Persona 5 Main Character Index
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts (Starting Members [Joker] | Later Members [Goro Akechi | Kasumi Yoshizawa])
Confidants (Sae Niijima) | Targets - Palace Rulers / Endgame Antagonists (The Dreamer) / Minor | Other Characters
Spin-Offs: Strikers (Jail Monarchs) | Tactica | The Phantom X

Secondary NPCs in Persona 5 who don't serve as accomplices or targets.

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Civilians

Ms. Kitagawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_sayuri___persona_5_by_aldantler_dbmu2qt_fullview.jpeg

Ms. Kitagawa as depicted in the Sayuri

Yusuke's deceased mother who painted under the tutelage of Ichiryusai Madarame. In spite of her health problems, her determination to paint one final piece for the sake of her son never wavered. Madarame would subsequently steal said painting, dub it Sayuri, and use it to rise to the top of the art world.

Determinator: Madarame was impressed by her unwavering drive to continue painting, even after her husband's death and facing her own mortality. Not that it stopped him from taking advantage of her work to boost himself.
Delicate and Sickly: Nobody suspected Madarame of allowing Ms. Kitagawa to die of a seizure because she was already physically weak.
Doting Parent: Yusuke became Ms. Kitagawa's sole reason for finishing her self-portrait; knowing that she would likely die before he grew up, she wanted to leave him something to remember her by.
The Ghost: Never physically shows up as she's been dead for years, but the Sayuri is her self-portait.
Murder by Inaction: On the receiving end. Once Madarame realized that the portrait had the potential for success, he allowed her to die and released the newly-christened Sayuri under his own name.
No Name Given: If Joker asks Yusuke whether "Sayuri" was his mother's name, he replies in the negative. Yusuke speculates that Madarame concocted the name to add to the painting's mystique, and Morgana points out that signing it with her real name would be a red flag to it having been stolen. Ms. Kitagawa's first name is never revealed.
Posthumous Character: Her tragic death is part of Yusuke's backstory, and her final work was the root cause of Madarame's distorted desires.

Naoya Makigami

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/000_6.jpg

Voiced by: Soma Saito

The younger brother of Kazuya Makigami, he currently studies at Kosei High School and is a classmate of Yusuke. Appears in Persona 5: The Day Breakers.

Always Someone Better: Was this to his brother which lead Kazuya to become an abusive asshole.
Beware the Quiet Ones: He seeks the assistance of the Phantom Thieves after one too many beatings from Kazuya.
Mythology Gag: Is named after Naoya Toudou, the manga incarnation of the original Persona's protagonist, who also had an antagonistic relationship with his brother Kazuya.
The Quiet One: He doesn't talk much. Which is most likely due to the beatings inflicted on him.
The Reveal: He's the one responsible for contracting the Phantom Thieves to take on his brother for his abuses.

Shiho Suzui

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/www.png

Voiced By: Akemi Sato (JP), Christine Marie Cabanos (EN)
Stage actors: Yu Saotome (The Stage)

"Um, this might not be any of my business, but don't let the rumors get to you, okay...?"

A Shujin Academy volleyball player, and Ann's best friend. She's one of Kamoshida's favorite targets, and when Ann refuses to give in to his advances, he sexually assaults Shiho in her stead, driving her to attempt suicide by jumping from the school rooftop.

Adaptational Nice Guy: A minor case in the manga, which shows a flashback to her meeting Ann. After telling Ann that she's bad at drawing, she hastily and awkwardly apologizes, only to see Ann laughing about it.
Brutal Honesty: The first thing she said to Ann was that her drawings were bad. Ann actually liked it, since it was the first time someone didn't immediately comment on her appearance.
Bungled Suicide: Shiho jumps off the roof of Shujin Academy in a suicide attempt, but survives the fall. Just before she passes out, Shiho tells a shocked Ann that she "can't take this anymore", whispers that it was Kamoshida who drove her to do it, and faints. This is what drives Ann to seek out Joker, Ryuji, and Morgana to get revenge on Kamoshida.
Buxom Beauty Standard: In the manga, while Kamoshida announces he is dismissing her from the starting roster of the volleyball team for being "useless", he lecherously ogles her large bosom with an evil grin before raping her.
Defiled Forever: She was raped by Kamoshida as a payback to Ann rejecting his sexual advances.
Demoted to Extra: After playing a significant role during the Kamoshida arc, she disappears to recuperate from her attempted suicide and only comes back for Rank 9 of Ann's Confidant and later during the events of the Third Semester.
Dramatic Drop: In the anime, she's practicing in the gym when Mishima tells her that Kamoshida wants to see her. She drops her ball after hearing him, realizing that it can't be anything good, and for good reason; he sexually assaults her during the meeting.
Driven to Suicide: Kamoshida's abuse, molestation and intense pressure to stay on the volleyball team led Shiho to jump off the school's roof, with everyone watching. However, she survives. In Ann's Confidant, Shiho reveals that she felt as though a voice was pushing her on to do it, implying she suffered a predilection similar to Futaba's thanks to Kamoshida's abuse.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: So very, very obvious from the first moment she appears on screen. They only gain the tiniest glimmer of light at certain points when talking to Ann... and even then, only occasionally.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Her mom moves her to another school after she heard about what happened to her in Shujin and the extent of Kamoshida's involvement in it. But she and Ann promise to keep in touch.
Fan Disservice: Gets it multiple times.
- In the manga, Kamoshida's point of view is only fixated on her chest in a disturbingly lecherous way. In all of her portrayals, she is raped by Kamoshida.
- In Royal, Kamoshida summons a cognitive Shiho in a Playboy Bunny outfit to cast his "Killshot of Love". It's not portrayed as titillating, but disgusting, since it's how Kamoshida sees Shiho: just one more plaything for him to use however he wants. On top of that, the party can down this cognition of Shiho by attacking with weapons, since she's weak to basically everything.
Hearing Voices: At Rank 9 of Ann's Confidant, Shiho reveals that she heard a voice urging her to commit suicide.
Hidden Depths: While it's debatable given the strangeness around the Third Term events, with Ann wishing for Shiho's success and Dr. Maruki brainwashing both girls to forget Kamoshida's abuse, in Royal it's heavily implied from this that without Kamoshida, Shiho is a genuinely good volleyball player and was only hindered by his constant beatings. Of course, Ann herself also acknowledges in her Confidant that in all likelihood, Kamoshida wouldn't have given Shiho a starting spot just to be able to manipulate Ann, and regrets not believing in Shiho's talent more.
The Kindness of Strangers: She's one of the first non-party members to treat our stigmatized protagonist with an open mind and a friendly disposition because she's seen how cruel rumors can control a person's life before.
Nice Girl: One of the few students who doesn't engage in any of the rumors that goes around the campus about the protagonist. She starts off as Ann's Only Friend and also attempts to cheer up Joker due to the nasty rumors circulating about him. This, naturally, makes everything that happens to her all the more tragic.
- Ann also mentions to Joker that she is one of the few people at Shujin who never judged her for having mixed ancestry.
Only Friend: To Ann, before the Phantom Thieves came along. Shiho was apparently the only one not intimidated by Ann's looks; Ann became friends with Shiho after she told Ann that her artwork sucked.
Playboy Bunny: In Persona 5 Royal, Kamoshida will summon a cognitive version of Shiho in the second stage of the fight to toss him a volleyball. You have the option of hit her to prevent it or even hit Kamoshida himself for a set damage threshold and she will leave anyway.
Put on a Bus: After her attempted suicide, she spends months being hospitalized and also decides to transfer schools to get a fresh start in life, although she does return briefly towards the end of Ann's Confidant to talk about how her life is going to improve.
The Quiet One: Doesn't talk much at all to people apart from Ann.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: The game stops short of outright saying the word "rape", but it's all but said that this is what Kamoshida did to her.
Satellite Character: She is this to Ann for the most part. She is the reason Ann snaps and sides with the thieves.
Small Role, Big Impact: Her attempted suicide kicks off a lot about the game (especially for Ann), despite Shiho having minimal screen time.
- Shiho's attempt made Ann want to get revenge against Kamoshida and join the Phantom Thieves. It's also what causes Joker and Ryuji to decide to commit to stealing Kamoshida's heart; initially, they were reluctant to try messing with someone's soul like that, and the possibility that Kamoshida could die if they did it wrong left them hesitant. But after Shiho's attempted suicide, Joker and Ryuji decide that Kamoshida is Beyond Redemption and commit to stealing his heart, even if it kills him. In short, Shiho effectively kickstarted the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and the whole plot of the game spirals from there. If Shiho didn't jump, they'd have let the Palace be, and nothing further would have happened. However, as she ends up in a coma for a long while after jumping, and after that is transferred out immediately, the player doesn't see very much of her compared to the overall length of the game.
- She might only appear for the first arc of the game and a little afterwards, but her predicament is enough for Ann to unknowingly give in to Maruki's dream world, because her only desire is for Shiho's success and their friendship, and fuel the counselor into becoming an Anti-Villain madman controlling Mementos.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: She's one of the few people who isn't prejudiced against Joker during his first few days at school, and is Ann's only friend. Unfortunately, she also becomes the first victim of Kamoshida's most heinous acts that Joker and Ann witnessed personally, and attempts suicide out in the open as a result. It's subverted thankfully; the game makes it look like as if she doesn't survive her attempted suicide, but she does.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: In Royal, you have the option to attack a cognitive version of her during Kamoshida's fight. Doing so will cause Ann to wince and Ryuji to apologize.
Video Game Caring Potential: ...That said, just because it's a cognitive Shiho doesn't mean everyone could stomach ruthlessly hitting her. Therefore, the game gives you a second option; hit Kamoshida for around 300 damage and Shadow Kamoshida will drive her away on his own. There's also no turn limit, meaning that one could take their time in dealing enough damage.
A World Half Full: Despite being put through Hell and back by Kamoshida, Shiho survives her suicide attempt. After some time in the hospital, she's going to transfer schools, and get her life back on track. She also promises to keep in touch with Ann, encouraging her to pursue her dream and coming out hopeful for the future.

The Shujin Academy Track Team

Some of Ryuji's former teammates on the Shujin Academy track team. Nakaoka and Takeishi are his yearmates, while Ikeda has since graduated.

Jerkass Has a Point: Both Nakaoka and Takeishi are hardly pleasant individuals, but they're right about how Ryuji ended up causing trouble for them by punching Kamoshida. Ryuji agrees and invites them to hit him.
Last-Name Basis: All of them refer to each other and Ryuji by their surnames.
Mr. Exposition: Ikeda, as the only one on decent terms with Ryuji, gives him the news about the track team's return.
Nice Guy: Ikeda is relatively friendly and regrets not doing more to stand up to Kamoshida.
No Name Given: Apart from Nakaoka and Takeishi (whose given names aren't revealed), the rest of the team consists of a few unnamed extras.
The Stool Pigeon: Nakaoka was Kamoshida's informant. He's implied to be an Obedient Obadaiah, since Ryuji calls him out on not doing or saying anything about Yamauchi, and Nakaoka admits that he has a point.
Ungrateful Bastard: After Ryuji intervenes to help Nakaoka and asks if he's all right, Nakaoka coldly tells him to stay out of it, before once again bringing up his hitting Kamoshida.
Unwitting Pawn: Yamauchi "hints" to Takeishi that Nakaoka was Kamoshida's informant. While this is true, it also enables Yamauchi to turn the rest of the team against Nakaoka (who'd wanted the school to reinstate the coach the track team had before Kamoshida), and make it easier for Yamauchi to take over.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Takeishi feels pressure to follow in his father's footsteps, get a track scholarship and graduate from Taisei.
We Used to Be Friends: They were once friends with Ryuji, but after he snapped and punched out Kamoshida the group had a falling-out with him.

Wakaba Isshiki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/www_3.png

^{Click here to see the Sphinx}

Voiced By: Minako Arakawa (JP), Erin Fitzgerald (EN)

"Once my research is finished, we can go wherever you like. I'm sorry for leaving you alone for so long, Futaba..."

Futaba Sakura's mother and a prominent scientist. She apparently committed suicide via walking into oncoming traffic a few years prior to the game's events and her death prompts her daughter to become a depressed Hikikomori.

A Cognition of her representing her fictitious maternity neurosis exists within Futaba's Palace. This Cognition is the boss of the Palace rather than Shadow Futaba, and as such, is the first hostile Cognition the Phantom Thieves face.

