Ho Yay / Persona 5

"Now then... strip!"

— Yusuke in his 5th Confidant rank.

The Guys

• Yusuke's whole Confidant is dripping with Ho Yay. You can go watch movies and have rowboat "dates" with him to help him gain inspiration for his new painting.
  • It's worth noting that during the rowboat date, Yusuke had assumed that the brother and sister in the other boat were a couple. He's not entirely happy with being Mistaken for Gay, but he must have at least had some idea of what it would look like for him to get into the same boat as you.
  • There are at least three occasions where Joker can offer to strip for Yusuke (for art reasons), or suggest that Yusuke take off his clothes (because of how hot it is in summer). In all instances, Yusuke responds by saying what a brilliant idea he thinks it is before remembering that it'd probably be illegal — that is how enthusiastic he is over it. For the former, he even starts intensely demanding that the protagonist immediately strip before he remembers where exactly they are, realizing that "being found stark-naked in a church would be even bigger news than the Phantom Thieves". Furthermore, all instances give maximum affinity points towards Yusuke. During the third time this is brought up, it's during an outing with Hifumi in Akihabara, and Hifumi even starts questioning if something happened between the two.
  • If you complete Yusuke's confidant and speak to him before the final cutscene, he not only gives you the painting he's titled "Desire and Hope" but tells the protagonist to keep his smile, as he fully intends on painting it someday. It comes off as especially heavy by comparison, considering the context of his confidant and the meaning behind the painting in question... But then again, it's Yusuke.
  • If the protagonist has a dream about Yusuke, he dreams that they were swimming in the ocean and his swimming trunks came off by accident, drifting into the ocean. Alternate dreams include climbing a mountain and watching the sunrise together, and feeling dismay over being unable to make it to the place Yusuke had agreed to meet him.
  • Out of all the random dialogues in Mementos, Yusuke can express interest in foreign comics because of the beautiful "musculature." In another instance, he says he's able to instantly tell the protagonist by scent.
    • Hell, he even calls the protagonist's shoulders broad in a text conversation.
  • Yusuke is also the only Confidant who gives you three presents/room decorations after visiting a hang-out spot with him Star Stickers at the planetarium in Ikebukuro, a Nude Statue at the museum in Ueno and a Hamaya at Meji Shrine
• You have the option of yelling, "I love Yusuke!" or "I love Ryuji!" at the school festival if you go with Ryuji and Mishima, though Ryuji stops you.
  • You also have the option of "I love Morgana!" as well. While Ryuji still stops you, his reasoning is simply because none of the student body know Morgana, rather than because the latter is a guy or a cat.
• In contrast to Persona 4's Valentine Event where the friendship event involves all the male party members, Joker can spend Valentine's with Ryuji alone (though it turns out that Yuuki Mishima was supposed to be there too until the two realize even he got a date.) The anime OVA A Magical Valentine's Day adds more fuel to the fire; when they go to spend time alone, the scene cuts to outside the house while their silhouettes in the attic window (which shows pink mood lighting, mind) move closer together. Considering that every single one of the dates before and after this segment end with Amamiya and his girl getting romantic, it gave the fans a plausible justification to think that they kissed.
  • Speaking of Ryuji's segment, Makoto, Ann, and Futaba are briefly shown watching this event unfold. Although each segment is in its own universe, the Harem Scorned end immediately following this scene got fans thinking Ryuji was big enough a contender to warrant all the girls' rage.
  • You know how most of the Phantom Thieves Confidants are only willing to die for you when you hit Rank 9? Consider earlier in the game when accidentally running into Kamoshida's guards, Ryuji was willing to sacrifice himself so that Joker could go free. Then there's also the factor that what motivates Joker's awakening of Arsène was that Ryuji was going to die if he didn't do anything. The latter is frequently commented upon when other characters look at Arsene in the Thieves' den.
  • In fact, during Sae's interrogation of Joker, she mentions the Confidants aiding you in some way, shape or form by giving you a service except for one. For Ryuji's Confidant, she notes the idea that Joker didn't act alone and had him along as a friend rather than as a deal.^note Granted, each of the Confidants she mentions (outside of Igor and the twins, since Sae doesn't know about the Velvet Room) at least provide you some easily guessable benefit. Not only is Ryuji the first Confidant you form, but he has no real purpose in the group apart from being The Big Guy.
