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Blackened Masks

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"The reason the Phantom Thieves empathised with Akechi Goro was because he was just like them, really. Without the support of their friends and the guidance of a certain not-a-cat, each of them could have walked a similar, bloodstained path."

Blackened Masks is an ongoing Persona 5 Anthology Series by Hawkfire. The main premise involves what would happen should each of the different Phantom Thieves members became the perpetrators behind the mental shutdowns instead of Akechi, and the Disaster Dominoes that follows suit for their villainous careers.

Naturally, spoilers for the main game are inbound, but the author confirmed that any content from Royal or Strikers will not be accounted for barring a few minor references.


This fic has examples of:

  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In Futaba's chapter, Sojiro has to deal with the fact that his love Wakaba's child has vanished without a trace and could be dead for all he knows. It's to the point where he has a small Palace.
  • Adaptational Badass:
    • Whoever becomes Black Mask in each chapter becomes powerful enough to give the entire Phantom Thieves team a serious fight single-handedly.
    • Mishima (in Ryuji and Ann's chapters), Hifumi (in Ryuji, Yusuke, and Futaba's chapters), and Sae (in Makoto's chapter) become Phantom Thieves.
    • In Ann's chapter, Akechi is shown wielding Hereward as his Persona. In canon, Hereward is a third-tier Persona that Akechi doesn't get access to until the final moments of Royal's third semester, long after Yaldabaoth's defeat.
  • Adaptational Heroism:
    • By virtue of the fic's premise, Akechi is not the Black Mask and/or the culprit behind the mental shutdowns in any of the chapters.
    • Black Mask Ryuji, compared to Black Mask Akechi. While both are assassins for Shido, Akechi volunteered himself to Shido as part of a selfish revenge plot while Ryuji was strongarmed into the conspiracy at literal gunpoint.
    • Akechi in "Lovers, Seperated". Though still under Shido's thumb, the worst he actually does is use his fame as a vehicle to promote Shido's election campaign along with covering up some of his crimes. Though he has admitted to wanting to kill him, he never acted upon these thoughts, and the chance he does get thanks to Ann's arrest has him instead pass insight over to Ren over how to take him down for good and help put the Phantom Thieves on the map.
    • In Yusuke's chapter, due to Yusuke murdering Madarame early, Natsuhiko Nakanohara never becomes a possessive stalker and instead earns a modest but successful art career.
    • In the original game and all other stories, Sae is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood, but is still a major threat to Joker and the Phantom Thieves who required a lot of convincing to sway her over to the heroes' side. "Priestess of a False God" has her be one of the first victims of the psychotic breakdown incidents, and her subsequent discharge leads to her joining the Phantom Thieves as Rose.
  • Adaptational Upbringing Change:
    • This is an Anthology Series that puts the different members of the Phantom Thieves in the position of the Black Mask killer. Because Goro Akechi, who was the original Black Mask in the main game, is no longer a Dragon-in-Chief, he ends up having a much healthier upbringing as a result of him being Happily Adopted by much more well-meaning people like Yoshida or not losing his mother outright, resulting him in undergoing Adaptational Nice Guy or straight up Adaptational Heroism.
    • In Makoto's focus chapter, Makoto enforces this on herself, as Sae's inflicted breakdown and removal from her position as both prosecutor and guardian results in Makoto becoming a non-lethal Self-Made Orphan.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Obviously, given the subject matter, though how intense each members go through varies by chapters.
    • Ryuji originally only used the Metaverse to finally put down his abusive father along with any minor annoyances that looked down on him, only to end up Trapped in Villainy thanks to Shido employing him as his assassin by threatening to kill his mom if he doesn't comply.
    • Ann is so far the worst out of all thanks to her putting Revenge Before Reason, turning her into a mass murderer that puts Canon Akechi to shame, as her notoriety completely eclipses the Phantom Thieves' existence. Ironically, she is also the only Black Mask character so far to have a Heel–Face Turn and actively rebel against Yaldabaoth.
    • Yusuke ends up being A Lighter Shade of Black. While still not a good person, he at the very least tries to be a Noble Demon, and has enough Villain Respect for the Thieves to admit when he's been beat.
