10 | Yukari Takeba

Also known as Yuka-tan (by Junpei) Brunette The Unsightly Pink Sniper (P4AU) Pink Argus (P4AU) Reiko Kujakuin (P4AU) Featherman Victory (by General Teddie, P4AU) Yuka-chan (by Teddie) Miss Pink (PQ2) Affiliation SEES (P3) Shadow Operatives (P4AU) School Gekkoukan High School Team Archery Date of Birth October 19th, 1992 Age 19 Zodiac Libra Height 159 cm (5'3") Blood Type B Ranged Weapon Bow & Arrow Arcana Lovers Appearances: Yukari has neck-length light brown hair and brown eyes. She wears small white earrings in both of her ears. She is often seen with both her hands behind her back, except when holding her bow. She is almost never seen without wearing outfits and accessories that are primarily pink in color. At school and within Tartarus/the Dark Hour, she wears a pink cardigan, a loose red ribbon, a black mini skirt, black knee-high stockings with white lines on the outer-sides (often shown with white hearts of four in more detailed settings), and a heart-shaped white choker. In Persona 3 Reload, her choker is grayish. In Tartarus/the Dark Hour, she wears two black straps on her right leg with a beige gun holster for her Evoker, as well as her SEES armband on her left bicep. In Persona 3 The Movie, both the straps and the holster are white. Personality: You know, I've been thinking lately. Once you awaken to the power of Persona, you remember everything that happens during the Dark Hour. It's like trading away your innocence. In exchange for power, you can no longer look away from the things you don't want to see. So, I guess I'm stuck with you guys, huh? Yukari's Arcana is the Lovers, which focuses on balanced, connected relationships with others and important choices; as such, her personality and story revolve mainly around her relationships. She is very popular in Gekkoukan High due to her pretty looks and cheery, positive outlook on life.

However, her kindness has its limits, as she's prone to mood swings and getting annoyed over trivial things, often expressing this annoyance with sarcasm. She likes to tease Junpei, even though she deeply cares for him. Her hobbies include archery and acting for drama, and she eventually makes a career of being an actress as Pink Argus. Her favorite color is pink and she has a fondness for cutesy things such as her heart choker and even maid uniforms.

Despite her cheerful exterior, Yukari is secretly a very lonely girl. Although she deeply values bonds and relationships with others, she's afraid of letting anyone get too close to her with fear that they'll find out about her traumatic past. The protagonist is an exception to this, as the two can relate to each other due to their shared losses. It can be heavily implied Yukari has romantic feelings for him. Eventually, she starts to open up to those around her, particularly Mitsuru, who she initially doesn't like very much but eventually becomes best friends with. As the Social Link ranks, with both protagonist, more specifically the female protagonist she starts to understand what it feels to have a friend her age and gender who understands her and worries about her to even start worrying about other people worrying about her selfishness and her personal problems. Yukari realizing what a friend really means to her is especially shown when her Social Link is maxed, as she hangs out with her fellow female SEES members and encourages Mitsuru to move on from the past. Yukari despises the Dark Hour, and likens being a Persona-user to trading innocence for power, since you can no longer turn away from the things you don't want to see. As a result, she considers being conscious during the Dark Hour to be a curse rather than a blessing, and so is shocked by Strega's willingness to keep it active just because it makes them feel special, calling them "crazy." She has made it her goal to eliminate the Dark Hour no matter what and fulfill her father's dying wish, a desire that only strengthens after receiving her father's true message (the other one had been edited by Ikutsuki), which triggers the evolution of her Persona.

However, while Yukari's love for her father reaches the point of idolization, she has a toxic relationship with her mother, who threw herself at random men as a coping mechanism against her husband's death. Eventually, Yukari decided she was better off living alone, doing so for 3 years before coming to the S.E.E.S. dorm. The two rarely talk, and when they do, their conversations are straight to the point at best and even outright antagonistic at worst. This in turn has made Yukari self-reliant and responsible, but also cold and aloof in some regard as well. Yukari has phasmophobia (a fear of ghosts), which Junpei, Akihiko, Ryoji Mochizuki (and sometimes both protagonists) often take advantage of by intentionally spooking her or telling her ghost stories to agitate her to their amusement. Yukari's phasmophobia can be seen as being symbolic of her fear of death. Yukari has an extreme fear of death to the point where she initially has difficulty using her Evoker. Despite this, Yukari is a very brave young woman, perhaps to a fault, considering going to the back alley behind Port Island Station to be an "adventure" despite Junpei repeatedly warning her how dangerous it is and not being the least bit intimidated by street thugs, calling them "scum." She is also incredibly determined and strong-willed, even by the standards of the group, which is best shown when Ryoji offers to have the group's memories erased so they won't see The Fall coming; while most of the group are in deep conflict about what to do, Yukari decides right there and then that she doesn't want her memories erased, as she believes that forgetting would be like hiding from the truth. Over the next month, the rest of the group follows her example.

