001; APPLICATION
PLAYER INFO
Name/Nickname: Jesse/Snapple
Journal: sifrid
AIM/MSN/IM: AIM: hyperboleproper
email: shadow.apple@gmail.com
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Suou Katsuya (Nicknames: Suou-nii (Big Suou), Keiji-san (Officer), Amae-chan (Wussy, from Baofu).
Canon: Persona 2: Batsu
Point taken from canon: During P3, sleeping the night after his interview on 'Who's Who' with Trish. (Persona 3: FES, talk to the TV.)
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Preferred Village: Amesato
A NOTE: Fanbook Translations. The actual game canon itself does not provide a good deal about Katsuya. I thought this might help you as mods as well. It's a fun site!
Appearance:
Katsuya is a classically handsome Japanese man who's fit, trim, and overtly over-stylish. In fact, Katsuya's careful and meticulous brand of tie-matching shirt goodness sometimes places him into the category of metrosexual -- he does mind the label, being of the desperate, heterosexual sort, but he's learned to not let it bother him as his previous dreams of being a patissier (that's right, a patissier) before he became a Detective toughened him up considerably.
Thus, Katsuya does gently dabble in guy-liner and takes careful and purposeful care of his hair. He uses high-end botanicals and organic products, he clips his cuticles and he polishes his shoes. His common uniform in detective work is a grey, well-tailored suit, purple oxford, ironed, and silk red tie. He wears matching square pink shades.
However, let's not let all of these things be confused for a truly feminine air to his character.
Katsuya, though he wanted to be a pastry chef, is definitely not excessively feminine. He cares passionately for his family and loved ones, and so if you are one what is normally a boxy, cold demeanor and mechanical action starts to dissipate. He is a master of masks and strength - he deliberately walks, with each step barely bending his knee. He eliminates as much fuss and excess from each and every action because his actions are, in and of themselves, devoted often to someone else. In short, Katsuya's gestures are often at times ambivalent or other-worldly; as if he is not present in his own skin but instead his skin is present of him.
When alone, however, with himself or with his family or friends, Katsuya's motions become warmer automatically. There is a grace to his actions and a relative purposelessness that seems a relief to most of his rigid work. He doesn't touch often but when he does lets it linger, and he most certainly makes sure to bow his head.
Katsuya is fervently shy about his true self and further proper to a point of malfunction, and so he is someone who does often flush when put in situations that are "awkward." Thus, he avoids these situations with passion. When he is flushing, however, it is a full body sort of flush, where he not only locks up and refuses eye contact but seems to have regressed to a pubescent nerd immediately.
His shades are prescription.
Background:
Katsuya grew up in a two-son household, the decently eldest of the Suou boys. His father was a sergeant, his mother a homemaker, and his little brother chronically into music. Katsuya, from an early age, was given the responsibility of taking care of his brother, Tatsuya. As children they'd been raised in with an absent, police officer father, working his life away to provide for them, and a moody tangential mother determined to see her sons become something. Tatsuya rebelled from an early age, and 8 years Katsuya's younger he had trouble understanding his little brother's ideations. Why shouldn't he have a duty to become something? Katsuya, on the other hand, had a dream. Since Tatsuya's moody youth began and he'd begun taking over housework, he'd found desserts. Yes, desserts. Simple Fruches. Cheesecakes. You name it, he had it. The moodier his mother got with his father's absence (and moody is the only term Katsuya would use, so do forgive its repetition) he started trying to cheer Tatsuya with cakes. This lead to a passion, a drive, and yes, a need to become something.
Katsuya, then, became the favorite and stayed the favorite. His household responsibilities continued to grow the more and more distant his mother became (sometimes expecting Katsuya to start and end the household in-between straight As and cooking practice) and make sure Tatsuya was off to school and home in one "big brother" swoop.
By the time Katsuya was just entering high school he'd taken to bringing Tatsuya to Araya Shrine to play with the other kids his age. The Japanese school life had begun to take its toll on Katsuya and so his Saturdays, in which he should've been spent cramming, were spent with a great amount of angst waiting for his brother to finish playing with his friends. They used to play the Ranger game, and no one ever knew each other's actual face -- but the events that Katsuya missed and their anonymity would eventually come back to haunt his life in later years.
There is nothing excessively particular about the day when the shrine burned down. Katsuya's youth had driven him into a state of catatonia. The stress at home - his father, a Captain's, long hours; his mother's moodiness to that effect - brought his notebook and research. A new cheesecake, probably. He'd left Tatsuya alone, tired and remorseful for his mother's latest fit, and while Tatsuya was gone his "onee-chan" friend, some girl Katsuya's age who seemed to think this silly Persona, Ranger game was any fun, was burned alive in the shrine.
