History Awesome / Persona5

* Maruki himself is this given everything he has tried to achieve. He is without a doubt among the most powerful Persona users ever in the franchise thanks to being StrongAndSkilled with his Persona thanks to his knowledge on cognitive psience and having a strong (if damaged at first) Persona with a unique gift of "[[RealityWarper Actualization]]", likely born of his own understanding. But most of all is rivaling Joker in being the {{Determinator}}. So much so that he prevents the ''collapse of his palace '''twice''''' through ''sheer will'' and even ''steals back his own Treasure'' to '''evolve''' his Persona. Furthermore, he does this all with the selfless goal of trying to make the world a better place.

** A rather overlooked one just before that: thanks to a god-like Treasure and the people's utter lack of care, Joker and his friends have just been RetGone from the world. Justine and Caroline, who had grown to be friendly towards him, berate and mock him for his failure right before [[BigGood Igor]] tells him how he failed and how humanity is doomed to ruin, ordering his execution. And while they're shocked, both wardens comply and prepare for his death. Joker's alone, his friends are probably gone from existence, and all his efforts are for nothing while death approaches from two of his biggest allies. So what does he do? [[DefiantToTheEnd Gets back up anyway]], [[{{Determinator}} his rebellious will]] summoning his Phantom Thief costume ''inside the Velvet Room'', DEFYING Igor's order for his execution. Not only that, he withstands the combined force of two beings whose power is only succeeded by the Treasure who defeated him, and Igor, through sheer willpower long enough to snap Justine and Caroline out of it. The entire ending to the game happened simply because Joker was THAT defiant.

*** A subtle difference between Makoto's and pretty much everyone else's awakenings: while everyone else, starting with Joker, is effectively ''granted'' their powers by their respective persona, Makoto ''demands'' them from Johanna. She is so done with politeness and propriety, she starts her new life by bossing her own persona around. That's Queen for you.

** What really makes it is that, everything above shows how Akechi being the traitor may well have ''not'' been the twist the developers were trying to set up, especially since they didn't try very hard to hide it. Even the audience had him pegged from the outset - what the general audience ''wasn't'' prepared for was that '''[[AllAccordingToPlan the Phantom Thieves had him pegged too, and had it all under control the entire time.]]'''
* In Shido's Palace, one of the people you need a letter of introduction from is a {{Yakuza}} hitman, and they distract him via tattoo offer. They disparage Yusuke so cue the guy showing his artist creds by drawing a Phoenix on the spot.. which the guy ''loves!''. Then Yusuke [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments refuses to be his personal tattoo artist, so they fight him anyway]].

** Adding even more to that, he wins his seat despite the fact that Yaldabaoth's influence on people's cognition was subtly brainwashing them to vote for Shido and his party. That's right, Yoshida is such a good politician that he ''beat Yaldabaoth's brainwashing'' with only the power of his charisma and erudition! Man of the People, indeed!

** It's also ''incredibly cathartic'' to see the corrupt police force collectively freak out as they realize they've been played like fiddles. Combined with Sae fooling the Conspirators into believing she was manipulated as well via change of heart, and their frantic attempts to search Leblanc in a desperate attempt to find Joker when the Phantom Thieves are already long gone and about to go straight for Shido's treasure, the entire sequence after the calling card announcement becomes incredibly satisfying to watch.

*** Makoto also gets an awesome moment after the end of the Kaneshiro Arc, where she ''finally'' stands up to Principal Kobayakawa after being emotionally manipulated by him into investigating the Phantom Thieves and what turned out to be Kaneshiro's extortion racket.

** In the same scene, Eiko tries to desperately defend Tsukasa, despite how painfully clear his crimes are. Makoto's response is to slap Eiko in the face and then tells her to accept the truth that's in front of her. Makoto isn't just defending a friend, she's also forcing her friend to see how stupid she's being and to the accept reality of the situation. While Makoto thinks she may have gone too far later, anyone can agree that it was the right move at the time.

--> '''Shadow Shido:''' "Nngh! To think that you'd put up this much of a fight... You bastard, I won't let you have this! I never would have imagined...That impertinent brat from so long ago, managing to get in my way this much! Honestly unbelievable... I should've finished you off before this could've happened...Hahaha, it seems I too was naive. However - My dream has been attained! My desire to steer this country has finally come to fruition! But, my ambition has only yet begun! I WILL NOT stumble over mere minutia like yourself! This time, I'll be dead certain to seal your fate. I will reduce you to nothing!"

*** Gameplay-wise, Akechi constantly aims his attack on Joker as if he knows that killing Joker will cause a instant game over for the player, while going through multiple phases that would be unexpected for those who play the story for the first time. Just as you manage to defeat the "Crow" Akechi, guess what? Akechi still has an ace in his hand! He then summons his alternate persona to face the rest of the team, by then, the players may suffer from a lack of SP and HP, and thus find Akechi's attack to be too fierce to withstand.

