character info
HISTORY
The story starts out with the main character (named by the player, though most RPers use the name Souji, since this was given to him in the manga) moving to a new town (Inaba) to stay with his uncle (Ryoutarou Doujima) and young cousin (Nanako) for a year while his parents are overseas.
We first see Yousuke on the main character's first day at his new school in Inaba. On the way to class, Yousuke rides past him on a rickety bicycle, crashing and racking himself in the process. Noting how much pain he must be in, the protagonist leaves him alone. Coincidentally, he ends up being in the same homeroom class, and he spends most of the morning flopped over his desk in agony. As school is ending, an announcement comes over the intercom telling the students that there's been an incident and to stay clear of the police officers on the way home. The protagonist is approached by a female student, Chie, and her friend, Yukiko. On their way out, Yousuke hurriedly, and far too politely, returns a borrowed DVD to Chie, apologizing and asking for mercy before fleeing. Not liking this, Chie chases after him and delivers his second hit to the groin for the day before checking her DVD, which has been broken. (I'm willing to guess it happened when he fell off his bike.) The protagonist once again leaves him alone as he follows the girls out. Their progress is stopped by a strange boy who asks Yukiko out and is promptly turned down. This gives Yousuke a chance to catch up, and we find out he'd asked Yukiko out before with similar results. Upon finding out that she's really just clueless to when people are hitting on her, he asks again and is shot down a second time. He then tells them not to pick on the transfer student before riding off. On the way home, they come across a crime scene and are shooed away by the protagonist's uncle, a detective. It's later revealed on the news that a reporter, Mayumi Yamano, had been found dead and hung from a television antenna. (She'd been on the news just the day before due to an alleged affair with a city council representative, Taro Namatame.)
The next morning, Yousuke once again rides past the protagonist, this time going way too fast. He crashes again and ends up rolling around in a trash can, calling for help. The main character lends a hand and Yousuke properly introduces himself. He approaches him again after school, thanking him for helping him that morning and offering to take him out to try some of the town's local delicacy, grilled steak, saying he knows somewhere they can get it cheap. Chie butts in and has him bring her along as well, as partial payback for her broken DVD. He complains, but brings them both to Junes, a shopping center from a larger chain recently built in the area. It isn't the place he originally had in mind, but he couldn't afford the steak for three people. His father is the manager of this branch, so they'd moved into the area six months before - making him a city boy getting used to life in the small town same as the main character. Their meal is interrupted as Yousuke spots a female worker, Saki Konishi (also from their school). He's incredibly friendly towards her, and Chie's comments indicate that he has something of a crush. (She refers to him as "Hana-chan.") She laughs off his concern, as he'd noticed she looked tired, and instead heads over to visit the protagonist. She jokes a bit at Yousuke's expense before leaving. After she's gone, Chie starts talking about something called the "Midnight Channel." Apparently, if you look into a switched off TV alone at midnight, your soulmate will appear. Yousuke doesn't believe her at all, but the three of them decided to test it out that night anyway. Meanwhile, on the evening news, it's revealed that Saki was the one who found the body of Ms. Yamano.
That night, the main character sees the TV screen come to life at midnight, just as Chie said. There is a girl there that he doesn't recognize. After the protagonist suffers a dizzy spell, the screen is blank. He touches it, then finds his hand can go through. He's almost pulled in but it too small to fit. He tells this to Chie and Yousuke the next day after they all meet up again. They'd seen the same thing (though without nearly falling in). The discussion reminds Chie that her family had been looking to get a bigger TV, so they end up heading off to Junes to look at what they have in stock. Both Chie and Yousuke jokingly attempt to get through the screen of the largest one there, not surprised when they can't. However, when they go off to look at less expensive ones, the protagonist tries it himself. His hand goes inside, and his new friends look over in time to see this. He eventually sticks his head in as well, which causes them to freak out. Not sure what to do, the two run around until they bump into the protagonist, sending all three into the TV.
They land in a strange foggy place that looks like some sort of studio. As they search around, they eventually come across another room - creepy, with a chair and noose and pictures of someone with their face removed. The room and the heavy atmosphere start making them feel ill and uncomfortable, so they head back. In the studio area again, they run into a mysterious bear-thing. It warns them that someone had been throwing people into his world, and balks under angry questions from Chie and Yousuke. Eventually, he helps them return to their world. Come the next day, it's revealed that Saki Konishi had been murdered in the same manner as Mayumi Yamano.