Absent-Minded Professor: Described largely as such, though not so much "forgetful" as "workaholic and absurdly easy-going."
Ambiguously Christian: Has a grave at a Catholic church. Whether she is there for religious reasons or convenience is unknown.
Archnemesis Mom: Subverted. The real Wakaba is truly Futaba's beloved, but her cognition in Futaba's Palace is such, since Futaba thinks of her as a monster who thinks that she is burden to her work and wished she had never been born. Once she realizes this is a giant lie, Futaba turns the tables on her easily.
Armor-Piercing Question: Shadow Futaba asks a series of these to help Futaba realize that Wakaba never wrote her supposed suicide note and didn't hate Futaba, so Futaba should stop hating herself and instead hate the people who really killed her mother.
Artistic License – Religion: The Sphinx is not Judeo-Christian in origin, isn't associated with the Seven Deadly Sins in general and Wrath in particular (it's traditionally represented by Satan), while Sphinx!Wakaba is the personification of Futaba's wrath against herself. Of course, it makes sense that she'd be the odd one out among bosses, since she is a cognition and not a Shadow.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Her cognition in Futaba's Palace is among one of the largest enemies in the game and even rivals Yaldabaoth in size, and it's just a mid-game boss.
Awesomeness by Analysis: She was able to come up with a better version of Sojiro's curry recipe by analyzing the proportions of the ingredients.
Back from the Dead: In Royal's third semester, the first sign that something is very, very wrong is that Wakaba is inexplicably back in Futaba and Sojiro's lives. It turns out that Maruki resurrected her as part of his Lotus-Eater Machine.
Blow You Away: The Sphinx uses its wings to deal Wind damage to the entire party, which may also cause the Dizzy effect.
Boss-Altering Consequence: In the Royal version of the battle, the cognitive version of Wakaba Ishiki will make disparaging remarks towards Futaba, giving the player two dialogue choices. If you agree with the fake Wakaba, and you would be a major jerk for doing so, then Futaba will be too discouraged to act, delaying the speed at which she summons ballistas, and the fake Wakaba will unleash a powerful attack on the party, but if you're protective of Futaba, then she will repel the attack back at the fake Wakaba.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite being an odd duck, she was considered one of the greatest scientists in her field. Shido correctly determined that her research would be able to help him better exploit the Metaverse, and he had her killed to get his hands on it.
Cloudcuckoolander: Sojiro describes her as such, noting that both she and her daughter generally move to the beat of their own drum. Wakaba herself also had a great deal of self-confidence and rolled with the punches to the point of absurdity. Case in point, when she became pregnant with Futaba, she took it upon herself to raise her alone, no questions asked. She did this even though illegitimate children are heavily looked down upon in Japanese society, as we see later when we hear that when Akechi's mother became pregnant with an illegitimate child, she committed suicide out of shame.
Damage-Sponge Boss: Downplayed. The Sphinx has 11,000 HP, which is a ridiculous amount for the stage in the game at which she's fought, and far beyond the firepower reach of the party's magic. The only way to legitimately harm the Sphinx is to shoot it down with a ballista that Futaba provides, then hit it with physical attacks. The Sphinx takes five times normal damage from physical skills while it's downed, making them the only real way to damage it. It also takes large amounts of damage from its reflected to it if its dive attack hits a party member with Tetrakarn or a Joker with a Persona that repels Physical attacks.
Demoted to Extra: In a meta game-design sense. Wakaba has a lot of unused visuals in the vanilla game, having unused portraits with a wide range of expressions (these portrait sprites were used in the Third Semester of Royal). Additionally, she has an unused security meter icon with a file number that denotes it was supposed to be used for the final Palace. Based on all these, it seems she was going to have a big role in the endgame. In the game itself, she is a Posthumous Character and by all accounts was a fairly well-adjusted person who wouldn't have a Palace in the first place.
Ditzy Genius: While Wakaba was never a Persona-user, Sojiro implies late in the game that, through her research, she came to understand the Metaverse to a great degree, all while also being a person considered an "odd duck" by others. It's also implied that she predicted her own death, and knew that it would come about through the Metaverse.
Family Theme Naming: Both she and Futaba have the character "葉" (meaning "leaf") in their names.
Finish Him!: After reducing the Sphinx's health to 0, a button prompt appears to have Joker finish it off with a point-blank shot to the head.
Hoist by Her Own Petard: Cognitive Wakaba's most damaging attacks are mostly physical and she has to forfeit her physical immunity in order to use them. This means a party who's prepared with physical reflectors can seriously ruin her day, especially since she takes five times the damage from physical attacks.
Killed Offscreen: Wakaba was killed by Akechi completely offscreen with only murals in Futaba's Palace as visual proof. Given how gruesome the deaths of some of Akechi's other victims are and Futaba watched that play out right in front of her when she was 13, it's better off that we don't see it.
Knight of Cerebus: Her posthumous introduction to the story moves the plot towards its Myth Arc and the first real hints of The Conspiracy coming to light. Her appearance in Futaba's dungeon also builds up to a very emotional climactic showdown. Then uniquely, she takes the role again in the Third Semester. Joker notices a few things that seem strange on New Years Day, but seeing her alive and happily being Futaba's mother the next day in Leblanc is the first sign that something is truly wrong with this reality.
Like Mother, Like Daughter: Her personality and trait of having high IQ are largely the same as Futaba's and probably inherited to her.
The Lost Lenore: She's this to Futaba's adoptive father, Sojiro Sakura. Their decades-long friendship turned into something else somewhere along the line, and it was quietly understood that they would settle down together once Wakaba published her research on cognitive psience. But then she died, and two years later, Sojiro has yet to recover from losing her.
Make It Look Like an Accident: Played With. The Black Mask induced a mental shutdown in Wakaba by killing her Shadow, and when it took effect she became disoriented and wandered into oncoming traffic (Principal Kobayakawa dies in-game in a similar fashion). This could have easily been written off as just a known ditz getting into a tragic accident, but the Antisocial Force decided to take it one step further and frame the incident as a suicide by having a forged note blaming her then-middle school-aged daughter who watched her die read aloud to her family, including said daughter. Why? Just to be assholes, apparently.
Omnidisciplinary Scientist: She was the foremost expert on Cognition at the time of her death, but she was also a skilled biochemist who used her talents to improve on Sojiro's curry recipe until it became the addictively delicious meal the Cafe Leblanc is known for.
Parents as People: Wakaba loved Futaba dearly, but prioritized her work over her private life, and therefore had little time for her daughter. After her death, this, coupled with her forged suicide note, led Futaba to mistakenly believe that her mother died hating her.
Posthumous Character: Died two years before the events of the game, with her character being revealed mostly through Sojiro and Futaba. In Royal, this is one of Joker's clues that something's up when he sees Wakaba alive and in Leblanc.
Pretty Little Headshots: In the manga, Akira shoots the Sphinx in the head, putting a small hole in the Sphinx's forehead.
Riddling Sphinx: Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki employs this twice during her boss battle in Royal, presenting several questions that might potentially make Futaba hesitate on helping the party if answered incorrectly. If Joker makes responses that suggest that he agrees with the Sphinx, the upcoming Sphinx Dive will actually land and the boss battle will take much longer.
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: Just like some other bosses in the game, if you take more than 100 turns trying to kill her in Royal, she will instantly annihilate the entire party with a souped-up Megidolaon.
She Knows Too Much: Shido ordered her death in order to both steal her research on the Metaverse, and snuff out anyone who could potentially oppose his exploitation of it.
Small Role, Big Impact: Although a minor character in the story, Wakaba's cognitive research is what gave Shido a method to change society according to his wishes—by causing inexplicable mental breakdowns and deaths through the Collective Unconsciousness, Shido could safely eliminate enemies or shape events to his advantage. Without this research, Shido would have remained a garden-variety corrupt politician.
Supreme Chef: In the later levels of Sojiro's Confidant, you'll learn that Wakaba was the one who formulated Cafe Leblanc's signature curry recipe and coffee blend with all of her scientific know-how.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: From what we see and hear of Wakaba, she was a kind-hearted woman who despite her struggles as a single parent, loved her daughter dearly. She definitely stands out from the majority of the adults depicted in the game, and thus gets killed before the events of the game.
Unstoppable Rage: Her cognition in Futaba's Palace represents Wrath, as it speaks in Large Ham dialogue and appears as a angry, terrifying beast that considers Futaba as nothing other than a burden.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: The Sphinx will periodically make scathing comments toward Futaba during her fight, to which Joker can agree with. Doing so will trigger scenes of a despondent Futaba failing to provide support for your team and Sphinx attacking immediately after.
Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Royal adds a bit of a subtle punishment for failing the Sphinx's new minigame. Futaba will be unable to support for your team and this will essentially make the battle last a whole lot longer. If you take too much time dealing with her, she will cast a Megidolaon at you, which will most likely kill your entire party at that part of the game.
The Voiceless: In the manga adaptation, the true cognition of Wakaba doesn't speak at all. She merely listens to Futaba, and after Futaba tells Wakaba that she loves her, Wakaba disappears with a smile on her face.
When You Coming Home, Dad?: Wakaba was often busy with her research, something she regretted, but hoped to make up for when she was finished. Unfortunately, she never got the chance.

Mika

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/000_3.png

A model working for the same agency as Ann. She plays a big role in Ann's Confidant.

Arc Villain: She is the closest thing to one for Ann's Confidant, although she is barely villainous as she's merely a rival model. She doesn't even get a Mementos battle, as Ann quashes their rivalry herself before it gets severe enough to become an issue.
Berserk Button: What immediately puts Ann on Mika's shit list is realizing how lackadaisical Ann is about her modeling career. It's only after Ann starts respecting the profession more does Mika view her as a Worthy Opponent.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She keeps up a meek, friendly face when dealing with those who can help improve her career or those who she wishes to deceive. When she drops this façade, she is shown to be a bitter and competitive person prone to Evil Gloating.
Crocodile Tears: She's very good at fake crying, and uses it to great effect in her Wounded Gazelle Gambits. Ann picks up on it, and learns a special technique she can use to help Joker in Shadow negotiations.
A Day in the Limelight: In one of the stories of the Persona 5: Mementos Mission manga, she is accused of murdering a sleazy producer. Evidence shows that Mika may have been framed; the Phantom Thieves begin investigating to find out what really happened, all while dealing with Iwai's Confidant substory, the murderer who targets other criminals, and a strange and valuable bangle that came into Makoto's possession following a Satchel Switcheroo.
Determinator: Her only redeeming quality is her genuine work ethic and hatred of laziness.
Don't Call Me "Sir": She tells Ann that she doesn't need to use honorifics on Mika even though Mika's older than Ann.
Easily Forgiven: She turns out to be the one behind the mysterious case of models not showing up for their shoots in Ann's Confidant. An insincere apology is all it takes for the agency to forgive her for all the trouble she caused. Ann also forgives Mika because this turn of events allows Ann to realize how much she has taken the modeling profession for granted. And because she can't bring herself to hate someone that acts so much like the gentlewoman thief type villainesses she grew to love as a child...
Hard Work Hardly Works: She lives on a very strict diet, works out everyday and spends a lot of time and money to keep her skin in perfect condition. She's shocked to hear that Ann doesn't do any of that, even eating cakes and sweets whenever she feels like it, yet is still a popular model. That said, she also manages to land a major modeling gig over Ann because of her hard work; she understands that being a model is more than just looking pretty and so has trained herself to also act like a model, while Ann just relies on her looks.
Hate Sink: Subverted. She's a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who's falsely told models their shoots have been moved so she can do them, and there's little that's redeemable about her. In spite of all that, Ann can't bring herself to actually hate Mika, because she puts in a lot of hard work maintaining her career.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Mika's condescending attitude stems from her insecurity over the fact that she needs all the dietary discipline she can get just to be able to keep up with natural beauties like Ann. P5: Manga Anthology takes it a step further by introducing her to Futaba, who casually admits that she doesn't even try eating healthily whatsoever and never exercises, yet still looks slim and cute as a button. The look on Mika's face speaks volumes.
Ann: Futaba! Mika looks like she's about to give birth to a Palace!
Jerkass Has a Point: Ann is pissed when Mika points out how undeserving Ann is as a model... because she realizes Mika's right. Ann relied on natural talents, grace, and good genes to get her through the business, while other models struggled and clawed their way up. This leads Ann to put more effort into becoming a better model.
Karma Houdini: Once she is exposed as the perpetrator of the mysterious absences of rival models, Mika is let off after she gives a simple, insincere apology in private. This is because, by this time, her popularity is such that if the agency exposes her misdeeds, the agency itself would take a hit to its profits and reputation. Mika's case is an example of how the people of Tokyo would rather allow evil deeds to exist unpunished because it is easier than doing good.
Manipulative Bitch: She quickly turns out to be this. In her first appearance, she asks for a shoot together with Ann. Not because she admires Ann (although she acts like this at first), but because she wanted to show her up in the presence of the agency.
Obfuscating Stupidity: In her first appearance, Mika fakes being an inexperienced and kind model in order to get into Ann's good graces. That goes out the window as soon as Ann presses her Berserk Button.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Mika attempts to sabotage Ann's modeling career because, from her perspective, Ann is only treating modeling as a passing hobby rather than career she has to put effort in. While Ann does ultimately admit that Mika has a point, it doesn't excuse Mika sabotaging other models as well.
The Rival: To Ann in her Confidant. At the end of it, they agree to compete fair and square for the title of better model.
Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed, but at the end of Ann's confidant, she decides to stop her manipulative actions and compete with Ann for modelling fair and square.
The Unfought: Mika's role in Ann's confidant is quite similar to a number of side characters in other Confidants who become targets in mementos who requires changes of heart. Ann manages to quash her conflict with Mika without this ever becoming an issue.
Unknown Rival: Initially, her hostility towards Ann goes unnoticed. It's only when Mika begins trying to upstage Ann does Ann begin to take Mika more seriously.
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: How she scores sympathy points with people from the modelling agency whenever Ann acts even slightly mean to her.

Lala Escargot

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/000_8.jpg

Voiced By: Tomohisa Aso (JP), Mick Wingert (EN)

"You sure do come here a lot... Not that I mind, but keep yourself in check, okay?"

The owner of the Crossroads Bar in downtown Shinjuku. She can employ Joker to help her work in the bar and has Ichiko as one of her regulars. She shows up in Ichiko's Confidant route.

Ambiguous Gender Identity: She acts like a stereotypical old queen, but her voice is very deep and almost masculine. It's not clear if Lala is a transgender woman, a drag queen, or a Gonky Femme. Given that Shinjuku has a drag scene, it's reasonable to assume any one of the three, but the game never elaborates on it. The other characters always refer to her as female, though whether that's because Lala is biologically female, they're using her preferred pronouns, or respecting her being in-character as her drag queen persona also goes without elaboration. During her appearance in Makoto's Rank 9 confidant scene, she mentions having been a little girl, though that doesn't actually clear anything up.
Beware the Nice Ones: Lala is quite friendly and easygoing, but as Ohya's chief learns, angering her is a very bad idea — when Ohya threatens that she's going to beat the living crap out of him if he doesn't stop talking shit about her old partner, Lala sternly adds that she'll do "even worse" should he refuse.
Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: She does her best to keep Ohya's alcoholism and other excesses in check, and also cautions the Protagonist against getting sucked into the Shinjuku nightclub scene's legendary decadence.
Everyone Has Standards: While she's involved in the infamous Shinjuku nightlife, she has no patience for the skeevier things that go on there, and always cautions the Protagonist to be careful on his way home.
Gonk: Although unlike most other examples in this series, Lala isn't a Jerkass but rather a very kindhearted person who genuinely looks out for the protagonist and does her best to keep Ohya in check.
Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Allows Joker to go home early after his shift ends because he's a minor and she doesn't want him to get into trouble. In a broader sense, she's a caring, levelheaded person who's quick to keep everything that happens in her bar friendly and welcoming. In fact, in Royal, working part-time at Crossroads is one of the best ways to increase Kindness.
- Notably, she tempers the drunk Ichiko's behavior around the main character, reminding her that she won't serve alcohol to a minor, but will still let him hang out at and even work at the bar. She's also very discrete, and gives Ichiko and Joker some time alone when it's important.
Shipper on Deck: Lala does this with a few girls that Joker can romance.
- If Joker romances Makoto, Lala witnesses it happen and is encouraging of the relationship.
- Late in Ohya's Confidant, Lala goes to the backroom to grab a bottle of wine. If Joker sticks to being friends with Ohya instead of romancing her, she complains that the heat's too high and Lala is taking too long, implying that she was supportive of a possible relationship and tried to get them hooked up.
Smoking Is Cool: An overall nice figure, Lala is always smoking a cigarette when you see her.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ichiko. They often exchange jabs, with Lala needling Ichiko for her drinking and Ichiko once suggesting that Lala's an "Escargot" or "snail" because she's slow, but they trust in one another, and Lala's one of the few Ichiko trusts.

Takakura

A high-ranking employee of Okumura Foods and a notable figure in Haru's confidant.

