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“ | Welcome to the Velvet Room. | „ |
~ Igor |
Igor, also known as the Master by his servants, is the overarching protagonist of the Persona series.
He is a mysterious, long-nosed man and the owner of the Velvet Room, a dimension that exists between consciousness and subconsciousness. His role is crucial in the journey of every person who comes to possess the Wild Card.
He is voiced by the late Isamu Tanonaka in the Japanese version and Dan Woren in the English version, except for Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, where he is voiced by Vic Mignogna, and Persona 5, where he is voiced by Kirk Thornton.
Appearance[]
Igor has the appearance of a bizarre old man with a long nose, pointed ears, and bulging, bloodshot eyes. He wears a black suit with white gloves.
In Persona -trinity soul-, he wears a black robe with a theatrical comedy mask.
Personality[]
While presenting himself as a mere servant of Philemon, Igor seems to be far more than this. Being a doll created by Philemon, Igor ponders upon the question of whether he is merely a doll or perhaps even human. Thus, he shows an interest in human beings. Further on, he creates Margaret, Elizabeth, and Theodore as proprietors of the Velvet Room who pursue similar questions in life to assist him in the Velvet Room.
In every Persona game to date, Igor has played the role of Proprietor of the Velvet Room, a space which transcends both dream and reality. As the Proprietor, Igor provides insight to the protagonists regarding their powers, emotional bonds, and possible dangers that await them in their journey. Igor also provides the vital service of Persona Fusion, which allows the creation of vastly more powerful Personas from preexisting ones; and the use of the Persona Compendium, which allows previously created and/or acquired Personas to be recalled at a later time.
Despite his rather striking appearance, Igor bears a calm and courteous demeanor while speaking with players. Though the well-being of the protagonists is important to him, he reserves the disclosure of certain information for more "timely" points in the story. During conversations concerning the protagonists’ actions, Igor opts for rather cryptic comments that tend to foreshadow coming events and possibly the outcome of the story as a whole, regardless of whether or not those comments are at the time understood (which may be his intent). This suggests that Igor may have near-omniscience, though by his own admission, there are things that even he can't foresee.
Story[]
Unlike in previous Persona games, Igor never says anything about being a servant to Philemon, is no longer seen with his "Bone Phone", and is no longer joined by the three past residents; instead Igor is joined by Elizabeth. Instead of a room covered in blue velvet drapes, The Velvet Room is now seen as an elevator. Although at the end of Persona 3: FES everyone enters the Velvet Room, only the protagonist and Aegis can truly enter The Velvet Room at will.
In Persona 5, Igor returns to guide the new Protagonist on his journey. This time, however, he acts as the head of a prison, occasionally granting perks to assist the Protagonist with his "rehabilitation." Assisting him are the young twin prison wardens Caroline and Justine, who handle the bulk of the work of "executing" demons to fuse or strengthen them.
Igor now has a much deeper voice, as the original Japanese VA passed away after Persona 4 was finished. Later, it is revealed that Igor's very different voice is because the Igor that you interact with throughout the game is actually the evil god Yaldabaoth who took over the Velvet Room as part of a game to see if humanity still desired free will. The real Igor is sealed away until the twin assistants are fused into Lavenza and the fake Igor is exposed. From then on, the real Igor regains control of the Velvet Room, though Personas are still fused in the same way.
Igor remains mostly unchanged. He is still a servant of Philemon and he handles Persona summoning in much the same way. Outside of Persona summoning and dismissal, Igor tends for a brief while to Ulala Serizawa following her bout of Joker insanity, warning her to be careful with her emotions lest the Joker power return.
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Heroes | ||
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Persona 2 Eternal Punishment Persona 3 Persona 3 Social Links Persona 4 Persona 4 Social Links Persona 4 Arena Persona 4: Dancing All Night Persona 5 Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers Persona 5 Confidants Velvet Room Attendants Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth |