Ken Amada

Ken Amada is a playable character from Persona 3. He is the youngest member of SEES, and one of the two who doesn't attend Gekkoukan High School until he attends its middle school branch in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax two years later.

Appearances

 * Persona 3 / FES / Portable: Playable Character
 * Persona 3 Portable (F ): Justice Arcana Social Link
 * Persona 3 (Manga): Major Character
 * Persona 3 The Movie
 * Persona 3: the Weird Masquerade -Gunjou no Meikyuu- / -Souen no Kesshou-/Chapter 4: Ai no Seiyaku/Final Chapter: Hekikuu no Kanata e
 * Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight: Playable Character
 * Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: DLC partner
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character (paired with Koromaru)
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Playable Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P3: Major Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P4: Supporting Character
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth: Playable Character
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth Roundabout Special

Design
Ken has styled short brown hair and eyes. Even as an elementary student, he is short for his age. At school and Tartarus, he wears a school uniform of Gekkoukan Elementary, with an orange jacket under his Gekkoukan jacket, and tennis shoes with white socks. On weekends off, he is seen wearing a long orange turtleneck sweater shirt with light orange sleeves and tan shorts. On the summer days off, he wears a black turtleneck shirt underneath his orange and black jersey (with an "8" on the back, referencing his Arcana) and black shorts.

In Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, he wears a high collar orange jacket with attached white wings, regular black length shorts, mismatched socks (one yellow with purple stripes and the other blue with purple stripes), and green and white sneakers. He also wears fingerless green gloves and black headphones over his ears.

In Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Ken is now 13 years old and consequently has grown taller from his last appearance. His hair remains mostly unchanged in style, but is slightly longer. Ken now wears the standard uniform of Gekkoukan Middle School, brown shoes, a wristwatch on right wrist, and an armband with "Student Council" written on it on his left arm. He no longer wears his orange jacket, which is now worn by Koromaru, nor the shorts he wore as an elementary student.

His "TV glasses" are a pair of light beige glasses.

Personality
Despite his young age, Ken is very intelligent and mature. It is shown that this is a coping mechanism due to the death of his mother at a young age, which more-or-less forced him to give up his childhood. His maturity is noted by Yukari, who can't believe he's in elementary school and claims that Junpei, who is a full six years older than him, could learn a thing or two from him. Fuuka also notes his maturity, and finds him cute as a result of it. Besides being mature, Ken also knows several words that boys his age don't usually know, such as "bastard," which he usually uses when referring to Strega. Additionally, he doesn't take kindly to when others underestimate or degrade him due to his age or the fact that he is in elementary school. He is very polite to others, and never misses a chance to show respect where respect is due. He is also honest, diligent, and deeply caring towards his peers, particularly the members of SEES. Ken is shown to like and care a great deal for animals, such as Koromaru. In his video recording, there is a hamster in his room. In Persona 3 The Movie, he cares for a goldfish and in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, it is shown that he and Koromaru are now living together.

Although Ken is very mature, he still has several qualities that fit with his age and is sometimes too precocious for his own good. He finds a role-model in Akihiko, whom he admires for his boxing and fighting talents, often referring to him as "Sanada-san" as a form of respect to his senpai. He also likes to watch a children's show, Featherman R, but he prefers to keep it a secret. He seems to collect a lot of the Featherman R figurines, as well. He is also shown to be quite naive at times, such as when Junpei tricks him into believing the girls aren't wearing anything under their kimonos, which they wore on New Year's Day. Overall, Ken gives off the impression that he's just trying too hard to be something he's not, i.e. an adult. Ken notes that one of the reasons he uses spears in battle is so that he'll be on even ground with an adult.

He has a strong dislike for milk, but he forces himself to drink it because he believes it can make him become taller. Unfortunately, it seems he may be lactose-intolerant since it often makes him ill. In the female protagonist's route, he acts shy towards her, due to the crush he develops on her if the right choices are made during his Social Link.

