Weed Yosuke

Weed Yosuke (also sometimes called Stoner Yosuke) is a recurring character in the Unmodified Gameplay series of videos. He first appeared in a Persona 4 mod where Yosuke's in-battle voice clips were replaced with an assortment of NPC voice samples ripped from Grand Theft Auto V. These voice samples were recorded by Yosuke's English voice actor, Yuri Lowenthal, and sound almost identical to his delivery in Persona 4. However, the NPC was written as a stereotypical stoner caricature, a stark contrast to Yosuke's characterization.

Persona 420
The first video, Persona 420 (posted on April 20, 2016) was created over the course of one day and released as a mod for Persona 4. In it, Yosuke wears a Bob Marley shirt and has brand new voice lines derived from the GTAV rip. Originally intended to be a one-off joke video, the trend of posting a gag on 4/20 instead of 4/1 (April Fools) eventually became an annual tradition for the ShrineFox channel.

Totally """Normal""" Persona 5 Gameplay
The following year on April 20, 2017 (a mere couple of weeks after the worldwide release of Persona 5, a video was posted called Totally """Normal""" Persona 5 Gameplay. Compared to the previous video, this one had quadruple the views. Although Yosuke was only briefly mentioned in this video, it was implied that he was responsible for illegally selling marijuana to the students of Shujin High, indirectly creating an unofficial National Holiday called "Weed Day." The video also featured a montage of Joker visiting a weed farm in GTAV as a homage to the origins of the meme. This set up an impromptu continuity for the series of videos, which would be followed up on next year. The video was originally meant to showcase the progress Persona 5 modding has seen in the midst of multiple localization delays.

Completely """Unmodified""" Persona 5 Gameplay
Posted on April 20, 2018 was Completely """Unmodified""" Persona 5 Gameplay, the latest in the saga. Weed Yosuke makes a reappearance, this time in Persona 5's engine using a custom GMD model using his design in Persona 4 Dancing All Night. Although the previous video was the peak of the series's popularity (likely due to the recent worldwide launch and its positive reception), this one generated a viewcount similar Persona 420. Once again intended to demonstrate the recent capabilities of custom models in Persona 5 and the Dancing games, this video used modified footage from both games, reusing the original GTAV voice samples. Yosuke travels to the metaverse to confront Shadow Mishima for threatening to rat him out to the authorities. Shadow Mishima was never a boss in the original game, but a boss fight ensues based on the Shadow Nejima fight from Persona 5. Instead, the enemy model is actually Yuuki Mishima using Goro Akechi's animations, and the text is edited as well to show off recent advancements in BF script editing. The second half of the video transitions into a full dance number in Persona 4 Dancing All Night, where Yosuke wears a Get Smoked hat and holds a joint in his mouth while performing to a Persona 5 x Snoop Dogg mashup created by Trunogasm. Mishima also appears in the mod, albeit in a T-pose. The second half of this video was released as a playable Persona 4 Dancing All Night mod.

P5R SWITCH GAMEPLAY - First Look at New Story Events
Yet another Persona 5 video was posted on April 20, 2019 under the title "|P5R SWITCH GAMEPLAY - First Look at New Story Events". A mere 4 days before the unveiling of information regarding Atlus's previously teased Persona 5 The Royal, this video features mock gameplay of a supposed Nintendo Switch port. Weed Yosuke returns as the antagonist, picking up from the mental shutdown caused by his all-out-attack on Mishima's shadow in the metaverse. The Phantom Thieves take notice and accidentally discover Weed Yosuke's palace (Junes from Persona 4 fashioned into a Taco Bell). There, they confront his shadow and seek to avenge their fallen classmate. The video abruptly ends with the only copy of this version of the game being deleted as they begin fighting.

Personality and Appearance
In Persona 420, Weed Yosuke had no identity apart from Yosuke Hanamura's canon portrayal, aside from being a pothead. He wore a Bob Marley shirt in the TV world, but was otherwise identical and aided the Investigation Team nonetheless. By the time he reappears in Completely """Unmodified""" Persona 5 Gameplay 2 years later, his demeanor shifted more to that of an anti-hero. Refusing to acknowledge the influence of the Phantom Thieves, he seeks revenge against Mishima, even defeating his shadow in battle. His design in this iteration includes an oversized Bong weapon and joint model (also ripped from GTAV), and a Get Smoked hat (taken from Shinya Oda's model). His Bustup is edited from the Yosuke portraits in Persona 4 Arena.

Trivia

 * In the 2018 video, during the fight with Shadow Mishima, Yosuke can be heard saying a couple variations of "That's just how it is on this bitch of an Earth." These lines were actually commissioned from Yuri Lowenthal and all proceeds went to charity.