Jakub Kowalski

Jakub Kowalski
Persona character
First appearance	Persona 6 (2027)
Last appearance	Polacy w Grach (2030)
Designed by	Shigenori Soejima
Portrayed by	Bartosz Bielenia
Voiced by	JP: Yoshimasa Hosoya EN: Aleks Le See Full List
Motion capture	Bartosz Bielenia (main), Thom Yorke (dancing)
In-universe information
Affiliation	Physics Class Study Group
Nationality	Polish American
Age	13 (Pre Game stories) 17 (Persona 6) 17 ¾ (Persona Q3) 18 (Epilogue) 19 (Persona 6 Strikers) 20 (Persona 6 Arena) 21 (Persona 6 Tactica)
Face model	Antos Dembitski
Weapon	War hammer

Jakub Kowalski is one of the main fictional characters of Persona 6. He is a Polish–American foreign exchange student at Narakujo Advanced Academy and a member of the Physics Class Study Group. He was also one of the first characters to awaken their Persona, the Slavic god Perun, and adopted the shorter name of Kowalski–which is often confused as his uncle in the game shares the same last name. He is one of the outcasts of the school community as a result of his status as a foreign exchange student at Narakujo Advanced Academy, and features in his own Cerebralis Hallucination as a result. He joins the protagonist and two of his other friends when they’re unexpectedly sent to another reality, Cerebralis, and told to take care of several events that threaten the safety of their own reality, and they eventually gain powers to fight evil and investigate why crimes have happened–assisting law enforcement in the process in some form. His Persona eventually transforms into the Persona Triglav. He is voiced by Yoshimasa Hasoya in Japanese and Aleks Le in English, and is portrayed by Bartosz Belenia in Persona 6 The Stage.

Since his role in Persona 6, his presence in the game has been received incredibly positively with a broader spectrum of Persona fans that are Polish–and those that are American, as the character does well in balancing American and Polish traits as a result of his dual-ethnicity. His treatment of Anti-Polish sentiment is also well-written here as a result of his responses being accurately written, mentioning the offensiveness of such statements and trying to get the person to change–but when it’s an antagonist, it’s criticized as he becomes cinematically uncontrolled and angry as he curses out the antagonist. His use as the tank is also incredibly popular with the players as many have described him as the “Tall but massive” team member as a result of his tall and bulky stature, and has been commented on as a positive portrayal of a Polish character in video games, but some of the portrayals of the character in the game have been judged harshly as a result of his impulsiveness which is a big part of the beginning of the game, but the accurate opening up of the character has been praised after he improved near the end of the beginning. In Persona 6: Dancing in Auroralight, he is portrayed by Bartosz Belenia for his regular actions and Radiohead's Thom Yorke when he's dancing.

Appearances

• Persona 6 / Persona 6: Pre-Game Stories: Tank, Justice Social Link
  • Persona 6 (Manga): Major Character, Justice Arcana
  • Persona 6 The Movie: Major Character, Justice Arcana
  • Persona 6 The Animation: Major Character, Justice Arcana
    • Pre-Game Stories The Animation: Major Character, Justice Arcana
  • Persona 6 The Stage
  • P.O.II (Application)
• Persona 6: Dancing in Auroralight: Playable Character
• Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: DLC support voice
• Persona 6 Arena / Ultimax II: Tank
• Persona 6 Tactica: Playable Character (DLC)
• Persona 6 Strikers: Major Character
• Persona Q3: Hallucinatory Labyrinth: Tank
  • Persona Q3: Hallucinatory Labyrinth -Roundabout-
  • Persona Q3: Hallucinatory Labyrinth - Side:P3: Supporting Character
  • Persona Q3: Hallucinatory Labyrinth - Side:P4: Supporting Character
  • Persona Q3: Hallucinatory Labyrinth - Side:P5: Supporting Character
  • Persona Q3: Hallucinatory Labyrinth - Side:P6: Major Character

Personality

“Hey, Dude. I have a question–when’d you become so goddamned gay? Like–no hate… But you’re definitely something. No judging, just… something I’ve noticed.”

—–Jakub to Tanaka after a subtle gay joke was made, Persona 6 The Movie

Battle Quotes

• “Annihilated… Again!”
• “Idź spać, kolego!”
• “We did it–Nah, I did it!”

Trivia

Appearances in Other Media

• Polacy w Grach (Official English Title: “History of Polish Representation in Video Games”) – TVP Kultura collaboration with Atlus, Jakub Kowalski and his uncle are featured on the broadcast and voices a look into Polish representation into video games and its history.
• Super Smash Bros Ultimate – Featured as a background character in the Protagonist’s stage (with a tiny Polish flag