The Reasons I currently think that Teddie was born from Tohru Adachi’s Shadow

Yeah, Teddie again. No, I am not gonna shut up about that bear anytime soon, I am sorry. It’s favorite character syndrome. Just be glad I am not writing a million defense posts of Kingdom Heart’s Xion or Ace Attorney’s Athena or Trucy. Except I have done that.

Jokes aside now, though, anybody whose been following my old tumblr probably remembers that I was previously very convinced of my theory that Teddie was a Shadow born from the repressed emotions of the protagonist (Souji/Yu). Well, that was before I got my hands on Persona 4 The Golden and played Tohru Adachi’s Social Link. Needless to say, my theories have shifted a little.

“But Neni, how the hell would you ever come to associate Teddie to Adachi?” you might ask now. “Except for the fact that they’re both horny, they have nothing in common at all!”

Well, my dear friends, get in your seats and fasten your seat-belts, because I am about to take you on a mystical journey into the land of “Associations Neni’s brain makes when high on Lemon Soda and an overdose of Videogames.”

Well, first of all, as for “Nothing in common at all”, they’re actually both two of the few male P4 Characters who use “Boku” as a first person pronoun, but that’s beside the point, since that’s really no indicator for if someone is someone’s Shadow. Kanji uses “Ore”, Shadow Kanji uses “Boku”. Yukiko uses “Watashi”, her Shadow uses “Atashi”. Also, Teddie’s Shadow uses “Watashi”. So, yeah, it’s really no indicator at all, just felt like throwing this out.

Let’s get to the REAL indicators now.

First of all, remember that Shadows are repressed psychological complexes. So, in order to know who or what Teddie was born from, you have to know which emotions he was formed from. The answer to this can be found in Teddie’s Velvet Room Scene: Pretty much the first emotion he felt upon gaining awareness was intense loneliness. It’s thus a safe bet to assume that the psychological complex Teddie was born of involved repressed feelings of loneliness and solitude. The fact that Teddie displays signs of anxiety whenever left alone for longer periods of time only strengthens this idea.

This is important, because, as for Persona 4 The Golden, there is one character whose Shadow was never seen and who is confirmed to have suffered from suppressed loneliness which he refuses to acknowledge. Said character is Tohru Adachi. In his Social Link, it is made extremely clear by the narration (Ergo: the Protagonist’s observations) that even when Adachi claims to be better off alone, that he doesn’t want friends and that relationships only lead to depression and hurt, he still every time displays mimic and subtle hints that show that he isn’t fully agreeing with his own words: He denies it to himself and to the protagonist, but somewhere, deep inside, Adachi is actually very, very lonely.

What makes this even more interesting is the fact that, though we have never seen Adachi’s Shadow, he did sport the yellow Shadow eyes (which, on a human, seem to indicate consumption of your soul by your deepest vices) for a few scenes before and after his boss battle. And yet, with all the stuff he spouted and cursed out during this time, he never even once mentioned his loneliness, even though his Social Link left no doubt that he *does* have issues of that kind. It’s almost as if that part of his Shadow had just… gone missing, perhaps?

It is confirmed that Shadows can split and combine, after all. Not only is it in-line with Jung’s teachings for something like that to happen (Because complexes always keep changing, splitting and combining as we change as people and in our circumstances), but Ryoji Mochizuki, the only other fully humanoid Shadow aside Teddie (and perhaps Metis, but that’s a story for another day and post), is a prime example of a Shadow created from a Union of many Shadows and then split off into several fragments again. So it’s not that far-fetched assuming that Teddie isn’t somebody’s full Shadow Self, but just a fragment of one. That still leaves the question how he became as powerful as he is (Rise and her Shadow mentioned Teddie’s energy levels to be rather high at least twice in the game). Though maybe that’s because he bonded to the IT? I cannot say for sure, really.

