History Characters / Persona3SocialLinksAndNPCs

* LoveInterestTraitor: He's a romance option for the female protagonist, and develops feelings for the male protagonist. He is also Nyx's Appraiser, who will call her down to bring about the Fall, and subconsciously led the protagonist back to Tatsumi Port Island so they could collect his missing pieces and allow this to happen. It's not something he actually wants to do, however

* MeaningfulAppearance: The mole under his left eye is a [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%AA%E3%81%8D%E3%81%BC%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8D nakibokuro]], and according the ''Portable'' fanbook, represents the tears he cannot shed. It also foreshadows the fact that he and Pharos are the same person.

* RedStringOfFate: [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/d/d6/Duo_bridge.png/revision/latest?cb=20160918153011 This art from the movies]] shows him and the protagonist connected by a red (headphone) string.

* AmbiguouslyBi: He is quite flirty with the girls and he can be romanced by the female protagonist but he also tells the female protagonist that he would like her even if she was a man during Rank 4 of his Social Link. ''Reload'' also has him joke about flirting with the male protagonist in their new scenes together. The ambiguity is pretty much thrown out the window from December onwards, where he outright confess he wants to be more than friends with the male protagonist, as well as telling him he "never thought he'd feel this way" on December 31, and using lines that are exclusive to his romance route if his Linked Episodes are completed.

* TheBattleDidntCount: Nyx Avatar is very upfront that the battle with him is irrelevant: no matter who wins or loses the fight, he cannot be destroyed as he's part of Nyx and the Fall will come. He's only bothering to indulge SEES to allow them some sort of closure before the end. True enough, after he "dies", his body rises up to meet the rest of Nyx and the Fall begins.

* OccultBlueEyes: His unnaturally blue eyes are the most obvious sign that he's more than he seems, [[spoiler: as he turns out to be a Shadow connected to Nyx]].

* AmbiguouslyBi: He is quite flirty with the girls and he can be romanced by the female protagonist but he also tells the female protagonist that he would like her even if she was a man during Rank 4 of his Social Link. ''Reload'' also has him joke about flirting with the male protagonist in their new scenes together. The ambiguity is pretty much thrown out the window from December onwards, where he outright confess he wants to be more than friends with the male protagonist, as well as [[spoiler: telling him he "never thought he'd feel this way" on December 31, and using lines that are exclusive to his romance route if his Linked Episodes are completed]].

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: His bond with the protagonist is what humanizes and teaches him to value life [[spoiler: as Pharos]]. In ''Reload'', he tells that protagonist [[spoiler: that he came back to him as Ryoji Mochizuki because he wanted to see him again]], and is implied to be [[spoiler: fighting back against Nyx's influence as Nyx Avatar in order to avoid attacking the protagonist whenever possible]]. On 3/4, the protagonist receives a simple "Thank you" message, [[spoiler: implied to be from Ryoji]], showcasing his gratitude even from the other side.

* BirdsOfAFeather: He has shades of this with both protagonists. For the male protagonist, he attempts to connect with him in ''Reload'' over a shared love of music, and notes that they seem to have a lot in common. For the female protagonist, they have similar personalities, and certain official anthology comics emphasize that they are the same. [[spoiler: Given that he lived inside both of them for ten years, there is a narrative reason for this]].
* BondingThroughSharedEarbuds: Does this with the protagonist in the third movie, as well as [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/d/d6/Duo_bridge.png/revision/latest?cb=20160918153011 this official art.]]
* ButNotTooForeign: His backstory has him return from having lived from overseas, and one comment from a female student implies he's not fully Japanese. [[spoiler: This may be because Thanatos is a Greek god.]]

* CosmicMotifs: His last name can be read as "full moon." [[spoiler: Given his role in the narrative, this isn't surprising]].

* CuteMonsterBoy: [[spoiler: His true identity is Death, but his human form is a {{Bishounen}}.]]

* FinishingEachOthersSentences: A RunningGag in the third film. Whenever Makoto says something, Ryoji tends to finish his thought for him. Has a somewhat tragic CallBack in the fourth film, where [[spoiler: Makoto finishes Nyx Avatar's sentence instead]].

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Becomes this with Makoto in the third film.