During the October Full Moon Event, his reason for joining SEES is revealed: he confesses to Shinjiro Aragaki that he is lonely and vengeful, desperate to avenge the killing of his mother, the killer turns out to be Shinjiro. In The Answer, it is shown that he attempted to tell the truth about his mother's death to a police officer, but the officer dismissed it as some hallucination Ken had as a result of trauma. This convinced Ken that he couldn't rely on adults, and so resolved to track down his mother's killer on his own. Ultimately, he became completely consumed by his desire for revenge, to the point that it has become his one and only goal in life, and he even implies that he plans on killing himself once it's done.

In Midsummer Knight's Dream, however, he initially thought it was just some random Shadow that killed his mother and only discovers that it was Shinjiro later on, ultimately attempting to kill him out of a feeling of betrayal. Ken is portrayed as being more polite and having more remorse over Shinjiro's death in the Japanese version compared to his portrayal in the English version. In fact, in the Japanese version, it is made very clear that Ken feels remorse by outright saying that he no longer wants to kill Shinjiro anyway. The English version, however, takes a more subtle approach to the scene where he laments over the fact that he can no longer be the one to take revenge on Shinjiro while crying afterwards, suggesting that he is somewhat dishonest in the English version.



After Shinjiro sacrifices himself to save him, Ken becomes depressed and guilty, losing his reason to live, and runs away from the dorm. His depression is especially shown in Falling Down, when he recalls Shinjiro's last words to him and claims that living for what the future has in store is easier said than done, since living is sometimes just as painful as dying. Later, he is confronted by Akihiko, who tells him that he's just going to have to accept his mother's death, and leaves his decision about whether or not to return in his hands. Ken then admits to himself that he had just been running away from the truth the whole time, and was really just looking for someone to blame for the death of his mother. He then decides to live for Shinjiro and his mother, which triggers the evolution of his Persona, and returns to the dorm shortly afterwards, stating he's done running away.

In The Answer, Ken seems to have grown even more mature, as he now understands why the Kirijo Group covered up the truth behind his mother's death and made it look like an accident, going so far as to say it's alright when Mitsuru expresses her sympathy. He also appears to be slightly more trusting of Metis than the others, being willing to believe that all she really wants is to protect Aigis. When the origins of the Abyss of Time are revealed, Ken notes the irony of the group trapping themselves, saying that it's "almost funny." During the dispute over what to do with the keys, he takes Akihiko's side, as the two usually agree and have the same viewpoints. He strongly disagrees with Yukari's desire to go back to before the last battle, believing it to be too big of a gamble and refuses to let the time they spent with the protagonist be for nothing, especially since he, much like Akihiko, has learned to accept that the dead are never coming back. After the group defeats Erebus, however, he admits that he can breathe easier now that he knows for sure that the protagonist gave his life for a reason.

The Journey
Shuji Ikutsuki invites Ken to live in the SEES dorm because he is an orphan with no home to return to. It is never explained what happened to Ken's father.

Ken is revealed to have the potential to wield a Persona and is asked to join the team. Initially, the protagonist and his friends believe that Ken joined SEES out of altruism, but his true intentions are far darker and revealed in October. He uses long spears to make up for his short stature. His Personas are equally as large (being the largest of the Personas) to contrast his short stature, and can be used for healing, or to cast Light-based spells that occasionally instantly kill the enemy. He can also use single target Electricity spells and Physical skills.



On October 4th, 2009, Shinjiro meets Ken at the site where Ken's mother was killed, during the October full moon mission. Exactly two years ago in 2007, Shinjiro accidentally caused the death of Ken's mother when his Persona went berserk while on a SEES mission. For this reason, Shinjiro distanced himself from SEES and began taking Persona Suppressors, consumed by guilt. Ken only saw him as a murderer, though, and had only ever joined SEES for the sole reason of getting revenge and killing him in return. Shinjiro had no intention of resisting Ken's attempt to enact vengeance, but he warns Ken that if he continues, he could end up just like him.



