Akira Kurusu was thrown in juvenile hall for a year, for a crime he didn't commit. He came out to a world that he wasn't prepared for. Facing more opposition then he could have ever imagined. He will fight, to his last breath, to install his justice on the world, and get revenge on those who wronged him. A retelling of Persona 5 where the assault happened a year before canon.
Persona 5: Rebellion is a Persona 5 fanfiction written by Kaladin7144. Taking place in an Alternate Universe the story follows a version of the Trickster who was forced to spend one year in juvie before taking on his probation and the events of the game.
The story can be read here
or here.
Persona 5: Rebellion provides examples of:
- 2 + Torture = 5: Akira has had the idea that he's a violent psychopath beaten into him so many times that he occasionally starts to doubt himself in moments of weakness.
- The Ace: Sae, especially in high school. Makoto notes that she was student council president all three years, an Olympic-level softball player, and an academic whiz.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Kawakami. Her desperate financial situation is shown in excruciating detail; she's been forced to sell nearly all of her belongings to keep up with the Takases' extortion, she actually considers stealing from Akira in order to cover her bills in a moment of weakness, and she eventually resorts to bribing him with test answers and borrowing ¥100,000 (a little less than $900 in American dollars) from him.
- Adaptational Badass: While canon Akira was already quite the badass he is even more so in Rebellion, inside and outside the Metaverse. He stands at roughly 6’2 or 6’3 compared to the average Japanese 5’7 which makes him a lot taller than most people. He is also bulkier from his training inside juvie and has gained a very good amount of battle experience. As such he is smart enough to get rid of his shirt in his fist fight with Kamoshida, leaving the teacher with nothing to grab onto. Akira's biggest moment is probably jumping in front of Kamoshida's car to save Makoto. While it gets him a few broken ribs, he saves Makoto from sharing the same fate as Shiho without even thinking about it.
- Adaptational Curves: Akira has gained a good amount of muscle due to his training, making him bulkier than his comparatively lanky canon self.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Many characters.
- Makoto and Sae get introduced in the very first chapter of the story with Sae being the one to pick up Akira from juvenile hall.
- Ohya gets introduced in Chapter 3 just like Shinya and his mother Hanae after the subway accident of which Akira was a part of. He saves Shinya which gets him the attention of his mother and Ohya.
- Kawakami enters the story as Akira saves her from being assaulted.
- Haru makes her first appearance in Chapter 9 as Akira's co-worker after he takes up the job at the flower store. In the same chapter we get introduced to Sugimura, her fiance.
- Goro Akechi makes his first appearance in Chapter 10. Akira meets him while he is in disguise.
- Futaba makes her first appearance in Chapter 11. Her secret identity Alibaba appears for the first time to aid Akira by deleting any footage that would link him to the assault on Kamoshida.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Sae. In canon, her only interaction with Akira prior to the interrogation was asking him about Shujin, and she got along reasonably well with him considering they'd just met. In the fic, her treatment of Akira is at times downright spiteful with more rules to keep track of. In general she does not even attempt in the slightest to hide her disdain for Akira. While it does get better it is hard to excuse her actions when she pulls out a gun during a talk with Akira, and delivers a breaking speech to keep him away from Makoto.
- Adaptational Karma: Kobayakawa gets jailed for covering up Kamoshida's crimes.
- Adaptational Name Change: Played with. Akira was actually born Ren Amamiya. After his birth parents abandoned him, he was adopted by the Kurusus, who changed his name to Akira.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- Downplayed with Sojiro. He is a lot less aggressive to Akira than his canon self, and his hidden heart of gold shines through far earlier.
- Canon Hanae Oda is raising her son to be a bully. Rebellion Hanae is a stressed out but kind-hearted mother who quickly bonds with Akira after he saves Shinya's life.
- Adaptational Personality Change:
- Arsene in the game acts, from the small interactions we see from him, a lot like the Gentleman Thief he is supposed to represent. Rebellion Arsene, however, acts much angrier, communicating after the awakening mostly with roars of rage to a degree where he is more like a demon than a thief with demon aesthetics. This is likely because of Akira's own rage being much greater then in canon, influencing him.
