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| “ | My grandfather was obsessed with the Shadows. He wanted to harness their power to create something extraordinary. To that end, he assembled a research team and had them amass a number of Shadows. But ten years ago, during the final stages of the project, there was an accident... and the experiment failed. They lost control of the Shadows' power, altering the nature of the entire world. Yes... Tartarus and the Dark Hour. | „ |
| ~ Kouetsu's granddaughter Mitsuru explaining his experiments |
| “ | In his later years, my father seemed to only have nihilism in his heart. Now that I think about it, his madness may have resulted from his struggle to break free from that... | „ |
| ~ Takeharu Kirijo on Kouetsu Kirijo |
Kouetsu Kirijo is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Nyx) of the Persona 3 sub-series within the Persona series.
He is the brilliant but sinister late grandfather of Mitsuru Kirjio and is one of two people who is responsible for the Fall's discovery (alongside Shuji Ikutsuki), which will bring the Greek godesses of the night Nyx, which will bring the near ahhilation of humanity. Founding the Kirjio Group, he would conduct research on Shadows and performing cruel experiments that would lead to many individuals suffering from horrible injuries and driving them insane. His research led the Shadows to go berserk and destroy the Kirjio Group facilities and its scientists as well as creating the Dark Hour followed by the realm of Tartarus.
He is only mentioned in both the game and its animated film series adaptations, as he is already dead by the story even starts, but he is the most pivotal figure behind all the terrible events and his actions serve as a driving force for the game's events, as well as Shuji Ikutski's desire of becoming the god of the new world he would destroy and remake in his own image.
Biography[]
Kouetsu Kirijo is the father of Takeharu Kirijo and the grandfather of Mitsuru Kirijo, being the former leader of Kirijo Group and is one of the two people responsible for the Fall's discovery alongside Shuji Ikutsuki.
After coming across a Plume of Dusk, Kouetsu started his research into it for benevolent purposes. However, he was eventually driven mad after he learned more about Nyx Avatar and collected too much of the Plume of Dusks. He became obsessed with Shadows and eager to harness their powers.
Fourteen years prior to the events of Persona 3, Kijiro spent years experimenting on Shadows, in order to create a time manipulation device with their powers. He also assembled a team of top scientists, including Shuji Ikutsuki, and managed to obtain a huge amount of Shadows during four years of experiments.
During the process over the years, Kijiro's mind eventually embraced Nihilism, viewing death as deliverance. Ten years prior to the events of Persona 3, Kouetsu began preparing for the Fall, an apocalyptic event to summon Nyx Avatar and bring death to humanity. Kijiro became so entranced by Nyx that he resorted to numerous unethical actions to make this happen, including the approval of Ikutsuki's Persona experiments on children, which eventually spawned the foundation of Strega. He also gave machines sentient life, and treated them as weapons and disposable, an act that spawned the birth of Aigis.
During the final stages of the experiment, however, the Kijiro Group lost control of the Shadow's power and caused fatal destructions. Kouetsu perished alongside most of his scientists except Ikutsuki, and nearly all of his scientists had became obssessed with pure nihilism except Eiichiro Takeba, the father of Yukari Takeba, who was against the idea of the Fall and made a recording video warning the world about the Death Arcana, a recording that would only be revealed ten years after the tragedy.
After his death, Kouetsu’s position was assumed by his son, Takeharu Kirijo, who showed guilt over his father's crimes. His grandaughter, Mitsuru, also showed a heavy heart on the misdeed of Kirijo Group.
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 Villains
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SEBEC Route Takahisa Kandori | Nyarlathotep | Pandora Snow Queen Quest Victims of the Snow Queen Mask | Tomomi Fujimori | Nyx
Innoncent Sin Masked Circle | Master Joker | Tatsuya Sudou | Junko Kurosu | Anna Yoshizaka | Ginji Sasaki | Akari Hoshi | Nyarlathotep Eternal Punishment New World Order | Tatsuzou Sudou | Kiyotada Sumaru | Takahisa Kandori | Chizuru Ishigami | Nyarlathotep
Strega (Takaya Sakaki | Jin Shirato | Chidori Yoshino) | Kouetsu Kirijo | Shuji Ikutsuki | Nyx Avatar | Nyx | President Tanaka | Arcana Shadows Persona 3 FES
The Killer | Mitsuo Kubo | Izanami Persona 4: Arena & Persona 4: Arena Ultimax Sho Minazuki | Shadow Labrys | Hi-no Kagutsuchi
Suguru Kamoshida | Sphinx | Sae Niijima | Shiro Asakura | Antisocial Force (Ichiryusai Madarame | Junya Kaneshiro | Sugimura | Kunikazu Okumura | The Black Mask | SIU Director | Kobayakawa | Masayoshi Shido | Yaldabaoth) | Persona 5 Royal Persona 5 Strikers Alice Hiiragi | Ango Natsume | Mariko Hyodo | Shuzo Ubukata | Akira Konoe | Jyun Owada | Kuon Ichinose | EMMA | Lock Keepers Persona 5 Tactica Lady Marie |
Teru Gojuin | Dark Yashiro | Yatsufusa Hatanaka
Persona Q Clockwork God Persona Q2 Kamoshidaman | Enlil
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