Characters / Persona 5: Starting Members

Persona 5 Main Character Index
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts (Starting Members [Joker] | Later Members [Goro Akechi | Kasumi Yoshizawa])
Confidants (Sae Niijima) | Targets - Palace Rulers / Endgame Antagonists (The Dreamer) / Minor | Other Characters
Spin-Offs: Strikers (Jail Monarchs) | Tactica | The Phantom X

Starting Members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts

Character-Specific Pages

• Joker

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Ryuji Sakamoto

Ryuji Sakamoto / Skull

Arcana: VII. Le Chariot (The Chariot)

Persona: Captain Kidd (Initial) → Seiten Taisei (Ultimate) → William (Third-Tier)

Weapons: Bludgeons and shotguns

Arcana Bonus: Instant victory over weak enemies, lower alertness of enemies when dashing (Royal only).

Exclusive Skill (Royal): Fighting Spirit - Party-wide Charge effect.

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (JP), Max Mittelman (EN)

Stage actors: Kouhei Shiota (The Stage)

"For real?!"

^{Click here to see Skull}

^{Click here to see Captain Kidd}

Pirate Legend

^{Click here to see Seiten Taisei}

Monkey King

^{Click here to see William}

Captain of the Adventure Galley

The First Attacker of the Phantom Thieves

Freakin' boring!

Captain Kidd: "Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc...? The other you who exists within desires it thus... […] There is no turning back! The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!"

A boy from Joker's school whose combination of attitude and appearance gives off the air of a delinquent. He's considered a "problem child" at school, due to his rude, gruff-mannered speech and behavior, although it's said he wasn't always this way. In fact, he used to be a talented member of his school's Track Club before he "quit" (read: had his leg broken by Kamoshida).

Ryuji is the Mighty Glacier of the group, toting great Strength and the highest Endurance in the party; however, his Agility and Luck are abysmal. While he can learn all of the Zio spells, brutal physical attacks are his strongest assets. Ryuji's Persona is the Chariot Arcana's Captain Kidd — as in William Kidd, a real-life Scottish sailor who lived in the 17th and early 18th centuries. After years of sailing, Kidd was arrested in Boston and executed by the British Parliament for five counts of piracy and one act of murder — despite no evidence that Kidd ever did anything illegal (albeit that he did accidentally kill one of his crewmembers during an argument), and instead was simply a privateer. Captain Kidd appears as a skeletal pirate, complete with hat, eyepatch, and a miniature boat he triumphantly rides in on.

Ryuji's ultimate Persona is Seiten Taisei, also known as Sun Wukong the Monkey King, from the Chinese epic Journey to the West. As one of the classic trickster archetypes in Chinese Mythology, Wukong is particularly famous for stealing the secrets to immortality from the gods after they invite him to join them in the Heavens, only to appoint him a celestial stable boy. After an extended Rage Against the Heavens, Wukong is cast down from the celestial realms and imprisoned for several centuries. Wukong appears as basically himself (with a mohawk) on a cloud.

His new third-tier ultimate Persona in Royal is William, a representation of the real-life man the legend of Captain Kidd was based on. William wears punk clothes, complete with hat and headphones, wields a hi-tech blaster cannon on his arm while riding a futuristic yacht.

