Character sheet for the Persona fanfic by DaBossMan. Unmarked spoilers for everything up to Chapter 113 (the latest as of 02/22/24).

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The Phantom Team

A group of Metaverse explorers who seek to change the hearts of villains. Formed by Yu Narukami and his friends after the former enrolled at Shujin Academy to serve his year of probation.

In General

Adaptational Heroism: This story's Action Prologue, unlike the canon one, makes no mention of there being a traitor amongst the Phantom Team.
Badass Crew: They're a group of powerful Persona users who can tear through swarths of Shadows like they were wet tissue paper.
Fighting Spirit: Possessing a Persona is a requirement to be apart of the Phantom Team.
In Spite of a Nail: Akechi, Morgana, and Ryuji all still become members of the Phantom Team, though with big deviations from canon, namely being the order they get recruited in (with the exception of Morgana) the fact that Akechi is not a traitor.
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The gang consists of a Teen Genius ace dective, a cat-themed Wrench Wench from another dimension, a spunky volleyball star, a Chuunibyou shogi prodigy, and a former track star turned delinquent, all being led by a multi-talented country boy turned social pariah.

Yu Narukami / Seeker

Arcana: 0. Fool

Persona: Izanagi, Wild Card

Weapons: Katanas and machine pistols

The leader of the Phantom Team, Yu is a high school student sent to live in Tokyo for a year under probation, due to false charges of assault against him after protecting a woman from a man's harassment.

10-Minute Retirement: His fear at getting caught by Sae or killed in the Metaverse makes him flake out on Akechi and Morgana. It takes separate talks with Izanagi and Igor and realizing his friends might be in danger that causes him to return.
The Ace: He's outstanding academically, able to hold himself in a fight, and is a charismatic and effective leader. He also used to be fairly popular on top of that but he lost that popularity after getting framed, though it doesn't stop him from gaining Confidants.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: He's a lot more bitter than in canon, especially during the first arc, due to his miserable circumstances.
Adaptational Badass: He was already a powerful Wild Card in canon, but in this fic he has access to Joker's Third Eye ability, can use Izanagi to see through walls and spy on people in the real world, and Izanagi has natural access to better abilities than in Persona 4.
Adaptational Personality Change: Compared to his canon counterpart, Yu is far more emotional and prone to panicking.
Clear My Name: One of his objectives while studying at Shujin.
Constantly Curious: Curiosity is a defining character trait of Yu. It was the reason he intervened in the struggle that led to his probation, and it is what drives him to do many of his actions, from eavesdropping on conversations, to working at a bar to uncover more about his school principal.
Deadpan Snarker: While few and far between, Yu does have moments where he lays down the sass
Distressed Dude: Is kidnapped and tortured by Iwai in Chapter 67. Then it happens again in the Metaverse while infiltrating Iwai's Palace.
Driven to Suicide: He fell into despair after all his friends in Inaba turned on him. According to him, he was in the process of hanging himself before his father walked in him and convinced him to reconsider.
Foil: To his guardian, Sae. Both of them suffered a single great catastrophic event that essentially reset their lives, and were pulled back from the brink by their little sister. Both of them see the other as an adoptive family member and will fight for what they believe is right. The difference is that Sae works within the system, and has no qualms about abusing it for her own gain when it suits her, whereas Yu fights against the system from the outside, and has rules in place to keep him and his friends from going too far.
Giver of Lame Names: His suggested name for the Phantom Team? The Hamburglars. Thankfully he was outvoted.
Hero with Bad Publicity: Upon getting framed and charged with assault, he becomes an outcast in his hometown of Inaba. Things don't improve much when he moves to Shibuya due to his criminal being leaked at school. Even after he successfully prevents Shiho's suicide attempt, most Shujin students still refuse to see him as anything more than a violent thug.
Heroes Prefer Swords: Justified here unlike in his original game; here he was a member of Yasogami's kendo club before the incident.
In Spite of a Nail: Izanagi is still his intial Persona despite never encountering Izanami in this fic.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: As in canon. Manifests when he decides to recruit the catlike Persona Nekomata to his cause.
The Leader: Of the Tricksters.
Made of Iron: In the boss fight with Iwai's Shadow, Yu gets rammed in the chest by a machete. His reaction is to get pissed and knock Iwai back.
Missing Mom: Due to being Dojima's son in this fic his mom is dead in this world, unlike in canon where his parents were alive but irrelevant to the story.
Shock and Awe: Izanagi can use Electricity spells as in canon.
Younger Than They Look: His silver hair causes some people to mistake him for an old man, bordering on Running Gag. The bowl cut doesn't help, which Izanagi lampshades. In fact, in chapter 83, when Yu dresses and stylizes himself like his actual age, he attracts the attention of all the women around him

Ace

Goro Akechi / Ace

Arcana: VIII. Justice

Persona: Robin Hood

Weapons: Light Sabers and pistols

One of the founding member of the Phantom Team. Famed as the Detective Prince, Akechi works with the SIU and was instrumental in the downfall of Suguru Kamoshida and Ichiryusai Madarame.

