hyo

There are honestly a few categories of character I'd love to see:

Phantom Idols of Social Links/Confidants from the other numbered games; I think this one practically goes without saying, haha, although in some ways it also feels the least likely to happen. They'd have to come up with Personas and entirely new designs for the characters, which defeats the usual purpose of collab events (an easy event that doesn't require a lot of new models). It'd be so fun, though! For this category, I think my top pick of Social Link/Confidant from each game would be Ryoji Mochizuki from P3, Nanako Dojima from P4, and Yuuki Mishima (or Hifumi Togo... I can't decide haha) from P5. - Ryoji would probably be the easiest, because they could use Thanatos as his "Persona", haha. Based on his appearance in P5, I'd make him a Curse Sweeper, I think? - Nanako... Considering the way she works as sort of a source of morale for the protagonist/Investigation Team as a whole, I think I'd make her a Strategist? It'd be so cute if she was an Electric Strategist that worked well with her big bro! - Mishima honestly feels like an Elucidator to me with how he helps the Phantom Thieves organize information for Mementos targets, though he'd make a fun Strategist or Saboteur alternatively. I don't know why, but Nuclear comes to mind for his element...? - Hifumi could be an Assassin, though Strategist would make logical sense given the abilities her Confidant unlocks, haha. She has kind of an Ice vibe to me, though Bless could also fit given you usually meet her in a church?

Honestly, I'd love to see more of this game's Palace rulers as Phantom Idols. I have trouble imagining a situation where Wonder ever has Shimotsuna as a teammate, but I think Kiuchi, Miyazawa, and maybe even Akashi could potentially end up working with the team under just the right circumstances, post-change of heart. While Katayama is obvious, it's clear we're supposed to sympathize with the others (again, minus Shimotsuna) on some level as well (given their backstories, etc.). It'd just be fun to see, at least to me, haha. - Based on Cupid's stats, I imagine Kiuchi being a Physical Assassin, though it'd be interesting to see him as a more supportive role instead if it was meant to tie into his character development post-change of heart/as a baseball coach - Based on Aegipan's stats, I imagine Miyazawa being a Curse Sweeper, maybe? Though, again, a support role could be interesting here instead. Saboteur, maybe, with Aegipan's use of the Brainwash ailment? - Based on Demogorgon's stats, I imagine Akashi being a Nuclear teammate; as for role, I think it'd be cool if he was a Medic, and his gimmick was sapping health from enemies to heal the team? Tying into the "parasite" thing/how he steals SP and heals himself during his boss fight, I guess?

Anyone still on my Future Phantom Thieves post (so, Tamayo Yoshida, Takumi Serizawa, Daichi Osaka, and "tengdao", plus the Pegasus Persona and the "lisette" voice lines). They've been sitting there forever, and I'd love to be able to take them off that post someday, haha - Of them, I think I like Tamayo the most from what we see of her in the game, so I'll focus on her- given her baseball focus, I think she could be a fun Physical or Gun teammate with an attacker role, either Assassin or Sweeper?

So, with all that in mind, I suppose if I had to pick one single character from this list, I think my ultimate top pick would be Nanako, closely followed by Ryoji, Mishima, and Hifumi. Honestly, I think half the fun of getting Social Links/Confidants as playable characters would be seeing what the developers come up with for them! It would be so fun if they were from alternate timelines where they joined their own game's main team (sort of similar to the female Persona 3 protagonist), so rather than Nanako or Ryoji getting a Metaverse oufit, Nanako had TV glasses and Ryoji had a SEES uniform, for instance. I think in P4 they claim Nanako's too young for a Shadow/Persona, but I also think that was more of an excuse than a hard rule, haha.