The fire had started while Tatsuya was looking. The girl, so far as Tatsuya and Katsuya knew, didn't survive. His brother returned, shocked, anguished, and kept his silence tight. All Katsuya knew was the girl'd been locked inside, the fire'd started, and Tatsuya and his three younger friends... Blue, Yellow, Pink... had just watched Onee-chan perish. Katsuya tried to reach him, but this marked a turning point in Tatsuya's own removal from Katsuya's life.
Suddenly and irreparably Tatsuya was lost, and that would not be the first thing Katsuya would lose within a month of this shrine fire. His father, a Captain, would be framed for the crime by a man named Tatsuzou, a major corporate leader and father of Sudou Tatsuzou... eventually committed to an asylum for entirely different crimes. His father's career would fall apart in a split of an instant, and Katsuya, now in his senior year, would go straight into the officer corp to serve him. His mother would become irreparable in her depression.
Now supporting his family, his younger brother began to dissipate further and further into rebellion and sadness. Katsuya's career went as predicted. Successful, quick and decisive. A smart kid. A smart employee. He became sergeant and continued to do his best to involve Tatsuya in life and progress... of course, that's when he disappeared completely. Katsuya's panic set in. The only family he wanted... the family he'd wanted his whole life, gone! Without a trace! Katsuya, in his free hours, began launching a minor scale investigation into Tatsuya's whereabouts.
Simultaneously, a series of murders based around a mysterious rumor called 'Jokaa' began to form. While Katsuya was at Seven Sisters High, talking with Ms. Smith (yep, canon name) about his brother's absence and Tsuchiya Anna's involvement in the Jokaa rumors, two gossipy women, Amano Maya and Serizawa Ulala, were upstairs trying to negotiate the principle's treatment of Tsuchiya in the courtyard just earlier.
They found him dead.
They ran back to where the detective had once been, begging for his assistance. Katsuya, again torn between duties, abandoned his original objective and hurried to try and hit the scene of the crime. It came from the left, leaping through the narrow hallways, all flame and power. The hellhound landed, paws splayed and jaw cocked before them, the gold plating along its muzzle dimming in the suddenly changing light. It howled, and to Katsuya's panic, spoke. The talking thing ground out something about destiny, parts, pieces, and Maya came forward, this strange, brightly dressed girl and revealed a spirit. She bent forward and from her spine the spindly ghost began to appear. A woman in a bright pink robe - no, not a woman, a thing! But it wasn't just Maya, Serizawa, now, a creature with a heel in her mask appeared.
He began to cock his gun but it was too late. It felt like someone was pulling the pin out of the hinge in his back, knocking his limbs off his body and leaving him in a . . . it felt empty, spacious, blank. This empty. What was this empty? When he came to, the room had gold pillars, a checkerboard floor and a butterfly. A talking butterfly.
Apparently, they were Persona users. Their souls could contact spirits and demons. They could channel them and bring them forth. A summoner, like those silly video games his brother's friends were into. They had to stop the Jokaa. The Jokaa was a real thing. A real entity. Katsuya thought the dream spectacular, and imagined when he woke he'd go see Ms. Smith that day.
Until he woke and they were the same and the demon hound they had met was defeated, and Amano Maya and Serizawa Ulala had the same dream. So it began. Katsuya realized without much joy that his life had become those silly games. So it was. On his person, two pink guns. He hadn't noticed before but now that they were, he handed them over to Amano Maya.
The saga was long, and arduous. At this point it becomes more efficient to simply target important parts in Katsuya's history than describe the entirety of his journey with his companions. Though a step-by-step summary of his journey would be useful, to some extent, the reality is that Persona 2 in one play-through is a 100 hour game with several 30 minute cut-scenes, and lots, and lots of filler events. In the following paragraphs I'm going to focus on the major points of contention in the history of their struggle with Jokaa, more properly labeled Nyarlathotep, to spare your reading time and also to spare my fingers.