During Ken's confrontation with Shinjiro, Takaya Sakaki intervenes and reveals that Ken has been planning to commit suicide after slaying his nemesis. He also reveals that Strega has been supplying Shinjiro with special drugs to control his Persona, and that the drugs will soon kill him, completely shattering Ken’s hopes of revenge. After Takaya takes down Shinjiro, he then fires at a despondent Ken, only for Shinjiro to jump in front of the bullet, mortally wounding himself while his friends arrive too late to save him. Dying, he reminds Ken that he is still a child with a whole life ahead of him and a future that can be about more than vengeance. Shinjiro's last words inspire Ken to fight for the future his mother would have wanted for him.

After Shinjiro sacrifices himself to save him, Ken becomes depressed and guilty, losing his reason to live. However, Akihiko confronts Ken, allowing him to overcome his past and forgive Shinjiro. This event changes Ken dramatically, allowing him to obtain his ultimate Persona.

Ken fights with SEES until the end against Nyx Avatar. When the protagonist confronts Nyx's true form Death, Ken's voice is the first heard, worrying that there's nothing they can do.

Portable
Ken is a Social Link of the Justice Arcana for the female protagonist - his equivalent for the male protagonist is Chihiro Fushimi.

His events are available starting from September 1 and take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. However, Ken is overtly shy about the idea of spending time with a girl, especially one who is older than him, and his Social Link events will not start unless the protagonist has maximum Courage. Her courage will rub off on Ken and allow him to overcome his initial shyness. Depending on the protagonist's choices, Ken will fall in love with the protagonist over the course of the Social Link.

Through the month of September, outside of the very first week, the protagonist will be unable to take Ken out on Tuesdays, which can be viewed two-fold. The in-universe reason is most likely that Ken is withdrawing himself from the female protagonist as he prepares for the events of October 4th. One is the outside reason of not advancing the Social Link too quickly for if this wasn't the case, it could have been possible to get near to or completely finish his Social Link, with his behavior at the end of the Social Link not mixing with his behavior at that time.

After October 4th, if his Social Link has been started, an extra scene will be shown where Ken and the female protagonist will revisit the spot behind the station.

Maxing out his Social Link will make it possible for Ken to visit the female protagonist during the ending.

The Answer
At the start of The Answer, Ken is one of the few SEES members still staying in the dorm. Early on, he is attacked by Metis due to a misunderstanding. He is seen being slammed against a wall and bleeding from his mouth. Aigis rescues Ken and oddly enough, no one mentions Ken's health to Aigis after she wakes up as he appears to be fine.

At the end of Cocytus, in the flashback regarding his past, he's seen in a police station telling the officer about the happenings of the night when he lost his mother. He tells him about a "shining horse monster" (Castor), but the officer doesn't believe him at all, and then tells him that his mother's killer was a driver; everything was an accident. Ken responds angrily but he's brushed off by the policeman. This, most likely, as is revealed in the next scene, was the result of the standard procedure the Kirijo Group took when regarding Shadow-related deaths in using recent or nearby incidents as cover. Mitsuru Kirijo apologizes to Ken for that.



During the debate to determine what to do with the keys, Ken sides with Akihiko, feeling the past shouldn't be tampered with. He believes that the protagonist died because he used all his powers to protect everyone, and by tampering with the past, it would be disrespectful to his sacrifice.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Ken is a playable character fighting with Koromaru as a pair. He is shown to be in middle school by now and is also much taller. He is an honor student and is part of the student council. He has also been shown to now play soccer. Like Yukari, he was called in to rescue Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis.

In P3 Mode Epilogue, Ken alongside Koromaru decides to leave Shadow Operatives to spend more time living out the childhood and normalcy he missed out on by joining SEES and taking vengeance. Ken decides that when he graduates, he will return to the Shadow Operatives.

