CANON HISTORY: Yosuke @ SMT_Wiki

Yosuke comes with a maxed Social Link with the Protagonist and is from the True End of Persona 4: The Golden. While it doesn't have the same ending variation as it does with the Protagonist, at least it means that Yosuke didn't help kill a guy in the television and was part of finding out who the real culprit behind everything was, including the salty goddess. (This also leads him to getting the worst haircut of his life.)

CANON PERSONALITY: Yosuke Hanamura is the Protagonist's second banana, first social link, and best friend. Given the fact that his Arcana is the Magician, this doesn't come as a surprise. In the Persona franchise, the Magician has become the de-facto right-hand-man and often first male social link. Yosuke is no exception, making a glorious series of first impressions where he's kicked in the nuts, crashes his bike once, and then again. It's through a sudden show of empathy or simply pity that the Protagonist helps Yosuke out of his trash can, and from that moment on you pretty much have your best friend and first party member.

Despite his unfortunate introduction, Yosuke maintains an upbeat attitude that seems to get him through his various blunders throughout the game. He's very friendly, having no problem approaching other students and peers with a smile on his face. He's arguably one of the most outspoken members of the Investigation Team, usually having some sort of comment or appraisal of any given situation or interaction, warranted or otherwise. One wouldn't call him brash, as he's not necessarily assertive, but he is open in many respects. The first thing that comes to his mind appears to be what also comes out of his mouth, making him a prime example of the foot-in-mouth syndrome. He can come off sarcastically or inadvertently (or purposefully) insulting someone. His tendency to pick on Kanji's own insecurities is such an example, although it's intended to be teasing, it can toe the line. In such instances, he's liable to get dirty looks or shunned from his friends or, if it's Chie in particular, reprimanded physically. It's played off mostly as comic relief at Yosuke's expense, though he usually deserves it. He's known to be a bit of a complainer as well, ragging on about obligations at school or at work, about what it's like living in the countryside so far away from the hustle and bustle of city life that he so loves. There's a humorous tone to it, but it's usually negative in nature.

That doesn't mean that he's just a blundering Negative Nancy, though. For all the verbal faux pas he stumbles into, Yosuke often backtracks when he realizes the impact of his words either immediately or sometime after when he's had ample time to think about it. It's not easy to admit that you're wrong, but when someone else's feelings are at stake, Yosuke does it readily. This is just one of the ways in that he is actually a very understanding and caring person. For all that he says without thinking, Yosuke is surprisingly empathetic. He often tries to imagine what someone is thinking or feeling in a given situation, especially the victims of the murder cases that they're investigating. The emotional impact of events is never lost on him. He also tends to do thoughtful things without prompting, such as taking up extra shifts at Junes to help out, his AI taking over the job as healer in battle when Yukiko isn't there or otherwise occupied, as well as letting Teddie live in his closet. We don't actually see how that conversation and convincing his parents went, but he gives up his personal space to someone else somewhat indefinitely without looking for a thank you or reason other than Teddie needed a place to stay. A sixteen going on seventeen year-old boy giving up all that personal time and space for a teammate that isn't even human? It's more often in what he doesn't say that shows just how caring Yosuke actually is.

For as talkative and expressive as he is, there are still things he keeps close to his heart. His Shadow is the first that's encountered in the game, which allows players to see how insecure he is about things from the start:

"You put on a good show of being carefree and happy-go-lucky 'cause you're so terrified of being alone." While Yosuke is a genuinely friendly person by nature, it turns out that he feels a large disconnect once he moves out to the country. He left all his friends behind, though we find out that he didn't feel much connection with them either given the fact that they almost never reach out to him once he leaves. So Yosuke's feelings of loneliness just progress when he's separated from the life that he knew, and furthermore Junes' reputation becomes his own. The town blames the introduction of the Super Store for destroying their local businesses, and not without reason. He hears it at school, in the streets, and even while he is working at Junes. Yet, despite all this, he never confronts anyone about it and continues to go on as if he hadn't heard anything. When it's personal he's a very non-confrontational person, despite the fact we see him arguing comically with his friends a lot of the time. To Yosuke, it was easier to ignore and smile with the hope that people would still talk to him than to potentially lose contact all together. Others and Yosuke himself have described him as being "too nice", showing how willing and sometimes too he is to be accommodating. It was his way of coping with being a potential social outcast. When the rest of the Investigation Team, and mostly the Protagonist, accept Yosuke regardless of his shortcomings, he learns that there will always be someone out there who you become special to just by virtue of living. It helps him accept himself.