    • Makoto is a textbook example of "He Who Fights Monsters", as she ends up adopting the "Detective Princess" persona from Canon!Akechi to further her revenge plot against the SIU Director out of revenge for her father's murder, but ends up performing villainous acts equally on par with the original Black Mask's in her quest to do so.
  • Adaptational Wimp:
    • Ann in "Chariot, Crashed and Crumbling" remains a regular human and does not become a Phantom Thief due to Kamoshida being dealt with early.
    • The author's notes for Ryuji and Yusuke's chapters note that these versions of Akechi are not Persona-users. In Ryuji's, he's one of Yoshida's interns, while in Yusuke's, he is Ren's Emperor confidant, taking Yusuke's place. Likewise, Akechi is an ordinary man in Futaba's chapter, noting that the experiments to give him a Persona ended in failure.
    • In Ann's chapter, Yusuke never becomes a Persona-user or a Phantom Thief.
    • Shadow Sae is nowhere near the Palace-ruling house fixer she normally is in "Priestess of a False God", being just another face in Mementos and no stronger than any other Shadow there. Justified as Makoto encounters her far earlier than in the normal Persona 5 timeline, before she would have a chance to form a Palace at all.
  • Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
    • Naturally, any character that's put in the Black Mask role will go through this, but while Ryuji still sees them as companions and Yusuke considers them Worthy Opponents, Ann, Futaba and Makoto straight up hates them, the former two for Kill Stealing their targets, the latter for disrespecting the law (despite Makoto being guilty of doing the same thing).
    • Due to Mishima and Hifumi becoming Phantom Thieves, they are also considered True Companions to Ren rather than just another confidant.
    • In canon, Akechi had a very complicated relationship with Ren, and at least part of him hated Ren's guts since he found it unfair that somehow, Ren was able to make meaningful connections despite his stained reputation, and saw Sae as a means to an end in his quest for revenge. In "Lovers", Akechi and Ren are genuine friends to the point where he has Ann agree to take the heat for Ren's crimes as a Phantom Thief just to protect him, and has pure respect for Sae as a partner. However, the author notes that he still has some of his asshole-ish traits from canon, he just now has a Positive Friend Influence, thus making him a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and a downplayed Token Evil Teammate.
    • "Priestess" has Makoto view Ren and the Phantom Thieves with contempt when their first meeting has the latter bluntly consider himself and his group better than the police, which is more than enough to make her forgo her tentative plan to team up with them.
  • Adapted Out: The author mentions that a variant with Kasumi and Zenkichi would not be included in the Anthology Series, with the author mentioning that the story was initially written before they played Royal for the former. Sophia is also not included due to her nature as an AI.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: Black Mask Ann gives an excellent one to Yaldabaoth when it claims that its rule is what the people want. "If that's the case, then why are they screaming?" Yaldabaoth has no answer, and Ann immediately attacks.
  • Artistic License – Law: Just like in the original game, Black Mask Ann is implied to have seriously faced the possibility of the death penalty in her trial. Ann is a minor during the events of the story, and it's against international law to execute minors.
  • Ascended Extra: In canon, the SIU Director is an unnamed, minor antagonist who's mostly there to be one of the major factors as to why Sae is the hardened, broken prosecutor she is. In "Priestess", he ends up becoming the Arc Villain, adopting Shido's position as the corrupt government official who wants to rule Japan with an iron fist.
  • Asshole Victim: The mental shutdown victims very often have it coming. Kamoshida and Shido are two particularly stand-out examples.
  • Believing Their Own Lies: In the finale of "Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred", Ren all but points out to Futaba that she's so deep in her need for vengeance and stewing in her hatred that she comes to believe that there's nothing back in the real world for her, even convincing herself that Sojiro caring about her is a lie she came up with in her head.
    "Did you even pay a single bit of attention to your mother’s research!?” Joker finally snapped. “The Metaverse is very real, Isshiki! The only person lying here is you.”
  • Bittersweet Ending: As per the author's words, it's a Black Mask AU. No one's having a good time.
    • "Chariot, Crashed and Crumbling": Ryuji is shot and killed by Shido's cognitive perception of him, but holds back a Shadow horde long enough for Joker and the others to escape their confrontational arena. Ryuji dies, and Ren comforts his grieving mother while noting that he was never as alone as he thought he was.