- Akira himself also counts. The leader of the Phantom Thieves is heavily prone to fits of rage and is a lot less socially adapt then his game counterpart. Notably, his awakening doesn't highlight how he is willing to commit any sacrilegious acts for justice, but rather highlights that he wants revenge on the world.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Kamoshida was always a monster but he manages to be even WORSE than his canon self. On top of outright admitting that he raped Shiho, something only very strongly implied in canon, he attempts to rape Makoto too. If it weren't for Akira there is little doubt she would have shared a similar fate. His treatment of Akira is also much worse. In the game he did some mocking but in here he also physically attacks him. He even plans on killing him and Ryuji, and possibly moving on to anyone who even talked to him. That’s not even going into his sick obsession with Shiho, strong enough for her cognitive self to appear in a wedding dress more revealing than a bikini.
- In addition to a plagiarist, Madarame is also a full-blown Serial Killer.
- Adaptation Expansion: This fic explains why the Conspiracy would bother recruiting a random principal of a high school. It's explained that the Conspiracy wants to influence the next generation through the educational system and that Kobayakawa wasn't the only principal under their thumb, just the dumbest.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In canon, Mishima is the protagonist's friend (even if he grates on his nerves once in a while) and a valuable source of information on minor targets in Mementos. In this fic, Akira loathes him for selling out Shiho to secure a spot on the volleyball team, and getting them all blackmailed does him no favors.
- Alternate Universe: Rebellion explores a version of Persona 5 that has Akira being sentenced to one year of juvie inside the North Tokyo Correctional Center, before entering his probation. Alongside that are other changes to the story, Metaverse and Confidant story lines.
- Always Save the Girl:
- Akira doesn't think twice about jumping in front of Kamoshida's car to save Makoto.
- When a fight breaks out between Madarame's goons and Akira they get him to surrender by threatening to hurt the pinned down Ann. Arsene is NOT happy about it. Earlier on Akira also says that nothing at this party is worth risking Ann's safety. Protecting her is also a reason he ends up as Madarame's pawn.
- Anachronism Stew: Despite being ostensibly set in 2016 like the canon game, at one point a 2019 Bugatti Chiron appears.
- Attack Its Weak Point: When Akira gets into an argument with Ryuji and thinks things might come to physical violence, he instinctually targets Ryuji's busted leg as a weak point before calming himself down.
- Author Appeal: The author stated that the scene of Chapter 13 where Kamoshida gets a real life beatdown from Akira was one of the reasons he started writing this story in the first place.
- The Berserker: When truly set off, Akira becomes extremely bloodthirsty. He is pretty much powered by rage and hatred, and notes that if his loved ones are hurt, he could seriously turn from bloodthirsty to outright murderous.
- Big Damn Heroes: In Chapter 10, Kamoshida has Makoto in his car and completely at his mercy. Akira heroically saves her in a manner most big and damn by throwing himself in front of the car, stunning Kamoshida long enough for Makoto to slip away.
- Blackmail: Happens even more often to Akira than in the game, most notably at the hands of Nakanohara and Madarame.
- Blood Knight: Akira gets quite the rush from fighting Shadows.
- Brainwashing for the Greater Good: In typical Persona 5 fashion, this is the way the Phantom Thieves deal with their targets but with one twist: Akira manages to actually change Kamoshida's memories by threatening his defeated Shadow. As a result Kamoshida doesn’t remember who assaulted him as he only knows vague descriptions Akira gave him that couldn’t possibly lead anyone to him. Even Morgana is stunned.
- Breather Episode: Chapter 16. While Sae has some drama dealing with Kobayakawa and Akira recalls his Innocence Lost moment, the chapter is primarily dedicated to Akira and co. relaxing at a yacht party thrown by Haru.
- Cassandra Truth: Kobayakawa warns Sae that there is a conspiracy out to get him and that they are monitoring someone she is close to, but Sae dismisses his claims as the rantings of a man trying to dodge jail time. She starts to come around to the idea after he is beaten by police and then found dead of a "suicide" the next day, an action Sae considers horribly out of character for him.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: Sae tends to indulge in a smoke or two whenever things go wrong for her.
- Cool Car: Aside from the Morgana Van, Akira gets to live a man's dream in chapter 18 when circumstances put him behind the wheel of a 2019 Bugatti Chiron, much to his visible excitement.
