Tatsuya Suou

Tatsuya Suou is the protagonist of Persona 2: Innocent Sin and the deuteragonist of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment and the second in the Persona series.

He is a student at Seven Sisters High School who gets involved in a plot perpetrated by the evil Joker. He awakens his Persona in a battle with the Joker and joins his other classmates in tracking him down to stop him from killing people. The Joker is revealed to be the leader of a group called the Masked Circle who benefit from the odd occurrence of rumors becoming reality, and Tatsuya and his allies band together to defeat them. Eventually it's revealed that the Masked Circle has come to be in league with an army led by the, once assumed, long deceased member of the Third Reich: Adolf Hitler. Tatsuya and his friends end up defeating Joker and revealing him to be their long lost friend Jun, who joins them in attempting to defeat Hitler before he uses the powers of rumors to take Sumaru City and turn it into a space ship to destroy the rest of the world. The group enters Xibalba, the space ship that Hitler is leading, and are brought to the Collective Unconsciousness where it is revealed that Hitler is really a demon of chaos known as Nyarlathotep, who has orchestrated all of this. It is revealed that Nyarlathotep is the counterpart to Philemon, and the two of them made a bet at the beginning of time to figure out if humans are naturally good or bad. This has all been a game to them, and this is the final confrontation. Tatsuya and his friends defeat Nyarlathotep, which he commends them for, but in doing so completes the Oracle of Maia, which leads to Maya's death. Philemon tells Tatsuya that they cannot revive her, but due to being in the Collective Consciousness, they are able to send themselves back in time to make it so these events never happened, saving Maya. However, in the process, they would all forget each other. Tatsuya and the others agree, and tell each other that they will try to still remember each other.

Before being transported back in time, Tatsuya makes the decision to remember his friends before being sent back, which creates a paradox. When the group is returned back in time, they were no longer associated with each other. Because Tatsuya remembers, his mind inhabits the body of the "new world's," Tatsuya. Because he was the Paradox in this world, there were other stragglers including Tatsuya Sudou, who attempts to get the former members of the Innocent Sin cast to remember the other world which would create a paradox and end the world. Tatsuya attempts to stop this from happening by joining his brother, Maya, a man named Baofu, and Maya's roommate Ulala, and once again ends up in the Collective Unconsciousness in the final battle with Nyarlathotep, who, once again orchestrated all these events. Tatsuya decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to save everyone by returning to his life in the "old world," saving the lives of everyone in the current world so that it is not destroyed due to the paradox.

He is a Persona-User who awakens the Persona Vulcanus after meeting Philemon, which later evolves into Apollo once Tatsuya acquires the Red Eagle Mask.

Physical Appearance
Tatsuya has brown hair worn long with a center part, brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin. At 5'11" (181 cm), he could be considered tall (especially in Japan where Persona 2 is set), although he is shorter than his fellow Persona user Eikichi Mishina.

In Innocent Sin he wears the male-variant Seven Sisters uniform, consisting of a black blazer and black pants with contrast trim worn over a white button-down shirt, and black sneakers. Additionally, he wears a blue tie, indicating his status as a third-year student. A black wristwatch can be seen on his left arm and his belt buckle has a distinctive leonine design. His childhood self is dressed in much lighter clothing: a white and blue raglan t-shirt.

In Eternal Punishment, Tatsuya sports a two-piece motorcycle outfit consisting of red pants and a matching jacket with a large 'X' symbol on its front. He also now has a distinctive tattoo-like marking winding up his right forearm.

Occasional Appearances
In flashbacks, as a child Tatsuya wears a polo T shirt with blue sleeves.

While hanging out with the Masked Circle as a child, Tatsuya wears the Red Eagle mask.

His gym uniform is a white and black track suit with his school's emblem on his left breast.

Near the end of the game, Tatsuya's shadow appears. He looks like his normal form but with red eyes and a more sinister look.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Tatsuya, alongside Maya, Lisa, Eikichi and Jun had a playgroup called the "Masked Circle" when they were all children, with Maya being the authority figure of the group. One day, the Shrine where the circle used to play around was set on fire by an arsonist with a similar name as Tatsuya, Tatsuya Sudou, with Maya locked inside the shrine by Lisa and Eikichi in order to prevent her from leaving the playgroup. Tatsuya Suou managed to awaken a persona to fend the arsonist off. The arsonist lost his right eye and Tatsuya suffered from a knife wound, but Maya was trapped and presumed dead. When Nyarlathotep starts betting with Philemon about the fate of humanity, he manipulated Jun into becoming Joker, and made him believe that Tatsuya Suou was the arsonist who killed Maya by burning the shrine instead of Sudou. In reality, despite Maya was trapped inside the burning shrine, she survived the tragic incident because she awakened a persona to protect her, although it left Maya with a case of pyrophobia. Since then, Jun, as Joker, would go after Suou personally under the premise that he is the arsonist who killed Maya.