Good All Along: Haru's initial distrust of him makes him out as an antagonist, but turns out he's a completely sincere guy.
Good Counterpart: Could be viewed as this to Haru's father. Unlike Okumura, Takakura actually wanted to continue the legacy set by Haru's grandfather of selling more healthy and organic food, but got stonewalled by Okumura. Not only does Takakura try to act as a Parental Substitute for Haru after Okumura's death, but he also looks to to want to veer Okumura Foods back to their original vision.
Honest Corporate Executive: Not much of his business practices are known, but he turns out he takes being the interim chief executive until Haru can inherit seriously and honestly and lets Haru join a company meeting so she can have a say in the company's direction.
Malicious Slander: He's not responsible for it, but is the target of one by some board members at Okumura Foods, claiming that he was pleased by Okumura's sudden death due to him wanting to steer the company in its original vision, which causes Haru to have hesitation to trust him.
My Greatest Failure: He confesses to Haru he was unable to protest Okumura's decision to close her grandfather's beloved cafe (whom he was a regular at) because he wasn't in a high position at the time and his current decision to start a chain of low-cost cafes named after the cafe was something he wanted to do to make up for it.
Nice Guy: Turns out to be a pretty pleasant person.
Parental Substitute: Attempts to act as this towards Haru after Okumura died. Because of Poor Communication Kills, Haru initially misreads Takakura's support as him trying to push her out of his way.
Poor Communication Kills: His attempts to help Haru are genuine, but misguided thanks to both of them not quite understanding each other. For example, he was under the impression that Haru was looking forward to marrying her fiancé, which is why he kept offering to set up the wedding. When they start being honest with each other, he's quick to realize that she actually has feelings for the protagonist, and helps her call off the engagement.
Reasonable Authority Figure: One of the most notable examples in the game, since he helps Haru get out of marrying her fiancé.

Eiko Takao

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eiko.jpg

Voiced by: Yū Sasahara (JP, Persona 5: The Animation), Abby Trott (EN, Persona 5: The Animation)^note

A third-year girl that Makoto befriends during her Confidant.

Adaptational Nice Guy: Eiko in the anime is more sensible and less ditzy. She seemed to genuinely want to help Tsukasa with a "broken sake bottle" incident when she asked Makoto for money (and doesn't get as angry with Makoto when Makoto refuses) and once she learns the truth about him, she posts his misdeeds on the Phansite, making a him a target for the Phantom Thieves.
Book Dumb: Her grades are bad enough that Makoto struggles to find a polite way to describe them. Unfortunately for her, she's street dumb as well, leading to her problems with Tsukasa.
The Ditz: She gets terrible grades and is easily tricked, nearly leading her to fall victim to Tsukasa’s ploy to sell her into sex trafficking.
Dramatically Missing the Point: In the rank 7-8 event, Makoto hears Eiko ask her for money, then calmly informs her about how suspicious Tsukasa is, and the fact that he'd been texting Makoto soon after meeting her. Eiko then jumps to the conclusion that Makoto's trying to steal Tsukasa away.
Five Stages of Grief: Her response to Tsukasa using her has elements of this. She spends much of Rank 8 in Denial, refusing to accept the evidence against Tsukasa, although her reaction to Makoto calling Tsukasa out on the use of the "princess" nickname indicates she has her suspicions. She then switches to Anger after Tsukasa calls her by Makoto's name, blaming Makoto for deceiving Tsukasa. Her response to Makoto slapping her is a mixture of Anger and Depression, with her lamenting how Tsukasa is the only one who treats her like she's special(while not denying Makoto's accusations) and accusing Makoto of not understanding her. By the end of Makoto's Confidant, Eiko reaches Acceptance.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Foolish sibling to her younger brother's Responsible. Eiko doesn't really put much thought into her future and gets involved with a manipulative host. Meanwhile her brother is rather talented.
Green-Eyed Monster: She admits in a fit of anger that she's jealous of Makoto's grades.
Horrible Judge of Character: She fails to see fairly obvious red flags regarding Tsukasa, such as his story about breaking an expensive sake bottle at work.
I Just Want to Be Special: Why she was (willfully) blind to truth of her relationship with Tsukasa. Being The Unfavorite, getting bad grades in school and no one around to simply ask her how her day was, she latched onto the first guy to treat her like a princess.
Nepotism: She hopes her parents will use their connections to get her a job.
Odd Friendship: With Makoto. Makoto's an honors student who's out of touch with her peers, while Eiko is Book Dumb and in a relationship. In spite of their differences, they become friends over the course of Makoto's Confidant, and while the relationship is strained toward the end, they reconcile by Rank 10.
Selective Obliviousness: According to Makoto, deep down, Eiko's secretly aware that Tsukasa's a scumbag, but desperately wants things to be real with him. Eiko's home life and school life are both so bad that she latched on to the first guy who showed her any attention, and she threw herself into the relationship because she wants it to work. And she did all of this knowing that things working out with Tsukasa was a longshot.
Shipper on Deck: For Makoto and Joker, who she assumes are in a Secret Relationship during Makoto's confidant.
Spoiled Brat: Zig-zagged. While she certainly acts spoiled at times, especially counting on her parents to get her a job, and her family is well-off, she's actually The Unfavorite at home.
Tarot Motifs: Reverse Priestess - Withdrawal, Lack of intuition. Her status as The Unfavorite has left her craving attention, so much so that she is either unwilling or unable to realize that Tsukasa is a sleaze of epic proportions who is only setting her up for a debt scam.
The Un-Favourite: According to Makoto, her parents only pay attention to her talented brother.
Valley Girl: She speaks like this in the English version, and she certainly fits the shallow, ditzy stereotype.

Tsukasa

A host in Shinjuku and Eiko's boyfriend. In the anime, he's also a Shadow in Mementos, taking on the form of the demon Anzu.

Adaptational Karma: He ends up getting a change of heart in the anime.
Arc Villain: For Makoto's Confidant, thanks to him abusing Eiko.
Ascended Extra: He becomes a full-blown Mementos target in the anime.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: A seemingly pleasant and charming man who specializes in tricking girls into getting into debt and selling them to the sex trade.
Bullying a Dragon: He threatens both Makoto and Joker, unaware that the former is a trained martial artist, and the other is the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Luckily for him, the two don't go down the violent route.
Dirty Coward: He acts tough, but once he realizes that Makoto and Joker have the ability and desire to fight back, Tsukasa shows that he's all bark and no bite and runs for it.
Engineered Public Confession: Thanks to Makoto tricking him, Tsukasa gives a Wrong-Name Outburst that proves he doesn't so much as remember Eiko's name.
Karma Houdini:
- His scheme is thwarted in Eiko's case, but Makoto and the protagonist are unable to ensure that he suffers any consequences for his actions or keep him from targeting new girls.
- Subverted in the anime where the Phantom Thieves defeat his Shadow — Anzu — soon after Makoto gets Eiko to break up with Tsukasa.
Tarot Motifs: Reversed Priestess - in his case, the meaning is harm, secrets, and hidden agendas.
The Nicknamer: He calls all his girls "princess" to prevent him from having to remember their names. Makoto sees through it, and uses this to ensure his undoing.
Would Hit a Girl: He threatens to hurt Makoto, saying he won't hold back just because she's a girl. Thankfully, as a result of her standing her ground and the protagonist's intervention, he's forced to back off.
Wrong-Name Outburst: After getting a text from Makoto in Eiko's style, Tsukasa, thinking that Eiko sent it, calls her "Makoto", proving that he's a scammer who can't tell any of his marks from one another.

Kaoru

The adopted son of Munehisa. He's known to be a hard-working student.

Big Eater: Iwai suspects that he's going to go through a lot of growth spurts due to the sheer amount of food he's eating.
Distressed Dude: Was kidnapped by Masa in Rank 9 for ransom of custom made guns.
Doorstop Baby: Ten years ago when Iwai was still in the Yakuza, a woman came around their office carrying a baby and went on and on about how she wanted to sell it. Munehisa guessed she was junkie spinning a yarn to get drug money out of him, but when he said no, the woman suddenly sat the baby down and ran off. That baby was Kaoru and Iwai's decision to take care of him was his main motivation to leave the mob.
Happily Adopted: By Iwai. If fact, Kaoru's main issue with him is that he wants to be closer to his father but Iwai keeps his distance so he won't learn about his criminal past, which ended up leading Kaoru to believe he's just a burden to him.
Locked Out of the Loop: Iwai is keeping Kaoru in the dark about two important things: his criminal past and the real circumstances surrounding Kaoru's adoption.
Nice Guy: He assures Munehisa that he doesn't care about his past when he finds out, but he appreciates that he was working very hard to get him to a good school.
Secret-Keeper: Guesses the protagonist could be a member of the Phantom Thieves from all the hard work he willing to go through for Iwai.
Younger Than They Look: He looks like he's the same age as Joker, but according to Iwai, he's only 12 years old.

Nanami Shibuya

One of the employees in the convenience store in downtown Shibuya. She helps Joker with his part-time job.

Friend to All Living Things: She is horrified by the brutal killing of several cats, and requests to the Phantom Thieves indirectly through Joker for the killer to have a change of heart.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: As mentioned above, she has a soft spot for cats, which is why she's upset to find hurt or injured cats.
Meaningful Name: The convenience store she works in is named Triple Seven, and located in Shibuya. In Japanese, "Nana" can mean "Seven", "Mi" can mean "Three" (So 'Three Sevens') and Shibuya is self-explanatory.
Nice Girl: Warm, accommodating, and happy to lend a hand whenever needed, even during her off-shift hours.

Hanasaki

The owner of the Flower Shop in the Shibuya Underground Mall. She can employ Joker to help her work during the day.

Everyone Has Standards: She warns Joker when she hears rumors of someone who is assaulting people around Shibuya. This is how Joker gets the Mementos Target.
Innocent Flower Girl: Gives off this vibe, though without any of the illness traits.
Nice Girl: She is very friendly and as a boss is very accommodating, her job of making bouquets is to convey positive emotions. Working for her boosts Joker's kindness.

Akio Kawanabe

The director of an art student foundation and talent scout who approaches Yusuke during his Confidant events.

Corrupt Corporate Executive:
- When trying to scout Yusuke, he gloats about the possibility of utilizing Yusuke's background and looks to market him as a "tragic, handsome artist". Yusuke has none of it and tries to prove him wrong by entering an art competition the foundation is hosting. Once Yusuke wins, Kawanabe subverts this trope by admitting that the provocations were a deliberate attempt to ignite Yusuke's competitive spirit.
- The anime goes a little further with this, having Akechi suspect him of using his organization to illegally move funds through shell companies. Kawanabe's assistant alone turns out to have been responsible for that crime.
Hidden Depths: He used to be a close friend to Madarame, telling Yusuke some details about his former sensei that he never knew. Kawanabe considers helping Yusuke to be a personal investment; he doesn't want anybody else turning out like himself or Madarame.
Secret Test of Character: All of his egocentric gloating was him provoking Yusuke so that he would get out of his funk. He apologizes after the fact, admitting that the method was rather crude.
We Used to Be Friends: He was once a former colleague and friend of Madarame before the latter became disillusioned by the reality of art politics.

Masa

Tsuda's subordinate, and an acquaintance of Iwai's.

Arc Villain: Shares this status with Tsuda near the end of the Confidant, once it's revealed that he was scheming to take Tsuda's place.
Chekhov's Gunman: He's introduced as a minor NPC in Iwai's Confidant, but later turns out to be an antagonist.
I Have Your Wife: He takes Kaoru hostage, threatening to harm him or tell him the truth about his family if Iwai doesn't give him the guns that he made for Tsuda.
Oh, Crap!: His reaction when Tsuda shows up and points a gun at him, helping Iwai to save Kaoru.
The Starscream: His ultimate goal is to take Tsuda's position as second-in-command. While he does manage to oust Tsuda, he lacks the accomplishments to take his place. Meanwhile, Tsuda is pretty pissed at him and very likely kills him offscreen both for his betrayal and for threatening Kaoru.
The Stool Pigeon: He tells his bosses that Tsuda lied about the weapons deal, resulting in Tsuda getting excommunicated shortly after his change of heart. He's a Betrayer Barry, since he did it to take Tsuda's job.

Shibusawa

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Kyle Hebert (English)

Takuto Maruki's friend from college who he unexpectedly runs into again in the present.

Foreshadowing: While talking to Joker and Maruki at the Wilton Buffet, Shibusawa finds out Maruki is still working on his paper from college. Shibusawa is impressed and calls him the "most stubborn man in the world". The Thieves in the Third Semester find out just how much of a stubborn Determinator he really is.
The Generic Guy: There is not much to Shibusawa besides being Maruki's generic nice friend that sometimes worries about him. This trope is also used to emphasize how abnormal Maruki's life is. Shibusawa is set to get married soon and tells Maruki he is the last person in their college group who is still single. All the while Maruki is still unwilling to move past his last girlfriend and is stuck on finishing research from college.
Last-Name Basis: He never seems to refer to Maruki by his first name.
Nice Guy: He is always shown to be very kind and helpful, much like Maruki. He also treats Joker to an expensive meal at the Wilton Buffet within minutes of meeting him.
Red Herring: A very minor case. Shibusawa is a new character in Royal and has a Character Portrait which implies he would be at least somewhat important. A lot of players may assume he would be Maruki's antagonist for his Confidant. He isn't. In fact he barely has any screentime at all.
Satellite Character: Shibusawa is in the narrative entirely to be a satellite to Maruki and as a reason for the player to learn about Maruki's past.
Secret-Keeper: He seems to be at least somewhat aware that Rumi and Maruki did not have a normal end to their relationship, given how uncomfortable he was to even bring her up. How much he actually knows about the situation is not explored. Whatever he knows, he does not bring it up in front of Joker.
Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in three scenes total. Once in Maruki's Confidant, once in a flashback, and once as an optional NPC in the Playable Epilogue to tell Joker how Maruki is doing now ever since leaving his job as the Shujin counselor and after his Change of Heart. Despite this limited screentime, Shibusawa is the one that recommended Maruki pursue a career in counseling, which is how he meets Joker and the Phantom Thieves. He is also the one that peer reviews Maruki's paper, which is how he gets the legitimacy to approach his old professor on the Day of Reckoning. This is how he fully awakens his Persona.

Yoshizawa's Father (Unmarked Spoilers)

Shinichi Yoshizawa

The father of the Yoshizawa sisters and their sole legal guardian, he hosts the talk show where Akechi makes his first appearance. He's quite overprotective and more often than not calls Kasumi home when she goes out alone for too long.

Good Parents: While he suffers from a lack of screen time, what little he has establishes clearly that he loves Sumire deeply, and the video of him in Maruki's Palace has him weeping over Kasumi's death.
Nice Guy: While he might be overly protective at times, he cares a lot for both of his daughters. Compared to most of the other adults who are either neglectful and/or abusive in this story, he's a refreshingly different addition.
Open-Minded Parent: Judging from Sumire was already going into Shujin as "Kasumi" a month after Kasumi's death, he found help for Sumire really quickly.
Parents as People: When Sumire was severely crippled by her Survivor's Guilt because of the real Kasumi sacrificing herself to prevent her from being ran over by a car, he decided to push her to Maruki, hoping he could help her out of her depression even though Sumire didn't want to go.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Unlike most other parental figures seen in the course of the game, he's a decent parent for both of his daughters.
Red Herring: Teased in both the main story and the Third Semester.
- He works at the same TV station that's run by the TV Executive noble serving Shido, which can make you suspect that he's a loyal crony of the Antisocial Force. In reality, much like the teachers in Shujin, he's only loosely affiliated with them by his job (not unlike Sae) and genuinely cares for his remaining daughter's well-being.
- He shows up for the first time on New Year's Day, and turns out to be a good natured parent, though he unintentionally creeps out Joker and Sumire when Maruki censors him trying to call Sumire by her actual name.

