Makoto Niijima

Makoto Niijima is a playable character in Persona 5.

Appearances

 * Persona 5: Playable Character; Priestess Confidant
 * Persona 5 The Animation: Major Character
 * Persona 5: Dancing Star Night: Playable Character

Design
Makoto has brown hair in a bob cut with blunt bangs and a French-braid styled headband that matches her hair color. Her eyes are abnormal as they have been depicted as red, although her eye color in her portraits can be interpreted as a reddish-brown. She appears taller than Futaba and Haru but slightly shorter than Ann.

Her winter school's uniform appears normal but without the standard blazer. Instead, she wears a black halter vest over a long sleeve white shirt with a turtleneck (which is different from normal turtlenecks for female students). She wears the regulation black and red pleated plaid skirt, black pantyhose and black-brown ankle boots.

Her summer school uniform is modified. She wears a white dress shirt with the High Priestess emblem ("BJ") embroidered on the collar instead of a normal polo shirt. Under the regulation skirt, she wears capri-length black leggings and black tassel loafers with no socks.

Her winter casual clothes consists of a black turtleneck shirt under a teal blue coat, with tight black pants and brown boots.

Her summer casual clothes consists of a white dress blouse with a black belt, black capris similar to leggings from her summer school uniform attire, and black low-heeled Mary Jane shoes.

Her Metaverse outfit consists of a two-toned (dark blue and black) skintight suit that is worn with a long black scarf, a dark gray corset-style leather breastplate, shoulder and knee pads with spikes, white gloves, and an iron mask.

Personality
Makoto is a perfectionist that has a strong sense of responsibility and unyielding reality. Makoto comes across as strict, intelligent, honest and very hardworking. In truth, she is a very compassionate and understanding young lady who works hard to make sure everyone is accounted for.

Makoto suffers from an inferiority complex as she feels that her older sister, Sae Niijima, is far more remarkable than she is. The pressure put on her by the Principal of Shujin Academy to find the Phantom Thieves as well as her older sister who accidentally blurts out that she is a burden causes Makoto to devalue herself even more, especially when she fails to produce the results they are looking for. As a result, she becomes increasingly more reckless, with little regard for her own safety, all in the attempt to show that she is useful and dependable. As a Phantom Thief, Makoto gradually gains self-confidence, ultimately becoming a more well-rounded person by the game's conclusion.



Despite her immensely serious and mature nature, she does have her hidden, humorous elements, such as being frightened hearing ghost stories, as well as the dark. When the Thieves introduce themselves properly to Futaba Sakura, Makoto grows increasingly nervous given how Futaba enjoys keeping her house dark and quiet and reminding Makoto of a horror movie-not to mention that, due to Futaba's own astraphobia, the thunderstorm outside broke said silence with a scream. When Futaba suddenly appears and shrieks in surprise, Makoto panics and hugs the protagonist's leg, gibbering and begging for Sae to save her until she realizes Futaba isn't a ghost. Futaba herself finds this hilarious upon realizing how stoic Makoto is normally, and repeatedly teases her about her phobia of horror movies throughout the game. She also possesses excellent driving skills.

As quickly discovered when she becomes a Phantom Thief, Makoto has a great deal of suppressed anger which leaks out during her fights, unleashing a very brutal method of fighting.

She is incredibly serious when it comes to studying and has a tendency of making her fellow teammates keep up with their studies. She also consistently looks out for their well being, often chiding them for eating unhealthily or spending too much time playing video games. Ultimately she cares a great deal about her friends, and does not hesitate to praise them when she feels that they've earned it.

According to the artbook, Makoto is talented in doing housework, and. She has a habit of putting her hand on her chin when lost in thought. Her hobby is reading (regardless of genre, including sci-fi and manga) and touring (after exams finish). She is a bit of a health nut, so she’s obsessed with nutritional value and a balanced diet. She cares about things like eating 30 different foods a day (which was once a government-sanctioned nutritional plan in Japan), eating less than 5g of salt a day, etc.

Persona 5
After the murder of her father in the line of duty three years ago, Makoto is deeply apologetic that her elder sister Sae has to shoulder the burden of supporting the whole family on her own. Makoto studies really hard so that she can enter a top notch university and relieve Sae's burden once she graduates.

Now a third-year honor student and the president of the student council in Shujin Academy, she is asked by Principal Kobayakawa to investigate the possibility that the Phantom Thieves are students from their school after their volleyball coach, Suguru Kamoshida's confession and arrest. She accepts the request and is quick to deduce that the protagonist and the others are the Phantom Thieves and starts to approach them. Ann Takamaki, in particular, does not like her presence due to a rumor that says Makoto was aware of Kamoshida's true nature but kept quiet about it like everyone else to maintain a paragon image before the faculties and receive recommendation for her own benefit, a thought that Ann bitterly tells to Makoto, which disturbs her.