Katsuya and crew decided their next step was to negotiate the Jokaa rumor. This rumor stated that if someone called themselves upon their own cell, they could then send Jokaa out on another human being. Maya confessed that she had received a threat from Jokaa before, and so they began to focus themselves on ridding the Jokaa before it became too late. However, their work through Jokaa revealed an entirely different problem. The world as they knew it was dependent on something far different than what appeared. Rumors, any rumor -- the rumor that Jokaa depended on cell phone calls to be manifested, the fact that the famous bar Parabellum in Sumaru City now sold weapons -- all of these facts enacted by rumors. The discovery of the kotodama, or power of words, came only second with the discovery of the alternate world in which The Velvet Room called home.
The Velvet Room, inhabited by the enigmatic Igor, a crooked man with a large nose, and his three companions - Nameless, Belladonna and The Artist. The Piano Player, the songster, and the painter. Here, the mysterious cards brought forth their spirits, both small and large, into contention. Each Persona, then, was a reflection of their soul. A man who had been dealthy allergic to cats (regardless of his affection for them) for his whole life, Katsuya found irony that his personal persona was, of course, a bipedal cat named Helios.
At Seven Sisters, in the clocktower, Katsuya came face to face with Sudou Tatsuya - the man responsible for the fire that had destroyed his family and his brother's heart, but he didn't quite know it yet. However, the three, overpowered by their relative inexperience, found a strange and relieving but also haunting savior.
Katsuya's little brother, Tatsuya. His appearance came and went with just a swipe of his blade, leaving the police officer again without his brother but now wondering the level of which he'd become involved. Maya called him des jas vu boy, and with his arrival also received the crest from Seven Sisters High. The rumor was the crest would keep you safe. As Katsuya and crew began to leave the station, Katsuya's commanding officer relieved him temporarily of his duty. His removal from the crime scene brought Katsuya dangerously closer to being entirely without a family at all, and so he chose to follow the girls through their journey if only to find his brother again.
The group promptly burned it and set to find a rumor monger to help them figure out where their next step lay. This lead them to Baofu, a mysterious keeper of the code online. His website had over a million hits a day, and was the center of the rumor legions. Baofu lead them to the heart of an asylum where Sudou Tastuya had just escaped. Here, a strange code written on the wall greeted them... the Oracle of Maia. It did not get past both Katsuya and Baofu that Maya's persona had the moniker, and so the information was tucked away as they attempted to trace Sudou back to the Jokaa. Katsuya's "poor" performance according to Baofu earned him the nickname Amae-chan, since he refused to headshot and seemed to be without sharp violence.
They failed. Again, and again. They surmounted the Jokaa each time only to have Sudou slip from their grasps. As the tasks mounted each upon each other and the rumors began to grow fetid and foul; as their reality began to stress, Katsuya found himself heading through a pack a day. Outside of Parabellum, as they realized their next stop was the Gold Gym, Katsuya and Maya discussed the importance of earnestness. He thought to describe to her that he didn't even like being a cop, but cut himself short as they began to head out.
The evolution of the Jokaa (and the implication that it was just a symptom of something far more serious) had taken them to Ulala's old hangout. She had insisted that it was an important place to check. Instead, she turned upon her friends, becoming a Jokaa herself. Her jealousy of Maya's beauty and apparently her large breasts (yes, quote!) had lead her to such a fate. Taken advantage of by an ex boyfriend, this boyfriend as well appeared, yet again a manipulating force in her life. Katsuya's nickname Amae-chan was temporarily underestimated as he punched the guy out, thus earning the admiration of Ulala and Maya and further Baofu's scorn. Nothing like a good looking goody-two-shoes.
They temporarily separated after this incident, and it would come to Maya and Ulala's attention, however, that Katsuya had never really had a serious relationship. Yes, flings, here and there, moderate dates. A good looking fellow could do hat. But his family had always come first, and with this knew knowledge, they regrouped and headed out to Club Zodiac.
At Club Zodiac, Yung Pao, a boss of the Tien Tao Len who had been located in Taiwan, and Baofu had their confrontation. Within it, Baofu revealed his true identity - a former FBI agent working under the name Kaoru Saga. Katsuya found himself again chided for not being able to detect Baofu's true identity, and not only that, attempted to keep Baofu from exacting his revenge. With this new level of tension between them, the group now followed the insidious Foreign Minister Sudou Tatsuzou's son's trail towards the Sky Museum on the coast.
They'd heard tell Sudou would be there, and that indeed, the blimp on top of the museum was actually a working craft. Sudou set fire to the museum. Maya's trauma at being locked in the shrine was revealed - so this was onee-chan! - and so did Katsuya's need to protect the various children amongst the museum. A harried and beautiful teenage boy, Kurosa Jun, made sure to help gather the children and send them to their respectful places as the hurried to the top. Katsuya imagined Jun looked familiar, and had begun to note that those feelings were all too real and reliable in his new universe.
