Yukiko Amagi

Yukiko Amagi is a playable character from Persona 4. She is the protagonist's classmate at Yasogami High School, and her family runs Inaba's hot springs inn called the Amagi Inn where she is next in-line as manager. Yukiko Amagi is a reserved, soft-spoken and shy girl, having been raised at an early age to be a prim and proper lady of traditional Japanese customs. At her school, she is an intelligent high school student, earning top grades in her class and often tutoring the material with her best friend since early childhood, Chie Satonaka. Having extremely few friends in general, she is popular at Yasogami High more for her traditionally beautiful looks and ladylike behavior among the guys, and also her feminine qualities that girls admire and/or envy. They do however have a blatant, unconcealed interest in her and the inn that is rude in comparison, albeit she can only respond with her usual politeness. When not at school, she works at the inn, trained to be the next manager after both her parents retire. She is aware of her high-class reputation in Inaba, being the heiress of one of Inaba's main attractions, further encouraging her reserved nature. This is unfortunately a very heavy burden for Yukiko, as mixed with the mouthiness of others towards her, these responsibilities overwhelm her as it is at the expense of her feelings and wellbeing, and displays low self-esteem, feeling as though she is inherently worthless outside of her pretty looks and fulfilled obligations. She doesn't open up to anyone in fear of being ungrateful and selfish, but is internally stressing out over the pressure anyways. The push-and-pull of her circumstances cause her to want to "escape" her life and go anywhere else, even pitting her friendship with Chie at risk as she's realized that even she couldn't fulfill her wish of being saved, forcing her to choose between her true feelings (even if misguided) or her friend. But after her first-ever experience in the Shadow World and facing her true feelings, the girls tell each-other's true feelings and how isolated they've both felt, breaking the wall that distanced them. After being rescued and returning back home, she becomes more honest with herself while also restoring her comfort with inheriting her family's inn, finding a balance between both worlds. After opening up to the others and noticing the support of her family and staff, she realized that she thought she had to take the responsibility of the inn alone, hence her stress from before. She actively engages with her friends and starts to think on her own terms, sometimes misinterpreting situations and/or laughing uncontrollably at things she finds funny, even if no one else does (i.e. laughing at a horror movie scary moment). A fellow kohai and friend, Kanji Tatsumi (in his "P4A" story mode) has stated Yukiko to be an open-minded and straightforward person. While members of the Investigation Team are surprised by her behavior that contrasts with her elegant and demure appearance, Yukiko is often noted for her empathy and courage, completely unflinching in the face of creepy atmospheres and surroundings. In contrast to her best friend, she isn't bothered in the slightest by insects and greatly enjoys horror stories. She loves her friends and cares about them, as well as her parents and staff from the Inn. A very selfless and supportive young lady, Yukiko will not hesitate to risk her life to save or protect those in need, even if she gains nothing out of it. She also deeply values her hometown Inaba, and vows to become a strong, dependable person so that one day she in turn, will be able to support and protect her town and her people, just like they have graciously did for her growing up. She takes the well being of new friends she makes seriously, as in Persona 4 Arena when Yukiko solemnly promises to save Labrys from danger, protecting her from harm just recently after bonding with her (albeit this was in her own story mode) and Persona Q where Yukiko assures Rei and Zen they'll be safe as long as she's around, going so far as to being a bonding big sister figure to Rei after Rei asks her if she can call Yukiko "Yuki-chan." Her biggest insecurity is being forced into a life that isn't hers. Her family runs the historical Amagi Inn, with the tradition of passing the heir to their offspring. Not wanting to disappoint the ones she loves, Yukiko accepts the obligations, doing her best to uphold them but also feeling suffocated. Chie becomes special to her because she protects her, fighting off unwanted attention from aggressive boys at school and cheering Yukiko up (such as keeping the dog Yukiko originally found so Yukiko can come visit him at Chie's house). But she realizes Chie cannot take her away from her demanding life. After being thrown into the TV, she is both elated and terrified to see the Investigation Team come to her aid, especially Chie. She's apologetic to Chie for seeing her as a codependent outlet for her woes instead of the genuine friend she once knew as a little girl. Yukiko's sense of humor is unique, and can result in her having uncontrollable laughing fits. This is to represent her mentality, independent from societal pressure and based upon her own feelings and reasoning. If she doesn't find it humorous or get the joke, she will not even force a pity laugh. Her laugh is Yukiko's gesture of expressing herself honestly and openly to others. Because of the way she thinks, she naively misinterprets social situations at times due to constantly working at the inn and having little free time to socialize and enjoy her youth. For example, during the night of the Fireworks Festival, Yosuke implied that Teddie searched for his adult magazines; she mistakes the implication as Teddie searching for Yosuke's money. Yukiko has never talked to boys on her own and lacks an understanding on what the opposite sex is like in general. This is why she gets extremely flustered whenever Teddie jokes about "scoring with a hot stud." One thing that greatly offends Yukiko is being sexually harassed or objectified. After slapping Yosuke when she thought he made a sleazy pass at her, she then apologized upon realizing the actual truth. She also slapped Kanji to forcibly stop him from inquiring about Yukiko's Shadow in a somewhat perverted-like fashion, apologizing for smacking him "too hard." Whenever Yukiko is angry or upset, others will remark on how terrifying and scary she can be when pushed. Like her best friend Chie, Yukiko is known to be a horrible cook, a recurring joke in the series. On the school camping trip, the girls' attempt to cook dinner ended so horribly, Yosuke would refer to the curry they cooked and all of their future cooking as "Mystery Food X." Yukiko has an absurd cooking logic, mixing wildly inappropriate ingredients together in her cooking, ending up with distasteful results. Because Yukiko is a warm-hearted, sensitive girl, none of her friends have the gall to honestly admit their feelings about her cooking. Despite this, Yukiko isn't afraid to honestly input her thoughts on Chie's cooking, only because she finds humor in it. During the celebration of Mitsuo's arrest where the Investigation Team cooks omelets for Nanako Dojima, the one Yukiko made has no taste at all. This is of no issue during her Valentine's Day event, as she states that she had the chefs in the Amagi Inn prepare the protagonist's chocolate. In Japanese, her honorific speech pattern stems from a branch form of Keigo called Kenjougo, a respectful and humble way to speak and interact with others.