Makoto Yuki (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona)

Makoto Yuki (結城 理) is a fictional character introduced in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. In the game, Makoto is an orphan who transfers to Gekkoukan High School in Iwatodai City and discovers a phenomenon called the Dark Hour during which supernatural entities called Shadows roam freely. After awakening an ability within himself called Persona, Makoto finds himself intertwined in the ongoing struggle against the Shadows with his new schoolmates.

He was designed by Shigenori Soejima, who aimed to create an ordinary youth who the player could relate to. In the manga adaptation, he goes by the name Minato Arisato (有里 湊). His character was reworked for the animated film adaptation where director Noriaki Akitaya explained pressure in giving the silent character his own personality. He was then given the name Makoto Yuki to further distinguish him from his previous portrayals. Makoto later appeared the spin-off game: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth and was mentioned in Persona 4 Arena. Critical reception to Makoto's character has been generally positive for both his role in the games for how he handles his social life. His development in the film gathered similar responses. He is voiced by Akira Ishida in Japanese and by Yuri Lowenthal in English.

Design and characterization
The Persona 3 protagonist was the first character Shigenori Soejima designed for the game. Early designs of the character made him look mature and collected since the artist viewed him as a "cliche[ed] cool guy." Soejima took longer to design the protagonist than any other character as the game's other characters would be made to complement his design. In Art of Persona 3, Soejima remarked that "Initially, he looked more honest, like an ordinary, handsome young man. But, I worked to achieve greater ambiguity in his expression." He further noted that the character managed to have a "hidden coolness." In retrospect, he found that the character was not ambiguous enough and thus when creating the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 protagonist, Soejima made Yu Narukami with the idea that his entire personality be decided and portrayed by the player's in-game actions and decisions.

Director Noriaki Akitaya had faced a similar dilemma for his animated film version. He explained that one of his biggest challenges was, "..getting the protagonist, who is the player in the game, and making him into a character named Makoto Yuki for the film, then figuring out how to integrate him [Makoto] into the story." This led Akitaya to be extremely careful about how he went about constructing the character in terms of his speech, gestures and behavior all the while staying true to what was already established in the game. Akitaya admitted that he would not have been able to meet the expectations of the individual fans of the game since they were able to choose their own unique name and personality for the Protagonist. Instead Akitaya took the route of incorporating the most general traits of fan reactions to the Protagonist to form Yuki's character.

Akitaya stated that his favorite scene in the film occurred when Makoto summoned his Persona for the first time. He elaborated that Makoto's maniacal laugh and heavy breathing helped bring depth to the scene and establish animation director Keisuke Watabe's character designs as being one of the main attractions of the film. Akitaya had joked that during initial pre-production the Protagonist's name was still not determined and instead proposed the placeholder "Tsukitarō Yamada" (山田 月太郎) until the first draft was developed. However even as Jun Kumagai began working on the screenplay, the placeholder went unchanged for the next four to five months and Akitaya found himself growing attached to it despite eventually changing it. Akira Ishida voiced Makoto in this Japanese adaptation. He noted that since he was presented with the roles of both Pharos and Makoto, recording the scene of Makoto's initial meeting with Pharos was something he enjoyed. In the English version of Persona 3 the role is taken by Yuri Lowenthal.

In Persona 3
Makoto Yuki is the Protagonist (主人公) of Persona 3. He moves into the Iwatodai dorm at the of the game, learning of his ability to summon the Personas Orpheus (オルフェウス) and Thanatos (タナトス) of The Death Arcana when the dorm is attacked by Shadows during the Dark Hour. Mitsuru asks him to join SEES and he is later elected the team's leader in combat. The Protagonist is unique among his cohorts in that he has the Wild Card ability which enables him to wield multiple Personas and switch between them during battle. Over the course of the game, he also gains Messiah (メサイア) of The Judgement Arcana and Orpheus Telos (オルフェウス･改) of The Fool Arcana in Persona 3 FES. With the power of the Wild Card he has access to over 150 different Personas. He is also the only character with access to the Velvet Room, in which the player is able to fuse together multiple Personas together to create a new and more powerful one. Over the course of the game, the player is challenged to manage the Protagonist's day-to-day schedule as he attends school, takes part in extracurricular activities, and spends time with classmates and other characters. Igor, the proprietor of the Velvet Room, encourages the Protagonist to form Social Links with people, as they will determine his potential in combat. Social Links with characters in-game are represented by one of the Major Arcana and grants various bonuses during Persona fusion, increasing the player's proficiency in battle.