    "Acting as a phantom thief would've been more effective alone. You could've gone about it that way... However, you did not. There are merits to having associates, that's what you decided... Am I wrong?"
    — Unlocking the Chariot Confidant
  • One of the first dialogue options after Ryuji's awakening is to say that his Skull getup makes him look like a thug. The other option?
    >It looks good on you.
    Ryuji: Uhh... should I be happy about that?
  • During their first celebration at the Wilton Buffet, Ryuji asks how Joker feels about the ritzy food he picked. If you select the "I'm so happy." option, Ryuji says this:
    Ryuji: It's cute hearin' that from someone like you. Just don't get too excited, got it?
  • Another of Ryuji's dialogues with Joker emphasizes how happy being with Joker makes him feel, in a rather tender way.
    Ryuji: I guess bein' free is like... It's like how I feel when I'm talkin' to you, man.
  • One of the Memento's conversations can capture this notion, enough that even the teammates seem to notice it.
    Ryuji: Hey, Joker, you wanna go shopping with me later?
    Ann: Huh? Two guys shopping together...? Sounds suspicious.
  • When Joker gets released and after Morgana returns, Ryuji butts in, bringing up the fact that Joker is leaving next month. His first thoughts are wanting Joker to stay and worrying about how he'll be treated by others in his hometown.
  • During Joker's last day in Tokyo where he says goodbye to all his Confidants, Ryuji tells Joker that he'll come visit his hometown sometime. If Joker responds that there isn't anything to see there, Ryuji answers that just Joker being there is enough.
  • Some other examples added in Royal:
    • Early on in the game, the protagonist has a chat with Kawakami. She asks if the protagonist has made a pass towards Yoshizawa, and immediately after you respond, she notes that he has been spending a lot of time with Ryuji. She then wonders if the protagonist is attracted to athletic types.
      Kawakami: Sorry, bad joke.
    • If you take Ryuji to Dome Town to hang out, he will keep complaining that the park is filled with couples and then immediately proceed to ask you what others might think when they see you two.
    • The scene of Ryuji's Third Awakening (like with all other teammates) takes place in his room, with him and Joker alone. When Ryuji has trouble starting the conversation, Joker can say "I'm flattered, Ryuji, but-". Ryuji gets extremely flustered for being Mistaken for Gay.
• While it's more on Akechi's part, his Confidant is still oozing with it, what with all the Foil tropes going on between them and the fact that in vanilla his confidant is automatic and often ranks up at important plot points. It has gotten to the point that some people joked that Joker/Akechi is the Official Couple of the game.
  • Akechi's confidant link starts with him taking an interest in Joker after the TV recording where they had a debate. Afterwards, Akechi would run into Joker at train stations, and eventually end up visiting Leblanc sometimes. Akechi would say things to Joker such as "Ever since the first time I met you, it felt special to me. I feel like I can tell you anything.".
  • On October 24, when you walk up to Goro in Leblanc, you can greet him with "Honey, I'm home." (In the Japanese version, it was simply, "I'm home.") And he actually plays along with it, chastising you for staying out so late.
  • The fact that the Persona 2 DLC outfits have Joker's uniform based on Tatsuya while Akechi gets to wear Jun's uniform instead of Suspiciously Similar Substitute Yusuke, which makes sense because Yusuke's similarity only stops at appearance, while Akechi had more thematic similarities.
  • In the Maniax spoiler book, Akechi is the only character with a personal message to Joker, stating that he finds Joker's ability to make friends with others interesting. Also in the same book, it was stated that Akechi holds complicated feelings towards Joker due to being jealous of Joker who is surrounded by friends. But Akechi does not deny that he genuinely likes Joker and wanted to meet him a few years earlier.
    • In Akechi's profile it states that his ideal type of lover was someone who keeps a reasonable amount of distance. Character design Shigenori Soejime imagined Joker as the type to plan things, but not talk about them, while his Japanese voice actor described him as the kind of person you can't get to know easily.
  • The Proof of Justice OVA has a healthy amount for Joker/Akechi shippers. The Framing Device has Amamiya worrying over the "proof of justice" phrase Akechi had left on the cafe word search, and in his search flashes back to conversations they had together. A lot of the time they played games together, ribbed each other over their skill, and had Akechi gradually open up to his lonely childhood with the flashbacks ending on Akechi telling Amamiya that he wished he met him earlier in life. Fans like to joke that the whole thing was just one long series of dates between the pair.
