Igor

Igor is a recurring important figure in the Persona series. His role is crucial in every Persona protagonist's journey.

Appearances

 * Megami Ibunroku Persona
 * Megami Ibunroku Persona (Manga)
 * Persona 2: Innocent Sin
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
 * Persona: Tsumi to Batsu
 * Persona 3 / FES / Portable
 * Persona 3 (Manga)
 * Persona 3 Comic Anthology: Memento Mori
 * A Certain Day of Summer
 * Persona 3 The Movie
 * Persona -trinity soul-
 * Persona 4 / Golden
 * Persona 4 (Manga)
 * Persona 4 The Animation / Golden Animation
 * Persona 4 Arena
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
 * Persona 5 / Royal: Fool Confidant
 * Persona 5 (Manga)
 * Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers
 * Persona 5 The Animation
 * Demon Student Organization Replay: Shin Megami Tensei TRPG Mato Tokyo 200X

Design
Igor has the appearance of a bizarre old man with a long nose, pointed ears and bulging, bloodshot eyes. He wears a black suit, white gloves, white or black socks and black shoes. He appears to be quite tall when fully stood up and is almost skeletally thin.

In Persona -trinity soul-, he wears a black robe with a theatrical comedy mask.

Personality
While presenting himself as a mere servant of Philemon, Igor seems to be far more than this. He was originally a doll handmade by a mysterious person, who became alive thanks to a magic ritual. Because of that, Igor ponders upon the question of whether he is merely a doll or perhaps even human. Thus, he shows an interest in human beings. Further on, he creates Margaret, Elizabeth, Theodore, and Lavenza, as assistants who pursue similar questions in life to assist him in the Velvet Room.

In every Persona game to date, Igor has played the role of Proprietor of the Velvet Room, a space between dream and reality, mind and matter. As the proprietor, Igor provides insight to the protagonists regarding their powers, emotional bonds, and possible dangers that await them in their journey. Igor also provides the vital services of Persona fusion, which allows the creation of vastly more powerful Personas from preexisting ones and the use of the Persona Compendium, which allows previously created and/or acquired Personas to be recalled at a later time.

Despite his rather striking appearance, Igor bears a calm and courteous demeanor while speaking with the protagonists. Though the well-being of the protagonists is important to him, he reserves the disclosure of certain information for more "timely" points in the story. During conversations concerning the protagonists’ actions, Igor opts for rather cryptic comments that tend to foreshadow coming events and possibly the outcome of the story as a whole, regardless of whether or not those comments are at the time understood (which may be his intent). This suggests that Igor may have near-omniscience, though by his own admission, there are things that even he can't foresee. Additionally, he also takes a neutral stance himself, and almost never directly interferes or gives obvious warnings to any people or anything that he had a contract with.

Megami Ibunroku Persona
Igor is the mysterious proprietor of the Velvet Room. In Persona, Igor calls himself "a servant of Philemon." He is always found in The Velvet Room between consciousness and unconsciousness, alongside Nameless and Belladonna. He uses a phone made of bone to call up Personas from the depths of the soul, which he wears in a belt holster.

Persona 2
Igor remains mostly unchanged. He is still a servant of Philemon and he handles Persona summoning in much the same way. Nameless and Belladonna return, only this time they are joined by the Demon Painter. Outside of Persona summoning and dismissal, Igor tends for a brief while to Ulala Serizawa following her bout of Joker insanity, warning her to be careful with her emotions lest the Joker power return.

Persona 3
Igor is no longer seen with the phone but he still handles Persona fusion through the use of cards. Additionally, Nameless, Belladonna and the Demon Painter are absent. Instead, Igor is accompanied by an assistant named Elizabeth. Only the protagonist can enter the Velvet Room, and he does so for the first time in a dream. None of the other Persona users can see the entrance to the Velvet Room. The protagonist signs a contract with Pharos and Igor at the start of the game agreeing to take responsibility for his actions. Philemon is never mentioned.

Portable
Igor's role remains the same in the portable remake of Persona 3. Players choosing the female route may choose to switch Elizabeth out for Theodore when Igor prompts the female protagonist what attendant they see.

The Answer
Igor gives a key to Aigis and allows her access to his and Elizabeth's services after she awakens to the power of the wild card.

He displays a small amount of kindness towards Aigis, commenting that they are both similar beings, referencing his origins as a doll given life by Philemon.

After S.E.E.S. and Metis exit the time skip, they were all transported into the Velvet Room and greeted by Igor, who explains that Metis is a part of Aigis' personality, due to her desire to live as a machine over the death of the protagonist. Aigis then shuts down to recollect her memories, causing everyone to fall into a sleep as well, and wake up. Upon seeing Aigis's lifeless body (her Synapse Circuits were burnt out), Ken Amada remembers the Velvet Room and what happened in there, reminding everyone of it.

A Certain Day of Summer
Igor decides to reward the protagonist by reviewing memories of past events. The first event is something that happened after the trip to Yakushima.

Persona -trinity soul-
He is one of the few game characters to appear in the anime Persona -trinity soul-, appearing to Shin Kanzato and Takuro Sakakiba in dreams. Shin Kanzato has a clay statue of Igor that he sculpted. Despite this, Shin Kanzato never actually enters the Velvet Room or fuses Personas from Igor.

