Persona 4 Golden: Fox Quests & Hermit social link guide

by RPG Site Staff on 16 June, 2020

One of the most unique s-link storylines in Persona 4 Golden, the Mysterious Fox social link gives you a chance to get to know a curious animal that looks over the people of Inaba like a benevolent animal angel - but Fox’s benevolence only comes with your help.

Fox represents the Hermit arcana in P4G - quite appropriate for an animal that’s usually so shy. On this page, we detail exactly how to initiate the Fox social link and then how to level it up to the tenth and final rank.

For similar help with every other s-link in the game, check out our full Persona 4 Social Link guide, which covers every other character in the cast.

Mysterious Fox S-Link Guide - Hermit

Fox differs from other social links in Persona 4 Golden in that you’re not hanging out with the Fox and getting to know them through conversation; instead, your social link ranks up by you completing quests the Fox sets for you.

The fox is found at the Shrine that you can reach through the Northern Shopping District, and once you meet it, you’ll be able to advance the social link through completing special side quests. In this guide, we list the side quests and how to complete them for each rank up of the Fox S-Link.

You’ll automatically begin the Fox s-link for the Hermit Arcana on 5th May.
To increase the s-link rank with Fox, you’ll need to complete an ‘Ema Request’, a request left by a member of the public at the shrine. Fox wants them completed, and doing so ranks up your relationship.
For every s-link level up with Fox, you can recover SP more cheaply in dungeons. Specifically, the amount of Yen needed to recover 1 SP drops by 5 every rank; so at rank 1 you must pay 60 Yen for every SP recovered. By Rank 10, you only pay 15 Yen for every SP Fox heals for you when inside the TV. This makes the Hermit s-link vital for those long, single-day dungeon deep dives.

Fox Quests guide: every Fox quest & s-link rank up

From here on in, we list the quests Fox asks you to complete in an easy to follow step-by-step manner. Each quest you complete ranks that Hermit social link up by one. This guide only covers the Fox quests - but if you want help with others, we've got a complete Persona 4 Golden quests guide which details every other side quest in the game.

Rank 1 > 2:

To rank up from 1 to 2, you must complete Quest 7: I Wish For Love.

After getting the ema from the Fox, speak to a female student in the Classroom Building 1F Lobby.
The next day, she’ll be upstairs in the Classroom Building 2F. Speak again and tell her “I read it.”
The next day, speak to her again in the same fox. Quest complete, return to Fox for a rank up.

Rank 2 > 3:

To rank up the Fox s-link from 2 to 3, you need to complete Quest 8: I Wish I Didn’t Crave Snacks.

Get the ema from Fox. For this quest you’ll need a Meat Gum item. First, go speak to a woman in the South Shopping District, standing in the middle of the road. She’s your target.
To get the Meat Gum, either ask Chie about snacks on the roof of the school. You’ll have to do this on a non-investigation day. Alternatively, it also drops sometimes from enemies in the TV World - so you might already have one.
Once you have the Meat Gum, talk to the lady in the South Shopping District. Talk to her, and then return to Fox to rank up.

Rank 3 > 4:

Ranking up the Hermit social link to 4 requires you to clear Quest 9: We Wish Our Dog Would Return.

Get the Ema from Fox. You’re looking for a lost dog. Straight away, go to the Riverbank. There’s a dog here. Talk to it. Keep in mind the dog isn’t present at all on rainy days.
The next day, find the dog in the Northern Shopping District. Talk to it again, and choose to “Talk to it gently” when asked.
The next day again, find the dog back at the Riverbank. Speak with the dog again and pick the third option.
Visit the dog again, and keep doing so until you get the option to give the dog something to eat. Grab a Beef Skewer from the Souzai Dogaku store in the shopping district.
Once you’ve fed the dog the Beef Skewer, return to Fox to rank up.

Rank 4 > 5:

For the next fox rank up, you need to finish Quest 10: I Wish I Had Friends.

After getting the request, go to the Flood Plains area. There’s a boy you can speak to here. Do so, and when prompted say “I don’t want your money.”
The boy wants a Prize Sticker item, which you can get by ordering something - anything - from the Sunday morning shopping TV channel. Once you have one, give him the Prize Sticker.
Return the next day. Now the boy wants a kids’ sticker. This time, you can get one from Nanako at your house - just ask her about the sticker, then thank her to get the Tankiriman Sticker. Give it to the boy.
Finally, come back the next day and chat to the boy one last time - then report back to Fox.

