- Some of it is partially confirmed by the TGS trailers, but only due to connection to some rumors.
- Doesn't seem so, one of the screenshots shows Arsene and MC at the same time, but they ARE connected with a chain..... hmmmmm.
- Jossed, with the exception of Futaba.
- Jossed.
- Okay maybe Persona 4 wasn't totally sad, but the goodbye was really sad. Yes the protagonist can come back but that didn't make the goodbye/ending any less sad/emotional.
The reason was because the school was initially threatened to be shut down due to a near critical drought of new students being enrolled. This is due to the evils of society, especially in Japan, becoming more and more hands off, with much of the violence, bullying, and crime regulated entirely online, which is almost near impossible for most people to track, let alone discipline. This is also combined with how the internet is such an expansive and never ending source of information where people can freely express themselves while doing as little as possible as well as waste hours upon hours of free time from just looking through social media websites alone, thus giving teens a healthy outlet to let their emotions out and something to keep them constantly distracted, making them less likely to get into real world trouble (unless they are hackers) and becoming more gentrified in general. Not to mention the biggest fears in Japanese society right now thanks to recent events are hackers that can cripple the entire country in some way with just a few keystrokes thank to how computerized everything is; city destroying natural disasters, climate change causing all sorts of crazy weather and may tie into the previous; completely random psychopaths suddenly going up and murdering everyone within a five foot radius with little provocation thanks to such occurrences happening in the US; providing care for and ever growing retirement age population; and, most recently, thanks to the kidnappings of those two Japanese reporters, Islamic terrorists. With stuff like that to worry about, the last thing on the minds of most modern adults are unruly teenagers.
All of these factor combine together to one conclusion: Traditional reform schools, such as the ones our heroes are going to, are quickly becoming obsolete, at least in the eyes of the government and society in general. The administration saw this through the decreasing attendance rate of their school, and thus was threatened with potential shutdown and/or through witnessing similar schools being shutdown prior. The city decided to let the Protagonist's school continue to operate, but only if they accept to enroll regular students into its halls to help alleviate overcrowding from several other high schools. The school administration accepted this deal, but numerous consequences came with the influx of non-troublemaking students, the most prevalent being the school having its overall reputation ruined; needless bullying due to the above mentioned Flock of Wolves scenario; and the older staff having the balancing act of being forced to learn to be kinder and gentler while still being strict or risk losing their jobs due to the backlash they may receive from concerned parents, and that's if they were not given a pink slip almost immediately for being unwilling and/or unable to change.
This shows that even reform schools can feel imprisoned by society's expectations, which itself are constantly changing with the passage of time, as well as the events and innovations that come with it, being forced to keep up or become cut off. For extra irony points, it will turn out that the protagonist, if not all the playable characters, are among the only one percent to be sent to the school for actual legitimate reasons. For greater irony, the Protagonist will probably be the only student in the entire school to have been convicted of an actual crime.
- Jossed. The school the player character attends during the game is not a reform school, and most of the student body are fairly average.
As for what happens near the end of the game: The heroes' shenanigans eventually result in some sort of catastrophe, causing them to feel guilt and fall into despair, wondering if it's worthwhile to continue to play phantom thieves. From here, the player will be met with two choices: either hang up the capes and masks and live out life as regular old high school students, thus leading to the bad ending; or try to make things right, which will lead to the final boss and, after that, the good ending.
- Alternatively one could be that they choose to face the consequences of their actions instead of trying to run away from it.
- Jossed. The bad ending is caused by the protagonist answering an interrogation wrong causing him to be shot by the traitor.
- Actually, not entirely. En route to the True Ending, there is a catastrophe at the end, which is Yaldabaoth seeking to control humanity, fusing Mementos and the real world. Because of this, the Thieves were almost erased from existence as a result of the people not believing in them anymore, only being saved by being preserved in the Velvet Room. They individually have different crises as a result of this, and wonder if they were really doing the right thing/if it's worth to continue fighting. The protagonist has to restore their fighting spirit so they can go on to the final battle for the free will of humanity. Alternatively, you can make a deal with Yaldabaoth and have things return to the status quo. This can also be considered a bad ending, as despite the Thieves continuing their act, Yaldabaoth's control is uncontested.
- I'm really hoping this WMG of mine isn't true, but consider:
- In Persona 3, Nyx and Erebus were only antagonistic forces because people in society wished for death, rather than adapting to life and Japanese society as it was. Several characters were having problems in their Social Links that, it turned out, could only be solved by accepting what society wanted from them and putting aside what they wanted (Mamoru, for example, was angry about his father's death costing him his chances at being a star athlete, but eventually had to take a factory job anyway, Bunkichi and Mitsuko eventually resolved to let their treasured tree be cut down, Keisuke eventually resolved to become a doctor like his father wanted, Bebe decides to return home to France, etc.).
- Persona 4's theme was "reaching out for the truth", but with a few exceptions (the most notable being Ayane, whose social link ends with her deciding to go after her dreams with gusto), the "truth" always turned out to be "the way things are" and what society wanted anyway. Rise went back to being an idol, Yukiko decided to take over her family's inn, Yosuke decided he liked the town and his Junes job after all, Yumi drops out of the drama club and forgives her father for walking out on her and her mother, etc. Meanwhile, Persona 4 Golden added a social link for Adachi where you could become Adachi's accomplice, and he all but spells out the Persona creators' opinion that if you refuse to listen to the voices of society, you'll eventually end up a criminal like Adachi himself, which Adachi explains if you burn the evidence pointing to him.
- So with all of this in mind, the tagline for Persona 5 is "You're a slave, want emancipation?", but as with the previous two games, the plot twists will reveal that nothing is wrong with society and nothing is wrong with "the way things are", the problem is all in the characters' heads, so by not challenging "the way things are", true "emancipation" will be achieved.
- I, like you, hope this one is seriously wrong but after the past two games it just feels like the games have had an ever growing hypocrisy about it's themes.
- Personally, I think you're off about the themes in P3 and P4. P4 was about being honest with yourself (I think a good counterargument is Kanji, since his problem is about how he doesn't want to be seen as a stereotype) and also not believing every bullshit thing you see on TV. P3 also had personal sacrifice as it's theme since the elderly couple didn't want to disrupt the school over a tree and Mamoru at least wants to work so his siblings can have the opportunity he didn't get to have. Doing otherwise would seem selfish.
- I find this theory depressingly plausible. I can't tell if it's because of Values Dissonance in Western and Japanese views or simply because of the more pragmatic reasoning of "you can't change other people's behaviour — you can only change your own," but the onus is always on the characters — particularly the young ones — to find a way to work around injustice without disrupting the status quo too much. Look at Eri in P4 - her new husband failed to mention the existence of his son until the last minute, then swanned off abroad on his own business, ditching her with the care of a child she had no idea how to look after, without making any attempt to foster any connection between his wife and son. Is her link about learning self-esteem and self-determination, clearly communicating her needs and dissatisfaction to her husband while making sure that Yuuta isn't caught in the crossfire? Nope! - life will be so much easier if you just unlock your latent potential as a mother and housewife, otherwise we might get messy things like divorce. A few characters do find freedom in some way (such as Shu and Hisano), but I find it difficult to believe that P5 is really going to go for "yes, sometimes society and those in authority are wrong, and you must take action against them." I think a more likely outcome is that the Phantom Thieves discover that they've been doing more harm than good by stealing people's hearts, and have to undo the damage...which is particularly grating, since judging from what we know so far, these kids have faced more serious injustices than "people are gossiping behind my back" (which is unpleasant and unfair enough as it is). "Be nice to people so that they change their opinion of you!" doesn't wash if you've been wrongfully arrested on the say-so of a man guilty of assault, or are being stalked by someone in a position of trust. On the other hand, they could surprise us and form a thematic evolutionary chain: P3S "Self sacrifice is necessary" -> P4s "Look for the happiness in your current circumstances" -> P5'S "Screw it — if you hate your circumstances, change them."