One day, Tatsuya gets a letter from Lisa Silverman about a student from their school being kidnapped by the gang leader of Kasugayama High School. The letter instructs him to go to the Sumaru Prison alone if he wants the girl, Miyabi, to live. Lisa goes with him to face Eikichi and it's revealed that the letter was a ploy set up by Eikichi's friends to get Tatsuya to join their band, Gas Chamber. Lisa derides Eikichi, prompting him to fight them both with his Persona. Lisa awakens her Persona after being attacked by Eikichi, prompting Tatsuya to summon his Persona to attack the gang leader. All three then pass out and meet Philemon, who tells them about their Personas, and that rumors are becoming reality. Intrigued, Lisa decides to test calling their own phone number to summon Joker, so they might see if the rumor did come true, and tries, along with Ken, Takeshi, and Shogo, while Tatsuya, Eikichi, and Miyabi watch. They successfully called forth Joker, who proceeds to turn those without a desire in their hearts into Shadowmen, who were erased completely from cognition. Much to Tatsuya's surprise, Joker angrily expresses his hostility to the party and seems to be personally obsessed in killing Tatsuya, implying that Joker is actually a person who was acquainted with him, although Tatsuya doesn't recognize him. Joker then summons demons and overwhelms the party using a Persona before they can cast a Unison Spell. Joker attempts to kill Tatsuya for something he did in the past, but Tatsuya has no recollection of this incident and was heavily bewildered, so he spares him and leaves an Iris flower for him as a reminder for the "sin he committed." Although they manage to get the Joker to leave, they all become intrigued about his words, and decide to investigate them.

The three students are later joined by Maya Amano and her friend, Yukino Mayuzumi. The five then search for Joker, the source of all rumors that spread becoming reality. Their search leads the group to clash with a culconfronts Joker, revealing himself to be Jun Kurosu, the fifth childhood friend and one of the members of the original Masked Circle. Jun represses his feelings because he was manipulated by Nyarlathotep to carry his bidding, believing that Tatsuya committed arson on Maya under the malevolent god's brainwashing. After defeating his final form, the Angel Joker, he returns fully into Jun Kurosu and reconciles with Tatsuya. Yukino then sacrifices her power of Persona to grant Jun a legit one.

Eventually, the widely spread rumor that the Fuhrer had survived World War II with his secret forces, the Last Battalion, surfaces and his forces invade Sumaru City. Tatsuya and the others fight off both remaining Masked Circle members and the Last Battalion soldiers to obtain the crystal skulls, defeating their own Shadows in the process.

Towards the end of Innocent Sin, Tatsuya and the others board an alien spaceship known as the Xibalba, another rumor that had spawned into reality. In the deepest parts of Xibalba, the group finds the Fuhrer, wielding the Spear of Destiny (the spear that pierced Jesus Christ that is said to leave a mortal wound the second it strikes flesh) and defeats him.

At the conclusion of the game, it is revealed that all of the events had been orchestrated by Nyarlathotep in an attempt to show that the negatives of humanity would outshine the positives in a thought game with Philemon. Nyarlathotep then takes the form of a monster whose limbs are formed from the party's fathers and fights them as the "Great Father". After the fight, Nyarlathotep manipulates Maya Okamura to strike Maya Amano with the Spear of Destiny, killing her quickly. With the prophecy fulfilled, the Earth's rotation suddenly stops, destroying everything on the surface of the planet, save for Sumaru City which flew away on top of Xibalba, proving Nyarlathotep victorious in his bet against Philemon. Philemon tells Tatsuya that there is a way to prevent Maya's death and stop Nyarlathotep from destroying the world; everyone must give up their memories save for his, and if every other person but Tatsuya would remember anything from the destroyed reality, the world will end and Nyarlathotep will win. Tatsuya may then choose to punch Philemon out of rage over the cruel decision, or thank him for giving him a second chance. If he punches him, Philemon's mask falls off, but he will remain unfazed anyway, revealing his face as Tatsuya's and gives him a non-response, before Tatsuya reluctantly agrees with him to create a new timeline in which Nyarlathotep is not successful. If he thanks him instead, Philemon will give an encouraging speech to bid him farewell, with the same result as above.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Tatsuya returns as a major character in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Following the events of Innocent Sin, Tatsuya is the only one who recalls the memories that he and his friends had forged in the past. Set after the events of the previous adventure, Maya instead takes the role of the silent protagonist. It is revealed in his scenario that he is actually borrowing the body of the Tatsuya native to the new reality, in hopes of sealing Nyarlathotep away to atone for his mistake in not holding out for his promise to forget his friends. He also regrets his actions might have repercussions for the Tatsuya of the Eternal Punishment timeline when he fades away.

