LogFAQs > #895548253

Starting the Top 20! This writeup turned out way longer than I expected.

20. Yosuke Hanamura (Persona 4)

https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/11/115901/2125679-yosukep4g.png

"I'm weak. I'll probably always be weak."

Looking over my list, Yosuke is probably the most 'flawed' character on it. When people talk about liking flawed characters, what they usually mean is 'idealized character with acceptable issues'. Like someone who is headstrong and immature but otherwise competent at a lot of things (Tidus, Zidane, a lot of RPG protagonists), or someone who is bad at fighting and outwardly cowardly but makes up for it by being a genius tech support with inner courage (Otacon), or someone who is. Or (if you're Japan) and create a character with an actual serious mental issue with a questionable personality, you can just make sure they're a cute girl and call it a day (Futaba). I'm using my own characters as example because I'm like that too! We want our heroes to be heroes, especially likable heroes. There's a reason why Mishima in Persona 5 is such an unpopular character even though he's very realistically written and has a better character arc than most of the playable cast - he's super weak (in many ways) and completely lacks charisma. Shinji from Evangelion and Eren from Attack on Titan are examples of the protagonist being in this boat, but even then they're still important and usually useful in a fight.

I started with all that because I don't think Yosuke fits into the 'idealized character with acceptable issues' criteria for a lot of people's favorite 'flawed' characters. Yosuke isn't charismatic. In fact, he's the opposite. Persona 4 Arena dubs Yosuke 'the disappointment as soon as he opens his mouth' and it's amazingly accurate. Yosuke can be very rude and outright mean at times. Sometimes intentionally in the good-natured-ribbing sort of way, but often unintentionally, and even when doing it intentionally he usually has to be directly told when he crosses a line. So, naturally, he's not very popular at school. You can partially blame the Junes situation (his dad is in charge of the store and it's crippling their small-town economy) but it's really only making things worse instead of being the source of the problem. Yosuke doesn't seem to have many friends when you arrive in town, and I doubt he ever would have formed a bunch of close friendships like he did with the Investigation Team if that whole incident had never occurred.

The worst part is, Yosuke doesn't have that many good parts about him. He's loyal and a true friend to the end but that's like...everyone in Persona 4 (and a lot of games) so he doesn't stand out. He's not particularly smart, not particularly good at fighting, and in general doesn't excel at a single thing I can think of. It's easy for me to name at least one thing that every other party member in Persona 4 excels at. I'm not saying Yosuke is a dumpster fire of a person - not even close. But he's far from idealized. You could walk up to any random dude in Japan with Tidus hair and wearing headphones and find a Yosuke.
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Black Turtle did a pretty good job.