In The Answer, Yukari has become more impatient, distraught and pragmatic as a result of the protagonist's sacrificial death, a result of her emotional traumatic suffering that eats her inside, unwilling to acknowledge it herself, let alone open up with others. She becomes uncharacteristically somber and dismissive, intent on getting out of the Abyss of Time as quickly as possible, wanting to get back to her new life she is still adjusting to. She also shows extreme bitterness over Aigis' Wild Card power similar to the protagonist's, knowing it is a sign of her bond with him; she also shows anger when Aigis' resolve is weaker than hers in terms of moving forward in life or stepping into the past. Even when her own past is shown, she is quick to deduce the common theme among the memories of SEES members' beginnings, but she sees no point in bringing up the past, as the group's whole reason for risking everything was to move on to the future. When Yukari realizes the SEES team is just as distraught as she is in moving forward without the protagonist, she proposes a fighting competition between SEES members to settle the matter and determine who unanimously collects all the keys to make the ultimate decision for everybody. It's here that her determination ends up clouding her judgement, as she becomes ridiculously overconfident and uncaring of the consequences her decision could have. In the team's bitter argument over what to do with the keys, she reveals that she had repeatedly forced herself to keep moving forward and cope with the protagonist's death, but now that there is some legitimate form of a chance to bring him back to life, she'll desperately accept that instead of miserably failing to accept his death.

Instead of caving in, she fights back Akihiko and Ken's counter-arguments, accusing them only caring about their own self-centeredness due to their individual willingness to accept the present, something Mitsuru agrees with and supports, joining Yukari's side in the tide of battle, Yukari's undeniably strong desire being a formidable force to be reckoned with. Before she and Mitsuru battle against Aigis and Metis, she notices Aigis' growth in her heart and sees life in her again, happy to see back to her strong self. This does not deter Yukari's own determination, however. Once she loses the fight against Aigis, she is still emotionally resistant and desperately attempts to forcibly take the key away from Aigis, knowing herself her efforts are in vain. Yukari comes to the catharsis of her emotional suffering upon realizing she is not alone in her grieving; that the SEES members are not only allies, but close friends she can lean on for support from the morbid aspects of life and death. With the gentle comfort and support from Mitsuru, she finally lets go of the pain. After apologizing to Aigis for her personal shortcomings and gaining closure from learning the truth of The Seal, a much happier and content Yukari is able to enjoy brand new days of her new life again, asking Aigis to be her roommate at their new dorm in the ending scene. In Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, one Yukari Takeba of the timeline where Makoto Yuki existed, so when the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, the Investigation Team and the female protagonist find the other SEES members, she doesn't personally know the female protagonist despite her knowing so much about her. Yukari starts to feel bad for her, and the SEES members show appreciation of having friends by giving a gift to the female protagonist. The Yukari Takeba in the female protagonist's timeline is elated and relieved to know she's okay, and displays a strong, respectful sisterly-like bond with her.