In Eternal Punishment, Tatsuya swaps his Seven Sisters uniform for a red motorcyclist's jumpsuit.

In his scenario, it is revealed that EP Tatsuya is a close friend of Anna Yoshizaka. Also, before the events of the game and up to a certain point, Tatsuya attempted to cover the incidents indicating the return of Nyarlathotep; these efforts had a lukewarm success at first, considering he did not manage to stop Tatsuya Sudou's campaign of terror or many of the subsequent events, heavily depending on Shiori Miyashiro to help him.

His fervor in working alone and not allowing Katsuya, or more importantly, Maya, into his investigations, was explained as Nyarlathotep revealing the spell Philemon had used to restore the world following the events of Innocent Sin would be undone if either Maya, Eikichi, Lisa or Jun had their memories of the previous timeline restored, even branding him to remind him of the fact.

During the events of the Lab, it is he who confronts and sedates the crazed, demon-infused Shiori and helps Eikichi escape. He takes Shiori to the Velvet Room and asks Igor to help him restore Shiori, intending to collect the Trapezohedrons alone. Still, before he can launch his one-man crusade, he is joined by the full group of Persona-users and forced to accept their help. Though they are successful in restoring Shiori, he is again reminded of the high cost he had been forced to endure in his fight.

In the end, Tatsuya was allowed to forget about his friends and the adventures they had shared - at the cost of forever shattering the bonds he had forged through them. By doing so, he vacated the borrowed body and returned to the IS timeline, leaving behind the Tatsuya Suou native to the EP timeline. Soon after, the Suou brothers had a conversation in which it was implied Tatsuya intended to follow in his brother's footsteps and join the police force.

Persona 3
Tatsuya Suou makes a cameo appearance in Persona 3 as part of Trish's show, Who's Who. He is described as "Smoking hot" and in his 20's. Trish discusses that he intends on becoming a policeman like his brother, Katsuya Suou.

Personality
Following the tradition of Shin Megami Tensei series, he is a silent protagonist, and some aspects of his personality, including his sexual orientation, are determined by the player's in-game actions and decisions. The most salient event regarding his sexuality occurs after the Shadow Lisa fight, where the player may choose to express feelings for one of his party members. If the player selects Jun Kurosu, then Tatsuya and Jun are treated as lovers. He has a more established history and personality than most other silent protagonists in the franchise, due in no small part to his ability to speak in Eternal Punishment.

Powers and Abilities
Tatsuya is a Persona User, meaning he is able to draw on the powers of his inner self to summon Demons that represent inner parts of his soul. A unique property that Tatsuya and the other Persona 2 cast members have is the power of the Wild Card, meaning that they are not restricted to using only one Persona based on their Arcana. Tatsuya is, in turn, able to switch Personas at will.

Vulcanus
Vulcanus is Tatsuya Suou's initial Persona. He appears for the first time in the game after Tatsuya is attacked by Eikichi Mishina in Sumaru Prison. The symbolism for the flames on his shoulder come from the lighter Jun Kurosu gave as a gift to Tatsuya.

Vulcanus Prime
If Tatsuya has made all the right choices to obtain all the Prime Personas of Rhadamanthus‎, Eros and Maia, after the Mt. Iwato scenario Philemon will offer Vulcanus Prime for being a potent leader of the group.

Apollo
Apollo appears as Tatsuya Suou's ultimate Persona in Persona 2: Innocent Sin, once the Red Eagle Mask is successfully collected. He excels at Fire and Nuclear-based spells and is immune against those elements, including the elements Light and Dark. The skill Nova Kaiser can be chained to perform the Grand Cross Fusion Spell along with the other main characters' Personas. His main weaknesses are water and ice.