Maruki's Girlfriend (Unmarked Spoilers)

Rumi

Voiced by: Haruka Terui (Japanese)

Maruki's ex-girlfriend whose parents were murdered a few years prior to the events of the game. As a result, she suffered from catatonic depression and PTSD that resulted in hallucinations and flashbacks to her parents' death.

Maruki's anger at a reality that would make someone as innocent and good-natured as Rumi suffer like this eventually awakened him to the power of Adam Kadmon, the creator of wisdom, with which Maruki was able to grant Rumi's wish of forgetting her pain. At the cost of having most of her memories overwritten, she was freed from her extreme depression and trauma, and was able to resume a relatively normal life. Not wanting to chance Rumi relapsing by regaining her original memories, Maruki gave her a cheap excuse and distanced himself from her afterwards. Statues of her can be seen at the Twilight Corridor section of Maruki's Palace, and the newsletter about her parent's murder becomes Maruki's treasure. The protagonist keeps this newsletter as a Memento MacGuffin of his and Maruki's friendship.

Despair Event Horizon: Her whole family got murdered, causing her to fall into a total catatonic depression.
Empty Shell: She's so depressed that she can't even talk, and only by her Trauma Button moment will you know that she is actually alive.
Gameplay and Story Integration: Rumi loses her Character Portrait shortly after Maruki removes her memories, specifically after Maruki mentions that his girlfriend has passed away. The game UI indicates the original Rumi is gone.
The One That Got Away: A truly tragic example. She and Maruki were all set to live a happy life together, until the fateful day she saw her parents murdered and mentally shut down as a result. Maruki's Persona gave her the chance to recover by erasing her memories of the incident, but not without removing her memories of Maruki with them. He clearly still misses her greatly, with his treasure even being a newspaper clipping of the night of the murder, but he resolved to distance himself from her so that she could live a happier life without the possibility of his presence causing her to backslide and to find a way to help others find what he believes is their happiness.
Reflectionless Useless Eyes: While catatonic. They go away after she's actualized into forgetting about her trauma.
Satellite Character: Everything about Rumi's character begins and ends with the relation to Maruki. Her trauma is less about her and more about how it motivated a man in her life. It's never even suggested what happened to her after Maruki's defeat.
Significant Birth Date: Rumi's birthday is February 3rd^note. This is the same date as the Day of Fates, the deadline for Maruki's Palace and the True Final Boss of Royal. During the fist fight event battle with Maruki, he even states that he's doing this for her.
Small Role, Big Impact: While she only appeared in a flashback in person, she is very significant to the development of Maruki's Sanity Slippage. Maruki's Treasure is also a newspaper clipping about the death of her family.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The very way that she is catatonically depressed will bring forth Persona Q2 flashbacks, where that game's OC Hikari behaved exactly in the same way by the end of her completely bloodless Trauma Conga Line.
Trauma Button: Simply reminding her about her family brings her into a Flashback Echo trip that she obviously doesn't enjoy.
Walking Spoiler: Knowing about her sheds a significant amount of light on Maruki's situation and motivations.

Coach Hiraguchi (Unmarked Spoilers)

Coach Hiraguchi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p5r_coach_hirakuchi_21_5.png

Voiced by: Akari Kitou (Japanese), Ryan Bartley (English)

The Yoshizawa sisters' gymnastics coach, who appears in the latter half of Sumire's Confidant.

Hot Teacher: She's certainly quite easy on the eyes.
Reasonable Authority Figure: In the ending, when Sumire asks to take a break from practice to help free Joker from juvenile hall, Hiraguchi vetoes the proposal and instead comes up with one of her own. If Sumire continues with practice, she'll speak to some of her contacts and ask other trainees. Her reasoning is that this will accomplish more than Sumire could on her own, and is also what Joker would want, and Sumire agrees that this is for the best.
Shipper on Deck: Regardless of whether Joker romances Sumire or not, she notes how cute the two of them look together.
So Proud of You: She praises Sumire after seeing her develop her own routine in the final event of the Faith Confidant.
Stern Teacher: She's quite strict and rarely gives praise, but nevertheless cares for the Yoshizawa sisters. She also helps Sumire understand that Kasumi saw her as a rival, and thus believed in Sumire's potential.
Training from Hell: A more benevolent example than Kamoshida. While Sumire mentions that she and Kasumi were sometimes reduced to tears at the end of practice, they both respect Hiraguchi.

Other Antisocial Force members

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p5_senkyo.png

A logo present in Shido's Palace symbolizing him and his associates

A cabal in Tokyo seeking to supplant the current government and enslave the masses. Their members hold high positions within society; from politician to law enforcement all the way down to school faculty. Having discovered the Cognitive World through Wakaba Isshiki's research, the Antisocial Force use a hitman who is able to traverse it to remove anyone who would pose a threat to them by triggering a mental shutdown.

Batman Gambit: Following the arrest of Kaneshiro (one of their major financial backers), the Antisocial Force pull off a plan spanning several months to discredit the Phantom Thieves. First, the IT Company President uses the Medjed label to threaten Tokyo if the Thieves do not reveal themselves; this is a bluff, meant to bolster the Thieves' popularity. Then he hacks the Phantom Aficionado Website and boosts Kunikazu Okumura to the top of their change-of-heart request list, guaranteeing public belief that Okumura will have a change of heart. This plan allows the conspiracy to kill two birds with one stone; by bumping off Okumura, a loose end and a possible competitor to Shido, the Phantom Thieves will be blamed for his murder on top of the other mental shutdowns. Once the Thieves' reputation tanks, they have Akechi bait them to Niijima's Palace to get them arrested. The only reason they failed is because Akechi was out-gambitted and the other members are so incompetent that they shoot themselves in the foot by not following up to make sure Joker is dead.
The Conspiracy: The organization consists of people who hold powerful positions in Tokyo, and are secretly causing psychotic breakdowns throughout the city for their own selfish desires.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Quite a few members of this criminal conspiracy are business executives.
Decapitated Army: Subverted. The Phantom Thieves believe that changing Shido's heart will put an end to the conspiracy. Unfortunately, his cronies continue to work behind the scenes to maintain their power, and Yaldabaoth influences the public consciousness to render the Thieves' efforts meaningless.
Dirty Cop: The Antisocial Force has many policemen in their pockets. The corruption goes all the way to the top of the SIU, as its Director is Shido's lackey.
Don't Celebrate Just Yet: After Joker's supposed death, the organization simply brushes him off as an afterthought without even confirming his death other than having a doctor under their payroll sign a fake death certificate. They never even checked the status of the policeman whom Joker supposedly killed before shooting himself. It bites them in the ass after the Phantom Thieves send their Calling Card to Shido, upon which they realize Joker is absent from the morgue and Akechi is nowhere to be found.
Evil Is Petty: Stealing Wakaba Isshiki's research and having her murdered to ensure her silence is simple cold-blooded villainy. Their hitman's modus operandi even allows the act to be framed as Wakaba committing suicide. What takes these psychopaths over the edge is their subsequent forging of a suicide note laying the blame for Wakaba's declining mental state at the feet of her young daughter Futaba, reading said note aloud at Wakaba's funeral, and turning her daughter's family into an angry mob screaming at a little girl. It's an inhumanly vile act that seemingly serves no higher purpose beyond sheer cruelty.
Fascist, but Inefficient: With the exception of Black Mask, everyone in Shido's Antisocial Force is so incompetent that they wouldn't get close to taking over Japan if not for Yaldabaoth's manipulations. Sometimes members like Kobayakawa and Kaneshiro can cross paths and shoot themselves in the foot ^note, and they undo their "victory" against the Phantom Thieves by not even bothering to check the morgue for Joker's corpse because they're too confident, leading to them being completely blindsided when the Phantom Thieves broadcast Shido's calling card and announce that Joker isn't and was never dead.
Greater-Scope Villain: All the story's early antagonists can be traced back to them. Kamoshida is not a member, but his crimes are covered up by one (Kobayakawa) to keep Shujin under the radar. Madarame and Kaneshiro contribute their ill-gotten gains to finance this group. The Medjed antagonizing the Phantom Thieves during the summer is actually a sock puppet controlled by one of its members. Even the antagonist of the third semester in Royal is connected to them as his research on cognitive psience was stolen by them.
Hate Sink: With the exception of Black Mask and debatably Okumura and the Yakuza Cleaner, all of the Force's members are despicable assholes who want to take over Japan by any means necessary.
The Heavy: Black Mask AKA Goro Akechi is the organization's hitman and the only person capable of entering the Cognitive World. Without him, the Conspiracy wouldn't have been lasted so long and come so far.
The Man Behind the Man: It turns out Shido's accomplishments up to this point have been because of an Eldritch Abomination pulling a lot of strings from the Cognitive World.
Meaningful Name: According to legal definition, an Antisocial Force in Japan is an organized crime group like the Yakuza, a political group that incites and/or threatens to use violence to force its demands to be fulfilled and their supporters, or organizations consisted of fraudsters, con-men or revolutionaries who desire to overturn the current social order. Fitting for Shido's group, which contains all of these at the same time.
No Name Given: The group is only officially named in the Japanese version of Strikers. The base game and Royal just call them the Conspiracy.
Professional Butt-Kisser: Shido demands that his associates have complete loyalty towards him and do everything he tells them to do, skills and abilities be damned. His own Shadow even lampshades it when he battles with the Phantom Thieves:
Shadow Shido: There's no need for thieves in my mighty country. Only me and the ones who revere me are needed.
The Remnant: By the time of Strikers, the group has only a fraction of their original power and only a few members remain, led by Jyun Owada. With his arrest at the end of the game, combined with Public Security revealing their existence to the public, the group is all but finished.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Whether it be extortion, harassment, or even murder, any member can get away with their crimes just because they have connections with Shido, putting whoever they don't like under the risk of a mental shutdown or psychotic breakdown.
Stupid Evil: Nobody in the group save for Akechi are noticably brilliant or intelligent. This is both good news and bad news — the bad news is that they're completely indiscriminate in who they'll target and ignore the consequences completely, often to their own detriment. The good news is that even if they do something brilliant like their Batman Gambit against the Phantom Thieves, they'll undo it by doing something stupid. It gets to the point that Shido goes out of his way to kill Akechi, which is essentially the equivalent of political suicide since Akechi is his main untraceable hatchet man and removing him from the picture means effectively defanging himself. If not for Yaldabaoth essentially brainwashing the public for fun and Akechi killing off anyone who dares annoy Shido, they wouldn't have even come close to taking over Japan and all of its members would've been arrested quickly.
Sword of Damocles: Strip away their facade of an omnipotent evil conspiracy encompassing all over Japan and can see everything, kill people out of nowhere and take over Japan in one election, and all that remains is a a group of busybodies and yes-men who have close to zero threat value bar Akechi killing anyone they don't like with a mental shutdown. This ties to the panopticon motif in Mementos (where a warden watches over a group of inmates from the bottom and prevents them from rebelling), since this makes sure the entirety of Tokyo can be forced into complacency by a single mentally unstable boy who will kill for a politician.
Take Over the World: Taking over Japan is only a stepping stone for them. Once Shido is Prime Minister, they plan to spread their influence to the rest of the world.
Unwitting Pawn: They boast of being chosen by God to be the rulers of the new world, not realizing that they are simply chess pieces in said god's game.
Villain with Good Publicity: Subverted. Shido's political conspiracy commands great respect among the masses, to the point that even after Shido's Change of Heart, the people of Tokyo still refuse to see him as anything but a just man, but it's really only because of Yaldabaoth literally controlling and distorting the masses' cognition into apathy just to mock Igor and humanity in general. After he's taken down, it doesn't take long before the law strikes them at full force.
Would Hurt a Child: Futaba is proof that these monsters are not above ruining the lives of children if they can get away with it and think they stand to benefit from it.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- Just because you're in his political entourage doesn't mean you'll be safe from Shido's wrath. He can act friendly towards his connections to the point that their cognitions in his Palace are fused with their Shadow Selves and are virtually indistingushable from their real selves, but so long as he doesn't like somebody or they show any sign of being anything but his Professional Butt-Kissers, they're dead.
- The police officer who guards Joker's interrogation room was to be killed by Akechi in order to not leave any witnesses to Joker's assassination. Fortunately, the one Akechi killed was a fake and Sae manages to tell the officer to go into hiding.

Principal Kobayakawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ww_65.png

Voiced By: Keiji Hirai (JP); Richard Epcar (EN)
Stage actors: Takuo Yamagishi (The Stage)

The principal of Shujin Academy who reluctantly allowed the protagonist to be transferred into his school.