As he works with SEES, the Protagonist builds up the Social Link for the Fool Arcana (愚者), which symbolizes beginning and infinite possibilities of the journey ahead. When the Protagonist decides not to spare Ryoji Mochizuki, the Social Link of the Fool Arcana changes into the Judgement Arcana (審判), which symbolizes the end of his journey and looking back at what has transpired this far. The final Social Link the Protagonist attains is the Universe Arcana (宇宙), a card from the Thoth tarot that replaces World Arcana (世界), symbolizing the full awareness of the protagonist's place in the world.

The Protagonist is an orphan; his parents died ten years prior to the events of Persona 3, which sees him returning to the city he grew up in. In December, the player learns that a Shadow known as "Death" (デス) was sealed in the Protagonist as a child by Aigis, who was unable to defeat it herself. The Death Shadow was able to lead the Protagonist to twelve other greater Shadows; by defeating them, The Appriser was created, a being which summons Nyx to the world to bring about its destruction. SEES battles The Appriser on the roof of Tartarus, but are not able to stop Nyx's descent to Earth. The Protagonist enters Nyx and using the power of his accumulated Social Links, seals it away with the "Great Seal"—at the cost of his own self.

Other appearances
Persona 3 FES extends upon the original game with the introduction of an epilogue called The Answer. These events reveal that the protagonist died after becoming the Great Seal used to seal Nyx away. After being led to the Great Seal, SEES discovers it to be under attack by a creature called Erebus. Although Makoto does not appear in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and the sequel Persona 4 Arena, it is revealed in those games Igor's assistant Elizabeth left her position to find a way to rescue the Protagonist from his fate as the Great Seal.

In the PlayStation Portable port Persona 3 Portable, an option was added to control a female protagonist, voiced by Marina Inoue in the Japanese adaptation, and Laura Bailey in the English adaptation. He is also featured in several radio dramas that tell new stories related to games. In the manga, the Protagonist is named Minato Arisato (有里 湊). There, he is portrayed as a quiet teenager who often tired or drowsy, who likes to eat and cook food. The character also appears in Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, where he joins forces with the Persona 4 cast to defeat the Shadows. In the stage adaption, Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade, the male Protagonist is named Sakuya Shiomi (汐見 朔也) while the female version is named Kotone Shiomi (汐見 琴音).

In the anime film series, Persona 3 The Movie, he takes the name of Makoto Yuki. Makoto is portrayed as an ambivalent individual with an initial neutral viewpoint on the film's theme of life and death, making his growth via new found experiences the focus of the movie. This version differs from the video game since he gains his new Personas from battles against Arcana Shadows, instead of Social Links.

Reception
Critical reception to Makoto Yuki's character has been positive. Joe Juba from Game Informer joked that despite being involved in fights against supernatural beings, he is "just a regular high school student" when considering his actions which include attending to classes. Nick Tan from GameRevolution similarly called him "an ordinary high-school boy seemingly plucked straight from an ordinary manga" due to his double life in the game. GameSpy's Patrick Joynt praised the character's social life in Persona 3 as it allowed the player to interact with several other characters and learn about their interesting stories. GamesRadar commented that while Makoto is a "Japanese RPG stereotype" it was refreshing to see him dealing with his social life. Damian Thomas from RPGFan saw the interactions between the main character and his dorm mates as one of the game's best parts due to the character growth in each social link.

Reaction to the character's portrayal in the animated film Persona 3 The Movie: No. 1, Spring of Birth was also met with praise. Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku described Makoto Yuki as being an initially "ambivalent, broken character.." whose growth takes center stage and gave the film "a suitable sense of completion." Elliot Gay from Japanator saw Makoto's growth from a "empty, aloof, and distant young man" who "lacks any kind of real determination to do anything" to his growth as a person as one of the film's main focus. His relationship with Aigis and his comical actions have also been prasied by Gay during a review for the second film.