Fanfic / Marigolds

Art by xpressoart.

"Hey, Goro. Want a second chance?"

Marigolds is a Persona 5 Fix Fic by Colbub, known for the Reborn! (2004) fanfiction My Heavenly Judgement, that sees Goro Akechi being sent back in time to a couple of years before the events of Persona 5 with his memories of the previous timeline intact. Akechi uses his knowledge of the future to change events for the better, which includes opening up enough to make social links of his own and meeting Joker several years earlier than he did before, though the former happens entirely by chance.

Meanwhile, Joker, here called Akira Kurusu, appears to also be affected by the new timeline as he has dreams of his fellow Phantom Thieves in the future. Elements from Persona 5 Royal also find their way into the altered timeline, with Maruki being appointed as school counselor and Jose appearing in Mementos.

The main cast of Persona 3 and Persona 4 also make an appearance as they work together to discover more about the Metaverse and the mysterious coma incidents happening throughout the city.

Currently updating weekly on Sundays. Expect unmarked spoilers for Persona 3, Persona 4 and both Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.

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This Fan Fic contains examples of:

• Adaptational Context Change: Dialogue between Shido and Yaldabaoth in Chapter 8 implies that the latter had always been in contact with Shido, even in the original timeline Akechi came from, explaining why Shido kept saying that they were "chosen by God", even in the original timeline, as opposed to the line being born out of sheer pride.
• Adaptational Deviation: Futaba joining early led to Morgana leaving early and instead of Morgana leaving due to the team's indecision about targeting Okumura, Morgana left due to feeling hurt at Ryuji for saying that he's useless, with Ryuji saying it not out of malice, but out of insensitivity.
• Adaptational Sexuality: While Akira has only been allowed to date girls in Persona 5, here, he as a crush on Akechi and his interlude mentions that he's had crushes on some other boys as well. The Flash Sideways segment in Chapter 60 shows that this also applies to Ann, where she ends up getting Shiho as her girlfriend thanks to Maruki granting her deepest desires.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: It’s a given, considering the fic’s premise. Because Akechi went out of his way to befriend the Phantom Thieves, all of them are much friendlier towards Akechi. Even after finding out that he’s part of Shido’s inner circle, they still treat him like he’s one of them. A sharp contrast to canon, where despite showing sympathy for his plight, also treat him like he’s a pain in the ass, although it’s justified considering that Akechi was planning on stabbing them in the back, whereas in this fic Akechi joins with no ulterior motives against them.
  • It’s very telling how different Akechi’s relationships to their canon selves compared to this fic. In the former, they hardly tolerate his presence and only agree to work with him out of necessity and three of its members (Ryuji, Futaba and Haru) view him in especially low regard. In this fic, all the thieves ask him to hang out with them even if it’s not Phantom Thieves business and the very same people who dislike him now instead treat him like he’s part of the team. It helps that Akechi only put Wakaba in a coma instead of killing her and was personally involved in changing Kunikazu Okumura’s heart.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Despite his protests to the contrary, Akechi is a lot nicer in the new timeline. This becomes more evident with the more bonds he makes this time around.
  • As a result of both this and his Adaptational Heroism, this also applies to Sae as Akechi has gone out of his way to prevent her from forming her own palace to protect her from Shido and his group. Notably, she doesn't lash out at Makoto in this timeline, with her comment about Makoto's "use" being more of a Freudian Slip.
• Adaptational Heroism: Once again, Akechi. He's determined to do the right thing no matter what, even if he sometimes has questionable methods.
• Afterlife Antechamber: After his death, Akechi ends up finding the sea of souls and he's instinctively aware of the fact that touching it would mean he would be lost to it. Unable to let go of his regrets and dissatisfaction, Akechi finds himself able to resist the pull and ends up walking around the edge of it instead until he meets Minato.
• Always Someone Better: Makoto feels his way about Akechi, envying him not only because of his status as a detective prodigy and genius, but also quickly gaining the trust of the other Thieves despite being part of Shido’s group and having a cordial relationship with her sister. She feels as if her place in the team threatened because of him. They even both have brown hair and red eyes, although Akechi has a lighter shade of the former.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Minato's transformation into the Great Seal has, in his words, made him less of a human and more of a denizen of "the Other Side." He has notably become capable of observing multiple timelines, even exploring alternate versions of himself (including a female version of himself), as well as all of the choices he could have made. Akechi himself describes Minato's presence as otherworldly, struggling to comprehend the other boy's presence as he appears to be focused on different places and timelines at once. And whenever he talks to Minato, the latter never opens his mouth to reply.