- I find that P5 will be walking on a very dangerous line, on one end they could end up with the scenario that they where wrong all the time and society was right despite reason stating otherwise, or it could end up the opposite where the protagonists are always portrayed as being in the right no matter what, turning the whole story into nothing more than an escapism fantasy.
- Alternatively it finds a middle ground with the problems in society being a result of demonic corruption and so forth and the message is the protagonists were right to fight against it, but now that the demonic problem is presumably resolved to give uncorrupted society a chance and don't keep thumbing your nose at it just for the sake being a rebel.
- I'll be the contrarian here; I think this WMG is going to be completely and 100% wrong for one main reason; given how Persona 5 is going the route of having the corruption be within the government itself, I strongly doubt that the theme's gonna be something along the lines of "oh, just leave those poor authority figures alone". Hell, Persona 2 dealt with corrupt authority figures by actually killing them off (and then magically resurrecting them into far more pleasant individuals). Heck, the fact the one of the Conspirators starts off as someone who doesn't want to mess with the privileged class makes me think they're going a somewhat different route this time around, especially since the game's clearly been already putting its own twist on the P3/4 formula in other regards.
- They've shown the first 20 minutes of the game online and it starts with this really strange warning about how the story is fiction and doesn't reflect the "Characters idealogies or phenominons" of real life in any way and you have to agree to understanding this to start the game. Looks like they really are going with Japanese society (at least in game) is seriously messed up and the warning is covering their asses so they can't get accused of being harmful to it or something.
- That is something practically every SMT game have in it's opening so that's nothing new.
- Jossed.
- As an addendum, perhaps the protagonists will have a code where they try to avoid intentionally harming humans during their heists. If there's a detective rival, perhaps they notice the discrepancy between the heists and the violent incidents and become convinced that someone else is behind those incidents (leading to their Heel–Face Turn).
- Played with. The Thieves are stealing things, but they can't kill their targets or they'll die in the real world. One target ends up killed, but the detective rival does not believe the Phantom Thieves did it. Mainly because the detective was was the one who killed him.
- That could fit in pretty well with the "slavery" theme. After all, the cast - and by extension the player - are rebelling against society, but only because the game says so. Then again, if the player ends up rebelling against the conspiracy and forging their own freedom, then you run into a Stanley Parable scenario: you're breaking free, but again, only because the game says so.
- A new character has the Necronomicon as a Persona, and the main character has new code name: Joker. Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe it's a Red Herring, but anyone who played Persona 2 should be very concerned about our main cast.
- Played with. Igor does end up being a fake and the Big Bad, but the Thieves aren't stealing hearts for him.
- The MC lived in a town looking similar to Inaba before coming to Shibuya. Plus, the fact that his parents seemed rather quick to give up on him indicates that the MC may possibly be distant from them. The MC's facial and body structure are a match to Naoki's, and he may have either dyed his hair black sometime after Saki's death, or his hair was already dyed, and he reverted it back to black after Saki's death. Even though the MC's canon name is currently Akira Kurusu, it isn't the first time a Persona MC had his canon name changed; additionally, Akira Kurusu could be an alias.
- Frankly, this troper just likes to consider the possibility, as he felt Naoki deserved a bigger role in Persona 4.
- Jossed on arrival, literary, fictional Innaba is South East of Tokyo. MC comes into Tokyo from the North.
- Naoya's Scenario:If Naoya marries Eriko Kirishima, both parents will have taught their kid how to fight and will still be able to use their personae. The two may even join your party early on a give you A Taste of Power, but they will probably be taken out somehow, do to either transferring their power to their kid or getting injured at a major interval to set up the villain. This scenario could work out with Maki as well- it doesn't really matter either way.
- Tatsuya's Scenario: Tatsuya becomes a detective, but still has all the fighting prowess he had in the games. He trains him in swordplay for self defense as well. Just as in the previous scenario, he may join the party later on by having accidentally re-awakened his Persona (most likely Vulcanus, rather than Apollo) he will fight with the party as a Guest-Star Party Member for a few missions until someone from the velvet room performs an intervention to stop him and reseal or transfer his power to someone else so as not to get Nyarlathotep involved again. Both of his main Personae will be transferred to the MC as a result. As a side note: if he marries Jun the MC will be adopted, and if he marries Lisa the MC will have the option of answering some statements in Cantonese.
- Jossed.
- Jossed.
- Weirdly probable: Save for hair color and scar, they look unusually similar, The opening line of the lyric version of the theme is "Who am I?", the latest trailer ends with Igor stating that it's time to start someone's (presumably the protag's) rehabilitation. What could be the case is that Igor saw wild card potential in Sho, but he was so hung up about his past and awful actions that Igor wiped his memories clean and removed the scar (a very identifying feature that was probably gained in a traumatic memory, so could serve as a trigger unless removed). He then set him loose to see if he could be someone great like the previous protags.
- Jossed.
- Don't forget that Naoto is already a detective, as the below WMGs state.
- Jossed. Neither appear.
- Jossed; Naoto is nowhere to be found in P5.
- Dojima is rather unlikely, given that he sticks to Inaba, but Naoto pursuing the main characters could make for a very interesting cameo opportunity. Heck, maybe she's the person who got the protagonist sent to the correctional school in the first place!
- Naoto being an ace detective would work really well with the thief theme in the game.
- Jossed; None of them are to be found.
- Alternately, since Yu's from Tokyo originally, he could be living there again and take it upon himself to test the new Persona users.
- Jossed
- This is only partially confirmed with the release of Royal. Yu appears as a DLC bonus boss (alongside the P3 Protagonist), yet he's only a Velvet Room-created cognition, so the overall scope of this WMG remains Jossed.
- Jossed
- As for Labrys, I could imagine the Shadow Operatives sending her out to a different school to not only improve her sociability, but also to fulfill her wish of being a member of Student Council; unfortunately not at Yasogami, but still. She'll end up using her axe and keep Ariadne as her persona.
- Public Safety is a group that's been attempting to shut the Shadow Operatives down mostly because of their bizarre practices. This could fit the whole idea of being "prisoner"; the Shadow Operatives are trying to get shut down because they're too different and strange, and they must face this trial by proving that shadows are a real threat and need to be stopped, breaking society's norms. However, Public Safety actually has a more villainous, deeper goal with the shadows, which is the real reason they're trying to stop the Shadow Operatives.
- Jossed, Labrys and Sho aren't party members.
- Persona 3 Portable already did that.
- Confirmed. You can get Catherine costumes DLC for your party members. You can also get a Sheep Man Doll for your room as decoration. It's identical to sheep men from Catherine and the ads used for it in-game even use Catherine's pink and black color scheme.
- Jossed by Atlus themselves. There's no connection between the two.
The new character Sho from Persona 4 Arena has a similar color motif as the trailer for Persona 5, hinting that he may be a preview character. He references himself as "just a criminal" when introducing himself to Yu.
It's a pattern I've noticed, The dark hour in Persona 3 and the Midnight Channel in Persona 4. So I guess it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it might be the case.
- Jossed; The Palace and Mementos have no connection to Midnight.
- Seems unlikely since Catherine is revealed to be pretty far in the future in its neutral ending.
- Even more of a reason to make it a prequel.
- I agree that it's unlikely.
- I think it's safe to call this one Jossed.
- Even more of a reason to make it a prequel.
- Labrys: Her story would be about finding the girl she and Aigis were based off of.
- At the end of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Labrys finds out that she's dead and visits her grave. So that wouldn't be her motivation
- The Malevolent Entity/Nyarlathotep: Narly was the big bad for the first 2/3 games and was behind Arena's events. His apperence here would canon weld all 5/6 games together
- Sho Minazuki: His hair color is the same as the color theme for this game. Just like how Minato/Makoto's hair color was the same as P3's color scheme. He could be an Early-Bird Cameo.
