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Riku: The Magician Arcana is commonly associated with action, initiative, self-confidence, immaturity, manipulation, and power.
Jeremy: Can't say I agree with the 'manipulation' part of that sentence, but immaturity? That describes these two perfectly. And wouldn't you know? They're the Magician Arcana, Persona Wielding, best friends of the protagonists.
Riku: 
The Mighty Strike-Out Slugger.
Jeremy: 
The Prince of Junes.
Riku: Seriously? 'Prince of Junes?'
Jeremy: It was either that or 'Captain Ressentiment.'
Riku:.....Fair enough. I'm Riku and he's Jeremy. And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win, a Death Battle.
Junpei Iori:
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Riku: What if I told you that there was an hour after Midnight. An hour that no one sees unless they have special abilities.
Jeremy: Yeah yeah. I got this. The hour after midnight is 1:00 AM. And nobody can see it because they’re probably asleep at that point. Anyone who can has the special ability known as ‘Staying up Late’.
Riku: I...can’t say your entirely wrong, but no. The hour after Midnight is known as the Dark Hour, and anyone who has a Persona or Apathy Syndrome can remain within it.
Jeremy: Well at least those guys get an extra hour of sleep. You built this whole thing up like it’s a bad thing. How can it possibly be bad?
Riku: Because of Shadows. That’s why. And to add the cherry on top, an enormous tower above the school of Gekkouken High looked over the city. To make things even worse, this tower would bring about the end of the world.
Jeremy: So these Persona people decided to join together and form a group. Now you might think that these people would be responsible adults, right? Nope! This is anime, damn it! The only responsible people here are the teenagers in high school! And a dog. And a kid from elementary. Man, they’re really desperate and irresponsible.
Riku: Well...responsibility is something Junpei Iori clearly doesn’t know the definition to.
Jeremy: There isn’t a whole lot to Junpei’s backstory other than the fact that he had an alcoholic father that he really doesn’t like. And when he’s not resenting his lame father, he’s hitting on Yukari. Little did he know, she had a Persona herself.
Riku: But that’s not all. Junpei himself has a Persona and discovered it when the Dark Hour came around.
Jeremy: When he found himself in this Dark Hour, he didn’t know what to do and hid in a convenient store. Later, Akihiko Sanada, another Persona user, found Junpei. As soon as both of them figured out Junpei could use a Persona, Akihiko decided to arrange Junpei to move in to the dorm with all the other Persona guys.
Riku: The group is called S.E.E.S. We can stop calling them ‘Persona guys’.
Jeremy: S.E.E.S. sounds worse, though.
Riku: Well it stands for Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.
Jeremy: It still sounds worse.
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Background:
-Name: Junpei Iori.
-Age: 19 currently.
-Height: 5’10” currently.
-Weight: N/A.
-Arcana: Magician.
-Is occasionally called ‘Stupei’ by Yukari.
-Joined S.E.E.S. for selfish reasons.
Riku: Now moving in to the S.E.E.S. dorm room sounded like hell for Yukari, it was heaven for Junpei.
Jeremy: For one, he could move away from his father. Two, Yukari was there. And three, he could be a hero.
Riku: Being a hero and getting glory was by far the biggest reason Junpei joined S.E.E.S. It was the most selfish reason out of everyone else’s.
Jeremy: Now Junpei would be completely useless if he didn’t do well in the battle field. And...he’s better at it than anything else, to be honest. Believe it or not, Junpei’s a high school student. Fighting Shadows and climbing a tower aren’t an everyday thing for him.
Riku: It might as well be at this point...assuming him, another party member, or Minato (Makato) don’t catch a cold. Point is, Junpei lacked combat training before going in. This is explained why he wields his sword like a baseball bat.
Jeremy: Well then he might as well just get a baseball bat.
Riku: He does, eventually. Junpei’s style of fighting is...unique. His gameplay in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is pretty different from others. Because Junpei is a baseball player, his fighting style revolves around baseball. What else?
Arsenal:
Sword(s):
-Weapons he used in most appearances.
-Wields them like baseball bats.
Baseball Bat:
-An actual baseball bat.
-Weapon he uses currently.
Evoker:
-A gun shaped tool produced by the Kirijo Group.
- Doesn’t actually shoot bullets.
-Contains a Plume of Dusk.
-Is nearly essential to summon one’s Persona.
Jeremy: ‘Evoker’ is either an incredibly stupid name, or an incredibly cleaver name.
Riku: Leaning towards cleaver. The Evoker is nearly essential for Junpei to summon his Persona with. It ‘evokes’ his Persona to come out and fight.
Jeremy: And hey, speaking of which, Junpei has a Persona! Let’s...let’s get on that. Like. Right now.