In addition to enhancing what he can do in battle, Ryuji's Confidant Link allows Joker to instantly kill enemies who are ten or more levels lower than Joker on the field as long as he attacks them from behind. Through his link, he and Joker grow closer by working out together, and the player learns of his tumultuous history as a member of Shujin's track team. When word through the grapevine spreads that a scheming teacher wants to revive the track team for unsavory purposes, Ryuji and the player plan to put a stop to him, giving a glimpse of how compassionate Ryuji truly can be.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: In the vanilla game, his athletic body catches the eye of two gay men in Tokyo's redlight district while he and Joker are getting ready to invade Kaneshiro's Palace. Joker is remarkably nonchalant about the ordeal and lets Ryuji get dragged away. Ryuji calls Joker out on this, but it's mostly Played for Laughs. This was changed in the Western version of Royal due to the potentially homophobic implications of the scene. The two men now mistake Ryuji as a cross-dresser, as they saw him outside of Lala's bar, and now offer advice about how to be more convincing.
• Abusive Parents: As Ryuji reveals fairly early on, his dad was an alcoholic jerk who beat him and his mom before abandoning them.
• All Men Are Perverts:
  • Ryuji talks you into calling a maid service at the end of May based on a rather questionable flier.
    Ryuji: Maids! M-A-I-D-S! That will do anything! For! You!! So? ...So!?
  • His reactions to seeing down Ann's shirt inside the Morgana-car or in a bikini. Never mind that he's obviously seen her cleavage a lot through her thieving outfit by then.
• All of the Other Reindeer: He is ostracized by the rest of the former members of the track team because of Victim-Blaming. Ryuji snapped and attacked Kamoshida for physically abusing them all, making comments about his abusive deadbeat father, and singling him out because he was the most likely to break under the pressure.
• Animal Motif: More subtle than most of his companions, especially compared to his own Skeleton Motif, but he does have a thing with monkeys throughout the game. His mask's exaggerated canines and brow can make it appear more based on a monkey than a human, he is called the "Vulgar Ape" in Kamoshida's library which Morgana later references in an insult towards him, and his Ultimate Persona is the infamous Monkey King himself. His face also morphs into simian proportions whilst he's Eating the Eye Candy the first time he sees Ann in a bikini.
• Arm Cannon: His Persona Captain Kidd's right arm is a more literal example than most — it's an actual cannon, complete with cannonballs. William's is a more futuristic blaster cannon.
• Armor-Piercing Question: In Rank 8 of his Confidant, he provides his former teammates with evidence of Yamauchi's scheming, then calls them out on letting him manipulate them. After learning that Takeishi was desperate to get Yamauchi's recommendation so he could go to his father's alma mater, Ryuji asks Takeishi if he needs to betray people to be proud of himself.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: As part of a Funny Background Event in Persona Q2, Ryuji casually waves around an Evoker and points it at his head and other people. Meanwhile, Junpei and Yosuke seem to be chastising him for it.
• Attention Whore: After taking down Kamoshida, it becomes clear he's really itching to abuse his fame as a Phantom Thief to get attention, especially to hit on girls, which Morgana calls him out on later. Ryuji gets angry when it's made clear that he can't and tends to seemingly accidentally-on-purpose almost blow the secret constantly in public. A major part of his character development is in how he grows out of this and realizes that doing good things for people is still awesome, even if he isn't praised for it.
• Backhanded Apology: He doesn't want to apologize to Morgana since he doesn't feel like he's in the wrong, but the other Phantom Thieves pressure him into it. His apology amounts to "Sorry that you're useless and weird, but we can overlook that anyway."
• Bad "Bad Acting": In Royal, when Joker, Ryuji, and Yusuke go on a public outing, Ryuji is forced into a television interview and is asked about the Phantom Thieves. He quickly plans to "ham it up and make some real cringey comments" so that they wouldn't use the footage, and his showing spectacularly rivals Ann's terrible acting, making Joker and Yusuke feel awkward in the process. Too bad the news crew used the footage anyway, making Ryuji look like a jackass on national television.
  Ryuji: (after the reporter left) Whew, that was too close...
  Yusuke: That was truly cringeworthy.
• Batter Up!: One of Ryuji's early game weapons is a nailed-covered baseball bat. In addition, his Ultimate Persona, Seiten Taisei, wields a staff shaped like two nailed bats taped together. And in Strikers his Showtime is him swinging his weapon like a baseball bat to launch one of Captain Kidd's missiles at the enemies, while yelling out the trope name to boot.
• Battle Cry: "Let's go Captain!"/"Seiteeeeen TAISEI!"/"Blast 'em William!"
• Because You Were Nice to Me:
  • Having become a pariah due to Kamoshida's treatment of him and his team, Ryuji becomes fast friends with Joker after their initial trip into the Metaverse, since he's the first person to treat him with any sort of kindness in a while.
  • The feeling is mutual, since he is one of the first to befriend Joker and stick by him after all of the rumors and such with Joker's reputation being leaked.
• Being Good Sucks: Often laments that, as Phantom Thieves who work anonymously in the shadows, they're never allowed to take any credit or reap actual rewards for their good deeds. Over time, he matures and grows to accept this.
• Berserk Button:
  • While each one of the Thieves detests crooked adults who abuse their power, Ryuji is the most vehement and vitriolic about it by a long shot.
  • While we never see it on screen, Ryuji stated that Kamoshida insulting his mother is what caused him to fight back against Kamoshida's abuse.
• Big Damn Heroes: After Joker snaps him out of the dream world and the berserk Cendrillon overwhelms both Joker and Akechi, Ryuji blocks its finisher attack one-handed at the right place at the right time.
• Big Eater: From the start, one of Ryuji's defining traits is being a pig. He frequently talks about food, eats plenty on-screen, and his financial plans with the expendable Palace Treasures only revolve around pigging out (something Morgana criticizes him for).
• The Big Guy: His choice of weapons and brutish behavior give off this impression. In battle, he has the most health in the party and a significant inclination towards physical skills over magic. He also has the second-highest Strength, and can learn Charge to hit even harder.
• Blood Knight: Ryuji definitely loves getting in the thick of battle.
• Book Dumb:
  • He has less-than-stellar grades, and consistently shows little effort or interest whenever the Thieves have to study for upcoming exams or do anything school-related. In Strikers, he admits to getting three failing marks on his exams, nearly missing going on a road trip with his friends because of all the remedial courses.
  • Among other things, Ryuji believes that Los Angeles is located near the center of the United States, and also thinks it's the country's capital city. The other Thieves have a few jokes at his expense over this.
  • Tends to acknowledge it from time to time, like when he tells Joker he trusts Joker's judgment more than his own since "Joker is smarter than me."
  • He also says in Mementos that his eyes are good because he never reads anything.
    Makoto: It's dark... if I look at the map and notes now, it'll be bad for my eyes.
    Ryuji: Wait... I get it now! I got good eyes because I never read a damn thing!
  • Despite all the above, Ryuji has been shown to possess a wealth of knowledge regarding physical training and sports from his days as a star athlete, giving his friends tips on everything from exercises to recovery to dieting, keeping in line with the series recurring theme of seemingly unintelligent characters having areas that they excel in.
• Boring, but Practical: Despite his bombastic personality, he's got pretty simple yet effective weapons, having arguably the most practical weapon set of the Thieves (followed up by Joker and Yusuke). Bludgeons are mainstays in combat and shotguns are pretty reliable as well.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: He refers to Yusuke as Inari in the prologue, which is Futaba's line.
• Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Ryuji has a reputation as a delinquent, which he leans into once he awakens his Persona. Thusly, he favors brute force weapons such as bludgeons and shotguns.
• Butt-Monkey: As expected of the best friend of the protagonist in the Persona series.
  • He makes a lot of comical screw-ups, and his teammates never stop giving him crap for it, though it's strictly optional for Joker. Even when Ryuji does well in combat, the compliments he gets from the navigators can be backhanded — the prime example is Futaba going, "Skull! You sure showed me." when he does something well, as if she expected him to do nothing but suck and fail. Interestingly, his Ultimate Persona is actually a monkey.
  • Even his All-Out Attack victory screen has him pathetically fall flat on his face before leaping to his feet and trying to look cool.
  • This all culminates in the scene after he appears to die in a Heroic Sacrifice after escaping Shido's Palace. Ann slaps him from Anger Born of Worry... and then all of the girls in the party approach him in silence and deliver an offscreen beatdown while the male party members do nothing to stop it (although Futaba mentions apologizing to him in the Thieves Den).
  • In Persona 5 Strikers, all the game's roster are shown doing cool poses as part of their profile art... while Ryuji is getting punched in the face by a Shadow. (This is only the case in the Asian release due to ESRB regulations). He's also the one who gets eaten by Mariko in the final trailer for the game.
  • Also in Strikers, every Jail requires someone to touch a painful barrier in order to progress the story. Guess who the group keeps forcing to do it. Ann and Yusuke at least pretend to justify it by noting that he touched the first one accidentally and thus has the most experience.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Ryuji is a big fan of large breasts:
  • Ryuji is pleasantly surprised to learn that the girls in Hawaii are "massive" compared to the girls in Japan. He's also attracted to Haru, who has a fairly large chest.
  • He's also quite enamored by the female Draph's during his appearance in the Granblue Fantasy crossover.
• Camera Abuse: In Persona 5: The Day Breakers, he summons Captain Kidd by smashing the camera with his pipe.
• Captain Morgan Pose: Captain Kidd and William stand on their ships at an angle, creating this pose. Seiten Taisei stands on his cloud in a similar fashion, though more subdued in comparison.
• Career-Ending Injury: Although he can still walk and run, when Kamoshida broke his leg, specifically around his femur, Ryuji was unable to compete in track like he used to anymore, making him drop the club. His knee even collapses when leaving Kamoshida's palace. It becomes less noted, as it appears he is overcoming this. He engages in a full sprint by the time the Thieves steal the Treasure from Shido's Palace in order to secure a lifeboat for them to get to safety.
• Chafing Against the Dress Code: Ryuji, Shujin Academy's resident rebel, swaps out his school uniform's dress shirt for a colorful t-shirt.
• Character Catchphrase: "For real?!" As more Phantom Thieves join, they also get in on it.
• Character Development: He becomes more obsessed with glory and recognition as the story progresses, coming to a head after the events of the Okumura arc in which the Phantom Thieves are put into a serious bind. He admits to letting things go to his head and laments at how little he's changed as a person. Fortunately, with some encouragement from Joker, Ryuji resolves to get better.
• Character Tics: Does things with his legs a lot. In particular, he'll tap his foot quickly when he's annoyed, or bounce his leg and then give a little kick when he's downbeat.
• Charged Attack:
  • Learns Charge, which boosts the damage of his next Physical attack by 2.5, and his Secret Art in Royal, Fighting Spirit, applies this to the whole party.
  • His combo finishers in Strikers can be charged to become stronger versions of themselves.
• The Chew Toy: Oh boy. If there is anyone sure to face humiliation or embarrassment, due to either their own actions, insults from the rest of the Thieves, or a combination thereof, it is almost always Ryuji. These instances constitute many of the game's more lighthearted and humorous moments.
• Chivalrous Pervert: He ogles the girls' figures, outright admits to it several times, and there was the whole maid incident, but overall he's a good guy who won't make any unwanted physical advances; he shamelessly admires their beauty, but respects the girls as individuals. In addition, he puts the beatdown on genuine perverts like Kamoshida, and a Mementos target forcing women to have sex with him to advance their careers. Key examples include:
  • When Ryuji accidentally copped-a-feel of Ann in Kamoshida's Palace (trying to drag her out), his instinctive reaction was to say sorry/didn't mean to do that, and he doesn't give it another thought whatsoever.
  • Ann felt it safe to sleep in the same room as him, Joker, and Mishima on the Hawaii trip, despite having called him out for an earlier incident where he was shamelessly staring at her bra.
  • At the beach, there is a dialogue option where Joker jokes about stealing women's swimsuits. If the player chooses this option, Ryuji will get mad and call him a moron, which is one of the only occasions in the game where he treats Joker with anything less than reverence.
  • In Strikers, he tells Natsume to back off when the latter starts to make Haru uncomfortable with his advances.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Ryuji always wants to take action first and is the most vocal about his resentment of selfish adults. It often works against him, since he's sometimes seen as just wanting the recognition and he rarely thinks about consequences.
• Comfort Food: His favorite place to relax after a long workout is a local ramen joint he and the rest of the track team used to frequent. He brings Joker down there several times during his Confidant and offers to take Haru there until Joker tells him that they've already been.
• Cool Big Bro: In Strikers, though they aren't related by blood, he develops a brother-sister relationship with Sophia and is noticeably protective over her. He's delivers a vicious "The Reason You Suck" Speech to EMMA when she calls Sophia a waste, helps lift Sophia's spirits whenever she's sad, carries her through the Jail of the Abyss when she's injured and is very encouraging towards her when she awakens her Persona.
• Cool Boat: His Persona Captain Kidd rides a floating sloop-of-war like a skateboard. Seiten Taisei trades it for a cloud, but his third Persona introduced in Royal, William, rides one that's in the style of a futuristic yacht.
• Cute Little Fangs: In various official artworks, Ryuji has noticably◊ enlargened canines◊ that veer into this territory. His mask also has noticeably enlarged canines as well.
• Delinquent Hair: Bleached his hair Blond prior to the events of the game. His natural hair color is said to be black.
• Death from Above: In Royal, his Showtime with Makoto has him jumping high into the air to come down on his opponent with a crash.
• Decomposite Character: Ironically, he and his Sitcom Archnemesis Morgana are this to Junpei. They both are the protagonist's Best Friend, but Ryuji has his Idiot Hero and Mighty Glacier traits.
• Dem Bones: Besides Ryuji's skull-shaped mask and the spine-like armor plates on the back of his thief attire's jacket, Captain Kidd and William are skeletal pirates. Sophia also mistakes him for one because of this motif.
• Disney Death: Seemingly dies helping the party escape the Cruise Ship Palace, but is quickly revealed to be alive all along. The girls of the Phantom Thieves promptly kick his ass for it.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Played for Laughs: His Showtime with Yusuke in Royal has him about to happily eat a bowl of noodles, only for the target Shadow to interrupt him and cause him to drop a piece of his food on the floor. His and Yusuke's reaction? Shoot it to pieces and blow it up with a grenade.
  • There's also his Disney Death, where the other Phantom Thieves presume him dead after he is blown up escaping Shido's Palace and beat him up for making them worry when he turns up in one piece.
• Divergent Character Evolution: His gameplay is pretty much identical to that of Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4, both being electric-based Mighty Glaciers. When the two fight alongside each other in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, the two are differentiated by Ryuji focusing on being a physically-offensive tank (getting Power Charge, a unique counter passive, and the strongest physical skill in the game) and Kanji focusing on being a defensive tank with some more magic options (getting a unique defend passive and Ziodyne).
• Does Not Like Spam: Ryuji doesn't like bitter stuff. To point gets teased for being like a kid because of it.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: On Christmas Day (outside of the true ending of Royal), he enthusiastically greets Makoto, Futaba, and Sojiro in LeBlanc, clearly unable to read the mood and see that the three of them are depressed over Joker turning himself in.
• Dumbass Has a Point:
  • A conversation in the break room in Mementos has the group speculate about the true nature of Mementos. Ryuji, however, says the easiest way to find out would be to get to the bottom. Morgana concludes that "unfortunately" Ryuji is right.
  • In the extra Palace in Royal, during the third part of a three-question examination ("What would you do if you gained the power to steal hearts? A. Steal valuable things, B. Steal nothing, C. Steal my own heart, D. Steal criminals' hearts, or E. Steal my lover's heart."), he immediately and vocally advocates answer D because that's what he'd do. He ends up getting mocked for his "brain-dead" suggestion, but as it turns out, D is the correct answer.
• Dumb Blonde: Subverted. He's dense, but his natural hair color is actually black, according to Kawakami; he just bleaches it blond.
• Dumb Muscle: Ryuji is The Big Guy, most athletic of the Phantom Thieves, and one of the two primary physical fighters (though the relatively thin and undernourished Yusuke curiously beats him in strength). At the same time it’s shown that he gets poor grades, doesn’t understand the Metaverse very well, repeatedly nearly blows (and one time actually does blow) the group’s cover by announcing that he’s a Phantom Thief, and believes that Los Angelos is the capital of the United States and located in the middle of the country.
• Edgy Backwards Chair-Sitting: Engages in this in Joker's room after the party steals Kaneshiro's Treasure.
• Elemental Hair Colors: Downplayed. His hair is bleach-blonde and he uses Zio spells.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He hates Kamoshida for everything he's done, which includes physically abusing his team, overtraining them, and provoking Ryuji into attacking him then breaking his leg (thus ending his career as a runner), and having the track team shut down, but when Morgana reveals that stealing his heart may kill him, Ryuji seriously reconsiders doing so. He gets over it when Kamoshida's abuse of Shiho drives her to a Bungled Suicide, stating outright that as long as Kamoshida is finally brought to justice, he doesn't care if he lives or dies anymore.
  • More subtly in Ann's Rank 8 event, Ann teases that if Ryuji helps her with the finer points of her training, she'll go on a date with him as a reward. Ryuji shoots her down without hesitation (much to her shock), because while normally he wouldn't say no to anyone offering him a date, he's not interested if the only reason for doing so is out of obligation/pity.
• Eyepatch of Power: Not only does Captain Kidd sport one, but the skull on his hat also has one.
• Face of a Thug:
  • After being branded a delinquent and vilified by everyone in school, he decided to actively cultivate the image of a Japanese Delinquent so people would leave him alone. Those who actually get to know him are surprised to find out that under that facade, he's surprisingly nice, loyal, and forgiving.
  • In Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, this becomes a source of tension between him and Kanji, as both of them think the other is trying to pick a fight given the harsh looks on their faces. By the end of their special screening, they realize they have a lot more in common than they thought and resolve their differences after Kanji blurts that he just wants to feel Morgana's fur.
• Failed a Spot Check: Despite having a clear view of Maid "Becky"'s face during "Operation Maidwatch", he doesn't at all recognize her as Kawakami.
• Flanderization: While Ryuji is indeed Book Dumb, he is not entirely a dumb person and is still at least street smart and knows the latest trend. The spin-offs not only removes these traits, he also seems to have lost a few brain cells such as not knowing what an A.I. is and often has his foot in his mouth.
• Formerly Fit: Less blatant than most examples, but Ryuji says his body has been "flimsy" and that his legs have been all tight since he left the track team. His Confidant sections involve building himself back up again as he tries to get back into running.
• Fun T-Shirt: Wears a yellow t-shirt labelled "ZOMG!" and a red one with "NO MO' RULES!" printed on it.
• Gag Penis: Implied in Persona 5 Strikers with one of Joker’s dialogue options, during one of their two stops at a hot spring. The prompt happens after Futaba starts loudly commenting on the other girls' physical appearance from the girls side of the hot spring, which allows the player to let Joker respond with "Looking good, Ryuji." The implication comes from the fact that Yusuke is also in the hot spring with them, but nothing above the waist really separates the two to comment on, and the fact that it directly parallels Futaba commenting on the bigger busts of the other female Phantom Thieves.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: He has trouble running nowadays due to having his leg and knee broken by Kamoshida, which ties into how he has the worst Agility stat in the party. On the other hand, he's also the most muscular and enthusiastic about fitness in the party, giving him the greatest Endurance stat as well as the second-highest Attack (only surpassed by Yusuke).
• Gasshole: He's not usually this trope, but in one instance, he's seen downing a liter of soda, before burping in Ann's face.
• Ghost Pirate: His Persona, Captain Kidd, is a skeleton pirate.
• Giver of Lame Names: His suggestion for Yusuke's codename is "Abura-age" (a kind of fried tofu, thought to be enjoyed by kitsune, and the main ingredient of the dish kitsune udon). Everyone thinks it's a stupid name... except for Yusuke himself, who accepts it immediately. He also suggests "Shoulder Pads" for Makoto, though she is less accepting of it. Morgana and Ann also treat his initial name for the team, "The Phantom Thieves of Hearts" as one of these, which is why Joker can change it. Subverted with Morgana's code name "Mona", which gets accepted easily, and with how it connects with his Persona (and seeming rather random in the game itself otherwise) could indicate some Hidden Depths.
• Global Ignorance: When asked where he thinks Los Angeles is:
  Ryuji: Uhh... it's the capital of America, so... in the middle somewhere?
• Glory Seeker: Among the Phantoms, Ryuji is the most excited about becoming famous as a phantom thief and shows the most dismay when they initially remain unknowns. He grows out of it.
• Going Commando: Zigzagged as he is normally shown wearing either briefs or boxer briefs in his summer clothes and Persona 4 dancewear. However, thanks to the rotating battle camera and the ability to change into outfits like swimsuits while exploring Palaces, with at least some outfits it's clear that Ryuji's not wearing any underwear as shown here where the top half of his butt is clearly visible.
• Good Parents: His mother is apparently quite kind and supportive, and when he got in trouble for punching Kamoshida, she apologized to Ryuji for not giving him a strong father figure. As a result, Ryuji adores his mother and got into running in hopes of getting scholarship so she wouldn't have to worry about money.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: "Effin". He does have a Precision F-Strike in vanilla Futaba's Palace and before the fourth boss encounter in Strikers, though.
• Growling Gut: After he gets his awakening and him and Joker after escapes Kamoshida's palace, his stomach interruptingly growls reminding him that he hasn't eaten in a while.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: His blond hair may be artificial, but he's extremely forgiving and kind-hearted at his core.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He's easily set off by insults directed at him. Shadow Kamoshida points out his bad temper only gets himself in trouble but he never really does much to address it.
• Handicapped Badass: Despite his injured leg, he is still capable of keeping up with his fellow thieves during heists and can run and jump at long distances, though he does collapse at one point while escaping Kamoshida's palace and starts massaging the leg in question. Notably, he still manages to run up an inclining path while on a sinking ship.
• Hate at First Sight: Strongly dislikes Akechi from the word go because of the way he badmouthed the Phantom Thieves at the tv station when they first met.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: His thieving attire is "high-end" biker leathers.
• Having a Blast: In Strikers, one of his attacks has him batting a missile fired by Captain Kidd to guide it into its target. It explodes into an electrified mushroom cloud with a skull inside it.
• Heroic BSoD: He nearly falls prey to Shadow Kamoshida's Breaking Speech, which blames him for the downfall of the track team and says that Joker and Morgana will die for siding with "trash" like him. He's also by far the most upset when the Thieves learn that the conspiracy had planned for them to become popular by taking down Medjed and Kunikazu Okumura, so they could be framed for the principal and Kunikazu's deaths.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. His efforts to get the party a lifeboat to get off the Cruise Ship end in him being forced to stay behind and seemingly being killed as the ship explodes. Fortunately, he was far enough away that the blast only knocked him out for a few minutes.
• Hidden Depths:
  • He used to be the ace of the track and field club before he changed. Due to Kamoshida's "training", he broke his leg and was unable to perform like he used to ^note  As in, Kamoshida provoked Ryuji into a fight so he'd have an excuse to break Ryuji's leg and disband the track team., thus dropping out of the club.
  • He's also the one who gave Morgana the code name Mona, which, while he never explains his reasons behind it, does tie into how his persona is based on Captain William Kidd, so either he got a lucky guess (highly unlikely given his "Luck" stat) or he actually did some research in-universe about the guy.
  • In general, he seems to have a wealth of knowledge about physical activities and sports. A Mementos conversation with Yusuke about picking up a hobby may have him advise that taking up cycling can become expensive if you get serious about it, but admits he's interested in it despite that.
• Hollywood Provincialism: Even Ryuji isn't immune to this, but in a more Global Ignorance fashion, as he believes that Los Angeles is the capital of the U.S.
• Hot-Blooded: It doesn't take much for him to get riled up or start raising his voice, much to the team's chagrin.
• Hypocritical Humor: Doesn’t understand Yusuke trying every variety of hot pot in Strikers, though he’s doing the same thing with ramen.
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: He was once the star of the Shujin track team. However, when Kamoshida arrived at Shujin, he provoked him into lashing out at him, then broke his leg in order to make his volleyball team the biggest source of glory at the school. While he still carries a very understandable grudge against Kamoshida, by the end of the first arc he's moved on and found a new place to belong among the Phantom Thieves. At the end of Royal, he expresses his desire to go into physical rehab so he can get back into running.
• Idiot Hero: A frequently clueless and reckless hardhead who is nonetheless brave, kind, and loyal.
• I Just Want to Be Special: One of his goals in forming the Phantom Thieves of Hearts is to make their names infamous around the world. When he finds out that he has to be a Secret-Keeper about it, he's less than thrilled. However, his character development involves getting over this and helping people for its own sake.
• Immune to Flinching: Strikers allows Ryuji to temporarily enter a powered-up state where he takes less knockback from enemy attacks.