- Zen and Rei: Like Sho they could be Early Bird Cameos.
- In Persona Q, we find out that Zen is a part of Cronos, and Rei is dead. It's EXTREMELY unlikely that either of them would be in the game.
Of course, they may not be the only ones included. But I'm gonna refer to the "P5 is a sequel to P4A" WMG way above. Though there may be a lot of new characters as well as those from past games.
- I could see Sho as being like Aigis in terms of gameplay - perhaps, like Aigis's Orgia Mode, he would have the option to let Minazuki take over, giving him stronger attacks and a better persona, but eventually exhausting him. Plus, he could easily tie in to some of the theories about Persona 5's school being a Reform School - where else would a mentally unstable kid like him get sent to?
- All of these are Jossed
- I could see Sho as being like Aigis in terms of gameplay - perhaps, like Aigis's Orgia Mode, he would have the option to let Minazuki take over, giving him stronger attacks and a better persona, but eventually exhausting him. Plus, he could easily tie in to some of the theories about Persona 5's school being a Reform School - where else would a mentally unstable kid like him get sent to?
- The red color motif that Persona 5 has is also utilized by Nocturne, particularly because Magatsuhi is red energy that can be extracted from Manikins or humans. How it factors into Persona is that this time the Shadows are going after humans to drain them of their Magatsuhi before killing them in order to maintain their power. The Obelisk could also appear in-game, albeit as a late-game or end-game dungeon. If the Nightmare System is included, it's definitely inside the Obelisk somewhere and its Magatsuhi siphoning is draining the substance from the Shadows, causing them to become aggressive in order to offset the amount of Magatsuhi lost from the System's destructive absorption. An unintentional side effect of this absorption could be that human souls are also caught in the Nightmare System's siphoning as a person dies, preventing them from returning to the Sea of Souls, and this siphoning has apparently been happening ever since after Death was sealed into the Main Character. And to make things worse, the Nightmare System's focused Magatsuhi absorption has been targeting where Shadow activity has occurred, meaning that it has been draining the red energy from Iwatodai City and Inaba behind everything that has happened. And people don't notice this because Magatsuhi is invisible to non-Persona users outside of the Vortex World. Seeing as how the red color motif seems to make the threat of the Shadows or dangers of the plotline more obvious, the Nightmare System's Magatsuhi siphoning will render the Shadows visible to normal people, assuming the developers actually take a few storyline things from Nocturne instead of doing something different.
- Nope.
- Well,then it wouldn't be a TRUE ending if it wasn't canon.
- Jossed. The Big Bad is Yaldabaoth.
- And it will still look fabulous.
- This is inevitable. Catherine was an Obvious Beta in terms of Atlus getting used to the PS3 hardware. It would be a surprise if they did not use it.
- Jossed. Catherine used an out of house graphic engine, and they confirmed that the one used in Persona 5 will be made in house.
- Minato sealing Nyx at the end of Persona 3 was the reason for Elizabeth exiting the Velvet Room, searching for a way to release him without releasing Nyx in full power. In Persona 4, we learn that Margaret with probably leave the Velvet Room to search for a meaning to her life, and it will probably be "help her little sister out". Izanami and Nyx both wanted almost the same thing, but Izanami could be defeated. This implies that, if Izanami was not a goddess (if she were, she wouldn't have lost a battle against teenagers) she was another personification of human's desire. While Nyx was the desire to let death come and do nothing about it, Izanami was the desire to act, to go towards death. It's the difference between wanting something and wishing something: You can wish for something all your life and never take action, letting it come (Like the Apathy Syndrome, letting death come eventually, doing nothing to avoid it) but if you WANT something, you do something to get it (like creating the Midnight Channel, choosing people, testing out humanity and finally making everyone become Shadows, not just "zero" them with Apathy Syndrome.). With Izanami dead, Nyx is not so powerful anymore. She's just the wish part of a whole. Persona 5's Good Ending boss will be the last personification of such a wish, and the True Ending will let the player and other characters from the other games (Like Aigis, Souji Seta, Elizabeth, Margaret, Theo, etc) fight-off Nyx to finally release Minato and kill once and for all humanity's wish to die.
- Izanami is just humanity's collective wish given form; not necessarily one of death. It's implied the wish was to obscure the truth from one's eyes entirely, hence trying turn everyone into Shadows who would live obliviously in the fog.
- Please yes.
- It would make sense, considering the Color Motif of the three games match up to Primary Colors.
- Jossed. Persona 5's story has no connection to P3 or P4's.
- Yuu will show up for a cameo or maybe he will be a temporary party member ALA persona 2 with yukino
- All four previous mains will be bonus bosses
- All the persona users from previous games (sans Strega) will be Bonus Bosses
- None of the old Persona users show up. Jossed.
- However, the game DOES reference characters from Persona 2 to Persona 4 Dancing All-Night, mostly through in-game TV shows. Notable mention to Rise and Kanami, though, who show up in posters advertising their upcoming albums.
- Jossed.
- He looks similar enough to both of them, nevermind how it's possible.
- Jossed, even if we ignore, y'know the real reason it couldn't happen; Yusuke is confirmed to have a mother at some point.
- The person talking to the MC seems to know about the Shadow Realm, and is attempting to prevent the Thieves from being executed by the authorities. One of the possible endings has the MC becoming a Boxed Crook for the Shadow Operatives.
- Further helping this guess is the similarity of the voice of the interrogator and the speculated person in question. The threat of an "execution" in at the beginning of trailer 4 could be a clue to her identity.
- Jossed. Seems the interrogator's name is Sae Nijima based on Famitsu scans.
Yusuke grew up feeling "incomplete" due to possessing frustratingly vague fragments of Makoto's memories. After the sudden death of his parents, these peculiar flashbacks cease, which only made Yusuke feel more alone and confused. He began to create art (specifically graffiti) as an act of rebellion, fueled by both the loss of his parents and the loss of his identity, which was shaped significantly by these memories. This gets him into legal trouble time and time again, but also draws the attention of the artist Madarame Ooka, who sees immense potential in the boy and takes him under their wing.
Several years later, Yusuke is attending Kousei Public High School and apprenticing under Madarame. He abandoned his quest of discovering the identity of his past self long ago, choosing to create his own identity and immersing himself in his art instead. But when the activities of the Thieves trigger recollections of Makoto's time with SEES for the first time in years, Yusuke's desire to find his true self is reawakened, and he realizes that they are the key to solving the mystery which has plagued him his entire life once and for all. He takes to tracking down their every move obsessively (much to their annoyance) and later joins the team once he comes face to face with his Shadow Self - Makoto himself. His S-Link will deal heavily with the consequences of this revelation and the struggles he faces with reconciling his own identity and that of his past life (which, on a more meta level, will parallel the Persona franchise's attempts at finding its own identity after the gargantuan commercial success of 3 and 4 resulted in the series being relegated to spinoffs, ports, and remakes for nearly a decade).
- Then Loki might be the final or penultimate boss. Ragnarok might be too, though it's more of an event. Maybe it could be a metapyschical being who manifests it self through lower Shadows. I can image a ship being the velvet room for this maybe. Also one character can fight with hammers and their Persona could be Thor (NOT THE COMIC BOOK!!!!). I hope this game would be rated T if they do Norse, cause it's me favorite mythology!
- If Norse myths and legends are used, then the main character's persona could be the based on Hermóðr, the son of Odin who tried to bring Baldr back from the underworld, in keeping with the tradition set by the previous two games.
- This could work within the context of the theme. The defining trait of Ragnarok is that it is fated. It simply will happen, with every party involved serving their purpose, even to their deaths. Naturally, most people would want to break free from that kind of a role.