Alas, Poor Villain: Heavily downplayed. The entire student body couldn't care less about his death with his crimes, but the Phantom Thieves apart from Ryuji are noticeably dejected about it and horrified about being framed for a murder.
Animal Motifs: His fat head, fin-like ears, over-all roundness, and yellow-gold suit makes him look like a goldfish. Seems kind of strange since in China and Japan, goldfish are considered signs of good luck, But they can also symbolize wealth and abundance. Perhaps even more so, it can also be taken as a metaphor or being a small fish in the overall conspiracy. On a more sinister note, a dead fish is also the symbol of bad fortunes on the horizon... and Kobayakawa is killed before things start to turn capital-U Ugly for the Thieves.
Asshole Victim: He gets murdered by Black Mask when he tries to reveal Shido's crimes to the police. His death was then used in order to frame the Phantom Thieves. Having known about Kamoshida's abuses and then Kaneshiro's blackmailing of his student body and just letting it all slide, it's hard to feel sorry for Kobayakawa even if he was trying to sell out Shido before his death.
Bald of Authority: Subverted. Despite being the one in charge of the school, the egg-head shaped Kobayakawa is a lower ranked member of the Antisocial Force that's trying to get Shido elected, and as such he takes his orders from the SIU Director, who's taking his orders from Shido. Naturally, when Kobayakawa fails to uncover the identity of the Phantom Thieves who very obviously started at his school, Shido shows just how little authority Kobayakawa has by having him killed.
Blood from the Mouth: Just before his death, he's seen bleeding from the mouth as he turns his head towards the truck that hits him.
Create Your Own Hero: His forcing Makoto to investigate the Phantom Thieves ultimately leads to her joining them.
Dean Bitterman: He doesn't give a crap about the well-being of the students and is only concerned about the school's public image; not only does he allow Kamoshida to physically assault the volleyball team members and sexually harass the female students just because he gives Shujin Academy a lot of good publicity, but he allowed the protagonist to enroll in the school not because he wants to reform a "delinquent", but because the school would see its reputation improved thanks to it. The cherry on top of the cake is that he emotionally manipulates Makoto into doing his dirty work, which puts her life in great danger and almost causes her to be sold as a sex slave by Kaneshiro.
Despair Event Horizon: If Joker talks to him one last time before the Hawaii trip, he fearfully expresses his plan to sell out the Antisocial Force is ultimately fruitless and that he is doomed.
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He has a nameplate on his desk that simply says "Principal". In Japanese, his name is never even revealed.
Evil Principal: He allows a violent sexual predator to act unimpeded in his school, he cares far more about his school's reputation than his students' well-being, he's a low-ranking member of an evil Government Conspiracy, and he uses the prospect of college admissions to goad his overachieving student council president into picking a fight with a hangure.
Fat Bastard: He's very portly, and though he's not as vile as Kaneshiro, his attempts at manipulating Makoto and knowing about Kamoshida's actions while turning a blind eye make him an unpleasant person.
Faux Affably Evil: He's polite to Makoto, but in a way that's meant to pick at her insecurities and pressure her into finding the Phantom Thieves.
Foreshadowing: His inaction towards Kamoshida and Kaneshiro despite knowing that both are doing horrible things to his students. This is what foreshadows Shido ordering Black Mask to kill him as doing both would have worked against Shido's conspiracy in the end. Had he reported Kamoshida to the police it would draw media attention to the school that could leak information about the Antisocial Force to the public. If he reported Kaneshiro, he would have been assassinated since Kaneshiro was a financial backer of the conspiracy. In fact, because the Phantom Thieves successfully get Kamoshida to confess to his crimes, the school gets the media attention he was trying to avoid, thus being why he is ordered to get killed by the conspiracy.
Gonk: He's very obese, to the point at which his body's almost egg-shaped, and looks like an uglier Kaneshiro, being just as overweight, but lacking Kaneshiro's visible neck, and having more wrinkles.
Hate Sink: He is a lazy jerk who couldn't care less about anything but PR, covers up Kamoshida's crimes in order to maintain his school's reputation, and is later revealed to be part of Shido's conspiracy.
Harmless Villain: He is so inept at finding out who the Phantom Thieves are and dealing with them that Makoto becomes a member under his nose and he doesn’t suspect a thing. The only reason he is even remotely a threat is because he had Makoto as his lackey.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: At the time of his death, Kobayakawa was on his way to a police station. It is implied that he knew Shido was losing patience with him and that he was about to seek police protection in exchange for information about Shido and the Antisocial Force. This is another possible reason why Shido arranged for his death.
He Knows Too Much: One of the reasons the Antisocial Force has him killed is so that, after cutting him out from the big picture, he wouldn't reveal anything regarding their conspiracy to the police.
Hoist by His Own Petard: In his efforts to uncover the identity of the Phantom Thieves, Kobayakawa unintentionally sets off the chain of events that leads to Makoto joining them and his death. To speed up Makoto's investigation, he decides to post announcements on the school bulletin board for the student body to report any suspicious rumors to the Student Council. Instead of reporting about the Phantom Thieves, students end up telling Makoto about gangsters from Shibuya who are strong arming them for their money. When Kobayakawa refuses to do anything when she tells them, Makoto instead turns to the Phantom Thieves to address this problem. This all leads to Makoto joining the Phantom Thieves, the Phantom Thieves stealing Kaneshiro's heart, and Kobayakawa suffering a mental shutdown for his failure to uncover their identities.
I Just Want to Be Special: In Royal, he can be found hunched over a bar after clearing Futaba's Palace, where he complains about wanting to feel important and live a life of luxury.
Kobayakawa: I just want everyone to envy me... I just want to feel like I'm important, and live a life of luxury... There's nothing wrong with that, right? That's all I want.
Jerkass: He isn't a good person. He knew all about yet covered up Kamoshida's crimes, effectively blackmails his best student into following his orders as if just telling her wasn't enough, and is, of course, a member of a criminal conspiracy. With that said, you might feel a little bad for him after all the ass-kissing and groveling he does to Shido over the phone, only to be tossed aside and killed off without a second thought.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk:
- He allowed Sojiro to enroll the protagonist into Shujin Academy despite the recent events that labeled him a juvenile delinquent, even if he's not entirely happy about doing so. However, he only did this because reforming a "delinquent" would give a lot of good publicity to the school.
- In Royal, he hires a school counselor after Kamoshida's abuses come to light. However, it's clear that he's not doing this out of concern for the students, but as a desperate attempt to salvage his and the school's reputation since both the abuses and the resulting PR disaster are his fault. The Thieves don't buy it for a second.
Karma Houdini Warranty: He got away with keeping Kamoshida out of trouble for (presumably) months at least. Later in the game, he suffers a mental shutdown and gets hit by a truck after he fails to make headway into uncovering the Phantom Thieves' identities.
Last-Name Basis: As a way of effectively translating the dialogue, he was given a surname in all non-Japanese translations of the game.
Lazy Bum: Completely apathetic and enables Kamoshida's crimes just to save his own skin and protect the school's reputation. When he's eavesdropped before his death in Royal, he also reveals that he joined Shido just because he could live a life of luxury.
Morton's Fork: Finds himself in such a situation during the Kaneshiro arc, he can’t do anything to help the students out because he and Kaneshiro work for the same conspiracy and Kaneshiro is one of its biggest financial backers, and doing anything to get in his way would likely result in him getting killed for his betrayal. But he can’t let his students continue to be used by gangsters because that could cost him his own job. So he decides to push responsibility for taking care of the situation on to Makoto.
Named by the Adaptation: Because of how the Japanese language is structured, he's simply referred to as "Principal" in the original Japanese version of the game. Some English versions of the game reveal his last name to be Kobayakawa.
Never Speak Ill of the Dead: The vice-principal gives Kobayakawa a flattering eulogy, but hardly anyone in the assembly is fooled.
No Name Given: In the original Japanese version of the game, his name is never given (as the structure of Japanese allows for him to be believably referred to as "Principal" in all interactions the player sees), but since it would be a little awkward for him to be utterly nameless in English in a few places, the translation gives him the surname Kobayakawa.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: Despite his incredible ineptitude, he was responsible for covering up Kamoshida’s crimes, allowing him to terrorize his students until the Phantom Thieves intervene.
Oh, Crap!: When he finds out about Kamoshida's change of heart, he begins to panic and orders Makoto to investigate the possibility that the Phantom Thieves might be students at Shujin (and that he might be next). His fears are, after a fashion, not ungrounded.
Pragmatic Villainy: In Royal, he hires Maruki to act as a guidance counselor after the Kamoshida incident, but it's openly speculated that he's only doing so to make himself look good rather than out of any genuine concern for the students' emotional well-being.
Red Herring: His earlier interactions may lead the player to believe he'll be a future target. While he is a member of the Antisocial Force, he's a relatively minor one, and suffers a You Have Failed Me.
Running Gag: His phone conversations with his superiors generally end with the latter hanging up on him mid-sentence, much to the principal's dismay.
Shame If Something Happened: Pulls this on Makoto during their first meeting. He basically tells her she better find out who the Phantom Thieves are for him or she can kiss her college recommendations goodbye, and that would be very unfortunate for her future and for Sae. Unfortunately for him, she eventually rejects his offer, and it's clear that he needs her more than she needs him.
Skewed Priorities: Even after Makoto points out that a Hangure are blackmailing students at his school, he is still more concerned with dealing with the Phantom Thieves.
Slave to PR: Taken to a sinister degree.
- Kobayakawa's entire motivation for approving Joker's admission into Shujin Academy despite his probation was because he wanted the positive publicity for "rehabilitating" him.
- He is obsessed with maintaining the perfect reputation of Shujin Academy to the point where he willingly turns a blind eye to corruption at his school. He was knowingly complicit in Kamoshida's physical and sexual abuse of the students but chose to ignore it because of the great publicity Kamoshida as an Olympic gold medalist was bringing to the school.
- Later in the game, when he pressures Makoto to investigate about the Phantom Thieves, she instead presents him with evidence of gangsters from Shibuya strong-arming students for money, but Kobayakawa again downplays it because he does not want Shujin to take bad press if word were to get out.
Small Role, Big Impact:
- He was killed by Black Mask in order to frame the Phantom Thieves, which is working since the public isn't sure if they're the ones responsible, and are heavily implied to have their cognition manipulated to think that they are responsible.
- His refusal to do anything about Kamoshida is what establishes the Phantom Thieves and with Kamoshida confessing to his crimes and the school getting more media attention, this sets things in motion for the Antisocial Force to manipulate the Phantom Thieves.
Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: He is the Laughable Lackey to Shido's Vile Villain. In contrast to his ruthless and dangerous boss, Kobayakawa's Gonk appearance and ineptitude makes him a complete joke who doesn't even come close to being a threat to the Phantom Thieves.
You Have Failed Me: He's killed for failing to make any progress on investigating the Phantom Thieves, as well as to frame the Phantom Thieves for his death.

SIU Director

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qq.png

Voiced By: Tomohisa Aso (JP), Kirk Thornton (EN)

Head of the Public Prosecutor's Special Investigation Unit in Tokyo, he's in charge of investigating high profile cases such as tax evasion and corruption.

Amoral Attorney: It's heavily implied that he's been falsifying evidence for a long time, and also works with the Antisocial Force to prevent Shido's crimes from coming to light.
Asshole Victim: Knowing that Black Mask has killed other conspirators before, you'd think he'd know better than to taunt a Metaverse explorer who can send people into shock. Apparently not...
Blackmail: Implied to be why he ended up on Shido's side. Black Mask tracked down his Shadow, learning from it that the director had been forging evidence to promote himself. Shido used this information in the real world to make him a puppet.
Cannot Keep a Secret: While it goes for all Shadows in general, his case warrants special mention: Akechi learned from his Shadow that he'd been forging evidence to keep up his suspiciously high conviction rates, then gave the information to Shido. Shido then blackmailed the SIU director, who had no idea who could have leaked the secret or how. He leaked it himself via his Shadow, which probably babbled it out to Akechi on their very first meeting.
Contemplative Boss: When he's not at his desk, he's standing and staring out his office window.
Dirty Cop: A thoroughly corrupt law enforcement official on the take from The Conspiracy, and it's insinuated many if not most of his officers are the same.
Evil Gloating: He engages in this while on the phone with his boss.
Evil Old Folks: He's an elderly member of the Antisocial Force and a very corrupt, unpleasant man.
Hate Sink: He is a corrupt and presumably misogynistic man who got to where he is now by submitting false evidence, and is willingly working with Shido in order to carry out his plans of taking over Japan while using his power to effectively blackmail Sae Niijima into finding the Phantom Thieves.
He Knows Too Much: Black Mask kills the Director via mental shutdown on the same day he "kills" Joker, as he was a direct link between Shido and the Phantom Thieves case and thus a security risk.
His Own Worst Enemy: Literally. His own Shadow tipped off Black Mask that the director was falsifying his cases; naturally, the director had no idea who could have betrayed this information.
Karmic Death: It seems only fitting that he meets his demise via mental shutdown—the exact same fate as the many people he gladly arranged to be disposed of under Shido's orders.
Mole in Charge: Helps the Antisocial Force out by ensuring evidence against the conspiracy and its leader never comes to light.
Mouth of Sauron: In a meta-sense, he's this to Shido for the benefit of the audience. His phone calls with Shido keep the audience in on the Antisocial Force's schemes without exposing who the leader is. After the SIU Director's killed off, Shido takes center stage in the narrative and speaks for himself for the rest of the story.
No Name Given: He is unnamed over the course of the story.
Police Brutality: He has his men capture, brutalize and drug Joker during the prologue.
Politically Incorrect Villain: When Sae gets suspended from the Phantom Thieves case he condescendingly suggests her to use her new free time to find a husband.
Professional Butt-Kisser: Practically every conversation he has with Shido ends up with him dabbling praise on his boss. Most notable example is when he backtracks himself into complimenting Shido for coming up with the plan to destroy the Phantom Thieves, even though it's implied that it was Black Mask who came up with it instead.
Red Herring:
- The way he's shown in early cutscenes may lead the player to suspect he's the Big Bad. The other tropes listed here should tell you otherwise.
- The player may also be led to believe that he becomes a target somewhere over the course of the game. In reality, he gets killed by Black Mask before the Thieves become aware he even exists.
Slasher Smile: He gets a nasty one on 10/26 after he assigns Sae to the Phantom Thieves case.
Smug Snake: He's overconfident and unpleasant, unaware that Shido has also been planning to kill him once he's no longer useful.
This Cannot Be!: Among his last words are "Even me?"
The Unfought: The Phantom Thieves never meet him in person, let alone his Shadow. They don't even become aware of his involvement in Shido's conspiracy until long after he's been disposed of.
Villain with Good Publicity: He's the head of the SIU office.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He becomes a victim of this after the protagonist's "suicide", with Shido viewing him as an unwanted loose end.

Haru's Fiancé/Sugimura

Sugimura

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harus_fiance.png

Voiced By: Hisayoshi Suganuma (JP), Phillip Reich (EN)

The son of a highly influential politician who was assigned a marriage to Haru by her father Okumura simply to allow him to compete presidency with Shido, with full knowledge that he doesn't care about her. His cognition in Okumura's Palace fights the party as a special Corporobo.