Adaptational Heroism: He isn't the one behind the mental shutdowns in this universe, and is in fact the one of the founding members of the Phantom Team.
Adaptational Name Change: Not Akechi himself but rather his codename, which is "Crow" in canon, is changed to "Ace".
Adaptational Wimp: Canon Akechi joins late in the game, is able to keep up with the other Phantom Thieves through his natural talent, and is secretly an assassin who has been active in the Metaverse for two years longer than any of them. This Akechi is just a rookie like the others.
Ascended Fanboy: Is a fan of Western superheroes, and gets to be a sort of superhero himself.
Badass Normal: Was able to help bring down Kamoshida and Madarame for their misdeeds way before he got his Persona.
Composite Character: Of his normal self, and canon Ryuji (in terms of him being the second member of the team, along with having a personal score to settle with the first target).
Empowered Badass Normal: After forming a contract with Robin Hood, he goes from a crook-nailing detective to a badass supernatural phantom thief.
For Want Of A Nail: The reason this Akechi is a hero through and through? His admiration for superheroes allowed him to aid the grandson of the SIU head, who then helped put Akechi through school and gave him his big break to join the SIU as a detective.
Good Is Not Soft: Has no hesitation using physical force on a criminal to gain some information, though he asks Yu to keep that part of him a secret.
Heroic Bastard: One of the heroes this time around, still the bastard son of Shido.
Jumped at the Call: He makes no effort to hide his excitement over the prospect of using the Metaverse to take Kobayakawa down.
Akechi: WE'RE GOING TO TAKE YOU DOWN KOBAYAKAWA! DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED!!
Last-Name Basis: Just like in canon, he's basically exclusively referred to by his surname, Akechi.
Light 'em Up: Robin Hood specializes in Bless attacks.
Light Is Good: He's a geniune good guy in this AU, uses Bless skills, and his thief outfit is exactly the same as the Prince outfit his canon self wore in the Casino of Envy.
Not So Above It All: He gleefully goes along with Hifumi's Chuunibyou act when the team infiltrates the sewers in Iwai's Palace in Chapter 90.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted. He has naturally red eyes but is a genuinely heroic character. This gets Lampshaded by Morgana, who early on in the story, frequently refers to him as "Evil-Eye".
She's Not My Girlfriend: He vehemently denies having any feelings for Makoto.
Trademark Favorite Food: Pancakes.
What the Hell, Hero?: Shortly after his Awakening, Yu calls Akechi out for seemingly being more concerned about playing hero than the fact that he very nearly died and accuses him of being no better than Kobayakawa. Akechi, for his part, is genuinely sorry for his insensitivity and apologizes to Yu first chance he gets.

Carmen

Morgana Velvet / Carmen

Arcana: I. The Magician

Persona: Lady Trieu

Weapons: Scimitars and slingshots

A member of the Phantom Team that Yu and Akechi found while attempting to escape Kobayakawa's Palace. She helps them escape and serves as their guide while exploring the Metaverse.

Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Unlike canon, she's human from the get-go and perfectly aware of her origins and purpose. As a result, she's much nicer and easygoing.
Adaptational Name Change: Her code name is now "Carmen" rather than "Mona".
Adaptational Species Change: Is a human instead of a cat in this fic.
Animal Motif: Cats, cats everywhere.
Blow You Away: Lady Trieu knows Wind attacks, just like Zorro in canon.
Cool Car: The Mona-mobiles are this, and instead of turning into them this Morgana can summon them freely within the Metaverse instead.
Cloudcuckoolander: She's incredibly knowledge about the Metaverse, Personas, and Shadows, but she's pretty clueless about the real world and even basic concepts like money allude her.
Gender Flip: Is female, instead of male in this fic. Her Persona is based on a female warrior instead of a male, as well.
In Name Only: Played with. The similarities she and her canon counterpart share are their names, origins, weapons, magic, and inability to get along with Ryuji. Meanwhile, their personalities, genders, and even their Personas are totally different.
In Spite of a Nail: Despite a lot of things being different about Morgana, she still uses Wind magic, has scimitars and slingshots as her weapons, and she's encountered by the Phantom Team in more or less the same way: being freed from being imprisoned by the first Palace Ruler's Shadow.
Ms. Exposition: Serves as a way to orient our heroes on the Metaverse and its workings here.
Undead Tax Exemption: Downplayed; Yu uses his favor with Ushimaru from stopping Shiho's suicide attempt to help her get enrolled at Shujin.
Wrench Wench: She is an extremely talented mechanic, having constructed multiple state-of-the-art Mona-mobiles and knows how to maintain them. In addition, she's built smoke bombs, Goho-Ms, and taught Yu how to make similar items.

Pariah

Shiho Suzui / Pariah

Arcana: III. The Empress

Persona: Boudicca

Weapons: Morning Stars and submachine guns

A member of the Phantom Team who joined them after surviving an assault by Kobayakawa and finding herself in the Metaverse.