- The protagonist's persona is Arsene, so that's unlikely.
- Officially Jossed by the TGS Trailer. The characters' persona are themed around famous thieves and outlaws such as Arsene, Goemon, and Zorro
- Though somehow Loki made it, as the Ultimate Persona of Goro Akechi
- Considering that the protagonist's initial Persona is Arsene, it's unlikely. BUT maybe the antagonists' Personas or the Shadows themselves could be, to contrast the thief motif of the main cast with their chivalrous knights.
- Jossed. However, the Holy Grail does play a part in the story.
- Doesn't seem entirely out of the question, what with the Messiah persona from 3 (Granted, it doesn't look like the Christ, but since many SMT games utilize characters like YHVH and Lucifer and such, it seems quite possible).
- Jossed, Phantom Thieves like Lupin don't really fit into Abrahamic lore, and a few Gnostic themes are used instead.
- If they go with an Egyptian theme, I expect that the protagonist's starting persona will be Osiris, and there will be a rival/villain persona user who uses Set.
- And, in a shocking twist, the Protagonist gets Killed Off for Real by getting split into a bunch of parts during the course of the story. A good chunk of the game is dedicated to commanding your friends from the afterlife and literally pulling yourself together.
- And keeping with the trend of the last two games, there will be a teacher obsessed with Norse mythology who wears a Viking helmet.
- Unlikely, as the protagonist's persona is Arsene.
- Surprisingly somewhat included; one plot arc includes a hacker named Medjed and a Pyramid as a Palace. No teachers obsessed with a specific mythos, however.
- Oh man, This troper hopes that's true, even more so that means we might get Personae based on Journey to the West, specifically Sun Wukong/Son Goku or a social link
- My money is on a Water Margin reference. That novel was about bandits.
- Jossed. However, Sun Wukong is someone's ultimate Persona.
Think. If in Persona 2 had Urban Legends acting as threats towards the main characters, maybe Persona 5 will have them aiding the main characters: if so, the Personae could include the Boogeyman, Bloody Mary, Jack the Ripper...maybe even Slenderman.
- Jack the Ripper has been referenced in Shin Megami Tensei II and a spinoff featuring the three Jack Brothers - the serial killer being the widely unknown third sibling of Pyro Jack and Jack Frost, the series' mainstay mascot.
- If this were true, the main characters would have different Arcana: instead of Fool,Magician, Priestess, Empress, and Chariot, it would be Fool, Hermit, Strength, Death, Devil and Tower.
- They might since alot of the other games have rumors/urban legends in them, red room maybe? I think they would use urban legends and combine them with mythology, like Bloody Mary is really a shadow who feeds off humans craving for chaos and death. I think that would be cool.
- To use Slender Man, they'd need permission from Eric "Victor Surge" Knudsen, and I don't think they even know he exists.
- Do they though? I was under the impression Slendy was sort of public domain given that the entire 'mythos' grew out of a creepy photoshop contest. Is he actually copyrighted?
- Jossed.
- They've already covered Hinduism in Digital Devil Saga, they're not likely to do it again.
- Jossed. However, the fourth dungeon has several signs in Devanagari.
- Other possible Personas: Enlil, Marduk, Tiamat, Shamhat, Ereshkigal, and Ishtar.
- Bonus points if the evil Persona user of the game uses Humbaba or the Bull Of Heaven.
- Well, it was lightly done in Catherine (Inanna's Descent), so if this happens, then the below will most likely come as well.
- Jossed.
- Maybe they'll be based off of trickster gods, which are similar, but do a lot more than steal.
- Confirmed for the MC. His starting Persona is called Arsène.
- Assuming the other Personas follow along this pattern, I suspect Robin Hood and Jean Valjean to be Personas for the other party members.
- Confirmed in recent TGS trailers such as the presence of Zorro and Goemon.
- Robin Hood has also been confirmed, and the ultimate personas are Fallen Angels and Trickster Gods of various mythologies.
- Not in this game proper, but Valjean eventually appears as Zenkichi Hasegawa's Persona in Persona 5 Scramble.
- Jossed.
- If that's true, maybe there'll be someone with a Persona based on Inspector Javert?
- Jossed. In fact, the detective's persona is Robin Hood.
- Jossed. His Personas are Robin Hood and Loki.
- Alternately for Ryuji, his Persona could be based off Ishikawa Goemon, the Japanese equivalent of Robin Hood. It would keep in the motif of the heroes' Personas being based on antiheroes and could still tie in with the Magician arcana.
- Yusuke's persona is Goemon, while Ryuji got Captain Kidd. So Jossed.
- I am guessing he is of the Hanged Man arcana due to his outfit being based of Hell Biker of the Hanged Man.
- Jossed. He's The Chariot.
- Nope. It's Satanael.
- Confirmed, with the possible exception of Johanna* and Necronomicon.
- Jossed: It's Captain Kidd.
- Protagonist - Arsene (we know about this one already). Wind-elemental?
- Jossed, Arsene is an Eiha user.
- Morgana - Zorro (has the rapier and Z on its belt). Lightning-elemental?
- Jossed, Zorro's a Garu user.
- Anzu - Marian? Irene? (don't know a lot of female thieves/criminals from fiction that would fit the description). Looks like it's definitely Fire-elemental, though.
- Jossed. It's Carmen, but she is a Agi user.
- Ryuji - Blackbeard? Long John? (definitely going to be some famous pirate). I'm guessing Ice-elemental, though Lightning might be possible. Might be more physically-oriented like Kanji's persona from 4, though.
- Jossed. It's Captain Kidd. He is Lightning based though!
- Painter - Goemon (seems to fit the description). If the protagonist's initial persona is Wind-based, this may be Wind-elemental as well.
- Confirmed, though Geomon appears to be a Bufu user.
- Bonnie and Clyde - The Lovers
- Jossed. Anne has Carmen
- Guy Fawkes - The Tower
- Jossed. The Tower isn't the arcana of a playable character
- Robin Hood/Hong Gildong - The Emperor
- Semi-Jossed. Robin Hood is a Persona, but it's of the Justice Arcana
- A Thief who stole fire from the gods - the Sun
- Confirmed. Prometheus is Futaba's ultimate persona, but is the Hermit.
- Harry Houdini (Breaking free from chains?) - The Hanged Man
- Irene Adler - Strength
- Simon Templar - the Hierophant
- Famous Cowboy Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, Doc Holiday, Calamity Jane - Death/Wheel of fortune
- A Star of Destiny - Star
- Swallow Li San, a Chinese wall-crawling cat buglar who inspired a number of copycats
- Fiend of 20 Faces - Alternate Fool
Joker: The Fool (which is technically not confirmed but is inferred by the Promotional Videos 3 and 4)
Mona: Either Moon or probably Hierophant?(Due to being the teacher or maybe the devil due mentioning of money and treasure very frequently?)
- Mona is confirmed to have the Magician Arcana.
Skull: Magician or Emperor (Due to being the protagonist first male friend and wanting to be known internationally for changing the world?)
- Skull is confirmed to have the Chariot Arcana.
Panther: Lovers (Somewhat self explanatory due to the boss of the Old Castle and her persona origins)
- I feel like Anne's Arcana will be Fortune, because her story arc focuses on a series of turns of fate she had no control over (being born with recessive genes that show off her American ancestry, marking her as "exotic" and "alien" to her peers, and being lusted by her teacher.)
- Panther is officially confirmed as The Lovers.
Fox/Inari: Death, Hanged Man, or Temperance (Due to being the only member barring Morgana, Navi and presumably the 9th member that attends a public high school in honors).
- Fox is confirmed to have the Emperor Arcana.
Queen: Justice, Empress or Hierophant
- Although Johanna is a popess and the image on priestess card, she pretended to be male.
