Seito Souzen ~ P4 MC Villain Route (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
allthepuppets) wrote2013-05-25 07:31 pm
allthepuppets) wrote2013-05-25 07:31 pm
Entry tags:
Avalar ~ Application
OOC Information
Name: Skyla
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
SkylaDoragono
Current Characters: NA
IC Information
Name: Seito Souzen (Persona 4 Main Character)
Canon: Persona 4 (AU; role swap)
Canon Point: Just after entering the TV to escape from the Investigation Team.
History: The canon protagonist's page at SMT Wiki... but Seito Souzen is no protagonist.
Seito had a happy, hopeful life when he was really young, living with his father and mother and twin sister, Seiki. Unfortunately, it did not last long, and while on a return trip from visiting his uncle in Inaba when he was five, their car was run off the road by a passing tractor trailer that did not see them due to the heavy fog on the road. His father died instantly in the crash, and his sister gave her life to make sure he would get out safely. The result left his mother devastated, and she could not even look at her surviving child without being reminded of the one she lost. She dedicated herself to her work, eventually remarrying and with her new husband, traveled around Japan, Korea, and China, and dragging her son from school to school with them. Seito was left feeling hollow as it was with Seiki's death, but without a loving parent to support him and unable to stay in one place long enough to make friends, Seito's life became empty.
When Seito was seventeen, his mother and stepfather had to go overseas for their job. Not wanting to bring their son into a non-Asian school, they sent him back to Inaba to live with his uncle for the year they would be gone. At this point, Seito was just surviving his life, just drifting from school to school, class to class, with no real purpose to inspire him to make it worth living. Inaba was no different; his first day of school already had him being yelled at by the professor, though he barely blinked during his tirad, nor when one of the other students. It was just another school, just more people that would pass through his life and be forgotten about.
The first day of school ended, and he was invited out to Junes, the local super store, by the girl that saved him from their homeroom teacher. The only reason he agreed to it was because he had nothing else to do, and it was better than just going straight home to a place where he would do homework and sit in awkward silence with his little cousin. The girl dragged him around all over, and he barely paid attention to anything that was going on. His disinterest was not that hard to miss, and she pointed out that he didn't seem to be that interested in what they were doing. Seito replied that he didn't care, that it would all be meaningless in the long run, so why should he care? She grabbed his arm, trying to discourage that kind of attitude, but he only responded by shoving her off of him. She fell, still clinging to him... and her back hit a television set on display, sinking into the screen. Seito, naturally, panicked, and threw the girl off of him, watching as she fell through the screen and disappeared. At a loss for what to do, he quickly left the store.
The next day, Chie Satonaka was found dangling from a television antenna, dead.
Yasoinaba High School had let out early because of an incident on campus, otherwise Seito would not have known about it until later in the evening. He had passed by the crime scene on the way home, unable to avoid being shocked at the sight dangling above him. His uncle tried to block his view, encouraging him to go straight home, and somehow he got himself to move, missing the boy that had found the body sitting on the sidelines...
The next day, the boy that sat behind him in class asked him to come to Junes with him, that there was something important he needed to discuss with him. Seito had a feeling he knew what this was going to be about -- Chie hadn't exactly been quiet about where they were going -- and sure enough, the boy confronted him as soon as they were alone, accusing him of killing Chie, waving a store security camera video in his face as proof. As if Seito needed further proof the other boy was an idiot, he made the mistake of confronting him in the electronics department. Needless to say, he didn't think anything of it as he shoved him into a television, taking the boy's proof and burning it as soon as he had the chance.
The next day, Yosuke Hanamura was found dangling from a telephone pole, dead.
The realization that he could have such power over another person went straight to Seito's head, and for the first time since his sister died, he finally could feel the thrill of being alive again. He knew, however, that the only way he could keep feeling that thrill was to not get caught, and he needed to make sure that there was no one else that would know about his connection to both Chie and Yosuke. The only other person left that knew he had visited Junes with Chie that afternoon was the girl that sat in front of her in class. As soon as he had the chance, he followed her from Junes to the inn she lived at and caught her by surprise, shoving her through the television in the empty front lobby.
He fully expected her to die as quickly as the other two, but after two days with no death report, Seito got discouraged, wondering if it wasn't working any more. The news had been abuzz with the previous murders, and had reported on a local teen that was loudly blaming Junes for ruining the local shopping district, and now that the Prince was dead, maybe it would get out of their town. Seito wanted to test to see if the TV was still working right, so he located this boy, Naoki Konishi, and made a show of being friendly with him, gaining his trust... and shoving him into the television in the school's media room.
The next day he saw Yukiko Amagi walking around school as if nothing happened, and he knew that something was up, that there had to be a way for people to escape from the television. Though if there was, it didn't apply to everyone, as it was announced at school that Naoki Konishi had been found dead that morning. If he was going to keep his ability to live, he needed a fall guy, someone that he could allow to take all the attention off of him, while he continued to do his own dirty work on the sidelines. It didn't take him long to find the right person: Kou Ichijou. He happened to sit next to the captain of the basketball team one day at the Aiya Dinner, and offered the young man a concerned ear; after all, he looked so down, what fellow student wouldn't listen?