Yousuke had been out of sorts that morning, and he revealed to Chie and the protagonist that he'd watched the midnight channel again the night before and recognized the girl as Saki. She'd appeared to be writhing in pain. He brings up the idea that those shown on the midnight channel might be the ones killed, as others had mentioned seeing Ms. Yamano on it before her own death. He insists that they go in again, arguing that the police would never believe their story. When they arrive at Junes, Yousuke is waiting for them with a rope and a golf club. They end up leaving Chie behind with one end of the rope as a life-line, but the connection is severed after they go through, so when they meet the bear again (who's name ends up being Teddie) Yousuke demands that he let them back out when they're done. After some arguing, the bear decides to believe they aren't the ones responsible for throwing people in, but insists they help find out who was. Teddie gives them glasses to help see through the fog, then leads them to another area in the TV world that had appeared recently. It ends up looking just like the central shopping district, with a strange doorway leading into the liquor store where Saki's family worked. It's here that they're attacked by shadows and the protagonist's Persona awakens. He fights them off and they enter.
It should be noted that, rather than showing immediate jealousy of the main character, Yousuke is impressed. (Though he does bug Teddie when the bear starts calling the MC "Sensei".)
Inside, they are met with the voices of Saki and others. It seems that Saki really found Yousuke a nuisance, and hated Junes for how it was ruining her family business. Yousuke denies that this is how she was, and is distraught about things enough that his own shadow appears. The being looks and sounds like him (save for the yellow eyes and dark fog). He comes out and begins talking about how Yousuke feels sorry for himself, how he's sick of everything (especially living out in the middle of nowhere) and only puts on a show of being carefree because he's terrified of being alone. He claims that Yousuke only came into the TV world because it sounded like a good time and there was nothing better to do. When Yousuke denies all this, and claims that the shadow isn't him, it grows stronger. It morphs into something more monstrous and Yousuke passes out, leaving the protagonist to deal with the boss fight. When it's finished, Yousuke wakes up and still isn't ready to accept his shadow until he gets encouragement from the other two. "I knew it wasn't lying..." he eventually says. "But I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it..." Accepting it gains him his Persona, Jiraiya. (When you complete his social link it changes into Susano-o.) The shadows show the hidden aspects of people's hearts. They come to realize that Saki must have been stuck in that world when the fog lifted there (which it does when it's foggy in the real world) and the shadows came out. Unable to defend herself, she'd been killed. They realize that they might be able to save others that are thrown in if they get to them before it's foggy in the real world.
That night, there's an image on the Midnight Channel once again. It appears to be a girl in a kimono, but the image isn't clear enough to tell for certain. Yousuke catches the main character on the way to school the next morning, mentioning the image and that they needed to do something about it - being the only ones that could. Apparently, awakening his Persona made it so that he could enter the TV as well (without the assistance of the protagonist). It's at this point that the main character establishes his first social link in the game - Yousuke's, that of the Magician arcana.
At school, Yousuke apologizes to Chie about the day before, but she's more upset about something else. She thinks the person that showed up on the TV was Yukiko. Yousuke mentions the possibility that she might have been thrown into the TV world, but Chie is eventually able to get a hold of her friend at the inn, where a large reservation required her help and kept her from school that day. Wondering about what seeing her on the TV might then mean, the group heads over to Junes again after school. Teddie informs them that no one had entered since they'd been there last. Yousuke exchanges cell numbers with the main character and they decide to keep a close eye on Yukiko. That night, she appears on the Midnight Channel once again, but the image is much clearer. She's dressed as a princess, and speaking to the viewers as though it was some sort of reality program - very much unlike the Yukiko the group is used to. Yousuke calls the main character up and they decide to meet up at Junes the next morning (as it's a Sunday).
Yousuke meets the protagonist in the food court and shows off a couple replica weapons he'd found at his house. He thinks they can use them to fight off shadows in the TV world. Unfortunately, a cop spots them and they're taken into the station, where Doujima is most displeased. Their weapons are confiscated, but they find out that Yukiko has indeed gone missing. When Chie shows them a place they can get real weapons, they start putting their crazy rescue plans into action. (Yousuke already trusts the protagonist at this point to just hand over money and let him pick out fitting equipment.)