• Improvised Weapon: Much like previous Big Guy Kanji from Persona 4. Ryuji uses blunt instruments in combat, like pipes and hammers.
• Infinity +1 Sword:
  • His best melee weapon is either Mjolnir (itemize Thor to gain boosted power for electric attacks), Ruyi Jingu Bang (itemize Hanuman to gain an automatic Tarukaja boost at the beginning of combat), or the Super Megido Rod (buy it from Untouchable for raw damage).
    • In Royal, these are boosted to the Imprisoned Mjolnir (itemizing Thor during a Fusion Alarm), Fine Ruyi Jingu Bang (itemizing Hanuman during a Fusion Alarm), and the Last Hammer (Untouchable).
  • His best ranged weapon is the Megido Fire, gained by itemizing Shiva. It gives him a small boost to his crit rate. In Royal, it has a high chance of inflicting Burn.
    • Also in Royal is the Megido Blaster, gained by itemizing Shiva during a Fusion Alarm.
• Innocently Insensitive: Morgana ends up briefly quitting the Phantom Thieves during the early part of the Okumura arc, partly due to Ryuji's constant ribbing over him being useless as he also pointed out that Morgana was acting for his own benefit for wanting to be human again (while not incorrect). From Ryuji's perspective, this was a surprise since up to that point, they were always constantly insulting one another.
• Japanese Delinquents: He fits the mold appearance-wise, with his brightly-dyed hair, punkish attire, rough speech, and preference for blunt weapons.
• Jerkass to One: Ryuji is a Nice Guy to most people, but will not hesitate to be hostile to anyone who antagonizes him.
  • He tends to insult and butt heads with Morgana, as Morgana is always insulting Ryuji for little to no reason. It should be noted that their respective elements conflict with each other. They slowly grow out of this type of relationship over the course of the game.
  • When Akechi joins the team, Ryuji turns most of his aggression towards him, since not only was Akechi publicly critical of the Phantom Thieves, he is also particularly smug. Ryuji is also resistant to sympathize with Akechi whenever he reveals anything tragic that may have happened to him in the past. The feeling is mutual, as Akechi hates Ryuji for being an idiot, and makes his disdain known when his mask comes off.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his brash attitude and rough exterior, he's ultimately an incredibly Nice Guy.
• Jumped at the Call: It's his idea to start the Phantom Thieves. Out of the party, he's the one most excited about changing the world.
• Kafka Komedy: He risks his life by saving everyone at the end of Shido's Palace, and what happens in return? He gets beat up by the female Phantom Thieves while the males do nothing to stop them, simply because he made an Innocently Insensitive comment about how they thought he had died.
• Keet: Very energetic, is often known to be loud, and is associated with the color yellow. The Hawaii Field Trip in general has him acting like a kid in a candy store when they first get off the plane.
• The Lancer: While he is the muscle and The Big Guy in regards to the team's professional roles, from a personality and overall group dynamic, Ryuji serves as Joker's right-hand man (or First Mate, if you will). He's the first of the Phantom Thieves to join, he's more-or-less acknowledged to be his best friend and is the closest to him out of anyone, with the arguable exception of Mona (which may explain some of Mona's spats with him).
• Lightning Bruiser: Subverted, as Ryuji has a very low agility stat, due to Kamoshida breaking his leg, but considering his strength and endurance stats, this is what he would have been during the height of his track days.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Admits that Joker is his, adding that he thinks of Joker as not only a positive influence, but also his best friend and the kind of person he wants to be like.
• Lost Food Grievance: In his Showtime with Yusuke, he goes berserk when a Shadow interrupts his meal and causes him to drop some of it on the floor.
• Made Out to Be a Jerkass: His original comment to Morgana that starts their feud was really not that bad and definitely no worse than how Morgana treats him every day. That being said, his refusal to apologize doesn't leave him looking too great either as it gives the impression he doesn't actually care if Morgana never speaks to them again.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Bit of a mixed bag here. On the one hand, his Zio spells don't hit anywhere near as hard as his physical attacks since his magic isn't that good. On the other, learning Shock Boost gives them a good chance of turning enemies into sitting ducks especially vulnerable to physical damage, which complements his main skill set nicely. On the third, this can easily backfire since the Shock status has a chance to transfer on contact, though this can be avoided by using Physical/Gun Skills or firearms.
• Magic Staff: His strongest weapon is the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the famous magic staff of his Ultimate Persona, Seiten Taisei, better known as Sun Wukong or Son Goku.
• Making a Splash: Though not actually a Water-affinity attack, one of his combo finishers causes Captain Kidd to go sailing forward on an ethereal wave when charged.
• Meaningful Name: In keeping with the game's theme of defiance and rebellion, his name is remarkably close to Ryōma Sakamoto (especially if read in kanji), a defiant Japanese samurai and revolutionary who was instrumental in the Meiji Revolution. Ryuji's character and temperament bear more than a passing resemblance to his namesake, who also excelled physically in his youth but performed poorly in school and didn't mesh well with the society or authority of his day. Portrayals of Ryōma in Japanese culture run the gamut from Boisterous Bruiser or Rebel Leader to a Dumb Muscle Blood Knight, but like Ryuji, he is noted to have been a straightforward man of action.
• Men Can't Keep House: His room is a mess in Dancing in Starlight. His things are strewn about the floor, his bed is left unmade, and many of his things are coated in dust.
• Metaphorgotten: In Dancing in Starlight, Ryuji gets really pumped about dancing, leading to this exchange.
  Joker: You sure are excited.
  Ryuji: What? I've always been into the Phys Ed stuff. You know me. Besides, you know what they say... "When in Rome, DANCE LIKE A FREAKIN' BADASS!" Right?
• Mid-Battle Tea Break: In Royal, he shares a Showtime attack with Yusuke that consists of Ryuji stopping by a bar run by Yusuke to enjoy a beef bowl. Just as he's about to dig in, the Shadow they're fighting barges in to continue the fight, only for Ryuji and Yusuke to unleash a hail of bullets from their guns in anger. The attack ends with Yusuke shooting a grenade Ryuji throws before congratulating each other and finally enjoying their meal.
  Ryuji: [flashing a Death Glare] I'm tryin' to eat here!
• Mighty Glacier:
  • Ryuji sports the highest Endurance and the second-highest Strength (behind Yusuke), and Ryuji can also learn Charge to make his physical attacks even stronger. In addition, he learns abilities to increase attack power for one/all party member(s), and his unique Secret Art in Royal is Fighting Spirit, which causes a Charge effect on the entire party. However, Ryuji has the worst Agility and worst Magic among the Phantom Thieves, making him both the slowest to act and the least likely to dodge an incoming attack. He's also got the second-smallest SP pool among the Thieves, so he won't be casting much magic anyway.
  • In Strikers, this translates to a very hard-hitting moveset which grants Ryuji excellent offense through chargeable combo finishers and defense though his ability to obtain super armor for a brief spell. Conversely, for as much punishment he can both dish and take, his attacks and movement speeds are among the slowest among his peers.
• Momma's Boy: He very much adores his mother.
  • After stealing Madarame's heart and the team have a group lunch to celebrate, Yusuke asks Ryuji and Joker about their backstories. When he talks about the aftermath of his confrontation with Kamoshida, he sounds broken when he admits that, following a meeting with the school authorities, she apologized to him for being a single mother and not giving him a strong father-figure in life. He even calls himself a bad son.
  • If you talk with him on days when he's not available to hang out, he'll say that he has to pick something up for his mother. He also has to leave Ann and the protagonist at the gym during Ann's Confidant because his mother needs him to do something. Once he's gone, Ann says that she's a bit jealous of how close he and his mother are.
• Muscles Are Meaningful: He's repeatedly stated to be quite muscular as a leftover from his days as an athlete (not that this shows in-game due to having the same generic anime body in his art as Joker) and spends the early parts of his Confidant trying to get back into shape. As such, he has the second-highest physical Attack of the Phantom Thieves behind Yusuke and the highest Endurance.
• Neologizer: Attempted in Royal when he tries to make "What's bonkin'?" his new greeting during your first trip to the Protein Lovers gym. He drops it after it doesn't land.
• Never My Fault: Downplayed. It's not so much he doesn't recognize when he's at fault, so much as he hates having to be the sole recipient of it when he feels that he isn't the only one at fault or if it was something beyond their control. Then again, he's already taken all the blame once before. For instance:
  • When Yusuke calls him out for getting caught on tape by Makoto, Ryuji deflects the blame and asks Yusuke why he's not getting on Ann's case since she got recorded as well, ignoring the fact that he was much louder than her and the one who implicated them by name-dropping the Phantom Thieves, while Ann was just responding to what he said. Then she apologizes and he changes the subject before following suit.
  • He never really gives an actual apology to Morgana, for calling him useless repeatedly. When he does apologize, it's only because everyone pressures him to and obviously half-hearted, which ends up causing Morgana to storm out yet again. Morgana eventually does come back, but for his own reasons and for Haru, not because he and Ryuji explicitly reconciled. It's kind of swept under the rug, since Morgana's not about to apologize for all the snipes he'd been making towards Ryuji over the entire game either. Subverted in Royal where he apologizes to Morgana in the Thieves' Den, with Morgana expressing surprise at this and Haru finding their exchange amusing.
• Nice Guy:
  • With the exception of his clashes with Morgana (and even then, it's more the two sniping at the other while still being friends), Ryuji is an overwhelmingly forgiving and understanding person beneath his delinquent facade. In both his Confidant link and the main story, Ryuji is often the first person to step in and mediate when his friends begin quarreling, and is quick to support them when things go bad. This is especially prominent after Makoto's brief kidnapping — while the others are still somewhat bitter about her earlier treatment of them (and the fact she got them in trouble with the mob boss they were targeting), he immediately puts it in the past and comforts her. When they go to catch up to her and save her but all the taxis are ignoring them, he jumps into traffic to get one to stop.
    Ryuji: All right, enough of the blame game. What's done is done.
  • At different points, the facade is broken even when he's not with the team. During an intel gathering run, he's seen giving an elderly lady subway directions, even offering to help her find her train just in case, and later on he runs into a woman while he's at a shoe store who enjoyed watching him during his track days, which leads to a surprisingly warm and pleasant exchange.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
  • Prior to the start of the story, Ryuji punched Kamoshida in retaliation for the abuses Ryuji and his fellow track teammates suffered at Kamoshida's hands (as well as for Kamoshida bringing up Ryuji's home situation). Kamoshida used this as an excuse to get the Track Club disbanded (and break Ryuji's leg), and Ryuji's teammates ended up blaming him for it.
  • It seems to be something of a running gag that Ryuji's good deeds are rewarded with beatings, as shown when the girls beat him up for worrying them after his near-Heroic Sacrifice, and at the end of his Confidant story, in which his former track teammates punch him after he unveils their new coach's plan. He did offer to let them hit him in the latter case, but still.
• No Indoor Voice: Ryuji has a hard time keeping his voice down whenever talking about the Phantom Thieves despite Ann and Morgana constantly yelling at him to keep his voice down. This often causes problems for both him and the Thieves — particularly early in the Kaneshiro arc, where Makoto is able to deduce their identities because Ryuji was yelling about their activities at the top of his lungs.
• Non-Indicative Name: Some of his weapons include hammers, but ironically, one of his strongest weapons, Mjolnir, is a mace despite being based on Thor's hammer.
• Nose Art: The bow of Kidd's boat sports a Slasher Smile and angry eyes.
• No Social Skills: He's not necessarily stupider than Ann, who tends to get a pass on her more thoughtless comments and actions, but he is a lot blunter and more poorly mannered. Such as intruding on Ann being asked to model for Yusuke, then immediately saying it was just an excuse to visit before immediately and loudly slandering Yusuke's patron based on internet rumors before calling Yusuke a liar when he gets offended. He's also criticized for walking up to a former noble with a ridiculously casual/rude "Hey dude" and is immediately pulled aside before he pisses the guy off further.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: While the gang is out at a fancy sushi restaurant, Ryuji toasts the Phantom Thieves' exploits with his typical volume, drawing the attention of their sushi chef and all the nearby patrons. Makoto has to salvage the situation with some quick wordplay. Hell, this is ultimately how the Thieves get Makoto in the first place.
• Pipe Pain: One of the bludgeon weapons he can use, including his starting weapon, are oversized pipe segments.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Out of all the Phantom Thieves (excluding Joker) he and Ann are the closest friends. While he does find Ann to be attractive in terms of looks, he doesn't show any interest in her beyond that, finding her personality to be too "overbearing".
• Precision F-Strike:
  • Most of the time, Ryuji replaces the word "fuck" with "eff," but he still has the distinct honor of being the first main character to say "fuck" in a Persona game.^note Not in the franchise, however, as Kanji Tatsumi dropped one in Persona 4: The Animation, and while Baofu in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment does say it, it's unknown as to whether it was added for the English translation or not. During the fourth Palace, when a mural shows off Futaba's troubled childhood, Ryuji comments "that's a fuckin' sick thing to do to a kid". In Royal, this was changed to "that's the shittiest thing to do to a kid".
  • He drops another F-bomb when Sojiro finds out that Joker and Futaba are Phantom Thieves, texting "You gotta be fucking kidding!" to the group.
  • In Strikers, he's so enraged by EMMA declaring that Sophia is a waste that should not exist that Ryuji drops a Shut Up, Hannibal! speech before unleashing a massive F-bomb that takes everyone present aback. Notably, it's the only time Ryuji saying the word "fuck" is voiced in all of his appearances.
    Ryuji: SO SHUT THE FUCK UP, IDIOT!
• Real Men Eat Meat: During the victory meal at a high end hotel, he makes it his goal to spend the hour to eat every meat dish on the menu, much to Morgana's bewilderment. In Royal, he even stops to eat a beef bowl as part of a Showtime Attack with Yusuke until the Shadow they're fighting barges in on him.
• Real Men Wear Pink: A close look at his summer casual outfit reveals that he's wearing bright pink underwear with a neon green band◊.
• Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: A rare male example. In Persona 5 Strikers, the Phantom Thieves decide to stop and enjoy a local festival in Tanabata, while on a cross country trip in a RV, and decide to don traditional Japanese garb. However, unlike most examples in Japanese media, the guys decide to participate too, with most of the characters wearing either yukatas or kimonos. Ryuji, on the other hand, goes with this trope by wearing a jinbei, one of only two outfits that include pants with the other being a samue.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • On the receiving end of several of these from his former teammates, who tend to point out that they were all suffering from Kamoshida's actions, but endured it for the team's sake, and accuse Ryuji of wasting those efforts by punching Kamoshida.
  • He's also the giver of one of these to Morgana after finally having enough of Morgana's sniping during the Okumura Arc. After one insult too many, he bitterly lashes back at Morgana and points out how Futaba and Makoto have both taken Morgana's purpose in the team away from him.
• Recurring Element: He's the latest "best friend" party member, carrying on from Junpei and Yosuke. However, unlike those two his Arcana is Chariot and not Magician, just like Masao.
• Saying Too Much: He tends to blurt out important stuff, such as openly saying the group has been doing their jobs as the Phantom Thieves, which allowed Makoto to overhear this. He does it again while the group was in a sushi shop; naturally, the others call him out for his carelessness.
• Scarf of Asskicking: Wears one tied into an ascot as a Phantom Thief.
• Scary Teeth: He makes a grin with pointy-looking shark teeth during an All-Out attack.
• Screaming Warrior: He shouts a lot in battle. The whole party has battle cries, but he is the loudest. In fact, a large percentage of his dialogue in the real world is him yelling at the top of his lungs. This becomes an issue on more than one occasion.
  Ryuji: GET WRECKED!
• Secret Art:
  • After unlocking William, Ryuji can learn the skill Soul Injection/Fighting Spirit, which acts as a Charge buff for the entire party.
  • Ryuji's unique skill in Persona Q2 is Counter Style, which may let him automatically start the battle with a buff that unleashes a Counter-Attack when he or his row is attacked. Evolving to Seiten Taisei upgrades this to Revenge Style, with a greater activation rate.
• Shock and Awe: Ryuji and Captain Kidd have Electricity skills, although they're more aligned towards physical skills. That said, even if he isn't the best at Magic, his spells can prove useful in a pinch if Joker doesn't have any Electricity skills on hand. With Shock Boost in his skillset, he can even land the Shock ailment more frequently, allowing him to smack down physical-resistant enemies.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Averted. During the Shadow Sae fight, he can snipe a small glass pane from several yards away without issue.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Ryuji's gun type of choice.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!:
  • He tries this when he says they know the Traitor's powers inside and out, and accuses the Traitor of bluffing when the Traitor argues otherwise, but Makoto warns him that it's not a bluff.
  • Ryuji is so offended by EMMA calling Sophia a waste that should not exist that he drops a Cluster F-Bomb followed by the single largest Precision F-Strike in the entire Persona series when he usually censors himself to "eff".
• Signature Move: Twofold in Persona 3 Reload. Captain Kidd has Elec Driver (which strengthens Elec attacks by 75%) and Seiten Taisei has Wild Thunder (which deals severe Elec damage to all targets).
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: The biggest potty mouth in the game by far, to point the game identifies him as "Vulgar Boy" before learning his name. He frequently uses the words "dammit" and "shit" in particular, even when he gets hit in battle. It comes as a shock when he censors himself from saying "fuck", though he does let it slip in a few non-voice acted lines. Someone counted all of his cuss words, coming up to a whopping 315 separate instances of cussing. Beware of spoilers though.
• Skeleton Motif: In addition to the Skull he gets his codename from his Metaverse attire has armor along the back of his jacket like a spine, fitting how his persona is a skeletal pirate (as the Jolly Roger is one of the best known examples of a Skeleton Motif on its own) and how he has a Disney Death moment later on in the game.
• Skewed Priorities: When the team is faced with cyber-terrorists threatening them to reveal their identities, he starts imagining how girls are going to fall over themselves for him once they realize he's a Phantom Thief.
• Skull for a Head: His mask makes the upper portion of his head resemble a jawless skull, much like how Captain Kidd has one these, completing his Whole Costume Reference to Hell Biker.
• Slasher Smile: Gives an EPIC one during his cut-in, befitting of his Hot-Blooded personality.
• Sleep Mask: He uses one while sleeping on the plane during the Class Trip to Hawaii. It has painted eyes on it which heavily resemble Morgana's.
• Something Else Also Rises: When checking out Ann in a bikini, Ryuji bites down on his Popsicle stick causing it to suddenly rise up◊.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • He's the accidental cause of the downfall of the Takases, the main antagonists of Kawakami's Confidant, due to goading Joker into calling a maid service just to spy on one, who coincidentally turned out to be Kawakami (Joker decided to forgo requesting a specific maid, so they happened to send Kawakami over). She then can spend time with Joker which if manually progressed, leads to him learning about the Takases blackmailing her and asking for their names so they can be targeted in Mementos.
  • He ultimately serves as one to Shido, who in an effort to kill the Phantom Thieves in his Palace, downed some temporary suicide pills to prematurely collapse it with them still in it. Ryuji managed to run and drop a lifeboat for the Thieves, seemingly at the cost of his own life, but he survives.
  • Ryuji's ranting to Joker in their first meeting about Kamoshida being a scumbag accidentally triggers the Metanav on Joker's phone, and sends the two stumbling into the Metaverse for the first time. This single conversation leads directly to Kamoshida's defeat, the formation of the Phantom Thieves, and the eventual downfall of the entire conspiracy.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: In-universe deconstruction when he was The Ace of the track team. The success of the track team made Kamoshida mad that focus wasn't entirely dedicated to the volleyball team he was coaching. This results in him spreading rumors about Ryuji's home life, breaking Ryuji's leg in "self-defense", and getting the track team disbanded.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: He's loud, bright-haired, Hot-Blooded, and kind-hearted like a Jump protagonist. He's also got the trademark Idiot Hero tendencies and specializes in physical combat.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's one to Kanji Tatsumi. Both are loud-mouthed delinquents with a soft spot for their mothers, and were forced to be delinquents due to the ostracism they faced in school. They both use Personas with a skull motif that excel in physical attacks and electric spells. Both of them even dyed their naturally black hair blonde. It's little wonder that they get a special screening together in Persona Q2, and when the Investigation Team wonders what their Phantom Thief codenames would be, Kanji gets Skull 2.0.
• Taking the Bullet: In Persona Q2, Ryuji's defense-oriented skill set lets him take hits for the party, with his high health and Endurance letting him safely intercept any punishment. While there is an overlap with Kanji who has a similar skill set and elemental affinity, Ryuji diversifies with his signature skill that lets him unleash a Counter-Attack while tanking.
• Tarot Motifs: When the Chariot is upright, it symbolizes taking charge and moving forward, which Ryuji is all about. When it's reversed, it symbolizes poor impulse control and a desire to achieve victory at all costs. Likewise, Ryuji attacks Kamoshida and suffers a crippling physical injury and one to his reputation on top of that.
• Tempting Fate: After Morgana refuses to go to the Phantom Thieves the second time, Ryuji comments that he's going to get a beating the next time he sees him. Which he did from Haru's abusive, Jerkass fiancee.
• Terrible Artist: He designed the original Phantom Thieves calling card but the group thought it looked too crude, as it was simply a hastily-drawn top hat with cartoon angry eyes and a Slasher Smile with "TAKE YOUR HEART" scrawled on the bottom. He doesn't take it personally and is more than happy to let Yusuke do a redesign.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: After events with Kamoshida, everyone at school treats him like a good-for-nothing delinquent. He decided to embrace the image, dying his hair blonde, among other things. His Persona Captain Kidd encourages Ryuji to run wild and wreak havoc, since his name has already been disgraced.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Despite everything Kamoshida has done to the girls of the school and to him, Ryuji is initially reluctant to steal his heart when he finds out it may kill him if done incorrectly. When his abuse drives Ann's friend Shiho to attempt suicide by jumping off the roof, Ryuji hits his breaking point and decides to go through with it, stating outright that he just wants Kamoshida gone and doesn't care if he dies anymore.
  Morgana: Can I assume that you've made up your minds about this—about how [Kamoshida] might suffer a mental shutdown?
  Ryuji: ...I have. Someone almost died because of him! I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him anymore!
• Toxic Friend Influence: Subverted. Kawakami initially tells you not to associate too much with Ryuji since he's got a reputation for being a "bad influence". In point of fact, Ryuji turns out to be an incredibly loyal and compassionate person, whose loud nature compliments the smooth and quiet Joker.
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • Ramen, as parts of his confidant include hanging out at his favorite ramen joint and he often goes there to chow down after a long run. In Dancing in Starlight, he offers to take Haru there to hang out and is surprised to learn that Joker already has.
  • He's partial to beef bowls, with this coming up several times during the Kaneshiro heist and stacks of money. If one consults the team in Kaneshiro's Palace during a specific point in the last leg, Ryuji wonders what it'd be like if all of them had Palaces instead of Personas; Ann suggests his Palace would be a beef bowl shop, and while Ryuji protests her giving such a straight answer right away, he also admits that he "can't argue with that".
  • He gets excited about eel, an expensive delicacy in Japan that's usually grilled in a savory barbecue sauce, multiple times.
• Unskilled, but Strong:
  • Compared to the rest of the team, Ryuji's skills are all centered around hitting things as hard as possible. He only learns two buff skills, and those only serve to increase his and the team's attack to hit even harder. That said, he does that job very well.
  • This is especially noticeable when compared to several of his teammates' fighting styles. Joker uses swift, sweeping slashes, Makoto has Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs, and Yusuke is a Master Swordsman. Ryuji's attacks are clumsier-looking with big windups and incorporating thuggish kicks.
• Unusual Dysphemism: His speech commonly refers to crude substitutes for normal phrases when he's especially irritated. An example of this that occurs early in the game:
  Ryuji: (about Kamoshida) How much shittier can that asshole get?!
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He wasn't so bad when he was younger. It's thanks to Kamoshida that things went to shit. He spread rumors about Ryuji's shitty home life, resulting in Ryuji punching him, bringing about the end of the track club and making the track team blame him for its fall thanks to Kamoshida's word on the matter. All that in addition to Kamoshida breaking his leg. Jesus.
• Visual Pun: Ryuji's not the brightest of the bunch and his Phantom Thief attire gives him a skull mask. You might even say he's a bonehead.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • His dynamic with Ann and Morgana, who constantly give him shade for being Book Dumb and having no No Indoor Voice, but also trust him with their lives and hang out constantly. Unlike the other Thieves, he and Ann actually knew each other from some time since middle school. While he and Ann do get along and the teasing is more amicable, his relationship with Morgana is far more hostile.
  • In Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Ryuji rushes to Morgana's aid when he thinks Kanji is glaring at him. He's also happy to hand Morgana to Kanji to pet once things are cleared up, much to Morgana's chagrin.
• Whole Costume Reference: His skull-faced biker outfit borrows heavily from Hell Biker, a Recurring Character in the MegaTen franchise (who himself is a Shout-Out to Ghost Rider).