• Ascended Extra: A few characters from the original Persona 5 that were otherwise minor or lacking characterization are expanded upon in this story as a result of their interactions with Akechi.
  • Wakaba Isshiki gets to show off her genius by developing the agent that allows Akechi to induce comas into Shadows (as opposed to killing them outright). While she starts off distrustful of Akechi and mainly using him for researching the Metaverse, she eventually grows close enough to trust him with Futaba's safety, while also worrying about his own. She ends up getting Spared by the Adaptation later on, eventually leading to her collaborating with Aigis and the Shadow Operatives.
  • Shiho Suzui is shown to be somewhat of a Broken Bird. Much of her arc shows off the end-result of her surviving her suicide attempt and how others around her react to it, with Akechi supporting her throughout her recovery, along with giving her plenty of advice and support regarding the her feelings and their validity.
  • The Cleaner, who otherwise only appears as a cognition in Shido's palace, physically appears and is given an expanded role as Shido's muscle and discreet way of removing his enemies and critics now that Akechi refuses to do so. In fact, his trafficking is a significant part of Akechi's plan to take down Shido in the real world — by making sure that Shido would be associated with the Yakuza, he could trick the world into thinking that Shido was directly supporting human trafficking rings, ensuring that he faces justice for his many other crimes without the help of the Metaverse.
  • The owner of Jazz Jinn, Muhen (here fully named as Kisaki Muhen), takes the role of as Akechi's Heirophant Confidant and is portrayed as The Bartender here. Much of his Confidant events involve his interactions with various patrons of his bar talking about their regrets and experiences with love, handing out his own bits of advice and observations, and letting Akechi see how others interact with the world.
• The Atoner: Akechi is making the most of his second chance to right the wrongs that he caused in the original timeline. This includes putting the people that Shido asks him to assassinate into comas instead of killing them and by trying to generally be a nicer person to those around him.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Befitting of his Red Baron as the Detective Prince, Akechi’s able to quickly deduce a situation even with little clues. This is mostly showcased in his interactions with Ryuji, where he quickly figured out he was looking for a specific teacher when he saw him at a nearby restaurant. Later on, he is able to figure out the background of the person who stalked Ryuji's mother purely from the type of paper said stalker used for his letters.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: After awakening to Raguel, Akechi discovers it changed his Metaverse costume from Morrigan's black armor to a sharp white suit.
• Beach Episode: Most of chapter 57 is the Phantom Thieves at the beach. Futaba even refers to the day as such.
• Beta Couple: Hikaru and Misono, and Takaki and Naho, both get a little bit of fic-time and have their relationships develop over the story.
• Big Brother Instinct: Akechi discovers that Futaba is living in an abusive situation before Sojiro takes her in and does everything he can to free her from it. Until he's able to get her to Sojiro, Akechi brings her food and snacks and even toys to tide her over.
• Big Good: Minato as the Great Seal. He's the one who orchestrates events so Akechi gets another chance to put things right.
• Blackmail Backfire: Makoto's attempt to blackmail the Phantom Thieves doesn't go according to plan as Futaba has already joined the team in this timeline. She's able to hack Makoto's phone and replace the evidence.
• Black Knight: Whenever using Morrigan, Akechi's Metaverse costume shifts into a suit of black armor.
• Blood Knight: Akechi's new second Persona, Morrigan, manifests as one of these.
• Body Horror: The Shadow that rules Hinata's Palace is a rotting corpse. The closer it gets to her deadline, the more flesh is shown to have rotted away. By the time Akechi returns to her Palace in chapter 38, the only untouched part of the body is her face.
• Broken Ace: Less so compared to canon, but still there. Like in canon, Akechi’s known as a detective prodigy, able to effectively balance his studies, his time with the police as well as being part of the Phantom Thieves, Shido’s inner circle and working in raising his confidant levels. He also struggles with the cynicism he holds within him from Shido’s abandonment, parental abuse from foster parents as well as his status of being a bastard son. The only silver lining he has is that he has true, genuine friends this time around because of his willingness to make friends.
• Brainy Brunette:
  • Akechi is somehow able to balance getting perfect grades as a high school student alongside working as a detective. Then there's all the work he's doing to maintain his confidants and carrying out Shido's orders. While Akechi does remember some of his school work and exams from the original timeline, he still studies to keep up appearances.
