Player InformationPlayer name: Amanda
Contact:
leanpockets Are you over 18: Yes (26)
Characters in The Box Already: n/a
Character InformationCharacter Name: Yosuke Hanamura
Canon: Persona 4
Canon Point: Post true ending
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive
History: megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Yosuke_Hanamura (the below personality section re-used from an app I wrote that required its own history section, so it's written in a way that omits details about the plot/context itself. I can provide extra explanation if needed!)
Personality: Physically clumsy and lightly built, Yosuke comes off as a class clown even before he opens his mouth. The first time he's seen in the game, he's crashing his bicycle. He's best described as the jokester best friend type. Most people will quickly notice that he's an awkward dork, often speaking without thinking and with the belief that he's being more charming than he actually is. This gives him an air of friendly confidence, but also makes it look like he doesn't take things seriously and has a general sense of apathy. This is partially true. He is easily bored and greatly prefers the more exciting, cosmopolitan life of the city where he grew up, where he doesn't stand out as a symbol of the department store ruining the town's family businesses.
When his jokes enter teasing territory it can start to look like he lacks respect for others. However, this is mostly just his impulsive personality showing through. While he may talk without thinking and inadvertently hurt people's feelings, he is quick to backpedal when he realizes he's gone too far. While he is quick to apologize, he tries to do it in a more indirect way that will cause as little extra tension (and embarrassment for himself) as possible. He is often preoccupied with maintaining a certain appearance on top of carrying around all the insecurities that come with being a teenager. In his case, unfortunately, this makes him act casually sexist and homophobic at times, the way one might expect from a typical seventeen year old boy. (In canon he almost always gets a comedic come-uppance for being offensive, though.)
Unfortunately, Yosuke is not as perceptive to others' emotional reactions as he could be, and this is what can cause him some problems. As mentioned above, he's usually very apologetic when he sees that he's hurt someone, but seeing it at all is the part that doesn't always happen. When Saki was murdered, he was completely shocked to find out about her contempt for him and that all of her kindness was facade to help make her life less stressful to deal with. Yosuke had never picked up on this, instead firmly believing that they were good friends and flirting with her.
Saki's death and facing his Shadow are what starts to reshape Yosuke's personality and reveal his insecurities. His cheerful exterior is a way for him to avoid or escape from facing how others might actually feel about him. He had to admit to himself that he hated living in the small town he was forced to move to, and that he was desperate for any kind of excitement - Saki's death was "welcome" in the sense that it gave him something new to focus on. The town's anger towards Junes leads him to distrust others in fear of being hated for something pretty much out of his control. Deep down, he regarded everyone around him as potential enemies, while simultaneously wanting their attention and friendship in order to feel secure in a foreign new town.
When he meets Souji, another transfer student from the city like him, he is initially happy to know someone that he might be able to relate to. However, Souji quickly makes friends and excels in school upon arriving in Inaba, in contrast to the way Yosuke failed to entirely fit in and adjust. Yosuke began to feel jealous of Souji at the same time he was sticking by his side to help investigate the murders. Eventually, he admits to Souji that he didn't fully trust him either and was jealous of his social popularity and leadership qualities. After insisting Souji punch him as a proper punishment for his selfishness, he promises to live his life to the fullest every day, whether it's a boring life or exciting.
By the canon point I am taking him from, Yosuke has gained some insight on both his feelings for the deceased Saki and his resentment of others. Even if Saki never cared for him and despised him, he could be happy knowing that he was able to make her smile sometimes, because the kindness and affection he felt for her was real. Yosuke does his best to stop seeing others as props that help define himself, and he promises to try to enjoy the time he spends with them and respect them as individuals.
One of the reasons Yosuke is so hard on himself is his strong sense of right and wrong. Because of his self-esteem problems, he tends to be forgiving of others' negative opinion of him. However, when it comes to wrongs perpetrated against people other than himself, he is much less forgiving. His sense of loyalty to the few friends he has makes him extremely protective of them, and instead of forgiving any wrongdoing done to them, he holds grudges.