Morgana (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Morgana / Mona

Arcana: I. Le Bateleur (The Magician)

Persona: Zorro (Initial) → Mercurius (Ultimate) → Diego (Third-Tier, Royal only)

Weapons: Curved swords and slingshots

Arcana Bonus: Item crafting recipes, chance for Joker to steal items when attacking.

Exclusive Skill (Royal): Miracle Rush - Medium Physical damage to all enemies with high chance of critical hits.

Voiced by: Ikue Otani (JP), Cassandra Lee Morris (EN), Bryce Papenbrook (EN, human form)

"Ha! It's almost scary how good I am!"

^{Click here to see Morgana's cat form}

^{Click here to see Morgana's human form}

^{Click here to see Zorro}

The Outlaw

^{Click here to see Mercurius}

The Protector of Thieves

^{Click here to see Diego}

Don Diego de la Vega

The Pilot of the Phantom Thieves

Mission accomplished!

A mysterious shapeshifting creature with Persona abilities. Morgana has the form and the habits of a cat but claims not to truly be one, trying to find out the secrets to his true form and lost memories. Morgana takes interest in Joker after seeing his power and begins to masquerade as his pet house cat, living with and accompanying him everywhere. He also functions as the Thieves' vehicle of choice. Anyone who isn't cognizant of his ability to talk just perceives this in the real world as him simply meowing, but witnessing him talk in the Metaverse permanently alters your psyche so you can understand him as a cat.

Morgana is the Combat Medic of the group, learning nearly every healing move in the game in tandem with powerful Garu spells and a few physical skills focused on high crit rates. He's very squishy, with the lowest HP and Endurance in the party, but makes up for it with good Agility and the highest Luck after Futaba. Morgana's Persona is Zorro of the Magician Arcana, a pulp hero created in the early 20th century by American Johnston McCulley for his stories of the same name. A Lovable Rogue at heart, Zorro is a swashbuckling defender of the weak who fights against an oppressive regime in Spanish California. As a Persona, Zorro is a top-heavy man with a rapier, cape, and spurs, notably lacking any sort of fox motif the classic hero is well-known for.

His ultimate Persona is Mercurius, aka Mercury/Hermes, god of travelers, communication, trickery, and most importantly the patron deity of thieves. In one of his earliest stories, Mercurius steals from his half-brother Apollo for his own amusement, only to be caught and appointed messenger of the gods to keep him out of trouble.

His new third-tier ultimate Persona in Royal is Diego, a representation of Diego de la Vega, the hero Zorro's civilian identity. Diego resembles a casually dressed Zorro with various shades of blue, an added rose motif, and a larger rapier to boot.

Morgana's Confidant allows the player to create special tools that make Palace and Mementos exploration far easier, such as lockpicks, gases for stealth, and items that deal damage. His Confidant is also one of four that rank up automatically, usually whenever a major story event happens (three rank ups occur after the first three Palaces are cleared, for example.) All of the events within highlight Morgana's personal issues over his memory loss and whether or not he's actually human.