Rank 5 > 6:

The next Hermit s-link rank raise comes from completing Quest 11: I Wish My Life Had Meaning Again.

Speak to Fox, and now go back to the Shopping District North. There’s a man here; speak - speak and when prompted ask “Want me to make it?” This gets you the Unfinished Model item.
To build the item, go to your desk at home. This is a task you can undertake at the desk like some of the part-time jobs in Persona 4. You’ll need to spend 4 individual sessions at the desk to complete it.
Once completed, return to the man and then report to Fox to level up.

Rank 6 > 7:

Rank up to the seventh level with Fox by clearing Quest 12: I Wish I Was Better at Speaking.

Get the ema request from Fox at the shrine. Now go to the rooftop of Yasogami High School. There’s a girl up here, but to progress the quest you’ll need a high Understanding Stat level. Talk to her when you’re able.
Come back the next day and talk to her again. When prompted, ask “Do you need help speaking?” and then, naturally, offer to “Give Her Lessons.” Picking that option will require a high Expression stat, too.
Come back again the next day, and speak again. The right option, the top one, will require a high Courage Stat.
When all this is done, return back to Fox.

Rank 7 > 8:

Hitting social link rank 8 with Fox requires you complete Quest 13: I Wish I Didn’t Fear Cats.

Grab the quest from Fox at the shrine, then head to the Samegawa Flood Plain. There’s a man here and you can talk about cats. Do that.
This now gets a little more complicated: you need a cat outside your house, but it only spawns if you’ve completed Quest 20: Please Feed the Cat. About that quest:
- Get this quest from the man outside the bookstore in the shopping district. He’ll ask you to feed the cat at the Flood Plain. Catch some fish or buy them from Tanaka’s Sunday Shopping Channel on 5th June, then feed them to the cat repeatedly to get a book as a reward and complete this request.
Now the cat will be outside your house. Go there, and talk to it, telling it to follow you.
The next day, return to the man and chat more. Choose to “Let him see”.
The next day again, the man will want a cute fish as bait. Go fishing and catch a Red Goldfish, then give it to the man. Return to and speak to him the next day, and then check back in with Fox.

Rank 8 > 9:

We’re almost there - ranking up to 9 will require completion of Quest 14: I Wish My Wallet Would Return.

Visit Fox to get the ema and then head to the Samegawa Flood Plain once again. There’s a woman near the shrine on the far left of the area - talk to her.
Head to the staircase in the Flood Plains; there’s a bush near it and a nearby sign. Examine the bushes and you’ll get the Round Wallet key item. Easy, right?0
Well, no. Return to the woman and she’ll tell you that wallet isn’t hers.
Now try the North Shopping District. There’s a lamp post near the shrine entrance - search around it to find the Square Wallet item.
Return the Square Wallet to the woman at the Flood Plain, then head back to Fox. One more rank to go!

Rank 9 > 10:

For the final rank up of the Mysterious Fox social link, you’ll need to clear Quest 15: The Shichiri Beach Guardian

As always, go see the Fox at the shrine to get the ema request. You’ll now want to go to the Riverbank. There’s an old man here - speak to him to get his quest.
Next, you’ll need access to the beach - so you’ll need to have the scooter and have rode it six times in order to be able to go that far.
Talk to the old man and ask all the questions you can. He tells you about the River Guardian, incredibly rare fish. Now you need to catch them.
- To catch a Guardian you will need an Inaba Jewel Bug. You can catch some of these bugs at night time at this stage of the quest.
- With the Inaba Jewel Bug in hand, use it as bait to try to catch the Guardian. The spawn rate is higher on rainy days, for what it’s worth.
  - As an aside, the River Guardian is needed for a quest to get one of Yukiko's costumes.
Once you catch a Guardian, show it to the old man. He’ll give you the River Rod item. Talk to him again and ask about the bait for the Sea Guardian.
- Now you can catch the Genji Beetle Bait bug - catch it in the nighttime version of the bug catching game. It’s also sold in Tanaka’s Sunday Shopping Channel on 22nd August.
- Once you have a Genji Beetle Bait bug, fish at the beach with it to catch the Sea Guardian.
Bring the Sea Guardian to the old man, then report back to Fox. At this point, the Hermit social link will max out!

As well as the bonus to SP recovery in dungeons, hitting rank 10 means you’ll also get the Gratitude Ema key item from Fox, which lets you fuse the Ongyo-ki persona.