Adaptational Badass: In canon, she's just an ordinary girl. Here, she's a Persona user.
Adaptational Personality Change: While the core of her character is the same, she's a lot more spunky compared to her canon counterpart.
Ascended Extra: She goes from a Sacrificial Lamb who's Put on the Bus after her attempted suicide to a member of the Phantom Team.
Battle Couple: After she and Yu begin dating.
Beautiful Singing Voice: According to Ann, Shiho was so good at singing that she was nicknamed "Songbird Shiho" by everyone else. Later, she and Yu do karaoke, and when he tries to match her, he ends up coughing up a storm. This gets expanded on in later chapters, with Shiho explaining that she originally wanted to be an idol, but talking with her aunt, as well as singing the inappropriate "Hasa Diga Eebowai" in front of her family put an end to that dream.
Berserk Button: Any kind of sexual harassment, regardless of genders of both the victim and the perpetrator, will push this for her.
Blood Knight: Due to being forced to be nice even as she was getting abused, she finds combat extremely therapeutic, rivaling or even surpassing canon Haru in that regard.
Shiho: The blood on my face, the sound of bones crunching, the broken bodies turning to ash. It's all so therapeutic.
Damsel out of Distress: In chapter 74, when she and the other girls are captured by Iwai, she manages to break out and fry the cognitions that were about to rape them
Driven to Suicide: Like in canon. Yu's around to talk her out of it, however, meaning she doesn't suffer the injuries that sidelined her in canon.
Expy: To her friend Ann Takamaki in canon. Both were the fourth members to join their respective teams, both joined after the inciting incident, and both are their respective team's fire specialist.
Heroic Willpower: During Iwai's boss fight, one of the minions Iwai summons attempts to brainwash her. She manages to fight back and destroy it before it can succeed.
Playing with Fire: Boudicca specializes in Fire attacks, like Carmen did in canon.
Shipper on Deck: She very much wants to Ryuji and Hifumi to end up as a couple, and tries to put the two of them together whenever possible.
Spirited Competitor: She gets really into volleyball, especially when up against a Worthy Opponent. Her match with Yu becomes so intense that she winds up accidentally breaking his nose. This comes up later in chapter 83, when she almost completely drains both her and her boyfriend's wallets because she refused to accept defeat at a carnival game.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the Tomboy to Ann's Girly Girl.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: Harming Yu is a good way to earn a fiery death.
What Does She See in Him?: The general student body of Shujin can't believe that she would date a "criminal" like Yu and believes that he had to have fooled her somehow.

Venus

Hifumi Togo / Venus

Arcana: XVII. The Star

Persona: Fu Hao

Weapons: N/A

A student from Kosei High School, she is a shogi prodigy who nonetheless comes into conflict with her mother, Mitsuyo, over the latter's increasing Stage Mom tendencies. She winds up joining the Team after inadvertently getting dragged into the Metaverse by Morgana during a botched infiltration of Mitsuyo's home.

Adaptational Badass: In canon, she's just an ordinary girl. Here, she's a Persona user.
All Women Are Prudes: Every time something even remotely lewd or inappropriate comes up, she always expresses some form of disgust.
Appropriated Appellation: People already call her the "Venus of Shogi" anyway, so she uses that as the basis of her codename.
Chuunibyou: Just like in canon, she acts as the fearsome "Queen Hifumi" when playing shogi. She keeps this attitude up while supporting the rest of the Phantom Team in the Metaverse.
Composite Character: Of Canon!Hifumi, Yusuke (as the team's first recruit outside the founders, the sole recruit from Kosei High rather than Shujin Academy, and one who has a familial relationship with the second Palace target), and Futaba (as the team's Support Party Member).
Daddy's Girl: Like in canon, she cares deeply about her father. So much so that at first she refuses to aid the Phantom Team's infiltration of her mother's Palace due to concerns about his health
Defrosting the Ice Queen: She's initially cold to Ryuji, believing him to be just another horny fanboy trying to get in her pants. However, she quickly warms up to him as they begin to hang out, even developing feelings towards him.
I Know Mortal Kombat: Her shogi knowledge allows her to direct the team through the Metaverse. Justified due to the Metaverse's Your Mind Makes It Real power.
Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Like in canon, she does not like being known for her body and nothing else
Support Party Member: Serves as the Navigator for the Phantom Team, using her shogi prowess to direct them while they explore Palaces.
The Strategist: Her prowess at shogi allows her to formulate strategies for the Tricksters.

Skull

Ryuji Sakamoto / Skull

Arcana: VII. The Chariot

Persona: Captain Kidd

Weapons: Bludgeons and shotguns

A fellow student at Shujin, he joins the Tricksters after they take him to guide them towards Iwai's Palace. There, his Persona awakens after rejecting Shadow Iwai's offer to make him his heir.

Adaptational Late Appearance: Downplayed. He appears early on, given his status as a Shujin student, yet only awakens to his Persona in the third Palace, while his canon self was the second party member to awaken.
All Men Are Perverts: He is the most sexually forward of the team, between wondering if having sex with one's own Persona counts as Screw Yourself, or casually bringing up the fact that Ann gave him oral sex once.
Ascended Fanboy: He goes from being a fan of the Phantom Team to being a member.
Composite Character: Of his canon self, and Makoto (in terms of being blackmailed by the third Palace owner, and being the second member outside of the founders to join).
Defector from Decadence: Zigzagged in the sense that he was being forced into said decadence and never wanted any part in it to begin with but he awakens his Persona after fully resolving to reject Iwai's scheme to force him to be his heir.
Dem Bones: Captain Kidd is a skeletal pirate, as usual.
Idiot Hero: To the point where it takes him a while to process that Yu and friends are the Phantom Team despite standing with them within the Metaverse.
In Spite of a Nail: Despite being encountered under very different circumstances, his weapons, magic, Persona, Metaverse appearance and codename are all the same as in canon.
The McCoy: While he and Yu are hanging out at a restaurant, they are kicked out due to their poor manners. When Yu suggests using the Metaverse to give the woman that kicked them out a change of heart, Ryuji is appalled by the idea and reminds Yu that being mean isn't a good enough reason to go after them as the Phantom Team.
Precision F-Strike: Delivers one right to Shadow Iwai before awakening his Persona.
Shock and Awe: He and Captain Kidd use Electricity, like in canon.
Trojan Prisoner: Is the linchpin of one such gambit in Chapter 86. It somehow works, despite the fact that Ryuji isn't the stealthiest guy around.

Confidants

People from various walks of life with whom Yu has made bonds with during his stay at Shujin.

II. The Priestess

Makoto Niijima

Sae Niijima's younger sister and Shujin's Student Council President.

