelGrinding because they belong to Arcanas whose Social Links either rank up automatically (Star) or are available very late in the calendar (Fortune), and the other two are even higher leveled[[note]]Kurama Tengu at level 51 and Atropos comes with it at level 65[[/note]]. The dev team seemed to have realized this and they set a Fusion Forecast recipe in the [[UsefulNotes/Playstation2 PS2]] version that specifically grants Wind Boost on June 9th, which isn't hard at all to miss without a guide, and in ''Golden'' the Skill Card is relatively easy to acquire.

** Unless you have Kanji in your party, whose animation for curing party members has him ''headbutting'' them into clairty. Talk about tough love. [[WouldntHitAGirl The guys also tend to not slap the girls]].

* LastDiscMagic: The plot-mandated Judgment Social Link only maxes out after you've cleared the dungeon in December, meaning that Lucifer, the Persona that's unlocked this way, is only available for the final dungeon on the route to the True Ending. The same happens with Adachi's Social Link in ''Golden'', as it truly maxes out right before you unlock the same dungeon, meaning that its strongest Persona [[spoiler:Magatsu-Izanagi]] only becomes available for that dungeon (ignoring NewGamePlus).

* {{Lestrade}}: Adachi is responsible for much of your knowledge about the police investigation of the case [[spoiler:and he's the guy who did it, using this information to mislead you]]. Ryoutarou Dojima is in a position this would be expected from, but is not an example.

** Unlike the other Investigation Team members, Kanji's and Naoto's Social Links do not unlock with story progression. While Naoto does at least mention the suspicious man in the shopping district that you must speak to, Kanji's link is instead initiated from a student NPC that only shows up in the classroom buildings on days where he'd normally be available. This has led to players missing out on him for a few weeks or even months before they notice what's needed.

* InformedAbility: Rise is an Actress[=/=]IdolSinger, and during her Rank 8 Social Link, her former manager proceeds to gush about how talented she was, but (Aside from a commercial right at the start of the game) the player never sees her in action.

** New to ''Golden'', if you decline a Valentine's invitation from an Investigation Team girl, they will call you out on it, even if you were in a monogamous relationship.

** In ''Golden'', [[DumbMuscle Kanji]] complains that it would really mess with his head if [[DumbassHasApoint Chie came up with good ideas]].

* LazyBackup: Surprisingly averted in ''The Golden''. Party members that aren't in your active party may sometimes appear out of nowhere to attack your opponent after you knock down an enemy, if their Social Links are high enough.

-->'''Mr. Yamada''': Note the spelling. It's spelled A - T - L - A - S, okay? I mean, how else would you spell it? [[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke The game was made by Atlus.]][[/note]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Adachi:''']] "Games like this gotta have surprises or they get boring fast."

** The only SP-restoring items you can purchase are cans of soda, which restore a measly 5 SP each, and are in limited supply. If you don't [[DiscOneNuke finagle your way to getting Victory Cry early]], your best bet for SP restoration is probably getting a Persona with the Spirit Drain skill.

* JustForPun: An item named 'Goho-M' will instantly transport your party from the dungeon back to the entrance area. At first glance, it appears to just be another strangely named item in the game with some roots still stuck in the original Japanese (see Woolseyism on the YMMV tab), however, it can also be read as 'go ho-M', or 'Go Home'.

** The Hermit social link's abilities are definitely this. In the beginning, the Fox's healing payments will far exceed the player's means and the party will be better off conserving SP or abusing Invigorate skills. By the midgame, the player will likely be able to break even or take an acceptable loss on healing their SP if the Hermit link has been managed well. Once the endgame rolls around, the player will be able to easily afford the services of a Maxed or near-Maxed Fox from the money earned by battling enemies.

** There is a bag of wasabi in the fridge. ...Lick it?

* MegaMealChallenge: The Rainy Day Special Mega Beef Bowl Challenge.

** Nanako's birthday is [[spoiler:October 4th]], which is an... ''eventful'' day in ''Persona 3''.
** The Persona Alice is created by fusing Belial and Nebiros. This is a reference to ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', in which the demons Belial and Nebiros summoned Alice for their own designs. Similarly, Ardha is fused via Shiva and Parvati, a reference to ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' [[spoiler:which featured Serph and Sera merging into Seraph and gaining Ardha as the single being's Atma form. This itself being a mythological reference to Shiva and Parvati fusing into the god Ardhanarishvara.]]
** The requirements to fuse Mahakala, the Ultimate Persona of the Death Arcana, are one big reference to the Fiends the Demi-Fiend fought in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'': Matador, Daisoujou, Hell Biker, White Rider[[note]]the only one of the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse to appear in the vanilla version of the game[[/note]], Trumpeter and Mother Harlot.
** [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/c/c9/YukikoP4.jpg Yukiko]] seems to resemble the old, SNES-SMT-era (and later ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'') design of [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/8/8b/Amateratsu.jpg Amaterasu]] (who serves as her ultimate Persona).