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• 11th-Hour Superpower: Unless the player didn't finish another party member's Confidant, Mercurius will be the last of the Phantom Thieves' Ultimate Personas to become available in the original game due to Morgana's Confidant advancing with the plot, only maxing out the day before the final boss is encountered. The exception is Satanael, Joker's Ultimate, and even then it's possible to fuse him beforehand on a New Game Plus. However, this is inverted in Royal if the third term is unlocked, with Diego being the only third tier Persona you're guaranteed to get as well as the first regardless.^note  Even if you max out your other party members' confidants (sans Akechi and Kasumi, who have very specific requirements), you have to go out of your way to awaken theirs by accepting their invitations to talk, which you can easily not have time for if you don't know you're supposed to do so. Morgana's awakens by default.
• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Wears a black bandana mask, a yellow bandana around his neck, and a utility belt.
• Achilles in His Tent: In the middle of September, after struggling with feeling useless compared to Futaba, he reaches his breaking point during an argument with Ryuji, temporarily leaving the team until he encounters Haru.
• Adaptational Badass: In the game and anime, Morgana doubted that he, Ryuji, and Joker could secure a route to Kamoshida's Treasure on their own, only becoming confident after they recruited Ann and got equipment from Iwai and Takemi. In the manga, he takes advantage of Kamoshida being distracted by Akira and Ryuji to secure the route by himself offscreen.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Morgana continues the trend of characters of the Magician Arcana having unlucky love lives. He has a massive crush on Ann as soon as he sees her, but she seems to have no idea. Every time he tries to hit on her, he usually gets interrupted. And if you romance Ann, during Valentine's day, he is clearly saddened. If Joker chooses to bring Ann on a date during the Sapporo arc of Strikers, Morgana actually tags along for it (which doesn't happen if Joker chooses any of the other girls), and spends a good amount of it being ignored by Ann. Dancing in Starlight implies that he also has feelings for Haru (despite an unconvincing denial), which again go unrequited.
• All Take and No Give: When you have the conversation that awakens his Ultimate Persona, he quietly confides that he feels that he's turned his relationship with Joker into this. He further states that he wants to do better and be able to stand on his own, as he feels that he relies too much on Joker and feels guilty about falling for Maruki's world.
• Ambiguous Gender: During pre-release, Morgana's gender was intentionally left vague. This remains true for the early game as well, until after Ann is first rescued. Everyone then starts referring to Morgana with masculine pronouns and identifying him as male. However, there's a dialogue option at one point to insist he's a girl - if taken, Morgana gets flustered and says he thinks he's a guy, though the topic never comes up again after that. Most Personas in the series match their user's gender, and all three of Morgana's are male. "Wagahai", the personal pronoun he uses in the Japanese version, is masculine. By the same token, "Morgana" and "Mona" are both feminine names. In both the Japanese and English versions, Morgana is voiced by a woman performing a childlike, somewhat-androgynous voice, described as "boyish" in the prologue (the rest of the party's voices are firmly described as "Boy's Voice" or "Girl's Voice"). A good amount of his DLC costumes also have him dressed as female characters, and he receives a maid dress while the other guys have butler uniforms. Finally, his gender is listed as "???" in the Persona 5 Maniax User Handbook. His human form in Royal's dream world created by Maruki only complicates matters due to appearing to be male and being described as an "ikemen", a handsome man, but keeping the same "boy-ish" voice as his normal form^note At least in the Japanese version, as in the localization Morgana is given a more mature sounding actor, though some non-spoken dialogue still use Cassandra Lee Morris' boyish sounding clips, although that's just the appearance of a TV celebrity overlaid onto him. Ultimately, Morgana is referred to as male, but certain events and facts about Morgana can call this into question. The fact that he is a manifestation of the abstract idea of humanity's hopes may mean he doesn't even have a physical gender at all.
• Amnesiac Hero: He's searching for his lost memories. He regains them when the party reaches the depths of Mementos.
• Angel Unaware: He's actually the manifestation of mankind's hopes, though no one learns this until shortly before the final battle.
• Animalistic Abomination: Morgana is a shapeshifting entity that can move between a regular housecat, a Super-Deformed Funny Animal, and a Citroën H Van, that can only be understood by those who have entered the Mental World of the Collective Unconscious, an Eldritch Location he has in-depth knowledge on. Also, he claims to have once eaten an onion, which are poisonous to actual cats. His backstory reveals he was created from those same collective human desires by one of the Powers That Be to help the heroes stop an Eldritch Abomination out to destroy reality, to be more exact, their hopes. In essence, he's very similar to the humanlike Velvet Room attendants, who he shares Persona-wielding capabilities with, and even regards Igor as his master once he regains his memories.
• Animal-Vehicle Hybrid: A cat able to transform into a bus while in Mementos, a palace in the Metaverse born from everyone's collective subconscious. Royal also lets him turn into a helicopter.
• Animorphism: He can transform between a normal cat and a cartoonish, humanoid form, but not willingly. In the real world he's stuck as a cat, while in the Palace he takes the humanoid form.
• Antiquated Linguistics:
  • Speaks in an archaic manner, and uses "wagahai" to refer to himself in the Japanese version. He also refers to Ann as "Ann-dono" or "Lady Ann" in the English version, both constructions designed to show respect to someone higher than you.
  • After rediscovering his origin as a Velvet Room creation of Igor, he also extends this courtesy to Lavenza, referring to her as "Lavenza-dono" or "Lady Lavenza" in English. In Royal, he continues this deferential treatment into the third trimester.
• Badass Adorable: He's a big-headed, incredibly cute cat who fights alongside the rest of the party.
• Badass Arm-Fold: Makes an attempt at this in his All-Out Attack cut-in portrait and in his artwork above. Somewhat undermined by his adorable little paws.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: He wears a yellow bandana around his neck. It serves as his Friendship Trinket, allowing Joker to randomly steal items from enemies he attacks on a New Game Plus.
• Battle Cry: "Zorro, show your might!"/"Show your might, Mercurius/Diego!"
• Become a Real Boy:
  • Aside from being able to still talk to the Phantom Thieves, he apparently becomes a full-on cat at the end of the game, complete with a new cat portrait replacing his humanoid one. Despite this, he's still interested in becoming an actual human, and still wants to stick around with Joker to find a way to do so.
  • In Royal, during the third semester after breaking free from Maruki's mind control, Morgana seems to have accepted that he is a cat... thing, stopping himself mid sentence one time from saying he's not a cat, and later saying that he needs to be able to stand up on his own four feet, instead of two.
• Berserk Button:
  • Hates being called a cat, despite clearly being in the body of a cat.
  • Cruelty to cats also sets him off. In the original game, he's the most passionate about taking down Tsuboi, who's been abusing and killing cats. In Royal, he's the one who asks you to do something about Aino, a woman who's been kidnapping cats in Yongen-Jaya.
  • As shown in Strikers and Royal, Morgana hates being called a raccoon just as much as he hates being called a cat.^note In the Japanese version of Strikers, the character in question called Morgana a "Tanuki" the same way as the one from Royal did in both Japanese and English when they first met him.
• BFS: Due to how small he is: his sword is reasonably sized for a human but that means it's nearly as big as he is. Some of his blades can be considered this by human standards.
• Bilingual Bonus: As if he didn't have enough cat puns in Japanese, aspects of his design give him an extra set in English. He's a snarky cat who fights with a slingshot, which can be known as a "Catty" (though it's short for Catapult in this case) in British English. So it's a catty cat's catty.
• Blank White Eyes: He does this when he's shocked.
• Blow You Away: Zorro's primary element is Wind.
• Blunt "Yes": His response to Haru questioning him if he's sure about not going back to the Phantom Thieves is to explicitly say "yes". At that time, she's starting to have second thoughts about their collaboration.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Sometimes borrows Ryuji's "For real!?" whenever the situation's gotten especially intense.
• Brats with Slingshots: His ranged weapon of choice is the slingshot. Interestingly, it's noted that the slingshots Morgana uses are not suitable for human use.
• Butt-Monkey: As expected of the Magician, in the Dancing Theme intro, Ryuji picks his up by the scruff of his neck and flings his towards the game's logo. He gets thrown again in the beginning of the third trailer, this time by Ann. Then there's the whole "button-mashing" bit during a specific train ride, if the player chooses to do it. Then there's the time when they escape Kaneshiro's Palace, with Morgana getting flattened by Kaneshiro's treasure right on top of him.
• Call-Back: The Magician Arcana character being Vitriolic Best Buds with the Chariot Arcana character much like Yosuke and Chie.
• Calling Card: He suggests leaving one when committing heists. Later it's revealed that leaving a card is actually required to make the Treasure manifest into a physical state, as it shocks the recipient into subconsciously pumping up their Palace's defences.
  Morgana: We need a calling card that says, "We will come and take your heart!"
• Camera Abuse: One of his victory animations has him bump into the screen.
• Car Fu: Morgana's follow up attack involves turning into the bus and driving around into the Shadows. He makes use of this in Strikers as well.
• Carpet of Virility: Diego has an exposed hairy chest in the vague shape of a heart.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • A lot of his explanations about the workings of the Metaverse end on a confident summary followed by "...I think." He's usually spot-on, but Ryuji calls him out on it after a while.
  • "I'm not a cat!", spoken whenever he gets called one. Funnily enough, in the third semester of Royal, after he's recalled his origin, the first time he gets called a cat, he begins with his usual response before stopping himself and realizing that yes, he really is a cat.
  • There's also "Well, then.", which is said at the end of nearly every in-game day.
  • "Nice going!" when Joker correctly answers a school question.
• Cats Are Mean: Morgana has a tendency to belittle Ryuji for minor mistakes that he wouldn't scold the other Phantom Thieves over. This bites Morgana in the ass later on after Ryuji decides he's had enough and starts dishing insults back at him, damaging Morgana's fragile ego and causing him to ditch the group for a short while.
• Cats Are Snarkers: Morgana has a tendency to snark about the bizarre circumstances Joker keeps dragging him into, and especially anything involving Ryuji.
• Character Development: In Strikers, though he still dislikes being called a cat, he no longer makes any notions of him trying to become human. This implies that he had experienced Maruki's reality before, and thus he learnt for the better and was more comfortable with his current form as a cat.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Less so than Ryuji, but he's clearly got a crush on Ann, one of the more obviously attractive female characters, and occasionally has lines that are pretty pervy ([After hearing Ann comment her boobs might be getting bigger] "Speak up, Panther! That sounds like vital information!" or [After Ann commented on things being bumpy while riding inside Bus!Morgana] "I can feel it! The tender touch of a soft butt.") However, he is always very gentlemanly with her, referring to her as "Lady Ann" and never getting too openly pervy around her.
• The Chooser of the One: He was created by Igor for the purpose of gathering "Tricksters" that could stand up to Yaldabaoth.
• Classy Cat-Burglar: Unlike Ann, he has the cat puns in addition to the cat-like appearance, a more cat-like and coy-ish attitude than she has and leans more towards this than a Gentleman Thief (Except in regards to his "Lady Ann"), not to mention the unusual ways the game treats him even after being a guy is no longer up for debate.
• Clown Car: Downplayed. Even though the Morganamobile has enough room for 8 people (one 3-person bench seat in the front, another in the middle, and a pair of 2-person bench seats along the sides of the back), it's still as cramped as you'd expect it to be. Still, from what can gathered of all the interactions the team have as they drive through Mementos, it's safe to assume that Queen sits in the front with Joker, while Skull, Panther and Fox sit in the middle, and Oracle, Noir, Crow, and Violet in the back, so it's not as bad as you would think. Then again, that's the interior shown in the in-game model during the first trip to Mementos, the escape from the Third Palace, and the Thieves' Den. The version in the animated cutscenes just shows it having just front and middle bench seats, with no seats in the very back at all, and having Ann and Makoto sharing the front while Ryuji, Joker, and Yusuke share the middle.
• Combat Medic: Morgana's main abilities are Garu spells, and he can learn almost every type of healing move in the game. Morgana is similar to Yukari in that way, although he also has passable strength. In Persona Q2 he differentiates himself from Yukari by being the only party member who learns Mediarahan and Miracle Punch, though in the process he focuses less on his wind attacks. In Royal, his Personas' trait is Proud Presence, which increases the effectiveness of healing abilities when he's in the active party, reinforcing the fact that he's meant to be the team's best healer.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: To Teddie, the Mascot of Persona 4:
  • In terms of appearances, Teddie's color motif is bright red and white, whereas Morgana's is dark blue and black.
  • Morgana begins the game with a Persona and is a starting party member, while Teddie doesn't get a Persona and join the party until midway through the game.
  • Teddie considers the protagonist his sensei, while Morgana prides himself on teaching the Phantom Thieves their craft.
  • Both have amnesia and angst about their origins. However, while Teddie turns out to be a Shadow that gained consciousness, and thus has no purpose to his existence except whatever he wants it to be, Morgana was created by the real Igor for the purpose of aiding Joker in defeating Yaldabaoth.
  • In spite of Morgana wanting to become human, he never does, while Teddie gains a human body after awakening to his Persona.
• Critical Hit Class: They're not his main focus, but Zorro is capable of learning Lucky- and Miracle Punch as his only physical skills. While very weak, their high critical rate gives them an excellent chance of scoring extra turns. They're also amazing at scoring critical hits on treasure demons which resist almost everything but one element. Diego also gives him a unique skill called Miracle Rush that acts as a party-wide version of Miracle Punch. In Tactica, one of his skills allows him to randomly inflict a critical hit when using a melee attack on an enemy if they were originally in cover.
• Crutch Character: Downplayed. For a good amount of the first dungeon, he'll be the one keeping you afloat through Dia and Patra, but Ann, who also knows Dia, is acquired before the dungeon ends and cuts down on the need of relying on him for healing. However, Morgana is such a good medic that taking him is always a good idea at almost any point in the game. It takes until Makoto hits midgame and picks up Mediarama and later Mediarahan for him to become truly outclassed, as she has better stats in general thanks to her Judge of the Dead and Salvation is Awesome, but Impractical due to the lack of status ailments in the endgame, meaning you're shelling out a lot more SP but rarely getting anything for it. It gets Zigzagged in Royal. The True Final Boss can inflict Fear, Dizzy, and Forget, giving his Salvation more use. However, his Proud/Majestic Presence Persona Trait becomes redundant once heals all become full heals, which makes it the weakest trait in the endgame by a decent margin.
• Decomposite Character: Of Junpei, with Ryuji, as Morgana is the Magician representative who falls in love and temporarily leaves the party.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Considering their difference in species and Ann's complete lack of interest in him, Morgana unsurprisingly fails to win Ann's affection and ultimately gives up on pursuing her after realizing he was never human to begin with — if Ann is romanced during Valentine's Day, Morgana is clearly saddened.
• Disc-One Nuke: For the third semester Palace. He is the first party member to get his third-tier Persona, and is the only one who can do so before the mandatory 1/12 dungeon run, giving him a leg up on the other Phantom Thieves.
• Disney Death: It initially looks like that he's disappeared along with the other world once Yaldabaoth is defeated. However, he shows up again. This happens again during the Third Semester, leaving Futaba to become annoyed with this Overused Running Gag.
  Futaba: Recycled gags suck! Why do you always hafta get us all worried like that!?
• Divergent Character Evolution: His gameplay is pretty much identical to that of Yukari Takeba from Persona 3, both being wind-based Combat Medics. When the two fight alongside each other in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, the two are differentiated by Morgana focusing on his healing skills and Yukari focusing on her wind skills.
• Double Standard: Morgana chastises and insults Ryuji's understandable confusion and fear when he first encounters them, but after they all rescue Ann, he always gives her a pass despite it being very clear that she's every bit as dim as Ryuji. But Ann is a pretty girl, so he just (unsuccessfully) hits on her instead.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • When Madarame receives his calling card and angrily questions how it was delivered, the only thing that showed up on the CCTV was a cat and absolutely no suspects.
  • Ends up on the receiving end of this if Ann becomes Joker's girlfriend, especially if the player unlocks her romance as early as the end of the Madarame arc (made possible in New Game Plus via acquiring her Christmas Eve gift on a previous playthrough). Morgana continues to daydream about her for the majority of the story, and mentions during Yusuke's welcome party how scared he is that someone might steal her away before he ever gets his chance. Unfortunately for him, a certain frizzy-haired young man has already done just that... but the poor cat remains blissfully unaware of it up until Valentine's Day, right before the game's conclusion.
• Early-Bird Cameo: A variation. During September 2015, Morgana briefly hijacked the official in-character Persona Twitter from Teddie. He officially became the account host the following May.
• Elephant in the Living Room: Morgana isn't exactly doing the best job of staying hidden as he frequently pokes his head out of the bag or hops on Joker's shoulder. Yet, no one at school says anything despite it being a pretty flagrant violation and it's implied in some Confidants and random NPC chatter that most people, school faculty included, are aware he's got a cat with him, but choose to ignore it due to all the scary rumors surrounding him. Outside of school, he's chastised by the rest of the party on more than one occasion for not staying hidden when his presence could get the rest of the group kicked out.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Sophia takes to occasionally calling him "Meowgana", to his continued annoyance.
• Embodiment of Virtue: More specifically, he's literally made of humanity's collective hope.
• Foreshadowing:
  • His main colour palette is blue, black and yellow. Just like a typical denizen of the Velvet Room.
  • Likewise, when it comes to fulfilling his duties as the Mentor Mascot, he's very confident in his knowledge of Personas, but less so in his knowledge of Palaces, which makes sense as the former are the domain of the Velvet Room, while the latter were created by Yaldabaoth, the Big Bad and the one impersonating Igor.
  • In Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, he's unusually subservient and respectful to Caroline and Justine, calling them "Lady" the way he would with Ann, but he doesn't know why he's compelled to act like this. He also says the Velvet Room seems oddly familiar to him. In a roundabout, retroactive way, this alludes to how he's a creation of Igor forged from humanity's collective hope to guide Joker on his journey.
  • He's first introduced imprisoned in Kamoshida's Palace dungeon. Then it's later revealed that he was born in a prison, specifically: The Velvet Room.
  • Even his instant crush on Ann is somewhat explained by his origin. An extremely magically powerful young woman with blonde hair also describes most of the Velvet Room attendants to a T, and sure enough, he treats Lavenza with similar deference when he finally meets her, even referring to her as "Lavenza-dono" or "Lady Lavenza", much like does with Ann.
• Exposition Fairy: He exposits on the nature of the Metaverse throughout the story. He also voices concerns, facts, and opinions about things that go on in Joker's day-to-day life so Joker can keep being a Heroic Mime.
• Fastball Special: His Showtime attack in Persona 5 Strikers has Morgana turn into his vehicle form and have Zorro create a powerful gust of wind to launch the him at his enemies.
• Forced Sleep: Picks up Dormin Rush in Strikers.
• Fragile Speedster:
  • In addition to above-average Magic, Morgana's Agility is the highest among the Thieves, which compliments his healing abilities, including the single best healing spell in the game with Salvation. But low Strength, sub-par Endurance, and party-worst max HP means that a few good hits will take him down.
  • In Strikers, his archetype leans towards this along with a healthy dose of Death of a Thousand Cuts. Morgana's individual attacks are lacking in damage output, but he can easily combo hits together, and his natural agility and ability to enter his bus form make him suited to perform quick hit-and-run attacks.
• Funny Animal: In his humanoid form, he puts on clothes like a bandana and a utility belt, stands on two feet, and exhibits other non-animal behaviors.
• Funny Background Event: Morgana is basically a walking version of this trope in the real world, since he: a) goes pretty much everywhere with Joker, and b) engages in typical cat-like behaviors the entire time. It's pretty entertaining to see his head pop out of Joker's bag during dialogue, or to see his undignified pose after watching a DVD.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Makoto and Futaba's specialties involves Analysis and Navigation respectively, two roles that Morgana provided before they joined. They assume these roles after joining the Phantom Thieves, and this plays majorly into Morgana's inferiority complex.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: After introducing his bus form for the first time, Mona states that he can't drive himself and needs someone behind the wheel in order to move. This doesn't stop him from seemingly driving around on his own during his Follow-Up attack or when using his character action in Strikers.
• Gender-Blender Name: Morgana is male, but Morgana and Mona are both female names.
• Giver of Lame Names:
  • Haru's "Beauty Thief" moniker is something that Morgana comes up with completely on the fly. The Phantom Thieves' reaction to it is what sells the moment.
  • He also tries to name the Phantom Thieves after a meal he just ate, though Ryuji vetoes it immediately. Ironic given how Ryuji attempts to give Yusuke a food-based code name later on.
• Good All Along: While Morgana himself doesn't seem evil, his nightmares throughout the game would suggest that he might actually be a Shadow or other similar malicious entity. Turns out he's actually a manifestation of humanity's hope for freedom, and he was created in the Velvet Room.
• Hates Reading: He thinks he's got good eyes because he never reads a thing.
• Healer Signs On Early: He's the first party member to become available, and the best healer on the team.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Morgana and his first and third personas all carry a sword. However, the swords Morgana uses are cutlasses, scimitars and broadswords, while Zorro and Diego wield a rapier.
• Heroic BSoD: Suffers a big one when Ryuji lays into him about just how little he actually contributes to the Thieves now that Futaba and Makoto not only do his jobs, but do them far better than he ever did. It gets so bad that he actually deserts the team and tries to clear the next Palace before them just so he can prove that he is useful.
• Heterosexual Life-Partner: In his unique position, he and Joker end up becoming each other's closest companions and confidants. They share information with each other that they keep secret from any of the others.
• Hope Bringer: He's the literal embodiment of the Collective Unconsciousness's hope for freedom from the oppressive order.
• Hopeless Suitor: Towards Ann, although "suitor" would be stretching it. Morgana has a massive crush on Ann, but it never amounts to anything other than Morgana talking to himself or Joker about his "future plans" to win Ann's affections or giving her very cheesy compliments. The few times he does try to impress her, Ann either completely ignores him or doesn't notice. The fact that he's a cat in the real world and a Cartoon Creature in the Metaverse do him absolutely no favors, either. The final nail in the coffin occurs once it's revealed he was never human to begin with, leading him to quietly accept defeat by the time Valentine's Day rolls around should Ann start a relationship with Joker.
• Humanity Ensues: His main desire for most of the game is to become a human on the basis that's what he must have been before he became a cat. In the third semester of Royal, this desire is granted by Maruki's Lotus-Eater Machine, which transforms him into an attractive human. Depending on Joker's actions, Morgana will either stay human in the ending or revert back to his cat form.
• Hypocrite: One of his main flaws as a character.
  • He berates Ryuji for pretty much the entire game by calling him useless and stupid (especially in situations where Ryuji's confusion is justified). But after Futaba usurps Morgana's role as navigator and Ryuji jokingly calls him useless, Morgana throws a temper tantrum and walks out on the team, determined to prove that he isn't useless by completing a Palace by himself. Fortunately, as the story goes, he gets better.
  • Despite all his warnings to be careful and constant berating of Ryuji for his own lack of caution, Morgana triggers a trap on some obvious Schmuck Bait in the second Palace that everyone else ignored (including Ryuji, who actually warned him).