It didn't take much for Kou to open up to him. He told him he had witnessed Chie dying on the television at midnight the night before her body was found, and he had tried to reach for her as she was in pain, only to have his hand sink through the screen. It only got worse; he had seen Yosuke the night of Chie's death, and the next night he had seen Yosuke dying on screen, before his body was found the next morning. Seito did not understand how that was possible, but if people were appearing on screen that he did not shove into the TV yet, then he might be able to use that to his advantage. He talked Kou into grabbing up anyone that appeared on the TV; after all, if they were on screen, it had to be safe inside the screen, right?
Kou bought every word, and it wasn't long before the genius boy detective, Naoto Shirogane, appeared on the television. As Kou went to do just as Seito said, Seito went on with his own life, confident that there was no way he would ever be caught... but once he had gotten a taste for killing once, being without it for long made the empty feeling slowly start to creep back into his life. Ai Ebihara was just a girl, kind of cute, very bossy, but she was trying to get sweet with him since Kou didn't seem to see anyone else since Chie died. It didn't take long before she got on his nerves.
The day after Naoto was rescued from the TV, Ai Ebihara was found dangling from a telephone pole, dead.
He could see the despair on the faces of the people around him; after all, his own uncle was lead investigator on the case, and him and his partner Adachi had no idea who could be doing these horrible things. He decided to up his game, taking a gamble and leaving a cryptic message on a public online message board for the police to find, hinting at who his next victim would be. He had already picked who would be next; so far the only victims had been teenagers, and he needed to break that up, make everyone in town question if they were safe. Meanwhile, the Midnight Channel that appeared on television was showing someone different from his intended target. He was fine with that though, because while Kou had (somehow) found a way to toss Tatsumi Kanji into the TV, Seito was dealing with his own target.
And after Kanji was saved, Kinshiro Morooka was found dead.
Unfortunately, his little experiment had the opposite effect; the police came to Yasoinaba High, trying to find just who had used one of the computers to post on the message board. Lucky for him, the computer club that maintained the equipment wiped the machines weekly, otherwise Seito surely would have been caught. The scare was enough to convince him to lay low awhile, though he did still keep his eye on the news and the Midnight Channel. It physically hurt him to be inactive for so long, to not have something filling his life. He tried to smile as he had been, assuring the "friends" he had made at school as well as his cousin that he was fine, that nothing was wrong. In reality, he felt like someone had told him not to breathe; he needed his life to feel whole again, and he needed it now.
He saw his first opportunity with Rise Kujikawa and her sudden retirement to Inaba. Now, this was something he could focus on; all he needed to do was figure out how to get her away from the press that constantly hounded her. Unfortunately, he had to change his plans when she appeared at his school, enrolling in the first year's class. For a moment, he thought for sure he would have to continue to suffer his emptiness, when he got a better idea: a new game he could play. Instead, he offered her a friendly face and a word of caution; he warned her about the Midnight Channel, and how some people that ended up on it were kidnapped or killed. After all, "someone like her" had been appearing on the channel ever since her announced retirement, and she admitted to seeing it herself, but she thought it was someone pulling a stupid joke.
Naturally, Kou kidnapped her, and Seito waited patiently, watching the Midnight Channel every night while she was stuck in the TV. To his surprise, it showed how some of these people were getting out of the TV: his uncle's partner, the bumbling idiot Adachi of all people, along with Kou's previous victims and a girl that was his senior at school were saving them, somehow able to harness monsters to fight for them. Obviously, there was a way out of the TV, and obviously, these people knew a lot more about what was going on then he anticipated. As much as he hated it, Seito knew he needed to lay low again, but he knew this time he would not be idle. He needed to find out more information about this other world beyond the TV screens, and the only way he was going to be able to get that was straight from the people that were trying to stop his little game.
Unfortunately, he didn't get an opportunity to do that right away. After Rise was saved, Mayumi Yamano was found dead, hanging from a fence that surrounded a building's water tower. Seito had nothing to do with that one; he hadn't shoved anyone in the TV himself since Morooka. He knew he wouldn't be able to talk to Adachi any time soon after that happened, so he decided to go to the hospital instead, where Rise was recovering from her episode inside the television. To his surprise, she apologized; she hadn't really believed his warning to her, and didn't think that being kidnapped would actually happen. Beyond that, she didn't tell him much, just that what she went through had been horrible and no one should have to be forced into something like it. She thanked him... and asked if he would go out with her sometime. Needing to keep up appearances, and the opportunity to get closer to Adachi and his group, Seito agreed.
On the way out of the hospital, he happened upon one of the nurses talking to his senior in Adachi's group; a girl named Saki that he barely knew, just that she was the elder sister of his third victim. He heard them talking, and the nurse mentioned that her and "that cute detective" (gross...) were bringing in a lot of people to be looked after. Seito knew what he next target was going to be, he just needed to wait for the right moment... so he got a job working the janitorial night shift at the hospital, and often ended up encountering that same nurse. He bide his time, waiting until he was sure Adachi and his ragtag crew were distracted, before shoving Uehara Sayoko into the television.
Unfortunately, Adachi was not as distracted as he thought. During a dinner that the detective was invited to, Adachi mentioned that they had their hands full now looking for the nurse. Seito was forced to scramble to find another victim to toss in, finding one in Eri Minami, whom reminded him far too much of his own mother. It was easy for him to throw her in without remorse, but it didn't work; Sayoko's kidnapping had proved to Adachi and his little "Investigation Team" that the murderer was watching them carefully.