    • "Lovers, Seperated": Ann is able to weaken Yaldabaoth enough for the Phantom Thieves to land the killing blow, saving the world. However, that still doesn't stop Akechi from arresting Ann; she receives a life sentence, and while she does get the occasional visitor, her parents and Shiho refuse to see her. Her tale ends with Zenkichi offering her some sort of deal, though.
    • "Emperor of an Empty Domain": Yusuke realizes that his nihilistic worldview was wrong the entire time, and ends up agreeing with Ren that Humans Are Flawed. Though still getting imprisoned, Sae agrees to pass his last art piece on to Ren before getting locked up, which is a recreation of Joker and the Phantom Thieves standing up to Yaldabaoth.
    • "Priestess of a False God": Makoto and Sae reconcile, with the former finally coming to understand the true meaning of justice. However, the two remain behind to hold off a horde of Shadows, with their fate being left nebulous.
    • "Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred": Futaba redeems herself helping the Phantom Thieves fight Yaldabaoth, but Ren falsely confesses to being the culprit behind the mental shutdowns and memory incidents to take the heat off of Futaba. The silver lining for Ren is that Sae and Akechi are on his side no matter what.
  • Bolivian Army Ending: Makoto's chapter ends with her and Sae standing against the horde of Shadows as the other Phantom Thieves go to steal the Director's heart.
  • Black-and-White Insanity:
    • How Ann operates as the killer. Cross her or her friends once? You Are Already Dead.
    • Black Mask Makoto in Priestess of a False God. Her strong hold of her sense of justice no matter what means that she isn't easily convinced and will keep doing things her way no matter what. Additionally, even after she sees the dark side of the police force, she still holds a naive faith that justice would prevail and fix the system once she roots out the corruption due to never befriending the thieves. Due to this, she doesn't follow through with her tentative idea to recruit the Phantom Thieves to her cause and realizes early on that she'll never see eye to eye with Ren.
    • Black Mask Futaba in "Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred". Due to only having video games to refer to with regards to the Metaverse, she sees her quest for revenge through the lens of Good vs. Evil, and thus views the Phantom Thieves as "evil" for supposedly getting in the way of her revenge.
  • Break His Heart to Save Him: Deconstructed in "Priestess". With the Director threatening Makoto's life if she continued to look into their father's death, Sae was forced to drop the investigation and coldly tell Makoto to move on and focus more on her studies, thinking it was the only way to keep her safe. Unfortunately, she didn't anticipate Makoto taking this in the worst way possible.
  • Break Them by Talking: Shadow Sae gets this in twice.
  • Butterfly of Doom: Each of the villains discover the Metaverse far earlier than they should in canon, and things goes wrong for them due to a lack of a Positive Friend Influence. Ann subtlety lampshades this when she's arrested, figuring that Ren and Ryuji was in Kamoshida's palace to try and force a change of heart rather than kill him like she did, and laments that her life would've been better had they actually succeeded.
  • Cain and Abel: In Makoto's chapter, Makoto is the Cain to Sae's Abel. Makoto inflicts her first psychotic breakdown on Sae, and Sae eventually responds by becoming a Phantom Thief in order to bring her to justice.
  • The Cameo: The author has expressed a lack of intent to cover spinoff content, but characters introduced in said spinoffs do make the odd appearance from time to time.
    • At the end of Ann's chapter, Zenkichi Hasegawa approaches the incarcerated Ann with a deal offer.
    • Toshiro Kasukabe is named-dropped as one of the politicians attempting to maintain societal order once things go south in Yusuke's chapter.
  • Code Name: Like in canon, the Phantom Thieves use code names in the Metaverse. Mishima is Admin, Hifumi is Emperor in Ryuji's chapter and Bishop in Futaba's, and Sae is Rose.
  • Crapsack World: In "Emperor of an Empty Domain", Yusuke's targeted attacks towards dangerous politicians eventually result in the city falling into absolute chaos, with the Phantom Thieves struggling to pick up the pieces.
  • Create Your Own Hero: In "Priestess of a False God," the first person Makoto targets with a psychotic breakdown is her sister Sae, compelling her to assault a co-worker and costing her both her prosecutor career and custody over Makoto. Though left near-destitute, this compels Sae to investigate future psychotic breakdowns and link them to Makoto and the SIU director, a connection she shares with the Phantom Thieves before joining them in stealing the director's treasure.
