Persona 4’s Investigation Team faced many challenges while trying to solve the serial murder case that plagued the small town of Inaba. While their investigation skills were put to the test, their ability in battle was equally – if not more – important throughout the year.
Each member of the team brings something different to the table. While they each played an important role throughout the process, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. That’s especially true when it comes to their Personas. Each Persona has something that only it can do, and they all bring something different to the battlefield. This is how every member of the Investigation Team in Persona 4 ranks according to their Personas.
8 Rise Kujikawa – Himiko/Kanzeon/Kouzeon
Rise doesn’t do any of the fighting, but she plays a key role for the Investigation Team while they’re busy handling shadows. Though it doesn’t have any offensive capabilities, Rise’s Persona plays a key role in analyzing foes and their weaknesses.
She starts off with Himiko, a fairly decent Persona that slowly increases in power as players progress through her Social Link. It lets players detect weaknesses, restores HP and SP, and performs a myriad of other helpful actions that players will find to be invaluable as they go through the game. After maxing out her Social Link, Rise has a breakthrough and her Persona transforms into Kanzeon.
Kouzeon is Rise’s ultimate Persona, and comes with some much-needed additions that make battles much easier for her friends. Its Complete Analysis ability reveals all elemental affinities an enemy has. That saves the rest of the team a lot of trial and error in their efforts during battle.
7 Teddie - Kintoki-Douji/Kamui/Kamui-Moshiri
Teddie played a pivotal role in helping the team navigate the TV World early on in the game, and though he was initially on the sidelines, eventually joined the fight when his own Persona awakened.
Using this character in the game is pretty fun, with Kintoki-Douji being a decent starting Persona with powerful Ice attacks. Maxing out his Social Link, which happens normally through the game, leads to his Persona transforming into Kamui.
Kamui-Moshiri is Teddie’s ultimate Persona. While it’s certainly an improvement, it’s also a bit of a wild card in battle. Its Kamui Miracle is a tough move to predict and can either hurt Teddie’s allies or help them greatly. It’s a high-risk, high-reward attack, with only one of the four possible outcomes of the move benefiting the party, with the other two putting them at a massive disadvantage and the fourth doing nothing.
6 Kanji Tatsumi – Take-Mikazuchi/Rokuten Maou/Takeji Zaiten
Kanji was a little misunderstood upon his introduction, and while he seemed rough and tough at first, that was only one side of his personality. Kanji approaches battle like he does most things; head-on.
Take-Mikazuchi is a powerful Persona that can dish out some really damaging Physical attacks along with certain Electric spells as well. Players will be glad that this character has a large HP pool, otherwise this character would’ve been one of the more frustrating ones to control in the game due to his low SP.
Takeji-Zaiten is Kanji’s ultimate Persona. It awakens from Dairoku Tenmaou, and the two do look pretty similar to one another. In battle, Takeji-Zaiten specializes in physical and electric attacks. Its ultimate move, The Man’s Way, can pay off big if it manages to hit, as it has a chance of downing and inflicting the dizzy status ailment to all foes. Its inconsistency doesn’t make it as useful as other Persona’s ultimate moves though.
5 Chie Satonaka - Tomoe/Suzuka Gongen/Haraedo-no-Okami
Chie is one of the first party members in the game and serves as one of the Investigation Team’s founding members. When it comes to battle, you can always count on her to rise up to the occasion, and her Personas reflect that side of her.
Her Persona, Tomoe, does have its fair share of Ice attacks, although this Persona really shines when players use its wide range of Physical attacks. This is fitting, since Chie loves physical activities, and upgrading her Persona to Suzuka Gongen makes it even more fun to use in battle.
Chie’s ultimate Persona is Haraedo-no-Okami. Like Chie, Haraedo-no-Okami is a hard hitter who has a penchant for physical attacks. It can unleash some fairly devastating attacks, but its most useful move pegs it in a support role. Its Dragon Hustle move increases all allies’ Attack, Defense, and Hit/Evasion rate for 3 turns, making it an incredible Persona to have around in any given situation.
