As is the case will all pages detailing Funny Moments, Spoilers Off
Ace in The Hole
- A Running Gag in both the main story and the spin-off is Kaito and Miyuki Arisato constantly grilling Akechi about how he constantly talks about how great of a detective he is, but never actually seems to solve anything.
- During the first meeting of Ken and Ren, Ken notices Morgana and asks why Ren has a cat with him at school. Ren ends up claiming that Morgana is his therapy cat. Ends up being a Brick Joke, with Ken pointing out Ren's excuse after the Phantom Thieves confront Ken for being in Kaneshiro's Palace.
- Ken describing Ryuji jumping out in front of the taxi as giving him a heart attack.
- Ken's reaction to Morgana talking. As Ken didn't have his cognition changed so that Morgana can talk by the time he first met Ren and Morgana, he could only hear Morgana meowing before.Ken's narration: It was...the cat. The cat was...talking. Why was it talking? How was that even possible? Was this a delayed symptom from hitting his head yesterday? Was he hallucinating? Okay, Teddie-san usually walked around as a plush bear, but he had a human form. Somewhat. He was pretty sure that a human would not be popping out of the cat.
- Upon seeing Johanna for the first time, Ken notes that Mitsuru would be jealous. He also catches himself checking out Makoto, who is now in her skintight Metal Rider outfit.
- Ken ends up being spotted by the Phantom Thieves when he was trailing them in Kaneshiro's Palace. Ryuji becomes furious and starts chasing him. Naturally, Ken just runs away. Poor Morgana and Ann are stuck trying to play damage control.
- A lot of Ken and Shinjiro's bickering ends up being this. One example would be Ken becoming indignant that Shinjiro insists on coming to Tokyo with Ken, protesting that he's not a child. Shinjiro retorts that he's pouting. At Ken's retort that he's not, Minako just laughs and coos over how cute Ken is.
- After Kaneshiro's defeat, the Palace starts collapsing and Ken has to jump on car-Morgana to get out... leading to him returning to the real world in the same spot as the Phantom Thieves and them learning his identity. After they have a meeting the next day to clear things up a little... Ryuji then asks if Ken is Compensating for Something by wielding a spear, something Ken immediately shoots down.
- The Phantom Thieves converse about recruiting Ken. Morgana is against it, but Ryuji just teases him about the therapy cat lie. When Morgana denies it, Ren proceeds to tease that Morgana doesn't like the fact that Ken seems to be a dog person.Ren: Well... we could always ask him to join us.
The Phantom Thieves: [stare at Ren]
Ren: Hear me out. He's experienced. He helped save our butts when we fought Kaneshiro. And you have to agree that from what you've seen… he's nice enough, isn't he? Plus he does agree for what we fight for.
Makoto: [chuckles] I honestly had the same thought about Ken.
Ryuji: I think you're just bitter about the lie Ren fed him to explain why Ren was carrying you with him.
Morgana: That is not true! He's suspicious!
Ren: Or maybe you don't like that Amada-senpai seems to be a dog person.
Morgana: T-That is not true! And why should I care about that?! - Ken hears Ryuji's nickname for Ren, much to his surprise. Ren then teases Ken that the nickname happens to work for him as well. Ken very firmly rejects the idea.
- The discussion of Ken's codename. Ryuji proceeds to stare at Ken, before declaring that Ken looks like Tuxedo Mask, much to his embarrassment. Ann declares his look to be princely, which embarrasses him even more. But there's also the names that the Phantom Thieves throw out before they settle on Ace.Ryuji: Let's do...Tux Boy.
Ken: Uh, no. Not in a billion years and not even if you paid me ten million yen.
Yusuke: Kamen? Your costume does inspire it.
Ken's narration: Kamen...that was like Kamen Rider...Wait, what was he thinking?! Yusuke was thinking about Tuxedo Mask and...that was just embarrassing to think about.
Ken: No.
Morgana: Jeez, you're a picky one.
Ken: I'm not going to be called something ridiculous. - Yusuke asks if Ren has an idea for Ken's codename, remarking that Ren suggested both Fox and Queen. Ann just grumbles that they weren't there for picking out her name, and Ren reveals that he suggested Sexy Cat for Ann. Ken gets even more concerned at learning this.