Arc Villain: He's the main source of problems in Haru's Confidant, as she deals with his attempts to ensure their arranged marriage goes through so he can take control of Okumura Foods.
Arranged Marriage: He's engaged to Haru as a means to benefit both their fathers. The consequence of not completing Okumura's Palace in time is Haru being forced to move in with him.
Backup Bluff: He keeps Haru tied to their Arranged Marriage by claiming that Okumura Foods will suffer huge repercussions if she doesn't comply. Late in Haru's confidant, though, Takekura (a top-ranking executive in Okumura Foods) mentions never hearing about this deal.
Big Bad Wannabe: Despite being introduced as a rather despicable antagonist, Sugimura's role pretty much evaporates once Okumura's Palace is gone. Haru even ends up dumping him off-screen during her Confidant after learning that he had been lying about their engagement being a contractual obligation.
Defiled Forever: He accuses Haru of being this just for hanging out past curfew with a guy who isn’t him.
Domestic Abuser: Treats Haru poorly, and is highly possessive of her. Given how Sugimura's cognitive duplicate acts inside the Okumura Palace, her father knows this and doesn't care.
Double Standard: Neither he nor Haru's father have any issues with him bedding multiple women, but both men consider Haru to be worthless as a woman after she spends a single night casually hanging out with Joker and his friends.
Ephebophile: Though Sugimura's age is ambiguous, Okumura's cognition of him remarks that having a "high-school fiancée" is a "turn-on".
Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only referred to as Haru's fiancé in the main plot. Haru's Confidant only reveals his surname.
Evil Gloating: After Joker's arrest and apparent suicide, he gloats to Haru's face that this means that Okumura has been avenged and that the Thieves couldn't change anything in the end.
Evil Is Petty: Unlike the other potential arrests of Joker, Sugimura doesn't have a reasonable cause to report him to the police besides spite.
Flat Character: He is abusive to Haru, an enormous asshole to everyone, and little else. He is more or less a walking justification for Haru joining the thieves and the deadline for completing Okumura’s Palace.
Gameplay and Story Integration: He makes his final appearance in the game in the animated cutscene right after the Casino Palace, where Joker's (supposed) suicide is reported to the public, riding in a limousine with Haru. At this point in the game, it's impossible to have reached Rank 9 for Haru's Confidant even if the player dedicated as much time as possible to it, where she learns she was never under any real obligation to marry him and severs ties with him completely.
Hate Sink: He solely exists to be as creepy, abhorrent, and repulsive as possible in order to justify infiltrating Okumura’s Palace.
Hypocrite: Sugimura gets hostile and aggressive towards the idea of Haru staying out past curfew, jumping to the conclusion that she must be dating someone behind his back. Naturally Okumura's cognition of him implies that he is actively seeing other women despite being engaged.
Jerkass: He's a self-centered abusive bastard who only wants to make Haru his sexual plaything and is plain extremely rude, cruel, and egotistical towards everyone else.
Karma Houdini: Infuriatingly, he gets no real comeuppance for his abuse of Haru and general scumbaggery; at most, he, an already loaded bachelor, misses out on a chance to marry into even greater wealth. He's quickly eclipsed as a threat and fizzles off the Phantom Thieves' radar in the face of the late-game antagonists, and his heart goes untouched.
Kick the Dog: Well, Kick the Cat, but same principle. He literally kicks Morgana into the wall after the latter tries getting between him and Haru.
Manipulative Bastard: Through allies in Okumura Foods, he manages to convince Haru in her social link that there's a reparations contract she would have to pay out to call off the engagement. Counting on her isolation and lack of business acumen, he fully planned on gaining control of Okumura Foods via preying on Haru's good nature.
Marital Rape License: He believes that his engagement to Haru entitles him to her body regardless of her consent.
Politically Incorrect Villain: He is extremely misogynistic in his treatment of Haru and is an implied serial womanizer.
Satellite Character: Everything about Sugimura is relative to Haru in some way, and he only appears whenever she is involved.
Smug Snake: He's full of himself and confident that he'll be able to get Haru's hand in marriage, as well as Okumura Foods once Okumura dies, unaware that his future father-in-law considers him as much of a pawn as the rest of his workers (which is why the cognitive version turns into a robot), and a high-ranking executive in Okumura Foods is willing to help Haru get out of it upon finding out about his sham "marriage contract".
Straw Misogynist: He is an abusive and misogynistic Jerkass who solely exists to justify the Thieves targeting Okumura, Haru joining the team, and push the message that arranged marriages are bad.
The Unfought: While Okumura’s cognition of him is fought in Okumura’s Palce, neither his real self nor his Shadow are fought anywhere in-game, even in Mementos.
Upper-Class Twit: He's the spoiled son of a member of the Diet, and he's never stated to have a job of his own. His and Haru's marriage is solely so that Kunikazu can enter the political world. He also casually comments that only the privileged few of the world have the right to change its destiny, not the general public and certainly not a band of upstart thieves.
Vague Age: He says at one point that having a high-school fiancé is a "turn-on", but the artstyle doesn't make him look that much older than Haru (who is seventeen).
You Are Fat: In Haru's Confidant, he tells Haru that if she has time to spend with people like Joker, she should spend on losing weight (when Haru is already pretty slender). His "recommendation" differs depending on the translation; the Japanese text has him tell her to go to beauty salons (which are known to have slimming massages), while the English version has him tell her to go to the gym.
Zero-Effort Boss: Downplayed; While his robot cognition can still kill you, it is merely used to demonstrate Haru's powers by being weak to her Psi attacks.

Five Nobles

In General

These influent and wealthy men are Shido's most trustworthy associates. They appear as half-Shadow Self cognitions in Shido's Cruiser Palace, and when confronted they take the form of Demons to attack.

Affably Evil: While they are obviously dangerous and manipulative people in real life, their cognition-shadows are friendly folk that can be easily socialized with... as long as you don't call them to hand out their invitation letters. If you do, they will usually snap and attack without mercy. (And even if they somehow do willingly give the letter to them, they will still manage to unintentionally enrage the Phantom Thieves to the point that they actually give them a beating.)
Co-Dragons: They are all suboordinates of Shido, and are stronger than average shadows in the game.
Early-Bird Cameo: Their real world selves appear shortly after Kamoshida's palace, during the Thieves' victory party at the hotel buffet.
Degraded Boss: Three of their Demon forms can be encountered during Shido's Palace (Forneus, Hanuman, Oberon) while Yamata-No-Orochi can be encountered in Mementos Depths. Ongyo-Ki cannot be recruited in the overworld, however.
Mini-Boss: How they function inside of Shido's Palace.
Quirky Miniboss Squad: Downplayed. They aren't really all that kooky and are all pretty terrible people in real life, but their shadows are significantly more goofy than their mass murdering boss and are subjected to some comedic scenes where the Thieves outwit them in occasionally humorous ways.
Villain with Good Publicity: All of them are influential, wealthy people holding big positions in media and politics. Except the Cleaner.

Ooe

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1_ooe.jpg

A pro-Shido politician who's part of his Antisocial Force. Shido's cognition of him fights the party as the demon Yamata-no-Orochi. The Thieves fight him in the Restaurant.

Evil Is Petty: He reveals that he was the mastermind behind the horrible train accident at the beginning of the game, which he did just because he wanted the Minister of Transportation and the president of the Tokyo Metro Company removed. The lives of all the other people he mangled don't matter to him in the slightest.
Villain with Good Publicity: He's a politician, but his party's never stated.

Former Noble

A member of Shido's Antisocial Force. He is a kazoku, a descendant of the aristocratic houses of Imperial Japan who were forced to renounce their titles after World War II. The cognitive version of him in Shido's Palace fights the party as the demon Forneus. The Thieves run into him at the Pool.

Aristocrats Are Evil: A descendant of nobility, and loyal to a wannabe dictator.
Blue Blood: His cognitive version tells the girls on how his family had this status before it was removed. It's a reference to how the Allied Forces removed the nobility status during the occupation of Japan.
Dirty Old Man: The girls manage to secure his cognitive version's letter of introduction by dressing up in swimsuits. Once they managed to do so, he starts to get touchy-feely with Ann, who of course doesn't take it well.
Fat Bastard: He's quite heavyset, which is fairly obvious when you see him in a swimsuit.
No Name Given: He is unnamed over the course of the story.
The Unfought: Hilariously Subverted. The female half of the Phantom Thieves actually manages to sweet-talk him into giving them his Letter of Introduction without a fight. However, in the process he proved to be not only an Upper-Class Twit, but enough of an Ephebophile to try to proposition Ann. The party then decides to kick his ass as a matter of principle.
Upper-Class Twit: He believes that one's lineage is everything and is dumb enough to fall for Ann's acting.

TV Station President

A member of the Antisocial Force who runs a TV network company. Shido's cognition of him fights the party as the demon Hanuman. The Thieves fight him in the Casino (in Shido's Palace, not to be confused with the Casino Palace).

Early-Bird Cameo: He first appears at the celebration dinner at the buffet after dealing with Kamoshida.
Faux Affably Evil: He's polite and attentive to Haru's proposal and actually writes his letter of introduction without a fight. Then he shows his malice when he praises Shido for getting rid of her father and shifting the blame to the Phantom Thieves at the same time, causing Haru and the Phantom Thieves to attack him in anger; something he was counting on.
Flunky Boss: He fights the party with two Garudas.
If It Bleeds, It Leads: A firm believer in this, to the point that he gloats about making a mint off his station's coverage of Kunikazu Okumura's gruesome death to the face of the man's grieving daughter.
Kick the Dog: While speaking with Haru, and well aware of who he's talking with, his cognitive version not only badmouths her father, but even gloats about using the broadcast of the exact moment of Kunikazu's mental shutdown for a huge ratings boost. While Haru had succeeded in getting the man's letter of introduction, she's enraged enough to demand an apology, resulting in a battle.
No Name Given: He is unnamed over the course of the story.
The Unfought: Subverted. Haru actually manages to talk Shido's Cognition of him into giving her a Letter of Introduction without a fight, however he stoops so low in his dog-kicking condescension to her and his Faux Affably Evil gloating about getting to broadcast her father's death on live television that she snaps at him and battle soon ensues.

IT Company President

Voiced by: Joe Zieja (English)

A member of Shido's conspiracy group who runs an IT company that's been manipulating the Phantom Thieves' public image. In Shido's Palace, the cognitive version of him fights the party as the demon Oberon. The Thieves fight him in his personal room.

Adaptational Villainy: In the Animation, the IT Company President does not merely resort to blank threats. Instead, he actually stages a mass blackout in Tokyo to actively intimidate the Thieves.
Arc Villain: He and his company are behind the fake Medjed during Futaba's arc.
Early-Bird Cameo: He first appears at the Wilton Hotel buffet during the Thieves' celebration dinner after dealing with Kamoshida.
Evil Counterpart: To Futaba. Like her, the IT President is a shut in who is rarely seen outside of his comfort zone.
Flunky Boss: Aided by two Titanias in the boss fight against his cognitive version. He'll call more should they fall.
The Man Behind the Man: Is the one behind the fake Medjed group.
No Name Given: His name is never revealed.
Psychopathic Manchild: The IT Company President may be a grown man, but his behavior is that of an entitled teen. He treats laws as obstacles to get around rather than rules to be followed, and tries to convince Futaba to follow his line of thinking. She is incensed by the comparison because she still has a moral compass. Possibly justified since he seems to be significantly younger than the other nobles.
Punch-Clock Villain: Unlike most of the other members of the Antisocial Force, the IT President is completely in the dark about the mental shutdowns.
Small Role, Big Impact: While he's nothing short of a cog in the whole machination of The Conspiracy, the defeat of his fake Medjed causes the Phantom Thieves' popularity to skyrocket. For all he does, he only appears in two scenes throughout the game, the second of which is his boss fight.
Villain Respect: He genuinely respects Futaba for her hacking abilities, not that it stops him from trying to kill the Phantom Thieves once they demand his letter of invitation.
Xanatos Gambit: His original plan for the fake Medjed was to stage its "defeat" at the Phantom Thieves' hands once the deadline had passed, making them more popular so the Antisocial Force could better manipulate them. Futaba's intervention was unexpected, but did nothing to their overarching scheme. It's also a Batman Gambit, since when he made the threats the Thieves wouldn't know it was a Shido crony staging the threats and Futaba was also trying to get Joker to Change her Heart in a way resembling blackmail, basically forcing the Thieves to go into extra trouble.

Medjed

This is what seems to be an international hacktivist group who threaten a mass-hacking attack on Japan if the Phantom Thieves don't expose themselves, since they believe themselves to be the only group allowed to expose the evils of society.

In reality, this is not the actual hacktivist group but the IT Company President capitalizing on the group's name to bait the Phantom Thieves into a trap. The actual Medjed is in fact Futaba - and she actually can induce a Japan-wide hacking attack all by herself.

Badass Creed: "We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil."
Bedsheet Ghost: Forms part of the logo^note, but its faded appearance makes it hard to spot on the low-resolution images in the game. The anime gives a more detailed closeup, making it easier to spot.
The Cracker: Zig-Zagged. Medjed is a whole organization of them, and probably could have managed to hold Japan for ransom. However, the person threatening the Thieves is a phony making empty threats who has no such ability. Futaba, however, easily qualifies for this as shown during the Shido calling card scene where she hijacks the whole public broadcast system in Tokyo.
Jack the Ripoff: The "Medjed" threatening Japan aren't the original Medjed, that was Futaba Sakura, and this one is just a decoy to bait the Thieves into The Antisocial Force's plan B. This is why she's able to defeat them so easily once she joins the team.
Motive Decay: Subverted. It's said that they originally stood for justice, but eventually started committing random cybercrimes just to stoke their own egos. This is because the group making the threat against Japan is not the original Medjed, it's a group working for the Antisocial Force using the Medjed name to make empty threats (and who likely may have done said random cybercrimes on the conspiracy's orders).
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Medjed's Badass Creed is quite similar to that of the real-world hacktivist collective Anonymous: "Anonymous is legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget."
Paper Tiger: They're not nearly the powerful, omniscient hacking organization they claim to be - actually, they aren't Medjed at all. It's just a Antisocial Force-backed IT Company President capitalizing on the Medjed name to make empty threats.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Named after an obscure god from Egyptian Mythology, though the name has a bit of a double-meaning, as Medjed the god was also something of an internet meme in real-life Japan. It's fitting that the geeky Futaba would choose a name like that.
Tautological Templar: Subverted. They say that they're against what the Phantom Thieves are doing, because in their mind, only they can deliver true justice. It's actually an empty threat - the Antisocial Force is just using the announcement itself to lure the Thieves into a Xanatos Gambit (if the Thieves turn themselves in, they win. If the Thieves do nothing (or, thanks to Futaba, actually stop them), they can fake Medjed's defeat to boost the popularity of the Thieves and bring them down later by pinning the mental shutdowns on them via killing Kunikazu Okumura).
The Unfought: While they're the antagonists of Futaba's chapter, her dungeon is the main focus, and she defeats them offscreen. Subverted, as the person behind it is actually fought (or at least, a cognition of him).

Yakuza Cleaner

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5_cleaner.jpg

Voiced by: David Forseth (EN)

A member of Shido's Antisocial Force Conspiracy who serves as his employer's primary real-world muscle, his main job being to "clean up" any loose ends by making people disappear. In Shido's Palace, the cognitive Cleaner deals with others on the cruise ship and personally fights as the demon Ongyo-ki. The Thieves chase him to the Engine Room and fight him there.

Affably Evil: Despite being in the Yakuza whose job is to clean up criminals, he is quite polite toward those that impress him.
Cleanup Crew: His cognitive version represents the criminals who clean up after Shido's crimes.
Dirty Coward: He often disappears whenever he tries to take down the Phantom Thieves with a gang of Shadows. He even does this again during the final encounter and stops running once he's truly cornered.
The Dreaded: The party's quite intimidated by him, and make a point of saving him until after they get the other letters of introduction. Mixed with Gameplay and Story Integration, it's Justified; unlike the other Nobles who simply transform into Degraded Bosses, he transforms into Ongyo-Ki, the ultimate tier Persona of the Hermit Arcana and in-game, he's about as strong as the Black Mask.
Graceful Loser: After being defeated by the Phantom Thieves, he congratulates them for taking him down and even wishes them the best when they go off to fight Shido saying they're definitely stronger than any other being in the Palace.
Hidden Depths: He disagrees with the other Thieves about the quality of Yusuke's Phoenix tattoo. He thinks it's unique. Yusuke thanks him for recognizing that. Unfortunately it leads to him demanding Yusuke to become his personal tattoo artist.
Know When to Fold Them: After he loses his fight, the cognitive Cleaner gives the letter of introduction and chooses to abandon Shido and the Antisocial Force.
No Name Given: He is unnamed over the course of the story.
Only in It for the Money: He's only a part of Shido's conspiracy because Shido is paying him. The moment his cognitive version views someone as strong enough to beat Shido he decides to leave, as the risk of being on Shido's side suddenly outweighs the reward. Haru notes that this is because politicians keep their relationships with shady connections purely professional, which is represented in the cognitive Cleaner's lack of loyalty.
Pet the Dog: Despite everyone else believing Yusuke's drawing of a phoenix was bad, the Cleaner, however, actually loves it much to Yusuke's delight.
Professional Killer: For Shido; a job that's shared with the Black Mask.
Punch-Clock Villain: Though he's short tempered and he's a Yakuza, he does not seem to be particularly sadistic. He also has no real loyalty to Shido.
Serious Business: The cognitive Cleaner refuses to give the party a letter of introduction if Yusuke doesn't join as his personal tattoo artist.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A powerful, high-ranking member of the Yakuza? With brightly-rimmed shades, slick-backed black hair, and a strikingly-similar ireizumi, down to how it wraps around the front of the shoulders and biceps? Daisaku Kuze, is that you? It doesn't help that both franchises are developed by SEGA subsidiaries.
Tattooed Crook: He has several tattoos under his suit, and tries to get Yusuke to draw him "a godly phoenix."
Worthy Opponent: His cognitive version sees the party as this after they beat him.
Yakuza: His affiliation (although it's unclear whether he's related to Kaneshiro), and like the mini-bosses in Kaneshiro's palace, his cognitive version takes on the form of an oni.