"You just came because you thought it sounded like a good time! What else is there to do out in this shithole?" His complaints about moving out to the 'boonies', as he puts it, aren't untrue. He does hold resentment for his situation, shying away from some of the activities after school that might otherwise let him meet other people and bond with the locals. He constantly drives the point home that he's from the city and even latches onto the Protagonist right away in the hopes that, also being a transfer from the city, he will share a sense of camaraderie. However, he realizes that the Protagonist adapts to the country life right away and furthermore, Yosuke learns that, "It isn't where you are, but what you do while you're there". Once he finds meaning in what he's doing by the murder investigations as well as finally gathering a group of friends, he feels more secure and even learns to love Inaba to the point he wants to protect it and the people that live there.

"You're just trying to act like a big shot...If all went well, hey, maybe you could even be a hero!" As his Shadow points out, Yosuke's boredom of provincial life causes him to seek out something more exciting to do. Going into the TV World, playing detective, all give Yosuke the sense that he's doing something more with his life. He learns that it's not necessarily a bad thing, although his initial reasons were partly self-serving and part in due to his genuine concern about Saki's death. He realizes that the point isn't to be a hero, but to do good things.

When he accepts his Shadow, he gains his Persona, however it does not mean a full acceptance of himself. Throughout his social link, we find out that he still has trouble with things time to time, many of his worries still center around Saki Konishi. She had been the first person to really reach out to him when he arrived in Inaba and consequently the first person he really latches onto. However, he finds out after her death that her family resented her for working for the enemy store (Junes) while their family business went down. In turn, he learns that she may have just been friendly with him out of obligation, as the echoes of her consciousness said she considered him a "pain in the ass" and got "too excited" when she was nice to him. It hurt him then and continues to hurt him throughout the game, but in the end, he never blames her for it. He realizes that she was hurting and that even if she didn't actually like him, she still helped him feel welcome and related to him in a way that no one else did at the time. It would be so easy to write her off after learning how she really felt, yet Yosuke still sees her in a positive light and just wishes that she could have been happy. He wants to live his life in a way that would have made her happy. It shows remarkable strength of character and a surprising amount of understanding and forgiveness for other people, more than he really gets credit for.

He's not a terribly popular guy at school. He describes himself as "fashionable, average grades, friendly", so why wouldn't he be popular? The fact that he sometimes lacks tact may be part of it. He really does look for acknowledgment from people, not necessarily for what he does, but just that he is. Yosuke confides in the Protagonist and admits that he wanted to be acknowledged by him most of all. Yosuke admits that initially he was jealous, not only of how the Protagonist came to his power (seemingly effortlessly), his status as a leader, as well as how easily he acclimates to country life, unlike Yosuke who struggles for many months. He "thought they were the same". However, he comes to recognize that those feelings are more about him than the Protagonist, and they turn into admiration instead. He needed to get over himself. He's constantly complimenting the Protagonist's skills in battle, even his choice in clothing, and when the Protagonist does well in school (when Yosuke notably does not), he says he's "happy for him like they were his own grades". Yosuke is always the first to call the Protagonist after watching the Midnight Channel and he also tends to be the one to organize events on the Protagonist's behalf. It's maybe over-enthusiastic at times, but the two operate well together.

Throughout the course of the game, with the Protagonist being silent with few dialogue options, Yosuke often acts as the player's mouthpiece. He summarizes events, brings up new thoughts and ideas at the same pace the game progresses, as well as draw connections between clues and offer insights to different options the player may select. While this is a mechanic of the game itself to allow the player to more easily navigate the story, it also shows that Yosuke has a fairly analytical nature that might appear contrary to his more jokey stereotype. He does have a decent sense of humor, liking to make wise cracks and light jokes, keeping the tone of things light-hearted in group settings. It goes in line with his friendly disposition. However, this does not actually contradict his perceptiveness. It goes hand in hand with how he watches other people and empathizes with them, but he is able to put pieces together and draw conclusions and colorations that shows a level of more methodical thinking. Despite this, he considers himself only an average student and is often shown being worried about his grades. This is likely due to where he places importance and where he feels motivated than actual ability. Studying for his motorcycle license, for example, Yosuke readily stayed up the night before and went to take the test the next day. However, he often puts off school work and asks the Protagonist for answers in class. The investigation, in turn, is of much greater interest to him, which he works through readily. Due to this, he also acts a sort of second-in-command to the Protagonist, who says as much when he has an actual speaking role in later game installments. (Arena/Arena Ultimax and Dancing All Night.)