  • The opening for Persona 5 Royal has a scene where Joker splashes down on a large pile of treasure and lays right next to Akechi, both of them smiling and Joker looking completely blissed out.
  • Royal makes Akechi’s Confidant optional, much like other Confidants, and it has all-new scenes. In one event, he and Joker have have lunch together. Since Akechi's a celebrity, he's worried about being recognized. Joker's suggestion? Having Akechi fluff up his hair like Joker's and put on his glasses, making Akechi resemble Joker◊. Yes, it's as endearing as it sounds.
  • The sixth Confidant event in Royal has them going to the bathhouse together. They spend quite a while wearing nothing but towels and chatting away happily. And one of the text messages Akechi sends informing you he wants to hang out is "I'm alone right now." Right...
  • At the end of Akechi's Rank 8 Confidant event, he gives Joker his glove, symbolic of challenging one to a duel in the West. Joker keeps this glove, promising to have a rematch with Akechi at some point, even after what's happened. In the true ending, he looks up and sees someone who could have been him. It's clear that Akechi is very important to Joker, just as he is to Akechi.
  • During the interview where Akechi had yet to realize Joker wasn't dead, Akechi might as well have just come out and admit he was in love with the leader of The Phantom Thieves.
    Akechi: Once they lost public support, someone they thought was their greatest enemy lent a hand...That's the same strategy used in romance, wouldn't you agree?
  • During Royal's Third Term, Joker can fall asleep in class and have a dream involving Akechi where they watched a movie together and were moved to tears, like his dream with Yusuke.
  • Also during the Third Term, Akechi briefly takes over as the Navi of the team. If Joker gets afflicted with rage he may respond with "Joker's enraged!? I kind of like it, but it's not you! Calm down!"
  • When Joker is trapped in Maruki's Lotus-Eater Machine, his greatest desire is seeing Akechi again after the latter's ambiguous death/arrest. Maruki actually calls Akechi of the dream world a "hostage" because if Joker and the Phantom Thieves defeat him (Maruki), Akechi will just go back to being dead. And then he compares Joker's wish of seeing Akechi again being similar to Maruki's feelings for his girlfriend. Seriously.
  • Along this line, the new endings of Royal can be viewed as either Joker or Akechi deciding I Want My Beloved to Be Happy — in the True Ending, Joker honors Akechi's wishes to destroy Maruki's Lotus-Eater Machine at the cost of Akechi's life, while in the Bad Ending, Akechi accepts living in Maruki's dream world for Joker's sake.
  • Dummied Out dialogue had Akechi commenting that Joker's swimsuit was "a bit distracting."
  • Joker and Akechi appear in promo art for Persona 5: Mementos Mission with Joker casually leaning off Akechi's shoulder, who doesn't seem to mind. Akechi's wearing a cliché detective's trenchcoat and Joker dressed in a police uniform. The uniform, however, is that of a female officer, complete with stockings and high heels.
  • If Akechi's Confidant is maxed out and Joker talks to the owner of the jazz club that Akechi frequents in Royal during his last day in Tokyo, the owner comments that he still remembers the last time Akechi and Joker visited together and states that it was rare to see the Detective Prince with another person. Joker then realizes that he still has the glove that Akechi gave him inside his pocket.
  • The lyrics of Royal's ending theme, "Our Light", sound very much like a tragic love song from Joker to Akechi.
• If you take Iwai to the planetarium he will point out that the place has a lot couples and that it isn't a place for an older man like him to enter with you...
• If you crawl through one of the vents in Madarame's Palace, Ryuji warns Yusuke not to stare at his ass.
  • In a Mementos skit, Yusuke asks Ryuji to model for him after Ryuji mentions his push-up count is getting higher.
  • In another Mementos skit, Yusuke says that though he's told to keep a low profile, nobody talks to him in the first place. Ryuji proceeds to ask if he wants to go out for some ramen sometime.
  • "I'm in the zone now... Give me more stimulation!" "Dude... Phrasing. I know what you mean, but... phrasing."
• One of the negotiation lines with a male upbeat Shadow can consist of them asking the protagonist for his preference in women, to which he can potentially answer "I like men". Note that this is the correct answer in order for them to become a Persona. That being said, the Shadow simply comments "to each their own".
• In Royal, you can now give male Confidants gifts in non-level up hangouts. Yes, this means you can give boys flowers and chocolates, too.
• At the beginning of the Third Term, Joker suddenly wakes up to find Morgana in his bed. He can later tell him "You're one handsome guy" and "We used to sleep together". This wouldn't be so bad, if not for the fact that Morgana now has the appearance of a young, handsome man.
  • Joker can also continue to make comments about his attractiveness while Morgana is in this form.