  • Create Your Own Villain: Black Mask Ann is unique in that she only gets access to the Metaverse thanks to the Phantom Thieves and truly starts her killing spree after the Phantom Thieves become public figures. Okumura's change of heart is what drives her to decide that the world needs to be purged of its scumbags.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Akechi still wears his old Black Mask colors as a genuine member of the Phantom Thieves in Ann and Makoto's chapters. This also applies to his personality, as he retains some of his "asshole-ish" characteristics from canon Royal's Third Trimester but is unambiguously one of the heroes.
  • Death by Adaptation:
    • "Chariot, Crashed and Crumbling": Ryuji's father was the first of his victims, and Ryuji ends up suffering from Redemption Equals Death at the end.
    • "Lovers, Seperated": Kamoshida, who was persuaded by the Phantom Thieves to confess his crimes in the original storyline, gets shot in the head by Ann in his Palace, resulting in him dying from a seizure and blunt head trauma in the real world. Nakanohara would later be one of many Ann's victims, with her final one being Sae. Subverted in the latter's case as Akechi reveals she was able to wake up from her shutdown, but implies it would be years until she learns to talk and/or walk again.
    • "Emperor of an Empty Domain": Yusuke killing Madarame is what leads to his Start of Darkness, and he succeeds in killing Shido much later on whereas the Phantom Thieves was able to make him repent in canon.
    • "Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred": Youji Isshiki is Futaba's first victim, and she later murders Junya Kaneshiro and the unnamed yakuza cleaner.
  • Death Glare: Makoto gives a look of pure hatred towards Black Mask Ann after the latter shoots Shadow Sae.
  • Defiant to the End: In Yusuke's chapter, Shadow Shido insists that he is God's chosen one right up until the end.
  • Demoted to Extra:
    • Akechi, in “Chariot, Crashed and Crumbling” is a non-entity with little to no mention of his presence, though the author mentions that Akechi in that story had lucked out and was taken in by Yoshida, Ren's Sun confidant. He's never referenced in "Emperor of an Empty Domain" either, though the author states that he takes Canon!Yusuke's place as the Emperor Arcana (for obvious reasons).
    • Ann is in the background in the Ryuji focused story, warranting only sporadic mentions as Ryuji's former middle school friend, a victim of Kamoshida (though thankfully Kamoshida only lives long enough to leer skeevily at her), and one of the attendees at Ryuji's funeral.
    • Yusuke isn't even mentioned once in "Lovers, Separated".
    • Sae is only mentioned a grand total of once in "Chariot", as Joker gets betrayed in the palace of the SIU Director instead of Shadow Sae's domain. Yaldabaoth is also never mentioned, though that's because Ryuji dies before he becomes a factor in the story.
    • Much like in Ryuji's story, "Priestess of a False God" also has Yaldabaoth go unmentioned, as that story ends within the Director's palace. Shido is also not a factor either, with the author answering to a commenter wondering Shido's whereabouts in Makoto's chapter revealing that Akechi's mother suing and successfully winning her case led to Shido losing any foothold in the political scene.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: In Ann's chapter, Sae suffers from her mental shutdown as Makoto gives her one last hug before falling asleep together. What makes it worse is that Sae doesn't even know she's dying. Thankfully, Akechi is able to save Sae, albeit barely, by casting Samarecarm on her Shadow.
  • Dies Differently in Adaptation: Like in canon, Isshiki dies to Black Mask at the request of Shido. However, Akechi killed her two years prior to Ren's imprisonment by having her walk into oncoming traffic mid-shutdown, and became a Posthumous Character as a result. In "Chariot, Crashed and Crumbling", she lives long enough for the Phantom Thieves to target her heart, and dies almost instantly when Ryuji kills her shadow during her public confession. Meanwhile, in "Hermit, Alone with Her Hatred", she is conventionally murdered by being pushed into oncoming traffic by the yakuza cleaner.
  • Dramatic Irony: In Futaba's chapter, when she and Joker have their first full conversation, Joker tells her that if there's anyone waiting for her in the real world, she should contact them and let them know she's alive, since his guardian had someone he cared about vanish without a trace and he's been depressed ever since. Neither of them know that Futaba herself is the missing loved one Joker's talking about.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: Book smarts are never Ryuji's forte, but in Yusuke's chapter when the group learns Yusuke is a Persona-user Ryuji immediately suspects him of being responsible for the mental shutdowns. Nobody else realizes that because Yusuke is the only known Persona-user outside their group, he's circumstantially a prime suspect.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Nakanohara gets a solid art career and a happy ending in the wake of Madarame's death in Yusuke's chapter.