Seito thought for certain it would only be a matter of time before he was caught; after all, it was obvious, wasn't it? A person that had access to all these people, that started with students and a teacher from Yasogami High and then tried frantically to cover up his pattern with those not related to either? Who saw them every single day? It was obvious to him, so when Adachi started to approach him, chatting with him, he was ready to run into a television himself if he needed to. Much to his surprise, however, Adachi did not seem to suspect him; in fact, the detective seemed more like he wanted to be friends, to form a bond with him, then bust him for the murders. Seito went along with it; after all, being on the good side of someone like Adachi could prove more beneficial in the long run.
So Seito laid low once again, keeping an eye on Adachi and his party and waiting for the perfect opportunity to escalate his little game. The Midnight Channel showed him the perfect way to do that: a small girl appeared on the screen, indistinct, but Seito knew who it was. His cousin Nanako had told him about a councilman that had come to her school to speak with the children there, and on the news that night, said councilman had quoted one of the students he had been able to get an unbaised opinion from. It didn't take much for Seito to figure out from that that it had to be Nanako.
He spoke with Kou the next day after basketball practice, frantic, afraid that his precious cousin would be the next to die. He begged Kou to help him, to take Nanako into the TV and go with her, make sure that she was safe, while he looked out for whatever murderer may be coming for her. It didn't take Kou much to agree to do it, and that night he went to the Dojima house as Seito's guest. Seito excused himself a moment while he was over, and while he was absent, Kou grabbed Nanako and jumped into the television in the living room. With the two of them gone, Seito placed a frantic call to his good "friend", Adachi, telling him that his basketball captain just invited himself over and knocked him out. He thought he was seeing things before he passed out, but... it looked like Kou and Nanako had fallen through the TV screen.
Naturally, his uncle flipped out, and it wasn't long before Dojima and Adachi were bursting through the door. Seito explained what happened, and Dojima practically tried to beat his way through the television set, trying to save his precious daughter. Adachi tried to stop him... but with the ability to go through the television himself, touching Dojima as he tried to pull him away only lead through the elder detective falling through the TV himself. With everyone distracted and Kou taking the entire blame for all the murders, Seito could not resist having one more thing to smear Kou's name, to make sure that even if Nanako survived, he'd still be viewed as a complete monster. He set his sights on a boy he tutored for high school entrance exams, and after Nanako and Dojima were saved from the television, the last victim, Shu Nakajima, was found dead.
His plan worked out better than he had hoped; even with Nanako rescued from the television, she died shortly after (though temporarily). With all the rage and emotion, Seito was certain that Kou would be taking all the blame -- after all, he had witnessed him pulling his little cousin to her death. Unfortunately, cooler heads ultimately prevailed, and Adachi was able to figure out that Kou being single handedly responsible for all the murders did not add up; there were too many questions left in the case. While Seito was not present, Adachi and his crew waited until Kou was calmer to discuss why he did what he did, discovering that he genuinely thought he was saving people, rather than hurting them, and that the only ones he had kidnapped were Naoto, Kanji, Rise, and Nanako.
Seito knew that his plans were not working, as he had seen Adachi and his crew still investigating the murders. He knew he was about to be caught, and even the fog increasing in the town and the insanity that came with it was not enough to distract the Investigation Team. With nothing else to do to avoid his fate, Seito went to visit Kou in the hospital. Kou was distraught, saying that the television was nothing like he thought it was, that the two of them had been wrong to assume that it was safe in there. Seito said he already knew it wasn't safe, before shoving Kou through the television in the hospital room.
At that moment, Adachi and his Team decided to burst through the room, catching him just after Kou disappeared through the screen. Ironically, they had a copy of the same evidence that Hanamura had waved in his face at the start of all the madness. They demanded to know why he would do such a thing, but Seito was in no mood to answer their questions; instead he allowed himself to fall through the television screen as well, inviting them to catch him if they dared...
Personality: In Persona, important characters are typically represented by an Arcana; a representation of their personality, or the kind of person they are meant to become. Seito, however, is represented by two Arcana, one that is the face he shows the world, and the other is his true path in life.
As the Strength Arcana
The side of himself that Seito shows the world starts out as a quiet, aloof human being. It's obvious that he has spent most of his life alone, and most interaction with other people is awkward if it happens at all. Gradually, as he spends more time at Yasogami High School amongst people that want to see the real him, he opens up a little more. It becomes easier for him to smile, easier for him to hold a conversation. The people he's closest to get to see this first hand more than others, and if he had not cut off his ability to do so at the start of his journey, he may well have formed a bond with Dojima and Nanako. Though he says otherwise after he's caught, he almost hoped that for the first time since the accident that took his father and sister from him, he had been able to touch what a real family was.
Rise also gets to see this softer side of him; though he only dated her with the intent of using her to spy on the Investigation Team, he needed to act the part of the affectionate boyfriend. He was sure to be generous with her, giving her space whenever she asked for it, being there to hold onto whenever she needed it. He seemed so loving and in control of their relationship, that Rise bought the whole act completely, to the point where she refused to believe he would actually be capable of killing anyone, much less so many people.