They soon head back into the TV world and Teddie points them in the direction of where he sensed the new presence. What they find is a large fairytale castle. Yousuke wonders if the reason Yukiko wasn't acting like herself had anything to do with what happened to him. Hearing that Yukiko is inside the castle, Chie runs in on her own. The other two follow, finding her on the second floor. The voices of Yukiko can be heard, saying how much Chie means to her, and that she's worthless in comparison. This calls out Chie's own shadow and as she denies it, as Yousuke did, it changes also. Yousuke and the protagonist fight it, and Chie eventually unlocks her own Persona.
It's Yousuke that brings up the idea of the main character being the leader of their group as they leave. "I mean, I'm more the advisor type, y'know? An ideas man, not an executive." It's agreed upon unanimously by the others. They decide to go back and keep returning after school until they rescue her, which must be done before it becomes foggy in the real world. They succeed, and Yukiko faces her own shadow at the end, also gaining the Persona ability.
After Yukiko has recovered, she joins the team and they begin looking for who might be the next victim. This ends up being Kanji Tatsumi, who'd been on the news for apparently being involved with some biker gang. They try to warn him (Yousuke being paired up with Chie which ends in a comical chase since neither of them are any good at hiding.) When they reach Kanji's shadow, a flamboyantly gay and half-naked version of him taking residence in a steamy bathhouse, Yousuke has second thoughts about trying to help him admit to sharing feelings with it. Kanji explains that it has more to do with him wanting any sort of positive attention, but this doesn't keep Yousuke from teasing him about it after he's joined the party.
In between this rescue and the next, the school has a camp out. The girls try to prepare food for the guys but it ends up horrible, prompting Yousuke to refer to the concoction as "Mystery Food X." It won't be the first time he mentions it. Also, he manages to get them to wear bikinis (that he brought with him - GOD, Yousuke) but it's him and the other boys that end up in the water instead... downstream from their puking homeroom teacher.
The next victim is Rise Kujikawa, a pop idol who's returned to Inaba on hiatus from her showbiz career. Yousuke is a fan of hers, though not an obsessive one. She works at a tofu shop with her grandmother and, despite the fact that he really doesn't like tofu, he intends to eat what he's gifted with there after they try to warn her. Rescuing Rise in the dungeon (she takes Teddie's place as support) also leads to Teddie learning his persona. However, despite the fact that they saved Rise, someone else appears dead and hanging from an antennae the next morning - Mr. Morooka, their homeroom teacher. Having had no prior warning for this like before, they're at a loss as to what could have happened.
The next time they see Teddie, he can leave the TV world on his own and has even created a human form for himself. (A sparkly little bishounen, no less.) It's now easier for him to join them and work on the case. They learn from him that Morooka was never in the TV to begin with, which makes the case more confusing. As the newly human Teddie is naked under his bear suit, Chie and Yukiko buy him clothes... using Yousuke's credit card. He isn't pleased. Despite this, Yousuke is obviously somewhat fond of the bear - offering to have him stay at his place. Teddie also remains around Junes as a mascot of sorts. (It should be noted that Yousuke is the only one who refers to him as "Ted" in a more buddy-ish fashion.)
When the group finally goes after a potential suspect, following him into the TV world, we see some of Yousuke's desperation for answers after the boy, Mitsuo Kubo, is captured. He wants to know the killer's motives, and what Saki actually died for. The answer he gets, that Mitsuo just wanted attention, only angers him further. They turn the suspect over to the police.
Afterwards, there's celebrating, a summer festival (in which Teddie ruins the guys' chances of having too much fun with the main girls and both Kanji and Yousuke prove how big of failures they are when it comes to asking them out themselves), and watermelon. This is followed by a trip to Tatsumi Port Island (basically for fans of Persona 3).
Naoto is the next victim, as the group finds out "he" is in fact a she. She joins the party and there is no real focus on Yousuke for this segment.