She begins to tail them for a while, especially the protagonist, following him whenever he is in school or even as far as Shibuya. On June 11th, Makoto finally confirms her suspicions when Ryuji Sakamoto declares out loud in the courtyard of Shujin Academy that they are the Phantom Thieves. However, she decides not to give this proof to Kobayakawa and instead demands the Phantom Thieves to prove their justice by reforming an unknown mafia boss who has been extorting many students around Shibuya including those go to Shujin Academy. If they can complete the task, she will not expose their identities to anyone. Deep down, Makoto actually approves of the thieves and believes her father would think the same way. This belief annoys Sae and she blurts out that Makoto is a burden to her during a heated debate.

Makoto checks on the group as they have trouble reaching the center of mafia boss Junya Kaneshiro's Palace. Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke point out how useless she is for not doing anything that can help them but rely on the hard works of somebody else, something that greatly upsets Makoto after being told the same thing before by her sister and remembers Goro Akechi's words about her being a pushover. To prove her worth, Makoto purposely acts as bait into the mafia so that the gang can follow behind. Once there, Kaneshiro takes photos of the group being merely present in his adult-exclusive nightclub for blackmail material. He demands 3 million yen within 3 weeks for the photos which will ruin their reputations if leaked; additionally, if they cannot pay the 3 million yen, he would force Makoto into prostitution to pay back the debt, adding that he may even keep Sae as his personal slave.

Makoto apologizes for her rash action and explains how this folly could ruin Sae's effort in raising her. She tries to think of a way to pay Kaneshiro, but Morgana suggests to make her an ally by bringing her along to Kaneshiro's Palace because she is now the "special customer" to Kaneshiro's extortion business. Entering the metaverse, a passageway is opened to allow the thieves and Makoto to access Kaneshiro's "floating bank." Makoto is confronted by Shadow Kaneshiro who taunts her by revealing his plan to extort her sister. Angered and disgusted by Kaneshiro, Makoto awakens her Persona power of Johanna and decides to join the Phantom Thieves.

After changing Kaneshiro's heart, she receives a call from Kaneshiro who tells her he has deleted the photos and is going to turn himself in, relieving Makoto and the others. She then reports to Kobayakawa that she concludes her investigation of the Phantom Thieves by simply telling him that the Phantom Thieves are justice and she does not have any proof that the Thieves are in their school, much to Kobayakawa's dismay. She even declines his recommendation letter for university when Kobayakawa persuades her once more.

Upon showing her support for the Phantom Thieves, Makoto accepts Ann's apology for wrongly accusing her previously. Makoto asks if she can address Ann directly by her given name and without honorific, to which Ann happily agrees. Makoto also begins to act as a vice leader of the Phantom Thieves by proposing direction and trouble solution for the gang. She goes so far that she installs a spyware written by Futaba Sakura in Sae's laptop so the gang can learn the investigation progress of the Prosecutors Office.

After the Thieves come under suspicion, Makoto proposes reaching out to Akechi in order to gain information, only to find that Akechi has realized all of their identities. Akechi says that he will release the photos of the Thieves exiting the Palace to the police unless they work with him to find the true culprits behind Kunikazu and the Kobayakawa's death, but the first step involves stealing Sae's heart before the investigation finds (or plants) incriminating evidence on the Thieves. Makoto admits that she has known for a while that her sister has a Palace, but had hoped to change Sae's heart through other means.

While progressing through Sae's Palace, Makoto is shocked to realize the depths of her sister's bitterness and cynicism, particularly her Shadow's belief that trials are nothing more than games to be won by any means necessary. Makoto nearly has a breakdown upon facing her sister's Shadow, but is able to defeat her before convincing her to change herself without stealing her Treasure.

If the player cannot complete Kaneshiro's Palace in time, the police comes to arrest the protagonist, claiming they have found a drugged and brutalized schoolgirl in one of Kaneshiro's nightclubs deliriously muttering his name. This scenario is a false recollection made by the protagonist during Sae's interrogation due to his mind being addled by drugs he was forcefully administered by the police. Sae proceeds to leave the room to give the protagonist time to recover, at which point Akechi takes the opportunity to assassinate him.

Confidant
Makoto's Confidant can be unlocked on June 24th after you have finished Kaneshiro's Palace. Maxing this Confidant makes Johanna evolve into Anat and unlocks the fusion of Cybele.

Makoto's Confidant begins when Makoto asks the protagonist to guide her around the outside world to learn more about society. While exploring Shinjuku and exposed to the realities of the outside world, she sees Eiko Takao, a student of Shujin Academy was working at a salon. After discussing the situation with her, Eiko became friends with Makoto. Makoto was determined however to find out Eiko's situation and goes on a double date with the protagonist and learn that Eiko is in a relationship with Tsukasa, a shifty looking host who has been taking advantage of emotionally vulnerable young girls to force them work for illegal businesses in Shinjuku. Makoto slowly opens up to the protagonist during the confidant, admonishing herself for letting her studies fall behind in search for a social relationship and how the impact of her father's death affected the family. Makoto explains she felt like the expectations of society had on her has caused her to lose sight of the outside world and the feelings of those around her. Eventually Eiko asks Makoto for help as Tsukasa had to pay for damages after dropping a bottle of expensive sake. There she realized that deep down Eiko wanted to break free from her privileged life and strove to protect her newfound friend by revealing the true nature of Tsukasa with the Protagonist's help. After the altercation between Tsukasa and Eiko, she heads to a bar where the protagonist can decide to pursue a relationship or not. Regardless of the outcome, she makes ammends with Eiko who has returned to studying hard for college and she makes the decision to become a cop like her father did.