- Queen is confirmed to have the Priestess Arcana.
Navi: Hermit (confirmed)
Noir: Maybe Empress or Moon? (Mostly her aloof and distant attitude toward others yet her excellent and reminded communication skills.)
- Noir is confirmed to have the Empress Arcana.
Crow: Tower?
- The Tower is confirmed as Shinya Oda. Crow is Justice, as befitting a detective.
- The arcana not confirmed are Strength and Justice. Judgment and World tends to be reserved for the end game, but this could be jossed.
- Judgment is for Sae, which is first advanced in June, but only completed after you get on the path to the true ending.
- The arcana not confirmed are Strength and Justice. Judgment and World tends to be reserved for the end game, but this could be jossed.
From what we've seen in all three PVs released so far, particularly the most recent one, we can conclude that the possibility of the cast dying is very much real. From the last few scenes of the most recent PV, we can assume that Japan eventually goes into a state of mass hysteria and desperately want to capture the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Capital punishment is legal in Japan; statutory for murder, treason, offences against the state, and serious acts of violence resulting in death. It is possible that one or more of their acts could be considered as these especially if the people whose hearts they're stealing ended up dead, were important, or both.
We could also take note of the fates of each of their Personae; 3 out of 5 die, and interestingly enough, it's only MC's and Morgana's who don't die (Ryuuji's Captain Kidd - public execution by hanging (executed for crimes?), An's Carmen - shot by lover (shot by theorized stalker/the person stated to be important to her in Famitsu?), Yusuke's Goemon Ishikawa - public execution by boiling (executed for crimes?)). It wouldn't be surprising to have one or all of them dead in (hopefully just) the bad ending(s).
- Confirmed. The main character gets killed by The Mole if you don't figure him out quickly enough.
- Nope. Makoto is a biker, courtesy of her persona.
- The main character got sent to detention. And one nap, he's sent into the Velvet Room and is informed about an upcoming event.
- OR, The main character will be a foreign exchange student from America: He nods off on the plane ride to Japan, and enters the Velvet Room during the flight.
- The second one would be really good, but the first one isn't likely. Tatsuya and Maya are the only protagonists that are actually developed.
- OR, The main character will be a foreign exchange student from America: He nods off on the plane ride to Japan, and enters the Velvet Room during the flight.
- I doubt this. The MC is, for the most part, supposed to be a completely blank slate that you can make do whatever you want without it being 'out of character.' Because the character is supposed to be you. Hopefully to aid in this illusion, there will be Male and Female options without changing the stories all around.
- Pretty much confirmed: the protagonist is a cat burglar.
- Fitting in with the above WMG, the MC from Persona 3 will be released again, only for the same events to start to happen again. The plot will be about breaking the chains of fate.
- Jossed. The main character is a black haired boy with glasses.
- As an addendum to the above, given the theme of the protagonist's Persona, the Detective character will have a Persona based on Sherlock Holmes.
- Or better yet, Naoto will make a cameo appearance versus the MC.
- Somewhat confirmed based on the third PV; with the male and female voices seemingly interrogating the MC.
- Confirmed, Goro Akechi is a high school detective that joins the team, though he most likely does not get his Persona until he joins the team.
- He has a persona before he joins, which is a major clue to him being The Mole.
- Somewhat confirmed. The painter's name is revealed to be Yusuke Kitagawa
- Jossed. No party members last names start with Ama-.
- Un-Jossed, more than a year after the games release, ATLUS has revealed that the Protagonist's name is Ren Amamiya.
- Confirmed, they do get along, better than those six anyway, though "Best Friends" is a stretch.
- Confirmed in third PV; Yusuke's motif is a fox.
- Jossed. You can only play as a male with a specific backstory.
- Extension: A later party member will have Robin Hood as their Persona. This party member will be a bow user.
- Partially confirmed. Goro does have Robin Hood as a Persona, but he doesn't use a bow.
- And ironically enough, he's actually Lawful Evil.
- Partially confirmed. Goro does have Robin Hood as a Persona, but he doesn't use a bow.
- Somewhat confirmed. Shujin High School is a school for "troublemakers" and the protagonist is forced to attend after being brought up on charges for stopping a molester who had connections to the local police.
- Could be jossed? It's rather odd that a school for so-called "troublemakers" would have the daughter of a rich family attending when her only crime is being naive and eccentric.
- Not necessarily. We don't know yet under what circumstances Haru attends the school. It's possible she transfers in midway through the game, either due to disagreements with her family or because she's trying to track down the Phantom Thieves to solicit their help. It's even possible that the main characters will transfer schools partway through the game.
- There is no earthly reason that Makoto Niijima, an obedient honor student and the younger sister of an ambitious up-and-coming prosecutor, would be going to a reform school. Shujin is a normal school, albeit not a very prestigious one since the volleyball team and its former Olympian coach are the only things it currently has going for it in terms of raising its profile. This one's Jossed.
- Could be jossed? It's rather odd that a school for so-called "troublemakers" would have the daughter of a rich family attending when her only crime is being naive and eccentric.
- Confirmed, they all awake their Personas by choosing to fight corrupt authority.
- Confirmed. Costumes are gained after awakening to your Persona and the masks in particular are each character's active persona.
- Worse - Morgana will be in Persona Arena 3 and has special dialogue with Teddie.
- Well, he certainly believes to have been a human once.
- Jossed, Morgana was never human and doesn't gain a human form either.
- Un-Jossed in Royal. As seen in trailers, Maruki grants his wish to be human. It's only temporary, however.
Going with the idea of "liberation from society's roles", the Shadow Selves will not be tamed by the main characters, but recognized as part of themselves and embraced as they are. The masks allow the Shadow Selves to drive for a bit but remain sane and friendly enough, which is why the protagonists with their masks on seem to act a lot less restrained than without; they're living out their most selfish and rebellious passions (and of course, the Personas aren't tamed Shadows, they're wild Shadows being allowed to slip out for a little bit). Hence the Seven Deadly Sins symbolism.
- After watching the new trailer, I'd like to refine this: during their "awakening", the Thieves become so stressed they enter into a Heroic BSoD where their Shadows appear to them and start with the whole mockery business. Unlike the Investigation Team, the Thieves realize their Shadow is dispensing good points and accept them right off the bat, embracing the ideas the Shadow suggested in their masked identities, which causes the Shadow to manifest as a Persona, To wit:
- Ryuji ends up being pushed around by a mean-spirited boss who asks him an Armor-Piercing Question about why he Used to Be a Sweet Kid and then is sent into a tizzy during a "The Reason You Suck" Speech where he is forced to confront the fact that being a jerk is his way of avoiding being hurt again. Being an actually calm individual, he accepts this, and thus manifests Captain Kidd, who was tarred with a foul brush and made a villain by the people he trusted.
- Ann is tricked and captured by the Lust demon we saw in the third trailer, and realizes that by acting like a wallflower, she hasn't helped her outsider status-it's just made her seem like an easy target for sexual predators. She decides "you know what? Better a bitch than a victim," and so manifests Carmen, one who masters men through their passions rather than is mastered by them.
- Yusuke realizes his art teacher is one of the bad guys and is simply using him as a way to live out their dreams of fame and fortune. That's what motivates him to stop envying the idea of the Phantom Thief and actually start living it to free people from the tyranny of self-centered authority, and so he gets Goemon, would-be assassin of the shogun for understandable reasons.
- Jossed. The only player character whose shadow we see is Futaba, and that one is still as antagonistic as ever. The other shadows, meanwhile, are even worse.
- Un-jossed. Shadow Futaba is the first non-hostile Shadow in the series, merging with her counterpart to beat the actual Sphinx.
- Will the final boss be Shiki Tohno?
- Semi-Confirmed; he does utter a word or two occasionally, but he's definitely not fully voiced.