After some time, the main character receives an ominous letter, apparently from the killer, telling him not to rescue any more victims. It's kind of pushed to the side as the school's culture festival comes along, though. Yousuke jokingly proposes their class do a "group date cafe," which ends up being voted on by most of the class though no one actually participates, leading to a funny scene where the few class members left there - the class rep, the protagonist, Yousuke, Chie, Yukiko, and Kanji (who wandered in at a bad time) - do it themselves. Depending on your choice, either the main character or Yousuke can sit with the girls. If you make Yousuke do it, he'll actually attempt a girly voice and pick the MC as the boy he'd most like the date. Then, after Yousuke signs the girls, even Naoto, up for the beauty pageant, Chie gets revenge by signing the boys up for the crossdressing pageant. (Teddie signs himself up and wins by a landslide.) The culture festival is followed by a trip to the Amagi Inn, which leads to further chaos for the unfortunate boys.
The next, and last, victim is Nanako Doujima. She is abducted by Taro Namatame (the man who'd been having an affair with Mayumi Yamano) posed as a delivery man. All they can get out of him after they chase him down is that he believes he's saving her. Nanako is practically a little sister to Yousuke at this point and he's very unforgiving about the ordeal. He and Kanji tackle Namatame to free Nanako and once he's defeated it's with great reluctance that Yousuke agrees he needs to be turned in to the proper authorities.
The fog around the town seems to be thickening at this point, and to the group's horror they find that they can see through it with their special glasses, making it unnatural. They all visit Nanako while she stays in the hospital, trying to figure out how to celebrate once she recovers. Unfortunately this doesn't happen. She takes a turn for the worse and, with the group standing around her and the main character holding her hand... she dies. Once again, Yousuke expresses what the protagonist will not, crying out in agony.
Doujima heads for Namatame's room, but is easily led away by the police guards in his injured state. However, this allows room for the party to enter instead. They find the window to his room open. Namatame, fearing for his life, had tried to escape. The television in his room flickers to life, showing an image of his shadow saying how he meant to save people, etc. This confuses Namatame to no end. Meanwhile Yousuke, having seen enough, insists that they take care of the murderer themselves. He wants them to throw him back into the TV and let the shadows deal with him.
He's practically inconsolable at this point, and the main character has to make several correct choices in order to not get one of two bad endings. If you go along with him and throw Namatame into the TV, Nanako remains dead. (To show what poor of a choice you made, I'm sure.) If you waffle around too much and don't manage to calm him down but don't kill Namatame, Nanako is able to be brought back but you still get an unsatisfactory ending. For the right ending, you have to continue to argue with Yousuke - telling him they're missing some important detail - until you eventually end up pretty much telling everyone to shut the fuck up and calm the fuck down. (It will take a lot of talking, as Yousuke is bound and determined to see this man dead.) Unused to such a reaction from the MC, everyone will do as told. They all need a night to think things over. Returning to Nanako's room finds her alive and Teddie missing.
Through a more calm questioning session with Namatame, they realize that while he was throwing people into the TV, he thought he was saving them. Someone else was responsible for the actual murders. After searching for clues, and while standing in the snow alongside Yousuke and Naoto, the protagonist (if the player chooses correctly) finds that all roads lead to Adachi, Doujima's detective partner.
Teddie returns later, having remembered what he really was - a shadow that had gained an ego. The group, especially Yousuke, hardly needs an explanation to accept him back. Yousuke even jokingly claims that they didn't expect much from him to begin with. Having him back is all that matters.
They find Adachi in the TV world and confront him. His reasons for doing what he did to the first two victims aren't any better to Yousuke than those of the previous two suspects. (Though really, I doubt any explanation would have satisfied him. He must have just had some vain hope that they'd died for a greater cause - any reason that made Saki's death seem like less of a waste.)
The group beats Adachi, then the shadow creature that takes him over afterward.
After this, time skips ahead to Christmas Eve, then to March - the day before the main character has to go home. He goes around and says some final words to all his social links (Yousuke and Teddie can both be found at Junes) and in the normal ending it ends here and they see him off the next day.
HOWEVER. The True ending goes on to one more final boss. The group wishes the main character off with a bang as they go to face her, and the fight ends with everyone sacrificing themselves (though they end up being fine) and the MC having visions of all his maxed social links. In every game I've played, though you'd have to have Yousuke in your party and I'm not sure if it's based around party order, Yousuke has always been the last one to take the hit for him.
The next day the group sees the main character off, running after the train and crying.
