In addition to an excellent cast of party members and some standout Social Links,Persona 3 Reloadhas plenty of strongly written characters who belong to neither camp. Most have less screen time as a result, though several buck that trend, which helps them to be so memorable to us all the more so.
If you’re playing Persona 3 Reload for the first time - or indeed, any version of Persona 3 - consider refraining from reading further until you’ve finished the story. We will try to avoid any major spoilers, mind you, but in a couple of cases, we can’t convey why these folks are so cool without them.
8Ono
The first of two Gekkoukan teachers on our list, Ono teaches a class on Japanese History. Here’s the thing, though. Ono is obsessed with the Sengoku period and especially the glory days of the samurai. Ono is so uninterested in any other era, in fact, that he lets that lack of enthusiasm not just seep into his sentences; he outright refuses to impart much information.
This makes Ono a very poor source of information on the majority of Japan’s past, but an equally funny dude. The man wears a samurai helmet everywhere he goes, including the classroom. That pretty much says it all.
7Kurosawa
Officer Kurosawa is SEES' law enforcement insider. Akihiko relies on him for equipment, and thus, the protagonist is introduced to Kurosawa early on. Why does Kurosawa help a bunch of adolescents to gear up like riot troopers? He knows something is terribly amiss with his city, and he cannot help but accept the awkward truth that only teenagers can save it.
He may seem stern, but Kurosawa is a swell fellow who is deeply appreciative of SEES' ongoing efforts. It’s a nice touch in a game where almost everyone else you’ll meet in public has no reason whatsoever to thank you for risking your life on the regular.
6Takeharu Kirijo
By the time you meet Mitsuru’s father in July, you’ll already be acquainted enough with the shadowy (no pun intended) nature of the Kirijo Group to fully expect him to be a man of many mysteries. Less apparent, however, is the fact that those secrets of his remain largely unknown until many months later in the game.
For all his dark past, Takeharu Kirijo is not a bad person. Still, these things do tend to catch up with people, and so they do.
5Edogawa
Mr. Edogawa serves as School Nurse at Gekkoukan High School, where he also teaches a course on Integrated Learning. That term is as enigmatic as Edogawa is aloof. He is the very image of unkempt, but a wellspring of knowledge on witchcraft, cult practices, and most importantly, the intersection of psychology and fantasy.
It is this special interest of his that makes Edogawa a remarkably relevant side character. Edogawa is the primary source of information on many of Persona 3 Reload’s key themes. This is especially apparent when, during the week of summer school classes, the other professors aren’t given much dialogue, but Edogawa is given a full-blown speech.
4Shuji Ikutsuki
There is a lot happening with Shuji Ikutsuki. The chairman of SEES treasures puns to the deep chagrin of basically everyone else in the room - a room he seemingly fails to read far more frequently than not. But by all clear accounts, Shuji is fighting the good fight alongside his younger peers, albeit from a safer position.
This is when we can’t avoid spoilers, but we will keep things reasonably vague. There is another side to Shuji Ikutsuki. It’s a heck of a twist. What is he truly motivated by? It’s more than a captive audience for his ever-growing gauntlet of puns, that’s for sure. Shuji is compelling to his core.
3Takaya Sakaki
Unlike Shuji, players will know something is up with Takaya Sakaki from square one. This too-skinny, forever-shirtless antagonist doesn’t wander the Dark Hour so much as he stalks it. He and his allies in Strega are up to no good in this neighborhood, and even those tough-dude delinquents can’t stand his vibe.
In one of Persona 3 Reload’s best additions to the story, Takaya is given several more scenes. His charismatic nature can spook you in the scenes as he attempts to ingratiate himself to the protagonist. Takaya goes from good to great as a result, but make no mistake - he’s bad to the bone.
2Elizabeth
Thus far, our list of best side characters in Persona 3 Reload has been dominated by men. The best two of the bunch, however, are women. Elizabeth is Igor’s assistant in the Velvet Room. Igor has a habit of hiring some unique personalities, but Elizabeth is bound to be the coolest.
Like other Velvet Room attendants, a big part of Elizabeth’s development stems from asking to be shown the real world. Her visits to Iwotodai’s various locations combine innocence with passion, naivety with a thirst for wisdom, in a way that touches our hearts as much as it cracks us up.
1Chidori Yoshino
You will hear about a young woman in a white dress earlier than you’ll actually see her if you keep up with new dialogue among the city’s nameless NPCs, but nothing prepared us for how fantastic a character Chidori Yoshino was when we first played Persona.
Reload’s polished script only improves upon a character who was already outstanding. Chidori… has had a tough life. That’s all we’ll say on that front. Her connection to Junpei Iori accomplishes three things.
First, it establishes Chidori as fascinatingly tragic. Second, it services Junpei, one of Persona 3’s main characters, in such a strong way that he jumps from OK to excellent as a result. Last but not least, it is well written in its own right, and helps to hone in on one of the game’s biggest (and best) themes: finding hope in the darkest spaces.