- Navigator confirmed — and she uses a UFO as her persona. Probably to probe enemies for information.
- Half-jossed, half-confirmed: We do have a Navigator, but the full party looks to be nine people strong.
Given the fact she has a clover design on her hoodie, makes sense she'd have the Arcana that ties into that. After all, what is a lucky charm other than trying trying to change your fate?
- I don't know, considering that her Persona is Carmen, and the story of her opera, Lovers would fit better.
- Jossed. Anzu is Lovers. Wheel of Fortune is an fortune teller NPC named Chihaya Mifune.
- Living in the Cafe Le Blanc might even have reminded him of the novels.
- Jossed: Morgana is extremely fond of just Ann, and while it starts out in a purely physical sense, he does seem to genuinely fall for her. Morgana is also male.
- Jossed in the manga adaptation: his name is Akira Kurusu.
- Double-Jossed, his canonical name is Ren Amamiya.
- MC: Fragile Speedster (due to knives and pistols, both usually speedy weapons in RPGs). Main element: Wind. (Due to his Persona's wings and the generally speed motif of the wind element, also would be different from P3 Hero [Fire] and P4 Hero [Thunder]).
- Half-Jossed/Half-Confirmed. Arsene confirmed to be a Dark user, but he is a Fragile Speedster.
- Ryuji: Obviously more physically inclined due to using pipes. Shotguns also tend to be the most "melee-like" gun in videogames. Seems to have the highest HP of the initial party based on trailers, so probably more like Junpei than Yosuke. Main element: Thunder. (Yellow hair and use of loud, "brute force" weapons like Shotguns. Previous Magician Arcana characters were Fire and Wind).
- Captain Kidd is confimed Zio user.
- Anzu/Anne: Definately some form of primary magic user due to having the highest SP of the four (by far) in trailers. Possibly The Medic, or could just be a Black Mage. Whips likely won't be powerful but will be accurate and fast. Main element: Ice? (We already have Wind and Fire using Medics, though Ice sounds too similar to Mitsuru).
- Jossed for this one - Carmen is confirmed to be a fire persona.
- But also confirmed to use Dia.
- Morgana: Possibly a Magic Knight due to having the second highest SP out of the four while still having decent HP. Could specialise in status moves due to references to the deadly sin of Lust. Possibly Devil Arcana if that's the case, which implies either Fire, Ice or Dark specialty in element.
- Jossed. Confirmed to be Garu user and The Medic with the ability to use Dia and Patra.
- Alternatively, their parents are alive, but in prison.
- Jossed for the protagonist. His parents are alive and are the ones who sent him to live with their friend after he gets in trouble with the law.
- Jossed for Haru and Futaba, because they have at least living fathers.
- Not that Haru's father has long to live...
- Yusuke is confirmed to be an orphan, however.
- Makoto too.
- A complete reversal of the typical pattern from Persona 3 and 4. The Magician rep won't instantly be the protag's best buddy; instead, they're an anti-social but intelligent person who's liked by all their teachers. Their fatal flaw is the fact that they must live up to their incredibly high standards as a smart student and as a leader for their peers; breaking those chains lets them become more social and gaining more friends, as well as becoming the protagonist's greatest ally, worrying less about good grades and more about bonds. A mix of Mitsuru breaking her seemingly cold facade while keeping Yosuke and Junpei's main role as the "best friend" character.
- The Magician is Morgana. Riuji, who has the role traditionally taken by Magicians, is a Chariot (and fights like the previous Emperors). Everything else is Jossed.
- There will be a character at mission control who joins the frontlines halfway through game, just like Mitsuru and Teddie. Another character will promptly fill in the mission control position. Bonus points if the ex mission control character uses Bufu spells.
- Nope. Morgana performs as Mission Control while fighting on the front line and is a Garu caster.
- Rise's Beta design (a Defrosting Ice Queen delinquent girl who uses a chain as her main weapon) will be reworked into a character in this game. It'd fit with the themes, and that character is just too cool not to use. Maybe she'll be the Implied Love Interest this time.
- Seemingly confirmed. Anzu (Anne?) is a whip-wielding combatant who, like the rest of the main characters, is a major delinquent.
- A huge, intimidating rugby player in Senior Year with an Emperor Persona... who acts as the navigator. He could be the Team Dad and help keep the group together. I'm not sure what his issues would be; maybe he felt like everyone was expecting him to do something macho because of his huge frame, and he would rather give rugby up if it weren't for his fears of being seen as a wimp, a coward, or a flaker.
- Jossed. Navigator is a passive, Hikikomori girl.
- In addition, there will be at least 7 party members, given that the seven deadly sins were shown, in latin, during the trailer. One of the characters, Morgana, translates to "lust." So each of the the party represents a deadly sin that they'd probably have to overcome to reach emancipation or some such.
- If that's the case then there's two latin words left (hollowness and nothingness) and those will be connected to the antagonists; maybe a police/detective duo that's following The Phantom and his crew's trails out of sheer pressure and/or no other reason than duty.
- Current Predictions:
- The seven deadly sins are actually associated with the villains. The exceptions are Nothingness Shadow Futaba and possibly the Protagonist as Pride. And most of the demons associated with these sins get assigned to the wrong character.
- Futaba is associated with Hollowness, Goro is Vanity, and the protagonist is Pride. All other party members are not associated with a sin.
- The Swordsman: He/she will be the child of a Yakuza boss, who will serve as one of the antagonists of the game. He/she joins the party to rebel against his/her corrupt father.
- Jossed, the katana user is an orphaned artist.
- The Bare-Fisted Monk: He/she would have been sent to the reform school for getting into fights. He/she did it as defense against bullies, but he/she ultimately got in trouble for throwing the first punch.
- Jossed. Makoto is the Token Good Teammate.
- The Mission Control: A hacker who got expelled from his/her previous schools for using his/her skills to cheat during exams.
- Jossed. Futaba is a shut-in who stopped attending school because of something that happened.
- The Token Good Teammate: Unlike the other characters, who are delinquents, he/she will either: A. Be a teacher that gets involved with Personas. B. A police officer that spends the first portion of the game chasing the protagonists until fate has them working together. C. A student that's on the disciplinary council. A close relationship with one of the protagonists makes him/her join them.
- These◊ brief flashes during the first preview trailer will be party members.
- Or, inversely, they'll be actively opposed to the party.
- For The Swordsman, make that one a woman, but a Yamato Nadeshiko with a mean streak. She got sent to reform school to be taught manners because of her corrupt Yakuza father, but she secretly holds an Oedipus Complex (referred to as "Electra Complex" by Jung) like no other person, and the Yakuza father wants to correct that.
- For the Token Good Teammate, she'll be the nosy Class Representative type who comes from a police or detective family, and will play the role of the Persona-using detective chasing the thieves (with Sherlock as her Persona), unaware that they're actually her friends from school. Bonus points if she was once a delinquent or Bully Hunter herself, whose wild tendencies got her sent to the reform school, and she's trying to reform and become a respectable student. This leads to conflict once she discovers the true identity of the Phantom...
- Makoto is confirmed to be a Token Good Teammate, as well as being a Class Representative (or rather, Student Council President). Makoto's father is confirmed to be in law enforcement before dying in the line of duty.
- There's also Goro who joins you later on, but he's a major asshole in reality.
- The possible return of demons, the games setting and his active role in protecting Tokyo from supernatural forces. Is it possible that his persona summoning abilities originate from a long forgotten family history as opposed to a super natural event this time around?
- To serve as a foil to the MC and his party, someone who vents their frustration at society's chains by beating up criminals. Probably including you.
- Somewhat confirmed. Goro uses his Persona to kill criminals with little remorse in order to destroy society from the inside out.
- And they will be known as the Persona Five.
- Jossed, going by the box art there's nine protagonists in all.