  • Makoto is able to discuss theories with Akechi at great length and is also quick to catch on about his subtle hints about her finding the Phantom Thieves. Akira's dream about her in the future implies that it's her incredible intelligence that has gotten her so far in the police force, even when sexism is holding her back.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Yu Narukami, the protagonist of Persona 4, makes several odd quips and actions (like his obsession with things he finds cute or calling himself Akechi's "professional Onii-chan") that make Akechi question his sanity. That having been said, he's still a Wildcard who successfully killed two gods, and is capable of making astute observations and actions whenever necessary, including discovering that the Metaverse had been breached by people other than Akechi and the Phantom Thieves.
• Butterfly of Doom: Akechi is savvy enough to know that even changing minor things could have an effect on the future. That's why he's careful not to change anything related to Akira and the Phantom Thieves, and even steps in when it looks as if things are going too differently. Despite his best efforts, though, every member of the Thieves has gotten involved in the Metaverse one way or another by the middle of June, when Okumura's Palace didn't even come up until October in the original timeline.
• Caring Gardener: Akira is shown in this story to have a fondness for horticulture, favoring his part-time job in the flower shop. Fittingly, he's a caring individual and The Hero who goes out of his way to help others. In the Flash Sideways visions he gets of his alternate self's future, he's still tending flowers on his lonesome, with each one representing each member of the Thieves, as well as Akechi.
• Cathartic Scream: Akechi encourages Shiho to do this in Chapter 45 to let out all of her feelings and frustrations. She admits later on that doing so was actually helpful.
• Cloudcuckoolander: As her recovery progresses, Shiho is showing some elements of this. During rank 4 of their confidant, she asks Akechi if he thinks snot gets stuck on nose piercings when people with them blow their noses.
• Cool Old Lady: Ise Saito is Akechi's landlord and is nothing but kind and patient with him. That said, she isn't afraid to speak her mind and spends her free time helping those less fortunate than herself, despite the fact she's getting on in years. It's revealed that her grandson shot and killed his abusive father while trying to protect his mother, so Saito immediately took the blame for it to protect him.
• Cop Killer: Fusa's subordinate is found chopped into pieces by the human trafficking gang he's looking into. He doesn't take it well, and even Akechi is horrified at what he's witnessed.
• Dark Is Not Evil: While Akechi is far more heroic this time around, he notes that he still favours Curse skills over Bless skills and that using the latter actually tires him out quicker due to their incompatibility.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Akechi is left staring at Akira's toned muscles in Chapter 57.
• Ditzy Genius:
  • Hikaru is an incredibly talented musician but he's also delightfully ditzy with it.
  • The highly intelligent and accomplished Wakaba is very ditzy for a renowned scientist.
  • Yusuke is as eccentric as ever, but he's able to figure out that Akechi is GA before anybody but Akira.
• Door Stopper: The fic is over 600,000 words long and isn't complete yet.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: After moving to Tokyo, Akira starts having dreams about his future teammates and some glimpses of his own counterpart's life in the original timeline that Akechi came from. In a smaller example, Minato sends Akechi a warning during Wakaba's confidant that he's running out of time to ensure her safety.
• Et Tu, Brute?: This is Akechi's reaction to finding out that Hinata was giving information about him to Shido. While she was threatened into it by Shido promising to make her the focus of a public scandal to drag Akechi himself (who she deeply feels indebted to) down, he's still deeply hurt by her actions and leaves her with a Rejected Apology as a result. Unfortunately for Hinata, this ends up being the breaking point that causes her to form her own palace. It takes several chapters worth of introspection and interactions with his Confidants for Akechi to come to forgiveness.
• Excellent Judge of Character: Ann mentions to Akechi in Chapter 54 that Ryuji is actually capable of making surprisingly sound judgments on someone's actual character, in spite of his inability to think before running his mouth. Earlier, when Ryuji's POV is shown in Chapter 46, he is disturbed by the saccharine way Akechi presents himself on television, instantly discerning that the Detective Prince act is a sham.
  • Ryuji's attitude is best seen in how he reacts to Akechi in each timeline; in the original timeline, Ryuji is immediately abrasive and mistrustful of the other teen thanks to Akechi being a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. In the current timeline, while Ryuji is initially cautious, he readily accepts and trusts Akechi later on as a result of the latter's earnest desire to make things right.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: As he gets closer to Akechi, and subsequently learns a little more about what it means to be human, Jose changes his infamous bowl cut hairstyle to look more like his, complete with individual strands.
• The Fettered: Akechi attempts to undermine his father and the Conspiracy while upholding his Thou Shalt Not Kill code as a way to atone for his past deeds, directly opposing Shido's status as The Unfettered.
• Flash Sideways: Akira often gets dreams of his original timeline's self, what kind of future he lived and how he later met Maruki.
• Flower Motifs: The titular marigolds, in Victorian flower language, embody grief, despair, and mourning, which is how Akira represents his regrets with Akechi in his alternate self's future.
