Ever played a game where the world is literally ending and everyone is just... chilling at a ramen shop? That’s basically the vibe of the Devil Survivor 2 characters for the first half of the week. Honestly, if you’re coming from the first game, the shift is jarring. The original Devil Survivor felt like a desperate, claustrophobic crawl through a locked-down Tokyo. This sequel? It’s more like an apocalyptic road trip with a bunch of weirdos you met on a death-prediction website called Nicaea.
But don't let the "anime tropes" fool you. Beneath the surface-level archetypes—the loud best friend, the shy girl, the edgy rival—lies one of the most mechanically deep and ideologically messy casts in the Shin Megami Tensei universe. You aren’t just picking who you want to date; you’re picking whose version of a rebuilt reality you can stomach.
The Trio That Starts It All
You start the game as a blank slate (canonically named Hibiki Kuze in the anime). You’ve got two friends by your side: Daichi Shijima and Io Nitta.
Daichi is the guy everyone loves to hate or hates to love. He’s the comic relief. He screams. He’s terrified. Most players find him annoying until about Day 5 when he actually starts showing some backbone. He represents the "Restorer" path—basically the idea that we should just put everything back the way it was. No fancy gods, no meritocracies, just normal life.
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Then there’s Io. She’s the quintessential "polite student" who never says what she actually thinks. Her arc is actually pretty tragic because she spends most of the game as a literal vessel for other people's power. If you don't level her Fate rank high enough, she ends up as a sacrifice for the Dragon Stream. It's a brutal reminder that in this game, "side characters" don't have plot armor.
The JP’s Heavy Hitters: Yamato vs. Ronaldo
The real meat of the Devil Survivor 2 characters debate usually centers on these two. It's the classic SMT Law vs. Chaos conflict, but rebranded as "Meritocracy vs. Egalitarianism."
Yamato Hotsuin is a 17-year-old who runs a secret government agency (JP’s) and treats people like disposable batteries. He’s a tactical genius, but he’s also a total prick. He believes only the strong should have a say in the new world. If you're a burden, you're out. Interestingly, his stats in battle reflect this; he's a glass cannon with insane Magic and Strength but zero Vitality. He literally cannot afford to be hit because he's never had to defend himself—he just obliterates things first.
On the other side, you have Ronaldo Kuriki. He’s a detective who wants a world where everyone is equal and the weak are protected. Sounds great, right? Except he’s willing to start a violent revolution and let the world burn to achieve it. Fans often call him a hypocrite because he preaches peace while gunning down JP’s members. He’s the "Stone Wall" of the party—huge HP, huge Defense, but he moves like a turtle.
The Weirdos in the Middle
- Fumi Kanno: A scientist who literally does not care if the world ends as long as she can keep her data. She’s one of the best Magic users in the game, but her social skills are non-existent.
- Jungo Torii: A quiet chef who just wants everyone to eat his handmade "Chawanmushi." He is a physical powerhouse with 40 Strength, but he's so slow he often doesn't get a turn until the battle is halfway over.
- Keita Wakui: A boxer who thinks teamwork is for losers. He’s the only character who can actually die permanently on Day 2 if you don't pay attention to your Death Clips.
- The Anguished One (Alcor): This white-haired enigma is basically the game's secret protagonist. He’s the 8th Septentrione, but he’s obsessed with "the brilliance of man." He’s the only route that lets you tell both Yamato and Ronaldo they’re wrong and forge a third path.
How the Fate System Changes Everything
In Devil Survivor 2, you aren't just talking to people for fun. The Fate system is a mechanical evolution of Persona’s Social Links. Every time you rank up a character, they get:
- Elemental Resistances: (e.g., Daichi gets Anti-Fire at Rank 1).
- Joint Skill Crack: This is huge. If you're Rank 2 with someone, you can learn skills from demons they kill.
- Demon Fusions: Some of the most powerful demons in the game, like Kohryu or Beelzebub, are locked behind Rank 5 Fate.
The problem? Time. You only have so many "half-hour" slots a day. If you spend all your time with the "fun" characters like Joe (the scatterbrained office worker) or Airi (the tsundere pianist), you might miss out on the crucial scenes needed to keep someone like Keita or Otome alive. It forces you to prioritize. Who do you actually value?
Why the Characters Feel "Off" Compared to SMT 1
There’s a common criticism that these characters don't take the apocalypse seriously enough. Hinako, the dancer, spends half her time complaining about her outfit. Joe is constantly looking for his girlfriend while demons are literally eating people in the street.
But there’s a nuance here. The JP’s organization provides a safety net. Unlike the first game, where you were starving in a subway station, these guys have access to clean water, beds, and government-funded food. They can afford to be a bit more casual because they aren't on the brink of starvation. It creates a different kind of horror—the horror of how quickly humans adapt to "normalizing" a catastrophe.
Essential Tips for Managing Your Team
If you're jumping back into Record Breaker or the original DS version, keep these things in mind:
- Prioritize Fate Level 4: To recruit characters to your side on the final day, you almost always need them at Fate Level 4. If they're lower, they'll stay with their original faction leader, and you might have to kill them.
- Watch the Death Clips: Don't ignore the Nicaea videos. If you see a character die, you usually have about two or three "events" to intervene. If you miss the window, they're gone for the rest of the playthrough.
- Diversify Your Build: The Devil Survivor 2 characters are highly specialized. If you build your protagonist as a Magic user, don't bring Fumi and Otome along; you'll have no physical defense. Bring Jungo or Hinako to balance the scales.
- Don't Sleep on Joe: He seems like a joke, but his Agility and Magic stats make him one of the best "Multi-Strike" or "Holy Dance" users in the late game.
The beauty of this cast isn't that they’re all likable. It’s that they’re all stubborn. By the end of the seventh day, you aren't just fighting a giant star-god named Polaris; you're fighting your friends because they refuse to back down from their ideals. That’s what makes this game a cult classic.
Check your current Fate levels in the menu and see who is closest to Rank 4. If you're on Day 5 or 6, you need to start making hard choices about who you're going to leave behind. Focus on one faction leader (Yamato or Ronaldo) and the three side characters you use most in battle to ensure you have a full party for the finale.