  • Entertainingly Wrong: In Ann's chapter, Makoto notices Ann's suspicious behavior and comes to the justifiable if erroneous conclusion that she is a member of the Phantom Thieves.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: Makoto is furious to realize Ann was using her to get to Sae in Ann's chapter.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Ryuji. His turn to villainy is sparked by his desire to protect her from her abusive husband, he uses his powers to make extra money to help her out, and Shido threatening her life is the reason why he can't afford breaking out of his control. Even when he's dying, his last request to Ren is to look after her and make sure she never finds out about his life as an assassin.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: In Yusuke's chapter, Shadow Sae might be the living manifestation of every one of Sae Niijima's worst qualities, but she still unabashedly loves Makoto. This causes Yusuke to stay his blade against her.
  • Everybody Has Standards: In Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred, Sae has been hounding Sojiro for any information on cognitive psientist he picked up from Wakaba. But in the opening, she remembered on the way that the current date was the anniversary of both Wakaba's death and Futaba's disappearance, so she decided to refrain from questioning him. However, Sojiro is agitated enough on the death date that when Sae enters his coffee shop, he thinks she plans to do the same interrogation as usual.
  • Everyone Is a Suspect: Upon finding out her father's murder was an inside job, Black Mask Makoto begins to target everyone within the police force for answers in her chapter.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Black Mask Yusuke's nihilistic mindset prevents him from understanding how Futaba or Sae could be fundamentally sympathetic and still form Palaces. He rationalizes them away as aberrations in a fundamentally rotten system.
  • Evil Laugh: Black Mask Futaba breaks out into unhinged laughter when she discovers the identity of her mother's murderer from Shadow Kaneshiro.
  • Extremely Protective Child: Black Mask Ryuji murders his abusive father in order to protect his mother.
  • Fatal Flaw: The story explores on how each of the character's own flaws drive them to ruin without the Positive Friend Influence in their lives when they found the metaverse.
    • Ryuji, when angered, lashes out easily and doesn't control his temper as well as he should. Ryuji also targeting only those who wronged him or annoy him made it easy for Shido to track him down to use him.
    • Ann is the most emotionally driven and easily falls under Black-and-White Insanity when she manages to kill Kamoshida, and continues to employ Revenge Before Reason before analyzing the situation beforehand. Ann nearly goes through with actually killing Makoto for the fallout of Kobayakawa's stolen heart before confronting Makoto's shadow makes her realize that she assumed too much about Makoto too soon... though unfortunately not enough to stop her from trying to kill Sae.
    • Yusuke's Selective Obliviousness means that he won't consider that he had been wrong about some of his stances until it's shoved right in his face, and his tendency to get defensive when challenged prevents him from properly self-reflecting and admitting fault even when it is shoved right in his face.
    • Makoto's Black-and-White Insanity fueled by her naive and idealistic views of justice and wanting to uphold her father's teachings, is a double-edged sword as without meeting the thieves, Makoto is stuck on her canon self's pre-Character Development views as the Black Mask and refused to budge until it's too late.
    • Futaba, pre-Character Development, deals with her problems by withdrawing inward and shutting the world out. In the original game, this turned her into a suicidal hikikomori; in her chapter, upon discovering the Metaverse, she completely commits to living there and using it as a toxic escapist fantasy. Her love of video games and anime also devolves into a need to view the world through a lens of good vs. evil.
  • Forced into Evil: Ryuji is forced into Shido's service on pain of death for both himself and his mother.
  • Foreshadowing: The title's for each story gives a good look to how the featured Black Mask's ending would look like. Ryuji dies, Ann received a life sentence and is shunned by her family and Shiho, the latter of whom she started her murderous rampage for, and Yusuke is forced to face that his initial ideals about Humans Are Bastards and his killings had amounted to nothing and turned himself in.
  • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Black Mask Ann dismisses Shadow Nakanohara's claims about Madarame as the pathetic excuses of a misogynist prick before murdering him.