As the Lust Arcana
When cornered, Seito reveals his true self to the world, and it is a much different picture. He truly believes himself to be empty, that since the accident, there was nothing in the world worth living for. The murders woke him up for the first time since he was five, stirring up a thrill he had not been able to feel in his entire life. He didn't want to stop, even if he just had to lie low and observe the people around him for awhile; there was no way for him to stop experiencing that level of excitement, even if he had to cover the world in red to do it.
Though he really shows this side of himself after his canon point, Seito's a dark, twisted human being. He gave no thought to the fact that the people he was killing had lives of their own, had people that cared about them. They were just a means to an end, a means of letting him feel passion again, of letting his inner self free. As things progress and he finds himself more and more entangled in his own game, he finds himself not finding enjoyment in life, but in ending it. After throwing himself into the television world, he is literally drunk with the power he has at his disposal, wielding Magatsu Izanagi like it is nothing for him, never mind he didn't even know what the heck a Persona was or why he had one like Adachi and the others. What did it matter, after all? He was finally able to show his true mastery over his self and let his inner monster loose.
Beyond Arcana
Seito, though largely different from his canon counterpart, does share many similar traits with him. For one, they start out much the same way, starting out on their own and eventually growing as people. Even though Seito takes a different real path from his canon counterpart, his outside face is very reminiscent of the person that the Protagonist ultimately becomes: a strong person with a lot of love for his World. Unfortunately, Seito's so trapped in his own madness, that he doesn't see his own World anymore, and his actions force his World to shift to someone else.
Like the Protagonist, Seito is very smart, though utilizes his intelligence differently; he knows that his actions are unforgivable, and he carefully plans out every single move he makes, with the express intention not to get caught. He has very good grades in school, and he can also easily read people. If he needs to make use of someone, he instinctively knows how to appeal to them, to be able to be what they need him to be. He also is capable of handling himself well in the TV, figuring out how to draw out his own Persona and using it, just from watching the Investigation Team on the Midnight Channel, and relying on instinct for the rest.
Other qualities he shares with his canon counterpart include lack of expression; though there are times where he's obviously happy or upset, the emotion doesn't always reach Seito's face. He is capable of smiling, but for the most part his face remains neutral, and even when he does smile it's weird. Even Rise has commented that it's like his happiness can't reach his eyes when he smiles. He's also a bit of a closet geek, and has a soft spot for science fiction, particularly mechas. Lastly, Seito is also a great cook, and often ends up cooking the meals at the Dojima house when his uncle doesn't bring home take out.
He does have some care for Nanako, but like other things in his life, it's become twisted. She reminds him a lot of himself, and more than a few times he ends up getting short with Dojima because of it. When Nanako runs away from home after getting upset with her father, he still forces Dojima to talk to her himself, just like the Protagonist does in canon. At least she had hope that her remaining parent still loved her, that she still had someone to care for her, and when he sees them become closer (and worse, because of his actions), he can't help but be jealous. He had no qualms with using her in his game, letting Kou throw her in the TV; after all, she had been saying she was always so alone beforehand, maybe now she would be able to see what it really meant to be alone while she was stuck in the TV.
Despite the fact that after his canon point he will lose to Adachi, he is at the very least graceful about it, and it would be the same if anything similar happened elsewhere. After he is defeated and Ameno Sagiri is defeated, Seito accepts the fact that he has lost and does not fight against being removed from the TV world and arrested by his uncle and Adachi. He even goes so far as to assist Adachi from jail, sending him a message to let he know that he did not have the ability to enter the television before he came to Inaba, that something had to have given him -- and in turn, Adachi and Kou -- the ability to do so. He knew it was all over; his game, his meaningless life, there was nothing left for him, so he may as well give the detective that bested him the chance to really solve the mysteries of Inaba.
Samples
First-Person: Seito at Dear Mun
Testdrive meme
Third-Person:
He was a bit bigger than the others, and he was definitely stronger, but in the end, he went in the same way: first his head, to keep him from being able to easily stand back up, and the rest of him followed soon after. Of course he tried to fight him, held onto the frame of the TV for dear life, but all he needed to do was grab his legs and shove as hard as he could. It earned him a kick to the side -- the other boy obviously wasn't going to let him get away with just sending him to his death -- but it wasn't long before the last of him disappeared through the screen. The ripples of light gradually died away, leaving him alone in the room.
He stood there, the only light in the room coming from the television indicator light, casting a red glow on his face that didn't light much, but reflected off his eyes and giving them an almost demonic look in his reflection on the screen. He should have been getting out of there as quickly as possible -- he was sure the detective and his little band would be at the door any second. Even of the boy he had just sent to his death didn't say anything about his involvement (as he had been screaming before he shoved him in), he was fairly certain it was only a matter of time now. Running at this point probably wasn't even worth the effort, but at the very least if he was going to end up running from human justice, then he rather it be on his terms.
His fingers stretched out, gently brushing the televison screen. Ripples of light drifted out at each touch, like the screen was just liquid. Yes... in the television, he was certain he would be able to handle himself well enough... There was a bang on the door, and he smirked, slipping his hands into his pockets. Now his game would be coming to a climax; now he would see what was really better, his Emptiness, or the Hope that was busting it's way into the door, stopping and staring at him as if he couldn't believe it really was him standing there.
"Well... I was wondering when you would show up," Seito said, his normal small, pleasant smile on his face and his tone as neutral as ever, as if nothing at all were wrong; as if he was just a normal teenaged boy, standing in front of a television in a hosptial room...