** The protagonist has a ''Persona 3'' calendar on the wall in his room.

** The ''P3'' MC's Persona from ''Persona 3'' was Orpheus, this game's protagonist's Persona is Izanagi. These two share [[OrpheanRescue a similar story]]: they both went to the underworld to rescue their lover from the clutches of death, but had to leave them behind. Orpheus screwed up and lost his lover, but Izanagi actually ''left'' Izanami in the underworld after he realized she was all rotted from spending too much time in the DeathWorld. "Learning when to let go" is a big part of "Facing the Truth", which is ''Persona 4'' 's big theme.

** One of Teddie's weapons is the "[[VideoGame/Persona3 Strega]] Claw," described as a weapon for an "agent of revenge."
** In ''Golden'', one of the costumes you can equip is the Gekkoukan High School uniform. Your party members not only imitate the end-battle poses of SEES, but even their end-battle quotes.
** A new event in ''Golden'' involves the protagonist, Yosuke, and Kanji going to Okina to try and fail miserably at picking up girls. This is a ShoutOut to the ''Operation Babe Hunt'' from ''VideoGame/Persona3''.

** Rank 5 of Adachi's Social Link in ''Golden'' sees Nanako read a picture book involving a pink alligator, the same one written by Akinari in ''Persona 3''.

* MetalSlime: Wealth Hands appear in every multi-level dungeon. They'll attack you instead of running away or disappearing when cornered, and if you can kill them before they escape, they drop a lot of money and a key for the locked golden chests you'll sometimes find. Unfortunately, they tend to resist most elements except electricity, which is their weakness, and have fairly high defense.

** Once you hit a certain rank in Chie and Yukiko's Social Links, then go through a dungeon you've already cleared, and the conversation will reveal that this is what Chie did when Kanji came into their tent on the night of the campout.

** The requirements to fuse Mahakala, the Ultimate Persona of the Death Arcana, are one big reference to the Fiends the Demi-Fiend fought as {{Bonus Boss}}es in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'': Matador, Daisoujou, Hell Biker, White Rider[[note]]the only one of the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse to appear in the vanilla version of the game[[/note]], Trumpeter and Mother Harlot.

** You cannot fight the NewGamePlus BonusBoss unless you finish the Empress S. Link before 12/24 (or 2/5 in ''Golden'') ''and then'' visit the Velvet Room twice ''before'' you enter the true final dungeon. And destroy all the bonus shadows. And rescue Marie in ''Golden''.

* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: In ''Golden'', one of the achievements is "The Reaper Becomes The Reaped" after you defeat the resident BonusBoss, The Reaper.

** The BonusBoss is also an example, having even more similarity to the player's method of fighting, including the protagonist's Wild Card.

* NewGamePlus: Allows you to carry over the Persona Compendium, your characteristics, and your money into a new game. ''Golden'' also allows you to retain your costumes. Unfortunately, there is not much to do with all that - the only new things that become available in the NewGamePlus are one new BonusBoss fight and a single Persona, and they are ''only'' available if you got the True Ending - which requires completing almost everything else there is to complete in the game - on the previous cycle.

* NonActionProtagonist: Rise Kujikawa is in the same boat as Fuuka was in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', and pulls off a similar feat of endurance to her. Right after facing her own Shadow, she immediately takes over as MissionControl when the next boss shows up, while also not wearing the glasses everyone has that makes them immune to the TV World fog's vitality-sapping properties, ''and'' she had just gotten her Persona, whereas everyone else could barely stand after getting theirs. Just like Fuuka, she is crucial to the investigation of the Yasoinaba serial murders despite having no combat capacity herself. That said, she partially subverts this trope come ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' where Rise's Persona evolves into a combat-capable form, but that's more of a NecessaryWeasel given that it's a PuppetFighter FightingGame by default.

** Since dungeons have a deadline for completion and restrict the availability of Investigation Team members' Social Links, a common strategy is to complete the dungeon as early as possible within a single day in order to allow time to work on said Social Links. [[spoiler:However, trying to do this with Magatsu Inaba will result in the game automatically progressing to 12/23, thus effectively skipping an entire month. Additionally, waiting to complete it any later than 12/22 will cause the player to miss the Christmas Eve event, making it the generally recommended date for the dungeon. The game does not inform you of any of this.]]

** You cannot fight the NewGamePlus BonusBoss unless you finish the Empress S. Link before 12/24 ''and then'' visit the Velvet Room twice ''before'' you enter the true final dungeon. And destroy all the bonus shadows. And rescue Marie in ''Golden''.

** New to ''Golden'', if you turn down any of your girlfriends, all of the ones among the Investigation Team will call you out for it come Valentine's Day, even if the player was in a monogamous relationship.