Adaptational Badass: Zigzagged. In Persona 5, Makoto's real world martial arts prowess is an Informed Attribute. Here, she can easily defeat several armed thugs with her bare hands and is said to be even stronger than Sae. However, unlike in canon she isn't a Persona user.
Adaptational Nice Guy: She's much less strict than in canon and is never antagonistic towards the Phantom Team.
Adaptational Personality Change: While she's still the Student Council President and an honor student, this version of her is somewhat more childish and less socially awkward. Apparently she was more in-line with her canon counterpart a year prior to the story before she started hanging around Akira Kurusu.
Demoted to Extra: Downplayed, she's a Confidant (and lives with Yu) but not a member of the Phantom Team.
The Not-Love Interest: Despite being around the same age and living together, she and Yu have no romantic attraction towards one another. While they do develop a close bond, it's more akin to siblings than lovers.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her sending Ryuji off to buy Buchimaru merch leads to him meeting and getting blackmailed by Iwai.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Justified via PTSD. Thunderstorms at night are a major phobia for her, because they remind her of the night her father was killed.

IV. The Emperor

Shinya Oda

A young prodigy who is one of the best players of the arcade game "Gun About" and an acquaintance of Futaba's. His Confidant Arcana is the Emperor.

Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- He's Yu's Emperor Confidant, instead of Joker's Tower Confidant.
- He's Yoshida's nephew in this story, while they were totally unrelated in canon.
Godlike Gamer: Like in canon.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's incredibly rude and arrogant but lightens up on Yu once it's clear how seriously he's taking his lessons.
Mouthy Kid: Like in canon, he knows more about playing games than those older than him, holding the top score of every game in every arcade throughout the city, and won't hesitate to back up his boasts.

V. The Hierophant

Sojiro Sakura

The owner of Café Leblanc and Yu's boss.

Adaptational Jerkass: He refused to take in Yu after his arrest, unlike in canon, which led the teenager having stay with the Niijimas instead. This gets Subverted after Sojiro actually meets him, as while he's initially hostile towards, he starts coming around to him after getting to know him.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Is Futaba's biological father in this fic, as opposed to being her adoptive father, as revealed in Chapter 77.
Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: The grumpy to Wakaba's gleeful.
Happily Married: To Wakaba.
The Mentor: He teaches Yu everything about Café Leblanc, from handling customers to brewing coffee. He also gives Yu dating advice that's far more practical than Sae's own.

VI. The Lovers

Ann Takamaki

A Shujin student who's an amateur model and Shiho's best friend.

Adaptational Late Appearance: Downplayed. While she appears fairly early on as a character, Yu doesn't interact with her much and only forms his Confidant bond with her in Chapter 78, during the third Palace arc.
Adaptational Sexuality: Is confirmed to be bisexual in this story, seemingly taking an interest in Morgana and having given Ryuji oral as mentioned in Chapter 87.
Adaptational Wimp: In canon, she is a badass Persona user. Here, she's just an ordinary girl.
Demoted to Extra: In canon, was one of the founding members of the Phantom Thieves. In this fic, she's only seen as a friend of Shiho and doesn't form a Confidant bond with Yu until Chapter 78.
Entertainingly Wrong: She has a bad habit of jumping to insane conclusions, which has led to several instances where she mistakenly believes Yu to be cheating on Shiho after seeing him hang out with other girls.
The Fashionista: As in canon. She's got incredible fashion sense, and is the one Yu goes to for help in dressing up for his second date with Shiho. In fact, she gets irritated at him when she learns that said date is in a few hours, as it means she can't use her talent as well as she usually could.
Foreshadowing: Her Phan-site user name is Lovers 06.
Satellite Character: She doesn't have much going on in the early chapters beyond being Shiho's best friend. This gets Subverted after Yu forms a Confidant with her.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the Girly Girl to Shiho's Tomboy.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her telling Ryuji of her mistaken belief that Yu that was seeing Hifumi behind Shiho's back would lead to Yu and Ryuji's fight, which would would snowball into the two of them ending up in Iwai's crosshairs.

IX. The Hermit

Wakaba Sakura

Sojiro's wife and Futaba's mother who's a retired researcher.

Berserk Button: While she's typically kind to Yu, she gets angry with him after he asks her what exactly she's working on and why it's apparently important enough to neglect Futaba over.
Game-Breaking Injury: Her back injury that caused her to be paralyzed from the waist down was due to Kobayakawa injuring her as part of payback for Futaba being part of Akechi's investigation team.
HA HA HA—No: When Yu asked if Sojiro was a scientist in chapter 77, Wakaba gives a hysterical laugh followed by a "no".
Happily Married: To Sojiro.
Nice Girl: She's an incredibly kind woman who makes it a point to not judge Yu based off of his criminal record and would have gladly let him stay with the Sakura family had Sojiro not hid the fact that Dojima asked him to let him stay.
Spared by the Adaptation: She's alive and mostly well in this fic, albeit confined to a wheelchair.

XI. Strength

Caroline and Justine

A pair of twin sisters who serve as Igor's assistants and Velvet Room attendants.

Adaptational Nice Guy: They're not quite as cruel as their canon counterparts since Igor is actually Igor in this story.
Age Lift: In terms of appearance at least, given that the Velvet Room attendants are Older Than They Look. Instead of appearing as children as in canon, they both appear as grown women.
Been There, Shaped History: They casually mention to Yu in Chapter 87 that they once met Otto von Bismarck.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: As in canon, Caroline is the short tempered Red Oni while Justine is the The Stoic Blue Oni.
Reduced to Dust: Igor disintegrates them as punishment for breaking the rules of the Velvet Room by using their guest (Yu) to help win a competition they were having with their sister Elizabeth. They get better though, with them pointing out Igor will only permanently kill them if they do something like completely betray him.