Play Style
In gameplay, Ken works as a two-in-one character with Koromaru, thus, almost similar to Shadow Labrys and a few other characters of avatar-fighter fame ( characters, Guilty Gear's and BlazBlue's  and ). Koromaru acts as his active "puppet" extension, making it effectively controlling two characters at once, as opposed to some of the other JoJo characters (like Shadow Dio) and the rest of the P4AU cast, who are all passive with their avatars/Personas.

This is also added along with the fact that Ken's C and D moves only use Koromaru (C makes him attack, and D calls him back), as Ken only uses his Persona in a few select attacks (like his Gigantic Impact). Ken's arsenal is limited, but with his long-range spear, wisely used pokes with slow startup and notable lag can easily deal with opponents from full-screen, and his close-range pokes are decent as well with okay combo ability (especially if one manages to "sandwich" the opponent between himself and Koromaru, which is much easier due to Koromaru as an active "avatar puppet" as opposed to being passive).

Koromaru also has his own gauge which acts as his health bar, in that he will be knocked out for a while should he suffer too many hits. Koromaru, like Ken, also has very few attacks that use his Persona.

Ken's only SMT series spells are Vile Assault, Mediarama, Thunder Reign and Hamaon (which is only used along with Koromaru's Mudoon during their Instant Kill/Mortal Blow).

Due to Ken not relying on his Persona as much, much less than Akihiko would, especially with his limited move list involving it, he has the lowest amount of Persona Cards/Units in comparison to most characters and tied along with Akihiko, which both have only two Cards/Units.

Ken's theme/leitmotif is called "Youthful Spirit."

Score Attack
Ken, as a Boss character, deals more damage and has more stamina. In addition, Koromaru is invulnerable to all attacks and is also able to attack even during All-Out Attack, Vile Assault and Thunder Reign. His C attack is incredibly faster than normal. Ken's Mediarama recovers more HP. His Gigantic Impact and Thunder Reign SP skill inflict Shock even without Skill Boost. His Awakened SP skill has increased damage and is unblockable in air.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Ken and his team are stranded in an alternate reality of Yasogami High School, where they must traverse the mystical labyrinths to find the items guarded in each labyrinth in order to leave the place. During their first venture into the labyrinth, they encounter the Investigation Team and agree to join forces for the same purposes.

Ken's co-op attack is a piercing attack, hitting the target and piercing through it to hit one of the enemies in the back row as well.

During the P4 story, Ken finds out that Yosuke lost someone dear to him because of the criminal in his town and goes to ask him what he planned to do once he caught them. Yosuke answers that he would turn them in to the police, which upsets Ken. Kanji overhears this and later talks to him while crocheting new shoelaces for the boy. Ken and Kanji connect through this experience.

After the threat is over, everyone returns to their separate worlds. Their memory of the event is erased. Ken is last seen participating in a private party with the rest of the team.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Ken and SEES are on a mission in Tartarus when they are unexpectedly brought to a new world. He and the team are separated from two of their teammates and then ambushed by a herd of Shadows before the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and the Investigation Team come to their rescue. Among them is a girl who claims to know them and to be part of their team despite having never met. It was later revealed that she is from an alternate reality where she is a team member of SEES.

Throughout the game, Ken develops admiration for the Phantom Thieves due to their sense of justice. Learning how the Phantom Thieves change people's hearts makes him think of Shinjiro who is responsible for his mother's death and the person he wants to take vengeance against. After spending time with the Phantom Thieves and realizing their form of justice, Ken starts to reconsider his own sense of justice.

Ken is one of three people who notices something is off with Akechi based on how he interacts with Koromaru, which is the same as Ken himself. When confronting Akechi directly, Ken feels, for a moment, that Akechi might be the same as him (both driven by desire for revenge), but immediately dismisses it as to not make Akechi uncomfortable. When seeing Akechi and Ken together, Yu correctly deduce that the both of them have something looming over them that neither feels they can talk about

Ken learns two unison attacks from completing specific side quests, which he can perform with the P3P heroine, Aigis, and Koromaru in one; and Morgana, Ryuji Sakamoto and Ann Takamaki in another.

