Takaya Sakaki

Takaya Sakaki
Japanese Name	榊貴 隆也
Romaji	Sakaki Takaya
First Appearance	Persona 3
Weapon	Revolver
Arcana	Wheel of Fortune
Persona	Hypnos
Affiliation	Strega
Japanese VA	Nobutoshi Canna
English VA	Derek Stephen Prince

Takaya Sakaki is the secondary antagonist in Persona 3.

Appearances

• Persona 3: Antagonist
• Persona 3 Manga: Antagonist
• Persona 3 FES: Antagonist (The Journey)
• Persona 3 Portable: Antagonist
• Persona 3 The Movie: Antagonist

Design

Takaya has long gray or platinum blonde wavy hair and yellow eyes. He wears a wire like headband, faded and torn light blue jeans with a red, ragged scarf tucked in the back pocket, a studded white belt, and brown boots. He has full tattoo sleeves on both arms, and a small tattoo on his lower back. He is never seen wearing a shirt, jacket, vest, or anything of the sorts.

Personality

Takaya's personality is added during the course of the story. In his first appearance, where he was on a "mission" with his fellow members, he is shown to be cold and indifferent, mocking and pointing at his victim with his gun. When asked by his victim why he is doing this, Takaya says that it is not the victim's concern and even justifies his action by saying that "people hear what they wish to hear and believe what they want to believe".

During his first encounter with SEES, he tells the team that the world is crawling with sin and that there will always be disasters, caused by Shadows or human folly, further reinforcing his negative world view. This, along with his other comments during the game, shows that he is misanthropic. His later multiple assassination attempts (Shinjiro in the female protagonist route if max his Social Link, Ken, Junpei etc.) shows that he has little or no appreciation for the life of others with the exception of Jin and Chidori, although in the end he puts his own life first. This is illustrated when he convinces Jin to stop SEES from advancing while knowing that he is not capable of doing so, also knowing that the Shadows from the lower floors can attack Jin as well.

When confronted by SEES for the final time, Takaya shows a great deal of himself. He simply answers to the questions of the team without any intimidation and also in a very melancholic manner, asking them what they hope to achieve since Nyx is unbeatable. During this conversation, he claims that the future is but an illusion and a soul can be satisfied if it only lives for the moment. He claims that any meaning in life was lost long ago and that humanity actually prays for Nyx's "salvation".

While seen as purely evil most of the game, Takaya's actions and philosophy seems to stem from the fact that he has nothing to actually live for: the fact that he is dying seems to have some impact to his mental state, but his comments in the game imply that he is a bitter and weak-willed man who is simply trying to find some excitement in his short life, and that in fact he is jealous of SEES for their hope and will to live.

Profile

Persona 3

File:P3TakayaPortrait.jpg

Takaya's portrait in-game.

Takaya is the confident and charismatic young leader of Strega. He functions as the Protagonist's foil, leading the rival group of Persona-users and setting himself up as a false messiah. In battle, Takaya uses a five-shot revolver to strike down his opponents. Aside from Aigis and Fuuka Yamagishi, he is the only Persona-user in the game who does not use an Evoker to manifest his Persona, instead summoning it "manually" by clutching his head and falling to his knees. Persona-users in previous games also did not use Evokers, but summoning their Personas never appeared to cause them any pain.

Since Takaya doesn't have long to live, he lives fully for the moment, heedless of the harm he causes others. His dearest wish is to see the world end along with his own life. Though he does have some care for Jin and Chidori, he has no qualms about using either of them as tools. At first, he tries to prevent SEES from killing the twelve Arcana Shadows, since it'll end his Revenge Request website business and his 'powers', and as if he is trying to save the world in his own way. But he embraces death once he realizes their true purpose. Near the end of the game he creates a cult centered around the coming of Nyx as a salvation, with himself as the high priest and Jin spreading rumors around the network.

Takaya's final defeat occurs when he tries to forcibly stop SEES from climbing Tartarus and facing Nyx. Afterwards he crawls to the top of the tower to witness the final battle. It is unknown whether he survived after the Main Character sealed Nyx away; if he did, it is likely that he does not have long to live, since he still needs to take the lethal suppressant drugs.

Gallery

Persona 3
Takaya close up Concept art of Takaya Takaya's expressions concept artwork of Takaya (cinematics) Takaya as he appears in game

Persona 3 (manga)
Takaya in manga adaption

Persona 3 Movie
Takaya in Persona 3 The Movie #2: Midsummer Knight's Dream Takaya's character info in Persona 3 The Movie

Other
Akihiko and Caesar as Takaya and Hypnos in Persona 4 Arena Takaya as he appears in Persona 3: the Masquerade

Trivia

• According to the Persona 3 concept art book, the revolver Takaya uses is a model of Smith & Wesson Model 500.
• His Jesus-like appearance has been the base of many fan-jokes and fan-comics. It has even garnered him the fan nickname of "Revolver Jesus".
• Takaya means "respectful one" while Sakaki means "sacred tree". Therefore his name means "Respectful Sacred Tree". It is noted that he is greatly respected by Jin.
• His style in summoning his Persona is clutching his head in pain instead of using an Evoker. This trait is shared by Tohru Adachi from Persona 4.
• Like his persona, the imitation of death, Takaya is also an imitation of a messiah, which the MC actually became.