  • A God Am I: Shido refers to himself as chosen by God. Yusuke twists this as his Pre-Mortem One-Liner, finding it fascinating that no one has called him a god before.
  • Graceful Loser: Black Mask Yusuke accepts his final defeat with grace.
  • Guest-Star Party Member: Black Mask Ryuji, Yusuke, and Futaba both have temporary stints fighting alongside the Phantom Thieves.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Black Mask Ann immediately tries to fight Yaldabaoth upon meeting it, and softens it up for the Phantom Thieves.
  • Hero of Another Story: The Phantom Thieves' activities are only alluded to due to the stories focusing only on the Black Mask version of each story's focus character.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Because Yusuke's attacks have a clear pattern to them - unlike with Canon!Akechi, Ryuji or Ann before him - the public's opinion on the Phantom Thieves tanked practically overnight following Shido's death.
  • Humans Are Bastards: What Yusuke believes in his stint as the main antagonist, since the first person he killed was his former mentor Madarame. This ends up getting challenged as he finds out that Futaba and Sae's palaces were not born out of any selfish desires, but out of misguided guilt and love for their family.
  • I Have No Daughter!: Implied at the end of Ann's chapter. It's noted her parents never visit her in prison.
  • In Spite of a Nail: The author outright states that Sae still has a palace in "Emperor of an Empty Domain" despite Akechi being a non-factor and Yusuke nipping the Conspiracy in the bud.
  • Kansas City Shuffle: In "Priestess", Makoto watches as the Phantom Thieves are traversing Kunikazu Okumura's Palace, so she and the SIU Director prepare to stage a psychotic breakdown right after they steal his heart to mark them as criminals. However, it turns the Phantom Thieves were staging trips while navigating their real target: the Director's Palace. By the time Makoto realizes the deception, the Phantom Thieves have already shown the Director his calling card and are ready to steal his treasure.
  • Karma Houdini: In Makoto's chapter, the Phantom Thieves forsake their opportunity to change Kunikazu Okumura's heart in order to deal with the SIU Director and Makoto, and he ends the story in position to get away with his crimes and remain entirely unrepentant.
  • Like Cannot Cut Like: Ren is forced to reject the idea of stealing Makoto's heart when offered in "Priestess of a False God", since her having a Persona automatically makes her immune to such tactics.
  • Lone Wolf Boss: Black Mask Ann fits the mold as she has no allegiance to Shido or Yaldabaoth throughout her murderous career. She actually tries to kill Yaldabaoth after three minutes in its company.
  • Mêlée à Trois: Late in "Hermit", the Phantom Thieves, Futaba, and Shadow Shido engage in a three-way fight.
  • Muggles Do It Better: In Yusuke and Makoto's chapters, the Phantom Thieves have absolutely no luck catching the Metaverse killer with their supernatural powers. Sae, on the other hand, manages to nail them with ordinary detective work. She gets bonus points in Makoto's chapter for doing so without the resources of the SIU.
  • My Greatest Failure:
    • In "Priestess", Sae actively kicks herself for not being there for her sister when it mattered, and winds up joining the Phantom Thieves if it means finding and reconciling with her.
    • In Hermit, Sojiro is haunted by his failure to rescue Futaba from her Evil Uncle before her disappearance, to the point of developing a small Palace around his distortion.
  • Not Always Evil:
    • In Emperor of an Empty Domain, Yusuke notes that while all the Palaces he visited represented evil desires, Futaba's Tomb is base on self-hatred for thinking she caused her mother's "suicide" while Sae's ambition all started because she wanted to support her sister Makoto after their father's death. Sadly, this does nothing to push Yusuke from his conclusion that Humans Are Bastards.
    • Expanding from the canon examples of Futaba and Sae, Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred has Ren realize that possessing a palace doesn't automatically make one evil, just distorted. Akechi has a Palace based on his obsession to climb the police rank and get revenge on his father Shido for abandoning his mother, but is willing to give up all his progress to save Ren from the corrupt police. Likewise, after the events of Akechi's palace, Ren finds out that his guardian Sojiro also has a Palace, but his is based on his guilt of not finding Futaba in time after her mother's death.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Makoto beats the ever-living shit out of Black Mask Ann for killing Shadow Sae.
