We’re going to cover a lot in this Persona 4 Naoto guide, so prepare yourself to dive into everything we know about the character. We’re so excited that Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden are finally out on Switch, so we thought we’d help you get up to speed, or introduce you to the many different characters, with our series of great guides.
If you’re trying to study up before buying these three classic RPGs on the Nintendo Switch be sure to check out all of our amazing guides. We’re covering topics like Persona 4 Marie, Persona 4 Chie, Persona 4 Teddie, Persona 4 Rise, Persona 4 Kanji, and our bumper guide on Persona 3 characters. If you want to know our thoughts, check out our Persona 4 Switch review and our Persona 3 Switch review.
Here you go folks, our guide covering Persona 4’s Naoto.
Who is Persona 4’s Naoto?
A descendant of a long line of famous detectives in the Shirogane family, Naoto is the shortest member of the team and purposefully androgynous in appearance, with short hair often buried underneath her detective-style cap. Naoto is introduced to the group during the investigation of the murders plaguing Inaba, and quickly deduces that Kanji will be the next victim. From here on out, she helps the SEES team out as much as possible, in her own way.
Naoto then enrolls in Yasogami High School, where people are amazed by her skills. She tells the main cast of characters that they’ve been treating the investigation as a game and vows to solve the mystery properly.
What is Naoto’s personality?
She lost her parents to a car crash at a young age (which seems to happen a lot to Persona characters), so Naoto is an orphan who often acts very mature for her age. Because of this, other members of The Investigation Team and her friends often call her ‘uptight’, as she likes to focus on the mission at hand. Wildly intelligent and great at finding clues, Naoto is revered in school, though her blunt personality does cause issues with some of the other students.
Naoto’s drive to be taken seriously as a detective further confirms her insecurities when officials look down on her because of her age and gender. Because of this she gets very frustrated with the conservative people of the police force and works even harder to be a great detective.
Is Naoto a boy or a girl?
Naoto was assigned female at birth and if you pursue her social link and romance her, she accepts her female identity. However, the sexism Naoto faces leads her to question whether or not she wants to be a girl and influences her androgynous style.
It is often debated amongst fans of the series whether Naoto is a transgender man who is seemingly ‘cured’ through a relationship with the protagonist, or if her presentation and gender dysphoria really do just stem from the misogynistic society she lives in. Either way, many trans Persona fans relate to Naoto’s struggles and see her character as representation.
What are Naoto’s skills?
With her mixture of skills and smarts, Naoto is a well-rounded character with a good mixture of stats. She has a base 66 str and 69 mag, and is fantastic later on in the game thanks to her Almighty skills. She does lack any real stand-out skills because of her spread of stats, which can be frustrating, and means it’ll take some work to make Naoto fully viable. But there are, at least, a lot of options. She can be a great elec caster in Persona 4 Golden thanks to access to Bufudyne and Ziodyne, but again, might not be the best option overall unless you utilize her versatility.
Here are the skills you can unlock through her social link:
- Invigorate one – Recovers three sp each turn in battle
- Mind Charge – Next magical attack will be 250% greater in power
- Invigorate 2 – Recovers five sp each turn in battle
- Heat Riser – Increases one ally’s attack, defense, and hit/evasion for three turns
- Invigorate 3 – recovers seven sp each turn in battle
We hope this guide helps you to get to know the fantastic detective known as Naoto, though you can get to know her even better through the game, so make sure to check out our Persona 4 Switch review.