XII. The Hanged Man

Yusuke Kitagawa

Young artist who's a classmate of Hifumi's and was Ichiryusai Madarame's last pupil before his downfall.

Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Is Yu's Hanged Man Confidant instead of Joker's Emperor Confidant.
Adaptational Wimp: In canon, he is a badass Persona user. Here, he's just an ordinary guy.
Demoted to Extra: A Phantom Thief in canon, yet is merely a supporting character in this fic.
Eccentric Artist: He wouldn't be Yusuke otherwise.
Take a Third Option: Yu and Hifumi argue which historical or legendary figure Yusuke would portray to break out of his artist's block. He chooses neither of their proposals (Izanagi and Fu Hao, respectively) and chooses Ishikawa Goemon instead.

XIII. Death

Shoichi Oyamada

A rather shady doctor who employs Yu as a guinea pig for drug trials.

Adaptational Heroism: Canon Oyamada was the antagonist in Tae Takemi's Confidant quest line. Here he's in Takemi's role himself, with the female doctor nowhere to be found in the story.
Everyone Has Standards: He may be a shady back-alley doctor willing to test out his experimental drugs on a high school student, but even he's horrified when one sends Yu on an horny drug trip and is relieved to find the effects to be only temporary.
My God, What Have I Done?: A humorous example. In chapter 35, Shoichi tests a new drug on Yu, making the man go into a state where he starts spouting random nonsense. Shoichi can only lament the results of his labor.
Super Doc: Even though Oyamada specializes in treating human patients, he's able to treat Morgana's pet cat, Zorro, after he gets sick. Though he does tell Yu and Morganna to go to an actual veterinarian next time.

XIV. Temperance

Ushimaru

Shujin Academy's strict principal, with a rather embarrassing secret - he works as a crossdresser at Lala Escargot's Crossroads Bar.

Ascended Extra: He's upgraded from a background character to Yu's Temperance Confidant.
Composite Character: Of canon!Ushimaru, Kawakami (in terms of Arcana and being Shujin faculty with an embarrassing side job), and Ohya (in terms of being associated with Lala-chan and the Crossroads Bar).
Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite his stern demeanor, he genuinely cares for the students and faculty of Shujin. The only reason Kobayakawa was able get away with as much as he did was because no one could provide any definitive proof of his wrongdoings. After Shiho confesses to Ushimaru that Kobayakawa was the one who raped her, he wastes no time confronting the bald bastard.
Wholesome Crossdresser: As revealed in Chapter 81, the reason why Ushimaru crossdresses while working at Crossroads was so that the clientele wouldn't be intimidated by him.

XV. The Devil

Junya Kaneshiro

A police officer formerly working undercover within the mob, now stuck at a desk job. He supplies Yu with model guns.

Adaptational Badass: Is he fat? Yes. Is he a sleazeball? Yes. But neither of those facts stop him from killing three armed goons in chapter 88, nor does it stop him from dealing a blow to the mob while undercover all by himself. Compare the original Kaneshiro, who never showed any sort of direct combat skills.
Adaptational Heroism: In canon, Kaneshiro was the third Palace target and the first connected to The Conspiracy. Here, he's a cop who worked undercover within the mob, fell In Love with the Mark, and was disgraced and confined to a desk job. His Confidant conversations with Yu center around him monitoring the mob's activities once more.
Composite Character: Of his canon self and Munehisa Iwai (serving as the heroes' arms dealer).
Dirty Cop: Is at first against selling Yu the model guns, out a fear of them getting in trouble… until Yu shows him the money he's using to pay for it all.
Donut Mess with a Cop: Fitting with his appearance as a Fat Bastard, he has a liking of donuts, oftentimes shoving large portions of them into his mouth.
I Was Quite a Looker: According to him, he was apparently ripped back when he was working as an undercover cop.
Mr. Vice Guy: Adaptational Heroism or not, he's still an unrepentant money grubber.
Reassigned to Antarctica: Was formerly an undercover cop before falling from grace and being reassigned to a desk job.

XVIII. The Moon

Futaba Sakura

A student at Shujin who's skilled at hacking.

Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Is Yu's Moon Confidant instead of Joker's Hermit Confidant. This may in part due to the fact that her mother Wakaba is still alive and serves as Yu's Hermit Confidant instead, as well as the fact that she herself wasn't reduced to a suicidally dpressed shut-in due to, again, her mom not dying.
Adaptational Wimp: In canon, she is a badass (albeit non-combatant) Persona user. Here, she's just an ordinary girl.
Age Lift: A minor example. She's a second year student, which would make her around 16-17 during the events of the story, about a year older than in canon.
Composite Character: She takes Mishima's role as the student who's forced to leak Yu's record, the creator and admin of the Phan-site, and Moon Confidant.
Demoted to Extra: Isn't a member of the Phantom Team in the fic.
Decomposite Character: She assists Yu and his friends with her technological know-how, yet her role as the Phantom Thieves' Navigator is instead assigned to Hifumi.
Easily Forgiven: Yu doesn't hold it against her for leaking his criminal record since Akechi and Makoto made it clear that she was forced to by Kobayakawa.

XIX. The Sun

Haru Okumura

A student at Shujin, known for her gardening skills, and is the heiress to Okumura Foods.

