Foreshadowing / Persona 4

Persona 4 has many hints and clues about the true identity of the culprit and the nature of the world carefully sprinkled throughout the narrative. Be warned: this concerns major reveals, including the killer's identity, so all spoilers are unmarked.

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The Suspect

While the Investigation Team initially thinks Mitsuo Kubo is the Killer, there's several narrative clues that they're wrong.

• Kanji is one of the people pushed into the TV world. Even before Kubo's dungeon, the team notes that to pull that off, the culprit must have at least some physical strength... so how could Kubo, a frail nerd, overcome him and force him into the TV?
• While Mr. Morooka's murder is similar to the previous ones, there's one important difference: He was clearly killed by blunt force trauma, while the other victims showed no physical signs of what killed them since they died in the TV world. This hints that there's a copycat on the loose.
• When he's finally confronted, he seems genuinely confused as to why the Investigation Team is pursuing him, even though nearly half of them (Yukiko, Kanji, and Rise) were supposedly kidnapped and thrown into the TV by him. This makes it pretty clear that he only knows about the cases from the news, since the three of them were rescued in time and never officially considered victims. Notably, when the team confront Namatame, the one who actually threw them into the TV world, he recognizes them on sight.
• And finally, the one the characters overlook: He's found in the TV world, but he has a Shadow. One needs to be a Persona user to enter the TV world freely, but Persona users don't have Shadows (as the Shadow becomes their Persona). Meaning, he couldn't have entered the TV world by himself... so, who put him in there?
• In Void Quest, the narrator of the video game states that Mitsuo has killed Morooka, but only "defeated" the announcer and the corpse discoverer. The choice of words for the first two victims, and the fact that they are not referred to by name, suggests that Mitsuo did not actually kill them.

The Killer

• The first time you see Adachi, Dojima asks him how long he's going to act like a rookie. Key word: Act.
• In retrospect, Adachi's Loose Lips about the case isn't just part of his schtick as a bumbling rookie detective, it's subtle bragging about his exploits as a serial killer.
• During Rise's kidnapping, Adachi takes the initiative to catch the supposed stalker despite having no evidence against him, which foreshadows his role in the kidnappings and his urge to stop the investigations from proceeding any further. This would be a major tell to a lot of players given how overly and unusually eager he is to arrest the first person he sees and tell everyone that he's got "the killer".
• One piece of late game dialogue mentions Nanako doesn't open the door for strangers. When the group asks if the killer is someone Nanako knows, one answer is a friend of Dojima's. Which one of Dojima's associates has Nanako come to know? Adachi. Of course, Adachi says Dojima doesn't really have any friends at the police department other than himself, before hastily reminding everyone that he couldn't have been the one to kidnap Nanako. Not only does Adachi's reminder come across as weirdly defensive considering he had been interrogating the Protagonist alongside Dojima, suggesting that he's still hiding something, but he's also implicated himself as the person delivering the warning letters by admitting that no-one would think twice about him dropping by the Dojima home.
• In Golden, Adachi's analysis doesn't list an Arcana either much like Ameno-Sagiri inside him, instead of Jester/Hunger that he represents, implying he's been possessed by Ameno-Sagiri.
• 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.
• During the Wham Episode on December 3rd, Adachi seems really lax in Namatame's security, leaving the room for the Team when he knows Namatame is the prime suspect and Nanako seems to be dead.
• When Naoto is reading Namatame's diary, when she reads that it contains the names of would-be victims who disappeared but were never disclosed to the public, he responds with "Wow, then that settles it." One would think that, assuming he only had the knowledge the rest of the police force had, he would not have a reason to jump to the conclusion that Namatame is the culprit, since they at the time didn't even know these disappearances (read: kidnappings) were related to Ms. Yamano and Saki's deaths.

The true nature of the Midnight Channel

• A blink-and-you'll-miss-it example near the start of the game. After Saki's death is announced to the school, two girls are seen talking about rumors in the hall. One mentions that she heard someone saying they saw Saki on the Midnight Channel, her friend decrying this rumor as people just having "Saki on the brain", due to her interview being broadcast so frequently. Fast-forward to the end of the game, and this is revealed to be EXACTLY how the Midnight Channel works.
• When judging Namatame, his supposed Shadow displays on the TV out of nowhere, even though it's not midnight and not raining, something that doesn't happen for anyone else, heavily hinting that something else is at play here.
• Nanako appearing in the Midnight Channel. Despite her having her name and face blurred, she appears in the Midnight Channel, only due to the small town recognizing the chief's daughter and them talking about the said interview to each other.