...and not a cold blooded murderer, responsible for the death of seven people.
Name: Skyla
Contact:
Current Characters: NA
IC Information
Name: Seito Souzen (Persona 4 Main Character)
Canon: Persona 4 (AU; role swap)
Canon Point: Just after entering the TV to escape from the Investigation Team.
History: The canon protagonist's page at SMT Wiki... but Seito Souzen is no protagonist.
Seito had a happy, hopeful life when he was really young, living with his father and mother and twin sister, Seiki. Unfortunately, it did not last long, and while on a return trip from visiting his uncle in Inaba when he was five, their car was run off the road by a passing tractor trailer that did not see them due to the heavy fog on the road. His father died instantly in the crash, and his sister gave her life to make sure he would get out safely. The result left his mother devastated, and she could not even look at her surviving child without being reminded of the one she lost. She dedicated herself to her work, eventually remarrying and with her new husband, traveled around Japan, Korea, and China, and dragging her son from school to school with them. Seito was left feeling hollow as it was with Seiki's death, but without a loving parent to support him and unable to stay in one place long enough to make friends, Seito's life became empty.
When Seito was seventeen, his mother and stepfather had to go overseas for their job. Not wanting to bring their son into a non-Asian school, they sent him back to Inaba to live with his uncle for the year they would be gone. At this point, Seito was just surviving his life, just drifting from school to school, class to class, with no real purpose to inspire him to make it worth living. Inaba was no different; his first day of school already had him being yelled at by the professor, though he barely blinked during his tirad, nor when one of the other students. It was just another school, just more people that would pass through his life and be forgotten about.
The first day of school ended, and he was invited out to Junes, the local super store, by the girl that saved him from their homeroom teacher. The only reason he agreed to it was because he had nothing else to do, and it was better than just going straight home to a place where he would do homework and sit in awkward silence with his little cousin. The girl dragged him around all over, and he barely paid attention to anything that was going on. His disinterest was not that hard to miss, and she pointed out that he didn't seem to be that interested in what they were doing. Seito replied that he didn't care, that it would all be meaningless in the long run, so why should he care? She grabbed his arm, trying to discourage that kind of attitude, but he only responded by shoving her off of him. She fell, still clinging to him... and her back hit a television set on display, sinking into the screen. Seito, naturally, panicked, and threw the girl off of him, watching as she fell through the screen and disappeared. At a loss for what to do, he quickly left the store.
The next day, Chie Satonaka was found dangling from a television antenna, dead.
Yasoinaba High School had let out early because of an incident on campus, otherwise Seito would not have known about it until later in the evening. He had passed by the crime scene on the way home, unable to avoid being shocked at the sight dangling above him. His uncle tried to block his view, encouraging him to go straight home, and somehow he got himself to move, missing the boy that had found the body sitting on the sidelines...
The next day, the boy that sat behind him in class asked him to come to Junes with him, that there was something important he needed to discuss with him. Seito had a feeling he knew what this was going to be about -- Chie hadn't exactly been quiet about where they were going -- and sure enough, the boy confronted him as soon as they were alone, accusing him of killing Chie, waving a store security camera video in his face as proof. As if Seito needed further proof the other boy was an idiot, he made the mistake of confronting him in the electronics department. Needless to say, he didn't think anything of it as he shoved him into a television, taking the boy's proof and burning it as soon as he had the chance.
The next day, Yosuke Hanamura was found dangling from a telephone pole, dead.
The realization that he could have such power over another person went straight to Seito's head, and for the first time since his sister died, he finally could feel the thrill of being alive again. He knew, however, that the only way he could keep feeling that thrill was to not get caught, and he needed to make sure that there was no one else that would know about his connection to both Chie and Yosuke. The only other person left that knew he had visited Junes with Chie that afternoon was the girl that sat in front of her in class. As soon as he had the chance, he followed her from Junes to the inn she lived at and caught her by surprise, shoving her through the television in the empty front lobby.
He fully expected her to die as quickly as the other two, but after two days with no death report, Seito got discouraged, wondering if it wasn't working any more. The news had been abuzz with the previous murders, and had reported on a local teen that was loudly blaming Junes for ruining the local shopping district, and now that the Prince was dead, maybe it would get out of their town. Seito wanted to test to see if the TV was still working right, so he located this boy, Naoki Konishi, and made a show of being friendly with him, gaining his trust... and shoving him into the television in the school's media room.
The next day he saw Yukiko Amagi walking around school as if nothing happened, and he knew that something was up, that there had to be a way for people to escape from the television. Though if there was, it didn't apply to everyone, as it was announced at school that Naoki Konishi had been found dead that morning. If he was going to keep his ability to live, he needed a fall guy, someone that he could allow to take all the attention off of him, while he continued to do his own dirty work on the sidelines. It didn't take him long to find the right person: Kou Ichijou. He happened to sit next to the captain of the basketball team one day at the Aiya Dinner, and offered the young man a concerned ear; after all, he looked so down, what fellow student wouldn't listen?