  • At the peak of their argument, Morgana mocks Ryuji for wanting to use the Phantom Thieves' fame to pick up girls. When Ryuji rightfully points out that Morgana is also using the Phantom Thieves for his own goals (to be human again), Morgana says that's different. Thing is, Morgana hopes to woo Ann once he becomes a human, and has given several perverted comments or actions towards her which can be no different than what Ryuji has done in the same regard.
  • Morgana is noted to treat Ann as a lady and believes that girls should be treated properly, but yet has no qualms with using Haru to basically air his complaints about the other Phantom Thieves to them in Okumura's palace. Morgana does mention getting Haru to rehearse it, and with lines such as telling Yusuke to get a clue and calling Ryuji stupid and vulgar, it's no doubt that it's Morgana's words and not Haru's.
  • When the Phantom Thieves find Morgana in Mementos after he leaves the team, he insults them by calling them full of themselves, despite that he is more full of himself than anyone of the Phantom Thieves.
  • If you end up spending Valentine's Day alone with the guys in Royal, he pokes fun at Ryuji by saying that it "must suck to have no game". This coming from the cat who has spent nearly a year hitting on Ann with zero success.
• Hypocritical Humor: He quickly takes offense to being called a cat, but when Ann is cooing over how soft and fluffy Koromaru is in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Morgana tries to remind her that he's also cute and fluffy. Lampshaded by Ryuji.
  Ann: [while petting Koromaru] Awww, how cute! He look so soft and fluffy! A doggie with a Persona? Such a good boy!
  Morgana: Ah- Lady Ann... I'm also a fluffy, soft Persona user...
  Ryuji: Oh, so you can't be a cat, but you're fine with bein' fluffy, huh?
• I Am Not Weasel: He strongly objects to being considered a cat (or worse a Yōkai like a Bake-Neko or "Monster Cat"), despite everything about him indicating as such including his own "Meow-varlous" puns, as despite his memory loss he's convinced he had to be human at some point given that he can talk at all.
• I'm Standing Right Here: While Ryuji and Joker are still deciding what to do with Kamoshida, Ryuji, unsure of whether they should believe Morgana, vents about it on IM to Joker... while Morgana's watching.
  Ryuji (IM): Do we just gotta go along with what that cat says? Ugh, that damn furball...
  Morgana: If he only knew I'm reading this, too...
• Ineffectual Loner: After a fight with Ryuji that he takes out on the rest of the Phantom Thieves, he tries to conquer Okumura's Palace by himself. He's quickly beaten to within an inch of his life and only survives because the robot Shadows can't be bothered to finish him off and because Haru happens to show up and help him. The two of them can get further in the Palace than the Thieves can because Haru has access privileges, but even then they simply don't have the muscle or skills to do it on their own.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: He's arrogant and demeaning, the latter mostly to Ryuji, but is secretly very insecure about his amnesia and his place in the team. After Futaba joins and wows everyone with her hacking skills (and her superior analytical skills in the Metaverse), he starts over-comparing himself to her and getting jealous, fearing he'll be left behind. It gets so bad that he actually leaves after a bad argument with Ryuji and tries to compete with the team for the next target by himself to prove he can do better without them (until he meets Haru, anyway).
• Infinity +1 Sword:
  • His best melee weapon is Claiomh Solais, gained by itemizing Mother Harlot. It increases his maximum SP by 50 points. In Royal, this is boosted to Claiomh Solais R during a Fusion Alarm.
  • His best ranged weapon is Utopia HP, bought and customized at Untouchable. No fancy tricks here - it just hits really hard. Royal changes his best ranged weapon to Sudarshana EX, which is gained by itemizing Vishnu during a Fusion Alarm. It has a high chance to inflict Dizzy.
• Informed Flaw: During the Okumura arc, he's presented as useless with Futaba taking over as the Phantom Thieves' navigator. While his amnesia makes him feel that he's useless, he still manages to come off as very useful for the team during battle, his knowledge on the Metaverse, and his ability to help the Phantom Thieves guide through Mementos.
• Insistent Terminology: As Morgana will tell you, he is not a cat! He just so happens to look like one. This is half-right; he's some sort of cat-like creature created by Igor.
• Involuntary Shapeshifting: He looks like a regular cat in the real world, and an anthropomorphic cat in the Metaverse. Unlike the Morganamobile, he can't control the transformation, it just happens automatically whenever he enters or leaves a cognitive world.
• It Seemed Trivial: In Royal, when he, Joker, and Kasumi discover an unknown Palace on October 3rd, Morgana brushes it off with the reasoning that its Ruler is not their current target and they need the rest of the Thieves consensus before investigating on their own. But none of them ever bother to bring it up again. This bites them hard when said Palace Ruler becomes the Big Bad of the Third Semester. Granted, none of them had any way of knowing that the Palace Ruler would end up with the power to remake reality, and being framed for a target's murder and most of Japan being brainwashed to elevate a narcissistic, sociopathic ultranationalist to the office of Prime Minister ended up distracting them, but it was still an extremely careless oversight.
• Jerkass to One: He tends to mock and insult Ryuji more than the other Phantom Thieves, often taking shots at his intelligence.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be smug and condescending at times, especially towards Ryuji, but his heart is definitely in the right place.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: A Downplayed Trope as at the start of the game, Morgana is the most experienced of the Thieves in using Personas and has the most knowledge around the Metaverse and the nature of Palaces. Upon closer inspection however, it turns out Morgana is rather limited in what he actually knows. This comes to a head after Makoto and Futaba join the team. Makoto is a better strategist and Futaba is a better navigator and far more of an expert of cognitive science. His self-esteem ends up taking a major blow because of this.
• Layman's Terms: He initially tries to explain the Metaverse with more professional psychological terms for the concepts until he hits a wall as the high school kids he's talking to don't know what the Collective Unconscious or the other Jungian concepts in Persona are. As such, Morgana has to settle for simplistic explanations or elaborate on someone else's educated guesses.
• Love at First Sight: He falls in love with Ann the instant he glimpses Kamoshida's cognitive version of her, which instantly transfers over to the real Ann when he sees her.
• Loyal Animal Companion: He's Joker's constant feline companion, stowing away in his bag and accompanying him everywhere, from school to gym to late-night video game binges.
• Made of Good: Is the embodiment of humanity's collective hopes.
• Mascot: For the game as a whole, similar to Teddie, even getting to succeed him as host of the series official Twitter account.
• Mascot with Attitude: In contrast to previous Persona mascots Morgana has a mean mouth and enjoys belittling the rest of the team, and Ryuji in particular. Not even Ann, the subject of Morgana's affections, is immune.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Morgana is a feminine variant to Morgan which in turn came from an older Irish name Muirgen, meaning "born of the sea". Having been created in the Velvet Room Morgana was born of the Collective Unconscious, the Sea of Souls.
  • Also, Morgana's codename, "Mona" comes from the real-life Mona Island off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Mona Island was the last destination Captain William Kidd dropped anchor before his ship was destroyed by a storm in 1699, and is believed to be the location of his buried treasure. Appropriately enough, Morgana himself is obsessed with treasure and it was Ryuji, who has Captain Kidd as his persona, who picked this name for him.
  • "Mona" could also come from the Mona Lisa, which was considered a subpar work of art until it was stolen from the Louvre without anyone noticing for an entire day. The newspapers went wild, and the Mona Lisa became a sensation.
  • "Morgana" is also an alternate name for Morgan Le Fay, a notorious enemy of King Arthur. One of the most famous treasures associated with King Arthur is The Holy Grail, which is the form that the sentient treasure of the general public takes. It's only fitting that Morgana would be created to combat such an enemy.
  • "Mona" could also be derived from Monad, a term used in Gnostic philosophy to conceptualize the source of all divinity and consciousness. Not only is this a clue as to his true origins, it also gives a very subtle hint as to the identity of the mastermind behind the game's events: Yaldabaoth, known in Gnosticism as the god who rules over the material realm, and who broke off from the Monad.
• The Medic: He learns most of the healing spells in the game, including the game's best healing spell "Salvation".
• Mentor Mascot: Morgana gives info on Persona lore, the Palace, and phantom thievery in general to the rest of the group. Even outside of their work with the Thieves, he gives pointers to Joker in his daily life.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Morgana really can't stop himself from fawning over things when it comes to treasure and things of great value. This actually helps the party during Madarame's dungeon, as his inability to help himself from looking at the painting they stole allows them to see they've grabbed a fake.
• Mr. Exposition: He provides most of the information to the party members about Shadows and Personas. Makes sense because he was sent to aid the heroes by the real Igor.
• Mysterious Past: One of the mysteries in Persona 5 is what exactly he is, how and why he has a Persona, and what is his relation with the Metaverse.
• Mysterious Waif: He doesn't really look like one, but he fulfills the role of a walking plot device that pretty much kickstarts the plot.
• Mythology Gag: This is the third time a protagonist's Persona is based on Mercury/Hermes (who skipped out the fourth game because the characters' persona are taken from Japanese Mythology).
• The Napoleon: Morgana is the smallest member of the party and very, very, bossy at the start of the game (though it's never regarding his height). He gets better over time, but his ego never truly goes away.
• No Biochemical Barriers: Mentions in a Mementos conversation that in order to prove to himself that he wasn't a cat, Morgana ate a whole onion, which are extremely deadly for cats to eat since they lyse their red blood cells.
• No Biological Sex: Implicitly. Near the start of the story he strongly claims to be male. If you press him on it, all he can say is that he's pretty sure he's a boy but he doesn't sound like he's 100% sure. Given that he should probably be able to check out his own junk, this implies he has none to check.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Like Teddie and Koromaru before, he's the sole non-human or humanoid member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Thanks to his small size in cat form, he acts as a personal sidekick/life coach to Joker throughout the games.
• Not Worth Killing: During his solo venture into Okumura's Palace, he gets severely injured, but the Shadows refuse to finish him off because they don't have time to waste on him.
• Occult Blue Eyes: When appearing as a house cat, his eyes glow a vivid blue, tying into his mysterious, shapeshifting nature. They don't seem to glow at all in his humanoid form.
• Outlaw: Morgana attempts to model himself off heroes from Westerns, wearing a bandana around his neck, another over his face, and a leather Utility Belt that has holster looking pouches on the hips. Unsurprisingly, Morgana's Guardian Entity "other self" is Zorro, one of the Trope Codifiers.
• Overshadowed by Awesome:
  • Morgana suffers a case of this In-Universe after the one-two punch of Makoto and then Futaba joining the Phantom Thieves. Makoto ends up usurping his informal role as the team strategist and then Futaba turns out to be a superior navigator and more knowledgeable about Cognitive Pscience.
  • From a gameplay perspective, he also struggles to compete: He's incredibly fragile but doesn't even hit as hard as Ann. While he has access to better healing spells for most of the game, he also ends up falling behind on that front because now he's trying to compete with Makoto, who is probably the best non Joker character in the game.
• Poor Communication Kills: If Morgana had been upfront and honest about his feelings of inadequacy after Futaba joining the team and worries about never being human in the first place, things wouldn't have built up to a boiling point and he wouldn't have temporarily left the team.
• Pretty Boy: Royal reveals what Morgana looks like as a human, making him this and he is specifically described to be an "Ikemen". However, it turns out that this isn't the real Morgana, as it's just the dream world's version of him created by Maruki, and the "human" look is just the appearance of a TV celebrity overlaid onto him.
• Properly Paranoid: At the beginning of Q2, he expresses suspicion of Nagi and Hikari, to the point of remaining behind during the initial investigation to keep an eye on them. Hikari turns out to be on the level, but Nagi is a whole 'nother story.
• Pungeon Master: Nowhere near as bad as Teddie in this regard, although he does make his fair share of cat puns throughout the game. Sometimes when in a panic, he'll start making bear puns like his predecessor.
• Recurring Element:
  • Previous characters of the Magician Arcana have had bad luck with their love interests, and Morgana is no exception. Though at the very least his doesn't end tragically like Junpei and Yosuke's. His target of affection, Ann, simply never notices.
  • He is also one for the non-human mascot character similar to Koromaru in Persona 3 and Teddie in Persona 4.
• The Resenter: Downplayed but Morgana ends up developing a complex after Futaba joins the group and seemingly makes him come across as redundant. Not helping matters is Ryuji's constant ribbing over it.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: His "thief" form is one of these in the same vein as Teddy from Persona 4, and doesn't help his case against being called a "cat" as nothing else seems to match his design. He has the huge eyes, oversized head, stubby limbs, higher-pitched voice (which also doesn't help his gender confusion, as he only has voice actresses), and has an excitable personality.
• Right-Hand Cat: Inverted. He accompanies Joker everywhere and is always on hand, but they're the heroes.
• Royal Rapier: Zorro and Diego's main weapons are rapiers.
• Running Gag:
  • Party members grabbing and throwing him absurdly far distances.
  • Him being mistaken for a cat or monster cat ("bakeneko"), his rebuttal of the mistake, and his dismay.
    • Him also being mistaken for something other than a cat (like a raccoon), his correction of the form and quick rebuttal on himself.
  • His obsession with treasure, especially the treasure of the Palace.
  • Every time the gang gets sushi they promise to bring some back for Morgana. Unfortunately, what also happens every time is some complication and Morgana never gets his beloved sushi.
  • Futaba wordlessly walking right up to him to pinch his little kitty cheeks, usually when he's in the middle of speaking.
• Running Gagged: In regards to his frustration with being called a cat. In the final semester of Royal, after the revelation that he was a being created by Igor comes to light, he starts to say that he isn't a cat after being called one again, only to stop himself and admit that he is.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the beginning of the Okumura arc, he briefly leaves the Phantom Thieves, disgusted with their hesitation to go after their new target, and convinced he doesn't belong with them. Morgana does eventually rejoin after Haru persuades him to be honest with himself.
• Secret Art:
  • Morgana learns the skill Miracle Rush upon unlocking Diego, a variant of Miracle Punch that hits all enemies instead of targeting just one.
  • Morgana's unique skill in Persona Q2 is Kitty Step, which raises his evasion against all attacks. Evolving to Mercurius upgrades this to Trick Step, with a greater evasion boost. It's to be noted that Yukiko's unique skills are effectively the same in all but name.
• Series Mascot: On May 5, 2016, he replaced Teddie as the host of the official Persona twitter.
• Signature Move: Vacuum Wave,a severe-tier, multi-target Wind skill, is not something Morgana's Personas would normally learn (though they can still cast Panta Rhei through the Panta Rhei Ring accessory), but Mercurius claims it as his own in Persona 3 Reload. For Zorro, however, he gains the Wind Driver passive skill, which strengthens Wind attacks by 75%.
• Shipper on Deck: Vocally approves of Joker romancing either Futaba or Haru on Valentine's Day.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Kunikazu's Shadow tries to make a deal with him, Morgana tells him that there are things more important than money or power, and that he belongs with the Phantom Thieves. He also mocks Kunikazu for failing to understand Haru even after raising her for 17 years, then shoots the remote out of his hand.
• Smoking Is Cool: One of the official artworks shows him smoking a cigar, and he also smokes a cigar in his All-Out Attack screen.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • His comparison of the shape of the Dome Town stadium to a pancake ends up eventually causing the discovery of an intricate plot to kill Joker thanks to Akechi being in hearing range of this conversation and his offhand remark without any idea that Morgana was talking about pancakes. Sometime later, the Phantom Thieves come up with a counter-plan to instead fake Joker's death using Akechi's involvement.
  • He was created by the real Igor to help Joker and put a stop to the Big Bad's manipulations. Caroline and Justine even mention this before their bonus boss fight, as learning about Mementos was not planned by them or Yaldabaoth. His memories slowly returning allowed them to learn they should head to the bottom of Mementos and stop his scheme.
  • He also ends up being one to the Traitor and Shido, as they've never seen anything like him despite their knowledge of the rest of the Metaverse (Shido actually wants to capture him for examination after they've defeated the rest of the thieves), and it's a minor mistake on the former's part in this regard that lets their identity slip.
  • After Mementos merges with reality to become Qliphoth he further breaks down Yaldabaoth's plans, as being born from hope makes him a shining beacon the people of Tokyo can't ignore as they slay the archangels and set in motion Tokyo itself supporting the Phantom Thieves over Yaldabaoth.
• Super-Deformed: In his humanoid form, he has a giant head that's nearly the size of the rest of his body. At one point the story discusses how mascot characters always seem to be very rounded and with big eyes. At this point, there's a pause as Joker is clearly looking at him with a 'Ya think?' expression and he gets mildly confused.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Much like Yukari Takeba and Yosuke Hanamura before him, Morgana is a Garu attacker with high Agility and an emphasis on healing spells. They start to diverge as the game goes on, with Yosuke becoming a Jack of All Stats while Morgana remains a Support Party Member and Combat Medic throughout, which ends up making Morgana more like Yukari in that sense.
• Tarot Motifs: The Magician represents being a provider and moving forward with what it is you want to do. As the one who spearheads the founding of the Phantom Thieves and as the one who teaches Joker how to make infiltration tools, this suits him well. The Reversed Magician, on the other hand, means uncertainty in your endeavors as well as greed and trickery. In the beginning, he was obsessed with the idea of being human over his actual goal in aiding the Thieves finding Igor. His obsession with being human and inability to keep up with the other Thieves eventually comes to a boiling point when he momentarily abandons them and allies with Haru in their stead. His amnesia doesn't help in that regard either.
• Technically Naked Shape Shifter: He was born with clothes as part of his body.
• Token Non-Human: Like Aigis and Koromaru in P3, or Teddie in P4, he fills the "not-quite-human" position in your crew. The entirety of your Phantom Thief team is made up of high school students except for him, a shapeshifting cat and actually an Animalistic Abomination created by the Big Good to help out the heroes against the Eldritch Abomination Big Bad.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Strikers, he is noticeably less abrasive and snarky across the board, with his usual banter with Ryuji being much friendlier and less vitriolic than in the original game.
• Top-Heavy Guy: In his humanoid form, he has a massive head and a tiny torso. Mirrored with Zorro, who has a muscular upper half and skinny, long legs. In fact, Zorro's fist dwarfs the hilt of the rapier it holds. Diego has similar proportions to Zorro, though now the size of his rapier is more appropriately fitting for his large hands.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Sushi. Never forget his fatty tuna.
• Travel Transformation: When in the Cognitive World, Morgana can transform into a bus that the other Phantom Thieves can ride in to get around. He says this is due to cats turning into buses being a common cognitive belief. In the ending of Persona 5 Royal he turns into a helicopter to save everyone from the collapsing dungeon.
• Twinkle in the Eye: He gets a star-shaped gleam in his eyes when preparing for an All-Out Attack. It's also one of his dialogue portraits, usually when near a Palace's Treasure.
• Unanthropomorphic Transformation: Looks like an ordinary cat when out of the Metaverse, and an anthropomorphic cartoony version while in it. His Character Portrait uses the anthropomorphic cartoony form regardless of circumstance. However, in the original game, once you beat the Final Boss and destroy the Metaverse, Morgana's portrait switches to that of an ordinary cat.
  • Zigzagged in Strikers, where he starts the game with the cat portrait, switches to the cartoony portrait once the existence of the Jails becomes known and stays like that for most of the rest of the game, then switches back to the cat portrait once EMMA is destroyed.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: He goes everywhere in the real world in Joker's backpack with his head sticking out. No one ever comments on this or even seems to notice the kid with the cat in his bag. Nor do they ever seem to notice Morgana chilling in Joker's desk at school.
  • In Royal you can take him to the Jazz Club or Darts & Billiards. No one seems to notice a cat in the lounge who can throw darts as well as any human, or who can sip on and finish a human-portioned cocktail while engaging in idle conversation that would look and sound weird to an outside observer. Yaldabaoth must be enforcing a Weirdness Censor.
• Verbal Tic: Due to being stuck with the body of a cat, Morgana will start dropping "meow" into his words whenever he gets too excited.
• Visual Pun: He is a cat that's part of a group of thieves, making him a literal cat burglar.
  • He also has the highest luck stats in the party, which can seem ironic if you consider him more of a black cat than a tuxedo, makes him (In English at least) a "Lucky Cat". For extra pun black colored lucky cats are meant to ward away evil spirits, which is essentially what all Shadows are.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ryuji; he'll jokingly mock and berate him even in the midst of battle, but in actuality, he truly cares about him and appreciates him through and through.
• Vocal Dissonance: In Royal, while in the dream world created by Maruki, Morgana changes into a human teenager around Joker's age... while keeping the same voice he has like always. This only occurs in the Japanese version; in the English version, his voice is different and obviously masculine when this happens.
• Voice for the Voiceless: He does the talking for Joker in most interactions they have with characters.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can also turn into a car dubbed "the Morganamobile" and back to his two-legged form while in the Metaverse, but he can't do this in the real world. This is his unique character trait within Strikers; he can transform into his bus form to run people over in several of his combo finishers, and much like Mementos, it still serves as a faster means of movement within the dungeons.
• Walking Spoiler: Knowing the truth about Morgana spoils much of the game, especially the final act.
• Was Once a Man: Despite having no memories before waking up in the Palace, Morgana believes he must have been a human who was twisted into the form of a cat by the collective unconscious, and wants to search the Palace to find a way to restore himself to his true form. It's actually subverted, as in the end, he's proven wrong once the party reaches a certain point in Mementos which restores his memory, revealing that he was never a human at all. Even then, in the ending of the original game he still wants to find ways to become one.
  • Royal has him ultimately come to accept during the third semester that he will never be a human because he fell prey to Maruki's illusionary world for having such a desire. The ending after Maruki's defeat, in contrast to the vanilla ending, has him fully accept that, even if not human, he will always be Joker's partner.
  • Furthermore, in Strikers, he makes no mentions about him wanting or trying to become a human, suggesting that he carries the lesson he learned from Maruki's world in Royal. Although he still gets bothered when someone completely writes him off as just a cat.
• Weak, but Skilled: Since Mona's primary skills are healing, he doesn't have many hard hitting spells outside the standard Wind ones. He does, however, have the most versatile skills for healing and getting rid of status ailments. He only learns two physical skills (three in Royal), and neither are particularly powerful, but they do have a higher chance of knocking an enemy down for a follow up attack.
• Wheel o' Feet: Has this effect while running in his humanoid form at times, befitting of his cartoony appearance.
• White Mage: His skill set is largely based around healing. He has group wide heals (something only Joker and Makoto can otherwise do) and a wide variety of cures for debuffs. As a trade off, he lacks any offensive abilities outside his wind spells and a line of physical attacks that don't do much raw damage but have higher chance to crit than any other physical attack.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Comes up with some of the DLC alternate costumes, likely to go with his Ambiguous Gender, as despite considering himself a guy he can wear dresses or cosplay as female characters unlike any of his human companions of either gender.
• Younger Than They Look: Not that he doesn't look young, but his way of speaking and level of knowledge makes him seem like he's been around a while. Since Igor made him in a last ditch attempt at thwarting Yaldabaoth, he can't actually be much more than a year old during the game's events.

