Persona 4's Naoto is a character that you should really get to know, with her proving to be one of the more interesting faces in the game, and probably the series as a whole. She has quite the heritage, coming from a long line of police officers, which comes in really handy as she proves to be a great help to the Investigation Team. Her detective skills are second to none, so let's look at everything you need to know about Naoto, including her skills, personality, and more.
To learn more about Naoto's teammates, make sure you check out our Persona 4 Chie, Persona 4 Teddie, and Persona 4 Kanji guides. We also have a Persona 4 Switch review if you want to learn more about the Investigation Team and what they face.
Here's our guide to 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?
The sexism Naoto faces leads her to question whether or not she wants to be a girl and influences her androgynous style. However, Naoto was assigned female at birth and if you pursue her social link and romance her, begins to feel comfortable in her female identity, which is kind of weird to be honest.
It is often debated amongst fans of the series whether Naoto is a transgender man or non-binary person who is presented as 'cured' through a relationship with the protagonist, or if her presentation and apparent gender dysphoria 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 all-rounder nature, 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. We've got lots of handy Persona 4 character guides like this one, including our Persona 4 Rise, Persona 4 Marie, and Persona 4 Adachi articles.