Apollo returns as Tatsuya Suou's ultimate Persona in Eternal Punishment. Following the events from Innocent Sin, as Tatsuya is the only one who retained the memories created in Innocent Sin, he is able to retain Apollo as his Persona and starts out with Apollo upon joining the party. His appearance is slightly altered and his combat skills remain the same, except that his immunity against Darkess is absent and his Mutation skill is upgraded from Freidyne to Heat Kaiser. He's still able to perform fusion spells, such as the Dragon Cross together with other main characters' Personas.

If the player has save information from Innocent Sin, and they have this Persona, its stats will be transferred over. However, this was cut from the US version, since for PSX only Eternal Punishment was localized, and for PSP only Innocent Sin was localized.

Appearances

 * Persona 2: Innocent Sin
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
 * Persona 3; "Who's Who" guest
 * DemiKids Light / Dark Version; BattleNet opponent

Trivia

 * Tatsuya is the only Persona protagonist to be a main character of two mainline games; Innocent Sin and The Additional Scenario in Eternal Punishment.
 * Tatsuya is one of the four Persona protagonists to actually speak in a mainline game. The others being his castmate, Maya Amano, Noaya Todo in Eternal Punishment, and Ren Amimaya.
 * Tatsuya is the only Persona protagonist to be in his third year of high school. Every other protagonist, with the exception of Maya Amano who is graduated, is in his or her second year of high school.
 * His favorite food include rare steak (bloody ones especially) and seaweed-salt flavored potato chips. It's also noted that he dislikes squid entrails and anything with red bean paste in it.
 * The subtitles of both games in the Persona 2 duology refer to Tatsuya. His "innocent sin" in the first game is his refusal to forget about his memories with his friends because he's afraid of being alone, even though he needs to in order to save the world and Maya. His "eternal punishment" in the second game is to not only live in the original world where all humans outside Sumaru City are dead, and his friends are living in another reality, but during the game's events, has to live in a world where no one but him remembers the events of the first game and his friendships.
 * Exclusively in the Persona 2 art book Innocent Sin World, Tatsuya's future dream is to become a person who can express ideals to others in the same way Maya did when they were young.
 * Unlike his friend Lisa, Tatsuya is fluent in English.
 * Tatsuya and Jun's exclusive Personas are representative of the exchange of their "treasures" as children; Vulcanus and Chronos are the Roman god of fire and Greek personification of time respectively, while the most famous myth involving Apollo and Hermes is the exchange of the lyre and the caduceus between them, both of which became heavily symbolic of their owners.
 * Tatsuya is capable of stopping the flow of time with Apollo's ultimate ability, Nova Kaiser.
 * Tatsuya actually has two Zippo lighters:
 * The first, original one is an old, gray colored Zippo lighter which is a gift from Jun in Innocent Sin. This one is engraved with the words "The most precious things cannot be seen," signifying their friendship. This lighter is lost when the world was reset, since Tatsuya and Jun never met in the new timeline.
 * The second one is a brand new, silver colored Zippo lighter in Eternal Punishment. While the reason Tatsuya bought it is never stated, it might be to keep his habit in check and honor the memory of his friendship with Jun. At the game's ending, Tatsuya of "This Side" keeps this new lighter and uses it to light Katsuya's cigarette.
 * The reason Tatsuya can pilot vehicles flawlessly without any prior training is because of the power of rumors. In Innocent Sin, a rumor spread that Tatsuya was "good with machines" because he was always seen driving and tinkering on his motorcycle. The epilogue points this out by showing that the Tatsuya of "This Side" cannot fix his motorcycle like the Tatsuya of the "Other Side" was seen doing at the beginning of the game. As the playable Tatsuya in Eternal Punishment is the Tatsuya of the "Other Side" controlling the body of the Tatsuya of "This Side," the rumor still affects him and that's why he can pilot a blimp, a submarine and one of the X series robots.
 * At some point in development for Eternal Punishment, Tatsuya originally kept his Sevens High school uniform instead of wearing a red jumpsuit. This is shown in promotional material showing unused art of Tatsuya in his Sevens High outfit, along with unused sprites of this.
 * Tatsuya is the tallest protagonist in the series at 181 cm (5'11").