Ann Takamaki

Ann Takamaki / Panther

Arcana: VI. L'Amoureux (The Lovers)

Persona: Carmen (Initial) → Hecate (Ultimate) → Célestine (Third-Tier, Royal only)

Weapons: Whips and submachine guns

Arcana Bonus: Bargains in negotiation, chance to redo failed Hold-Ups, chance to make enemies skip their turn (Royal only).

Exclusive Skill (Royal): High Energy - Party-wide Concentrate effect.

Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (JP), Erika Harlacher (EN)

Stage actors: Yuki Odera (The Stage)

"A beautiful rose has thorns!"

^{Click here to see Panther}

^{Click here to see Carmen}

The Alluring Dancer

^{Click here to see Hecate}

The Goddess of Witchcraft

^{Click here to see Célestine}

The Original Carmen

The Actress of the Phantom Thieves

OMG!! We are SO awesome!

Carmen: "Tell me... Who is going to avenge her if you don't? Forgiving him was never the option... Such is the scream of the other you who dwells within. […] There you go... Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength."

A quarter-white girl who has lived abroad for much of her life. Due to her "exotic features", strange rumors about her have been circulating. Withdrawn in her daily life, Ann is much livelier and expressive in her Phantom Thief persona.

Ann is a magical Glass Cannon who specializes in Agi spells, status ailments, and to a much lesser extent, healing. The first two are respectively complemented by her Magic (the highest in the party) and her Luck (third highest after Futaba), but she has rather low Endurance and health. Ann's Persona is Carmen of the Lovers Arcana, the protagonist of French writer Prosper Mérimée's 19th century novella of the same name, and Georges Bizet's more well known opera adaptation. Carmen was a fiery Romani woman and smuggler who used her exotic features to seduce men for fun and profit, before inevitably becoming bored and dumping them - which eventually leads to one of her jilted lovers, a mentally unstable man, killing her. As a Persona, Carmen wears a Pimped-Out Dress with fancy rose designs, her face hidden by a panther mask and a cigar always in mouth. Most noticeably, she drags along two lovesick butlers with a vine leash.

Her ultimate Persona is Hecate, the goddess of magic in Classical Mythology and Trope Maker of The Hecate Sisters and The Three Faces of Eve. Among other things, Hecate is known for being cast down from Mount Olympus and coming to reside in The Underworld after stealing from the queen of the gods, Hera. Hecate appears as a large-eyed woman in a dress and a spiked bra wielding two dog-headed chains.

Her new third-tier ultimate Persona in Royal is Célestine, a representation of Célestine Galli-Marié, the famous actress who originated the title role in the Carmen opera. Célestine appears as a woman dressed in popstar clothes, red pigtails that wrap around the necks of two backup dancers, while chewing and popping on bubblegum in her mouth.

Ann's Confidant Link bonuses ease negotiation with Shadows in battle, allowing the player to try again if it goes sour. The story of her link revolves around Ann both coming to terms with the aftermath of her friend Shiho's near-suicide and improving herself on a personal level; we also learn about how she got into modeling, and midway through the link, Ann develops a rivalry with another aspiring model named Mika.