Once they defeat the true enemy, everyone returns to their separate worlds with their memories erased. Ken is last seen watching a science-fiction movie with the team. The Ken in the P3P heroine's world is seen in the post-credits scene, where they also watch a movie together.

Battle Quotes
Persona 3=

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax=
 * "Don't underestimate me because of my age!" (Summoning Persona for the first time)
 * "Nemesis!" (Summoning Nemesis)
 * "Kala-Nemi!" (Summoning Kala-Nemi)
 * "Check this out." (Summoning Persona)
 * "Here goes!" (Summoning Persona)
 * "Watch this." (Summoning Persona)
 * "Appear!" (Summoning Persona)
 * "Here's our chance! Let's do it!" (Requesting All-Out Attack)
 * "Understood!" (After confirming All-Out Attack)
 * "I'm going, too!" (Requesting Co-Op attack)
 * "That wasn't good." (Using a Support Ability)
 * "Please, help me!" (After attacking, enemy survives)
 * "Oh, crap!" (After attacking, enemy survives)
 * "This is what my power is meant to be used for!" (Enemy weak to attack/Critical hit)
 * "It's time to get serious!" (Enemy weak to attack/Critical hit)
 * "Alright. Next!" (Battle won)
 * "We can't afford to lose!" (Battle won)
 * "Alright!" (Battle won)
 * "Don't worry, I'm fine." (Battle won with low HP)
 * "Did you see that!? Not bad, huh?" (Battle won with low HP)
 * "Not bad." (Party member gets "1 more")
 * "Another, another!" (Party member gets "1 more")
 * "You're on a roll!" (Party member gets "1 more")
 * "Go on. Execute 'em!" (Party member gets "1 more")
 * "That was amazing, Mitsuru-san!" (Mitsuru gets "1 more")
 * "Yes yes yes, my skill level has increased!" (Level Up)
 * "Slash attacks won't work!" (Enemy resistant to Slash)
 * "Hey! Physical attacks aren't working!" (Enemy resistant to Strike)
 * "Pierce attacks won't work!" (Enemy resistant to Pierce)
 * "Fire attacks are useless!" (Enemy resistant to Fire)
 * "Ice doesn't seem to work." (Enemy resistant to Ice)
 * "Wind attacks are a waste of time." (Enemy resistant to Wind)
 * "Electricity won't do much damage." (Enemy resistant to Electricity)
 * "Light attacks are useless!" (Enemy resistant to Light)
 * "Darkness isn't working?!" (Enemy resistant to Darkness)
 * "Almighty skills won't work?! No fair!" (Enemy resistant to Almighty)
 * "There's nothing we can do!?" (Final Nyx Battle)
 * "How can he use Kala-Nemi...?" (Battle against ???)
 * "I'm sure I can do this." (When chosen on the character select screen)
 * "I'm Ken! It's nice to meet you! (When chosen on the character select screen) 
 * "We're up, Koromaru!" (When chosen on the character select screen) 
 * "Koromaru!" (Starting the round)
 * "Found you! Now let's go!" (Starting the round)
 * "I won't be holding anything back." (Starting the round)
 * "No hard feelings, but I'm going to defeat you." (Starting the round)
 * "Don't underestimate me just because I'm in middle school!" (Starting the round)
 * "You really haven't changed, Junpei-san." (Starting the round vs Junpei Iori)
 * "Go, Koromaru!"
 * "Do it, Koromaru!"
 * "Not happening!"
 * "Too bad..."
 * "Dodging!"
 * "Be ready for the worst!"
 * "That's nothing." (When dismissing Koromaru)
 * "Here goes!" (While performing Vile Assault)
 * "Here I come!" (While performing Vile Assault)
 * "Strike!" (While performing Charge Thrust)
 * "Summoning!" (While performing Gigantic Impact)
 * "Persona!" (While performing Gigantic Impact)
 * "Attack, Koromaru!" (While performing Zetsu - Hakurou Battouga)
 * "With this attack... you're history!" (While performing Fire Breath)
 * "I'll give this my all!" (While performing Thunder Reign)
 * "Now you see my power!" (While performing Thunder Reign)
 * "Let's get real." (While performing Mediarama)
 * "I'll get them!" (While performing Super Gattai! Ultimate Cross)
 * "Are you ready?" (While performing Super Gattai! Ultimate Cross)
 * "It's over!" (While performing Super Gattai! Ultimate Cross)
 * "Concentrate!" (While performing Baptism of Light and Darkness)
 * "Now's not the time... for me to give up!" (While performing Baptism of Light and Darkness)
 * "I'm using full power... all for this!" (While performing Baptism of Light and Darkness)
 * "There will be no mercy." (While performing Baptism of Light and Darkness)
 * "Yes, this one's ours!" (Non-final round victory)
 * "I got it!" (Non-final round victory)
 * "I see your pattern." (Non-final round victory)
 * "I'll prove to you that I know how to fight!" (Non-final round victory)
 * "Good job, Koromaru!" (Final round victory)
 * "Sorry! Looks like I win." (Final round victory)
 * "I cannot let you defeat me." (Final round victory)
 * "Excellent! Mission complete." (Final round victory)
 * "I guess Koromaru got some good exercise." (Final round victory)
 * "There is a reason I need to get stronger." (Final round victory)
 * "That's what you get for thinking I'm a kid!" (Final round victory)
 * "Have I really caught up with Sanada-san?" (Final round victory vs Akihiko Sanada)
 * "Why don't we play baseball together next time?" (Final round victory vs Junpei Iori)
 * "I-I've failed..." (Non-final round defeat)
 * "Uh.. huh.. but I still could've won..." (Final round defeat)