He does display moments of insightfulness and clarity, not just towards the case, but also towards the Protagonist and his own personal growth. He's prone to giving somewhat sappy speeches as he comes to term with his own feelings, but he's honest and in tune with them at the end of the game. Other than the Protagonist, he seems to be closest to Chie, presumably one of the first people he interacted with once coming to Inaba. Though they have a somewhat volatile relationship, they hang out a lot, tease one another, and apparently text and talk on the phone fairly often. Yukiko is more aloof, only really getting to know her through Chie and his previous attempts to ask her out. Yosuke does want to see himself as something of a ladies' man, but his attempts to be smooth and woo women generally fall flat, and sometimes literally on his face. He comes up with childish plans such as his "Up Close and Personal" plan to have girls ride on the back of their mopeds, which ended in his getting broken and having to ride on the back of Kanji's bike. Ah, well.

Yosuke tends to be on the clumsier side, as shown in how we first meet him crashing into a trash can. (An ongoing joke in the fandom.) We also see him tossing and dropping his knives in the TV World as well as comically ending up face first and ass in the air on several other occasions. Despite this, his Agility stat is actually fairly high and in Arena and Arena Ultimax, he's the fastest character in the game. His Luck stat is unsurprisingly his lowest, probably reflecting his shitty luck in personal interactions and with physics in general outside of battle. He appears to have a constant flow of energy, often tapping his foot while idling. He's also rarely seen without his trademark headphones which hang around his neck, though he puts them on in the TV World. The significance of them is not touched upon in game, but he is known to like (questionable) foreign music.

All in all, Yosuke could easily be the simple comic relief side-kick, but he's a much more complex character. His sunny disposition hides insecurities and fears of loneliness, yet he honestly wants to be helpful and do good in a world that he had learned to resent. He's both loud and tactless sometimes and understanding and empathetic at others. His reasoning skills make him a competent ally and his caring nature make him a good companion. He knows that he still has a ways to go in the path of improving himself and becoming a better person, but he knows that as long as he has friends who will accept him and go with him along the way, the journey itself will be worth it.

SKILLS/ABILITIES:

➤ Agility. Yosuke has a high agility stat in comparison to most of his team and in the versus installment Persona 4 Arena, he is the fastest playable character. Light on his feet and always moving in battle, he does have good reaction time and evasive abilities. His attacks are known for being highly acrobatic, involving jumps and spins. He's still clumsy, though.

➤ Adequate Magic Output. Though not the highest or strongest of his party members, Yosuke is arguably the most balanced character in the game. (Save his poor Luck stat.) His magic reserves start off decent and continue to be so as he levels up, making him a good back-up healer when your main magic user is disabled or out of SP (Spirit Points). His abilities are primarily wind-based, status improvements for the party or against the enemy, and healing spells.

➤ Dual Weapons/Dual Produce. Yosuke's weapon style are fighting knives, which he's seen spinning and doing slash attacks. However, he originally started out with wrenches and you can also equip trout or corn as joke weapons. And he still uses them with deadly accuracy.

Given the name of the game, Yosuke is able to wield a Persona. At the status of his Social Link at his current canon point, Yosuke is lucky enough to have attained his Ultimate Persona Takehaya Susano-o, who looks like a dumbass.

Strength: 72/100 Magic: 69/100 Endurance: 68/100 Agility: 70/100 Luck: 35/100

Physical Attacks: -- Agi/Fire: Null/No effect Bufu/Ice: -- Zio/Lightening: Weak/Knocked down and shocked when attacked Garu/Wind: Drain/Restores HP if attacked Light: -- Dark: --

Garudyne	Deals heavy Wind damage to 1 foe.
Magarudyne	Deals heavy Wind damage to all foes.
Diarama	Moderately restores the HP of 1 ally.
Brave Blade	Deals severe Physical damage to 1 foe.
Wind Amp	Strengthens Wind attacks by 50%.
Wind Break	Nullifies 1 foe's Wind resistance (for 3 turns).
Dekaja	Nullifies stat bonuses on all foes.
Youthful Wind	Moderately restores party's HP and raises Hit/Evasion rate for 3 turns