4 Yosuke Hanamura - Jiraiya/Susano-o/Takehaya Susano-o
Yosuke might seem like a bit of a goofball at times, but he plays a key role in the founding of the Investigation Team and really helps get things off the ground early on in the game. He’s a reliable person to have in battle, and his Persona reflects that aspect of his character.
Jiraiya is an especially cool Persona that uses Wind attacks to great effect. Since he’s a ton of fun to hang out with, maxing out his Social Link is no problem. The reward for this is Susano-o, which is a brilliant Persona that players can whip out in battle.
Takehaya Susano-o serves as Yosuke’s ultimate Persona and, just like Yosuke, it shouldn’t be overlooked because of its goofiness. Takehaya Susano-o mainly specializes in wind attacks, while also dabbling in Physical and Bless moves. Its Youthful Wind attack is a great alternative to Mediarama, as it moderately restores all party members’ health while giving them an increased Hit/Evasion rate for 3 turns.
3 Yukiko Amagi – Konohana Sakuya/Amaterasu/Sumeo-Okami
Yukiko might seem shy and timid upon first encountering her, but she can hold her own in a fight. It helps that she has one of the better ultimate Personas among all the Investigation Team.
For how mild-mannered she seems, it’s surprising just how fiery the attacks of her Persona, Konohana Sakuya, really are. With sufficient investment into her interesting Social Link, players can unlock a better version of her Persona, called Amaterasu.
Sumeo-Okami is Yukiko’s ultimate Persona, and like Yukiko’s previous Persona Amaterasu, it specializes in Fire and Bless spells. It’s one of the most useful Personas in the game, but not for the reason you might be thinking of. While Sumeo-Okami can be counted on to serve as the party healer, it has devastating offensive capabilities as well. With Fire Amp coupled alongside its ultimate move, Burning Petals, this Persona is nearly unstoppable.
2 Naoto Shirogane - Sukuna-Hikona/Yamato-Takeru/Yamato Sumeragi
Aside from being its smartest member, Naoto is also one of the Investigation Team’s best when it comes to battle. Naoto possesses a unique skill set, a trait that’s reflected in her ultimate Persona as well.
Sukuna-Hikona is a pretty powerful Persona that is a joy to whip out in battle. Unfortunately, due to Naoto being the last possible party member in the game, it can be quite a challenge to level up her Social Link without having to sacrifice other characters in the process. Thankfully, the end result is pretty worth it, with Yamato-Takeru being a really great Persona indeed.
Yamato Sumeragi is her Persona’s final form, with no real weaknesses. It reflects light and dark attacks and blocks fire attacks. It possesses a wide range of skills which makes it useful against all sorts of enemies. Its biggest selling point is its Shield of Justice move, which shields the patty from all damage just once. If used right, it can make all the difference in those big boss battles.
1 Yu Narukami - Izanagi/Izanagi-no-Okami
The leader of the Investigation Team, Yu Narukami has the ability to possess multiple Personas at once. This opens up a ton of different possibilities in battle, making him the group’s strongest asset.
He starts off with the Persona Izanagi, but players will discard this Persona over time. After all, Narukami’s Wild Card ability means that he can use as many Personas as he wants, which renders Izanagi pretty moot after a point.
Yu’s ultimate Persona is Izanagi-no-Okami, and it stands out as the strongest in the game hands down. Resistant to Physical, Fire, Wind, Ice, and Electrical attacks, Izanagi-no-Okami is tough to beat. It can learn a bunch of different skills as well, which makes it a huge asset against various enemies. Myriad Truths is an incredibly strong Almighty move, though it only serves as a scripted attack in Persona 4.
MORE:Persona: Yu Narukami Vs. Tatsuya Suou, Who Would Win In A Fight?