 * Shadow Ken
 * "Heh, this will be fun, Koromaru." (When chosen on the character select screen)
 * "If you underestimate, you'll get hurt." (When chosen on the character select screen)
 * "Hehehehe... can you win against me?" (Starting the round)
 * "Are you the idiot with a death wish?" (Starting the round)
 * "I'll crush you until there's nothing left." (Starting the round)
 * "Go Koromaru!"
 * "Do it, Koromaru!"
 * "Too bad..."
 * "You're joking."
 * "Dodging!"
 * "Up yours!"
 * "Get lost!" (Activating Shadow Frenzy)
 * "Bastard!" (When hit)
 * "Useless!" (When dismissing Koromaru)
 * "Get real." (While performing Mediarama)
 * "I have it." (While performing Mediarama)
 * "Don't let them go!" (While performing Zan - Hakurou Battouga)
 * "It's time!" (While performing Thunder Reign)
 * "Behold... you're dead!" (While performing Fire Breath)
 * "Behold... it's time! Your death... you're dead!" (While performing Super Gattai! Ultimate Cross)
 * "So annoying..." (Non-final round victory)
 * "Moron..." (Non-final round victory)
 * "I'll shut you up!" (Non-final round victory)
 * "Hehe... freaking out over a little kid?" (Non-final round victory)
 * "You're weak... too weak to live." (Final round victory)
 * "This can't be!?" (Non-final round defeat)
 * "Dammit... Next time..." (Final round defeat)

Victory Quotes

 * General
 * "Arf arf arf!"
 * "Looks like my skills haven't gotten rusty..."
 * "I expect a better battle from you next time."
 * "Did you get stronger, Koromaru? You did great!"
 * "With Koromaru and I fighting as a team, we don't have any weaknesses!"
 * "You thought we were just a boy and his dog, didn't you? That's why you lost."