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Hermes:
Skills:
-Cleave: Deals slight Slash damage to 1 foe.
-Agi: Deals light Fire damage to 1 foe.
-Re Parta: Assist 1 ally who’s been knocked down.
-Rakukaja: Increases 1 ally’s defense.
-Assault Drive: Deals light Strike damage against 1 foe.
-Kill Rush: Deals light Strike to 1 foe 1-2 times.
-Agilao: Deals medium Fire damage to 1 foe.
-Torrent Shot: Deals light Pierce damage to 1 foe 1-3 times.
Immune to: None.
Resists: Fire.
Weak to: Wind.
Jeremy: Hermes is a powerful Persona indeed, but obviously not powerful enough. But don’t worry, it has an evolved form.
Riku: Long story short, Hermes fused with Medea, Chidori’s Persona, it gained an even powerful form.
Jeremy: And with a new form came a new, stupidly difficult to pronounce, name. Tris...Tresm...Tremgistia. Nailed it.
Riku: It’s...it’s Trismegistus.
Trismegistus:
Skills:
-Spring of Life: Restores 8% HP each turn.
-High Counter: 50% Chance of countering physical attacks.
-Agidyne: Deals heavy Fire damage to 1 foe.
-Brave Blade: Deals severe Slash damage to 1 foe.
-Gigantic Fist: Deals heavy Strike damage to 1 foe.
-Fire Break: Reduces 1 foe’s Fire resistance to average.
-Blade of Fury: Deals medium Slash damage to all foes 1-3 times.
-Vorpal Blade: Deals heavy Slash damage to all foes.
Immune to: Fire.
Resists: None.
Weak to: Wind.
Riku: Important thing to note is that both Hermes and Trismegistus can attack with the blades attached to their arms. Very useful for close range.
Jeremy: But hang on! We can’t explain this Persona and not include the best thing about it, it’s Instant Kill move.
Riku: Ah yes. The Explosive Level-Up Grand Slam. This move is...well, whacky. Trismegistus can take an opponent out into space, throw them back down, and then let Junpei strike a home run with his baseball bat.
Jeremy: This dude is like...a freaking beast...I mean think about it. His Persona would have to be extremely fast in order to move from the area all the way into space. And Junepi and his freaking bat would have to be strong enough to whack the poor person Trismegistus threw back down with enough strength to make a home run.
Riku: Well...there’s a problem with this move in general, and that’s it’s most likely exaggerated. Junpei is still human and has human limits. Saying his Instant Kill is his natural strength would leave me to believe the person he’s fighting is durable enough to survive re-entry of the planet’s atmosphere, let alone survive for more than a few seconds in space. And if you think that I think this is all hard to believe, then you’re right. Because if you think this is something that’s 100% legit, than that means Junpei is capable of dishing out a strike powerful enough to be stronger and harder than re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.
Jeremy: Well regardless if it’s an exaggeration, Junpei can still kick ass either way.
Riku: That is very true. As a matter of fact, Junpei has overcomes specific limits his teammates except for Minato (Makato) could not overcome.
Jeremy: He’s the only Non-Wild Card wielder to preform a Fusion with his Persona and another. And as of both Arena games, he’s been able to summon his Persona without the need of an Evoker. That’s pretty cool.
Riku: As impressive as that may sound, Akihiko is also capable of doing the same, and to greater lengths. But Junpei is still no slouch in combat.
Feats:
-Can easily cut/bash through Shadows without a Persona.
-Survived having Yukari’s Persona, Ion, knock into him.
-Was able to fight off against a powerful Ice using Shadow.
- Did need help from Minato (Makato) to finish it off.
-Tanked hits from boss Shadows.
- Including a powerful Wind attack from one.
-Can dodge Fire, Lighting, Wind, And Ice attacks.
-Can also dodge Light and Dark attacks.
- Doesn’t have FTL reaction speeds to be clear.
-Jumped from the music room’s celling to help Yukiko, Kanji, And Teddie fight his ‘Shadow’.
- Then hit an invisible barrier afterwards.
-Survived getting smashed through a wall by an enemy Shadow.
-Survived prolonged exposure to toxic gas.
-While tied up, knocked down Chidori, whom was threatening to kill him.
-After a failed attempt to escape he bathhouse, is implied to have been seriously beaten up by Mitsuru, Yukari, and Aigis, who may have used her guns.
-Was determined enough to get to Chirdori, not even her Persona’s fire attacks made him flee.
-So far, the only Persona User to gain a transfiguration through Fusion.
- Fusion can only really be done be the Wild Card.
-Was caught up in an indirect explosion that destroyed part of a bridge.
