Laiko Shirozaki

Laiko Shirozaki
白岬 雷光 Shirozaki Raikou
ALSO KNOWN AS	Raikou Laichen (by Zion) Jackass (by Shinjiro and Akihiko) Tryhard Shirozaki Lab Rat (by Jin and Takaya)
AGE	17 (P3) 19 (P4) 20 (P4AU) 23 (P5)
FIRST APPEARANCE	Persona 3
AFFILIATION	SEES Shadow Operatives (P4AU)
DATE OF BIRTH	January 10 c. 1992
ZODIAC	Capricorn
HEIGHT	6'2"
WEIGHT	186 lbs
BLOOD TYPE	O
WEAPON/S	Sai
ARCANA	The Hanged Man
INITIAL PERSONA	King Priam (JP) Priamos (US/EU)
ULTIMATE PERSONA	Azrael
JAPANESE VA	Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Sora - No Gameplay No Life)
ENGLISH VA	Tim Phillipps (Dante - DmC: Devil May Cry)
Gallery

"Make it count, guys. Make this count. I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm gonna make it. The Dark Hour's about to end, I might as well be as good as 'dead on arrival'."
― Laiko Shirozaki to the Protagonist, as he falls into a coma, Persona 3

Laiko Shirozaki is a playable character in Persona 3. He is also one of the original members of S.E.E.S and a student at Gekkoukan High, and the older brother to Zion Shirozaki from Persona 4. One of the first to awaken his Persona among the members of S.E.E.S, it is revealed later in the game that Laiko is in fact, an artificial Persona user; however, a stable and successful experiment, which gains him the resentment of Strega. He falls into a coma during the events of the main game after an incident, but is mentioned numerous times in The Answer. He makes a cameo in Persona 4; and then returns as a playable character in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.

Profile

Appearance

Laiko is a tall young man standing at 6′2 feet tall. He has fair skin and light beige eyes, and desaturated teal hair, giving it a grayish appearance. He is heavily freckled, and his skin seems to have a light blush on it. During warmer or colder temperatures, the natural blush becomes more prominent. His short hair is also quite wavy, evidently more wavy than this younger brother’s.

He is very much known for his larger build, sporting a heavier looking appearance to himself. For his age, he is considered to be very well built. In cutscenes and official art, Laiko is portrayed with a wider figure than even Akihiko and Saburo Maeda.

His skin markings and defining traits are quite obvious. Compared to the rest of SEES, he looks very much foreign, heavily freckled skin with sharper features and a notably sharper and bigger nose. He also has a very visible beauty mark on the lower right corner of his lips. He has a few scars here and there on his arms and legs, but they’re so miniscule and thin that they’re barely visible.

Personality

"I realize that I've been sacrificing myself for things that shouldn't even bother me. I realize now that I always try to fight other's battles because I'm just so afraid of seeing the ones I love the most get hurt. Maybe what I thought was selflessness was me being selfish all long."
― Laiko Shirozaki, Persona 3

Laiko is more often than not warmer and more polite than he actually looks. While he isn't one to initiate a conversation outright, he is never averse to being approached for a conversation. As such, he's also the type to mince his words unless the situation calls for bluntness. He believes himself to be casual and easy to talk to, despite the comments on his large figure being very imposing. He has been commented on to be exceptionally friendly, earning him a title of 'gentle giant' by many of his peers. He bears a quiet and unboisterous confidence that makes his presence known, and to have others who intend harm stay away from him.

Although warm and polite on most occasions, Laiko is in fact, quite dishonest about a lot of things. He's very secretive and nobody knows too much about him other than his social status and his achievements in school. At most, people only know of his younger brother, whom he speaks fondly of. Elsewise, he makes it appear that he lives a perfect life. In spite of being secretive, he is one who is privy to others' personal matters. While not for the purpose of blackmail, he really isn't one to be extremely upfront about how others are doing, and would rather have them know that he is aware of their trouble through actions. When he begins to bond with someone as friends, it is then he will be more open about his emotions, but still be secretive about his own insecurities.