 * Character Specific
 * Yu Narukami: "You're their leader, right? Whew, it would've been scary to think that someone like you has a boss!"
 * Yosuke Hanamura: "You're older than me, right? I don't know how to put this, but... There's someone in our group who reminds me of you."
 * Chie Satonaka: "You're very strong, but if you're going to go up against me, you should work on your strategy more."
 * Teddie: "That's... supposed to be a bear, right? I was just thinking that Koromaru could take you down in an instant."
 * Yukari Takeba: "I beat Featherman Victory! ...I-I mean, uh, yeah. I don't care. I don't even watch that show!"
 * Labrys: "You were made before Aigis-san, right...? Sometimes I wonder, because you seem so perfect already."
 * Mitsuru Kirijo: "Whew... You're so strong, Senpai. There's no way I would have won without Koromaru."
 * Tohru Adachi: "You're the culprit behind last year's case, aren't you? What are you doing here? Are you connected with this?"
 * Akihiko Sanada: "That was close...! But not even Sanada-san can beat Koromaru and me!"
 * Junpei Iori: "You're really going after your dreams. I admire how you can do that..."
 * Minazuki: "I used to think I was best on my own, too... But I'm not like that anymore."
 * Shadow Ken: "You're an impressive copy. But if you thought all it took to beat us was our appearances... Well, you're wrong."


 * Shadow Ken
 * "Koromaru says that he'd tear your throat out, but you're not worth the effort."
 * "Age doesn't mean anything in a fight. I mean, it's so easy to destroy people, after all!"
 * "Even Koromaru's appalled by how weak you are. How does it feel to have a dog pity you?"
 * "You can't do anything but hang out with others, even at your age... why don't you grow up already?"
 * "You thought we were just a kid and a dog, didn't you? And now you lost. How does that feel? Hahahaha!"
 * "Even those who act superior over people they're older than get honest when they're about to die. Pitiful..!"
 * "We could go again, but it'll only turn out the same way. Oh, sorry, are you too stupid to understand that?"

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth=
 * Character Specific
 * Junpei Iori: "Hm? I guess you haven't grown at all. Isn't that right, Junpei-san...?"
 * Mitsuru Kirijo: "Ahaha, I was waiting for this day! "Normal life" is nothing but weakness! Do you understand now, Mitsuru-san?"
 * Tohru Adachi: "I don't really know you, but you sound like the cynical type. Did you think you were smarter than everyone? How wrong you were."
 * "Leave it to me, I'll take this." (Battle start)
 * "This is my job." (Battle start)
 * "It feels like we are fighting in Tartarus." (Battle start)
 * "Let's go, Koromaru." (Battle start, with Koromaru)
 * "I never let my guard down." (Battle start, responding to Shinjiro)
 * "Y-You don't have to worry about me." (Battle start, responding to Kanji)
 * "Huh!? A surprise attack!?" (Battle start, Enemy Advanced)
 * "This one will be a piece of cake!" (Battle start, fighting low-leveled Shadow)
 * "I think we can beat it." (Battle start, fighting low-leveled FOE)
 * "It's more like a lick-monster than a Shadow." (Battle start, fighting Hablerie Shadow)
 * "I don't have time to play house." (Battle start, fighting Table Shadow)
 * "That bird... It's so big." (Battle start, fighting Jupiter Eagle Shadow)
 * "That's a scale Shadow, right?" (Battle start, fighting Heat Balance Shadow)
 * "I like beetles but not this big!" (Battle start, fighting Burning Beetle Shadow)
 * "It looks like an angel, but it's a bad guy, huh?" (Battle start, fighting Angel Shadow)
 * "Oh! That's a Magus. Right?" (Battle start, fighting Wondrous Magus Shadow)
 * "Fighting while dancing. Someone is confident." (Battle start, fighting Dancer Shadow)
 * "B-Being big doesn't mean anything." (Battle start, fighting Gorgeous King)
 * "Oh! A crow, a crow Shadow!" (Battle start, fighting Raven Shadow)
 * "Oh! It's that Shadow with the ring!" (Battle start, fighting Dice Shadow)
 * "It's a spinning-like Shadow." (Battle start, fighting Drive Shadow)
 * "Here I go! Nemesis!" (Skill, Nemesis)
 * "Go!" (Skill, Sub-Persona)
 * "This... is my power!" (Skill, Sub-Persona)
 * "H-Hang in there!" (Item, on Allies)
 * "I messed up!" (Miss)
 * "What the--?" (Miss)
 * "Th-This poison... is nothing..." (Poison)
 * "It hurts... but I can take it." (Low HP)
 * "I-I'll be fine!" (Low HP, responding to Shinjiro)
 * "Koromaru, are you okay?" (Low HP, Koromaru)
 * "... Are you okay?" (Low HP, Shinjiro)
 * "You look hurt. Are you okay?" (Low HP, Kanji)
 * "You won't get away with this animal abuse!" (Koromaru dies)
 * "Kanji-san, please get up!" (Kanji dies)
 * "I'm ready to go!" (Follow-up attack, prompt)
 * "I can do it, too!" (Follow-up attack, accept)
 * "Wow, it's tough." (Follow-up attack, no enemies defeated)
 * "Hm, what should I do next?" (One Enemy defeated in less than 3 turns)
 * "Let's try to predict their next move." (One Enemy defeated in more than 3 turns)
 * "We won!" (Battle end)
 * "That's that." (Battle end)
 * "That was cool!" (Battle end, P3/P4 hero as Leader finishes)
 * "Hehe... how'd I do?" (Result)
 * "Okay, let's keep this up." (Result)
 * "Awww, that ended too soon." (Result, Enemies defeated in less than 3 turns)
 * "That was easy." (Result)
 * "I wish I'd get taller if I leveled up too." (Level up)