The Conductor

• Perhaps the most delicate foreshadowing is reserved for Izanami. Honestly, were you paying attention to anything the gas station attendant said throughout the year? Her Motive Rant at the end is practically distilled from the attendant's script, if you condense it a couple of months. Additionally, you can only speak to her on rainy days.
• The protagonist gets dizzy when shaking hands with the attendant, accompanied by a slightly noticeable flash and sound effect. However, the dizziness of your other party members are not accompanied by these effects. Also, if the player is using a controller with a rumble feature (vibration feature) then the user will feel a tiny, almost unnoticeable, vibration as the attendant shakes your hand indicating the power going to you.
• A minor inconsistency casts doubt on what the gas station attendant is saying. At the start of the game, the attendant claims the gas station is looking for part-time help, but if you talk to a student in the shopping district, he will say the gas station does not have any openings.
• The focus of Marie's social link is her trying to discover her past. The only clue she has to go on is an old bamboo comb. As noted by Kanji's mother in Rank 7, the Japanese word for comb contains the words "ku" and "shi" which separately mean pain and death and according to superstition combs have the ability to separate people. Rather nicely sets up Marie's status as a Literal Split Personality of Izanami, the Greater-Scope Villain.
• If you look in the background as the protagonist is talking to the gas station attendant at the very start of the game, you can see Nanako walk up and glance at them. This becomes important on the last day, as she's the only one who remembers this conversation, and thus the only one who can direct you to Izanami.

Teddie

• At one point, when helping Nanako with her homework, Teddie quotes "Cogito ergo sum" as a proverb - "I think, therefore I am". Considering the revelations later on about Teddie's nature as a Shadow and how he developed his Persona, it makes a lot of sense in retrospect that it would stick with him.
• Teddie's red white and yellow colors strongly resemble those used by Junes, as well as a star being part of their logo and Teddie's arcana being the Star. He later becomes the store mascot thanks to Yosuke.
• When fighting Berserk Shadow Selves, analyzing them shows their Arcana (for example, Shadow Yosuke is the Magician). However, Shadow Teddie is listed under the Moon Arcana, while the person it's based on is the Star Arcana. It's hinted that this was an early form of Ameno-Sagiri, although it doesn't have an identified Arcana when you fight it proper.
• More on Shadow Teddie: His eyes look nothing like a regular Shadow self's eyes - a regular Shadow self's eyes look like normal eyes, just golden, while his are practically crammed into their sockets. This is because they're Ameno-Sagiri's eyes.
• When Shadow Teddie berates Teddie about how he's empty and meaningless, Teddie doesn't seem to understand a word his Shadow is saying. This isn't how Shadows operate, as the player's seen five times over by now; their thing is Brutal Honesty. This is yet another hint "Shadow Teddie" is nothing of the sort.
• Rise notes that she felt another power intervene when Shadow Teddie appears, right after receiving her powers of navigation through Himiko, meaning this Shadow is either being controlled by or is an outside influence.

The Kidnapper

• Blink-and-You-Miss-It, but when the group are distracted from their stakeout of Rise's tofu shop by the stalker and chase after him, you can see Namatame's delivery truck going the other way. By the time they return, she's been kidnapped.
• In a cutscene a couple of days before the sandbox opens, Dojima mentions that Namatame has an ironclad alibi for Mayumi Yamano's murder. This foreshadows the later reveal that there's someone pulling his strings when he turns out to be the kidnapper.
• Shortly after Mr. Morooka is killed, Namatame can be found sitting at the Samegawa riverbank lamenting about how he "couldn't do it" (referring to him believing at the time that he was unable to prevent his death).
• It's clear from the above plus his boss fight that Namatame truly believes that he's helping people by putting them in the TV... But if he'd done this to Mayumi and/or Saki, there's no way he'd still think that as he'd have direct examples of people dying in the TV world. Sure enough, he genuinely wasn't involved in the first two cases.
• Pay close attention to the animatic when the main character first finds out about the Midnight Channel. The rain on his bedroom window makes three very blurry points of light in the city beyond, representing his, Adachi's, and Namatame's powers given by Izanami.
• In early November, Nanako opens the door for the deliveryman to answer a question. Said deliveryman takes advantage of Nanako's trust and kidnaps her.
  • Namatame even admits during the interview in December that his job as a deliveryman is a perfect cover in his crusade.
• After the team defeats Namatame, Yosuke, Kanji, and Naoto hesitantly escort him out of the world. This hints towards what happens on December 3rd, when they try to convince Yu to throw him into the TV after Nanako seemingly dies, which they ultimately do in the bad ending.
• Kunino-sagiri's boss theme is title "A New World Fool". Emphasis on A, hinting that there is still someone behind Namatame, whom the theme should really apply to.

Other

• On the day the first murder occurs in Golden, a pair of NPCs can be found right outside the Dojima house. Their conversation will eventually turn to gardening, with one of them commenting that the Dojimas have an empty space on their property that could make a mighty fine garden—foreshadowing the gardening function.
• Early in May (exclusive to Golden), a thunderstorm happens while the Investigation team is together discussing. The team's next member is Kanji, whose Persona is the Japanese thunderstorm god.
• Also early in May, you are gifted a swimsuit by Ryotaro Dojima, your uncle. If you talk to him about it on the same day he'll say: "The ocean's a bit far, but the river is right in town. I'm sure you'll be taking a swim sometime this year". Although not in the river, you will end up taking a swim.
• If you progress the Devil Social Link at the hospital as soon as possible, you'll notice something very interesting in one room: A large TV slightly smaller than the one at Junes. You'll likely guess that it'll get used later, which it does: Namatame gets thrown in there as revenge for Nanako's death, or Adachi will jump through it as an escape route.
• During a tidbit in late October, Nanako is mentioned to have attended an anonymous interview regarding her school, which comes to play during November 5th.

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