Yukari's mother dealt with the pain from the loss of her husband by dating numerous shallow boyfriends and essentially abandoned her daughter, annoying Yukari. Yukari and her mother even had to move multiple times, just to get away from the backlash of blame and vitriol for Eiichiro being held responsible for the deaths of many Kirijo Group researchers as he was in charge of the research team, even though the details of Eiichiro's role were not entirely clear and there were all sorts of rumors. Yukari ends up alone, which, coupled with the distress of losing her father, caused her to become quite introverted, which helps her connect with the protagonist because he also knows what it's like to prematurely lose a parent, making him the only person (aside from Fuuka) she opens up to. When Yukari enrolled at Gekkoukan High School, she finally received the letter her father wrote 10 years ago. Realizing her father's wishes and his love for her, Yukari decided to join SEES, and hopefully learn the truth about the events that caused her father's death. She joins SEES prior to the protagonist's arrival for the reason of cooperating with the Kirijo Group in order to find some truth and information about her father, including the reason for his death. This time is detailed in Persona 3: Owari no Kakera, although the only known Yukari-related thing is that Mitsuru and Akihiko were unsure of her potential as the newest Persona user at the time. Yukari is first seen in the introduction of the game holding an Evoker to her forehead, giving the impression that she is attempting suicide, but she eventually drops it. When the protagonist arrives at the dorm, she meets him in the Dark Hour and almost threatens him when Mitsuru Kirijo calls her off. If the protagonist asks her why she has a gun, she claims it's for self-defense. If he asks her if she knows about a weird kid with a contract, Yukari has no idea. Yukari shows him to his room and wishes him good night.

The next day, Yukari escorts the protagonist to his school, becoming his classmate. Yukari is popular at Gekkoukan High School due to her cheery disposition, but she is careful not to let anyone get too close to her. Yukari's relationship with Junpei Iori was a childhood one, and her teasing of him was frequently returned, although the two seemed to be on a relatively good basis.

When the Arcana Magician attacks the dorm, Yukari attempts to get the protagonist out, but the two end up trapped on the rooftop. Yukari attempts to fight the Shadow when it corners them, but is unable to steel herself to use her Evoker before the Shadow swats it away, leaving her defenseless. She then witnesses the protagonist awaken his Persona using her dropped Evoker. Yukari hides her true motives from the group, and represses her emotions and her mood swings frequently in the game. From the start, she dislikes Mitsuru, because of how forceful and secretive she is as a leader, but likely due to jealousy of Mitsuru's inhuman superiority and the conflict resulting from their fathers. She's initially unhappy with Fuuka Yamagishi joining the team, largely because she believes that Fuuka had no choice in the matter, but she soon befriends Fuuka, and trusts her enough to ask for her help in investigating Tartarus and the Dark Hour. Despite being hard on her teammates initially, she overall expresses a great deal of concern for their wellbeing, which likely plays into her role as a healer. At one point she would make a dry joke about replacing Junpei, only wanting him to have changed for the better. Yukari's zeal for investigation brings a lot of trouble, but also brings the group valuable allies and information. She often overestimates her capabilities, getting herself and others into risky situations beyond her control. She has a high aptitude for magic and her Persona excels in Wind and healing spells. She is regarded as the heroine of the game, as she possesses several qualities typical to an RPG heroine, such as being a healer, and wielding a bow and arrow.

While vacationing at Yakushima, with Takeharu Kirijo revealing the incident involving the Kirijo Group ten years ago, Yukari is finally informed of her father's role in the Shadow experimentation. Learning about her father's supposed involvement in the creation of the Dark Hour and Tartarus causes her to have an emotional breakdown, even lashing out at Mitsuru for hiding the truth from her. Mitsuru tried to reason with Yukari, but she snapped, telling Mitsuru that she doesn't want her pity. Upset over the revelation behind her father's death, Yukari runs off to the beach and the protagonist follows her. He finds her in disbelief and tears. She manages to get past it with the protagonist's help, although she admits to him that she's jealous of Mitsuru for having a fortunate father in comparison to her own. It is implied that she falls in love with him when he consoles her; this is hinted at several times in Persona 3 and confirmed in The Answer. For a while, Yukari would fight without a strong reason, and would genuinely believe her father was in the wrong. However, the discovery of these events also helped Yukari come to terms with Mitsuru, since they actually had a lot in common regarding their pasts. Eventually Yukari realizes her faults. The day after Shuji Ikutsuki's betrayal and his failed attempt of trying to sacrifice SEES, Fuuka digs into the deleted files of his personal laptop and gives Yukari the original unedited video of her father -- the true video he recorded of the accident ten year ago, while the previous video she's been shown was doctored by Ikutsuki. In the video, her father apologizes that he won't be coming home, says that he loves her, he was the happiest man on Earth when he was with her and he told her to take care of herself. The video starts to short out, presumably when he dies. Yukari cries and tells him that she's doing okay and she's received his message. Her Persona evolves into Isis.