- Ken asks Ren why the Phantom Thieves operate in the day. Ren is confused, and Ken asks him what other phantom thieves do. Ren starts talking about how they leave a calling card, steal something of value... And then Ken asks when exactly they strike. Ren then sheepishly points the blame at Morgana.Ren: Uh...It was Morgana's idea?
Morgana: HEY! You can really ruin your health by staying up too late! Don't tell me that you stay up late to study or something!
Ken: Okay, I won't tell you then. - The Phantom Thieves find out that Ken knows Yukari Takeba. Ryuji is flummoxed especially and goes on to say that he finds Yukari hot. Ken is a bit grossed out, and Ryuji demands if Ken has eyes. Ken responds by saying that Yukari is like an older sister to him.
- Ken's annoyance with Akechi during their first meeting. He goes on to complain about how arrogant Akechi is in his narration. Akechi also challenges Ken on his thoughts on the Phantom Thieves, leading to this conversation.Ken: You've made it perfectly clear that you think that the Phantom Thieves are nothing more than criminals themselves on your various interviews. You don't have to repeat it.
Akechi: Oh? And I suppose you believe that the Phantom Thieves are better than law enforcers?
Ken: They get things done at least. While you've been running off giving who knows how many interviews. - The fact that Sae starts being suspicious of Ken and Makoto due to the fact that Makoto calls him by his first name.
- In a chapter after, Sae and Shinjiro meet and she proceeds to question him on Ken. Shinjiro just brushes her off, even walking away at one point.
- Shinjiro and Sae's relationship in general. It's very antagonistic and Shinjiro mentions that Sae reminds him of teen!Mitsuru, comparing her to a prissy princess. Shinjiro just does not tolerate Sae's attitude and refuses to be cowed by her.
- Ken gives Shinjiro his mother's old engagement ring as a birthday gift, so he can propose to Fuuka. Knowing how stubborn Shinjiro is about accepting gifts, he ends the attached note with this:Ken: (Also if you try to give the ring back to me, I'm just going to toss it into the trash bin. So don't even think about it.)
- Ann witnesses one of Ren and Makoto's fake dates, and she assumes that they're now dating. However, she feels that they should be open about their relationship, despite having realized her feelings for Ren. So during the meeting right before they were going to steal Futaba's Treasure, she tries to get them to admit it, much to their confusion. Ken gets annoyed, having told Ren to make a move with Ann already. While Ann is trying to process this, Ryuji can no longer take it anymore and shoves Ann at Ren.Ann: Look, I know you guys are dating, okay?!
Makoto:...What? Wait, Ann, we're not...this is just a misunderstanding!
Ann: Don't lie to me, Makoto! I saw you two at the diner! I don't know why you're trying to deny it! You're so, so lucky, okay?! Ren will treat you like a queen. He's so kind and thoughtful and he'll probably come up with the best dates and-
Ann's narration: Did Makoto know how lucky she was...?
Ken: This...is why I told you to ask Ann out already. Do you need any more proof now?!
Ann: Wha?
Morgana: You told Ren to do what?! Why would you—
Ryuji: EFF THIS I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! - Ken calls Shinjiro and Fuuka for Shinjiro's birthday. He carefully alludes to his birthday gift, but when Fuuka asks what the gift was, Shinjiro panics and claims it was a Korean cookbook. Fuuka buys the lie, but then blithely tells Shinjiro that they should pick a recipe and cook something.
- Futaba's fangirling over Yukari. After Yukari signs her DVD set, Ren describes Futaba holding it like it was the Holy Grail itself. It's made all the funnier when one remembers who, or rather, what, the Greater-Scope Villain of Persona 5 turns out to be.
- Like in canon, Yusuke and Futaba argue over the lobsters he bought, only this time Ken is thrust into the role of their father, much to his chagrin. Doesn't stop him from telling the bickering pair that they're both grounded, though.
- In Hawaii, Ken and Makoto catch Ren and Ann leaving Ren's hotel room together. Makoto automatically jumps to conclusions and demands an explanation. After Ann sheepishly explains, Ken points out that Ann could've gone to the front desk or one of the chaperones for help. But afterwards... Ken has a little chat with Ren. He states that he doesn't care if Ren and Ann sleep together, just that they use protection. Ken then hints that he walked in on either Minato and Yukari or Akihiko and Minako being intimate back in SEES.