• Foil: A few of Akechi's Confidants act as Foils to Joker's from the original game.
  • Hinata Osumi is this to Shinya Oda. Both of them are the Tower Confidants of their respective Wild Cards (Akechi and Joker, respectively), with their social links being defined by familial troubles resulting in them being socially outcast. Both of them started out their friendships with their respective Wild Cards thanks to the latter attempting to reach another separate goal — Joker needed to beat someone's seemingly invincible cognition and therefore needed Shinya's help, while Akechi ended up establishing a link with her as a coincidence during an attempt to level up another one of his Confidants. Much of Shinya's issues stem from his mother trying to overcompensate for her status as a single parent, while Hinata herself is a single parent whose issues stem from how raising her child has led to her current circumstances. As far as Phantom Thieves targets go, Shinya's request is another mission for the depths of Mementos, while Hinata's own problems leads to her getting a full-blown palace.
  • Hikaru Misono to Hifumi Togo. Both of them are Star Confidants defined by their hobbies (music and shogi, respectively). Hikaru is a bright and cheery young man who hides his more debilitating issues with his attitude, while Hifumi is a soft and demure lady who engages in a more excitable Chuunibyou behavior whenever she plays shogi. The two of them have issues with their abusive mothers, both of whom have had issues related to their husbands and their circumstances. Both of their parents end up getting changes of heart thanks to the Metaverse, but while Hifumi ultimately wanted her overbearing mother to leave her alone, Hikaru wants to get back with his mother.
  • Kisaki Muhen is one to Sojiro Sakura. The two of them are middle-aged men who happen to be the Hierophant Confidants of Akechi and Akira, respectively, They are both owners of their own small dining establishment. While Akira starts off rough with Sojiro thanks to his unfortunate circumstances, Muhen had already known Akechi long before the two of them had established a Confidant bond, giving him a better rapport with Akechi from the get go. Much of Sojiro's Confidant events (at least, in the original timeline) involve his personal life and his relationship with Futaba, whereas Muhen's involves the lives of his customers. Even their own establishments invoke this, as Sojiro's is a quaint café that is primarily open during the day, while Muhen's is a lively bar that only opens up at night.
  • José is this to Morgana. Both of them are the non-human Magician Confidants of their respective Wild Cards who have an intrinsic amount of knowledge about the Metaverse and thus also act as the Mr. Expositions to their Wild Cards. While Morgana is an amnesiac who is actually a creation of Igor to embody human hope and constantly insists that he's human, José is fully aware and accepting of what he is and is seemingly a creation by some other being who also watches over humanity in order to study them. When traversing through the Metaverse, José rides his own vehicle, whereas Morgana is the vehicle.
  • Outside of the Confidants, Akechi is this to Makoto. Both are third years, have brown hair and red eyes, lost a parental figure and are considered the smartest within the Phantom Thieves. Their upbringing and circumstances are a different story. Makoto is a student council president hoping to join the police while Akechi’s already part of it due to him being a detective prodigy. Makoto was treated with disdain by the majority of her school peers and was only accepted within the Phantom Thieves while Akechi’s already gained enough popularity as the Second Coming of the Detective Prince. Makoto, having a sister who’s a prosecutor, isn’t in any danger of being homeless anytime soon while Akechi was moved from various foster homes and it’s implied that some of his foster parents weren’t parental material. Makoto is an idealist while Akechi is cynical.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Inverted. Since Akechi made a positive first impression on almost all the Thieves, all of them view him as a friend and even asks for help about matters no related to thieving, unlike in canon where they put up with him out of necessity.
• Good Parents: Rei Sakamoto, Ryuji's mother, is nothing but supportive of her son, constantly assuring and welcoming him in spite of his flaws. Ryuji, in turn, returns this attitude in kind by being a Momma's Boy. Other characters such as Ann and even Akechi admit that they're jealous of the close bond between the two.
• Hannibal Lecture: In Chapter 45, after being irked by Makoto's Innocently Insensitive comment about his "privilege" as the Detective Prince, Akechi rips into her motivations and mindset, bluntly asking why she's so deadset on getting validation from others and why she's so jealous of him in particular. When Makoto demands him to tell her what he sees about her after getting his retort, he simply sums her character up as a pushover who only really changed her source of validation from the principal and the school to the rest of Thieves. Makoto gives him a Shut Up, Hannibal! in response, angrily declaring that she has changed, and goes out of her way to prove it to him by volunteering for the police force.
  Akechi: I think you've merely transferred your identity from Perfect Honour Student to Phantom Thief's strategist. With your insecurities rising again so quickly... Have you really changed, Makoto Niijima? Have you truly addressed the issues that you were before you met the Thieves?