At the rooftop, Sudou and Suou Tatsuya met again. Again? Katsuya listened to his brother demand that the fight end differently this time, and though his brother was successful, Katsuya's disheartened realization that his brother, his only family left, had disappeared into this dangerous world became to overcome him. He almost missed Tatsuya giving Jun his old zippo lighter... and further almost caught himself missing the jump-off point from the now flying blimp, so caught up in Tatsuya's sudden arrival and exit. Fighting with him had been strange but exhllarating. He'd had a Persona too.
They needed bigger guns.
So they turned to the old school fighters - apparently the first manifestation of Personas had happened with the Persona game, years and years back. These original fighters had played a similar game to the Ranger game, and all developed this alternate person. They met with Nanjo Kei and Kirishima Erika, both veterans of the battle with the other world. Here, they tried to mention that the problem was bigger than Jokaa, but it took Baofu's newly dug up information to seal the deal.
Sudou Tatsuya's father, Sudou Tatsuzou, had framed Katsuya's father. Part of the reason he'd done so was Katsuya's father's proximity to the truth of Tatsuzou's activities. Tatsuzou, involved in the New World Order, had built a small group formerly called the Masquerade to summon to this world the Wang Long dragons of the end. Amongst them were the mysteriously popular and suddenly fashionable Wang Long Chizuru, who had supplied a new zodiac craze that had taken the nation. Also among them were Ginji, a famous agent, and Sudou Tatsuya. Each of these members all represented a part of the Persona tradition long since past - those that fought for chaos and destruction rather than salvation.
Their task was not just to take down the Jokaa, but to further eliminate the threat from the world. With the overwhelming information shared, the group realized that their new targets were not any of the Jokaa sufferers but rather, the groups surrounding themselves with the power of Jokaa. They began, with Erika in tow, to investigate the television station - they'd heard a rumor there that Wang Long Chizuru was planning an attack. Here, Katsuya was forced to confront his true nemises...
...the cat.
Cats. Adorable, fuzzy. Deadly little furrballs. Katsuya's persona being a cat had lead to several misconceptions on his part. Perhaps he could now hang out with them. Pet them. Scratch their ears. This was surely not the case, and a severely embittered and ill Katsuya entered into a battle with the shapeshifter Chizuru quite weakened. This, however, bonded him to Maya... a problem that was becoming more and more severe the more and more they fell into this situation.
A few more stops on the way: Attacking Ginji at the Smile Mall, taking out Yung Pao for real. Katsuya fell into the background, the habitual, rhythmic system of the new "family," the long days and the battling nights. As the battles continued and Katsuya fell more into the rhythm of protector and ally, he also found his persona evolving... Hyperion developed from this contented seat in the hero's chair, when he'd rather take a bag of flour and make it delicious.
Save, you know. When Tatsuya returned. Their battles were successful and Erika left to handle her own, pervious heroes squad... and Tatsuya joined them. His comfortable, flirty relationship with Maya continued, but became awkward and strange as her attention to her de jas vu boy became increasingly sincere. Tatsuya co-opted Baofu's respect, and refused to explain, not even a second, why everyone recognized him or why he seemed to remember all, and why he had fought Sudou before even if quite obviously he had not. The secrecy began to wreak havoc on Katsuya's system until the tower came.
Ah, the tower. It grew from the center of Sumaru City with a sign that it was the beginning of the end. This comfortable squadron had become too comfortable, their danger too perfunctory. It was time for the crew to climb to the top and find whoever was up there. They imagined Tatsuzou Sudou, of course. They imagined that.
It was here Tatsuya finally broke. He explained that he was not Tatsuya as Katsuya knew him -- that Tatsuya had been run out. Run out? Katsuya drew his weapon. The loss of his brother in finality was too much. No, not permanent, the other Tatsuya would explain. Back in the past, but still the same time, there had been a parallel universe. In that universe Philehmon (their mysterious, butterflied benefactor of a million paragraphs earlier) had set a test upon mankind. To see if they were worthy. Tatsuya and his group had failed - Maya had died and the world had crumbled. So, the agreement was struck. Should they all forget their memories, Maya would come back to life and an alternate reality born. They all forgot.