- Just to screw with the player's expectations.
- And then your Social Link or new party member is someone who bullied said student.
- One of your cooperators was previously involved in spreading rumours about the Protagonist, but that's the entire extent to which this is confirmed.
- Nope. He's a good guy. Now Goro, on the other hand...
- Confirmed. Igor is a fake.
- Jossed. Neither character returns and Ikeda actually voices Big Bad Masayoshi Shido while Nakata voices Sojiro Sakura.
- Jossed: Yusuke is playable although the game and is not villainous in the slightest, ironically enough however, you just described Goro perfectly.
- Jossed. He's the fifth member to join your team, and the focus of the second dungeon. Goro Akechi is the antagonist turned ally role similar to your speculation.
- Sort of? Morgana was created by Igor to assist The Protagonist in defeating Yaldaboath.
- While there is no direct continuity connection between SMT and Persona, Anne does have a four leaf clover necklace and hoodie.
- Jossed: Ikeda plays Masayoshi Shido, though to your second point, you can buy a Shin Megami Tensei IV Samurai outfit to war in dungeons.
- Taking from a WMG above about future Personas, he will be the Alternative Fool with The Fiend of 20 Faces as his real Persona, that was maskering as another picaresque character to fool the Thieves.
- Alternatively, the unknown character's Persona is Jean Valjean from Les Misérables, who was loosely based on Eugène François Vidocq, a French ex-convict who later founded the Police nationale and is regarded as a father of modern criminology.
- Correct. Goro's the Mole, but his (initial) persona is Robin Hood.
The twist is, that this is just a Red Herring. The detective has fully Becoming the Mask and realized that the thieves are doing a better job of reforming the system than he has, working from within. The actual traitor is another member of the group.
- Nope. He is the traitor.
- His name is already an Edogawa Rampo reference. Why not?
- He wields a sword and a pistol.
No real evidence for this, but it seems like a possible revelation given the protagonist's unusual living situation.
- Jossed, Futaba is Sojiro's adopted daughter and she's alive and well
- Jossed
- Jossed, just a public prosecutor
- Confirmed. However unlike the other targets, she's merely antisocial.
- Jossed, Morgana is an extra-dimensional being created by Igor, though by the end of the game, he's lost his anthromorphic form and is now a regular cat (who can talk).
What if Morgana was a part of the conspiracy, but she saw how corrupt it had become and was planning to blow the whistle? What the MC interrupted was not merely a simple assault, but rather an attempt to silence a traitor to the organization. Because of the MC's intervention, Morgana was able to escape into the other world, where she assumed her current cat form. Maybe Morgana was the one who leaked the other world application to the MC, and her goal is to use him to take down the conspiracy.
- Overall Jossed. Ann has no more Ship Tease with the MC than any other romanceable option. The Royal-exclusive party member, Sumire, does have a confirmed crush on the MC, yet she's not even of the Aeon arcana (she's Faith instead).
- That would also be a nice way to bring Philemon "back" to the series in a more obvious way.
- Jossed.
- It is true that Igor got replaced, however.
- Jossed.
- If we continue with moving vehicles,ision as to whether or not the heroes kill somebody.
- Jossed. You get the bad end by not figuring out who The Mole is ahead of time, at which point they shoot you in the head.
- MC: Bryce Papenbrook.
- MC's VA is confirmed to be Xander Mobus
- Ryuji: Todd Haberkorn.
- Ryuji's VA is confirmed to be Max Mittelman
- Anne: Kira Buckland.
- Anne's VA is confirmed to be Erika Harlacher
- Morgana: Stephanie Sheh.
- Morgana's VA is confirmed as Cassandra Lee Morris
- Yusuke: Kyle Hebert.
- Yusuke's VA is confirmed to be Matthew Mercer
- Futaba: Christine Marie Cabanos.
- Futaba's VA is confirmed to be Erica Lindbeck
- Makoto: Cristina Vee.
- Makoto's VA is confirmed to be Cherami Leigh
- Haru: Brina Palencia.
- Haru's VA is confirmed to be Xanthe Huynh
- Sandman and Pyro Jack are both Personas. Shadows are "untamed" Personas. It's not too farfetched to have Shadows take the forms of Personas because of this. If they're not Shadows in name, they'd still be like them - only being able to be fought by Persona-users.
- Partially Jossed. There are people that turn into shadow like beings, but they are killed by a demon emerging from them. Suggesting both will be enemies.
- Half-jossed. Shadow Selves are still in, but the "Shadows" you encounter patrolling the Palaces are corrupted demons.
- Semi-Jossed. They appear and act like regular Demons from SMT and the first two Persona games, but they are still called Shadows.
- What? A man can well dream. Also I am making this since I am still kinda miffed about what they did with the main antagonist in Ultimax.
- But seriously, if you look closely at the protagonist's glasses in the teaser, the reflection shows a shape unfurling its wings - with what seems remarkably like Nyarlathotep's silhouette. Moreover, those butterflies in Persona 3/Persona 4 indicate that Philemon's far from done with his games as of now...
- Considering that both Nyarlathotep and Arsene Lupin are masters of disguise, and Nyarlathotep has disguised himself as a persona before, it wouldn't be too far fetched to say that Arsene is Nyarlathotep in disguise. If Philemon also makes a return, he probably would be having a harder time trying to search for his rival and figure out his plan if Nyarlathotep is disguised as a persona. The protagonist could have agreed to accept Arsene as a persona from Nyarlathotep instead of Philemon, or someone under him, and comes to bite him in the butt later when Nyarlathotep begins the final stages of his plan for the game. It would be a good plot twist for the players who are used to considering Personas as tools and allies instead of possibly the main villain in disguise.
- A new character has the Necronomicon as a Persona, and the main character has new code name: Joker. Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe it's a Red Herring...or maybe it's Foreshadowing.
- The game is out and the verdict is in, ladies and gentlemen, it's official, Nyarlathotep is nowhere to be found in P5.
- The scene in the trailer with the party fighting against demons/Personas may actually be a battle against enemy Persona users. Perhaps some dark organization has unlocked the secret of Personas and is giving them to their agents. The protagonist and his allies then end up stumbling upon/stealing the secret, allowing them to manifest their own Personas. Perhaps this is the incident alluded to in the previews which ends up landing the heroes in hot water - leading to the organization becoming the recurring villains attempting to track them down.
- This may additionally lead to a gameplay mechanic where new Personas are acquired by stealing them from your enemies - very appropriate for a thief.
- Jossed, our protagonists are the only Persona users.
- So Javert?
- Stanley Koon
- Jossed. It's Yaldabaoth Although to be fair, he thinks of himself as law embodied.
- Jossed - He's the fifth member of the team.
- Well then, it's a miss, no Holmes Persona, the only enemy Persona is Loki.
- A Sadist Teacher at the Phantom Thieves' school. He/she intentionally brought the Phantom Thieves together for some ulterior motive.
- Semi-Confirmed, you perfectly described Starter Villain Kamoshida, though he unintentionally brought the thieves together (they unite to stop him).
- A Dirty Cop. However, unlike Adachi, they won't treat it like a huge plot twist.
- Semi-Confirmed with Goro, though he's more The Dragon.
- A Yakuza boss, as mentioned in an above WMG.
- Semi-Confirmed, Kaneshiro is a Yakuza, though he's Makoto's Arc Villain, not the Big Bad
- A Wild Card Persona User. He/she will act as an Evil Counterpart to the Phantom. He/she turned on his/her former team mates because he/she felt like non-Wild Card users depended on them too much (maybe as a Lampshade Hanging on the Scrappy Mechanic of how it would be an automatic game over if the protagonist dies).
- Semi-Confirmed, barring the second part, this is Goro again.
- 1. The demon princes associated with each sin (Belphagor, Beelzebub, Mammon, and so forth)
- 2. The Latin names for the sins (Invidia, Ira, Gula, etc.)
