Haru Okumura

Haru Okumura is a playable character from Persona 5. She is a wealthy girl who attends Shujin Academy, and is secretly a Phantom Thief. She is the only daughter of Kunikazu Okumura, the Thieves' fifth major target.

Appearances

 * Persona 5: Playable Character; Empress Confidant
 * Persona 5 The Animation: Major Character
 * Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: Playable Character

Design
Haru has chin-length curly light auburn hair and brown eyes. She is of below average height, being taller than Futaba, but shorter than Ann and Makoto.

She wears her winter school's uniform modified to her taste; a pink turtleneck cardigan with short puffed sleeves and a long-sleeved white shirt underneath. The cardigan is zipped open up to her navel, and has two large pockets on the front. She wears the standard black and red tartan skirt, white tights with a black flower pattern and black Mary Jane shoes.

Her summer school uniform retains her skirt and shoes, but she wears a light purple knitted sleeveless turtleneck sweater with a dark purple ribbon around her waist and white loose socks.

Her summer casual outfit is a transparent greenish white collar dress underneath the white tank top, white pantyhose and cream pumps.

Her winter outfit is a white dress shirt with a dark blue ribbon, pale green fluffy coat, pink skirt, white tights and brown shoes.

Her Thief outfit consists of a dark purple cavalier hat with a feather plume tucked into a royal purple hatband, a long-sleeved pale pink blouse with a white neck jabot (held there by a red gem pin), a black corset vest with gold buttons, bloomers that match her hatband, black pantyhose, a holster belt carrying ammo and lace-up pumps. Her mask and gloves are black and violet, respectively.

In the upcoming Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, her outfit resembles a ballerina. It consists of a black corset with puffy bright pink short transparent sleeves, a white tutu under her Shujin Academy skirt, white tights and black ballet shoes with heels. She also wears black lace gloves with a matching choker and a red ribbon tied on top of her head.

Personality
Haru is generally very shy and reserved. At school, she is viewed as eccentric due to her tendency to keep to herself and avoid contact with others as much as possible. She has serious trust issues, finding it difficult to differentiate between who truly values her as a friend, and who merely wants to use her for her family's status. This is due to her past, where not only friends, but adults and teachers would be kind at her just to please her father and smiled at her for their own personal gain. Despite this, Haru is an incredibly kind-hearted girl; she becomes fast friends with all of the Phantom Thieves, and is the only member of the group Ryuji doesn't argue with on a regular basis. She grew up admiring female superheroes she watched on TV, due to them always fighting to protect others and being happy, desiring to be just like them someday.

After meeting Morgana, Haru becomes passionate and rebellious, gaining a resolve to make her father atone for his crimes. At first, she is reluctant to team up with the Phantom Thieves, saying she can't cooperate with people who don't know what they want to do, and calls them out for turning their backs on their own teammate when their goal is supposed to be to help the weak. After her real desires are brought to light, however (namely, to get out of her arranged marriage with her abusive fiance), she changes her mind and decides to team up with the Thieves to change her father's heart. After fully awakening to her Persona, she decides on the codename 'Noir', to remind herself that she is operating on the darker side of the law despite her desire to be a heroine of justice. As such, she is rather surprised to discover that the others decided on their codenames based merely on how their outfits look, when she had created such an elaborate backstory for hers.

Initially, Haru acts and behaves very formally towards the group, believing that it's her responsibility as the newest member of the team. After being told that whether or not she's new doesn't matter to them, however, she loosens up and becomes much more casual; she calls Makoto "Mako-chan" because Makoto is the first friend of her own age she's ever had (this initially catches Makoto off-guard, but she soon considers it refreshing since Haru had been excessively formal early in the conversation). She calls Morgana "Mona-chan" both in and out of the Metaverse and uses affectionate honorifics for everyone (-kun for boys and -chan for girls). It goes both ways, as she dislikes the younger members of the group calling her "Senpai" and asks for them to just call her "Haru," a trait she shares with Makoto.

In her spare time, she enjoys tending to her garden, as well as growing vegetables on the roof of the school. She also enjoys horror movies. Despite her gentle personality, she admits she feels excited when Shadows beg for their lives, that cutting down enemies as they approach is a thrill, and that she sees combat as a form of stress relief, hinting she is somewhat sadistic. Also, after a battle, Haru may say something along the lines of, "Phew, I need more of that!", and says that despite getting nervous before combat, she always wants to do it again afterwards. Her sadistic streak is enough to freak out Makoto, who's well-known among the group for her vicious temper and tendency to take her anger out on Shadows.

