Ryotaro Dojima

Overview

Ryotaro Dojima is a detective for the Inaba Police Department, partnered with Tohru Adachi. In addition to investigating the murders which take place over the course of Persona 4, he is also the uncle and guardian of the main character, whose parents have moved away from Japan for a year. Due to the death of his wife prior to the start of the game, the only other family member who lives with him is his daughter, Nanako. Although he has a tendency to be stern and pose a number of questions to the people he meets both on and off the job, he is nonetheless well-intended and seeks only to resolve the lingering problems and mysteries in his life and the town.

Social Link

If the main character chooses to pursue a Social Link with Dojima, they will help him overcome the worries he has as both a detective and parent. While he is initially skittish about confiding much about his personal life, later on he mentions how he's worried about what sort of parent he is to Nanako. As someone who left Nanako's rearing to her mother up until her death, Dojima initially has problems relating to his child, even wondering if his incompetence disqualifies him from being seriously considered her family. Furthermore, the death of his wife continues to haunt him. Involving a hit-and-run incident, there is little evidence which points towards a potential perpetrator, an issue which doesn't deter Dojima from trying to solve it anyway, even if his morale about it is low. When the main character has an especially close bond to him, he comes to realize that he was using the investigation as a way to ignore the issues at home, especially with regards to seeing Nanako growing up. Thus, by the end of the Social Link, he figures out what path to take so he can be a good father to Nanako while still resolving to pursue his wife's killer. After completing Dojima's Social Link, the main character receives a mug and the ability to create Kohryu of the Hierophant Arcana.