* {{Irony}}: In ''Reload'', Ryoji's music box seems to play the song "Tsubasa wo Kudasai." In it, the singer asks to be granted wings so they can fly towards the free sky where there's no sadness. [[spoiler: When Ryoji does acquire wings, it's because he's become Nyx Avatar, overtaken by Nyx's will and forced to bring about the Fall]].

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: He says in rank 8 that the female protagonist's life matters to him more than his own. During his romance route/if his Linked Episodes are completed, [[spoiler: he gets additional lines on December 31 where he will beg the protagonists to kill him, because more than anything he doesn't want them to suffer]].

* {{Leitmotif}}: In the movies, it's the song "Next Move", which plays when he introduces himself to Makoto, with a remix called "Reunion" playing when he joins Makoto's class and an arranged version playing [[spoiler: when he goes back to sleep at the end of the fourth movie]]. ''Reload'' gives him what appears to be "Tsubasa wo Kudasa", which plays on his music box.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Becomes a gender-flipped platonic version for Makoto in the third film. And a possibly romantic version for the female protagonist's Fortune S. Link.

* MouthOfSauron: His job in regards to Nyx, speaking for her and acting as her Herald for The Fall. It is reinforced in ''The Answer'' which showed that Nyx was not truly evil and was only giving humanity what she thought they wanted.

* NightmareFetishist: He has shades of this in ''Reload'', where he seems rather fascinated with the idea of the riverbank in Kyoto being a former execution site, as well as the afterlife in general. [[spoiler: Given his true identity is Death...]]

* PowerFloats: Does this in the movies, after [[spoiler: TheReveal that he's Death]].

* SingleTargetSexuality: His Social Link and Linked Episodes both imply he may be a case of this towards the protagonists, despite his seemingly flirtatious nature. In the female protagonist's route, he states that she's the only one there is for him, and his relationship with her is considered genuine, in contrast to how he acts around other girls. For the male protagonist, it's shown that his flirting is merely an attempt to form connections, and he doesn't understand what it truly means to "like" someone until he realizes he wants himself and the protagonist to be more than friends. After the male protagonist [[spoiler: chooses to spare him on New Year's Eve]], Ryoji even states that he never thought he'd feel this way as he gives him the music box.

* AmbiguouslyBi: He is quite flirty with the girls and he can be romanced by the Female Protagonist but he also tells the Female Protagonist that he would like her even if she was a man during Rank 4 of his Social Link. ''Reload'' also has him joke about flirting with the Male Protagonist in their new scenes together.

* CasanovaWannabe: He starts flirting with almost every girl in school on his first day and is mildly successful.

* DejaVu: This is why he is attracted to the female protagonist in his S. Link.

* TheDragon:To Nyx technically, since he's Nyx's Avatar. He's just a mere extension though.

* {{Expy}}: Of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Kaworu Nagisa]]. He shows up mysteriously at the end of the story, and turns out to be one of the monsters that the heroes have been fighting [[HumanoidAbomination having taken human form]]. He realizes this, and offers to allow the main character to kill him.

* FinishingEachOthersSentences: A RunningGag in the third film. Whenever Makoto says something, Ryoji tends to finish his thought for him.

* HiddenDepths: The Female protagonist realizes that he is very smart and actually very gentle and brooding/thoughtful. This also extends to the male protagonist in ''Reload''.

* IfItsYouItsOkay: States to the Female Protagonist that he would like her, even if she were a boy.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: He says in rank 8 that the female protagonist's life matters to him more than his own.
* LadykillerInLove: A serial flirt, he can fall in love with the female protagonist.

* LoveHurts: With the female protagonist. His feelings for her are raw and painful.

** Downplayed heavily in the manga and anime adaptations, as well as all the game's remakes beyond ''FES'', as he gets varying degrees of additional characterization in all of them.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Although he believed strongly in egalitarianism, he always hoped that it would be ''other'' people's daughters fighting Shadows.

* RedHerring: His abrupt appearance after the player has defeated all of the midnight shadows, intimidating looks and status as the head of the impossibly powerful organization that controls nearly the entire country from behind the scenes might lead you to think that he will be revealed to be the game's true BigBad. He isn't, and is actually a perfectly nice and heroic guy.