Shujin Academy Staff

In General:

Contrasting Replacement Character: With the exception of Principal Kobayakawa, Kamoshida, Kawakami and Maruki, the rest of the staff at Shujin are complete opposites to the staff at Gekkoukan or Yasogami. They are more straight-laced, drawn conventionally, and don't any have "colorful" personalities or quirks. However, unlike the aforementioned teachers, all of them have big head portraits, which the teachers of 3 wouldn't get until Persona 3 Reload.

Ms. Chouno

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ss_0.png

Voiced by: Tomoko Fujino (Japanese), Amanda Winn-Lee (English, The Animation)

The English teacher of class 2-D, known for her heavy makeup and somewhat provocative choice of clothes.

Gratuitous English: Uses various English phrases in the Japanese version, and uses "Mr." or "Ms." on people in lieu of Japanese Honorifics (by comparison, Kawakami calls Ryuji "Sakamoto-kun," and Ann "Takamaki-san"). Justified, as she's an English teacher in a Japanese school. She also mentions missing California's weather at the tail end of the Rainy Season and reminisces about visiting the casinos in Las Vegas, so she's at least lived in an English-speaking nation in the past.
Hidden Depths: A lot of Chouno's overambition in pressuring Kawakami and the other teachers into being more attentive at work and involved in their students' lives stems from her guilt over everything that went down with Kamoshida. She is also one of the nicer teachers to Joker.
Jerkass Has a Point: Chouno accosts Kawakami and gives her a hard time for always leaving work early. Since Chouno does not know Kawakami's personal circumstance, from her perspective Kawakami is seemingly only doing the bare minimum in her position.
Malicious Slander: Apparently responsible for spreading rumors about Ms. Kawakami's night job, although she doesn't seem to have any actual proof. She does stop after the protagonist covers for Kawakami.
Moral Guardians: In Royal, you can eavesdrop on her at a bar while clearing Futaba's Palace, during which Chouno will worry about her students being seduced by the "temptations of summer" and deciding to be a "rock" and a "pillar of stability" for them. Granted, she's likely a little tipsy while saying these things.
Reasonable Authority Figure:
- When the protagonist makes the excuse that Kawakami is actually tutoring him instead of moonlighting, she instantly believes him and compliments Kawakami on her willingness to go the extra mile for her students. This shocks Kawakami because the last time she tutored a student at her old school she was berated for 'playing favorites'.
- In Episode 9 of the anime, Kawakami mentions that Chouno helped thwart Yamauchi's plan to take charge of the track team.

Mr. Hiruta

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zz.png

Voiced by: Hisayoshi Suganuma (Japanese), Bryce Papenbrook (English)

The Science teacher of class 2-D, known for his rather flamboyant mannerisms.

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Odd mannerisms aside, he's a rather competent teacher.
Character Tics: Hiruta gestures a lot with his hands when talking to the class.
Classy Cravat: Wears one to show his eccentric, flamboyant attitude.
Cloudcuckoolander: A lot of what he says is either extremely poetic, or extremely odd.
The Cynic: A lot of what he says is also extremely - or at least somewhat - pessimistic with regards to human nature.
Fanboy: In Royal, he gushes about Akechi's intellect, dignity and charisma as the Detective Prince, and hopes to partake in some of it after learning that his students met him while visiting the TV studio.
Fascinating Eyebrow: A near-permanent facial feature of his.
Skewed Priorities: During the Okumura arc, he goes on a mini-rant against the Phantom Thieves, denouncing their activities for a very petty reason. It turns out that he loves eating at Big Bang Burger and is paranoid over the idea that it might end up going under because of the Thieves targeting its parent company's president. Never mind the fact that his "favorite source of junk food" is widely reported to be involved in several unethical practices...
Smug Smiler: His default expression is a rather smug smile.

Mr. Inui

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p5_inui.png

Voiced by: Tomohisa Aso (Japanese), Darin De Paul (English)

The World History teacher of class 2-D, known for his rather dignified presence and matter-of-fact way of speaking.

Foreshadowing: His lecture on the French Revolution of 1789 involves a cautionary tale about the "heroic rebel" archetype — reminding his students that, far too often across the ages, those who'd instigate rebellion against despotic societies would end up turning into despots themselves. This is proven true in the Bad Ending if Joker becomes Yaldabaoth's willing accomplice, where he dooms all of Tokyo into a purgatorial cycle of corruption and illusionary hope.
Genre Blindness: After a fashion. While he isn't particularly involved in much of anything, he, a history teacher, longs for a charismatic leader for which he could vote. Or, in other words, a strongman. In Japan. You know, the country that sided with a genocidal maniac, entered a war on the losing side, and took two nukes for that last time it was led by a strongman.
Horrible Judge of Character: To the point that it's almost a Running Gag. He ends up celebrating four of the major targets of the Phantom Thieves as exemplary members of society: Kamoshida, Madarame, Okumura, and Shido.
Sharp-Dressed Man: He's quite handsome and looks pretty good in his three-piece suit.
Totally Radical: Wouldn't be a Persona game without such a teacher, now would it? He attempts to use "hip" slang that's ridiculously out of date a few times in class. Morgana comments that the reason nobody corrects him is probably because he's obviously trying so hard that nobody has the heart to tell him how wrong he's getting it.
Mr. Inui: Yes... As you young folk might say, the situation is indeed quite wack. Perhaps you're wondering why I used such hip terminology, hm?
(...)
Mr. Inui: If today's youth are freely using Thieves' Cant to each other in broad daylight... Then truly, we live in wack times indeed.
Morgana: ...I've been listening to a lot of teenagers, but I'm not sure I've ever heard them say that... Still, he's trying so hard, it would be a shame to correct him.

Ms. Usami

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xx.png

Voiced by: Miku Yoshikawa (Japanese), Amanda Winn-Lee (English)

The Math teacher of class 2-D, who radiates a strict aura despite her mousy-looking appearance.

The Cynic: She has some rather pessimistic views about human nature, especially with regards to economics.
Everybody Hates Mathematics: She's quite aware of this, comparing math to a demon that must be conquered in order to succeed in life.
Necessarily Evil: She states that math is like a demon that must be overcome and conquered so that people can succeed and excel in their lives.
Perpetual Frowner: Her default expression, in keeping with her no-nonsense attitude.

Mr. Ushimaru

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aa_4.png

Voiced by: Daisuke Matsumoto (Japanese), Peter Lurie (English)

The Social Sciences teacher of class 2-D, known for his old age and grouchy personality.

Chucking Chalk: He does this to the Protagonist/Joker on certain days when he's feeling particularly irritable and catches Joker looking at his phone in class. If you have enough Proficiency to dodge, you'll impress your classmates and gain a small Charm bonus.
Joker's thoughts: "I feel a murderous intent...!"
Cynicism Catalyst: The main characters speculate he went through this in the past because of his drastic change in personality in Maruki's Lotus-Eater Machine, as he would've had to be the one to wish for change. The theory they come up with is that he was too kind to some delinquent students who exploited his kindness, which made him into the Stern Teacher they deal with in the present.
Deadpan Snarker: Has shades of this. During his class on 11/18, he tells his students that they look like a bunch of dead fish, and the next week, he likens them to monkeys in a zoo.
Grumpy Old Man: One of his stock voice clips is him grumbling "kids these days", if you needed proof.
Hidden Depths: The events of the Third Semester indicates that, deep down, he wishes he could be a relaxed Cool Teacher rather than the jerkass he is in reality.
Jerkass:
- Downplayed. He's openly disdainful towards students and never misses a chance to look down on them in some way, but never quite reaches Kinshiro Morooka's level of verbal hostility.
- A worse example is that when Shiho is about to commit suicide after being physically or sexually abused by Kamoshida, he ordered every student to stay in their seats and his tone of voice implies that this is because he sees Shiho's attempted suicide as a distraction from learning. This is actually Truth in Television deconstructed to absolutely horrific degrees, since real life teachers often tend to try getting their students to not involve in ruckus when something like that happens out of the classroom.
Killing Intent: Played for Laughs. Apparently, he radiates such an aura just before throwing a piece of chalk at students who don't pay attention in class (Joker being a favorite target).
Joker's thoughts: "I feel a murderous intent...!"
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: It's a major sign that something is really wrong in the third semester when he suddenly becomes a Nice Guy. Maruki painted smiles on his soul to make everyone happy.
Running Gag: Every so often, he'll catch Joker chatting on his phone and chuck a chalk at him. It's easy to see it coming thanks to his murderous intent, but takes a decent amount of Proficiency (Rank 3 minimum to dodge them 100%) to actually dodge.
Stern Teacher: He's known to act like this in the class, especially when someone isn't listening or makes a mistake.
Took a Level in Kindness: He's much less stern in Royal's third semester thanks to Maruki's Lotus-Eater Machine, even offering to watch Featherman episodes in class. This naturally creeps the hell out of everybody involved.
We Want Our Jerk Back!: Maruki's new world causes his personality to change drastically, and it creeps out the main characters. Ryuji admits in a chat log that he didn't like the guy, but this sudden shift in personality has freaked him out.
When I Was Your Age...: Unsurprisingly, he says this when accusing his students of staying up late playing video games.

Yamauchi

An underling of Kamoshida's who gets brought back as an advisor to Shujin's reinstated track team.

Arc Villain: The closest thing Ryuji's Confidant has to one; stopping his manipulations of the track team forms the climax.
Big Bad Wannabe: With Kamoshida gone, Yamauchi plans to take over as Shujin's next big thing. He had it all thought up; from pretending to be a loving friend and advisor to the new track team, hiring a coach to train them while taking the credit, using the son of president of the PTA as his pawn before getting rid of him and even plans to write a book of his success. Sadly for him, he got sacked before he can carry out anything.
Hate Sink: He's one of the biggest examples that isn't a Mementos target. The only reason why Ryuji decides not to change his heart is because he's the track team's problem.
In Vino Veritas: Spills the beans about his plan to exploit the track team and make himself look good to a colleague when he gets drunk at a monjayaki restaurant.
Jerkass: He's a manipulative and self-serving jerk who treats others as means to an end. Ryuji appropriately describes him as a "mini-Kamoshida."
Laser-Guided Karma: He was interested in Takeishi because of his mom's connections; after he gets exposed, Takeishi and his mom use those same connections to bring him down.
Obviously Evil: Unsurprisingly, Kamoshida's former crony turns out to not have the track team's best interests in mind.
Professional Butt-Kisser: Ryuji claims he was this around parents.
Stealing the Credit: He plans to hire a coach to revitalize the track team before taking all the credit for himself.
The Unfought: He is never fought as a target in-game and is neutralized without a fight.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Intends to use a variant on Takeishi. While Takeishi's mother's connections are useful to him, he realizes that Takeishi is not a great runner. As such, Yamauchi intends to let Takeishi be captain for a while, and then have him suffer a Career-Ending Injury in practice.

Vice Principal

Shujin Academy's Vice Principal

The vice-principal of Shujin Academy, who, following the death of Principal Kobayakawa, is put in charge of the school.

Ascended Extra: Downplayed. He only appeared once in the original version, and only appears in a few extra scenes in Royal after Kobayakawa's death.
Blatant Lies: During a school assembly, the vice-principal claim's that Kobayakawa loved the school and its students and did everything in his power to protect them. None of the students buy it for a second, especially when they all know full well that Kobayakawa turned a blind eye to Kamoshida's actions prior to his confession and was more concerned about preserving Shujin's reputation.
"It" Is Dehumanizing: The spirit of the trope is carried, as he only ever refers to Kasumi as "that Yoshizawa girl." Of course, we later see that this was actually a way to keep her true identity a secret from the player, but the spirit of it is still kept either way.
Jerkass Has a Point: He's the one responsible for threatening to pull Kasumi's scholarship if she doesn't perform well in the next competition. While his hostility against fellow students and his status as a Slave to PR is indisputable, it makes a lot more sense once it's revealed that this "Kasumi" is actually Sumire going around calling herself "Kasumi" due to being brainwashed by Maruki, which would actually cause a massive train wreck on Shujin's, Maruki's and even Sumire's reputation once exposed. Kasumi's depressed to hear herself being described as useless but acknowledges that losing her gymnastics scholarship is "not an unfair consequence" of poor performance.
Slave to PR: Like Kobayakawa, he's doing everything he can to preserve Shujin's pristine image but he's willing to pull Kasumi's scholarship simply because she received third place in the latest competition and not first place. While his hostility is indisputable, it's probably justified however in this specific case, since this is actually Sumire manipulated into thinking that she's Kasumi, in which not living up to her dead sister's name and the fact that she's blatantly impersonating a dead athlete probably rang alarm bells within him.

Others

Jose

Voiced By: Yukiko Morishita (JP), Olivia Hack (EN)

A mysterious puppet-like boy the Thieves encounter in Mementos in Royal. He's collecting flowers to better understand humans and enlists the Phantom Thieves' help in exchange for his services. His main purpose, gameplay-wise, is to provide bonuses while exploring Mementos, which include boosts to Exp, Money, and Items found, and you can exchange any flowers you find for helpful items.