- Shinjiro has many witty one-liners, being rather blunt. One example is when the Phantom Thieves run into Sugimura. Sugimura recognizes him as a cohort of Mitsuru and insults him for it. But Shinjiro has a comeback ready for him...Sugimura: You're...you're one of Kirijo's dogs.
Shinjiro: And you're a little bitch.- Additionally, Yusuke, being his usual self, accuses Sugimura of using his family name to compensate, oblivious to the underlying insults.
- After much griping about Ken teasing Shinjiro about his and Fuuka's PDA, Shinjiro ends up walking in on Ken and Makoto's first kiss. After a moment of shock, he insists that Ken can't tease him and Fuuka anymore, and later asks Mitsuru to get her scientists to invent Brain Bleach.
- Futaba lets Ken, Makoto, and Ryuji listen to Sae interrogating Ren. Sae tries to get him to talk about Medjed but he keeps talking about Ann and how lucky he is to be dating her. Sae's annoyance quickly turns to embarrassment after Ren starts sharing intimate details.
- Chie on her way to rescue Ren runs into Akechi. He comments negatively on the bags under her eyes, Chie naturally is not happy and tries her best to remain composed. Soon as Akechi leaves, Rise remarks basically that Akechi is lucky to not be on the receiving end of one of Chie's galactic punts.
- Sae and Shinjiro argue over Ken and Makoto dating. It turns into "My kid is smarter than yours" type of petty squabbling. Ren calls them out and compares them to PTA moms having pissing contests over which Honor Student is "the bestest".
- The Phantom Thieves' encounter with Sugimura's shadow form which happens to be Mara. Ken has a You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! reaction while Futaba is laughing much to Makoto's disturbance. She asked how Futaba takes this so calmly.Futaba: “Uh, Queen, I hate to break it to ya, but I've seen things wayyy worse on the internet. Once you dive into the depths of the internet, you don't come out clean.”
- After the fight, Ken explains to the Phantom Thieves that Mara was a persona that Minako used to use as a joke. And that eventually Mitsuru put her foot down and banned Minako (and presumably Minato) from using Mara again.
- Makoto reveals that Minako sent her pictures of Ken from when he was younger, much to his chagrin. Ryuji doesn't see the big deal, but when Ken reveals that Ryuji tried to stop his mother from showing him and Shinjiro a photo album when they came to visit, he insists that there's a difference between photos of you when you're eleven and baby pictures. Ren's comment about wanting to see both does NOT help.
- After the Thieves the calling card to Shido, the SEES groupchat are discussing it, and the topic veers towards which Thief was Ken. They were able to pick out Ryuji and Ren easily enough, but have trouble telling which of the two remaining boys are Ken. Junpei's two cents causes the conversation to deteriorate.[Junpei]: So Ken's either a dork running around in a tux and cape or a furry?
Persona Q2: The Ace Edition
- When it's pointed out that the Mona-bus has surpassed its capacity, Ren has a simple solution: lap sitting.
- Kaito and Miyuki are very... candid. One example would be when they argue over what Akechi's mask resembles.
- Ren’s constant bemoaning about how Ken is going to kill him, and the gang’s constant suggestion to throw Makoto at him to distract/appease him
- The fact that Kaito and Miyuki know the word "execution", due to Mitsuru's execution threats.
- Ren hamming it up during the final confrontation with Kamoshidaman.
- While the main story takes place in 2016, this fic throws in a shoutout to Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The cast is discussing why Ken's Persona is still Kala-Nemi over Nemesis (though Minako is understandably confused on why Ken's Persona is different). However, it's portrayed as the twins' imaginations running wild instead of a blatant reference to the Fire Emblem game.Miyuki: Nemesis sounds like a bad guy's name, anyways. Like a zombie level of a bad guy.
Kaito: Oh! Oh! And he has glowing red eyes, gray skin… and he wields a creepy magic bone sword!
Miyuki: That the bad guys brought back to life to sic on the good guys!
Ken: Has Junpei-san been letting you watch inappropriate movies again? - Kaito outs Naoto by protesting that P4!Naoto can't be Naoto, because this Naoto “doesn’t have boobies” (due to her binding her chest). This understandably mortifies Naoto, and Ken ends up having to scold him for being so blunt.
