History Persona4 / TropesGToN

* IdiotBall: Dojima and [[PlotInducedStupidity the protagonist]] pass it back and forth a few times in one scene, which directly leads to [[spoiler:Nanako getting kidnapped]].

*** Golden also takes Yukiko's case UpToEleven in the Valentine's Day event, where she reveals that she wanted to try using ''Octopus Ink'' to give an extra flavor to the chocolate. The reason? [[InsaneTrollLogic Because they are the same color.]] Thankfully, the chefs at her inn did most of the work, and make very good chocolate.

* NintendoHard: A hallmark of the series. ''Persona 3'' was difficult, moreso in the updated re-release, but complaints about some easier parts of it lead the developers to jack the difficulty of ''Persona 4'' [[UpToEleven up to]] '''[[UpToEleven 12]]'''. Of course, they also gave you a bunch of tools to make it easier, too. Party members are now directly controllable, the NonstandardGameOver condition is much more forgiving than ''Persona 3'''s (if you weren't ready for a Full Moon Shadow in P3, you were roadblocked if you saved over your file - if you fail the rescue in P4, you can flash back a week and try again).

* ImprobableWeaponUser: Most of the weapons in the game are fairly realistic: the Protagonist favors "two-handed weapons", which are usually swords (although early in the game can be slightly more esoteric things like [[GolfClubbing golf clubs]] or [[BatterUp baseball bats]]); Yosuke [[DualWielding dual-wields]] [[KnifeNut knives]]; Chie using [[ArmedLegs "shoes and shinguards"]] may seem odd at first but given that she's an accomplished martial artist it makes sense; Teddie uses [[WolverineClaws claws]] built into his suit; Naoto favors pistols. Yukiko and Kanji, however...

* GenreShift: Story-wise, shifting from Persona 3's [[DarkFantasy Dark]] UrbanFantasy with ScienceFiction elements to a Sub[[UrbanFantasy urban Fantasy]] MurderMystery that is otherwise even more SliceOfLife.

* {{Meganekko}}: The cast visits Gekkoukan High School, on Port Island, where they are greeted by Chihiro from ''Persona 3''. She's had two years in which to shed her [[{{Moe}} moe traits]] in exchange for [[NerdsAreSexy just damn hot]]. Also, technically all your female party members since they wear attractive glasses inside the TV.

** Sho points out that his feelings regarding the world and [[spoiler:Adachi's]] aren't all that different and that their goals are quite similar. [[spoiler:Adachi disagrees.]]
** Labyrs reaches this conclusion about herself and Sho in Ultimax after learning of his backstory. In the P3 storyline, she gives a BreakingSpeech to him about their similarities the same way Narukami gives one to Minazuki in the P4 story.

** The protagonist can also eat Nanako's science project, [[IAteWhat which is a pot of grass.]] The game ''rewards'' you for doing so.

* JurisdictionFriction: Due to the Inaba PD's inability to make any progress on the case, the Prefectural Police threaten to take it over, which prompts Dojima to go out [[DrowningMySorrows drown his sorrows]].

* {{Nerf}}: ''Golden'', in order to compensate for all the new abilities your partners get, no longer lets your party members' Persona lose their weaknesses, although they do get an "Evade (Weakness)" skill with their second-tier Persona to compensate for that. They do gain new resistances for their third tier personas, though.

** Used to a much more comical effect when you eat Nanako's pudding in the fridge, even though the game technically rewards you for it. (See ViolationOfCommonSense below.)

* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Averted. Though Kanji's primary weapons are shields, his guard animation has him [[ViolationOfCommonSense using his arms to block attacks.]]

** The Personas used to fuse [[spoiler:Izanagi-no-Okami]] are fairly random and unrelated but the first kana of each from each one top to bottom reads " [[spoiler:Izanagi-no-Okami tsukure[[note]]meaning "Create Izanagi-No-Ookami"[[/note]]]]". This only barely (the first one or two levels of most spell "[[spoiler:Isanagi-no-Ookami]]" phonetically identical to the created Persona) works in English.

* LogicBomb: One Social Link has you complete wishes for a fox so people would put money into an offertory box (Long story) in return for a healing station similar to the clock in ''VideoGame/Persona3''. At the very end of the quests, you visit the fox, to find that the money in the offertory box will go to making the shrine a shinier place. Cue the construction workers who replace most of the stuff in less than a day.

* GhibliHills: The true form of [[spoiler:the TV world]], revealed after you finish the Final Boss of the TrueEnding.

** IncitingIncident: Earn the TrueEnding and you'll have a whole new take on [[spoiler:the handshake from the gas station attendant in the beginning]].

** All of the Bad Endings have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk5DpIgpJO4 this sequence]] (spoilers!). They also play "Corridor", a [[LonelyPianoPiece somber piano theme]] which plays during the Credits sequence and [[spoiler:Izanami's dungeon]]. If you have the latter happening, you're already at the TrueEnding.

* ManBehindTheMan: If you get the TrueEnding, you find that [[spoiler:Namatame, Adachi and the protagonist]] are all being manipulated by the BigBad [[spoiler:Izanami-no-Okami]].

* GoldenEnding: The True Ending. The culprit is apprehended, and the truth behind [[spoiler:the fog, the TV World, and the power of Persona are all brought to light. The goddess Izanami was behind it all, and is promptly defeated.]] It gets expanded upon in the updated rerelease ''Golden'', where in Marie explains that she [[spoiler:is an aspect of Izanami herself, and was meant to exist to absorb the fog instead]]. There is also an extended epilogue where the main characters sport new outfits and hairstyles.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Averted, unlike ''Persona 3'', Social Link characters will have a handy voice over when they first say their name.

** In the PS2 version, party members would take a mortal blow for the protagonist at Rank 1 of their Social Link. This was moved all the way to Rank 9 in ''Golden''.

* MeaningfulEcho: [[spoiler:The final battle between the protagonist (using Izanagi-no-Okami) against Izanami-no-Okami can be interpreted as Izanagi returning to Yomi to put his wife to rest after abandoning her during his previous visit.]]

* HumanityOnTrial: As revealed in the True Ending, [[spoiler:Izanami gave the power of Persona to people representing emptiness, despair and hope]] in order to ascertain what humanity truly desired. Thanks to [[spoiler:Adachi,]] she thinks humanity wants [[spoiler:oblivion]] and it's up to you to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu beat the crap out of her]] in order to prevent her from making it happen.
* HumansAreBastards: Implied by the game at times, especially before the final battle against the BigBad during the TrueEnding. Though [[spoiler:Izanami put everything in motion, she created the Midnight Channel as a portal into the human subconscious]]. The BigBad sees evidence that what humankind really wants is to [[spoiler:live in a permanent delusion without any real-life distress or struggle, so she decides to give that to them]]. There are hints and discussions of this galore throughout the game, sometimes completely randomly. If you win the fight, though, [[spoiler:you see the world that really exists in people's hearts is rather lovely]].

** Also Rise: "It's weak against wind, this'll be a breeze!"

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** When starting Sayoko's Social Link, she openly flirts with him. The protagonist can actually choose to accept her advances, although it's nothing more than a blank screen and some text saying "You spent some time" with her. You also [[AwesomeButImpractical don't get any points]] toward advancing her Social Link if you go this route.
** If you romance Naoto on Christmas Eve, she'll give you a watch that tells you how far apart you are from her, albeit with a fairly short range. The scene ends fading to black and with the watch saying that you're less than a meter away from each other...

** [[spoiler:The anime expands on your party members being dragged into darkness. Thousand Curses is shown as an illusion to force Yu into the fog.]]