It didn't take much for Kou to open up to him. He told him he had witnessed Chie dying on the television at midnight the night before her body was found, and he had tried to reach for her as she was in pain, only to have his hand sink through the screen. It only got worse; he had seen Yosuke the night of Chie's death, and the next night he had seen Yosuke dying on screen, before his body was found the next morning. Seito did not understand how that was possible, but if people were appearing on screen that he did not shove into the TV yet, then he might be able to use that to his advantage. He talked Kou into grabbing up anyone that appeared on the TV; after all, if they were on screen, it had to be safe inside the screen, right?
Kou bought every word, and it wasn't long before the genius boy detective, Naoto Shirogane, appeared on the television. As Kou went to do just as Seito said, Seito went on with his own life, confident that there was no way he would ever be caught... but once he had gotten a taste for killing once, being without it for long made the empty feeling slowly start to creep back into his life. Ai Ebihara was just a girl, kind of cute, very bossy, but she was trying to get sweet with him since Kou didn't seem to see anyone else since Chie died. It didn't take long before she got on his nerves.
The day after Naoto was rescued from the TV, Ai Ebihara was found dangling from a telephone pole, dead.
He could see the despair on the faces of the people around him; after all, his own uncle was lead investigator on the case, and him and his partner Adachi had no idea who could be doing these horrible things. He decided to up his game, taking a gamble and leaving a cryptic message on a public online message board for the police to find, hinting at who his next victim would be. He had already picked who would be next; so far the only victims had been teenagers, and he needed to break that up, make everyone in town question if they were safe. Meanwhile, the Midnight Channel that appeared on television was showing someone different from his intended target. He was fine with that though, because while Kou had (somehow) found a way to toss Tatsumi Kanji into the TV, Seito was dealing with his own target.
And after Kanji was saved, Kinshiro Morooka was found dead.
Unfortunately, his little experiment had the opposite effect; the police came to Yasoinaba High, trying to find just who had used one of the computers to post on the message board. Lucky for him, the computer club that maintained the equipment wiped the machines weekly, otherwise Seito surely would have been caught. The scare was enough to convince him to lay low awhile, though he did still keep his eye on the news and the Midnight Channel. It physically hurt him to be inactive for so long, to not have something filling his life. He tried to smile as he had been, assuring the "friends" he had made at school as well as his cousin that he was fine, that nothing was wrong. In reality, he felt like someone had told him not to breathe; he needed his life to feel whole again, and he needed it now.
He saw his first opportunity with Rise Kujikawa and her sudden retirement to Inaba. Now, this was something he could focus on; all he needed to do was figure out how to get her away from the press that constantly hounded her. Unfortunately, he had to change his plans when she appeared at his school, enrolling in the first year's class. For a moment, he thought for sure he would have to continue to suffer his emptiness, when he got a better idea: a new game he could play. Instead, he offered her a friendly face and a word of caution; he warned her about the Midnight Channel, and how some people that ended up on it were kidnapped or killed. After all, "someone like her" had been appearing on the channel ever since her announced retirement, and she admitted to seeing it herself, but she thought it was someone pulling a stupid joke.
Naturally, Kou kidnapped her, and Seito waited patiently, watching the Midnight Channel every night while she was stuck in the TV. To his surprise, it showed how some of these people were getting out of the TV: his uncle's partner, the bumbling idiot Adachi of all people, along with Kou's previous victims and a girl that was his senior at school were saving them, somehow able to harness monsters to fight for them. Obviously, there was a way out of the TV, and obviously, these people knew a lot more about what was going on then he anticipated. As much as he hated it, Seito knew he needed to lay low again, but he knew this time he would not be idle. He needed to find out more information about this other world beyond the TV screens, and the only way he was going to be able to get that was straight from the people that were trying to stop his little game.
Unfortunately, he didn't get an opportunity to do that right away. After Rise was saved, Mayumi Yamano was found dead, hanging from a fence that surrounded a building's water tower. Seito had nothing to do with that one; he hadn't shoved anyone in the TV himself since Morooka. He knew he wouldn't be able to talk to Adachi any time soon after that happened, so he decided to go to the hospital instead, where Rise was recovering from her episode inside the television. To his surprise, she apologized; she hadn't really believed his warning to her, and didn't think that being kidnapped would actually happen. Beyond that, she didn't tell him much, just that what she went through had been horrible and no one should have to be forced into something like it. She thanked him... and asked if he would go out with her sometime. Needing to keep up appearances, and the opportunity to get closer to Adachi and his group, Seito agreed.
On the way out of the hospital, he happened upon one of the nurses talking to his senior in Adachi's group; a girl named Saki that he barely knew, just that she was the elder sister of his third victim. He heard them talking, and the nurse mentioned that her and "that cute detective" (gross...) were bringing in a lot of people to be looked after. Seito knew what he next target was going to be, he just needed to wait for the right moment... so he got a job working the janitorial night shift at the hospital, and often ended up encountering that same nurse. He bide his time, waiting until he was sure Adachi and his ragtag crew were distracted, before shoving Uehara Sayoko into the television.
Unfortunately, Adachi was not as distracted as he thought. During a dinner that the detective was invited to, Adachi mentioned that they had their hands full now looking for the nurse. Seito was forced to scramble to find another victim to toss in, finding one in Eri Minami, whom reminded him far too much of his own mother. It was easy for him to throw her in without remorse, but it didn't work; Sayoko's kidnapping had proved to Adachi and his little "Investigation Team" that the murderer was watching them carefully.