Adaptational Early Appearance: Appears earlier than in canon.
Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: From Joker's Empress Confidant to Yu's Sun Confidant.
Adaptational Wimp: In canon, she is a badass Persona user. Here, she's just an ordinary girl.
Attempted Rape: Her fiancé Sugimura attempts to have his way with her shortly after their engagement. Thankfully she manages to escape his clutches.
Demoted to Extra: Isn't a member of the Phantom Team in the fic.

XX. Judgement

Sae Niijima

A prosecutor with the SIU, Akechi's senior partner, and Yu's guardian during his stay at Shujin.

Adaptational Badass: While her canon counterpart's kickboxing was relegated to Informed Ability, this version of Sae is the top martial arts instructor in the SIU, and is strong enough to hospitalize grown men.
Adaptational Heroism: While she still possess a Shadow like her canon equivalent, it dwells in Mementos rather than being a full-blown Palace Ruler.
Badass Normal: Like Akechi, Sae was able to bring down multiple powerful and corrupt authority figures, and she's touted as the best martial arts instructor in the SIU.
Composite Character: She takes on combination of Makoto and Akechi's pre-Phantom Thief roles as the Inspector Javert hunting down the Phantom Team at her superior's behest and their most vocal dissenter. She also winds up working with the Phantom Team, while simultaneously serving as The Mole.
Death Glare: The infamous "Niijima Glare".
Despair Event Horizon: Her father's death was this for her. She almost walked out and let the world do whatever it wanted to her, until Makoto's earnest plea to not leave her too brought her back.
Entertainingly Wrong: Twofold. She's under the impression that a Change of Heart inverts a person's morality and is scared of the possibility of the Phantom Team targeting Yu and Makoto and turning them into violent delinquents. Change of Hearts don't work like that and even if they did, she needn't have to worry about her wards being targeted since Yu himself is the leader of the Phantom Team.
Hypocritical Humor: She considers herself an expert on romantic advice, as seen when she tries to prep Yu for his first date with Shiho. This being despite the fact that she doesn't even have a romantic partner of her own, something Sojiro calls her out on when the two get into an argument over who's dating advice is better.
Sojiro: Remind me; between the two of us, which of us is happily married and has a child of their own?
Foil: To her ward. Both of them suffered a single great catastrophic event that essentially reset their lives, and were pulled back from the brink by their little sister. Both of them see the other as an adoptive family member and will fight for what they believe is right. The difference is that Sae works within the system, and has no qualms about abusing it for her own gain when it suits her, whereas Yu fights against the system from the outside, and has rules in place to keep him and his friends from going too far.
Kick Chick: She is proficient in kickboxing and aikido.
Last-Name Basis: Not her specifically, but Sae addresses almost everyone exclusively by their last name.
Likes Older Men: According to her younger sister in chapter 50.
Makoto: She prefers older, mature men.
Mama Bear: Has a fierce protective instinct for those she considers her family, which eventually includes Yu. It steers into My Beloved Smother levels after she learns that Yu was attacked by Iwai.
My Greatest Failure: When confiding with Yu, she reveals that she had the chance to warn her dad about the incoming attack, but didn't do it out of spite and a naive belief that he would win. As such, she considers his death to be this.
Parental Substitute: Yu accepts her as one at the end of the Homecoming Trilogy.
The Mole: Agrees to be this for the SIU while working with the Phantom Team.
A Real Man Is a Killer: Zigzagged. During one of her meetings with Izanagi, the "leader" of the Phantom Team, she goes into great detail about three separate instances where she remorselessly killed men in self-defense. However, when Yu confronts Akechi about this, he says that all of these incidents severely shook her and that she was likely just embellishing the narrative for intimidation's sake. Yu, however, isn't totally convinced and speculates that Akechi himself might be sugarcoating things avoid casting doubt on their alliances with her.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Zigzagged. When she first meets Yu, she imposes very strict limitations on what he can do in his free time. Eventually, she starts to lift these restrictions, and becomes a much more accommodating guardian. Comparatively, in the SIU, she's one of the top dogs on the food chain, and uses her authority to strike fear in the hearts of rookies, as well as use it to beat up whoever she wants without fear of consequences.
Stay in the Kitchen: She has to deal with the rampant sexism within the SIU (and Japanese law enforcement in general) on a regular basis to achieve any success. This is part of the reason why her personality tends to be on the prickly side.

Palace Rulers

People with distorted desires who the Phantom Team target for a change of heart.

In General

Adaptational Villainy: All the Palace Rulers who've appeared thus far are much more vile than their canon equivalents.
Foil: Each of the Palace Rulers so far have a good deal in common with their canon counterparts:
- Kobayakawa and Kamoshida are both sports coaches that use their power to sexually harass female students and abuse the male ones and are responsible for driving Shiho to suicide. Both see themselves as the absolute rulers of the school (A dictator and a king, respectively). And both have a personal history with the first member to join the Wild Card. However, where Kamoshida was driven by lust, Kobayakawa was driven by fear for his own well-being (having covered up this story's Kamoshida's misdeeds). And where Kamoshida could all but flaunt his misdeeds, Kobayakwa had to keep them hidden.
- Mitsuyo and Madarame are both parasites that live off of, and ruin the lives of, other people. Both of them have a familial relationship with the member that joins, and said member joins by entering the Metaverse by accident after messing with the real world to remove an obstacle in the Palace. But where it's debatable if Madarame ever cared for Yusuke, it's clear that Mitsuyo doesn't give a single shit about Hifumi beyond how she can use her daughter.
- Kaneshiro and Iwai are both feared criminals that have no qualms blackmailing the member that joins in their respective arcs, and said member is required in order to get the infiltration going, and both are driven by pure avarice. However, Iwai is a genuine threat both in the real world and in the Metaverse, on top of already having a history with other characters. Meanwhile Kaneshiro was only connected to Makoto, and didn't seem to have any real world combat skill.
The Conspiracy: With exception of Kobayakawa, they all work under a mysterious individual known as the Puppet Master, who's the leader of this story's equivalent to the Anti-Social Force.
Hate Sink: Everyone single one of them are repugnant scumbags who gleefully make the Phantom Team and everyone else live's miserable for their own benefit.