Another hint that could be purely coincidental, but I’d really like to mention is the fact that the Shadow also carries habits that, we don’t show in public even if we are aware of them. For example, Yukiko’s hysterical laughing. It was something she only did in front of Chie before bonding with the IT and is a trait that her Shadow also displays to an extent. Now, it’s confirmed Adachi felt familiar with Yu and the Dojimas to a degree after a while. During his Social Link (and maybe at some other point too, I am not sure), he begins showing a habit when in the Dojimas’ company that he doesn’t show when out in public at all… And that’s a liking for horrible, horrible, horrible puns.

Do you see what I am getting at? Teddie’s love for puns is one of the few traits of his personality that he *didn’t* acquire from the IT. Almost everything else except this one tendency of his was learned from either Yosuke, Yukiko, Kanji, Chie or the Protagonist. He is quite a mimic, but the puns? Nobody got him to make those. He did that all by himself. So it must have been a trait he already had as a Shadow. Which would mean his host had a hidden liking for these jokes…

I am not done yet. There is more.

When the IT face Rise’s Shadow in the strip club, they come into indirect contact with Ameno Sagiri, one of Izanami’s off-springs, for the first time: It possesses Teddie’s Shadow and causes it attack them without being prompted, trying to kill them. It is quite clear that Ameno-Sagiri saw the IT as a threat to be eliminated at this point. However, if so and if Ameno had the ability to take a level of control over Shadows, as it did with Teddie’s, then how come this was the only Shadow it ever used to attack them? Why not Yukiko’s or Kanji’s? Why not even Rise’s just a few minutes earlier? Why not Mitsuo’s, which fit even better into Ameno’s message of life being an empty, meaningless struggle? Why only Teddie’s Shadow?

Thinking of this, I would like to remind you of a fact that only became apparent with The Golden: Izanami had three off-springs: Ameno-Sagiri, Kunino-Sagiri and Kusumino-Ookami. Each of these off-springs was set to supervise one of her chosen “test-subjects”: Kunino-Sagiri was set onto Namatame. Kusumino-Ookami was set onto the Protagonist (and, as Marie, ended up falling in love with him). Ameno-Sagiri was set onto Adachi. Further, the two Sagiri showed that they could possess their respective “chosen”. (This implies that Marie also might have had the ability to possess the Protagonist if she had wanted to, but obviously she wouldn’t have wanted that. :’D) So, what if they can take control of their chosen and ONLY their chosen? In that case, the reason why it used Teddie’s Shadow could be explained with this theory: Ameno could use it because Teddie came from Adachi, and therefor there was a connection to him that could be exploited. That would finally solve the mystery regarding the possession of Teddie’s Shadow.

Still not done.

When Nanako suffered her apparent death, Teddie temporarily vanishes from existence and is found in the Velvet Room by the protagonist. How he ended up there is unclear to this day. Of course, with Marie’s situation, it seems apparent that the Velvet Room has a tendency to take in strays, however, Marie was found and taken in by Margaret. Teddie somehow found the way to the Velvet Room on his own, without being guided by an attendant. Likewise, Teddie mentions the Velvet Room seeming “nostalgic”. And that’s not all. When equipping him with the Velvet Room outfit and going into dungeons, Teddie will comment on the outfit seeming “familiar”. All seems to indicate that Teddie, in some form, has been to the Velvet Room before meeting the IT. Who is allowed into the Velvet Room? Only those who have the potential to enter, either by forging a contract with Philemon or by virtue of possessing the Fool Arcana - being a Wild Card.

Now, if you hack into Vanilla P4 and take a look at Adachi’s Persona Arcana… it’s the Fool. Number 0. Now, look at his Social Link in P4G before he goes completely apeshit insane: Number 0. The “Jester” is merely another form of the Fool. Maybe a slightly ‘distorted’ form, but still a form of it. So it’s not unlikely that he had potential to enter the Velvet Room at some point but has merely forsaken it. Who knows, maybe he actually *WAS* there once before coming to Inaba, maybe in the same way as the Protagonist, when he first signed his contract. Maybe he simply dismissed it as a dream, maybe he proved himself to be unworthy so quickly that his contract was terminated almost immediately. Maybe he never signed the contract because he is the coward that he is or just has common sense . Going with this theory, the one time that Adachi experienced the Velvet Room would have been before he lost the representation of his denied loneliness (Teddie) for whatever reason he might have lost it. That would explain why Teddie can vaguely recall the Velvet Room and the attire of its attendants.