Laiko is known to have a kind heart and soul, being someone who easily brings people close to his heart and keeping them as close as he can. He largely values people and is someone who believes in the good of others, no matter how naive he may sound. Though male, he's very much a good example of "ride or die", going as far as to forgive others for the wrongs they have done to him, or even letting them walk all over him if it meant he was doing something to keep them happy. Despite having his own moral compass, he isn't really one to try and "correct" another's unless he feels compelled to.

Elsewise, even if he is willing to tear himself apart for others, he is also firecely protective over the people closest to his heart. With this, he is swayed to emotion with more ease in certain situations. While he does not resort to violence, he is known to have become rather threatening, although he was never verbal in that sense. Laiko is a person who will mostly do nothing physically unless he sees a good reason to act on it and actually become threatening. Being a member of SEES has, in a sense, hardened him when push comes to shove.

Despite his mostly positive demeanor and bright attitude, Laiko suffers plenty of self-esteem issues, many of which cripple him on an almost daily basis. Being the one person who has expectations piled on him, he strives harder than most, and is considered a perfectionist. Though he struggles with a smile, it gets easy to see when he is just about to break. Laiko has a bad habit of saying he's fine when he really is not. On many occasions, he suffers alone, and takes up the burden of things that should not even be his responsibility. This is a result of feeling constantly inadequate, as his own family compare him to his peers and his brother, which makes him feel like nothing he does is ever enough.

He will never admit to being a people pleaser, doing things for others just so they could be comfortable and happy. One thing Laiko will never admit is that he almost easily gives in to pressure, especially if done by someone very close to his heart. He will even go as far of jeopardizing his own health and life if it means he will be enough for anyone. With this said, Laiko is very uncomfortable with comparisons. He views such as standards he needs to meet. This is a result of being constantly compared to his younger brother by his own family. Another result of this is plenty of self-directed anger. While Laiko is notably talented in his own way, it is usually blindsided and he's rarely ever told that he's done well. This bleeds in to his social life as well, going as far as to get personal with people he considers his friends so he can fill the void of "never being enough". Laiko would go as far as to tear himself apart and make unnecessary sacrifices if it meant he would be "enough".

When push comes to shove, Laiko is confrontational and will get verbal rather than physical. He's been known to lash out when stressed or when his patience is tested. When he is backed against a wall and snaps, he becomes spiteful and avoidant of anyone who's done him too much harm. His forgiveness and kindness is something that shouldn't be taken for granted. He does not take kindly to anger and spite being directed at those who are innocent, or who had no choice to be put in their situations, himself included. As someone who projects everyone's problems unto himself, he does not like it when people project their issues unto others.

Behind closed doors, Laiko enjoys a good fist fight. This is mostly because he needs to let off steam and he just needs someone to confirm and validate his feelings of worthlessness while he's also being physically mangled. While his friends think he's crazy for wanting that, he explains it's to just convince himself he isn't losing his mind. In times like these, he is prone to breakdowns and periods of emotional instability. His own self-loathing would be apparent and it is difficult to tell him that it will be alright, considering that his closest friends know of his situation.

A very good example of stress relief and indicated self-harm is Laiko's heavy smoking habit. When not in school, Laiko is seen smoking just about anywhere. He expresses he's "too chicken" to do other forms of self harm, and usually smoking does it for him. While he never expresses thoughts of suicide, some of his dialogue and actions indicate such. Later in the game it is revealed he has an "emergency box" of cigarettes, only to find out that these are cigarettes heavily laced with cyanide. This goes to show that Laiko does let himself go through enough suffering to ponder attempting his own life.

Story

Early Life

[[ REHASHING ]] Listen I need to reword everything and here I am like MMM ARTIFICUAL PERSONA USER BUT HE GOT LUCKY AND DOESNT NEED MEDICATION OPPSIE
Info on some shit for now