The Glutton of Shujin

Kobayakawa

Shujin Academy's influential boxing coach, who rules the school with an iron fist. Has thwarted attempts by Goro Akechi and his team to bring him to justice, after Suguru Kamoshida was exposed. His Palace is designed around his view of Shujin as a country, with him as its autocratic dictator. His treasure is his high school diploma, which manifests as a golden approval stamp.

Adaptational Villainy: While he was utter bastard in canon, his worst misdeeds were simply covering up Kamoshida's own crimes. Here, he blackmails and assaults students without remorse, on top of being a rapist.
Bald of Evil: Sports a hairless head.
Dirty Coward: At his core, he's nothing more than bully who preys those weaker than him. He assaulted, raped, and/or blackmailed several students and their family members to keep them from exposing his crimes. He also didn't have the guts to take on Ryuji's dad in a fair fight and only attacked him after chloroforming him. And to top it all off, his Shadow had the absolute nerve to beg the Phantom Team for mercy after being defeated despite smugly dismissing them every chance he got.
Expy: Is one to canon!Kamoshida, both being sports coaches who physically abuse athletes and sexually abuse female students, with his palace being them seeing themselves as the ruler of Shujin, albeit in different ways.
The Generalissimo: His Shadow Self takes the form of a dictator over the island nation that is his palace.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He tries to justify his actions by claiming that they were for Shujin Academy's benefit. It's pretty clear to both the Phantom Team and the reader that the only person who's benefit he's acting towards was his own.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Him forcing himself on Shiho puts her on the track to join the Phantom Team and to give them the resolve to steal his heart. He also raped Eiko and Wakaba prior to the events of the story.
Starter Villain: Is the first target of the Phantom Team.
Tank Goodness: His Shadow's combat form takes the form of a giant tank. It shifts in a Humongous Mecha in second phase.
You Don't Look Like You: Due to being Shujin's boxing coach instead of its principal in the fic, he's a very fit man as opposed to being obese as in canon.

The Shogun of Envy

Mitsuyo Togo

Head of the Togo News Network and Hifumi's mother. She built her media empire on the back of exposing scandals, but isn't above using them as leverage on people. Her Palace is designed as a feudal Japanese fortress with her as the Shogun. Her treasure is her wedding ring, which takes the shape of a stage mask.

Adaptational Villainy: Her biggest transgression in canon was fixing shogi matches to make her daughter Hifumi look even better. Here she's a downright manipulative, envy-driven bitch willing to use and trample on anyone for the sake of gaining more power, even her own daughter.
Ascended Extra: In canon she plays a minor role in Hifumi's Confidant quest line. Here she's the second Palace host in place of Madarame.
Brutish Bulls: Her Shadow summons a sentient iron bull to assist her in combat.
Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Averted. She makes it clear that she plans to blackmail Yu into being a glorified sex slave for her, with Yu himself being horrified by the prospect.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She's under the impression that everyone is as spiteful and power-hungry as she is, believing that the only reason that Ami befriended Hifumi was to groom her into being a tool for her revenge.
Evil Makes You Ugly: In the last phase of her battle, her Shadow transforms into an hideous yokai-like creature, symbolizing how ugly her heart truly is.
Frame-Up: Her exposures of various cases of corruption turn out to all be the culprits getting framed, which scrolls in her palace very clearly state how and why she did so.
Green-Eyed Monster: Envy happens to be her biggest motivator, to the point where she destroyed her best friend's relationship with her eventual husband.
Palace Scroll: Take heed of this fool's story, and remember that what our Shogun wants, our Shogun will get, especially if it belongs to you. All hail the Shogun.
Me's a Crowd: Her Shadow summons clones of herself towards the end of the the battle.
My God, What Have I Done?: After her defeat, she expresses regret towards her husband and daughter for how horribly she's treated them and towards the Phantom Team, for the fact that they're undoubtedly on the Puppet Master's radar.
No-Sell: Her iron bull becomes immune to whatever hit it last, the trade-off being that it can only hold one immunity at a time.
Poor Communication Kills: She's under the mistaken impression that the Phantom Team are assassins sent to give her a Mental Shutdown and is horrified that Hifumi would join them. She's expresses remorse once she realizes that this isn't the case.
She Who Fights Monsters: Subverted. She first became famous for exposing numerous counts of corruption in the Industry only to have seemingly become just as bad herself in the present day. The subversion comes from the fact that all the "corruption" she uncovered was falsified and she was throwing innocent people under the bus this whole time. She didn't become corrupt, she was corrupt from day one.
Uriah Gambit. A variation. She destroys her best friend, Ami Ito's, engagement by getting her drunk and getting in bed with another man, then proceeds to marry her now free best friend's fiancé.

The Conductor of Greed

Munehisa Iwai

A yakuza boss in charge of the greatest criminal empire in Tokyo, using high school students with blackmail as leverage. His palace takes the form of a massive train, with his operation locales as the cars.