Save Tatsuya. This innocent sin ('tsumi') lead to the punishment ('batsu') the world faced today. Should the others remember, the beloved Maya would die, and she, as the oracle, the center of the world, would signal the end of humanity. Katsuya's alarm was matched only by frustration. This other creature... he pulled him aside, and tried to understand how he couldn't be his brother. Tatsuya only told him he'd wished he'd understood Katsuya better in the other world. Perhaps he'd've been able to help.
They group set into the castle, climbing the staircases until they reached Sudou. However, when he fell the world didn't revert. The dragons and the castle and everything that had come remained the same. Instead, the Monado Mondala arrived. Here, they would have to meet not with Philehmon, but with Nyarlathotep. Nyarlathotep, the bringer of chaos, Philehmon's brother.
Each ring of the world brought about a new facade. As they entered rooms the shadow-selves of each companion, the piece rejected by the noble Persona, the piece that allowed them to summon demons as well, was manifested by Nyarlathotep. Ulala's self-consciousness was revealed, her shadow self manifested. Baofu's history with his love, the love he'd let die, made reality. Katsuya knew it would only be a matter of time before his shadow self was manifested by the treacherous Nyarlathotep and the world made known his own interior feelings.
Before his friends his shadow self brought forth the following images:
An instructor telling Katsuya that he was shocked when he abandoned his dream. Katsuya's resignation to take care of his family. His father's shame. His mother's breakdown.
Together, Katsuya was left with the implication that Tatsuya had truly done this. Truly done this all. The shadow self asked him why he would ever continue to love his brother, even as now he arrived and began to take Maya away from him too? Katsuya himself had not realized how he felt towards Maya... after all, the reserved, repressive Katsuya had so much to worry about prior to this moment. Tatsuya, and Maya, then. The heartbreak was instantaneous with the determination to just for once have his damn family. One piece, that's it. All he had to do was survive this and then he'd bring Tatsuya to mom, dad would be released - he'd gotten word of the Police Chief himself - and maybe, maybe they could start functioning. One step at a time, it could get better --
Katsuya turned to Tatsuya and aimed his gun.
And instead flipped it around and shot himself through the heart.
The rest of the battles went like a blur. Nyarlathotep went down. It all seemed so simple after that. Katsuya had saved his family. Somewhat, somehow, he had. Before Philehmon they took back their peace, and the other Tatsuya's mind left for the other world. Together, they'd ended it. He brought Tatsuya home. They weren't without trouble, but it seemed to get better.
Upon a beach, Katsuya and Tatsuya chose to quit together, and Tatsuya asked if Katsuya would help him get into the police academy.
The only problem? Amano Maya had chosen distance from the family than further trouble the Suous. Katsuya, though the mind on this side with the affection and the knowledge of Maya, had lost his shot before it came. It would be Tatsuya who ran into her. It would play out that way.
Head Canon
Five years later, Suou Katsuya is now a Lieutenant. He is still single, and has had no one serious since realizing his affection for Maya. He shares an office with another Lieutenant in his precinct, and operates under a conventional moniker. He never did pursue his dreams, but he makes cakes for Tatsuya every weekend and they visit. His mother is on anti-depressants. His father is finally released.
They are doing their best to put themselves together.
Katsuya, recently, before arriving in Kannagara, found himself on a television program called "Who's Who" run by an old friend and colleague the fairy Trish. (a rich fairy who robbed you of your money to heal you. Sometimes her costs were higher than the fucking boss battle drops.) He was described as a dapper, good-looking sergeant, well dressed, and potentially available.
That night, Katsuya uncharacteristically drank himself to sleep, and woke up laying in a pile of mud.
Personality:
FROM THE FANBOOK:
NAME: Suou Katsuya (Žü-h @ Ž Æ)
NICKNAMES: Suou-nii (Big Suou), Keiji-san (Officer), Amae-chan (Wussy)
BIRTHDAY: December 30, 1973 (25 in Batsu)
ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn
CHINESE ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Water Ox
GUARDIAN DRAGON: Purple Dragon
HEIGHT: 179 cm [5' 10.5"]
WEIGHT: 65 kg [143 lbs]
BLOODTYPE: B
OCCUPATION: Police Officer (Criminal Enforcement Division 1 Detective) THIS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF A SERGEANT, ACCORDING TO ENGLISH TRANSLATION, JUST GO WITH ME.
TAROT ARCANA: Justice
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Fire
STARTING PERSONA: Helios
ULTIMATE PERSONA: Hyperion
WEAPON: Handgun
LIKES: Making sweets, saving money, playing the flamenco guitar
FAMILY: Mother, Father, Younger Brother
TALENTS: "Investigating (because I have confidence)"
FAVORITE FOODS: "Sweet things, curry, etc. (Because I like them)
HATED FOODS: "Coffee after curry."