-Survived the encounter with Nyx.
- Really couldn’t do much, though.
Jeremy: There’s no doubt about it at all. Junpei is one hell of a fighter.
Riku: But like everyone, Junpei has his fair share of flaws. See, while Trismegistus does heal Junpei over time, this ‘healing factor’ can be overwhelmed. If taken too many bad hits, he’s sure to go down.
Jeremy: Yeah. Especially Wind attacks. Those can deal more damage to him than most other attacks. He also has no resistance to instant kill Light/Dark attacks.
Weaknesses:
-Pretty hot headed.
-Jealously of Minato’s (Makato’s) powers led to some bad judgement calls.
-Wind attacks.
-Limited SP.
-Some attacks use up HP.
- Again, HP will be gained over time.
-Has been shown to feel Persona’s pain.
-Despite his impressive durability, was easily killed by a gunshot.
Jeremy: Well, what else is there to say about a guy like Junpei? He doesn’t care if he has flaws. He’ll keep going for his friend’s sake. And also Chidori. She’s alive, still.
Junpei: “Hah...how do you like them apples? We already saved the world once...this is just our encore!”
Yosuke Hanamura:
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Riku: The small village known as Yaso-Inaba is a very quiet and peaceful town. Not much goes on there, and there’s apparently not much to see. But the town changed when a boy from the big city moved in.
Jeremy: Hold on. This is sounding eerily similar to Yu’s story. Are you sure you’re not reading Yu’s backstory?
Riku: Nope. Like Yu Narukami, Yosuke Hanamura also moved into the big city for Family business purposes. Though his parents aren’t going on a year long business trip. Instead, Yosuke’s father landed a job at the local convenient store known as Junes.
Jeremy: A local store out in the middle of no where? Everything must be great at Junes.
Riku: It pretty much was. But Junes was kind of a problem for the many shops in the shopping district. People stopped going to these separate stores since, Well, Junes had pretty much everything they needed.
Jeremy: But hey, at least some people got job openings. Like a high school girl named Saki Konishi. But her dad who just so happened to own a failing liquor store, didn’t like her decision. And what do you know? Yosuke ended up developing a crush on Saki. If only things were that simple.
Riku: After the teenage boy named Yu Narukami moved in, things started going out of hand. A murder had been committed, and Saki had found the victim’s body. And soon afterwards, Saki would suffer the same fate. You can imagine how Yosuke would feel at that point.
Jeremy: Yosuke felt that Saki’s murder was connected with the Midnight Channel and the TV World. So, he and Yu entered the place a second time to find out what happened. Here, Yosuke got his Persona and then joined Yu to solve the mystery of the murders/kidnappings in Inaba.
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Background:
-Name: Yosuke Hanamura.
-Age: 17.
-Height: 5’9”
-Weight: 128 lbs.
-Arcana: Magician.
-Listens to the Persona 3 soundtrack in battle.
-Member of the Investigation Team.
Jeremy: Thing to know about Yosuke is that he’s pretty damn unlucky. And I mean...really unlucky. But hey, at least he’s responsible and has a job.
Riku: He has his moments. But Yosuke is not a push over in battle.
Jeremy: Yosuke has a kind of hard-to-hit style going on. He’s not super fast, but he’s faster than most. And this is thanks to his choice of weapons.
Riku: Whether he’s wielding monkey wrenches or knives, he typically dual wield weapons. But his most iconic weapons are by far his Kunai.
Jeremy: That’s...and odd choice for weapons considering they started out as farming tools in Japan. But hey, they do have sharp edges. So it works out, I guess.
Arsenal:
Dual wielding, short weapons:
-Can be either wrenches, knives, poison knives, etc.
Kunai:
-Originally started out as farming tools.
-Yosuke’s go-to weapons.
Glasses:
-Allows Yosuke to see through fog in the TV World.
-Makes him look cool during battles.
Riku: Yosuke’s arsenal pales in comparison to his best power, his Persona.
Jeremy: Jiraiya, right? Isn’t that that guy from Naruto.
Riku: I mean...they share the same name, but no. They’re not the same. Unless Naruto’s Jiraiya has Mickey ears.
Jeremy: No....why does this one?
Riku: That’s...a good question.
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Jiraiya:
Skills:
-Garu: Deals light Wind damage to 1 foe.
-Bash: Deals light Phys damage to 1 foe.
-Dia: Slightly restores 1 ally’s HP.
-Sukuaja: Increase 1 ally’s Hit/Evasion date for 3 turns.
-Dekaja: Nullifies stat bonuses on all foes.
-Sonic Punch: Deals light Phys damage to 1 foe.