• Born in Wolfsburg, Germany. Mother is a acclaimed neuroscientist and father is a Japanese working in Europe, based in Germany. Both parents come from particularly respectable families in respective homelands.
• His mother was hired by the Kirijo Group to be part of their research team in Japan in 1997. Laiko permanently moved to Japan in 1998. As his mother was now part of the Kirijo Group, he was given free admission into Gekkoukan.
• Experienced the Dark Hour firsthand. His mother was not present in the explosion as she was off work that night. While a blessing his mother was alive, Laiko himself was awake during the Dark Hour.
• Figuring out her son had the potential as Mitsuru Kirijo had, Laiko was then brought into Kirijo facilities to have tests run on him.
• To avoid pointed questions, Laiko was said to be "ill" and was prevented from travelling out of Iwatodai due to his potential.
• Laiko's symptoms were not severe, and in fact he started to easily adjust into the Dark Hour without the memory loss and disorientation. His stability was honestly miraculous. The probability of awakening; however, was sort of a stretch.
• As the son of a researcher, he was put in another, more private facility within the hospital in Iwatodai. He was a separate subject altogether thanks to his mother.
• Strega, the surviving test subjects from the explosion, resented him for being the "successful lab rat" and took it against him. They all were given powers they never wanted, so why does Laiko get to be the stable one.
• Due to his stability, he was labeled as a special case. Forcing Priamos out of him went far smoother than expected. Due to the premature awakening, Priamos as a persona had to be observed and modified to be better stabilized. This was at the cost of Laiko getting easily fatigued during the Dark Hour. However; due to the sabilization precedures done, Laiko had no need to take suppressants.
• He was already present as one of the first memebers of SEES with Mitsuru Kirijo when she recruited Akihiko Sanada and Shinjiro Aragaki.
• The reason that Laiko's Persona has stronger abilities than the rest when he returns to SEES is due to the fact that Priamos had once undergone "modifications" to increase stability and battle strength, just as Mitsuru's Penthesilea was modified to have secondary support skills despite being a battle oriented persona.
• It gets revealed later on that Takeharu Kirijo laments forcing Priamos out of Laiko. He was too engrossed in understanding the Dark Hour that he should have waited for Laiko to naturally awaken to Priamos.
• Due to the forced awakening going smoothly, Laiko has no need to take "Persona Suppresants" nor does he feel pain awakening to Priamos at all. His stability in handling his Persona is exactly that of someone who naturally awakened.
• Laiko; however, resents his mother for continuing to consent to modifications on Priamos. He honestly did not need any more enhancements, afraid that he will lose control of Priamos if it gets too far.
• After Shinjiro's incident in 2007, Laiko was terrified that he would lose control of Priamos because of the incessant modifications done to him. Thankfully, Priamos was stable enough that he need not have tests run on him.

The Journey

• Was put on hiatus from SEES due to fatigue, overexhaustion and apparent sustained injuries. Laiko was advised to move out of the dorms for the time being to stay at home and continue studying with a small home study program Mitsuru strung up for him.
• Can be seen around Iwatodai on weekends, mostly during Saturdays near Chagall Cafe.
• During his hiatus, Laiko is prescribed medication and different vitamins to keep himself functioning throughout the day. Upon talking to him during the weekends, he's mostly seen to be tired.
• Gets reintroduced to SEES by June. He is present for the Full Moon operation that month. However; due to just recovering from his hiatus, he was tasked to stay behind and act as backup with Rei Shimakage.
• After the battle with Arcana Emperor and Arcana Empress, Laiko's hiatus was explained to the rest of SEES. He was hospitalized shortly after the April Full Moon due to being attacked by the Arcana Magician. It was apparently a miracle he had not died from the attack, but Laiko himself was far from dying. He explains that he was already in a fairly bad condition when it happened, so he wasn't in a condition to be in combat.
• Noted to be remarkably polite by the new members, Akihiko jokes to them that they wouldn't want to be on his bad side since he's that nice.
• With Rei Shimakage, Laiko helped reaccomodate Saburo Maeda into the dorms. He also helped with Jiro readjusting back into the dorms due to having new faces within SEES.
• After Fuuka returns to school, Laiko himself is also now present within school grounds; his physical condition well enough for him to attend school again.
• His mother was affected with Apathy Syndrome at the end of August; however, despite the September Full Moon Operation; she did not recover as well as everyone had hoped. She had bouts of sanity, but will soon revert back to a Lost.
• While Laiko asked help from the Kirijo Group, there was no hope for his mother to recover, she was getting worse and began mumbling nonesense. In her final moment of sanity she had become aware she was now one of the Lost, and quickly wrote down a suicide letter, and an apology for Laiko for how she treated him as a lab rat ever since he was shown to have the Potential.
• Laiko found her body on October 28th, hanging. Devastated by the sight of his dead mother, and the truth, Laiko becomes reclusive, refusing to talk to even SEES. He is' however, coerced to go on a joyride with friends outside of SEES as a way to breathe from the situation.
• On November 10th, Laiko meets an accident shortly before the Dark Hour while he's on a joyride with friends, who died in the crash. Already injured, he was forced to fight Shadows when the Dark Hour arrived, also in an attempt to save his brother, Zion; who was bleeding out. Overwhelmed by the Shadows, Laiko sustained plenty of injuries.
• Desperate to survive and to save his brother, Priamos evolved into Azrael. However, the evolution caused physical strain on him, which contributed to him ending up in a coma.
• While he was found by SEES just in time to be saved, before he blacks out, he expresses his fear that it may the end of the line for him. However; he is said to have fallen into a coma due to abnormalities in his systems, coupled with the numerous injuries he sustained from fighting Shadows alone.
• After the incident, Laiko is not seen for the rest of the game.