The Yousuke Hanamura social link of the Magician Arcana:
A social link is the bond the main character shares with someone. Through them he gains access to certain persona and the character he's bonding with (if a party member) gains other combat skills as well as a new persona when the social link reaches max level. These can be done at any point in the game except near the end. Each scene is a new rank in the link.
(1) The first part of the social link is initiated automatically as part of the regular storyline. Yousuke is determined to find out who or what is behind the murders, and he thinks they might have gained their new persona abilities for a reason.
(2) Here Yousuke takes the main character to get steak croquettes. As they're eating, a couple women pass by and recognize him, going on about him and Junes as they go by. He tells the MC that he's rather infamous - most people know who he is because of Junes. Taking it all in stride, he claims the worst thing is having to mind his manners everywhere.
(3) On a trip to Okina Station, Yousuke gets a text message that ends up being spam. Apparently, he hasn't changed his address since before moving to Inaba and doesn't want to in case one of his old friends wants to get a hold of him. (And he doesn't want to annoy them by calling to tell them he's changed it.) It's obvious that the only real friends he has at this point are those on the investigation team.
(4) Yousuke brings the main character to Junes to get a bite to eat, but they're interrupted by various members of the staff coming to him with complaints. He handles the situations with some annoyance but a fair bit of patience. The conversation turns to the murders, and Yousuke claims the only people he's ever had such serious talks with is the main character and their friends.
(5) Practically inviting himself up to the main character's room, Yousuke starts teasing him about where he keeps "the goods." (Porn) They'll joke around a bit until Nanako comes up looking for a school notice. Yousuke invites her to come in and it's apparent that he wants to have her join them for a bit, but she has other plans - going over to another boy's house to deliver the notice. The topic turns to romantic interests and Yousuke claims he doesn't have time for anything like that until the case has been solved.
(6) A sale at Junes prompts Yousuke to beg the MC for help restocking. Afterwards, they go to chat in the food court and are bothered by a couple of the same girls from before. When they're finished, the girls walk off and begin talking very loudly about Saki Konishi and some college boy she ran off with and was eventually dumped by. Yousuke is determined not to let things like that get to him, as the words of people like that don't mean anything. He and the others trying to solve the case are the only ones who can do anything for her, he claims.
(7) Those same girls come back in this scene, once again bothering Yousuke and asking for time off. They claim he's favoring another employee just like he favored Saki and it's all downhill from there. Yousuke ends up yelling at them, going on about how Saki was a good person and that he knew she didn't like him. They're run off by this and he's embarrassed about the scene after. After some consolation from the main character, he goes off to talk with his dad about the situation.
(8) On the riverbank, Yousuke finally breaks down about Saki. He goes on about how she was the reason he thought living in Inaba wouldn't be so bad. When she died and he threw himself into the murder case, he thought that he'd be able to forget about what had happened with her, as well as the fact that he was something of a loser. He realizes that he can't keep running away from things. (If certain responses were chosen during past ranks, the MC has the option to comfort Yousuke through a pat or a hug at this point. He'll complain but allow either.)
(9) Yousuke brings the MC up to a hill overlooking the town. He says he used to hate it up there because you could tell how small the place really was, but now he loves it. He goes on to say that he was originally happy to have his persona because it made him feel special, but now he knows he didn't need it for that reason. Just living life, he claims, will have you eventually being special to someone. (And to the amusement of fangirls everywhere, he then goes on to say that the protagonist is special to him. Really, Yousuke? After that hug?)
(10) At the riverbed again, Yousuke says he has something admit. It seems that originally, somewhere deep down, he was jealous of the main character. He thought they'd be the same, trying to fit in this town, but the MC hadn't had difficulty at all - getting his persona and becoming their leader. Yousuke found himself wanting the MCs approval more than anyone's. He then asks the protagonist to hit him - to make them equal and knock "all of that crap" out of him. The MC insists on a truly equal fight, though, and the two of them go at it. Afterward, both of them beat up and laying on the bank, Yousuke feels a lot better. He talks to the protagonist about how he intends to live his life for Saki's sake, for the days she didn't and won't get to see, and that he intends to do so without lying to himself. As he overcomes his weaknesses, his persona evolves.
Extra scenes
I can't document them all, but there are several additional scenes you can get in the game that have you spend time with the characters but don't increase social link ranks. Along with the members of the investigation group, Yousuke will sometimes hang out with the main character and a couple guys from school - Kou and Daisuke. (They're another social link, but aren't party members.) They're friends as well, if not as close as the MC, and he would probably continue to hang with them after the protagonist had left.