All-Powerful Bystander: Only fightable as an Optional Boss, and aside from some story appearances and being the curator of the Thieves Den, he doesn't really do anything for the main plot. Yet in spite of this, even when Yaldabaoth and the even more powerful Takuto Maruki have full control over Mementos and the Velvet Room in turn, Jose is still able to alter Mementos to the Phantom Thieves benefit as if they don't even exist. The fact that he never fights on foot and only from his buggy nor does he even use personas, something even the Velvet Room attendants won't do, is especially notable.
Ambiguously Human: He admits he's not human, but he looks like a little boy, and is interested in learning about humans because he's not one. He does this by collecting flowers and star-shaped stamps scattered throughout Mementos under the orders of a "certain person". He also has the same white hair and golden eyes as the Velvet Room Attendants and Shadows, as well as unusually round ears and a peg nose. Assuming "Jose" is a truncation of "Joseph", his name also fits the same Theme Naming as the rest of the Velvet Room Attendants, and the item he gives you for completing all of the Thieves Den rewards lets you summon any Persona from the Velvet Room compendium for free. There's also the fact that Jose can subtly alter Mementos by striking its "pressure points" as he calls them, something no human being should be capable of.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: His whole roster of skills during his boss fight are consisted of attacking skills, save for an attack that confuses the party that he never uses unless he hits a weakness.
Badass Adorable: Turns out this little guy's got a repertoire of fireworks that would make the Reaper weep, without the need of a Persona.
Badass Driver: He has to be one to survive in Mementos in his little buggy. He even fights in battle using the buggy!
Beware the Nice Ones: He's utterly adorable and almost always in a cheerful mood whenever the Phantom Thieves meet him. He's also equally as capable of kicking their ass in his Optional Boss fight.
Car Fu: In his boss fight, he opens by drifting his buggy into you, hitting a random number of your active characters. Any time he gets a One More he'll do it again.
Character Catchphrase: "Good job!" Just about any time the Phantom Thieves talk to him, he'll say this line somewhere, as he's heard that it's a nice phrase that humans say to each other. He'll either say, "Hey, mister!" or "Doing good?" when you encounter him in Mementos, as well.
The Cutie: He's a very cute and curious little boy. Ann even gushes about how cute he is.
Experience Booster: He can use the Stamps scattered throughout Mementos to provide bonuses during battles in Mementos. He can provide up to twice as much experience and money from battles, as well as up to eleven extra items whenever the player collects a minor overworld treasure.
It May Help You on Your Quest: When he meets the founding four members of the Phantom Thieves, he gives them a star he found, believing it might help them somehow. At first they simply accept it because they're not sure what else to do, but the star not only allowed them to unlock their paired Showtimes, but also saved their lives in Maruki's palace by allowing Morgana to transform into a helicopter, and there was still enough magic left to allow the Thieves to perform smaller scale Showtimes in Persona 5 Strikers.
Living Toy: It isn't entirely clear what he is, but his wooden-looking hair and ears give the impression that he's a walking puppet or figurine.
Money Multiplier: He can also use the stamps to provide bonus cash and extra item drops at the end of Mementos battles.
Mundane Utility: He can use his powers to convert the flowers he finds in Mementos into powerful accessories for the Phantom Thieves. During his introduction, he also transmutes some flowers into a refreshing drink, though he says it's part of his research of humans.
Mysterious Past: There is absolutely no mention anywhere of where did Jose came from, what his true intent is, or who he's serving. About the closest thing to a hint of who he serves is that said person is, in Jose's own words, "harsh, but very kind", but no solid answer is given.
Nerf Arm: All of his attacks as an optional boss are silly and cartoony looking. They're still incredibly dangerous.
Optional Boss: He will request to fight the party just to get an experience of humanity if his sidequest is completed. He fights the Phantom Thieves in his buggy.
Precocious Crush: If his mental age matches his physical appearance, then he has a particular attraction to Ann, whom he calls "pretty lady" upon their first meeting^note. Morgana takes offense to this.
Small Role, Big Impact: With his mysterious origins and only interacting in his side quest/Thieves Den, Jose doesn't play a huge role in Royal compared to others, though he also allowed the Thieves to learn about Showtimes that later continued in Persona 5 Strikers. However, the biggest impact he has is that he indirectly saved their lives, as the star he gave them allowed Morgana to transform into the Monacopter that allowed them to escape when Mementos started collapsing.
Stone Wall: As a boss, he only has one action per turn, and has no particularly special gimmicks aside from hurling the occasional Confuse Ball to inflict confusion. But he has more health than anything short of the final bosses and can still attack you with Dyne-tier spells that hit the entire party, meaning that going at him unprepared is ill-advised.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: He has the same golden eye designs as the Velvet Room Attendants, and can use his powers to modify Mementos as well as strengthen the accessories that the Thieves acquire from collecting the skulls in Palaces.
Trademark Favorite Food: Flower juice; he converts the flowers found in Mementos to a nectar which he drinks out of a straw - not unlike a butterfly, which may or may not be significant given the species' thematic importance to the Velvet Room and to the series in general.
The Un-Reveal: Jose regularly mentions that he works for a mysterious person, but the identity of that person is never revealed. Following his battle, Jose tells the Phantom Thieves that there are other people watching over mankind, implying this person is an entity similar to Philemon and Igor.

The Other Velvet Room Prisoner (Spoilers)

Igor, the Imprisoned Master of the Velvet Room

The true master of the Velvet Room, Igor was jailed and replaced by the orchestrator of the game's events. When that orchestrator is revealed, he vanishes and Igor returns, to finally give Joker his aid.

See Persona Recurring Characters for more details.

Yoshizawa's Sister (Unmarked Spoilers)

Kasumi Yoshizawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/real_kasumi_persona_5_2.png

^{Click here to compare her to the fake copy (Sumire)}

Voiced by: Sora Amamiya (Japanese), Laura Post (English)

The real Kasumi Yoshizawa. After an argument between the sisters, Sumire absentmindedly walked into traffic, and Kasumi died after shoving her out of the way. The "Kasumi" who joined the Phantom Thieves is actually Sumire, who was in the throes of a breakdown from the guilt and her preexisting poor mental health until Maruki altered her self-cognition.

Aesop Collateral Damage: While the Yoshizawas had a genuinely good relationship, Sumire was conflicted from the fact she couldn't measure up to Kasumi as a gymnast. It wasn't until Kasumi took the bullet for her that Sumire realized that not only was Kasumi really important to her, but that Sumire herself wasn't anywhere as worthless as she thought she was. Too bad that she now had to live with the guilt of Kasumi's death!
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: During Sumire's true Awakening, she sees Cendrillion briefly turns into her late sister, implying that Cendrillon is Kasumi's reincarnation. The idea of a person becoming a Persona hasn't been touched since Kei Nanjo's butler in the first Persona.
Big Sister Instinct: Kasumi arranges most of the daily life between the Yoshizawas and even arranged Sumire's bedroom. She's not a good cook, however, so that role is given to Sumire. It's deconstructed, however, since Kasumi's efforts also contributed to Sumire's inferiority complex and inability to make her own choices.
Condescending Compassion: Subverted; Sumire thinks is how Kasumi treated her, but in reality, Kasumi respected her enough to regard her as a Friendly Rival. The issue was her genuine attempts of caring came off as this because she wasn't honest about her reasons for treating Sumire.
Cool Big Sis: Horribly Deconstructed. While Kasumi was really a sister that Sumire looked up to, that admiration degenerated into an outright mental disorder where Sumire literally wanted to become Kasumi herself even before her Heroic Sacrifice. Kasumi's general unawareness to her sister's increasingly debilitating mental disorder didn't help matters.
Dead All Along: Kasumi actually died a month prior to Joker moving to Tokyo, which Sojiro offhandedly mentions early in the story. However, "Kasumi" does pull a Red Herring on the player after their first time meeting her at the Odaiba, where she says Kasumi's sister was the victim of the crash... and it turns out she was, indeed, dead - as initially expected by the player.
Death by Irony: A very tragic example. In the long run, Kasumi's caring actions towards Sumire unintentionally came off as condescending and didn't help her sister at all. This lead to the latter's gymnast skills falling behind compared to Kasumi's flawless abilities, which festered into a serious inferiority complex and suicidal depression. For someone who kept saying that people needed to help themselves out of trouble, Kasumi put herself in harm's way when her "helping" pushed Sumire over the edge into running away without looking into traffic, leading to Kasumi dying instead.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of The Pollyanna. Much like Maya Amano and the P3P Female Protagonist, Kasumi is an idealistic girl who always tries to look at the positive side of things. Unlike them, however, Kasumi's poor communication skills and inability to read others' feelings prevented her from realizing that positivity is not always the right thing in certain situations, and it only caused more and more problems for her sister. Her attempts to cheer her sister up only ended up driving Sumire deeper into her insecurities, which snowballed into the accident that killed Kasumi.
Diving Save: When Sumire was running away in frustration, she was so upset she didn't notice she was crossing an intersection on a red light with a car coming. Kasumi saw what was about to happen, jumping in and shoving Sumire out of the way, taking the hit from the car instead and dying as a result.
Genki Girl: This is one of the reasons why Shrinking Violet Sumire wants to become Kasumi, as she considers Kasumi's more outgoing and friendly personality to be much better than her own.
Helping Would Be Killstealing: Her reason why she (via Sumire, before The Reveal) opposes the Phantom Thieves. Hypocritically, she did arrange the majority of Sumire's life, including the arrangement for her bedroom. This played a part in Sumire's inferiority complex... which eventually resulted in Kasumi's death.
Heroic Sacrifice: She died saving Sumire from a passing vehicle after the girl ran into traffic in frustration. Sumire, thus, came to believe that she killed her sister.
Hypocrite: Kasumi didn't support the whole ideology about “people handling other people's matters”, due to her nonsensical belief that it would make people overreliant. She didn't seem to follow it when it comes to Sumire, though, arranging most of her life instead of encouraging her to stand up for herself and convince her to believe in her own worth. This contributed to Sumire's depression and eventually suicidal thoughts, so much so that Sumire believed that she was nothing. It also led to Kasumi's death by pulling a Heroic Sacrifice on her sister when she was nearly hit by a car.
Impersonation-Exclusive Character: It turns out that the real Kasumi is long dead, and the Kasumi the player's been getting to know for the entire game is actually her sister Sumire, who had her cognition altered to the point where she believed herself to be Kasumi. Given that the process is imperfect and Sumire-as-Kasumi is shown to differ from the real Kasumi in various ways, it's unclear how much of the former's behaviour can be considered to be an accurate representation of the latter and how much is simply Sumire acting how she thinks Kasumi would act. The real Kasumi is only shown in a short video in Maruki's Palace depicting her final moments, which only gives a small amount of insight about who she is.
Innocently Insensitive: Heavily Deconstructed and Played for Drama. Kasumi meant well when trying to care for Sumire, but deciding things for her sister made the latter's confidence plummet to suicidal levels, all without Kasumi realizing it. After Sumire's frustration reached a peak, Kasumi tried to joke a little that, as the older sister, she'd always come out on top. Not exactly the best thing to take lightly with someone suffering from a serious case of Successful Sibling Syndrome.
Lethal Chef: During Maruki's Palace, one of the flashback scenes involves a talk with Sumire at her most self-loathing and depressed. Even then, Kasumi says Sumire's a better cook than her. In fact, one of the early breaks in the false Kasumi's cognitive overlay is her making a hideous-looking bento box, claiming she's not sure of the ingredients - and yet, it tastes great. In other words, even when she's actively trying to mimic her sister, Sumire can't cook as badly as the real Kasumi.
Look Both Ways: She died trying to take Sumire back to the pedestrian road when the latter absentmindedly ran into traffic.
Meaningful Appearance: She has a beauty mark under her right eye to differ her from the living "Kasumi" (Sumire).
Meaningful Name: Although her name's written in hiragana, one of the possible meanings of her name is the flower baby's breaths. In flower language, it means everlasting love, faith, family bonds, and self-discipline. The first three represent her strong relationship with her sister and her faith in her abilities, while the last meaning is suitable for her as a gymnast, who requires the ability to stay focused and discipline to oneself.
Nice Girl: Implied: when Sumire is brainwashed into thinking she's actually Kasumi, she's kind to everyone, implying the real Kasumi genuinely was that nice (if Innocently Insensitive) while she was alive.
Not Quite the Right Thing: While trying to shore up Sumire's self-confidence was admirable, Kasumi's methods came off as patronizing, controlling, and disrespectful, which only caused Sumire to resent both Kasumi and herself for being a burden. Best exemplified in their final conversation together: Kasumi tried to play up her positivity and joked that she (as the oldest sibling) would always succeed, but was doing it as a way to cheer Sumire up. This did the exact opposite, hitting all of Sumire's buttons and pushing her to run away in frustration.
The Pollyanna: Kasumi is always cheerful and optimistic regardless of the situation, unlike Sumire or even Sumire as "Kasumi," with the latter only because of Sumire's very own consciousness interfering. This is also a deconstruction as well since this trope also makes her unable to see that her younger sister is not in good condition mentally, and unable to see that her actions to help her end up destroying her self-esteem.
Poor Communication Kills: Had Kasumi been honest about how she treated Sumire, a lot of the emotional baggage her little sister faced before and after her death could have been avoided. It also could have prevented the accident that killed Kasumi, as Sumire was so filled with despair that she failed to notice the incoming car.
Posthumous Character: She died in a car accident a month before the game, because Sumire was trying to run away from Kasumi and didn't notice a car was coming. Kasumi attempted to save Sumire from a horrible accident, only to become the victim instead.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: She had this dynamic with Sumire, even though Sumire was unaware of it. Sumire's gymnastics teacher tells her that, despite Kasumi's boldness, she used to be jealous of her sister's "delicate, graceful" style and was also very competitive.
Sibling Rivalry: Mixed with Friendly Rivalry. Kasumi saw the gymnastic career between her and Sumire as this all along, genuinely respecting Sumire's abilities instead of looking down on her due to being inferior. Sumire is genuinely surprised when her coach reveals this to her.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Downplayed. She's outgoing and bold, compared to Sumire's Shrinking Violet personality, but they share the same love of gymnastics and both desire to excel in them.
Small Role, Big Impact: While she was dead prior to the events of the game and barely appears (save for flashbacks, Sumire's true awakening, and Showtime animation with Joker), Kasumi is the most important factor of Sumire's Character Development, being her greatest role model... and, at the same time, the very person who kickstarted her delusional thoughts. Perhaps if Kasumi hadn't been that airheaded in dealing with a sibling who was borderline suicidally depressed, then she wouldn't have died, Sumire wouldn't have become suicidally depressed to the point that she went to see Maruki (only for her to trigger his buttons and got him use Actualization on her), and the entire "ideal reality" events might not have happened - or, at least, happened in a different way.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Subverted and deconstructed. Throughout Royal, the Kasumi we see is cheerful, can't seem to make a mistake and is wholly undeserving of the scorn thrusted upon her, she seems perfect beyond the strange bouts of depression and occasional mess-ups; this is by design. The Kasumi we see is how Sumire saw Kasumi through the lenses of her own inferiority complex; and, indeed, the fact that she saw Kasumi as so perfect is part of the problem. The real Kasumi, while a Nice Girl who loved her family, had issues of her own that led to her death (such as her lack of tact leading to hypocrisy, and her inability to communicate honestly with Sumire). Part of Sumire's Character Development is understanding that, though she looked up to her and was her sister, Kasumi was not the flawless person Sumire made up in her mind, and trying to keep up that image of perfection led to their tragedy.
Tomboyish Ponytail: Unlike Sumire, who has her hair down and wears a pair of fake bookworm glasses to illustrate her introverted tendencies, Kasumi has her hair in a ponytail to better portray her outgoing nature and athletic background.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her controlling tendencies with her little sister, while genuinely well-meaning, only served to undermine Sumire's already-fragile self-esteem. This paved the way to tragic events ranging from Kasumi's own death, to Sumire's Despair Event Horizon that triggers the events of the third semester.
Walking Spoiler: Knowing how the playable Yoshizawa's sister died, and its aftermath that lead to her assuming her dead sister's identity, is definitely this trope.

The Challengers

S.E.E.S. Boy and Investigation Team Boy

As DLC for P5R, the Player Characters of Persona 3 and Persona 4 are available as Superbosses fought in Royal's new Challenge Mode.

See their respective character pages for more details.

Characters / Persona 5: Other Characters

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