  Makoto: Enough. You've said enough for me to understand your opinion on this matter. And I'll declare this now. I'll show you, Goro Akechi. I'll make you understand just how much I've changed. I don't need anyone's validation to stand strong by myself.
• Happy Ending Override: This is downplayed in Akira's Flash Sideways of the original timeline's future as the world isn't necessarily in danger, but the Phantom Thieves (with the exception of Futaba) are generally shown to be struggling, unsatisfied, or aimless as adults. In Morgana's case, he's outright dying as he had turned into an otherwise ordinary cat and ended up with bone cancer. Akira, on the other hand, is almost always seen in these Flash Sideways alone and melancholic, missing the presence of the Phantom Thieves and even Akechi. Not helping matters is that he ends up meeting with Maruki later on, with their subsequent interactions resulting in the former therapist gaining the powers of a god and fulfilling everyone's desires in his misguided attempt to avert this trope as a way of thanking Akira.
• Heel Realization: In Sae’s penultimate Confidant Event, she has one when she nearly presents the false evidence on her trial, forcing her to concede. Fortunately, this ranks her social link to nine.
• Hourglass Plot: Within Akechi’s time as the Phantom Thieves prior to his death, they mostly treated him as The Friend Nobody Likes. In the new timeline, he’s genuinely treated as part of the team, to the point where they ask him for help and hang out with him, even if it’s not official PT business.
  • It’s implied Akechi envies Joker for not only being stronger, but being able to make friends despite his circumstance. Now, he’s being envied by Makoto for not only of his status as a detective prodigy, but also a genius and was able to quickly integrate himself into the Phantom Thieves despite being part of the Conspiracy.
• Human Resources: One of the cases that Fusa is working on involves human trafficking where the victims are killed and dissected so that their organs can be sold on the black market. Most of the unwilling donors are children.
• If I Do Not Return: Wakaba leaves a folder for Akechi on her laptop containing all their Metaverse research in case the Conspiracy manages to kill her despite his intervention.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: When Akechi shoots the gangster Shibusawa during the hostage situation that forms the climax of Atsuzawa's confidant, Atsuzawa is understandably very surprised and more than a little suspicious that his intern managed to land an academy-perfect shoulder shot while sprinting across a rooftop. It's what leads Akechi to tell him the truth about his involvement with the Conspiracy.
• In Spite of a Nail: The Phantom Thieves still face a Palace based on one person's perceived despair and desolation. However, instead of Futaba, it was Hinata Osumi, Akechi's Tower Confidant.
• Innocently Insensitive: Makoto claims how Akechi had the privilege of becoming the Second Coming of the Detective Prince, envying him because of how he quickly integrated himself into the Phantom Thieves. It understandably irks Akechi because she made it seem like he just got lucky.
• Internal Reveal: Akechi reveals his identity as the Black Mask to the Thieves in chapter 39.
• Irony:
  • Ryuji, Haru and Futaba, the people who have the most dislike for him, are the Thieves he's closest to (other than Akira) in the new timeline. Akechi's already built a rapport with Haru prior to the Thieves' formation, Futaba was rescued from her abusive household because of Akechi and while Ryuji was a little suspicious of him at first, he quickly came around and treated him as part of the team.
  • In the original timeline, Shido refuses to acknowledge Akechi despite how much things he had done in Shido's name. In the new timeline, Akechi defying Shido caused Shido to finally acknowledge him instead. Given that Shido doesn't know of the original timeline, this can also be read as Dramatic Irony.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Yu, of course. When Aigis gives Futaba a thumb drive to put her in contact with the Investigation Team, she's thrown off by the fact that one folder is devoted entirely to Yu's very meticulous collection of cat photos.
• Knight in Sour Armour: Especially fitting as Akechi's new Metaverse outfit is made of black armour and a cape of black feathers. Akechi does try to be kinder and more optimistic the second time around but ultimately struggles with his own bitter outlook on the world. He does get better about this thanks to having friends and confidants in this timeline.
• Last-Name Basis: Much like in canon, almost everyone refers to Akechi by his last name albeit in a more casual and friendlier manner since the people who know him have no reason to hate him or keep their distance. The only ones who don't are Akira & Hikaru (who calls him by his first name), Futaba (who calls him 'GA') and Wakaba (calling him, 'Goro-boy').
• Laughing Mad: Akechi, when he realizes he can no longer summon Loki because his hatred of Shido isn't the all-consuming force it was in the original timeline.