The desire to bring Saki's murderer to justice is his main motivator in canon. He can get extremely defensive and irritable when it comes to those things he actually has a strong opinion about. When this mixes with his shortsightedness, Yosuke is at risk of making brash decisions on the cuff, fueled by emotion and assumptions that may not be accurate. At one point in canon, Yosuke nearly sends someone to their death based on the belief that he was the person responsible for Saki's murder; he's stopped by Souji and later thanks him for preventing him from doing something he would have seriously regretted.
But, when it comes to problems that don't get Yosuke fired up emotionally, he can provide valuable objective insight and help others maintain a more detached perspective. He has a good memory, and when he takes the time to stop and think and appreciate the gravity of a decision, he can reason through things fairly well.
Items on your character at canon point: At his canon point, Yosuke will have on his school uniform, his red headphones and music player, a watch and cellphone, shoes, and a pair of orange-framed glasses. His Persona (more below) would fall into "summonable weapon/monster" under the rules, so I think he gets to keep it, but please let me know if I am mistaken on that.
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses: Yosuke has the power of Persona, which allows him to summon a manifestation of his own personality - specifically the "mask" that he presents to the world around him in order to get through everyday life. His regular Persona is named Jiraiya, but at the canon point I'm taking him from, it has transformed into a stronger version named Susano-o, thanks to Yosuke's personal growth. In the game, Susano-o can be summoned to cast a variety of magic on Yosuke's behalf. Most of its spells are based on powerful wind magic, basic healing magic, and boosting Yosuke's and his allies' speed. Susano-o can also physically attack enemies, but at the cost of Yosuke's physical health (in contrast to spells, which use up magic). Susano-o is immune to wind magic that may be cast on it, and resistant to fire. Aside from his Persona, Yosuke is an otherwise normal teenage boy of average height and strength. He'll be as susceptible to disease and injury as any other human, and while he can use his Persona to heal others, this power is not unlimited and he can't reverse death or afflictions. Although he is nimble on his feet, he has no formal training in combat or survival.
I think I talked pretty thoroughly on his emotional strengths and weaknesses in the personality section, but the main highlights are that he is prone to brash decisions and jumping to conclusions and he's often controlled by the emotions he's feeling at any particular moment. His insecurity can cause him to both fail to trust others and push others away with his forced apathetic attitude and insensitive comments/jokes. However, he is a loyal friend to those he trusts, and he tries to do the right thing and be a good person even if his attempts land off-center.
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample: Here is an action bracket
meme thread with the Souji who is currently reserved! If that doesn't work, I can link others.
Prose Log Sample:
The first day of his last year of school was, as it turns out, the biggest bummer of them all. If someone asked Yosuke a year ago what he thought he'd be feeling today, he definitely wouldn't have said "sad." Maybe relieved to almost be done with homework and exams, or pumped up for the prospect of getting out of this town again, or anxious about having to start studying for college entrance exams. But so much happened in the past year - a lot of bad things, (really bad things,) but a lot of good things, too. Things that made him feel better about himself and about being here, keeping him from the hollow excitement he might have predicted the year before.
That's why the sadness he felt now, sharp in his chest like heartburn, was so strange. Contradictory. It was the first day of his senior year at school! It should have been exciting, but he felt listless as he stepped into the classroom and walked to his seat.
Was this really sadness, or something else? Something bittersweet. He chewed on that feeling as people filed in one by one, greeting each other and gabbing about what they did over winter break. A couple of acquaintances gave him a wave and a grin, which he managed to give a thumbs up to in return. As soon as the moment had passed, though, he went back to staring at the empty desk in front of him.
There wouldn't be Yu's loose mop of grey hair there, in the seat in front of him, to stare at this year while he tried not to fall asleep. Chie and Yukiko would smile and greet him as friends instead of distant classmates (although he was definitely thankful that Chie decided to stop kicking him so hard). And... he still wouldn't see Saki's smiling face anymore, but he could finally think of her without feeling ashamed and frustrated.
...it welled up. He found himself hunching over his desk dejectedly, face pressed flat against the writing surface. What the hell... why was he being so damn mopey? There was nothing to mope about. Maybe it was good Yu and Saki weren't there to see what a sentimental wuss he was being. No - they'd probably gently tell him to pull it together, if anything.
Swallowing, he sat back up and shook his head as if throwing away his gloom. He promised himself he'd live every day to its fullest now, and that's what he was going to do.