Social Link

Poor guy can't keep fighting other's battles for him man. He does this all for his little brother just so Mitsuru cant bring Zion into SEES sorry laiko your brother becomes a persona user anyway.

Portable

Laiko's role in Persona 3 is reprised in Persona 3 Portable, with the exception that the female protagonist can give him bentos she cooks if her Courage reached level 2 before he joins in August. Giving Laiko bentos before he joins will take effect as giving him higher stat boosts when he joins, as compared to his normal stats in the original game.

If the female protagonist maxes out his Social Link before November 10th, Laiko will be able to survive the incident by sustaining less injuries. He will not fall into a coma and will be present for the rest of the game.

The Answer

Due to being in a coma, Laiko is not present with the rest of SEES in the Abyss of time. However, his past is revealed regardless of his presence [[ TBA ]]

Persona 4

The first time Laiko is mentioned is when Shadow Zion taunts the real Zion as the cause to his brother's "death". Zion himself reveals later that Laiko is in fact in a coma, but is fearful that he may never wake up [[ TBA ]]

Laiko makes a cameo during the Port Island Field Trip, still in a coma. Zion sneaks away from his class to rush to the hospital to see Laiko. While still bedridden, Zion tells him about what's been happening, and even teases that he's not saying everything because he might not believe him. When Zion leaves the hospital, Laiko beings to stir.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

It is revealed Laiko woke up shortly after the Yasogami students returned to Inaba.

After a year of physical therapy and catching up with his studies to get his high school diploma, Laiko is now back with the Kirijo Group working as a field operative for Mitsuru's Shadow Operatives. While not yet enrolled in college, Laiko promises that after this case is dealt with, he'll take a small hiatus from the Shadow Operatives to concentrate on college [[ TBA ironing it out ]]

Persona 5

Laiko, now part of the Kirijo Group's Public Relations Department, is in charge of taking to numerous public security officials and researchers of the Nanjo Group, who closely works with the Kirijo. He is Mitsuru's proxy to Kei Nanjo and his provate investigators, relaying information back and forth between the two companies [[ TBA ]]

ALSO GUESS WHO'S ENGAGED TO MITSURU? THAT'S RIGHT. HE IS.

Gameplay

Party Member

Laiko does not rejoin SEES until June due to his overexhaustion. Laiko is barely seen around school due to being constantly hospitalized. For a month and a half, Laiko was put on hiatus in SEES until he can recover. From July onward, he can be seen more around school, and the protagonist will be able to initiate conversations with him when his Courage reaches 2.

Trivia

• It is rather common knowledge in the earlier members SEES after one Karaoke session that Laiko is a vocal powerhouse
• It's noted in-game that Laiko is often in Jiro Miyamae's room instead of his own. While dialogue on the 29th of September reveal them as exes, Laiko mostly gives Jiro much needed company.
• TBA
• TBA
• TBA