I am STILL not done.

When Teddie eventually does return, what is the first thing that happens? The IT tell him about their struggles with locating Adachi. Rise - who had previously been established to have far stronger tracking abilities than Teddie even on his best - is absolutely unable to find him through the fog. Now, keep in mind, in order to track a Person in the Persona Universe, you need a grasp on their psyche. Rise actually had interaction with Adachi before he fled into the TV World. Teddie, though? Teddie had NO INTERACTION WITH ADACHI WHATSOEVER UNTIL HIS BOSSFIGHT. Go through the game. The two of them do not exchange a single word. In fact, in many scenes when Adachi is present Teddie will be absent or visa versa. So Teddie should have had absolutely NO grasp on the man’s personality. Yet, it is Teddie, not Rise, who manages to locate him in the end. Sure, there is a stupid joke about Yosuke’s peeing when the IT wonders how Teddie managed this, but I do NOT take that scenes seriously, because if you pay attention during the first visit in the TV World, Yosuke never really actually, umm… relieved himself. …SO YEAH THAT WAS NOT WHAT LED TEDDIE THERE, OK? >_>

Of course you may say now “THE POWER OF FRIIIIIIIENDSHIP GAVE TEDDIE THE POWER TO LOCATE HIM”, but if it were that easy then this would be Kingdom Hearts and not Persona. If it were that easy, Shinjiro would have been revived by manly Akihiko tears and P3Protag would be a whole lot less dead or Ryoji would have found the strength to rebel against Nyx or something. Marie wouldn’t have needed to be beaten to a bloody pulp before she could stay human. Only Wild Cards get this kind of “SUDDENLY I AM SO MUCH STRONGER!”-boni from friendship. Also, did I ever tell you the story about how the “power of friendship” almost ended the world in Persona 2: EP because some guy didn’t wanna lose his friends? No? Well, now you know.

Basically, I would prefer it if Teddie locating Adachi like he did would turn out to have not been a Deus Ex Machina after all, but actually subtle foreshadowing.

There’s one last, smaller thing. The fact that, despite the two of them never properly interacting, the game *does* actively draw parallels between Teddie and Adachi. When Izanami talks about what her chosen represent, the Protagonist stands for “Hope”, while Adachi stands for “Emptiness”. Now, “Hope” is the primary meaning of the Star Arcana, which was one of the reasons I also support the “Teddie came from the Protagonist” theory as much as I do… However, Teddie’s own issues? They are continuous struggles with Emptiness. In fact, I think there’s no word more insulting to Teddie than “empty”. It’s his bearserk-button - Excuse the pun - and if you really wanna hurt him, this is seriously the only word you need. His Shadow - and Shadow!Type Character on P4U2 - keep harping and harping on it and in P4U he is shown to be incredibly uncomfortable with talking about himself in that regard, even though he is usually very open and extroverted. So the emptiness a is a clear parallel. This is pointed out perfectly if you get some optional dialogue with Rise before Adachi’s dungeon: She outright compares Adachi and Teddie to each other and calls them “opposites”, because Teddie emerged from the Shadows into human life, while Adachi wants to go the exact opposite way. Opposites… doesn’t that sound like quite fitting for a Shadow and its host?

As always, I am not saying that this theory is true, but I am saying it is a possibility and one I really enjoy entertaining. And with Adachi playing an active role in P4U2, it isn’t even that far fetched that we might get a revelation like this. Especially seeing how Teddie’s winquotes against various characters seem to indicate that he is going to get a fine amount of character development in the story mode of the game.

(Not even one of his quotes is talking about 'scoring’ *LE GASP* and the flirtiest he gets is inviting Yukari to have tea at Junes. Most his quotes are actually him being proud of his achievements, promising to protect the town he loves and being forgiving towards Sho Minazuki, despite all the trouble he caused…)

Let’s say I’m really hyped for future developments and am just gonna keep this theory as a headcanon until its confirmed or disproved. If it even is confirmed or disproved, I will just keep it as a headcanon anyway.