• Locked Out of the Loop: For two years, Sojiro remained completely unaware that Wakaba never actually died and was kept in a secret facility to watch over her while she recovered from her Metaverse-induced coma. When he finds out in Chapter 60 that she survived, he is incredibly elated, though he internally notes that he might be a bit more irked than he'd like to admit for Futaba to keep her mother's survival a secret, but opts to stay happy for his family.
• The Lost Lenore: In the original timeline, Akechi himself is this to Akira. The latter constantly visits his grave, with the tombstone itself being personally made by Akira with whatever he had available, while the titular marigolds serve as a constant reminder of Akechi. This attachment of his is what leads Akira to Maruki, eventually leading to the former therapist achieving what he did in Royal: becoming a god and fulfilling everyone's desires, up to and including bringing Akechi back to life.
• Mad Scientist: Wakaba is an accomplished scientist and quite manic about it, though she's a good and honest person at heart. She even uses the nickname 'MadPscientist' on the messenger app she uses to keep in touch with Akechi.
• The Man Behind the Man: Just like Persona 5, Yaldabaoth is this to the Conspiracy and the Metaverse as a whole. Unlike the original game, however, Shido is directly contacted by Yaldabaoth, who has convinced the man that he's been "chosen by God" to "rule the masses". As a result of Akechi's Time Travel leaving him more experienced and with different goals, Yaldabaoth opts to give Shido access to the MetaNav so that the man can place his hitmen into the Metaverse to commit assassinations via mental shutdowns, sowing distrust in the public, thereby ensuring that Yaldabaoth's goals can still come into fruition without his chosen piece, Akechi.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: In Chapter 49, this is revealed to be the root of Laura Kondo's (Hikaru's mother) problems. Though she and her husband had a great start to their marriage, moving to Japan, facing extreme differences in values, and being left to the neighbors' judgmental whispers had taken their toll on her mental health (made worse given Japan's rather regressive attitude towards the subject), eventually leading to her High-Conflict Personality Disorder getting worse. Not helping matters is that her husband prioritizes his work over his family.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Towards the end of chapter 40 (which Colbub says is roughly the halfway point of the story in the author notes), Akechi awakens to a third Persona: Raguel, the avenging angel of justice in Judaic traditions.
• Missing Mom:
  • In the current timeline, Wakaba is in a coma instead of having been killed.
  • Akechi isn't sent back far enough to save his own mother, however, and it's her death that still drives him to take down Shido.
• The Mole: Fusa, Akechi's eventual Hanged Man confidant is a high-ranking operative in Shido's Conspiracy, but he's been funneling information to Atsuzawa behind his back, and he looks after Akechi after Atsuzawa is shot.
• Momma's Boy: Ryuji is one, as in canon. His POV sections show how much he adores her, and a large part of his Confidant events with Akechi involves the latter helping Ryuji build up enough evidence to find and implicate his mother's Stalker with a Crush. In fact, this trait of his allows Ryuji to empathize with Hinata's stuggles, genuinely getting angry at her circumstances, and willingly going out of his way to save her from her Palace alongside Akechi (who he was initially wary of) with no strings attached.
• Money Dumb: Yusuke is rather terrible with how he spends and budgets his funds. One such example involves him thinking that buying a set of paints imported all the way from Italy wouldn't take a large chunk of his bank account off. He later goes to Akechi in order to defy this trope and become better at managing all of the funds he gets from his scholarship. Despite the rough start, Yusuke surprisingly takes to budgeting rather quickly, quickly assessing his needs and creating a quota on how he should spend his money. He and Akechi later end up theorizing that Madarame deliberately invoked this trope in order to make Yusuke and his fellow students more dependent on him, ensuring that they would have a hard time if they ever wised up and left.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • Joker is called Akira Kurusu here. The protagonists of Persona 3 and Persona 4 are called Minato Arisato and Yu Narukami respectively.
  • The bartender of Jazz Jin, Muhen, has his given name here as Kisaki.
  • Ryuji's mother is fully named here as Rei Sakamoto.
• Not a Morning Person: While he does a pretty good job at pretending otherwise, Akechi really isn't one for early mornings.
• No Indoor Voice:
  • Ryuji is still as loud-mouthed as ever but Akira has a knack for getting him to shut up most of the time.
  • Hikaru keeps shouting out Akechi's name whenever he gets to see him, which inevitably draws attention to him.
• Oblivious to Love: As he's on the verge of fainting after Akechi saves him in Okumura's Palace, Morgana mentions, among other things, that Akira is "totally into" Akechi. Akechi doesn't register anything the cat says except that he's about to pass out.