*** Plot-wise, Akechi is strong enough to take on all the Phantom Thieves in an open battle. Keep in mind that Akechi is aware that there is another Wild Card player (Joker) on the opposing team, and he has no teammates (unlike the Phantom Thieves), no mentor (Morgana), and no healing ability (Which one ''will'' use in a boss fight). All he has is his experience of fighting in the Metaverse and his tenacity that matches his fighting phases. Even Phantom Thieves admit that Akechi could have overcome them if they did not use their numbers advantage.

--->'''Akechi:''' So, my final enemy is a puppet version of myself...Not bad.

** Also, all that extra security means ''jack shit'', because the Phantom Thieves did the legwork to set up an easy straight shot to the treasure, assuming the safe rooms are indeed canonical fast travel points. Almost every treasure has a safe room nearby with no shadows in-between, with the only time when the Phantom Thieves actually need to contend with security before the Palace's boss fight is in Futaba's Palace, as they have to give the calling card to Futaba anyway to cause the rest of her tomb to open up. And the only reason there are boss fights at all are because the Palace rulers actually have enough sense to guard the treasures personally rather than leave them completely unattended (with Futaba's Palace once again being the exception due to Wakaba's cognition guarding it instead).

* The May 5th trailer. The reveal of new characters, dungeons, All of it, really: but especially the stinger at the end where we hear the words we're accustomed to at the beginning of the series: "[[HesBack Welcome to the Velvet Room.]]"

** Speaking of Yoshida, if you maxed his Confidant, he'll message you following the penultimate Palace to tell you that though Shido's party won most of the seats in the Diet, his association with you paid off and he was elected as well. If that weren't cool enough, in the epilogue, he can be seen rallying ''the freaking National Diet'' to help free Joker from juvie!

* Futaba and Sojiro get a subtle one in Rank 8 of the Hierophant Confidant. Previously, when Youji Isshiki had showed up at Leblanc, Futaba had a panic attack out of fear of him, and even the more composed Sojiro usually had an OhCrap response upon seeing Youji. In this event, Sojiro immediately tells an angry Youji to "...Leave now, or else I'll be forced to contact the police," and isn't at all intimidated by Youji's threats, while Futaba stands up to Youji on Sojiro's behalf, only cowering when Youji tries to hit her. It goes to show that by helping Futaba and Sojiro grow closer, you're also giving them the courage to stand up to Youji--because they're now confident enough in their bond, and in you and the others vouching for them, that they know the advantage is theirs if authorities are brought into the situation again because Youji has absolutely '''NOTHING''' on them.

---->'''Principal:''' [[ManipulativeBastard I was just speaking to the director of a prestigious college about your letter of recommendation too..]]\\

*** She continues to be awesome even after the fight. The group is surrounded by Shadows and how no idea how to escape, but Makoto just says "there's only one exit, right?" and just ''drives straight for the door'', running over the Shadows in her way and smashing the door down. The party's reactions after getting back to reality sum it up.

** [[EnemyMine Joker and Akechi]] get in on the action during the third semester. The two are on a rooftop during a stormy night - Akechi makes himself go psychotic before the duo charges at the Shadow, Akechi running and Joker using his grappling hook to pull himself closer. Joker launches himself into the air before doing a spinning slash on the Shadow, leaving Akechi free to hack and cut away at it, finishing the flurry with a [[SingleStrokeBattle powerful slash]] as the screen turns bright red. After all of that, Joker puts the Shadow out of its misery [[CoupDeGrace with a single shot]], delivered [[OffhandBackhand without even sparing it a glance]]. Akechi then stalks towards the camera like a total badass, expressing displeasure with their unworthy foe. The fact that they improvised this when they were outnumbered also makes it all the more amazing.

** When Robin Hood proves insufficient enough a Persona to take down the Phantom Thives, he states he came up with a "fun little idea" and that he wonders how far he can go before intervention. He proceeds to declare that he'll show the Thieves who he truly is before summoning his true [[GuardianEntity Persona]], Loki, the Norse God of Lies as his outfit changes to his Black Mask attire. Akechi proceeds to mock and belittle the moral code of the Thieves directly to their face, before boasting that they are going down and that he will '''destroy''' them. That the Phantom Thieves [[TakingYouWithMe will die with him]] as Akechi makes '''himself''' [[HatePlague go berserk]]. Akechi states that he will wring every last bit of satisfaction out of killing the Thieves one by one with a SlasherSmile.

*** On the flipside, a saavy player can exploit Akechi's tendency to target Joker by using a Persona with the right reflections to cause Akechi to be HoistByHisOwnPetard.

** Yusuke gets one hell of a RageAgainstTheMentor moment with his awakening. After Madarame's shadow reveals his true nature, Yusuke can't believe it. However, he begins to writhe in pain, scraping his fingers so hard on the ground that they bleed, with Goemon speaking in his mind, urging him to take action. And when he finally receives his mask and rips it off, bodies some nearby shadows with his ice magic, and stands resolute, ready to face Madarame... before ripping into Madarame's lackeys with an absolutely murderous SlasherSmile on his face.

