Naoto Shirogane

白鐘 直斗 Shirogane Naoto

Naoto is first seen at the Tatsumi's Textile shop. There, she later asks Kanji to meet-up with Kanji after school which confuses him. Naoto and Kanji do meet-up before Kanji chases Yosuke and Chie.

Persona x Detective Edit
Naoto will be the main character in this spin off novel to be released in Spring 2012. The novel is set after the game where Naoto is in her final year of high school. However, she is in a different school and setting.

Persona 4

A well-known detective, Naoto was dubbed the "Detective Prince" by the media. Naoto is first mentioned when the department which Ryotaro Dojima works has no lead upon their investigations for the bizarre murder case, resulting in Dojima's superiors employing Naoto to assist them- an action which greatly disturbs Dojima. Furthermore, Naoto claims that the only rewards wanted after solving the case is the truth, and wants no assistance from other departments, further annoying Dojima.



The first appearance of Naoto is during the Investigation Team investigations of the bizarre murder cases, when they ended up deducting Kanji Tatsumi as the potential next victim. Incidentally, Naoto was able to find out that Kanji might be the next victim, and tried to seek clues via Kanji. During that time, Naoto expressed interest in the case, which Kanji mistook as Naoto being interested in him. Kanji was shocked and conflicted of his feelings towards Naoto, and more importantly, his sexuality.

Naoto later enrolls into Yasogami High School, and immediately attracted the admiration of others. However, Naoto's serious nature often lead to the shunning and ignoring of admirers and classmates. Later, during one of the Investigation Team's meetings regarding the suspect of the case Mitsuo Kubo, Naoto appears and chastises the Teams' effort, deeming their investigation as nothing more but a 'game'. Naoto tells them that their game is about to end, and that Yasoinaba will soon return to it's peaceful, rustic self. Annoyed by Naoto's exclamation, Rise Kujikawa stammers back, saying that Naoto is the one who's been treating the case like a game. Surprised by the idol, Naoto reluctantly accepts that what Rise said might be true, lamenting that detectives are just employed for the time being- and once the case has been solved, they are simply pushed aside.

After the arrest of Mitsuo Kubo, the first suspect of the case, Naoto is still suspicious and decides to become bait to lure the culprit. While doing so, Naoto is interviewed by a TV show and subsequently kidnapped and thrown into the Midnight Channel. Through the Team's effort of gathering clues regarding Naoto, they found out that Naoto, despite the professional personality, is actually a workaholic who chooses to ignore the police department's advice and work alone. As such, Naoto is often deemed a kid trying too hard by the officers.

The Investigation Team eventually manages to detect Naoto's location in the Midnight Channel, and sets out to rescue the detective. Naoto's Mayonaka TV dungeon is like an industrial laboratory or military base filled with mechanical shadows and falcon symbols. The Investigation Team eventually finds Naoto, along with the other 'Naoto,' who is busy preparing for a "body-altering operation" of some sort. The other 'Naoto' taunts Naoto, saying that in reality Naoto is nothing more than just a child trying to play "superhero". Confused and surprised, Naoto denies the Shadows' claims. However, before Naoto can do so, it reveals a shocking secret: Naoto is actually female. The Shadow Naoto clarifies that the "body-altering operation" was to be a sex-change operation. Fueled by Naoto's declination, the other 'Naoto' transforms into a shadow and attacks the party.

Naoto's Shadow is a robotic doppelganger, equipped with large toy like laser guns, rocket feet and a jet pack; this form represents Naoto's resentment towards being treated like a child and not taken seriously. It can also be something of a split personality, as it can talk seriously one minute, and act helpless and innocent the next, similar to how the Wheel of Fortune may act unpredictably. After defeating the Shadow, Naoto reveals that her parents are detectives as well, but were both killed in one of their investigations. However, Naoto acknowledges her parents' passion of their job, and wishes to become a "hard-boiled" detective, inheriting the title of 'Shirogane', but as long as she herself is a girl, she can never achieve her dreams.

Eventually realizing that what she wanted was not to become a man, but to find her true self, Naoto's shadow acknowledges her resolution and transforms into Sukuna-Hikona, becoming Naoto's Persona. Later, during the Yasogami High cultural festival she wins the beauty pageant even though she didn't show up for the second round (a swimsuit competition). In spite of her extremely masculine personality she is a bit self-conscious of her body as she refuses to wear a swimsuit and immediately steals her physical examination results from Teddie when Rise is about to reveal her bust size.