Seito thought for certain it would only be a matter of time before he was caught; after all, it was obvious, wasn't it? A person that had access to all these people, that started with students and a teacher from Yasogami High and then tried frantically to cover up his pattern with those not related to either? Who saw them every single day? It was obvious to him, so when Adachi started to approach him, chatting with him, he was ready to run into a television himself if he needed to. Much to his surprise, however, Adachi did not seem to suspect him; in fact, the detective seemed more like he wanted to be friends, to form a bond with him, then bust him for the murders. Seito went along with it; after all, being on the good side of someone like Adachi could prove more beneficial in the long run.
So Seito laid low once again, keeping an eye on Adachi and his party and waiting for the perfect opportunity to escalate his little game. The Midnight Channel showed him the perfect way to do that: a small girl appeared on the screen, indistinct, but Seito knew who it was. His cousin Nanako had told him about a councilman that had come to her school to speak with the children there, and on the news that night, said councilman had quoted one of the students he had been able to get an unbaised opinion from. It didn't take much for Seito to figure out from that that it had to be Nanako.
He spoke with Kou the next day after basketball practice, frantic, afraid that his precious cousin would be the next to die. He begged Kou to help him, to take Nanako into the TV and go with her, make sure that she was safe, while he looked out for whatever murderer may be coming for her. It didn't take Kou much to agree to do it, and that night he went to the Dojima house as Seito's guest. Seito excused himself a moment while he was over, and while he was absent, Kou grabbed Nanako and jumped into the television in the living room. With the two of them gone, Seito placed a frantic call to his good "friend", Adachi, telling him that his basketball captain just invited himself over and knocked him out. He thought he was seeing things before he passed out, but... it looked like Kou and Nanako had fallen through the TV screen.
Naturally, his uncle flipped out, and it wasn't long before Dojima and Adachi were bursting through the door. Seito explained what happened, and Dojima practically tried to beat his way through the television set, trying to save his precious daughter. Adachi tried to stop him... but with the ability to go through the television himself, touching Dojima as he tried to pull him away only lead through the elder detective falling through the TV himself. With everyone distracted and Kou taking the entire blame for all the murders, Seito could not resist having one more thing to smear Kou's name, to make sure that even if Nanako survived, he'd still be viewed as a complete monster. He set his sights on a boy he tutored for high school entrance exams, and after Nanako and Dojima were saved from the television, the last victim, Shu Nakajima, was found dead.
His plan worked out better than he had hoped; even with Nanako rescued from the television, she died shortly after (though temporarily). With all the rage and emotion, Seito was certain that Kou would be taking all the blame -- after all, he had witnessed him pulling his little cousin to her death. Unfortunately, cooler heads ultimately prevailed, and Adachi was able to figure out that Kou being single handedly responsible for all the murders did not add up; there were too many questions left in the case. While Seito was not present, Adachi and his crew waited until Kou was calmer to discuss why he did what he did, discovering that he genuinely thought he was saving people, rather than hurting them, and that the only ones he had kidnapped were Naoto, Kanji, Rise, and Nanako.
Seito knew that his plans were not working, as he had seen Adachi and his crew still investigating the murders. He knew he was about to be caught, and even the fog increasing in the town and the insanity that came with it was not enough to distract the Investigation Team. With nothing else to do to avoid his fate, Seito went to visit Kou in the hospital. Kou was distraught, saying that the television was nothing like he thought it was, that the two of them had been wrong to assume that it was safe in there. Seito said he already knew it wasn't safe, before shoving Kou through the television in the hospital room.
At that moment, Adachi and his Team decided to burst through the room, catching him just after Kou disappeared through the screen. Ironically, they had a copy of the same evidence that Hanamura had waved in his face at the start of all the madness. They demanded to know why he would do such a thing, but Seito was in no mood to answer their questions; instead he allowed himself to fall through the television screen as well, inviting them to catch him if they dared...
Personality: In Persona, important characters are typically represented by an Arcana; a representation of their personality, or the kind of person they are meant to become. Seito, however, is represented by two Arcana, one that is the face he shows the world, and the other is his true path in life.
As the Strength Arcana
The side of himself that Seito shows the world starts out as a quiet, aloof human being. It's obvious that he has spent most of his life alone, and most interaction with other people is awkward if it happens at all. Gradually, as he spends more time at Yasogami High School amongst people that want to see the real him, he opens up a little more. It becomes easier for him to smile, easier for him to hold a conversation. The people he's closest to get to see this first hand more than others, and if he had not cut off his ability to do so at the start of his journey, he may well have formed a bond with Dojima and Nanako. Though he says otherwise after he's caught, he almost hoped that for the first time since the accident that took his father and sister from him, he had been able to touch what a real family was.
Rise also gets to see this softer side of him; though he only dated her with the intent of using her to spy on the Investigation Team, he needed to act the part of the affectionate boyfriend. He was sure to be generous with her, giving her space whenever she asked for it, being there to hold onto whenever she needed it. He seemed so loving and in control of their relationship, that Rise bought the whole act completely, to the point where she refused to believe he would actually be capable of killing anyone, much less so many people.
As the Lust Arcana
When cornered, Seito reveals his true self to the world, and it is a much different picture. He truly believes himself to be empty, that since the accident, there was nothing in the world worth living for. The murders woke him up for the first time since he was five, stirring up a thrill he had not been able to feel in his entire life. He didn't want to stop, even if he just had to lie low and observe the people around him for awhile; there was no way for him to stop experiencing that level of excitement, even if he had to cover the world in red to do it.