Etymology

 * The name Ken means "dried, cured" (乾).
 * Ken's surname Amada means "heaven/heavenly, sky, imperial" (天) (ama) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta/da).

Trivia

 * The Shirt of Chivalry, a type of costume for males in FES and P3P, is noted for the kanji symbols on their back that symbolizes the character. Ken's kanji means "grudge" (怨), representing his dark past and his ambitions of revenge.
 * In Ken's initial design, Ken's weapon of choice was darts instead of spears.
 * Ken's recording in The Journey hints that he is lactose-intolerant, as his stomach hurts after he drinks cow's milk out of a carton.
 * In the Persona 3 Portable Club Book, it is revealed that Ken frequents Baofu's rumor website. However, Baofu claimed that he closed the website after the final battle in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, so the website that Ken accesses is unlikely the same, at least not maintained by Baofu.
 * In Persona 4 Golden, if Teddie has the Gekkou Uniform equipped, he will mimic Ken's victory pose after battles, as well as say Ken's lines.
 * Ken is the youngest romance partner in the Persona series as of yet.
 * In the English version of Persona 3 Portable, the dialogue at the end of Ken's Social Link with the female protagonist becomes "You spent a long time talking with Ken..." instead of "You spent some time alone with..." in the Japanese version. This is in order to prevent pedophilia-related controversies as the latter is often considered to be an implied sex scene.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

 * In Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Ken is described by the announcer as a severe sufferer of "", which is a phrase that picked up in usage as Japanese net slang for adolescents going through puberty, in particular referring to the hyper-self conscious and melodramatic phase that is common among junior high students as they attempt to define themselves as adults. This also tends to be rumored as an increase in hyperactive imagination from some circles of info and portrayals.
 * Ken's pairing with Koromaru in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax may be a reference to the connection between their Arcanas (Justice and Strength respectively), as in some interpretations of the major arcana, Justice is the 8th card and Strength is the 11th card, while in others it is the other way around, Strength being 8th and Justice being 11th. By fighting as one character, it could be interpreted as "sharing" their slot on the roster, the same way their Arcanas share their places with each other.