Persona 4
Igor is seen with a new assistant named Margaret. Igor has the same role in this game as in Persona 3 guiding the protagonist. In Persona 4: Golden, the two are also joined by Marie, who serves as an apprentice. As the Velvet Room has become a Limousine, Igor will make comments on if the Limousine has stopped or resumed moving, symbolizing setbacks and resumptions in the Investigation Team's goal to solve the murder cases in Inaba.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Igor is mentioned by Elizabeth, who states he has left the Velvet Room on the day the protagonist enters. His disappearance results in the room being unstable, and has Theodore tasked with aiding his sister while he is away.

During a Stroll after entering Inaba Pride Exhibit Night 2, Elizabeth mentions that she feels like she's growing weaker by the moment while Igor is absent from the Velvet Room.

Persona 5
An unknown amount of time before the events of Persona 5, Igor, the Velvet Room, and a new assistant Lavenza were attacked by a being named Yaldabaoth. Yaldabaoth asserted himself into the Velvet Room by splitting Lavenza into the twin Wardens, Caroline and Justine, corrupting the Velvet Room into a prison, and assuming Igor's identity. He also moved the location of the room to the Depths of Mementos, as a quarantine cell for the protagonist.

The false Igor first appears shortly after the protagonist arrives at the curry and coffee Café Leblanc during his sleep, welcoming him to his Velvet Room, with the twins telling the protagonist that he is still asleep in the real world. Igor greets him, explaining that the Velvet Room is a place that exists between dream and reality, and is only accessible to those who have, in some form, made a contract. He then explains that he brought the protagonist here in order to discuss an important matter that will affect his life. He also expresses surprise at the state of the Velvet Room, mentioning that its form represents the state of the guest's heart. Igor also refers to the protagonist as a "Prisoner of Fate," and that "ruin" awaits him in the future.

Igor informs him that there is a way to avoid that destruction, stating that he must be "rehabilitated towards freedom." He also asks the protagonist if he is ready to fight against the "distortion of the world." After the protagonist gives his answer, says that he will observe the process of his "rehabilitation." He then introduces his newest attendants: Caroline and Justine, his prison guards. Caroline tells him that fighting is pointless, whereas Justine informs him that, although they are his wardens, they are also his "collaborators." Igor states that he will explain the twins' importance, another time, as dawn has already approached in the real world.

Igor acts as the founder of the Confidant system to aid the protagonist in his "rehabilitation." In particular, unlike previous installments where he never forms a Social Link on his own, he takes the usual place of the current party of Persona users as the Fool Arcana Confidant himself. His Confidant allows the protagonist to engage in negotiation with demons, bonus experience for fusions, the use of the Third Eye skill, as well as increase his Persona stock capacity. During the Strength Confidant, as the Twin Wardens start to question the fusion requests they are to give to the Protagonist, Igor will ask them if there's something wrong, which they deny.

Before the deadline to change Kunikazu Okumura's heart, Igor alludes to Goro Akechi destroying his shadow, and the resultant mental shutdown in the future, warning him that the higher point can precede a fall. True to his word, during the next day, the Phan-site poll's approval rate raises by two fold almost instantly after he finishes his speech, catching the Phantom Thieves off guard in a heist that led to Okumura's death. He then warns the protagonist that "a contingency has happened" and his rehabilitation may not carry through, calling it an "unexpected situation." The Phantom Thieves popularity crash-lands afterwards, with negative comments rolling in the next day. This implies that the public's cognition was being influenced by Yaldabaoth, with increasing levels of severity.

During the final dungeon of the game, it is revealed that the Igor the protagonist had been interacting with the entire story is actually the Holy Grail aka Yaldabaoth, the true Master of Mementos manipulating the General Public. Yaldabaoth imprisoned Igor in Mementos and took up the appearance of Igor to test humanity to see if the protagonist guides them out from ruin or Goro Akechi destroys the current social order and recreates a new one, although he blatantly rigs the outcome so only he will triumph over humanity. To further conceal his identity, he also split Lavenza into the twin wardens, causing both to lose memories of his masquerade. After Yaldabaoth manipulates the masses into believing that the Phantom Thieves do not exist, he merges Mementos with the real world, causing everyone's manipulated cognition to make the Phantom Thieves actually cease to exist. Back in the Velvet Room, Igor informs the protagonist that they failed to change the hearts of the people and the world is destined for ruin. However, the protagonist restores the Twin Wardens back into their original form, Lavenza, and exposes "Igor's" identity. Undaunted, the impostor states that the "game" has not ended and instead reveals his true nature while floating and his voice changing to completely match those of the Holy Grail. After failing to tempt the protagonist to still serve him, he declares all of humanity to be weak-minded and declares his intent to eliminate them all before departing with a sinister laugh.