WHY?"Because it's spicy."
DISLIKES/IS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH:Spicy things, cats
WHY? "(I like cats a lot, but for some reason my body can't handle being around them)"
FAULTS:Yelling "You're under arrest!" and cuffing people.
DREAM: "To live happily with my family."
Katsuya, as a human, is repressed. He is your stereotypical Japanese man front and center. This first and most notorious characteristic, during the game he even whines when his stomach shows he's hungry. "I try my hardest to keep up a facade, but my body cannot lie like my features." Yes, this is something he says to the player. YES, it indicates that Katsuya is somewhat of an emotard. This repression has lead to a manifestation of potentially the same emotions that have lead both his mother and Tatsuya into different and more wilder depressions. Katsuya can't handle sadness, can't handle happiness, can't handle much. He is one of the many, many humans in the world mistaken for "strong" when in reality they are just "broken."
This is no implication that Katsuya is weak. However, what the general populace perceives as weakness - an openly emotional individual - is often the healthiest and strongest of individuals. They are in tune with their motivations and their purposes, and are capable of expression and connection. Katsuya is none of these things. He is riddled with walls and blockages, this concept of duty that pushes their psyche to indescribably far-reaching distances from their fellow humans. Because Katsuya has always had to be the "pillar of strength" and the Justice in his family, he is convinced that he can fit no other role.
His time with women will illustrate this perfectly. Katsuya doesn't care. He's selfish, to a certain degree. He is focused entirely on his own existence, and so with the exclusion of his family Katsuya cannot and will not see past to other human beings. Once you take the time to force him to realize you care he might start to care - but any sort of amount of spontaneous affection will be met with a serious, methodical and intelligent analysis. He is all head and no heart, and he's forced himself this way.
That's not to say Katsuya doesn't hurt. The key to his repressive personality is that Katsuya does feel and hurt often. He in fact is in a constant flux of emotional reaction that is bottled and controlled by an escapist duty-ism and a self-sacrificing form of redemption. When Katsuya feels he's failed (as he often does) he decides to give of himself to fix it. To others this is a very beneficial trait, easy to take advantage of, easy to push to the side. Katsuya is forgettable, outside of his good looks and friendly charm. He is forgettable and usable. He is a uniform, and he holds so much of his personality back from the collar - a natural, brimming personality, that he becomes a badge and nothing else.
Now about this interior Katsuya. First and foremost he's a huge DORK. His biggest problem on the force is pretending to be a TV cop. He shouts "YOU'RE UNDER ARREST" and throws the cuffs on as if an action hero. Please, he probably wished he could loosen up and play that Ranger game with his little brother. He's all about goofy and extravagant attempts at displaying affection with awkward flare. When a child, he used to spend all day thinking what he could make Tatsuya, and would go out of his way practically humming to himself to do it. This sort of behavior clearly points to a total dorkface, an utter awkward and goofy weirdo.
He probably reads sci-fi books and manga, watches dramas and cries at sad movies. In fact, Katsuya most likely dreams of being married, but know he's even one of those sappy romantics who's too nerdily to take advantage of anyone unless he loves them. Katsuya, as a person, is really just all around nice and friendly and funny and... well... odd. He more than once on his journey with Maya and Ulala broke his "cool" exterior to prove himself uh... into ghost stories. Mythology. Cats. Memorabilia. The amount of things Katsuya secretly otakus seemed endless by the final of the game. A true introverted geek if you ever saw one.
This combined with his repressive personality leads for a worthwhile presence... if you can get him to snort laugh around you.
Abilities/Strengths:
Katsuya is a dead-shot. He is the most powerful character in the game and can pummel you into the ground very easily for being a wirey Japanese guy. "Cat muscles," they call it. He can hit any target from miles away thanks to having to hit demons of all shapes and sizes. Oh yeah, and did we mention the creepy persona thing he can summon? Yeah. That. He can summon a persona who can bring about a fire the size of a house fire where you stand. The full spell-list for Hyperion is Flare Shot, Fata Morgana, Maharagidyne, Triple Down, Heat Kaiser, Justice Shot and Mahanma. The full spell-list for Helios (still summonable, as Katsuya and crew are part of the "multi-summon" cast): Agi, Single Shot, Patra, Scratch, Maharagi, and Zio.