PERSONALITY
The main character of all SMT games is a silent protagonist. To counteract that, Yousuke is the talkative one. He speaks up where the MC won't, turning to him for answers and advice but being the main one to propose ideas in the first place. After they fall into the TV the first time, it's Yousuke who insists they go back a second time. When someone appears on the midnight channel, it's Yousuke (most of the time) who will call the main character up and react to it. The other party members speak up as well, but Yousuke is the first one the main character forms a real friendship with. He's the sidekick - the best friend.
Kanji is the tough guy, but Yousuke tries to be sometimes. He's a huge softy when it comes down to it, though, especially around girls he likes and children - at least Nanako (but everyone gets all mushy around Nanako). He has a desire to protect people, as is shown all throughout the game.
He's a very emotional person. He cares greatly for his friends and is willing to stand up for them, though he can go a bit overboard sometimes, letting his anger get the best of him. Many times the protagonist has the option of telling him to calm the hell down, and at one point dealing with him effectively is what decides what ending you proceed to.
When we did the D&D alignment meme at fountainofcod, I listed him as chaotic good. Because of the thought process I went through to decide this, I wanted to bring it up again. He's a noble sort of character, in that he's got his own set of morals and there's really no questioning what side he's on or where his loyalties lie. If he's passionate enough about something, though, all rules go out the window. When they thought Nanako had died, Yousuke was willing to throw Namatame into the TV, essentially killing him for what he'd done. Yes, some of the others went along with it, but he was the one who insisted upon it to begin with.
On the lighter side of things, Yousuke enjoys teasing people. He gets a kick out of bringing up Kanji's gender preference issues, despite the fact that he's threatened with bodily harm each time. He's also messed with the girls, getting Chie and Yukiko to wear bikinis at the camp out and later signing up all the girls at the Miss Yasogami Pageant. Both instances backfired on him, of course. In fact, many of his jokes end up backfiring on him (which I think is part of his charm).
There are a handful of specific issues Yousuke deals with during the game. The first issue, and one of the ones brought out by his shadow, involves his move from the city. He doesn't have many friends in Inaba, and it's mentioned during a part of his social link that he keeps his address the same just in case someone he used to know wants to contact him (though it doesn't seem like they do). He's lonely and he wants something exciting to happen. It's one of the reasons he's so quick to jump on the case, though the main reason involves the death of Saki, which brings us to our second issue.
Saki Konishi was the daughter of a family who owns a liquor store in the shopping district. Like most of the smaller stores, they were losing lots of business to Junes. In order to earn some extra cash, Saki had even begun working at Junes herself, which got people talking and her parents upset with her. Unaware of these problems, Yousuke developed a huge crush on her. He didn't find out about them until after her death, when they found her area in the shadow world. He was disappointed to find out she didn't care much for him, but it make him regret her loss any less. Every time they came across someone they thought might be the killer and learned their motivation for killing, Yousuke would get angry at the prospect of how little Saki might have died for.
And of course, on that note, there's the issue of Junes itself. Along with dealing with ungrateful employees, Yousuke also had to deal with the comments of passerbys, as though he was the one responsible for moving the business there to begin with. What you see in his social link is that he takes it all in stride. It shows a sort of wisdom on his part you don't normally see. Those aren't the sort of people he gets angry with. He's really rather mature in this area of his life, but it doesn't seem as though he's all that appreciated for it. It's possible that some of this also accounts for his desire to find some real excitement.
Even though his dad owns the business, Yousuke doesn't get a free ride. He works at Junes as well for his spending money. (Apparently he's saving up for a motorcycle.)
Yousuke isn't the best student, but he's not unintelligent. He helps come up with some of the possibilities in the case and will often bring up things that other characters have missed. I've heard him compared to Junpei in Persona 3, and while they're both utter dorks there's a certain level of idiocy that Junpei has and Yousuke doesn't. He and Chie are just often used as a way for the main character to raise his knowledge stats (by helping them with questions in class).
According to official info, Yousuke enjoys karaoke. He also knows how to play the guitar. He's always seen with a pair of headphones around his neck, and he puts them on while in combat, tapping his feet to the music.