** Yusuke's and Ann's makes a lethal combination of art and beauty. The two confront their foe in a beautiful Japanese inn, Ann seductively distracting them with an oil-paper umbrella before [[WhipItGood lashing her whip]] and sending a storm of tatami mats flying towards them. Yusuke [[FlashStep Flash Steps]] in through the storm and takes shelter behind one of the mats, then [[IaijutsuPractitioner unsheathes his sword]] and [[SingleStrokeBattle delivers a single, blindingly-fast slash]] that splits the tatami mats, one-by-one, into a swirl of [[CherryBlossoms cherry blossoms.]] Finally, Yusuke and Ann strike an elegant pose as the foe erupts into a shower of blood.

* The aftermath of the Casino dungeon is just one big rollercoaster ride. The Phantom Thieves suspected Akechi all along and wiretapped his phone, soon overhearing that he would only cooperate with the Phantom Thieves just to stab them all in the back. To get one up on Akechi however, the Phantom Thieves make one [[GambitRoulette insane gamble]]. The protagonist intentionally gets caught, and everything from that point on hinged on him appealing to Sae's sense of justice and Akechi following his own plan to make his move right after she left the interrogation room. Akechi "murders" the protagonist and the guard at the door when in reality, Akechi just murdered Sae's Cognitions of them in her Palace who were an exact copy of the real thing because Sae just saw them in their current state and location. The protagonist effectively ''cheated death''. Akechi then went on to announce that the leader of the Phantom Thieves is dead to the world due to suicide, with him being none the wiser that the protagonist was still sitting in the interrogation room, with a truly well-deserved and badass smirk on his face. This entire sequence is just a ''thrill ride'' to witness.

* Justine and Caroline get one towards the end of the game. When Igor orders the protagonist's execution, the two start to notice something is very off about him. The protagonist endures their attacks, and eventually start to remember that they're a LiteralSplitPersonality and turn on their "master", leading to his exposure as a fake. What makes this scene even cooler is they ask the protagonist to ''[[GameplayAndStoryIntegration fuse them]]'', which he does, restoring their true form: Lavenza.

* In the penultimate event of Makoto's confidant, she carries out a cunning plan to trick her new friend Eiko's boyfriend, Tsukasa, into revealing [[BitchInSheepsClothing his true colors]]. She texts Tsukasa with the same style as Eiko, thereby causing him to mistake Makoto for Eiko, then meets with Eiko to share what she's learned about Tsukasa from investigating Shinjuku with the protagonist, and learning that he'd frequently used the "sake bottle trick" to get girls into debt so that he could sell them off. Since Tsukasa had always called his "girlfriends" by pet names to avoid mixing them up, he finally slips up and calls Eiko "Makoto", thereby revealing himself as a scammer who can't tell his marks from one another.

** Furthermore, perhaps as a testament to him being one of the few genuinely well adjusted adults you meet; his Confidant is one of the few who need no Mementos intervention. This is particularly unique among the non-core Confidants (as in Confidants who are not Phantom Thieves themselves, the Twins, and those tied to the plot) as he is the only one of them to iron out his issues on his own, with the protagonist there to help provide moral support when needed.

* Maruki himself is this given everything he has tried to achieve. He is without a doubt among the most powerful Persona users ever in the franchise thanks to being StrongAndSkilled with his Persona thanks to his knowledge on cognitive psience and having a strong (if damaged at first) Persona with a unique gift of "[[RealityWarper Actualization]]", likely born of his own understanding. But most of all is rivaling the protagonist in being the {{Determinator}}. So much so that he prevents the ''collapse of his palace '''twice''''' through ''sheer will'' and even ''steals back his own Treasure'' to '''evolve''' his Persona. Furthermore, he does this all with the selfless goal of trying to make the world a better place.

** A rather overlooked one just before that: thanks to a god-like Treasure and the people's utter lack of care, Joker and his friends have just been RetGone from the world. Justine and Caroline, who had grown to be friendly towards him, berate and mock him for his failure right before [[BigGood Igor]] tells him how he failed and how humanity is doomed to ruin, ordering his execution. And while they're shocked, both wardens comply and prepare for his death. Joker's alone, his friends are probably gone from existence, and all his efforts are for nothing while death approaches from two of his biggest allies. So what does he do? [[DefiantToTheEnd Gets back up anyway]], [[{{Determinator}} his rebellious will]] summoning his Phantom Thief costume ''inside the Velvet Room'', shattering his prison door behind him and DEFYING Igor's order for his execution. Not only that, he withstands the combined force of two beings whose power is only succeeded by the Treasure who defeated him, and Igor, through sheer willpower long enough to snap Justine and Caroline out of it. The entire ending to the game happened simply because Joker was THAT defiant.

** Is it too late to mention that [[BonusBoss Caroline and Justine]] can also '''use this against you'''? Or the fact that Lavenza can also do the same in ''Royal'' as well? Have fun with that one.

--->'''Ann:''' I hear you... Carmen. You're right! No more holding back!

The game involves a collection of [[PhantomThief Phantom Thieves]] pulling off supernatural heists, specifically to punish people abusing their power and getting away with it, so that others may be saved when no one feels they can do anything. ''Of course'' the game will have thrilling moments to experience.