• Odd Friendship: Akechi ends up making more friends than he did during the original timeline. The more unusual of these include an older detective who he works under, the Cool Old Lady who runs the off-campus dorm building where he lives, an aspiring musician and perhaps most surprisingly of all, Ryuji.
• Official Couple: While it has yet to happen, Goro Akechi/Akira Kurusu.
• Oh, Crap!: While explaining the mastermind’s plans on how the Metaverse is affecting the population of Tokyo when he also reminds them that they live in Tokyo, Makoto is shocked when she realizes that the Phansites’ Polls are affected as well, the rest follows up with this reaction.
• One-Steve Limit: Downplayed Trope. Atsuzawa shared a similar given name with his cousin, but they only share the letter Fusa in their given names.
• Original Character: Most of Akechi's confidants are original characters who don't exist in the canonical game.
• Outside-Context Problem: Jose is revealed to be one to Yaldabaoth, who only vaguely knew of the vanilla game timeline via Akira and is caught off guard at how much Jose is empowering and helping Akechi that he tried to have Jose captured in the Velvet Room.
• Peggy Sue: Subverted with Akechi. Minato gives him the opportunity to relive the last couple of years of his life. He doesn't travel to the past, however; he is sent to the Persona 5 Royal timeline, having lived the vanilla Persona 5 timeline in his first life. The Flash Sideways segment implies that Akechi is sent to prevent Maruki from succeeding as it's implied that Akira took Maruki's deal in the original timeline to create an idealized reality where Akechi lived.
• Personalized Afterlife: Minato spends at least some of his afterlife on a replica of the Gekkoukan High School rooftop, which happens to be the place where he died.
• Physical Therapy Plot: Shiho's therapy is shown here in detail where she struggles with both the physical and mental struggles of being a suicide survivor and victim of sexual abuse. When Akechi gets assigned to work with her, she opens up to him about her difficulties and how her frustrations with how her family and friends view her as fragile keep piling up. Much of the Detective Prince's interactions with her involve assuring her of the validity of her feelings and at the same time allowing her to open up and express herself.
• The Pollyanna: Hikaru Kondo, Akechi's Star confidant, has a nearly eternally sunny disposition. In one chapter he tells Akechi to think of positive things that happened to him today in an attempt to make him feel better.
• Power Nullifier: It turns out there was something blocking Akechi's true potential, as when Minato removes it, Akechi is able to see the very few bonds he made with people in the first timeline. In the new timeline, he's now able to recognise when a relationship becomes a confidant and what their arcana and current rank is.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Atsuzawa is a detective who Akechi briefly works under. He's more than aware of the shady stuff going on behind the scenes and immediately places Akechi under his protection once he realises that he's caught up in it. He also reminds Akechi that he's still a high school student and that he needs to take time to be just a kid. When he's forced to step down for his own safety, Atsuzawa assigns his cousin to look out for Akechi instead.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Akechi gives one to Morgana in Okumura's Palace, calling him out for the hypocrisy of calling Ryuji stupid and useless when he had run away over thinking he was those things.
• Redemption Demotion: Of sorts. Because Akechi no longer idolises Shido in the new timeline, Loki doesn't manifest from the resulting darkness. This means that Akechi can no longer induce mental shutdowns, as that was a skill exclusive to Loki. Fortunately, Akechi never intended on using that skill again.
• Sadistic Choice: At the Conspiracy's meeting with the Cleaner, Shido tells Akechi to shoot a hostage to prove his loyalty, with the penalty for not doing so being his own death. Fusa shoots the hostage instead to save Akechi when he hesitates.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Akechi in his second chance wanted to do this, unwittingly saving lives that he indirectly or not killed in the previous timeline. However, the backlash that the world would try to re-balance itself remains. Misono died in a bus crash made by Goro in the previous timeline. Fusa, the undercover operative, was killed. Now, Fusa was determined to be a coma target.
  • Goro landed in the Royal timeline. In the previous timeline, Sumire actually committed suicide from her survivor's guilt and Maruki quit his job soon afterward due to his own guilt in his inability to help her; explaining why Royal didn't happen in the vanilla version. He visits the sisters' graves and coincidentally met Akira in the Flash Sideways segment. Goro brought it up as he remembered what he heard and learned.
• Shipper on Deck: Both Haru and Futaba have been shown shipping Akira and Akechi. Akira is clearly aware of his own feelings on the matter, but as of chapter 51 Akechi is still oblivious.
• Single Mom Stripper:
  • Akechi's mother was a sex worker in order to support herself and her son. It's implied her work is how she met Shido in the first place.
  • Hinata Osumi, Akechi's Tower confidant, is one as well.