Having rediscovered her resolve, she would finally feel better about believing in her father. However, with Mitsuru genuinely broken as everything she believed in was shattered from Ikutsuki's manipulation of their goals and her father's death, Yukari would worry about her and console her at Kyoto. Yukari's support would help Mitsuru reawaken her newfound resolve, and the two would become close friends. When Ryoji Mochizuki later proposes that they choose between fighting an impossible fight against death or living their short lives in blissful ignorance, Yukari has a personal conversation with Mitsuru, with the two deciding together that they'll fight until the end. Yukari remains loyal to the protagonist and SEES until the end of Nyx's defeat. Yukari tells Nyx she is tired of running and that living means looking death square in the face. On Graduation Day, she remembers the promise SEES made and runs to him on the roof. After the protagonist's sudden death, Yukari is haunted because she was never able to properly say goodbye, thank him or make peace with him before he died. Upon being invited by Fuuka to return one last time, she promptly declines, saying that she has cram school to attend. Yukari is the only one who seems reluctant to return to the dorm. When SEES realizes that strange events are happening in the dorm, she is called to return again, which greatly annoys her but she accepts. Throughout the investigation of the Abyss of Time, Yukari appears irritated that Aigis inherited Orpheus, along with the protagonist's Wild Card ability. Despite her frequent mood-swings, the members of SEES seemingly tolerate her. Yukari's past is seen in Judecca, in which she receives a post-mortem letter from her father.

Upon defeating the manifestation of SEES' negative wills and collective desire to see the protagonist, she realizes that they have the ability to travel back to the time where the protagonist seals Nyx. Enraged by Aigis' indecisiveness about whether to return to the past, Yukari lashes out, revealing that she's jealous of Aigis for being together with the protagonist and hearing his last words during his final moments. She proclaims that she wants to go back and stop the protagonist, which is opposed by Akihiko and Ken since it would be disrespecting his will, with Junpei adding that by stopping the protagonist's actions, SEES would essentially undo their efforts of stopping the Fall. As their opinions differ, the SEES members separate to fight each other to determine which one is right. Only Mitsuru supports Yukari's decision, but it is implied Mitsuru sides with Yukari not because she actually agrees with Yukari's plan, but because of a few reasons: Mitsuru doesn't want Yukari to feel any more alone than she has to be; Mitsuru wants to repay Yukari for her kindness and support after Takeharu's death; and to give Yukari a fair chance since a team of only one fighter would be unfair. When Aigis and Metis defeat all of the SEES members, Yukari attempts to steal the key from Aigis, but Metis reveals that it's impossible. She finally admits her grief over the protagonist. I want to see him... I... I made a promise to him, too... I promised that I'd try my best to change this world, so that people would stop wishing for the Fall... But my promise wasn't like yours, Aigis... It was something I promised myself while holding his cold hand... That's why I decided to put the past behind me, and look forward... But I can't... I can't be that person... I wanna see him... I don't care about anything else! I just wanna see him again!

She made a promise as well, but unlike Aigis, it was to herself. She promised to try to change the world into a peaceful one to make people stop wishing for the Fall, but admits she can't be that person and doesn't care about anything but seeing the protagonist again. The party, feeling her sorrow, comforts her. With her resolution strengthened, she decides to respect Aigis' decision of leaving the past the way it was.

SEES later returns to when the protagonist sealed Nyx to learn the true cause of his death, and it is here they finally learn that he became the Great Seal to prevent the people's wish for the Fall from reaching Nyx. They encounter Erebus, the grand manifestation of humanity's grief and sorrow. Upon defeating it, Yukari apologized to Aigis, admitting that she's jealous because she didn't inherit the Wild Card ability and realized that Aigis obtained his ability not because she was chosen, but because she had felt the strongest to protect him. She, along with the other members of SEES make a promise that they will make the most out of their own lives in order to respect the protagonist's will and ease his burden. Yukari would later offer Aigis the chance to be her roommate, which Aigis gladly accepts. Just like in the previous versions of the game, Yukari is an available Social Link. However, if the player chose the female protagonist, there are no requirements to start her Social Link. The Social Link starts when the player talks to her in the classroom on or after April 28th.