  • Noodle Incident: Black Mask Makoto has improved her tailing skills ever since an incident that Shall Not Be Named (emphasis the narration's).
  • Not His Sled: The False God mentioned in Makoto's chapter? It's not Shido. It's the SIU Director.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Shadow Sae insinuates that Black Mask Ann doesn't really kill because she thinks it's the right thing to do, she kills because it makes her feel powerful.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Author comments note that Akechi is never pleased in stories where he has no direct hand in Shido's downfall.
  • Outside-Context Problem: Yaldabaoth's existence is this to Ann and Yusuke. While Yusuke's mentality has him joining Yaldabaoth's side, Ann tries (and fails) to fight it. Ryuji never finds out about Yaldabaoth due to him dying in Shido's palace, and Makoto's chapter ends before she has a chance to face the God of Control. Futaba's chapter, meanwhile, relegates most of the fight to offscreen.
  • Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Late in Ann's chapter, Akechi passive-aggressively snarks that Sae has recovered from her mental shutdown and might relearn to walk and talk in a few years. Ann promptly lampshades it.
  • Patricide:
    • Black Mask Ryuji's first victim is his own abusive father.
    • Black Mask Yusuke's first victim is his adoptive father Madarame.
  • Patient Zero: Each Black Mask has a very personal foe serve as their first victim, with the phrase "patient zero" explicitly being used in Makoto's chapter. Ryuji has his father, Ann has Kamoshida, Yusuke has Madarame, Makoto has Sae, and Futaba has Youji.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: The various Black Masks typically inflict murder and comas on society's biggest scumbags such as Evil Teacher Kamoshida, Abusive Parents Sakamoto Sr. and Madarame, and Corrupt Politician Shido.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Black Mask Ann makes the completely conscious decision to leave Shadow Makoto in peace after hearing her Hidden Depths.
    • After Black Mask Yusuke learns about Shadow Sae's motivations, he chooses not to go through with murdering her, and instead turns on Shido (a solid-gold grade-A Asshole Victim if there ever was one).
  • Precision F-Strike: Sae delivers a massive F-bomb when she accidentally ends up in the Metaverse with the rest of the Phantom Thieves in "Emperor of an Empty Domain".
  • Role Swap AU: Each chapter casts one of the Phantom Thieves as Black Mask, with Ryuji and Makoto's chapters in particular acting as straight retellings with the roles recast.
  • Saying Too Much: Each of the Black Masks get found out in one way or another due to a minor mistake they make, as a Call-Back to Akechi's canon "Pancake" moment:
    • Ryuji is found out because he is accidentally brought to the Metaverse on Ren's first day in Shujin and warns him off from trying to tell anyone that Ryuji has had access to the Metaverse early.
    • Yusuke is close to being able to get away with his killings unscathed, but he makes the mistake of unmasking himself in front of Sae's Shadow.
    • Makoto's early targets being people who are not big fans of her father is what leads to Sae realizing Makoto is a potential culprit.
  • Selective Obliviousness: Yusuke, as the antagonist finds himself challenged about Futaba and Sae's Palaces and briefly ponders if he had killed those who had Palaces but were actually innocent and formed them due to turmoil in their lives, but he has come too far as a killer to consider the idea that he had been wrong.
  • Serial Killer: All of the Black Mask characters qualify, committing several murders over the span of their stories.
  • Spared by the Adaptation:
    • Due to Akechi not being Black Mask as part of the premise, he never faces his canon Bolivian Army Ending.
    • In canon, Akechi kills Kobayakawa in order to put pressure on the Phantom Thieves by framing them for murder. In the chapters where Kobayakawa is mentioned, he doesn't die and instead becomes a target for the Phantom Thieves, with him resigning after his confession.
    • In Makoto's chapter:
      • The Phantom Thieves discover the Okumura trap before it can be sprung, and Kunikazu Okumura survives.
      • The author's comments indicate that Akechi's mother successfully sued Shido for child support in this timeline, implying that she's still alive and in Akechi's life.
  • Spotting the Thread: The main reason Black Mask Makoto gets caught. Sae realizes that she was the first victim of a psychotic breakdown and she alone doesn't fit the victimology since she had only been working for the SIU for six months and didn't have time to make any professional enemies. This means that the motivation was most likely personal, and her breakdown happened right after a vicious argument with Makoto. Add on the fact that most of the early victims were Makoto's enemies and her Detective Princess thing explains the rest, and you have a strong circumstantial case pointing to Makoto.