These are the default Persona he has, but every single creature in the bestiary save humongous bosses can be summoned by Katsuya to a certain degree. (He is incompatible with some of them, and those are the demons of the tarot: Moon and Tower. Katsuya will and can never summon those persona.) I've attached those to the app email.
I would like to note that Katsuya is strong FOR A HUMAN. He is nothing like, say, Superman or Sasuke or anything. He's very strong for a Japanese male. There are probably folks stronger than him. However, it's implied part of his escapist behavior is making sure he's also a tough cookie, and when you're level 99 and your strength stat is 500 without any buffs, you're a pretty tough cat (on a base system of 0, by the by, with 5 points at level up and 2 points assigned to chars at level... meaning you pretty much force Katsuya's other stats up because the game front loads him.) Part of that I think is that he has a gun, and they're trying to simulate that, but Maya's caps out at 382 and she's got TWO guns, and Serizawa, a female boxer, caps at 470. (without player staff buff influence.) So there's a lot to say the guy's decently packing.
Katsuya's weaknesses lie all in the emotional. He is easy to rile, and unlike Batman who doesn't shoot to kill, he doesn't harm at all, and basically errs on the side of weakness regularly. Katsuya is often destroyed on the inside, and his lack of passion for his work manifests regularly in this sort of behavior. He's not much of a skilled hand-to-hand combat artist as he's... well... he's a fucking pastry chef! Strong or not, he hides behind a gun and he JUST DOESN'T WANT TO HIT YOU.
Defining Quotes:
"Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end."
-Henry David Thoreau
"In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present."
-Lao Tzu
"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Other:
A note about Japanese police officers in 1999/2000...
"New recruits must be not only trained in the technical skills of police work, but also compeltely socialized in the police way of life 'even down to their way of eating.' For example, the first goal of the training program for new recruits in Okayama is 'complete life guidance,' which is further defined as 'the development of a just and cheerful character and harmonious good sense'" (Police and Community in Japan, Ames, 1981).
To play a Japanese police officer is somewhat a big responsibility, as Katsuya in truth is an indoctrinated police officer to the bitter end. The police culture in Japan is rigid, with many conditions, rituals and roles specifically developed inside the womb of a koban, or a "district" as we'd probably refer to it in America. It takes extensive education and devotion to enter into the force and Katsuya, even if it was not his primary dream, was definitely capable of putting up enough of a front to put himself through this. As an aside before I talk more about what I've come to know as police culture (and what I will be playing as a background in Katsuya's life that's unspoken in the game due to... well, it being a Japanese game and the assumption is you know he's done this shit) I'd like to point out that this indicates a very chameleon aspect to his character. For all of his obvious sensitivities that they have chosen to show the player of P2, I think we only see those because Maya is ALWAYS AROUND. I think we'd see a very much colder and harsher Katsuya if his ability to chameleon into someplace he honestly doesn't belong that is so rigid and formulaic has anything to say about it.
Now, about the Police system:
All applicants have to train for a year after secondary school (which is when Katsuya left for the force) or after College for 6 months. Katsuya never did enter University which means he is constantly subjected to further educational programs and updates. Those who did go to university are also put through educational programs, but most likely not nearly as many nor as often as Katsuya would have to go through. Further, as a remnant of WWII desperation, all police officers are signed up for Naval service in the instance of an emergency, and most if not all end up serving as a reservist for 2 years of their tenure. Katsuya would have, as the time permitted, served in the Navy for 2 years as a reservist.
Next, a single police officer is forced to live in the police dormitory with other single policemen. This is to institute a community feeling. Thus, Katsuya lived (and lives) in a two bunk room with another officer, and communicates only with officers most of the day. Further, officers are not provided meals in their dorms, and instead eat at "police cafes" out in their cities or in the station, making their meals even more of a forced social etiquette.
THERE IS SO MUCH MORE, but most of it is irrelevant to state outright as it won't change much of how I play him and he'd have to explain it in game IC anyway. (like MARRIAGE GO BETWEENS! oooo).
But here's the catch! REAL POLICE ETIQUETTE and KATSUYA CANON disagree... EEP.
According to the fanbook, Katsuya REGULARLY bakes for Tatsuya. He tries all sorts of cakes for him when he comes home from school with the hopes it'll cheer up his totally angsty brother. Yep. How does he bake then? There's no eating here! I've hashed out a few other ideas that I might run on a limb with, but I've decided that because of the state of Katsuya and Tatsuya's family (Father in prison, mother... somewhere... the game never gives you a straight answer if she's even alive in the Eternal Punishment verse, ho-ho-hoooooooosoooo not funny), Katsuya has a special reprieve and has his own apartment.