• Sinister Surveillance: The MetaNav is revealed to act as one for all of its users. Akechi makes a deal with José to block out its view in order to prevent the Mastermind from spying on him and the Phantom Thieves. The group later has to make sure that they don't discuss anything out loud in front of their phones to prevent the Mastermind from finding out their plans.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Wakaba Isshiki is alive in the new timeline thanks to Akechi's Adaptational Heroism and desire to be The Atoner. Instead, she's deliberately placed into a coma to keep her safe from the Conspiracy.
  • Later on, this also applies to Kunikazu Okumura, who instead goes through a successful change of heart thanks to Akechi going out of his way to ensure that he survives both for his atonement and for Haru's sake.
• Sword Cane: Akechi gains one of these as a weapon when he awakens to Raguel.
• Take a Third Option: When awakening to Morrigan, her voice asks Akechi which it'll be: savior of the world, or savior of himself? His answer that he wants both is what seals the contract.
• Tarot Motifs: As par the course of the Persona series, though in this story, Akechi gets his own confidants as a result of Minato removing his Power Nullifier. While he shares the same Tarot Motifs that Akira does with the Phantom Thieves (with the exception of Morgana and Akira himself), he ends up with his own set of Confidants full of characters from the original Persona 5, as well as some Original Characters.
  • The Fool - Akira Kurusu
  • The Magician - José
  • The High Priestess - Makoto Niijima
  • The Empress - Haru Okumura
  • The Emperor - Yusuke Kitagawa
  • The Hierophant - Kisaki Muhen
  • The Lovers - Ann Takamaki
  • The Chariot - Ryuji Sakamoto
  • Justice - Fusazane Atsuzawa
  • The Hermit - Futaba Sakura
  • The Wheel of Fortune - Wakaba Isshiki
  • Strength - Yu Narukami
  • The Hanged Man - Fusatsune Tsuchihashi
  • Temperance - Shiho Suzui
  • The Devil - Masayoshi Shido
  • The Tower - Hinata Osumi
  • The Star - Hikaru Kondo
  • The Moon - Sae Niijima
  • The Sun - Ise Saito
  • Judgement - The Phantom Thieves
  • The Universe - Minato Arisato
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Akechi adopts a strict policy on himself to avoid killing people at all, whether directly or indirectly, as part of his atonement for his past crimes. While he still ends up working with Shido, he enlists the help of Wakaba Isshiki to create a drug to induce shadows into comas instead of killing them outright.
• Took a Level in Badass: Akechi, being a Wild Card, can grow his powers more than he did in canon. He’s also smarter and less blinded in earning Shido’s approval, having no illusions about him being seen as a tool to be thrown away when his use is done, thus planning more effectively in how to take him down.
• Tsundere: Type B with hints of Type A. As much as Akechi tries to downplay all the good that he does, everyone, especially the Thieves, can see how much he cares for them and it shows.
• The Unfettered: Shido will stop at nothing to get the highest seat in Japan, with blackmail and murder being mere accessories for his greater ambitions.
• Vocal Dissonance: Invoked by Futaba to disguise her true identity from the Investigation Team. She uses pitch-shifting software when on voice calls with Yu to sound like a fifty-year-old "macho black guy with chiseled muscles and an eight-pack."
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • After Morgana left, Ann and the rest of the thieves called out Ryuji for his insensitivity and even if Ryuji isn't exactly wrong, his words still hurt Morgana where it hurts.
  Akira: I won't pass judgment, you know best how words hurt.
  • Akechi gave this to Morgana in regards to what led to him leaving the thieves. Morgana expects an apology from Ryuji and the rest of the thieves while not actually apologizing for his antagonism of Ryuji and expecting Ryuji to take the insults he gave regularly, calling him out for the Double Standard and hypocrisy behind it.
  Akechi: Ryuji Sakamoto calls you useless and you run away demanding apology, but you call Ryuji useless and expect him to accept it as fact. Does one deserve more apology than the other because one is more sensitive, and the other more resilient?
• Wham Shot: The end of chapter 45 reveals that Shido has the Metaverse app, which he proclaims is a gift from God.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Fusa dresses as a woman to smuggle Akechi out of a party at one stage, and is generally a positive influence on Akechi, trying to help him and occasionally trying to encourage him to look at the world more positively.
• Wise Beyond Their Years:
  • Jose, but that's mostly because he only has the looks and enthusiasm of a child.
  • Some of Akechi's adult confidants mention that he's mature for his age, though that's because his mind and memories are a few years older than his body.
• You Are Not Alone: Hinata's Shadow decides to let Akechi save her because he convinces her that he won't abandon her, even after her betrayal.