Persona 4: Every Party Member From Worst To Best, Ranked

Where Persona 3 was a dark, moody story about not only the nature of life & death but what it means to be alive and have lived, Persona 4 chose to take a step back and embrace a lighter tone atypical for both the Persona sub-series and the Shin Megami Tensei franchise from which it originally spun off of. Between Shin Megami Tensei If… and DemiKids, this wasn’t exactly novel, but Persona 4 saw success and tonally pivoted.

Which is arguably why Persona 4 ended up such a success in the first place. On a mechanical level, the game really is more of the same – the fundamental gameplay changes being the addition of party control and more traditional level design. Persona 4 bolsters the core of Persona 3 while repackaging the experience into a more approachable RPG all around.

One such way Persona 4 softens its appeal is through its party members. P3’s cast were written as if they were real, nuanced teenagers – not everyone in the cast liked each other & relationships had to naturally build. Persona 4, on the other hand, features a tight knit cast of genuinely close friends. They don’t have the same drama as SEES and they’re a stronger group for it.

Persona 4’s party is also much smaller than Persona 3’s, which naturally has gameplay consequences. Party members are on the whole more versatile, and in-turn more useful. Persona 4 has an incredibly tight knit party where every character shines, but some party members are better than others.

Updated on April 1, 2021 by Renan Fontes: Stats plays a key role in any RPG, but players have no control over how their party members grow in Persona 4. Every member of the Investigation Team has their own unique growths, realizing their full potential at max level. While some characters have surprisingly high stats when leveled up, Persona 4 places emphasis on skills and smart strategies above all else. The party members with the highest stats may not necessarily be the strongest at the end of the day – but that obviously isn’t the case for everybody.

7 Teddie

Teddie is far and away Persona 4’s worst party member, but he’s not useless by any means. Should players fail to max out a single Social Link with their party members, Teddie’s plot mandated S. Link will ultimately result in his Persona evolving. If nothing else, this ensures the party isn’t totally deprived of Ultimate Personas for the endgame.

HP: 515
SP: 491
STR: 61
MAG: 75
END: 55
AGL: 63
LCK: 50

That said, Teddie is outdone by just about every other party member. His Bufu spells are admittedly stronger than Chie’s, but her HP based attacks outdo any of Teddie’s magic. Likewise, his healing is ultimately matched by Yosuke and outright humiliated by Yukiko. Kanji is a better tank, Naoto is better for random encounters, and Yu is more well rounded. If nothing else, Teddie’s buffs are always helpful.

6 Kanji Tatsumi

All things considered, Kanji starts fairly strong and it’s not unusual for players to replace Chie with Kanji. As Chie does fall out for a bid during the mid-game, this isn’t a bad idea in practice, but it can have unfortunate consequences once Kanji starts to fall off – and does he ever fall off. Even Kanji’s new skills in Golden couldn’t save him from his fate. At best, he’s a damage sponge.

HP: 749
SP: 253
STR: 94
MAG: 34
END: 81
AGL: 59
LCK: 36

While Kanji is strong, he’s lacking mostly elsewhere. His magic doesn’t hit hard, his healing is mediocre, and getting him Power Charge requires doing his Social Link whereas Chie gets hers by naturally leveling (Lv. 52). By endgame, Chie will always hit harder than Kanji. Kanji’s useful for anyone struggling early on, but ultimately a poor man’s Chie. What’s the point of high stats without useful skills?

5 Naoto Shirogane

As far as random encounters are concerned, Naoto is Persona 4’s best party member. Her Almighty skills will wipe out most enemies with ease, and her Hama & Mudo skills make endgame dungeon crawling a breeze. In the vanilla release, this was likewise Naoto’s greatest weakness as Almighty, Hama, & Mudo skills are useless against bosses wholesale.

HP: 527
SP: 454
STR: 66
MAG: 69
END: 47
AGL: 72
LCK: 50

As Golden gives Naoto access to both Bufudyne and Ziodyne, she makes an excellent elec caster in light of Kanji’s lack of magical aptitude – especially when paired with Mind Charge from her Social Link. That said, it does take effort to build Naoto into a party member worth taking to boss fights. Her stats are well rounded, but without any clear advantages.

4 Chie Satonaka

Chie starts strong enough where she’ll likely be out damaging both Yosuke and Yu for a decent bit of time. While it doesn’t take long for Kanji to present a better alternative, it should be noted that this is something of a trap. Even though Chie struggles for a bit come mid-game, she will even herself out relatively fast.

HP: 614
SP: 298
STR: 71
MAG: 57
END: 51
AGL: 71
LKC: 53

By the time Chie gets Power Charge, she’s basically set for the rest of the game. Kanji simply won’t be able to keep up even with his higher stats. With God Hand and Agneyastra rounding her physical skills out, Chie is bound to be any party’s heaviest hitter once they’re in their late 70s. That said, Chie has exceptionally poor magic, with her best magical skill – Bufula – locked behind her Social Link.

3 Yukiko Amagi

As the party’s dedicated healer, Yukiko fills an extremely important role no other character can really fill. Other party members can pick up the slack situationally, but Yukiko is the party’s all-purpose healer. She’s also extremely skilled when it comes to magic, laying waste to most enemies with her Agi skills and becoming one of the party’s highest damage dealers by endgame.

HP: 508
SP: 528
STR: 38
MAG: 88
END: 58
AGL: 60
LCK: 60

Yukiko’s greatest weakness in the vanilla release was a suspicious lack of Mind Charge, but Golden rightfully gives her the skill – albeit locked as her very last bike skill. That said, it’s not as if Yukiko was ever useless. Her magic stat is high enough to keep her viable without Mind Charge, and Golden just makes her even better. Pairing the highest SP in the game with a whopping 88 Magic turns Yukiko into an utter monster.

2 Yosuke Hanamura

Yosuke is the most well rounded party member in Persona 4 other than the protagonist himself. As far as stats go, he’s balanced across the board, albeit prioritizing agility and strength above all else. His physical attacks hit hard, his magic hits harder, and his healing makes for an excellent safety net– especially since he gets Diarahan in Golden.

HP: 574
SP: 409
STR: 72
MAG: 69
END: 68
AGL: 70
LCK: 35

Rounding off his offensive skills, magic, and healing are Yosuke’s buffs. Notably, Masukukaja buffs the party’s agility & evasion, arguably the most useful all-party buff in the game.Yosuke has no real gameplay flaws when it comes down to it. His Social Link skills admittedly aren’t that great, but he’s all around the best party member in the game. Other than the main character, that is.

1 Yu Narukami

Perhaps it’s a bit obvious, but Yu Narukami is far and away the best party member in the game. He almost has to be considering he’s the only playable character that can never be removed from the party. He serves as the player’s stand-in, actually unnamed in Persona 4 proper. Like Persona 3’s main character, Yu can change his Persona at will, giving players quite a bit of gameplay variety.

As Yu has so many options at his disposal, he can reliably fill any role in the party– arguably better than his party members in most cases. Being able to switch Personas in-battle also allows for Yu to prepare for just about any situation– especially come mid-game when he can hold onto quite a number of different Personas. While Yu’s stats are Persona dependant, his health and mana pool aren’t.

HP: 585
SP: 372

With Persona 4 Golden making Persona Fusion easier than ever (outright allowing players to pick & choose which abilities to pass down), Yu can be turned into an absolute beast. With smart Persona usage, it’s possible to blast through most encounters with just Yu.

NEXT: 10 Of The Weirdest Persona Designs Ever

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