- Crazy Enough to Work: Makoto has just gotten into a car with Kamoshida. She is being groped by the rapist and is starting to panic with tears streaming down her face. Akira's plan to save her? Jump in front of the car. It works and Kamoshida is forced to stop, allowing Makoto to escape with Ann (even though a few sentences later Akira thinks that this was the “stupidest fucking thing he had ever done” and he could have just thrown something instead of using his body and breaking his ribs in the process). He also gets recognition for being a badass by Ryuji for his stunt.
- Crime of Self-Defense: Discussed. When the evidence piles up that Kamoshida instigated the fight that landed him in the hospital, it's noted that nobody would harshly punish the culprit, especially if it turned out to be one of Kamoshida's victims or a relative of the same.
- Death by Adaptation: Downplayed by Kobayakawa, who is killed several in-game months before his canon death. Played straight by Kamoshida, who is killed in prison.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Makoto is disappointed with Sae after she flakes on her on her 18th birthday to go to work, so she invites Akira to have dinner with her in her stead (completely of her own volition). Sae's reaction? Threaten to throw him back into juvie, draw a loaded gun on him, and take away some of the very few privileges she allowed him under her roof.
- Darker and Edgier: And HOW.
- Dramatic Irony: Plenty regarding Sae and her assumptions about the Conspiracy.
- When Kobayakawa tells Sae about the Conspiracy, Sae assumes that either he's lying to save himself from jail or that it's some sort of yakuza clan. In reality, she's dealing with a Government Conspiracy.
- Kobayakawa warns Sae that someone she knows is being tracked by the Conspiracy. Sae assumes that it has to be Akechi due to his public anti-corruption stance, when in reality it's Akira due to him personally slighting the Big Bad and Akechi is already in the Conspiracy's pocket.
- After learning about the Conspiracy, Sae is convinced that the SIU Director has too much integrity to be involved. Anyone who played the game knows she is dead wrong on this count.
- The Dragon: This seems to be the reason Madarame wants Akira as a loyal henchman: to become the head of his own force rather then being forced to take Kaneshiro's goons.
- The Dreaded:
- Sae. She might just be the only person Akira fears.
- Akira himself becomes this for many. First Kamoshida and the students of Shujin come to fear him. Later on it's revealed that even the fellow inmates of the North Tokyo Correctional Centre are afraid of him. Even more impressive? He scares the piss out of Madarame's henchmen despite being pinned on the ground at the time. It's what makes Madarame want to take him as his Dragon.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Both Akira and Shiho deal with their issues with an unhealthy amount of drinking.
- Easily Forgiven: Averted hard. Akira is completely unwilling to forgive Mishima for being Kamoshida's lackey. He even uses Mishima as a cover name when he is in a situation where he doesn’t want the other person to know his name as a sort of revenge.
- Entertainingly Wrong: After her interrogation of Kobayakawa, Sae concludes that either he's lying to save himself or that his "secret conspiracy" is a Yakuza clan gunning after Akechi because of his public anti-corruption stance. In reality, they're a Government Conspiracy gunning after Akira because he personally slighted the Big Bad a year prior.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Downplayed. One narration from Madarame's perspective shows he has a genuine soft spot for Yusuke, but makes it clear that ultimately his vanity comes first.
- For Want Of A Nail: What if Akira had been sent to juvie one year before the game's story began?
- The Ghost: One of the most important characters in the story is simultaneously one we never see: Akira's grandfather, Keigo Kurusu. He was a detective and supervisor for Sae during her junior detective program 12 years before the events of the story. During this time Sae and Makoto were living on nothing and about to become homeless after their parents' death. Keigo helped them out, gave them money for 6 years so they could live and even after that helped them wherever he could, never asking for anything in return. Sae hated herself for accepting it but is also grateful and knows she owes him a life debt. He was also the only one convinced of Akira's innocence and was the one to ask Sae to be his probation officer so that someone could look after his ‘little Akira’, which she eventually agreed to after his death. In general he seems to be the only person to ever be nice to Akira before his arrival at Shujin.
- Godzilla Threshold: In the boss fight against Kamoshida, things quickly go very bad for the group. Seeing that they will lose if he doesn't do something and with his injuries holding him back, Akira discovers a new ability and uses it, despite Morgana warning him against it. The trump card itself? Fusing with Arsene, letting him go berserk and giving him a massive power boost. It gives him one hell of a headache, Arsene doesn't want to give up control again, and Akira nearly dies, but it works and he tears Kamoshida's Shadow form apart.
- Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook: Most of Akira's worst traits stem from his time in juvie.
- Heroic Build: Akira has been using his time in juvie well. He's 6’2 or 6’3 tall and far more muscular than his canon self, giving him the appearance of a protector. This trope is played with, though, since Akira's muscular build also makes him come off as terrifying to people who don't know better.
- Hidden Depths: During the trek through Kamoshida's palace, the Phantom Thieves find several books describing things like Kamoshida's insecurities and embarrassing moments that happened to him.
- How We Got Here: Much like the game, the story starts with Akira being beaten by the police and interrogated by Sae.
- Idiot Ball: High off their victory against Kamoshida, the group gets arrogant and makes a series of catastrophic blunders that end with Akira being forced to become Madarame's minion.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: In Chapter 10, Kamoshida dupes Makoto into getting into his car with him. Only Akira throwing himself in front of the car saves her from getting sexually assaulted.
- I Have Your Wife: Discussed and ultimately defied; Madarame considers kidnapping Ann to force Akira to cooperate with him, but tables the idea because he wants his genuine loyalty, not a knife in the back waiting to happen.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: While Sae defaults to a Cigarette of Anxiety when things go south for her, she also occasionally indulges in some alcohol.
- Innocence Lost: In Chapter 16, Akira recounts the moment he truly went from a scared boy to the man he is today. Another prisoner shanked him with a homemade shiv, causing him to finally realize that nobody was going to help or save him; he lost his shit and bit the other guy's nose off and spent the next two weeks stewing in his own rage in solitary.
- I Reject Your Reality: Shiho copes with Kamoshida's actions by refusing to acknowledge they ever happened.
- It Gets Easier: Akechi narrates that his first kill was incredibly hard. By the time we meet him, he's just barely restraining himself from killing people For the Evulz.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Most of Sae's jerkass behavior towards Akira stems from her fear of him hurting Makoto. She does ease up on him a little after learning he threw himself in front of a car to save Makoto from Kamoshida, but admits she intends to ensure Kamoshida and Kobayakawa spend the rest of their lives in the slammer for daring to screw with her little sister.
- Likes Older Women: Zigzagged. Akira shows attraction to both girls his age and women noticeably older than him, as horny teenagers with no social skills are wont to do.
- Mysterious Stranger: When Akira is brought to the point of considering running away in Chapter 10, a stranger calling himself Ryo Miki encourages Akira, who decides to not abandon the others in their fight with Kamoshida. A few lines later we find out Ryo Miki is Goro Akechi in disguise.
- Named by the Adaptation: The SIU Director is given the surname Tomohisa.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: “The Demon of Shujin” for Akira.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Ryuji and Mishima try to set up a new target after the Kamoshida job, only to accidentally get themselves blackmailed into changing Natsuki Nakanohara's ex-girlfriend's heart.
- Akira himself isn't safe from this trope either. Becoming a bit arrogant after their victory over Kamoshida, he becomes reckless and takes too many unnecessary risks. If he would have left when Ann asked him to, he wouldn't have ended up being attacked and blackmailed into becoming Madarame's pawn.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Akira is brought to his absolute lowest point in Chapter 10 after his crushing talk with Sae, to the point where he genuinely wants to run away and never look back. A disguised Goro Akechi of all people is the one to convince him to stay and not abandon his friends in their fight against Kamoshida.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: A pure cathartic example in Chapter 13. Kamoshida goads Akira into a fist fight in the real world the day they send out the calling card. It ends with Akira wailing mercilessly on Kamoshida, who can only beg him to stop. Kamoshida's injuries are so bad he has to be sent to the hospital.
- No Social Skills:
- Akira's social growth has been severely stunted by his time in juvie.
- Makoto has allowed her social life to stagnate in favor of her studies, and admits that she has no real friends except maybe Akira.
- Original Character: Mitsuko is a character created for the story and a sort of “anti-Haru” as stated by
Word of God. She's a rich, popular girl who hates her parents. At first she was only there to give Akira a reason to attend a party by inviting him to make her dad angry but the author has stated that they have enjoyed her and she may play a bigger role in the future depending on the reactions of the fans. - Person of Mass Destruction: When Akira fuses with Arsene against Kamoshida he single-handedly tears his Shadow to pieces.
