Atlus, the developer behind Metaphor: ReFantazio and the Persona series, has a peculiar approach to designing their protagonists. While their main characters come with pre-designed appearances and personalities, the games allow players to name them, offering a small but meaningful degree of customization.
This practice has led to notable confusion regarding the canon names of their characters, particularly in the Persona franchise. Atlus has a history of assigning different names to the same character across various media.
For example, Joker from Persona 5 is named Ren Amamiya in the game, but he’s called Akira Kurusu in the manga. Similarly, Persona 3’s protagonist Makoto Yuki is referred to as Minato Arisato in the manga, while Persona 4’s Yu Narukami is named Souji Seta.
Metaphor ReFantazio First Chapter
Fortunately, it appears Metaphor: ReFantazio is breaking this trend. Both the game and its manga agree on the protagonist’s name. In the first chapter of the Metaphor: ReFantazio manga, the protagonist introduces himself as Will, which matches the character’s default name in the game. This alignment avoids the typical name discrepancies and associated fandom debates that have plagued past Atlus titles.
The decision to unify the character’s name may tie into the game’s thematic elements, as “Will” carries multiple interpretations, though going deeper into this would risk revealing spoilers.
Fans can likely look forward to seeing more of Will in the future. Although there’s currently only one game, Metaphor’s director, Katsura Hashino, expressed in a recent interview his hope for the title to “become a series one day.” Considering the critical acclaim the game has garnered, it seems likely that Hashino’s wish will come true, solidifying Metaphor as a lasting part of Atlus’s legacy.
