Persona 3/Unused Graphics
This is a sub-page of Persona 3.
There are quite a few graphics leftover from earlier periods of development, including concept sketches.
Contents
Early Menus
Temporary Title Screen
A title screen image that was probably used early in the development of Persona 3 as a design placeholder. The title screen dates to January 2006, around six months before the original Japanese release of the game.
Certificate of Marriage
An image depicting a menu where the player could enter a name for what appears to be a certificate of marriage. "Mr. Aragaki Shinjiro" is typed in.
Battle UI Mockup
Mockup images have been left in btl\BATTLE\PANEL\BTLPNL.BIN. The first is taken directly from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne.
In order, the text on the right translates to Attack, Agi, Maragi, Bufu, Mabufu, Zio, Mazio, Garu, Magaru.
The help dialogue reads "Designate strategies towards allies."
In this image, Fuuka is saying "Watch out, everyone! That shadow is a powerful foe!" Additionally, the circle pattern on her clothing was replaced with a floral pattern in the final game.
Placeholder Portraits
These are unused placeholder portraits that were left in the game. The final images include more of the body than the earlier versions.
Yukari
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Yukari made it in without any obvious changes.
Aigis
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Aigis had her arm moved up for the final version.
Mitsuru
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Mitsuru seems unchanged.
Junpei
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Junpei has no line drawings, but the shading was improved in the final image.
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Once again, the shading was improved.
Fuuka
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Either Fuuka's right arm and hand weren't planned to be visible, or the concept sketch was really bad at emphasizing them.
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Here Fuuka looks almost identical; her collar is the only thing that was changed.
Akihiko
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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The strap on Akihiko's arm had detail added, a pin was put on his shirt, and his mouth was redrawn to include his upper teeth. Notably, a sprite using the early mouth shape is present in the December 2015 prototype of Persona 5.
Ken
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Ken's uniform sports the Gekkoukan logo in the final where it didn't before. The lace on his sweater has also changed a bit.
Shinjiro
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Shinjiro looks angrier in the final version.
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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No changes are obvious for Shinjiro in this one, but a closer look can spot an eye patch over his right eye in the early portrait which isn't present in the final game or the other unused portrait, suggesting that the other one was made later in development.
Koromaru
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Koromaru's stance was changed at some point.
Ryoji
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Ryoji made it through the grinder with only a minor change: more buttons were added to his shirt.
Keisuke
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Keisuke was always planned to grin like an idiot.
Hidetoshi
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Hidetoshi's smile was given the Mona Lisa treatment and made more ambiguous.
Bebe
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Bebe was given his trademark fan at some point, and his arms were moved a bit to compensate.
Nozomi
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Nozomi looks unchanged.
Dummy Portrait
This placeholder image was found in "DATA.CVM/BUSTUP/BUST_DUMMY.BIN". It is a silhouetted image of Kenji with the character 仮 (kari), meaning "temporary."
Rough Character Sketches
There are a few rough character sketches throughout the game's data. Most of these are featured in the Collector's Edition artbook for Persona 3.
Two placeholder cut-in portraits for Junpei, one of which is more zoomed in.
Two placeholder cut-in portraits for Mitsuru, one of which is more zoomed in.
Two placeholder cut-in portraits for Akihiko, one of which is more zoomed in.
Two placeholder cut-in portraits for Fuuka, one of which is more zoomed in.
Menu Graphics
Unused Persona Portraits
| Hypnos | Moros | Medea |
|---|---|---|
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From left to right, Takaya's Persona, Jin's Persona, and Chidori's Persona. They are all seen in-game, but their portraits are never used.
Stretched Eligor
For whatever reason, there is a stretched-out Eligor portrait in the same files as the portrait cut-ins. Unlike the one in the game, this one has brighter lighting.
Unused Cut-In Portraits
There are placeholder cut-in portraits in the game's code; some are bigger than those in the final game. However, unlike with the placeholder portraits, here the final portraits show less of the body than the unused ones.
| Earliest | Early | Final |
|---|---|---|
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The earliest version is slightly more zoomed in and the early versions lack shading, but otherwise they're practically the same as the final.
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Yukari originally had a different eye color, and the portrait was more zoomed out.
| Earliest | Early | Final |
|---|---|---|
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The earliest one is far more zoomed in than in the early and final version.
Both the earliest and the early ones have more emphasis on the teeth.
In the early version his chain necklace is visible, while it isn't in the final version.
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Same thing, except that Junpei is far more zoomed in than in the final version.
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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The only difference between the two is lighting and the level of zoom; the rest remained untouched.
In the same part of the files where cut-in portraits are stored, there are portraits for Eikichi Mishina from Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Presumably, these was used as placeholders, or to test out how cut-in portraits would work.
Unused Social Link Status Portraits
There are portraits for all of the main male characters.
Unused social link portraits for Koromaru.
Unused social link portraits for Stupei—err, Junpei Iori. The over-emphasis on the teeth when he's mad is once again not present in the final game.
Unused social link portraits for Akihiko.
Unused social link portraits for Ken.
Unused social link portraits for Shinjiro. The reversed version has Shinji sporting an eye patch, which can be seen in a closer look at one of his early dialogue portraits.
This would have been used when the Death arcana was reversed, but since the link automatically progresses throughout the game without ever reversing, it remains unused.
Main Character's Speaking Icon
This would have been used when the main character speaks; however, he never does, thus rendering it unused. For whatever reason, it uses an earlier version of Aigis's icon.
Miscellaneous
Early Speech Bubbles
 | Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing. |
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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Both of these icons were found in an EPL file called "ICONF01.EPL". They appear to be earlier forms of the icons that appear when you walk up to someone.