Though he really shows this side of himself after his canon point, Seito's a dark, twisted human being. He gave no thought to the fact that the people he was killing had lives of their own, had people that cared about them. They were just a means to an end, a means of letting him feel passion again, of letting his inner self free. As things progress and he finds himself more and more entangled in his own game, he finds himself not finding enjoyment in life, but in ending it. After throwing himself into the television world, he is literally drunk with the power he has at his disposal, wielding Magatsu Izanagi like it is nothing for him, never mind he didn't even know what the heck a Persona was or why he had one like Adachi and the others. What did it matter, after all? He was finally able to show his true mastery over his self and let his inner monster loose.
Beyond Arcana
Seito, though largely different from his canon counterpart, does share many similar traits with him. For one, they start out much the same way, starting out on their own and eventually growing as people. Even though Seito takes a different real path from his canon counterpart, his outside face is very reminiscent of the person that the Protagonist ultimately becomes: a strong person with a lot of love for his World. Unfortunately, Seito's so trapped in his own madness, that he doesn't see his own World anymore, and his actions force his World to shift to someone else.
Like the Protagonist, Seito is very smart, though utilizes his intelligence differently; he knows that his actions are unforgivable, and he carefully plans out every single move he makes, with the express intention not to get caught. He has very good grades in school, and he can also easily read people. If he needs to make use of someone, he instinctively knows how to appeal to them, to be able to be what they need him to be. He also is capable of handling himself well in the TV, figuring out how to draw out his own Persona and using it, just from watching the Investigation Team on the Midnight Channel, and relying on instinct for the rest.
Other qualities he shares with his canon counterpart include lack of expression; though there are times where he's obviously happy or upset, the emotion doesn't always reach Seito's face. He is capable of smiling, but for the most part his face remains neutral, and even when he does smile it's weird. Even Rise has commented that it's like his happiness can't reach his eyes when he smiles. He's also a bit of a closet geek, and has a soft spot for science fiction, particularly mechas. Lastly, Seito is also a great cook, and often ends up cooking the meals at the Dojima house when his uncle doesn't bring home take out.
He does have some care for Nanako, but like other things in his life, it's become twisted. She reminds him a lot of himself, and more than a few times he ends up getting short with Dojima because of it. When Nanako runs away from home after getting upset with her father, he still forces Dojima to talk to her himself, just like the Protagonist does in canon. At least she had hope that her remaining parent still loved her, that she still had someone to care for her, and when he sees them become closer (and worse, because of his actions), he can't help but be jealous. He had no qualms with using her in his game, letting Kou throw her in the TV; after all, she had been saying she was always so alone beforehand, maybe now she would be able to see what it really meant to be alone while she was stuck in the TV.
Despite the fact that after his canon point he will lose to Adachi, he is at the very least graceful about it, and it would be the same if anything similar happened elsewhere. After he is defeated and Ameno Sagiri is defeated, Seito accepts the fact that he has lost and does not fight against being removed from the TV world and arrested by his uncle and Adachi. He even goes so far as to assist Adachi from jail, sending him a message to let he know that he did not have the ability to enter the television before he came to Inaba, that something had to have given him -- and in turn, Adachi and Kou -- the ability to do so. He knew it was all over; his game, his meaningless life, there was nothing left for him, so he may as well give the detective that bested him the chance to really solve the mysteries of Inaba.
Samples
First-Person: Seito at Dear Mun
Testdrive meme
Third-Person:
He was a bit bigger than the others, and he was definitely stronger, but in the end, he went in the same way: first his head, to keep him from being able to easily stand back up, and the rest of him followed soon after. Of course he tried to fight him, held onto the frame of the TV for dear life, but all he needed to do was grab his legs and shove as hard as he could. It earned him a kick to the side -- the other boy obviously wasn't going to let him get away with just sending him to his death -- but it wasn't long before the last of him disappeared through the screen. The ripples of light gradually died away, leaving him alone in the room.
He stood there, the only light in the room coming from the television indicator light, casting a red glow on his face that didn't light much, but reflected off his eyes and giving them an almost demonic look in his reflection on the screen. He should have been getting out of there as quickly as possible -- he was sure the detective and his little band would be at the door any second. Even of the boy he had just sent to his death didn't say anything about his involvement (as he had been screaming before he shoved him in), he was fairly certain it was only a matter of time now. Running at this point probably wasn't even worth the effort, but at the very least if he was going to end up running from human justice, then he rather it be on his terms.
His fingers stretched out, gently brushing the televison screen. Ripples of light drifted out at each touch, like the screen was just liquid. Yes... in the television, he was certain he would be able to handle himself well enough... There was a bang on the door, and he smirked, slipping his hands into his pockets. Now his game would be coming to a climax; now he would see what was really better, his Emptiness, or the Hope that was busting it's way into the door, stopping and staring at him as if he couldn't believe it really was him standing there.
"Well... I was wondering when you would show up," Seito said, his normal small, pleasant smile on his face and his tone as neutral as ever, as if nothing at all were wrong; as if he was just a normal teenaged boy, standing in front of a television in a hosptial room...
...and not a cold blooded murderer, responsible for the death of seven people.