- Police Brutality: After interrogating Kobayakawa, Sae is forced to witness a bunch of cops gang up on him and pummel him into a bloody paste when he attempts to sell out the Conspiracy to save himself.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Madarame shoots down the idea of kidnapping Ann because it wouldn't ensure Akira's loyalty, making him a lot smarter than other villains.
- Properly Paranoid: In an impulsive display of paranoia, Sae decides to keep Kobayakawa's claims about a secret conspiracy from the SIU Director. Anyone who's played the game knows that the Director is in on the Conspiracy and this is a very smart move.
- The Reliable One: After getting blackmailed into changing Nakanohara's ex's heart and guilt-tripped into lending Kawakami 100,000 yen, Akira laments how he always seems to be the one everyone relies on to solve all of their problems.
- Remember the New Guy?: Kasumi Yoshizawa from the Royal Updated Re-release has an unnamed cameo in Chapter 18. Ann gives a relatively clever Hand Wave by stating that everyone has been so wrapped up in Akira's problems that she's gone pretty much unnoticed.
- Sadistic Choice: Akira ends up facing one when Shiho dumps her issues on him in Chapter 16. Either tell Ann, betraying Shiho's trust and possibly causing her to withdraw even more, or say nothing, betraying Ann's trust and potentially letting Shiho hurt herself even more.
- Sanity Slippage: Kamoshida becomes more and more openly psychotic as his conflict with Akira escalates.
- Secret-Keeper: Shiho reveals in Chapter 16 that she has figured out Akira was involved in Kamoshida's downfall.
- Serial Killer: Sae describes Madarame as one of the most prolific serial killers of the modern era.
- Sex for Solace: Shiho offers to have sex with Akira after getting frustrated with Ann's coddling. Fortunately, Akira declines.
- Ship Tease: Plenty. Akira has some romantically charged scenes with just about any female he interacts with other than Sae. Due to the author stating that there is no official couple yet and preferring to let the romance evolve naturally, there are a few... interesting scenes. The biggest ship tease would have to be Shinya's mother Hanae, who Akira actually almost sleeps with.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Akechi's boss, who readers familiar with the source material will identify as Masayoshi Shido, echoes his underling's sentiment that Kobayakawa is a "fatty".
- Stress Vomit: Both Akira and Ann need to vomit upon reading the messages Kamoshida sent Shiho.
- Sweet Tooth: Makoto mentions she prefers sweet things over the bitter beer she drinks at a party.
- The Teetotaler: Ryuji doesn't drink any alcohol because of his experiences with an abusive alcoholic father.
- Took a Level in Badass: Akira stands taller than even Sae with her heels on and has gained a lot of combat experience in his year in juvie. He is even smart enough to take his shirt off in his fight with Kamoshida so that he can’t grab onto Akira.
- Took a Level in Kindness: At the chronological beginning of the story, Sae is a full-blown jerkass who treats Akira like a prisoner and is clearly chomping at the bit to find an excuse to throw him back into juvie. She starts trying to extend an olive branch after learning he saved her sister's life from a rapist, and by the time the frame story begins she openly admits she cares about him.
- Undying Loyalty: Interestingly Madarame WANTS to get this from Akira. He even refrains from kidnapping Ann since that wouldn't inspire "long-term dedication".
- Unstoppable Rage: You do NOT want to piss Akira off. Kamoshida learns that the hard way both in and outside the Metaverse.
- Weirdness Magnet: Ryuji describes Akira as someone that things just happen to.
- Wham Line: After Sae finds out about Akira and Makoto eating together she confronts them both. First Makoto and than Akira. When Akira tries to defend himself by saying she invited him Sae says this: “But I told you to never look at her. So why’d you do it Akira? Or better yet, Ren?”
- Workaholic: More attention is brought towards Sae's workaholism tendencies. She notes in some moments of introspection that she has no friends or hobbies and can't even remember the last time she flirted with anyone.
- Yandere: Well... kinda. In a non romantic way. Akira is VERY protective over those he cares about and if you hurt one of them you WILL pay for it.