He's also a sergeant by the time the game starts, and all I've read say that dormitory stay is semi-optional for sergeants with extenuating circumstances and/or in small precincts. So let's just go with the semi-optional option, and Katsuya had his own apartment that Tatsuya stayed in for some time.
Now, there is MENTION of their mother in the asylum early in P2: EP. This has lead to some fan ideas that Kat and Tat's mom is insane after his father's disgrace. Okay, that's cool, but I think Kat has enough angst on his own without that. I chose to make his mother just MIA and depressed so that other canonmates can help me make that decision.
A Bit of Head Canon:
Because Katsuya has not managed to be married off yet thanks to the Marriage Go-Betweeners in the Police Dorms and also because he does have a rumoured "burocon" (Brother complex; a term similar to Oedipal Complex in Japanese except... ah... you know, not nearly as clinical or 'I want to do you' though that sort of doujinshi exists everywhere!), I tend to think Katsuya is waiting to take care of himself until he can make sure his brother is going to make it through life. There is mention that this is more the correct interpretation of Ulala and Maya's burocon accusation in the Shadow! Katsuya confrontation listed in his background. I choose to play by that, and imagine there are a few girls who were hinted at towards him by the Marriage Go-Betweens that he cold-shouldered one out of dense inability to see womenfolk ever aahhhhh but also out of choosing to "put family first no matter what the cost."
Action Writing Sample:
[The gun never shook, but that didn't mean that Katsuya's heart didn't. Held fast against the handle of the gun, his thumb slid along the safety, opening the barrel wide.]
Freeze!
[On the other end of the barrel, Jack Frost stared back, iced eyes glazed over by the film of sublimating cold. His round, white body emanated in the same wafting vapors, the bell on his hat. Katsuya watched as he prepared the spell - this would be cold, wouldn't it? And suddenly, was taken aback as the demon began to giggle.]
What?
[Katsuya knit his brow]
Oh. Oh Freeze. Right.
[He tightened his jaw. Of course the demon thought it was funny. Of course. Standard language meant puns left and right. The silliness of the situation frustrated him, but the bell-like laughter to his left caused him to falter with his gun. Maya's laugh. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed it wasn't just Jack Frost... but everyone... just... just laughing at him! He tightened his grip on the gun and fired, cheeks flushed, and turned sharply from the scene.
Freeze. You moron!]
Third Person Writing Sample:
Japan had a peculiar habit with its summers. Humid but sometimes a medium cool, they carried dissonance and laid it on the shoulders of each of the officers stuck on the unfortunate tarmac that day. Their clothes stuck to them but not of sweat, of the ocean, the salty humidity that an island created. So close to the shore of Sumaru City, the Aoba prefecture left Katsuya with the constant reminder of the starched cotton, the leather belts, the silk ties that made his trade so uncomfortable at times. He shaded his eyes despite the pink, and stared at the rose-tinted sun. It's dangerous to look into the sun...
The television interview was set for three pm, and stepping up the concrete towards the station Katsuya reconsidered. He hadn't seen Trish in five years. Her damn coiffed hair, he constant flirtations. It'd changed when Tatsuya arrived as well. They all changed when Tatsuya arrived. He held his breath as he hit the button on the elevator. He tried to keep himself from thinking, 'What number is this one?' Ah, running around the backgrounds of reality with Erika... these things, they all came and left his brain, as he again found his hands hovering over his cell phone. His fingers grazed the small black cat, but never did open it up.
Bravery, he tried to tell himself, came in all sorts of forms. He took a peak, instead, at his watch. Ten minutes early...
The elevator opened to the plush lobby, and he didn't take the step. He couldn't. His knees stapled themselves together and the door clicked shut, leaving the elevator on floor 11 of Sumeragi TV and Katsuya, hand flat against the cool metal, still inside. The chill hit his sweating forehead as he took a deep breath and loosened his tie. He tried to breath but found it wasn't coming; he chocked, gasped, on the breath. Too tight, everything too tight. He tore the damn thing off, letting the bundle of silk fall impotent between his feet. As it, whatever it was, began to curl up from his stomach, his fingers curled out, and flat palms slammed again and again against the thick door. Again, again, again.
The elevator door opened, and Katsuya adjusted his glasses, straightened his newly applied tie, and walked into the interview.
Exactly punctual.
"Hello, and welcome to Who's Who! Today, our guest --"