Adaptational Origin Connection: In canon, he and Ryuji have absolutely no relation to one another aside from the latter being a customer of his. Here, he's Ryuji's Evil Honorary Uncle who plans to force him to inherit his criminal empire.
Adaptational Villainy: In canon, was Joker's Hanged Man Confidant and arms dealer, in addition to being a Retired Outlaw with no interest in getting back in the game. In this fic, he serves as the third Palace owner, mirroring Kaneshiro's change.
Attempted Rape: Not him or his Shadow, per se, but his cognitions of his mob underlings try to assault the female members of the team before Ace and Skull intervene.
Ambition Is Evil: He plans to take over Tokyo as the undisputed master of the criminal underworld, with him believing the SIU being the only possible thing stopping him, as shown by his palace.
Bring It: When Iwai gets his calling card, his reaction is to list all the people that have failed to take him down before, and dare the Phantom Team to be the one that does the deed.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Subjects Yu to this, by stabbing his hands with nails then using said nails to shock him.
Composite Character: In an inverse manner to this fic's Kaneshiro - he's a mix of his canon self and canon!Kaneshiro, serving as the third Palace ruler and mob boss.
Defiant to the End: After his Palace is destroyed, his minions dispatched, and his Shadow form defeated, Iwai still gets up to keep fighting.
Evil Uncle: He technically this for Ryuji, as he and Ryuji's father were blood brothers back in the the day.
Taking You with Me: After the first phase of his fight is won, Iwai pulls out a remote and blows up the Palace, with no indication that he had a plan/way to make sure he survived himself.
The Cracker: He's somehow developed a computer virus deadly enough to knock down the SIU servers for weeks. It's so potent that even the likes of Futaba can't make a dent in it.
The Dreaded: He's a ruthless gangster feared across Tokyo and is perhaps the only person in the world Sae genuinely fears.
We Can Rule Together: Intended to groom Ryuji as his successor in the mob, as a way to get back at his former partner (Ryuji's dad) who came clean.
Why Won't You Die??: Iwai is livid after seeing that the Phantom Team survived his attempt to self-destruct the Palace.
Iwai: Are you fucking shitting me?! You ass clowns are still alive?!
Would Hurt a Child: He sends a squad of assassins to the Niijima residence with explicit orders to kill Yu and take Makoto alive, presumably so that he could torture her himself.

Other Characters

Dojima Narukami

Yu and Nanako's father, a police detective with the Inaba PD. Once worked with the Niijimas' father.

Adaptation Name Change: His given name is Dojima in this fic. Hand Waved by the author who points out that most people call his canon self by his family name anyway.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Is Yu's father in this fic as opposed to his uncle.
The Alcoholic: While his canon self was known to hit the bottle from time to time, here it's much worse for him to the point where Yu had to work several part-time jobs to keep the family afloat.
Always Someone Better: Sae views him as this to herself.
Famed In-Story: Years before the events of the story, Dojima was a legendary big shot detective in Tokyo famous for dismantling Munehisa Iwai's criminal empire. It's clear that even over a decade after settling down in Inaba, his name still carries a lot of weight in Tokyo.
I Have No Son!: Subverted. Several characters claim that Dojima must be ashamed of Yu for having criminal record. However, Dojima himself knows that Yu was framed and doesn't love him any less.
Refusal of the Call: He denies Azuma's request to hunt down the Phantom Team, citing that he's still busy with trying to solve the murder cases in Inaba and that he doesn't want to put Nanako through the stress of moving to an entirely new city. The fact that he's aware of his son being their leader probably also influenced his decision.
Secret-Keeper: He manages to figure out that Yu and his friends are the Phantom Team all by himself, and agrees to keep it a secret.

Nanako Narukami

Yu's younger sister.

Adaptation Name Change: Has Narukami as her family name instead.
Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Is Yu's biological sister as opposed to his biological cousin. Still his little sister either way.
Demoted to Extra: Was Yu's Justice Social Link in canon, and played a significant role in Persona 4. Here, she only gets a few sporadic mentions and appearances.
Morality Pet:
- She's the most precious thing in the world as far as Yu is concerned, to the point that Dojima was able convince him to not commit suicide by making him realize just how traumatizing it would be for her.
- Chapter 114 shows that she has become this for Minato, essentially being the one person in the world the otherwise blunt and cold young man will go out of his way to watch him words around.

The Reaper

An incredibly dangerous entity that wanders the corridors of Mementos.

Beyond the Impossible: Under normal circumstances, it's impossible for a Persona user to suffer a Mental Shutdown, yet the Reaper managed to inflict one on Yu by destroying Izanagi. If not for Morgana's Revival Bead, Yu would've died then and there.
Boom, Headshot!: It kills Izanagi with a shot to the head.
The Dreaded: Morganna is terrified by it and the rest of the Phantoms come to share that terror after a chance encounter with it.
Evil vs. Evil: It doesn't discriminate between good and evil, it will kill anything its path, whether they be a Trickster or Champion of Ruin.
Hero Killer: It's killed a great many Persona users over the years and very nearly adds Yu to the list.
Revolvers Are Just Better: As always, it carries its signature pair of abnormally long-barreled revolvers.

Izanagi

Yu Narukami's first and primary Persona, able to talk and interact with his master.

Adaptational Personality Change: In canon, Izanagi doesn't have much, if any, personality. In this, he switches between a wise and mature individual to a complete troll, depending on the situation.
Ascended Extra: In the games, adaptations and spin-offs, Izanagi was more a tool than anything. In this, he is a character all unto himself.
Shout-Out: In chapter 59, when he's shown off to the others, he says "Oooooooooh! OI! Ten thousand yeaaaaaaars will give you such a crick in the neck!" in reference to Genie's first appearance from Aladdin

Characters / Shuffled Deck: Phantom Team

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