Character's Name: Kanji Tatsumi.
Series: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4.
Timeline: Right after the True Ending of the game, but before Souji Seta leaves for the city.
Personality: Infamous for being a member of a biker gang, Kanji Tatsumi has a knack for attracting the wrong kind of attention. With his imposing figure, multiple piercings, bleached hair, leathered attire, rebellious attitude, a constant "beat 'em up, then we talk" motto and his general uncouthness to almost everyone he meets, Kanji is probably the closest image you'll ever associate with the word "manly".
However, there's more to the delinquent Midnight Channel victim than meets the eye. Kanji has a secret talent and hobby that has dubbed him strange and weird for years; despite his frighteningly masculine appearance and speech, Kanji enjoys and harbors a great talent for sewing (stemming from his family owning the textile shop in Inaba for generations). He hides this from people because of his fear of rejection, initially from girls. As the game progresses, he admits he's afraid of being rejected by everybody. His stereotypical image of a man forced him to hide who he really is from those around him, perhaps in an effort to convince himself as well that this was how he should be; powerful, tough and without a trace of appreciation for the finer things in life that is often associated with the opposite sex. What he overlooked right up until the very end was that being a man didn't involve doing manly things. It was about doing whatever it was you did at 100%. Kanji also says that the media got their facts wrong. Kanji wasn't in the biker gang -- he was the one who beat the members up for keeping his mother awake at night.
Having said that, Kanji has learned to be himself at all times, and to make more effort in showing others that he's not the villain they keep assuming he is. Before the main character leaves for the city at the end of the game, Kanji has decided to start classes that teach how to sew dolls and other such paraphernalia, thanking his upperclassman for the courage to face both his past and the part of him he kept refusing from the start.
Although he's changed significantly since the Investigation Team first met him, Kanji is still sensitive about issues on sexuality. Yosuke's continuous taunts and teasing on how queer his Shadow was, and on his obvious crush on the aloof and boyish Naoto Shirogane, still rile him up immensely.
Despite being the rash and hotheaded member of the Investigation Team, he can at times, show maturity that most of his friends overlook. Before facing Naoto's robot Shadow manifestation, Yosuke attempts to stop Naoto from saying she is not her Shadow. Kanji disagrees and calmly tells him that the words coming out of Naoto's Shadow are her suppressed feelings. He states that as long as she keeps it locked up inside, she will continue hurting. On another more familiar note, Kanji has shown on many occasions that his temper and appeal to action are more dominant than those seemingly rare times of enlightenment. He is the first to loudly reprimand Adachi when he refused to let them go out and find Nanako and Namatame. More often than not, he is the first to voice out his opinions on going for the goal rather than planning it out. And yet, he surprises his friends still when he shows calmness in times when the group is not, the best example being an outburst of self-guilt the Investigation Team placed on themselves for not being able to save Nanako faster. He tells them to stop moping around and to do what they can do, rather than dwelling on the past and making themselves feel worse than they already do.
What your character can offer: Kanji is a powerhouse both in and outside the TV world. Inside the TV, he can summon his very own Persona (Take-Mikazuchi and most recently, Rokuten-Maoh) that specializes in electric and physical attacks. The most efficient way to use Kanji, however, is by utilizing his massive attack power, as his strength completely outclasses his low magic statistics. Outside the TV, Kanji is still a formidable enemy, punching and kicking his way out of any situation. (He did single-handedly defeat a biker gang in middle school.)
He also offers help in sewing, once he's gotten used to the idea of showing his special abilities in another world.
What items will they be bringing with them? Other than the clothes on his back, he'll be taking with him his weapon (Christ Mirror), a few Medicines, Ointments and Antibiotic Gels, and a grand total of 1,000 yen.