- 3. Literary characters associated with the sins(similar to how the protagonists have Personas based on famous thieves/outlaws). For instance, Ahab could be the Wrath boss, Bluebeard or Casanova for Lust, and so forth.
- 1. is mostly correct, but the bosses are mostly associated with the wrong sins.
- With this theme in mind, I could see the last dungeon being a combination of a garden and a prison to symbolize the gilded cage where the prisoners trade their freedom for comfort.
- Jossed. The last dungeon is the last floor of Memento's and the Final Boss represents all sins.
- Partially Un-Jossed. The Big Bad's motives are indeed Confirmed, as is the final dungeon looking like a prison where the prisoners are content to stay. The Garden of Eden motif is instead used for The Very Definitely Final Dungeon of Royal, Maruki's Palace.
- Jossed. The last dungeon is the last floor of Memento's and the Final Boss represents all sins.
- I've compiled the dates from the dungeons and this is what I believe to be the order that they go in, the party members you'll recruit for each, and each corresponding sin so far. I think it goes like this.Lust April 18-26, The Castle: AnneEnvy May 28, Art Gallery: YusukeGreed July 2, Bank: MakotoPride August 1-8, Pyramid: FutabaGluttony September 22-28, Observatory: Haru
- Now I'll give my reasoning. Considering that we saw Haru, AKA Bishoujo Kaito, AKA "Adieu," join in the middle of the observatory dungeon, I think that will be true for each party member. Anne, Yusuke, and Makoto all awaken their Personas in the middle of the Castle, Art Gallery, and Bank respectively. Makoto clearly isn't awakening it near the safe where the fly man is, and because he's probably the boss, it can be assumed that she joins before you fight him, but not as soon as you enter the dungeon. She probably isn't already associated with the group because the previous dungeon is obviously associated with Yusuke. Futaba also has Necronomicon by the time of the sphinx boss fight in the Pyramid dungeon. For Anne, I think we've all gathered that the Castle is the construction of a perverted teacher who wants Anne all to himself. Yusuke's master is obviously the boss of the art gallery, the fly guy in the bank likely has some sort of financial hold over Queen's family, and I imagine the sphinx girl on the pyramid is likely someone who was bullying Futaba due to her reclusiveness. Now, the dungeon themes are a bit more obvious. Castle is lust because of the lustful teacher, Art Gallery is likely envy due to implications that Yusuke's master is stealing other artists' work, the Bank is greed because, well, money, the Pyramid could pride because the boss takes on the body of a lion, and the observatory is most likely gluttony. I saw a screen with french fries on it in PV 04 during Noir's fight (About 2:58), and it seems to carry some pretty obvious implications for the dungeon's theme.
- With the exception of the pyramid, these are all Jossed. The dungeons belong to the villains, though most of them do have some relationship with the party member who then gets recruited in that dungeon.
- Order is right, dates and sins are wrong
Perhaps he's linked to Morgana's past as well: Morgana mentions that she has experience with phantom thieving. Maybe the villain was her old partner in crime, who tossed her aside when he got drunk with power. Morgana's ulterior motive might be building up the protagonist and his friends to get revenge on the person who betrayed her. Or maybe when you take the villain's treasure, you learn that Morgana was the one who sold him out, and now she's about to do the same to you now that you've done what she wanted.
- Sort of? they fight Goro en route to to Shido. The part about Morgana is false though
- I doubt they would ever do anything more than perhaps giving you a special item on your birthday. Otherwise when your birthday is might give you an unfair advantage. Any of the ideas you provided would give people with birthdays at the beginning of the game a gift they couldn't take full advantage of, so it would be best to lie and put your birthday in December. However, I do hope they give male/female choices, and perhaps give you the ability to date either gender regardless of your own.
- Confirmed via gameplay footage at E3 2016.
- Confirmed. Mementos serves as an optional dungeon that isn't associated with any boss until you fight the final boss there.
- Previews have revealed a subway dungeon that seems to serve as the bonus dungeon. So, confirmed?
- Confirmed only partially. There is technically only one Bonus Dungeon, Mementos, composed of several sections that unlock with the plot and where the side missions take place. Also, it's not optional at all since it turns out to be the final dungeon.
- Jossed, although there's still some Law Versus Chaos undertones.
- The Palace: The first dungeon (takes place in April). Since Ryuji and the protagonist seem to enter the area by themselves, they'll probably be the initial party members, with Morgana and Anne joining later. May represent either Gluttony or Lust, depending on if the king boss shown in the trailer is this area's boss.
- Art Gallery: Likely the second dungeon (takes place in May). Since it seems to fit his theme, it's likely the Painter will join the party here. If the Painter is connected to this area, it may represent Envy, since his obsession with the party members may be due to envy of their freedom. Pride is another possibility.
- Bank/Office Building: A greenish bank or office building (takes place in July). This is likely the missing third or fourth dungeon. If the man-fly shown in the fourth trailer is this area's boss, then it's likely to represent Greed.
- Casino: The casino shown in the initial trailer. Also, there's a shot of a fly boss emerging in what looks like a vault. Probably represents Greed.
- Ruins: A ruins area (visited in August) which may be connected to the pyramid shown in the trailer. Might represent Sloth, given its isolation.
- Observatory: A futuristic area filled with domes(visited in September). The sin theme here is harder to discern. Wrath? Pride?
- Given the big gap in time between the Art Gallery and the next known time shown (in August), it's likely there will be two dungeons between those. The Casino will likely be one of them, plus one other not yet shown.
- After September, there's likely to be one more sin-themed dungeon, which will be a climatic showdown which will likely contain a big twist.
- Update: It looks like the Casino is the seventh dungeon, since a new screenshot was released placing it in November.
- Since there were nine "sins" shown in the prior trailer, though, I'm guessing nine dungeons in total, with the last two being the final areas where whatever cosmic entity behind the trouble is confronted.
- This part is confirmed.
- The dungeon order is mostly correct, except for the Casino which is the sixth dungeon (after the Spaceport). There are two further dungeons after that. The sins are mostly incorrect, except for the Castle of Lust.
- Confirmed with the final dungeon. The depths of Mementos represents a cognitive prison for the general public, but it is a prison of their own choosing.
- If you look closely in the scene in the trailer where the party is escaping from the pyramid, there appears to be a sixth person in the group. So I'm guessing any "only five characters" theories are jossed.
- Jossed further by the box art revealed in Trailer 4, depicting nine characters.
- Infiltration: Sneak into the palace to get to the treasure. There is a percentage at the top-left of the screen that appears to be a "heat" meter. The meter increases when you get seen by enemies, which seems to be in place to encourage stealth. I'm guessing that if the heat meter gets too high, the Reaper will show up(and probably curbstomp your party). The heat meter might be the equivalent to the fatigue system in Persona 3 or SP management in Persona 4 - a limiter on how long you can explore the dungeon.
- Theft: The actual stealing of the treasure. This is probably where you fight the dungeon boss in order to claim it's treasure and change the heart of the person the palace represents.
- Escape: We've seen several cutscenes in previews featuring the heroes escaping from collapsing dungeons. This suggests that taking the treasure isn't the end of the road - you still need to abscond with the loot. I'm thinking you'll have to hurry back to the dungeon entrance, dodging fully alert enemies and obstacles. It's possible that this is a timed sequence - you need to get out before the palace collapses or you're done.
- All Confirmed for the majority of the dungeons.
- To elaborate: the "infiltration" and "theft" parts are correct (except for the Alert/"heat" meter: if it reaches maximum level you are simply kicked out of the palace for the day, and the Reaper is instead found in Mementos). While the Thieves do have to escape the collapsing palace after the boss is defeated, this is only done in cutscenes with the notable exception of the Casino palace.