Makoto's farewell gift after maxing her Confidant is the Buchi Calculator, allowing the player the ability to use Shadow Factorization at Rank 1 of her Confidant in New Game+. If the player pursues a romantic relationship with Makoto, she will gift the protagonist a Wristwatch on Christmas, allowing the player to earn more points when using a Priestess Persona during their Confidant in NG+, and Makoto's Chocolate on Valentines Day, which fully restores SP to one ally when consumed.

Battle Quotes
Quotes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=400o53Xt_U4
 * "Johanna! / Anat!" (Exploiting enemy's weakness)
 * "Charge, Johanna!" (Exploiting enemy's weakness)
 * "Anat, come!" (Exploiting enemy's weakness)
 * "Persona!" (Accessing Persona skill menu)
 * "I'll use my Persona!" (Accessing Persona skill menu)
 * "You oppose us?" (Attack with Melee Weapon)
 * "Out of our way!" (Attack with Melee Weapon)
 * "Feel my rage!" (Using an offensive skill)
 * "No holds barred!" (Using offensive Skill)
 * "Ow!" (Taking damage)
 * "One more and I'm done for..." (Low health)
 * "The world is... spinning..." (While Dizzy)
 * "I'd run if I could." (While Feared)
 * "Freeze!" (Initiating a Hold Up)
 * "They're in disarray!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
 * "Let's wipe 'em out!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
 * "We can end this right now!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
 * "Fists of justice!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
 * "They felt that one!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
 * "Done and done!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
 * "I'll act accordingly." (Tactics changed to Act Freely)
 * "Understood!" (Tactics changed to Full Assault)
 * "I won't exert myself." (Tactics changed to Conserve SP)
 * "Prioritizing safety." (Tactics changed to Heal/Support)
 * "I'll leave it to you." (Tactics changed to Direct Command)
 * "Don't forget this feeling!" (Battle results)
 * "No time to waste!" (Battle results)
 * "That's a new one, isn't it?" (Protagonist gains a new Persona)
 * "The opponent is strong! Don't do anything reckless!" (Scanning high level enemy with unknown weakness)

Trivia

 * Makoto shares some similarities with Mitsuru Kirijo, in that both are student council presidents, third years at the schools they attend, and face a burden of some sort linked to their family's histories.
 * Makoto doesn't like her mask that much.
 * In addition she, while wandering through Mementos, complains about her phantom attire as well.
 * Makoto's Personas specialize in Nuclear skills that have not appeared in the franchise since Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, even though the element has a different role in terms of battle mechanics, which is for inflicting Technical damage beyond exploiting an enemy's weakness.
 * Queen is given the role of "Phantom Thieves' Advisor" for her wisdom.
 * Makoto is the only party member to have two summoning poses. The first is when she has Johanna, where she "rides" her Persona, while her second is with Anat, which unlike Johanna has a humanoid form.
 * Her summer uniform's collar has the letters B and J embroidered on it. This is a reference to Boaz and Jachin, two pillars found at the mouth of Solomon's Temple in ancient Jerusalem. These twin pillars are also depicted in the Tarot's Priestess Arcana, and are referenced with the letters "B" and "J" seen on the breasts of the boss in Persona 3.
 * Ryuji and Haru both nickname Makoto "Champion of Century's End" the first time they see her Metaverse outfit and Persona, a reference of 's title from the Fist of the North Star series. Makoto and Raoh are both specialized in fist fighting and use a mount. This was changed to "Post-Apocalyptic Raider" in the English localization.
 * Makoto's Metaverse outfit, especially her scarf, can be seen as a reference to Kamen Rider, especially those from the Showa Period. The reference is heightened further by Johanna's motorcycle appearance.
 * Makoto also shared her first name with Makoto Fukami from Kamen Rider Ghost.
 * The official twitter account for the Persona series posted a "Happy Birthday" message for Makoto on April 23, 2017 JST.
 * At 7/30 you can go with Makoto to watch a yakuza themed movie called "Like a Dragon" which Makoto seems to be fond of said genre . This is a reference to the Yakuza series of video games by Sega (in Japan called 龍が如く "Ryū ga Gotoku" which literally translates to "Like a Dragon"). The first game in the series also got a movie adaptation "Like a Dragon" or "Yakuza: Like a Dragon" (in Japan as 龍が如く 劇場版 "Ryū ga Gotoku Gekijōban"; lit. "Like a Dragon Movie Version")

Appearances in Other Media

 * Chain Chronicle: Queen, Knights class. (Article in Chain Chronicle Wiki)