-Magaru: Deals light Wind damage to all foes.
-Tentarafoo: 30% of confusion on all foes.
Immune to: None.
Resists: Wind.
Weak to: Electricity.
Riku: Jiraiya is a powerful Persona in its own right, but it also has a more powerful form. With his time spent with Yu,-
Jeremy: -With a good old fist fight, as best friends do.-
Riku: -Yosuke’s power grew stronger to the point where Jiraiya achieved a new form; Susano-O.
Susano-O:
Skills:
-Magaru: Deals light Wind damage to all foes.
-Garula: Deals medium Wind damage to 1 foe.
-Diarama: Moderately restores 1 ally’s HP.
-Magarula: Deals medium Wind damage on all foes.
-Wind Boost: Strengthens Wind attacks by 25%.
-Wind Break: Nullifies 1 foe’s Wind Resistance for 3 turns.
-Tentarafoo: 30% of confusion on all foes.
-Sonic Punch: Deals light Phys damage to 1 foe.
Immune to: Wind.
Resists: Fire.
Weak to: None.
Jeremy: Talk about overpowered! I feel as though that saw blade around it’s body would be very efficient in slicing the everliving hell out of objects.
Riku: Hold on just a moment, Jeremy. Believe it or not, this isn’t the Final form of Yosuke’s Persona. That’s right, his Persona can achieve a form that’s greater than even Susano-O. It’s name is Takehaya Susano-O.
Takehaya Susano-O:
Skills:
-Garudyne: Deals heavy Wind damage to 1 foe.
-Masukukaja: Increases party’s Hit/Evasion rate for 3 turns.
-Magarudyne: Deals heavy Wind damage to all foes.
-Diarama: Moderately restores 1 ally’s HP.
-Brave Blade: Deals severe Phys damage to 1 foe.
-Wind Amp: Strengthens Wind attacks by 50%.
-Wind Break: Nullifies 1 foe’s Wind Resistance for 3 turns.
-Youthful Wind: Moderately restores party’s HP while also raising party’s Hit/Evasion rate for 3 turns.
Immune to: Fire.
Resists: None.
Weak to: Electricity.
Absorbs: Wind.
Jeremy: Well holy hell. This guy is pretty damn over powered. I mean, this guy could instantly kill you with a variation of Brave Blade with only Jiraiya. And what do you know? That’s his one-hit kill move.
Riku: You haven’t seen anything yet. Yosuke is surprisingly durable despite only being human. Hell, he’s even tanked a lighting blast from Marie while in the real world, where he had no protection from his Persona. To make things even more impressive, Yosuke is weak to Lighting attacks. So him surviving this strike is a pretty big deal.
Feats:
-Has taken hits from his own Shadow.
-Has faced himself.
-Withstood being choked without passing out.
-Survived getting burned by Yukiko’s Shadow.
-Survived getting poisoned by Kanji’s Shadow in a...very uncomfortable fashion.
-Tanked Laser blasts from Rise’s Shadow.
-Got into a fist fight with Yu which basically ended up in a tie.
-Has beaten Yu’s ‘Shadow’.
-Can dodge Lighting, Fire, Wind, And Ice attacks.
-Can also dodge Light and Dark attacks.
- Again, not a FTL reaction feat.
-Along with Teddie, defeated a fake Adachi and the Reaper, a very powerful Shadow.
-Survived an enormous explosion that obliterated a ‘town’.
-With Susano-O’s power, freed Yu from Aminio Sagiri.
- Then proceeded to push it back with little effort.
-Survived against Izanami.
- Was eventually defeated, though.
-Survived an electric attack from a ‘possessed’ (using that word loosely) Yu Narukami.
-Survived an electrical blast from Marie while in the real world.
Jeremy: There’s no doubt here! He’s a devil in headphones.
Riku: He is. But no ‘devil’ is perfect. Yosuke has an abundance of bad luck. He’s very unlucky when it comes to social events and hitting on girls. This bad luck can often show its face during battle. Then there’s also the basic, and that’s electric attacks.
Weaknesses:
-Very unlucky, even in battle.
-Electric attacks.
-Shares the pain of his Persona.
-Limited SP.
-Physical attacks drain HP.
-Can get pretty impatient and a bit jealous of his partner’s abilities at times.
- Jealous doesn’t lead to brash actions, however.
Jeremy: Yeah. Yosuke’s definitely not the strongest Persona User around. But hey, he’s pretty powerful in his own right. There are very few who can step in the ring with Yosuke Hanamura unscathed. Let alone live. Assuming he kills his opponent. I dunno.
Yosuke: “Distance doesn’t matter to us! Even if we’re separated, we’re still friends!”