  • The Stinger: "Lovers, Separated" ends with Zenkichi approaching Ann with a deal.
  • String Theory: In Makoto's chapter, Sae has a wall covered in photos and red string detailing the circumstantial evidence pointing to Makoto as the culprit of the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns.
  • Sympathetic Murderer: Black Mask Ann starts off as more sympathetic than the other Black Masks due to killing Shadow Kamoshida in the heat of the moment immediately after narrowly escaping imminent mortal danger at his hands. Of course, that goes right out the window once she becomes a mass murderess.
  • Sympathy for the Devil: Make no mistake, Futaba hates Black Mask Ryuji for killing her mom, refusing to show up to his funeral because of it, but she recognizes that he was only trying to protect his own mother (it's also made clear that for what it's worth, Ryuji took no enjoyment out of it).
  • Taking the Heat:
    • The end of "Lovers, Seperated" has Ann also take the fall for everything Ren did as leader of the Phantom Thieves, since Sae had enough evidence piled up to put him away should someone else decide to pick up where she left off. Unlike in canon, Akechi and Ren are actual friends when he made the deal, and Ann agrees due to her having nothing left to lose.
    • The end of "Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred" has Ren take the fall for everything Futaba did during her time in the Metaverse.
  • Tarot Motifs: Subtle, but the role swap elements means that the canonical arcanas that the thieves had are swapped to something different. Akechi in Yusuke's chapter takes Yusuke's canonical place as Ren's Emperor confidant while Black Mask Ryuji is Ren's "Tower" confidant in his focus chapter according to the author, for an example.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone:
    • Due to the Role Swap AU element, Akechi often ends up in a better position mentally and emotionally in some of these stories. In "Chariot, Crashed and Crumbled", for example, the author mentions that Akechi was taken in by Yoshida instead of Shido.
    • In "Emperor of an Empty Domain", Nakanohara gets a happy ending due to getting out from under Madarame's thumb. Yusuke hears over the years that he has managed to corner a small but well-paying clientele with his art.
  • Token Adult: In Makoto's chapter, Sae is the only adult member of the Phantom Thieves.
  • Vengeance Denied:
    • In "Lovers, Separated", the Phantom Thieves steal Principal Kobayakawa's Heart which forces him to confess that he knew about Kamoshida's sexual assaults and covered them up. When Ann tries to enter his name in the Mementos App, she's shocked to discover she can no longer get to him. Ann is furious the Phantom Thieves deprived her of the chance to get another shot at revenge.
    • In "Priestess", once Makoto finds out the Phantom Thieves are going after the Director, she rushes towards his Palace so they won't steal his heart and deny her the satisfaction of ripping the rug out from under him. However, the Thieves overpower her in direct combat, forcing her to remain behind against a horde of Shadows.
    • In "Hermit", Futaba discovers that Shido was the one who ordered her mother's death, but the Phantom Thieves come to call and change his heart before she can murder him.
  • Villain Protagonist: Each story focuses on that particular universe's Black Mask, a murderous assassin (Ryuji and Makoto)/serial killer (Ann, Yusuke, and Futaba).
  • Visionary Villain: Most of the Black Masks have grandiose plans for their powers; Ann and Yusuke both want to purge as many rotten humans as they can, while Makoto wants to take over Japan's law enforcement and reform it. The only exceptions are Ryuji, who uses the Metaverse to avenge petty grievances and make a little extra cash for his mom, and Futaba, who uses it as an escapist fantasy while trying to find her mother's killer.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Implied at the end of Ann's chapter. It's noted Shiho never visits her in prison.
  • What If?: Each of the Phantom Thieves were the culprit behind the mental shutdowns plaguing Japan?
  • Worf Had the Flu: Black Mask Ann might be a far more active user of the Metaverse than the Phantom Thieves, but when the Thieves corner her she has just been completely worn down by Shadow Sae and is thus quickly reduced to Makoto's punching bag.
  • You Are Too Late: Sojiro got to Youji Isshiki a fortnight after Futaba entered the Metaverse and disappeared in "Hermit, Alone with Their Hatred". This fact has haunted Sojiro ever since.

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