The Girls

• Some Mementos skits revolve around Ann's figure. Futaba often gives compliments or express envy.
  • One skit starts innocently with Ann complaining about the road being too bumpy. Futaba's response is "Woah Panther, they're huge! I don't know where to look when they shake!"
  • Futaba also notes about how "kinky" she thinks the other girls' outfits are, and she also claims that she can look up what Sae Niijima's measurements are if she wants to — both times sounding a bit more enthusiastic about it than is necessary...
• In one Royal Mementos conversation, Futaba outright says that if she was male, Haru would have swept her off her feet with how skilled she is.
• Ann and Shiho share quite a bit of Les Yay on their own, with Ann's confidant revolving around her getting over Shiho's attempted suicide and how both show a lot of concern for the other. In Ann's penultimate link, Shiho says goodbye to Ann by explicitly saying "I love you" and hugging her, and when you're trying to convince Ann to keep going after initially failing to defeat the Holy Grail one of the options to encourage her is "What about Shiho?" while the other is a generic message about not giving up. Heck, her greatest desire that Takuto brought to reality was for Shiho to stay at Shujin instead of transferring.
  • Ann's solo Image Song in the musical is about how Shiho saved her and how she wants to protect her.
  • The German translation of the game has Shiho say "Ich liebe dich" to Ann in the penultimate Lovers link, which is the explicitly romantic form of "I love you"; “Ich habe dich lieb" is used for family and friends.
• Makoto and Haru are also fairly close. Makoto's the first to try to recruit Haru to the Thieves (apart from her short-lived collaboration with Morgana). Meanwhile, Haru gives Makoto the Affectionate Nickname of "Mako-chan," a level of familiarity beyond First-Name Basis, and is probably the most concerned about how she's holding up when the Thieves end up having to enter Sae's palace and come face to face with the darker side of Makoto's sister.
  • After Makoto approaches Haru and reveals her identity, Haru compliments Makoto on her thief outfit, much to Makoto's embarrassment.
• Ann's Sexy Technique also works on female Shadows.
• While Ohya can get into a relationship with the protagonist, she is also especially determined to clear her partner Kayo's name. This plus her close Vitriolic Best Buds friendship with Lala Escargot, who identifies as female, makes Ohya herself come off as Ambiguously Bi.
• In one Thieves' Den conversation in Royal, Takemi finds Shadow Sae attractive, and suggests that the real Sae try out makeup, much to the latter's discomfort.
• Haru admires Shadow Futaba's figure in the Thieves' Den, and says this to the real Futaba's face.

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