---

• Aborted Arc: In the beginning of the story Ann mentions that one of the reasons that she and Shiho became close friends is that Shiho did not judge her for her mixed ancestry. However, after the conclusion of the first arc Ann’s experiences with racial discrimination are not brought up anymore both in the main story and her social link.
• Adaptational Dumbass: A minor case in the anime. In the game, she immediately puts two and two together and realizes that the Futaba Sakura that Alibaba mentioned is probably related to Sojiro. In the anime, she doesn't make that connection until Yusuke points it out.
• Adaptational Heroism: Not Ann herself, but her initial Persona, Carmen, is associated with the roguish, picaresque heroes and vigilantes that the other Phantom Thieves obtain. While Carmen's status as an outcast and as a sexually empowered woman serves as a basis for Ann breaking away from society's views of her being little more than an easy lay, Carmen the character is a deconstruction of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope: she's very shallow and conniving and not one for meaningful, long-lasting relationships, splitting up with the main male protagonist of her story for a flashy, macho bullfighter instead.
• Alpha Bitch: Subverted. Despite her good looks, Ann has been isolated from the rest of the student population because of their jealousy towards her beauty and the persisting rumors that she's sleeping with the teachers to get ahead and Ryuji also doesn't seem to be easy around her initially for the latter reason. In actuality, Ann is a sweet girl who hates using her looks for any advantage, and is extremely protective of her friends.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: All of Ann's Personas count for this; Carmen and Célestine have pink skin, while Hecate's is dark red.
• Anger Born of Worry: After the Cruise Ship Palace. She's the most broken up about Ryuji's Disney Death, breaking down into heavy sobbing. When Ryuji is revealed to be just fine, Ann leads the charge in yelling at him before the girls all kick the crap out of him.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Zig-zagged and subverted; literally as soon as her name was revealed, people noted Ann's surname, Takamäki, is Finnish. Takamaki looks like a reasonable Japanese surname and is even spelled with kanji, but then again so is her non-Japanese given name. This combined with Ann mentioning she lived in Finland before moving back to Japan means it's possible her name isn't Japanese at all.
• A-Team Firing: Between her gun's type and her Firing One-Handed, this girl's accuracy with them is less-than-accurate. Not only is each bullet's overall chance to hit relatively low, but Ann can't choose her target while shooting. There is one subversion, though - she can snipe the glass lid during the rigged roulette game in the Shadow Sae fight with no issues.
• Attractiveness Isolation: Discussed. She's an attractive quarter-white girl in Japan who's a fashion model in her spare time, and her beauty gets her noticed, but by all the wrong people (like pervert teacher Kamoshida). Ann's only real friend at school is Shiho Suzui, who is Driven to Suicide by Kamoshida's abuse, though Shiho survives the attempt. Ann also goes through quite a bit of Slut-Shaming for how she looks, with lots of nasty rumors being spread about her. Joker and Ryuji do eventually befriend her, where she comments on how most people don't talk to her because they assume she's haughty or stuck-up, neither of which is true.
• Badass Adorable: She's an absolutely beautiful girl with a tough demeanor. And not to mention she wears a Spy Catsuit when battling enemies.
• Bad "Bad Acting": A Running Gag throughout the game is that Ann's acting is terrible. And yet somehow, she manages to fool her targets, to the general surprise of her friends. The targets tend to be too enamored with Ann's good looks to notice how bad her acting is.
  • Yusuke is convinced that Ann has "gained some weight" when she shows up to be a nude model for him in more than ten layers of clothing. When she's down to a shirt and shorts, she starts Acting Unnatural about wanting to find another place to go. And yet, Yusuke falls for it. Ryuji, who's waiting in the Palace with Joker, is rather nervous about it because he knows how bad Ann's acting is, and hates the idea of relying on it.
  • When investigating the Bank Palace, Ann questions another Shujin Academy student about how to get some easy money with a fake story about a dying pet. Despite Ann constantly tripping over her own lies and being called out on them several times, she tries to keep the pressure on. Even Morgana, who is infatuated with Ann, thinks she's just embarrassing herself. The most success Ann has is getting Iida to drop the name of another student, Nishiyama, who has some idea of what's going on with Iida.
  • This comes up again in the Cruise Ship Palace, where she uses her mediocre acting skills and a very bad British accent to trick a Shadow into giving the Thieves the letter of recommendation that they need. When the target is furious over being fooled, Ryuji tells him that it's his own fault for falling for such bad acting.
  • In Tactica, if Joker accompanies the samurai group during the sake-house infiltration, Ann's bad performance ends up getting her in trouble, until Yusuke saves her by pretending she's drunk. This works until Ann actually tries Playing Drunk.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Carmen's neckline is low enough that it should reveal her nipples, but she apparently doesn't have any.
• Battle Cry: "Dance, Carmen/Hecate/Célestine!"
• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite seeming like a stuck-up airhead, Ann is actually the friendliest, sweetest, most compassionate member of the founding Phantoms. That said, she can grow quite acerbic and snarky if she's annoyed or upset. Not to mention, in her own words, she believed revenge against Kamoshida (who she actually wanted dead for he'd done to Shiho) was best carried out by making him repent for the rest of his life, believing it to be a Fate Worse than Death.
• Big Eater: There's a reason one of Ann's favorite spots to visit is the Wilton Hotel Buffet. The girl can clean out their dessert menu without getting fat thanks to her metabolism. Fellow model Mika is scandalized to learn that Ann can maintain her beauty without the intensive diet and exercise their profession usually requires. Upon being called out for her carefree attitude towards modeling, Ann realizes Mika has a point and consciously chooses not to gorge herself on crepes afterward; she later goes to the gym to train, bringing Ryuji to ask him for advice on slimming down, with a throwaway line in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth indicating that she stuck with it.
• Black Mage: In Persona 5 Tactica, Ann loses access to her single-target healing spells when compared to her kits in the original game, Royal, and Strikers. Players will only be able to give her a healing skill by equipping her with a Sub-Persona that learns it. Her skills in Tactica lean a bit more on inflicting high-damage magic, with her only support skill being the Tarukaja-line, which can increase her and the party's Attack stat for three turns.
• Black Magician Girl: While she does get single-target healing spells, Ann heavily favors offensive magic. Her Magic stat is the highest among the party, she gets abilities that put enemies to sleep for status effects, she learns Concentrate to boost her magic damage even further, her ultimate skill in Royal is a party-wide version of Concentrate, and the trait of her Personas gives a chance to lower the SP costs of spells if she's on the front lines. She also fits the archetype in terms of personality, being a social, affable, and feisty teenager with the specialization in fire magic to match.
• Boob-Based Gag:
  • Her breasts are the subject of gags during Mementos rides.
    Ann: Keep going! Run those Shadows over!
    Makoto: Um, Panther... is that your chest bouncing against my head?
  • In Strikers, Futaba comments on how large they are, wondering if they're "CG."
• Book Dumb: Not as much as Ryuji, but she's bad at every subject except for English, where she excels mainly due to being bilingual from living in America for some time. As she's the only party member in the same homeroom class as Joker, players will often be given the opportunity to help her out when she is asked questions during class time; answering correctly will increase Joker's closeness to Ann and also get more Charm points added. Strikers reveals that she bombed one of her exams.
• Braids of Action: Celestine sports an exaggerated pair, longer than she is tall and thicker at the base than her actual head.
• Break the Cutie: Oh boy, where to start at the beginning? Her friend Shiho jumps off the roof, and then Ann learns the truth about the depths of depravity Kamoshida has sunken to...
• Bridal Carry: Ann lands in Yusuke's arms like this when they land inside Madarame's Palace, at least before Morgana lands on Yusuke's head.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Revealed through her Confidant to be this in regards to her modeling job. Unlike many of her peers, Ann only treats the job as a passing hobby. Because of her natural beauty and good metabolism, Ann is able to coast on her looks without ever having to diet or exercise. It takes a particularly cut-throat and ambitious colleague undermining Ann to get her to take the job more seriously.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: She's fairly buxom, with noticeable Jiggle Physics during palace excursions and combat. In one cutscene Ryuji can't help but stare at her cleavage and Futaba has several comments expressing awe at them, especially when she sees them during a Hot Springs Episode in Strikers.
• Character Catchphrase: A nervous "w-wait" when faced with a new or frightening situation.
• Character Tics: When she's purposefully acting ditzy or is genuinely carefree, she'll swing her arms a little bit.
• Charged Attack: Learns Concentrate, which boosts the damage of her next Magical attack by 2.5, and her Secret Art in Royal, High Energy, applies this to the whole party.
• Cigar Chomper: Carmen is always seen with a cigar in her mouth.
• Classy Cat-Burglar: She's a Phantom Thief who dresses in a skin-tight red Spy Catsuit, wears a cat mask over her face, and goes by the code name "Panther".
• Cleavage Window: Her catsuit has one, held open by two zippers. She is less than thrilled about this upon her initial awakening, but doesn't complain much about it later on.
• Combat Medic: On top of dealing incredible amounts of Fire damage, Ann also learns the Dia line of healing skills, though her healing is exclusively single-target. In Persona Q2 she picks up Mediarama, and to differentiate herself from Yukiko she innately learns Fire Boost and Fire Amp while Yukiko has a stronger healing focus.
• Comically Missing the Point: While Ann is far from dumb, she can be a bit of an airhead at times. For all of her chastising of Ryuji for going off-topic, Ann is just as likely to get sidetracked during conversations with the other Phantom Thieves.
• Compressed Hair: When she first meets Joker in the rain, she has her hood up, which completely conceals her large pigtails.
• Cruel Mercy: She very nearly roasts Shadow Kamoshida when given the chance, but ultimately spares him. She does this not out of kindness, but to sentence him to a lifetime of shame and punishment for his sins. She even says as much later to the rest of the Phantom Thieves. It briefly unnerves Ryuji.
  Ann: I think revenge is better served if I make [Kamoshida] repent. Realizing what he's done, he'll grovel for forgiveness the rest of his life, you know? I just believe there are fates worse than death.
  Ryuji: Holy shit.
• The Cutie: Considered as such by the obviously-smitten Morgana shortly after he meets her. In reality not so much, as she's lost the required idealism and naiveté by now thanks to how she's been treated for her appearance by her so called peers, who have slut-shamed her to the point Shiho is the only person in the school by the game's start she cares about at all. Plus, being treated as a Lust Object by a man over twice her age and not being able to do anything to stop it only leads to Ann's classmates seeing it as a confirmation of their misplaced assumptions about her, and further damaging her reputation. Hanging out with the Phantom Thieves brings out her actual character, which is incredibly sweet and bubbly, sometimes to the point of obliviousness of other people resenting her, but she never holds a grudge against them.
• D-Cup Distress: Downplayed. She doesn't seem to have an issue with her figure per say, but a Mementos conversation has her commenting on how tight her chest feels, and wonders if they "grew" again.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?:
  • Occurs near the end of her penultimate link if choosing the romantic path. Joker comforts Ann with a tender hug as she breaks down in tears following her best friend's departure. Unable to contain her emotions, she suddenly blurts out that she loves him before catching herself, stunned by that slip of the tongue. Instead of backtracking however, Ann reiterates that she truly meant what she just said - and not in a platonic way either.
  • Also happens at the School Festival, when you save her from the Q&A and if you're dating. She ends up thanking you but asks why you did it. Her response to your answer is to blissfully say she knew you'd be good together before she realizes what she just said.
• Distracted by the Sexy: In Royal she gains the ability to inflict this on enemies with her level 4 Confidante power, Sexy Technique♥. Once unlocked, in battle, she'll occasionally call out to a Shadow^note provided it isn't a boss and strike a pose at the beginning of its turn, causing it to fail to act that round. Just to note, this works on female Shadows as well.
• Does Not Like Spam: Ann doesn't like carbonated juices. It is shown in her conversation with Ryuji after they retreat from Kamoshida, when he offered drinks she immediately says "whichever's not carbonated".
• Dominatrix:
  • Her Metaverse outfit and Persona, as well as the whip certainly give her this feel and look. It doesn't seem to be just an act, either; her follow-up attack consists of her yelling "On your knees!" before stomping on the foe and whipping them. It also actually makes sense for Ann to be a dominatrix in the Metaverse. Early in her Confidant, she mentions that her idol growing up was the female villain on an anime she watched as a kid (probably a reference to Fujiko Mine). She specifically admired the character for being sexy, taking what she wanted, and being true to herself. Thus, her thief outfit, the true nature of her rebellious heart, takes a similar form. Hell, one of the Mementos skits has Ryuji say that Ann is "startin' to look like a dominatrix" after she comments on how much better her whip handling is. Her third-tier Persona, Célestine, takes this up a notch by being dressed◊ appropriately leather clothing and retaking her original pose as Carmen.
  • This is incorporated into her unique skill in Persona Q2, aptly named Masochist Lash and Mistress Lash. They give her a free basic attack whenever an enemy gets bound, with Mistress Lash hitting harder.
• Dude Magnet: A lot of guys have the hots for Ann. Morgana openly crushes on her, Ryuji mentions finding her attractive (though it is Ryuji), and Yusuke shows hints of attraction (at the very least wanting to paint her beauty after seeing her). Joker also has a couple of animated cutscenes and dialogue that imply that he's physically attracted to her as well, which he outright confirms in the manga. Then there's the whole unpleasant business with Kamoshida and his overt lust for her. She usually enjoys flaunting her looks, but is very quick to object if it's not on her terms.
• Dull Surprise: Ann's acting delivery during the nude modeling situation with Yusuke was hilariously flat. It actually ends up becoming an in-joke with the other thieves. Later in the game, during Shido's Palace when Ann pretends to be a foreigner, Yusuke ends up congratulating her for improving her acting.
• Dumb Blonde: Kamoshida's cognition of her plays this trope straight, but this trope is played with when it comes to the real Ann. She struggles with her grades outside of English and tends not to understand the Metaverse aspects on a more than superficial level (and even the latter is somewhat understandable due to its inherently abstract nature), but she never really comes as outright dumb and is mostly on the ball in regards to Phantom Thief activities. She does come across as rather flaky during her Social Link however, to the point of angering fellow model Mika with her lackadaisical approach to her job. Mika even calls her a "natural airhead" for it. A major theme in the Persona series is that people are far more than stereotypes, and Ann's a good example. While she can be a bit airheaded, she can also be sharp as a tack depending on the subject. She's got a knack for reading people's feelings and can spot lies a mile away^note  In fact, one of her first interactions with Joker is calling him out on his bullshit excuse for running late. Ann has also shown to have a keen eye for the arts, while her dialogue with Ryuji after Kamoshida’s change of heart indicates that she has a firm grasp of personal finance.
• The Empath: A downplayed example, but she is more receptive to the differences between a single Palace as opposed to Mementos, and can identify one of Madarame's plagiarized works due to the negative emotions from the painting.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Her Sexy Technique♥ in Royal works on female shadows.
• Evil Is Cool: Invoked and zig-zagged. Ann recalled that when she was little, she used to watch a certain anime that has a sexy female villain character, and Ann ended up admiring her for her indomitable spirit more than she admired the hero of the story, which was eventually why she was fine with her rivalry with Mika in the end of her Confidant links, since she thinks Mika's similar to that cool villain in terms of spirit. However, when it comes to real life, she's disgusted at the evils done by the actual villains of the game; there is no admiration for them in her.
• The Face: Increasing her Confidant gives her a better ability to smooth over bargaining with Shadows. If Joker selects a wrong answer, and Ann's in the party, there's a chance that Joker will get a do-over.
• Failed a Spot Check: She doesn't notice for an entire battle that she's now wearing a latex cat costume, much to her horror upon realisation.
• Fake Brit: In-Universe: One cognition in a Palace is extremely snobbish and won't talk to anyone "lower than him". Ann pretends to be an English royal with a very fake accent, but she drops it after one sentence.
• Fanservice Pack: Ann's appearance in Strikers shows her having noticeably larger breasts than in the original Persona 5. Highlighted in the original game itself, as Ann complains about her Metaverse outfit being tight in the chest and wonders if her chest had gotten bigger again, which Strikers eventually reveals that her chest grew substantially larger since. It leads to Futaba commenting on them, wondering if they are "CG".
• The Fashionista: It may not be deliberate, but every outfit Ann puts on looks like a million bucks, compared to the strait-laced Makoto and Kasumi, the unkempt Futaba, and the demure Haru. It might have something to do with her parents both being fashion designers.
• Femme Fatale: Carmen gives off this vibe, as she appears as an attractive woman leading along two men with hearts for heads on dog collars and chains. Ann's own Panther guise evokes this visually, but Ann's mannerisms don't always line up with the look.
• Fiery Sensuality: Ann Takamaki is a fashion model whose looks are not only acknowledged in-universe, but also used as a distraction. Her Persona specializes in fire spells.
• Firing One-Handed: She uses an SMG with just her right hand. As a result, her targets are random when using her gun. It also emphasizes the Thieves' lack of experience with actual weapons. In Strikers and ''Tactica, she properly fires the gun by holding it with both hands.
• First Girl Wins: If the player romances her. She is the first of the Phantom Thieves who is romanceable that you encounter.
• Forgiveness: While she initially dislikes Makoto for supposedly being complicit in letting Kamoshida go unpunished, once Ann learns Makoto's side of the story, Ann apologizes for judging her, and the two become friends.
• Four-Leaf Clover: She has a green four-leaf clover patch on the back of her hoodie, which ties into her high Luck stat in combat. She also has one as a necklace charm.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • It's mentioned in Ann's profile in the art book that she's good at talking with other people. Her Confidant, apart from the bonuses it provides Ann as a party member, also helps with negotiation during Hold-Ups, occasionally giving the player a freebie if they pick a wrong answer. While other party members have the same ability, it only gives you another chance; Ann's version counts the enemy's response as a positive result, no matter what result it actually was.
  • Ann learns the Crocodile Tears ability, which allows her to make negotiations easier for Joker, the same Confidant Rank that Mika uses them to screw Ann out of a model shoot.
• Gamer Chick: According to her profile in the art book, Ann enjoys playing video games. Specifically, non-smartphone portable consoles. In-game, she often talks about how she ends up playing games instead of studying, a trait she shares with Ryuji.
• Generation Xerox: Joins the fashion industry as a model since her parents are involved as fashion designers.
• Genki Girl: By far the most outwardly energetic and active-minded of the Phantom Thieves.
• Girlish Pigtails: She wears her hair in twintails, which Carmen mirrors.
• Glass Cannon: Ann's Magic stat is the game's highest among the Phantom Thieves, she learns Concentrate to boost her magical damage even further, her Secret Art is a party-wide Concentrate, and her "Blazing Hell" move is a devastating fire attack. But she also has the game's worst Endurance, second-worst max HP (just above Fragile Speedster Morgana), and second-worst Agility (just above Mighty Glacier Ryuji). This means that Ann is not only unlikely to dodge, but most attacks she receives will take out a good chunk of her health bar. So while Ann can dish it out, she can't take it back. All of this is still present in Strikers; the change to a more active combat system grants Ann more offensive melee abilities, such as the best weapon range in the game and the ability to cause Fire damage and lower enemy attack power with melee attacks. Even so, she remains incredibly easy to take out with low Endurance and low max HP.
• Gorgeous Gaijin: Deconstructed. While Ann is only a quarter-white, the game still puts emphasis on her foreign traits (blonde hair and blue eyes), as well as her ability to speak fluent English. She's the biggest Dude Magnet among the girls and the most comfortable with her sex appeal, owing to her work as an aspiring model. However, she gets an unhealthy amount of Slut-Shaming for her looks, she draws all the wrong kind of attention from the gym coach Kamoshida, and people in general think of her as a Brainless Beauty and an Alpha Bitch, when she's actually rather lonely.
• Gratuitous English: In the Japanese version, Ann will sometimes shout "Get ready!" in battle when summoning her Persona, and "Hey! Hold up!" after downing all Shadows. In Royal, after performing a Showtime, she will sometimes say, "It's time to finish!" In Q2 she'll often shout a hearty "Let's go!" when opening doors. It's justified in-universe as her having a half-American father, and having lived in America for a brief period of time.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's a natural blonde and is one of the sweetest characters in the Phantom Thieves.
• Half-Breed Discrimination: Ann is one-quarter white due to having a half-American father. Her appearance is one of the reasons why she has a hard time making friends. Furthermore, her "exotic" appearance contributes to her Slut-Shaming reputation, since Westerners are stereotyped in Japan as much more sexually aggressive. Therefore, a lot of her classmates don't seem very surprised she's Kamoshida's "favorite." In the early parts of the game, you can even listen in on a conversation between two boys on how "easy" Ann looks just by her appearance alone. However, everyone does seem to realize that they were assuming far too much and several girls apologize and try to get closer to her.
• Hates Being Alone: Ann mentions multiple times that she gets anxious and depressed being alone for too long. She's often noticeably happy during Phantom Thieves meetings and she frequently mentions this as a reason for asking Joker to hang out, regardless of whether or not the relationship becomes romantic.
• Head-Turning Beauty: A more realistic version, but Ann's good looks are very noticeable, and she attracts a lot of attention (both good and bad) during the game because of it. Ryuji even asserts that she looks better than any celebrity, and the fact that she's capable of professional modelling without putting any real work into her appearance speaks volumes.
• The Heart: All of the member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts play into this to a certain extent, but Ann is the most notable example. To wit, Ann often acts as the moral center of the group, with her motivation for being a Phantom Thief being entirely dependent on helping the powerless (whereas the other Phantom Thief members have more personal reasons). She's the only member of the group who could convince Futaba to come out of the closet by reaching out to her emotionally, and is also the first member to suggest working together with Goro Akechi after he betrays them.
  • This trait of her persists into Dancing in Starlight as she is by far the most emotionally intelligent character in the game.
  • The trait is further reinforced in Strikers, where, despite technically being blackmailed into resolving the Jail incidents, Ann points out that the Thieves would have done so of their own volition regardless, reminding everyone of their pledge to protect and give hope to the innocent (particularly in this case, since they are the only ones capable of entering and affecting the Jails at all).
• Heroic Seductress:
  • One of Ann's unique Confidant abilities lets her seduce Shadows, making them more compliant during Hold Up negotiations. The other has her use Crocodile Tears, which counts a wrong answer during a Hold-Up as if it were a right answer. Royal also adds Sexy Technique♥, which makes an enemy skip their action by doing a sexy pose.
  • Also when trying to recruit Yusuke, Ann ends up playing the seductress to distract Yusuke since he has aspirations to paint her nude.
  • At one point in the seventh Palace, she and the other female party members have to talk up a Shadow for information. They all have to wear swimsuits for it, but she ends up doing most of the legwork by using her looks and some English to pretend she's half-white and related to the British Royal Family.
• Hidden Depths: Ann has a surprisingly keen eye for detail, enabling her to sense the anger and frustration in Yusuke's painting when he tries to present it as Madarame's, and thus wonders how an old man who wears a peaceful face in public could've possibly drawn such artwork. She also sees through Madarame's lie just by pointing out a single, easy-to-overlook fallacy in his reason for creating multiple fake copies of "his" famous work, the Sayuri: how could Madarame make copies of the Sayuri if the original got stolen? And when Madarame says he recreated it from a photo, Ann shoots that down too by saying that his clients are supposed to have a fine eye for arts; they'd notice if he painted a copy of a copy. She once again showcases her analytical nature during the Hawaii trip when questioning Joker and Ryuji's taste in girls, deducing that Ryuji's more interested in girls for their appearance rather than their personality as he initially claimed, by making him choose between two girls with similar personalities and he goes with the more attractive one.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: For being in a group that specializes in stealth, her Thief getup is a ruby red catsuit.
• Hypocrite:
  • She has a distaste for rumors and how they've ruined her reputation at the start of the game. But when she overhears random gossip on the subject, she instantly seems to believe that Makoto knew about Kamoshida, and was either helping cover it up or did nothing about it. It's doubly hypocritical in that Ann herself continued to push Shiho to put up with Kamoshida rather than trying to get them both away from him. Eventually, Ann acknowledges that even if Makoto knew, Ann can hardly blame her for inaction when Ann was closer and also did nothing.
  • She acknowledges being inconsiderate of Morgana's feelings after he temporarily leaves the Phantom Thieves and they find him in Mementos with Haru, but never acknowledges being inconsiderate of Ryuji's feelings (constantly treating him poorly and never showing any consideration for his feelings when he's being picked on).
• Identical Grandson: Implied to be one for her Caucasian grandparent, see Implausible Hair Color on the general Phantom Thieves page.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: Ann's Persona, Carmen, has one low enough that Barbie Doll Anatomy is the only thing keeping her "modest."
• Infinity +1 Sword:
  • Her best melee weapon is the Hard Branch, bought at Untouchable. It has a small chance to induce sleep. In Royal her best weapon is the Dainaraka Whip, gained by itemizing Black Frost during a Fusion Alarm. It has a high chance to inflict Freeze.
  • Her best ranged weapon is the Gungnir, gained by itemizing Odin during an Alarm. It has a high chance to induce Despair.
• Informed Attribute: Being a quarter-American. You'll hear plenty about when she was living in Europe, enough to easily think her Caucasian quarter comes from somewhere in English speaking Europe, while her time living in America gets next to no mention. Partially justified as for the timeline to make sense she'd have to have lived in America during her elementary school years.
• Innocently Insensitive: Ann's oblivious to how much her fellow co-workers struggle with their modeling careers, since she's able to coast by on her natural looks and metabolism letting her have a fantastic figure without effort.
• It's All My Fault: Deep down, she blames herself for Kamoshida's abuse and Shiho attempting suicide. During the confrontation with Kamoshida's Shadow, Ann ruefully notes that Shiho is an "idiot" for letting Kamoshida manipulate her and trying to kill herself, but that Ann herself is an even bigger idiot for not noticing anything. Ultimately, after realizing that she was projecting onto Makoto and that Makoto feels the same way, Ann is able to forgive Makoto and become friends with her.
• Jerkass Realization: Around the time Makoto joins the group, Ann realizes that she's been unfair to Makoto and apologizes to her.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Carmen's regal, intricately-designed ballgown doesn't impede her from kicking butt.
• Leg Focus: Ann often wears short skirts and shorts. In the fireworks festival cutscene, when the group is Caught in the Rain, Ann can be seen wringing out her yukata. Male Gaze on her legs ensues.
• Love Confession: Multiple:
  • While hanging out in the park, Ann challenges Joker to say something that can catch her off-guard as training to hone her Persona. He can reply with various stereotypical insults by calling her stupid or an airhead, but she remains unfazed and asks him to put on the pressure. Regardless if Joker and Ann become Platonic Life-Partners or get a Relationship Upgrade, he can say "I love you" to her, which does get her to become a stuttering mess before remarking "that's cheating!"
  • If the player decides to pursue her romantically, she says "I love you," backtracks for just a moment, then has Joker confirm what she just said, at which point Ann admits she absolutely meant it.
• Lust Object: Is the unfortunate victim of this from the school's gym teacher, Kamoshida. In Kamoshida's Palace, his cognitive version of Ann is a Brainless Beauty who does whatever he wants and dresses in skimpy clothes. The real Ann is thoroughly disgusted by it.
• Mixed Ancestry Is Attractive: Ann Takamaki is 3/4 Japanese and a 1/4 white American and is considered in-universe to be very beautiful, even modeling part-time. However, this also leads to Half-Breed Discrimination since because she is attractive with features (light hair and eyes) associated with Gyaru Girls, her classmates assume she is promiscuous and sleeping around, and shun her for it. Her looks also attract the attention of skeevy and abusive PE teacher Kamoshida.
• More Dakka: Her firearm of choice is a submachine gun; comes loaded with ammo and lets her fire on all enemies at once at the cost of being unable to choose a specific target.
• More Deadly Than the Male: Not only was she the only member of the founding Thieves who actively wanted to kill Kamoshida, but she only stopped because she felt life with a change-of-heart was a Fate Worse than Death. Ryuji expresses shock at her brutality.
• Ms. Fanservice: Deconstructed. She's this in-universe since she's a fashion model in her spare time, and it's exploited throughout the game. Not that she's particularly happy about it. Yusuke demands that she pose nude for him during the second target's arc; Ann only agrees to go through with it to get access to a door in the real world that the Phantom Thieves need to unlock, and she verbally protests almost the entire time.
  • Ann later explains in her Confidant that while she's perfectly fine with posing in skimpy outfits as a model, she's not okay with her body being used the way it was with Yusuke's painting because it wasn't on her own terms.
  • Despite the deconstruction, she's the single largest source of fanservice in the game, especially compared to the very conservatively dressed Makoto, Futaba, and Haru. She gets a slinky red Spy Catsuit with a dominatrix theme, and her attack pose seems... very hard on her back.
  • In Persona 5 Strikers, her summer outfit consists of short shorts that show off her legs and a low-cut top that bares her midriff.
• Mukokuseki: Actually part of her character: she has blonde hair and blue eyes despite being born in Japan to Japanese parents, due to one of her grandparents being an American. Her foreign features make her the subject of numerous rumors at school.
• Named After Someone Famous: Her third-tier Persona, Célestine, is named after Célestine Galli-Marié, a French mezzo-soprano and the first actress for Carmen.
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Ann has this in some of the official art for Strikers. Her catsuit is damaged and the main zipper from her Cleavage Window is down. The art appears to show that either her bra gets destroyed, or she isn't wearing one under her suit.
• Never Accepted in His Hometown: She was born in Japan and with the exception of when her parents worked outside the country, lived there most of her entire life. Despite that, she had trouble making friends (when you meet her, she only has one) and was generally ostracized for her "exotic" appearance.
• Never Gets Fat: She has an enormous Sweet Tooth and gorges on high-end desserts after stealing Kamoshida's heart. Despite this, she never has any trouble maintaining her supermodel figure, making her the envy of her modeling rivals.
• Nice Girl: She's kind, compassionate, and forgiving enough for Sojiro to point it out to Joker. For example, she looks out for Yusuke's living situation when Madarame is out of the picture and wastes no time in clearing the air between herself and Makoto after Makoto joins the team.
• The Nicknamer: If you pick a codename that is not approved of, she'll give them said codename instead (notably for Yusuke and Kasumi's codenames). She even thought up her own codename.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Ann starts her follow up attack by laughing with the back of her hand to her lips before swinging her whip with mad abandon.
• Not So Above It All: She usually has reservations about her dominatrix-esque costume and whip, but her Follow-Up has her playing it up to the n-th degree, complete with heel-stomping and telling the enemies to squeal like pigs before whipping them down.
• "Not So Different" Remark: While she initially dislikes Makoto for not doing anything about Kamoshida, Ann ultimately realizes that she was projecting her own feelings of helplessness and guilt. Once she realizes that Makoto also wanted to do something, the two exchange apologies and become friends.
• No, You: At least early on, Ann has a habit of turning awkward questions back on the person asking them.
• Oblivious to Love: She has no idea that Morgana is crushing on her, even when the other Phantom Thieves appear to notice. This includes their Showtime in Royal, when Morgana offers her a bouquet of flowers before their combination attack. Strikers and to a slightly lesser extent Tactica, ans the Thieves' Den imply that she's actively ignoring him instead, though.
• Only Sane Man: Compared to the rest of the Phantom Thieves, Ann is definitely the most normal and most sensible member of the team. Her reactions to things that take place are largely in line with that of a normal person, and her own quirks are much more subtle.
• Parental Neglect: Justified in this case, since her parents are fashion designers who are often away on business. Ann admits that she's somewhat jealous of how close Ryuji is to his mother, implying that she doesn't take it that well.
• Phenotype Stereotype: She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin to mark her as a quarter American.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Carmen rocks an incredibly fancy red and black dress with pink leopard print details near the top, paralleling the bikini "Princess Ann" wore.
• Pink Means Feminine: Ann is very girly, and her Phantom Thief gloves are pink.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Despite her gorgeous looks and Ryuji's occasional perverted tendencies, they're just old friends, and show no further attraction to each other.
• Playing with Fire: Her Persona's element of choice is fire. Ann learns the Agi line of spells, and her ultimate ability is Blazing Hell, which does massive amounts of fire damage to all targets. In Strikers, this gets expanded upon to include a temporary buff where she can coat her whip with fire, allowing her normal attacks to deal flame damage while active or until its special combo finisher is activated.
• Prehensile Hair: When using a physical skill or pressing the action button when viewing her Compendium description, Célestine will slam one of her braids (along with the man attached to it) to the ground.
• Proud Beauty: Downplayed. Ann clearly likes how good she looks, considering that she's a fashion model in her spare time and her Confidant is about learning to take her hobby more seriously. In battle, she can also facetiously flirt with enemies in Hold-Ups and make them skip their turn with a sexy pose in Royal. But Ann is just as quick to object to Kamoshida's advances, the Slut-Shaming by the Shujin students, or Yusuke's demands for a nude painting. So, Ann likes being pretty, but she wants to do it on her own terms and no one else's.
• Psychological Projection: When she finds out that Makoto had suspected Kamoshida's abuse of his female students for some time, but never said or did anything about it, Ann furiously lashes out at her and chews her out for it. When Makoto later apologizes and acknowledges it was most likely her fault that Kamoshida got away with his actions for as long as he did, Ann acknowledges that the same could be said of herself and confesses she'd been projecting her own feelings of guilt onto Makoto.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a brief one to Makoto, calling her pitiful for taking on the Student Council President job and being an errand girl to the school authorities just for a good letter of recommendation. She soon comes to regret this attitude, though.
• Red Is Heroic: Her catsuit is comprised entirely of various shades of candy apple red, and like Crow, hers is unique among the Metaverse costumes by lacking any shades of black or darker colors despite being a "thief".
• The Red Mage: Aside from having the highest Magic stat in the party, she also gets access to all tiers of single-target healing, Dekaja, as well as Dormina and Lullaby (Tentarafoo in the original). She's also literally red.
• Regal Ringlets: Her Persona is quite regal, and sports some massive curls.
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Her idle animations in the safe rooms of early Palaces show she's still a little self-conscious about her Metaverse outfit. She grows much more comfortable with it over time.
  • Downplayed. She's quite happy to play the Heroic Seductress, but only if it was her idea. Otherwise, she's usually the first to object, and very loudly at that.
  • Emphasized in Royal with her Sexy Gaze <3 ability, which allows her to weaponize this trope.
• The Resenter: Towards Makoto during much of the Madarame's arc, and the early parts of Kaneshiro's. Initially Ann resented Makoto for seemingly being a willing puppet of the faculty and turning a blind eye to Kamoshida's abuse of the students. This gets pushed to a breaking point where, after finding out their identities as the Phantom Thieves, Makoto blackmails the group into helping her take down Kaneshiro. The two end up making up and finally clear the air after Makoto awakens her own Persona and joins the team proper.
• Say My Name: Screams Ryuji's name during the course of his apparent Heroic Sacrifice in Shido's Palace, and later when he's the first to disappear when Yaldabaoth merges reality with Mementos and Ret Gones the Thieves.
• Screaming at Squick: She screams in horror upon encountering the downgraded version of Mara in Kamoshida's Palace (Mara being a monster that looks like a giant penis).
• Secret Art: Upon unlocking Célestine, Ann learns the skill High Tension, which acts as a Concentration buff for the entire party.
• Sexy Soaked Shirt: Happens in both Persona 5 and The Animation, but is more noticeable in the latter. Her white top becomes wet from the sweat caused by Futaba's Palace, which allows her frilly pink bra to show through.
• Sexy Surfacing Shot: The Okinawa Beach Episode cutscene starts with Ann emerging from the sea while throwing her head and hair backwards in Slow Motion following by a close-up shot of her cleavage. Cut to Ryuji and Joker in the sand clearly Eating the Eye Candy.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Ann is a reconstruction of this type of character. So long as she feels in control of the situation, she actually seems to like showing off her body and garnering male attention. Her outfit and general aesthetic is implied to be subconsciously modeled after thieves like Fujiko Mine who use their sex appeal to trick men and get away with crimes. Plus, she's a model in her spare time, and has no problem wearing sexy clothes or posing for the camera. Part of her confidant is aspiring to be the number-one model in Japan when her ranks get high enough, regardless if Joker romances her or not. However, Ann hates being forced into situations where she has to be sexy, and is a truly terrible actress who only manages to pull through because men are too distracted by her looks to notice how blatantly she's trying to manipulate them.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: While her hair is always in pigtails in the original game, Dancing in Starlight has the option for her to let her hair down and showcases her transition from looking cute to beautiful.
• Shipper on Deck: Played with in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. During one of Makoto's Commu events, Ann and Makoto discuss Sae's lovelife, or rather lack thereof, causing Ann to ask Joker if he'd be interested in dating Sae. Should Joker respond that he'd prefer to date Makoto, Ann, while not saying anything, can be seen getting notably excited and happy, all while Makoto has a huge Crush Blush.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: When the Traitor tries to make a "Not So Different" Remark, Ann replies as follows:
  Ann: We're not murderers!
• Signature Move: Blazing Hell, the final skill Ann's Personas learn, becomes this for Hecate in Persona 3 Reload. While Carmen doesn't have it in that game, she does have Fire Driver (strengthens Fire attacks by 75%) in its place.
• Slut-Shaming: Several students pass around rumors that Ann has been fooling around with Kamoshida and Joker. Virtually all the girls besides Shiho dislike Ann, while the boys assume she is "easy" and only hesitate to act on that because of Kamoshida. While Ann is accepting Kamoshida's advances, it's because she's being forced into it via her only friend Shiho's future; Kamoshida tells Ann that Shiho's spot on the volleyball team will be gone if Ann doesn't comply. When Ann finally has enough and refuses Kamoshida, he carries out his threats and then some. Even after Kamoshida is dealt with, the rumors about Ann being a slut don't go away.
• Smoking Is Cool: Carmen always has a cigar in her mouth. The original character worked in a tobacco factory, and is often depicted smoking in some capacity.
• The Smurfette Principle: Ann is the sole girl among the Phantom Thieves' four founding members. This is lampshaded after Yusuke joins, where you get a dialogue prompt to say that there are too many dudes in the group and you want better balance; said balance is later achieved when the Thieves gain 3 female members (Makoto, Futaba and Haru) in a row.
• Something about a Rose: Carmen's waist is covered in roses like a belt, and she uses the vines from them to drag along two butlers. Célestine's jacket is covered with rose decals.
• Spy Catsuit: Wears a red latex jumpsuit, complete with a tail.
• Squishy Wizard: Ann's specialties are powerful Fire spells like Yukiko before her, along with status ailments. She has the highest Magic stat in the game and above-average Luck, but she has the worst Strength, worst Endurance and the second-worst Agility (Ryuji having the worst).
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
  • Of Lisa Silverman, who expresses distaste in her own game about being considered "exotic" because of her ethnicity, as well as both being of the Lovers Arcana. They are rather different in terms of personality overall however, with Lisa generally being more irritable and confrontational in contrast to Ann's upbeat and cheerful nature. And in contrast to Lisa whose English is abysmal, English is noted to be one of Ann's better subjects.
  • Much like Yukiko Amagi, Ann is a Dude Magnet who frequently has to deal with unwanted advances from the opposite sex because of her attractive appearance. They're also both Squishy Wizards who excel at Agi damage (down to learning a severe-tier Agi spell that hits all enemies on the field) and can use healing spells, but are very frail to compensate.
• Sweet Tooth: Ann likes eating sweet food, but she doesn't like soda. During the Thieves' victory meal at a famous hotel's buffet, she aims to eat through the entire dessert menu to Morgana's bewilderment.
• Tarot Motifs: The Lovers normally symbolizes forming meaningful connections as well as being clear about your values or beliefs. After Kamoshida, Ann resolves to be upfront about herself and to never let someone suffer the ways she suffered. However, the Reversed Lovers symbolizes disharmony and misalignment with values. When she's first introduced, she was indecisive and unable to strike a balance between her relationship with Kamoshida to keep Shiho from being one of Kamoshida's molestations. Later she struggles with her modeling career due to her careless approach to pursuing an acting career.
• Technician Versus Performer: In Ann's Confidant, she ends up in this dynamic with Mika, being the Performer to Mika's Technician: Ann's natural good looks mean she can afford to treat modelling as a hobby, whereas Mika has to work quite hard to keep up her appearance to the professional standard. Unusually for this trope, it's Mika who the narrative favors, as she chews Ann out for being unprofessional and for coasting by on natural beauty, and tells her she's an insult to the profession and to the people who work so hard. Rather than be insulted, Ann takes the criticisms to heart and resolves to take the job more seriously, which is the crux of her Character Development during her Confidant.
• Technicolor Ninjas: Wearing a candy apple red catsuit with neon pink gloves (in contrast to her teammates, who wear mostly black) might not be the best choice for someone who calls themselves a Phantom Thief.
• Terrible Artist:
  • In the original game, Ann mentions that when she and Shiho first met, it was because the latter had came up to her and said "Takamaki-san, your paintings suck"; according to Ann, Shiho thought they really were that bad and just had to come over and say it.
  • In Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, she tries designing some new clothes for later dances with Yusuke's help. Despite her keen sense of fashion, her drawing and coloring abilities leave... much to be desired, and seem to cause Yusuke physical pain. To her credit, she's somewhat aware of this and refuses to show Joker her drawings because of how terrible they are.
    Yusuke: [when Ann says she's going to keep drawing] Ugh... am I going to be tormented again by those shaping lines that stir up uneasiness and the mayhem of chaotic colors?
    Ann: [embarrassed] Do you have to go that far?!
• Territorial Smurfette: Averted. Once she gets past her initial issues with Makoto, Ann's quite happy to have another girl on the team, and never shows any similar issues with Futaba, Haru or Kasumi.
• This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!: When she first encounters Shadow Okumura, she says a variant.
  Ann: This is insane on so many levels...!
• Token Minority: She is the only character in the game who is explicitly mentioned to be mixed race.
• Token White: Three-fourths of her, anyways, and the first main character in the franchise of at least partially Western descent since Lisa Silverman. With her natural blonde hair and lighter skin tone, she stands out among her fully Japanese friends and Morgana.
• Toplessness from the Back: The "Dark Sun" version of The Animation's opening has a Freeze-Frame Bonus of her standing in a body of water like this.
• The Vamp: Somewhat similar to the opera, Carmen's design gives this impression. Besides the story of her origin, she uses vine leashes to carry along two lovestruck male butlers and is constantly smoking on a cigar.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ryuji, whom she's known since middle school. Their relationship initially seems genuinely strained as a result of Ryuji investigating Kamoshida, but the two become friends around the time Shadow Kamoshida is defeated, using their first names for the first time in the aftermath of the battle. That doesn't stop them from snarking at or bickering with each other, though. More pronounced in Dancing in Starlight and especially Strikers, where it's made clear that they're quite close to each other at this point.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: As befitting her Heroic Seductress façade as a Phantom Thief, Ann uses whips in conjunction with SMGs such as Uzis or Thompsons.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: Her parents are often busy due to their involvement with the fashion industry.
• Whip of Dominance: After awakening her Persona, Ann turns into the Heroic Seductress Panther, who dresses in a bright red latex Spy Catsuit, acts like a Dominatrix, and wields a whip. This represents her desire to take back control of her life after having been abused and groomed by the school's Creepy Gym Coach Kamoshida.
• The Wild Hunt: Her ultimate gun is named after this and can only be obtained by turning Odin into an item in the Velvet Room. Doing this during a fusion alarm in Royal, however, instead bestows an even stronger gun based on Odin's spear Gungnir.
• Zipperiffic: Her catsuit has four zippers, which somehow results in her Cleavage Window but not in a way she can seem to fix; when she saw, and strongly objected to, what her Metaverse outfit turned out to be, she tried to cover it by hand instead.

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