Shadow Yosuke

Shadow Yosuke is the first Shadow boss in Persona 4. It is the Shadow Self of Yosuke Hanamura. Shadow Yosuke represents Yosuke's resentment of ending up in Inaba, his desire for stimulation in the quiet town and his insecurity in being alone.

Appearances[]

• Persona 4 / Golden: Boss
  • Persona 4 Manga: Minor Antagonist
  • Persona 4: The Animation: Minor Antagonist
  • Persona 4: The Magician: Antagonist
• Persona 4 Arena: Boss (Yosuke Story Route)
  • Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character

Design[]

Shadow Yosuke takes the form of a cartoonish camouflaged smiling frog with a body on top; the body and frog resemble his Persona. The frog-like body has a super-hero cape-wearing character fused into its back.

Shadow Yosuke carried over these motifs into Yosuke's Persona Jiraiya:

• Shadow Yosuke's (SY) toad eyes as Jiraiya's Ears
• SY's human eyes as Jiraiya's eyes
• SY's toad mouth as Jiraiya's V-shaped section near his neck.
• SY's human's scarf as Jiraiya's scarf
• The camouflage pattern seen on SY's toad body appears at the end of Jiraiya's pants and sleeves.
• SY's black upper body as Jiraiya's.

Profile[]

Shadow Yosuke appears in the ruins of the Midnight Channel's version of Saki Konishi's family store in the Twisted Shopping District. He claims Yosuke's motives in joining the protagonist were purely for self-gratification and to indulge in something new and exciting. He also dismissed the death of Saki as Yosuke's excuse for the excursion into the Channel, an unimportant event that led to something far more interesting. Yosuke's rage at the Shadow's words led him to deny it, prompting the Shadow to power itself up and try to kill him.

The protagonist defeats the Shadow, with Yosuke regaining consciousness but still reluctant to face himself. Under the encouragement of Teddie and the protagonist, Yosuke painfully admits that he does feel that way, but it is always hard to face one's true feelings. Sensing Yosuke's resolution, the Shadow transforms into Jiraiya, and becomes Yosuke's Persona.

Persona 4 Arena[]

Hinokagutsuchi takes the form of Yosuke in the final battle of his story arc.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax[]

A generic shadow taking the form of Yosuke. It has no relation to the real Yosuke or his shadow (the latter which has long been transmogrified into Jiraiya.

Stats[]

Strategy[]

The fight with Shadow Yosuke is designed to act as a tutorial about guarding, and Shadow Yosuke always performs actions in this cycle: Wind of Oblivion → Power Charge → Attack → Guard. Simply guard whenever he Power Charges or Guards so that the protagonist takes less damage from his physical attacks and doesn't grant him an extra turn when he uses Wind of Oblivion.

The rest of the fight is easily handled due to Shadow Yosuke's weakness to Zio. Knock him down for the One More, and then use that extra turn to either heal, buff with Rakukaja, or even use Cleave to exploit his damage vulnerability while he's Downed.

In Golden, Shadow Yosuke wastes his first One More "laughing maniacally" instead of using Power Charge so that his first attack is less devastating. The fight otherwise remains unchanged.

Quotes[]

P4 Anime (English)[]

• *laughter* "It's so sad. Nobody understands you. But the truth is you're the one who finds everyone & everything to be a pain in the ass.
  Because... you're me." (appearing before Yosuke)
• "I'm you, of course.
  Which means I know everything about you. You made everyone believe that you came here looking for Saki. What a fat load of crap. Truth is you only came because you were looking for some fun, weren't ya? What else is there for you to do in this backwards shithole town?
  You were thinking there was a chance you might get lucky and become a hero. The death of your beloved Saki was just the excuse you needed to make the trip. *laughter*
  I am a Shadow of your true, inner self. I am your Shadow."
• *laughter* "Nice! Keep going! C'mon, say it again!
  *laughter* Yeah, you're right, I'm my own self now. I ain't you at all!" (Transformation)
• *laughter* "You put on a good show pretending to be carefree and happy-go-lucky, but you're terrified of being alone."
• "I know everything. I know just how pathetic you really are."
• "You see that everybody just barely tolerates you, and yet, you still try to pretend that everyone's your friend."
• "Living in the boonies bores you, so you decided to ask her out. All you wanted was some cheap thrills!"
• "You're better off dead!" (before getting punched by Izanagi)

Battle Quotes[]

Gallery[]

Persona 4

Early Concept Art for Shadow Yosuke

Concept art for Shadow Yosuke boss

Persona 4: The Animation

Shadow Yosuke's appearance in P4A

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Shadow Yosuke render in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Trivia[]

• Shadow Yosuke has a lookalike in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, the boss form of Yosukesaurus, who was driven into becoming a frenzied carnivorous dinosaur by his Herbivore Dinosaurs "comrades." Despite this, Yosukesaurus and Shadow Yosuke/the real Yosuke are not related to each other.