After Yaldabaoth leaves to complete his plan, the real Igor reappears back in the Velvet Room and formally greets the protagonist for the first time. Despite the fact that the masses' cognition denies the Phantom Thieves' existence, Igor reveals that the Phantom Thieves were merely held in special cells within the Velvet Room as "this place is between dream and reality, mind and matter," and encourages him to pursue them. The protagonist talks to his fellow thieves and spur them back into action. The last thief, Morgana, is nowhere to be found, whereupon Igor reveals that Morgana is a special existence that he created as a last ditch effort to guide the protagonist through his journey before he is captured. Igor tasks the Phantom Thieves with one final heist; take down Yaldabaoth. Once Satanael destroys Yaldabaoth with the Sinful Shell, the mortally wounded master of Mementos ruefully admits that Igor was right about humanity before fading into oblivion as his physical form returns to his original form of the Holy Grail. In the victory of their battle, Igor congratulates the protagonist for overcoming a perilous ordeal and calls him an exceptional guest before the Velvet Room vanishes, having fulfilled its duty on the protagonist's journey.

In the staff roll, False Igor's voice actor is not credited as performing Igor but the "Warden." This was also the case for Persona 5 Royal.

Persona 5 Royal
After fighting a berserk Cendrillon, Igor and Lavenza appear to the protagonist. Lavenza explains that the room has the same look due to the protagonist still feeling imprisoned. During the third semester, the real Igor and Lavenza continue to assist the protagonist in fusion procedures.

The real Igor does not have any new voice clips or dialogue in Royal.

Confidant
Igor's Confidant ranks up automatically since April 12th as the story progresses. However, the confidant is actually formed with the false Igor (Yaldabaoth), and the Confidant maxes out right after he is exposed and before the protagonist may choose to side with him or reject him. Maxing this Confidant unlocks the fusion of Vishnu, although the protagonist must reject Yaldabaoth's offer to actually get a chance to fuse it.

Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers
Igor gives the protagonist a vision of one of the many possible futures. He tells him what kind of story will be up to the protagonist. He refers to the protagonist as the prisoner and asks for his name.

Persona 5 Strikers
In Persona 5 Strikers, Igor is absent from the Velvet Room. Lavenza acknowledges but does not explain this absence; she alone attends to the protagonist throughout the game.

Trivia

 * Igor's Japanese voice actor was best known for his voice-over for Medama Oyaji (Eyeball Father) in the anime series . The choice of Igor's voice actor could be related to the age and the salient eyeball of the character. Tanonaka died at the age of 77 on January 13, 2010 of a heart attack.
 * Although Persona 4 The Animation was produced after Tanonaka's death, the Japanese staff roll lists him as a "special cast" for Igor. The animation reuses the audio data from the original game instead of recording new voices. This continues into Persona 3 The Movie and Persona 5, with Tanonaka being listed as Igor's voice actor. In Persona 5, after the protagonist meets Igor at the end of the game, he speaks with reused lines from previous games and is muted on new dialogues.
 * While Dan Woren, the iconic English voice actor for Igor, has seen his voice clips reused as well, Igor's English voice acting situation has been very different compared to his Japanese one. New lines for Igor in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax were provided by Vic Mignogna, and while the Japanese version of Persona 5 simply reused Isamu Tanonaka's voice clips for when Igor appears at the end, the English version provides Igor with another new voice actor, Kirk Thornton.
 * Another Japanese voice actor who played Igor was in the Drama CD Persona 2: Innocent Sin ~ The Errors of Their Youth. However, in May 2010, Aono was hospitalized due to a heart attack and stroke. He eventually passed away on April 9, 2012.
 * Igor's name, along with Margaret, Elizabeth, Theodore, Lavenza, Caroline and Justine may come from , though Igor was a later addition and did not appear in Mary Shelley's original novel.
 * As stated above, Igor functions as the Fool Confidant with the protagonist in Persona 5. The Fool Arcana is usually associated with the protagonist's party, examples being S.E.E.S of Persona 3 and the Investigation Team of Persona 4. Igor also never forms a Social Link in past games, instead maintaining a neutral stance, further hinting that the Igor for most of Persona 5 is fake and is manipulating the Phantom Thieves for his own use.
 * Even though the Confidant was forged with the Fake Igor/Yaldabaoth, the game continues to treat Igor as if he and the protagonist had forged a bond.
 * According to the Persona World guide, every visitor and guest of the Velvet Room is aware and initially taken aback by Igor's overly long nose. However, none of them dare to mention that.
 * According to Lavenza, the protagonist of Persona 5 may be the first person in history to have saved Igor.
 * Igor has a portrait cut-in in Persona 5. However, it is not used by the Fake Igor/Yaldabaoth but only by the real Igor near the end of the game.
 * While Igor does not appear in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, the games have Igor masks that can be equipped on the characters.
 * In Persona 5's game files, there exists unused dialogue and a cutscene with Igor when starting Confidants. Rather than fast forwarding to Sae's interrogation, Igor would appear behind the Confidant and say a short line in regards to him or her. The cutscene that shows this is when starting Yuuki Mishima's Confidant.
 * In the English dub of Persona 5 The Animation, while David Lodge reprises his role as the false Igor, the filter that was applied to his voice in the game was not applied in the anime, making Igor sound different than in the game.

Appearances in Other Media

 * : Spirit