Summary
ThePersonafranchise is known for bringing together diverse characters with different backgrounds to show how their friendship and teamwork can overcome adversaries. This pattern can be expected to carry over to the highly anticipatedPersona 6, which is in active development at Atlus. One character archetype that could also make a comeback in the next game is the Detective Prince.
Detective Prince is the nickname given toPersona 4’s Naoto Shirogane, an androgynous young female detective who helps investigate murders in Inaba. This trope carried over toPersona 5through Goro Akechi, a young detective nicknamed “The Second Coming Detective Prince,” who’s trying to expose the identities of the Phantom Thieves. Both Naoto and Akechi are playable teammates in their respective games, and they also offer their expertise in investigations. IfPersona 6is looking to bring back the Detective Prince, it could make a big change by turning the protagonist into the famed detective.
How Persona 6 Could Elevate the Detective Prince Archetype
Personahas so far shown two sides of the Detective Prince, with Naoto being good-natured and Akechi being a complex anti-hero. Both characters' stories portrayed how people saw and treated them as popular personalities, as well as their internal struggles in dealing with pressure that comes with the Detective Prince title. ForPersona 6, it would be interesting to see a detective character that’s a balance of Naoto and Akechi’s qualities, which would give them more depth while solving mysteries in the real world and the dungeons.
Having a Detective Prince as thePersona 6protagonist would give players a front row seat to their popular status. In pastPersonagames, the silent protagonist always started out as someone who initially kept their heads down for various reasons. Famously,Persona 5’s Jokeroften kept to himself because he has a criminal record.Persona 6could be the perfect time to introduce a silent protagonist, but one who is very aware of their fame and deals with parasocial fans regularly, while also struggling internally with their identity.
Likewise, this would make relationship-building more interesting, asPersona 6fans would watch the Detective Prince navigate their fame while also being a selfless leader. LikeNaoto inPersona 4, they can learn how to live like a normal high school student through their Social Links and interactions throughout the school year, and their encounters with powerful Shadows. This growth would also help the protagonist and their Persona/s become more powerful, eventually enabling them to defeat the final boss at the end.
This wouldn’t be the first time a popular JRPG franchise would turn the detective character into the protagonist. Spike Chunsoft’sDanganronpaseries also features characters with diverse backgrounds and “Ultimate” talents, such as the Ultimate Detectives Kyoko Kirigiri fromDanganronpa: Trigger Happy Havocand Shuichi Saihara fromDanganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. The latter is the Detective protagonist of the franchise, and players experience the pressure of solving the mysteries of the school they’re trapped in using Shuichi’s crime-solving talents.
A Detective Protagonist Isn’t The Only Thing Persona 6 Needs
There are rumors thatPersona 6might feature two male protagonistsand one DLC-exclusive female, which could prove problematic for the franchise. Atlus hasn’t introduced a female protagonist sincePersona 3’s FeMC, who is not playable inPersona 3 Reloadto the dismay of longtime fans. Many people have requested that Atlus make the next protagonist a young woman, but it’s still unknown if the developer will take the suggestion.
Still, ifPersona 6pulls the trigger on a Detective Prince protagonist, Atlus could introduce a compelling enough character that fans may be more forgiving of the fact that there are two male main characters. However, this could eventually be seen as a band-aid solution to the franchise’s lack of diversity, and fans would surely still clamor for a female protagonist. Hopefully, players will have both of their requests met withPersona 6, either through a playable Detective Princess or a Detective Prince and separate female main character.