Persona 5
Haru is a third year student in Shujin Academy and the daughter of the president of Okumura Foods. Haru has been forced into an arranged marriage with the son of a prospective associate of her father's, Sugimura, whom she despises for his controlling and abusive nature.

She is first seen inside of her car in an anime cutscene during the fireworks festival in summer.

Fifth Heist: Kunikazu Okumura
She first met Morgana by coincidence, seeing him wandering the street after his falling out with the Phantom Thieves. After approaching him, she was consequently dragged into her father's Palace, wherein she awakened to her Persona. However, her Persona lacked the power the Phantom Thieves' had. Not wanting to get married, she decided to work with Morgana to change her father's heart.

The Thieves encounter Haru within Okumura's Palace. Morgana introduces Haru as the "Beauty Thief," to which she plays along. She and Morgana then challenge the Phantom Thieves to a competition to see who can get the treasure first, which quickly ends disastrously with Haru experiencing stage fright the first time she meets the Phantom Thieves, and blundering into a room packed with alert Shadows. This leads to a petty chase in Mementos where she accidentally crashes Morgana.

The protagonist then meets Haru again at school, where Makoto Niijima confirms her identity as the Beauty Thief whom they met at Okumura's Palace earlier. Makoto tries to convince Haru to cooperate with them since they are also after her father, but Haru rejects her proposal, refusing to work with a group that does not know its own path and insists she will only work with Morgana since he gave her a means to make her father atone for his transgressions. However, when the party sees Sugimura grab her by the arm and kick Morgana, Haru finally reveals that the true reason she wants to change her father's heart is not to redeem him, but to escape the marriage he had arranged for her. Finally being honest with herself, she and Morgana decide to team up with the Phantom Thieves.

Haru accompanies the Phantom Thieves into her father's Palace, but Morgana warns her that her Persona has not yet taken full form, and she is thus not able to fight. During a confrontation with her father's Shadow, the cognitive version of Sugimura adds that he no longer desires Haru as his wife, only for Kunikazu to add that he may have Haru as his sexual plaything instead, so long as Kunikazu gets what he wants out of the deal. Outraged and betrayed, Haru's Persona Milady takes shape, and she defeats the cognitive version of her fiancé.

Proceeding further into the Palace forces Haru to realize how her father exploits his workers and even views the company itself as a means to an end. Despite this, when Haru confronts her father, he is able to manipulate her by pretending to apologize, luring all of the other Thieves besides her into a trap.

After the battle, Kunikazu apologizes and promises to make amends, including rescinding the marriage offer to Sugimura. He reveals that he hired someone else to carry out the mental shutdowns, but the group is forced to escape before he can say who. Once the true form of the Treasure is revealed to be a plastic model, Haru tells the group that her father's bitterness over his father's benevolent but misguided management of his business caused him to become ruthless.

Kunikazu holds a press conference apologizing for his misdeeds, but before he can reveal the identity of his associates in the conspiracy, he suffers a mental shutdown and dies, with his death being used by the Conspiracy to frame the Phantom Thieves.

After taking a few days off from school in order to mourn her father and deal with company-related business, Haru returns around the time of midterms, and reveals that Sae Niijima investigated the Okumura residence and Shujin Academy, finding a calling card for the principal in the latter location.

During the infiltration into Shido's Palace, Haru uses her connection to Kunikazu to convince the cognitive version of the president of a TV station to grant her his letter of introduction, and thus access to the treasure chamber. Unfortunately, when the president informs Haru that Kunikazu was killed because his misdeeds made him a liability to the conspiracy, and the president broadcasted the moment of Kunikazu's mental shutdown for higher ratings, Haru is enraged and demands an apology, leading to a battle.

After the battle with Goro Akechi, Haru tells Akechi that while she will never forgive him for killing her father, she can understand his feelings and tries to convince him to change Masayoshi Shido's heart together. After defeating Shido, Haru notes that she believes that she has avenged her father.

Like the rest of the party, Haru's spirit is nearly broken when she is briefly erased from existence, but she regains her resolve with the protagonist's support and helps him win in the end.

During the quest to free the protagonist, Haru offers to contact her father's associates to ask for their help in this endeavor. In the end, Haru asks the others for help on the behalf of a friend, likely someone outside the group.

If the protagonist does not complete Okumura's Palace in time, Haru will be forced to marry her fiancé, and the protagonist is arrested after the police recieve an anonymous tip that he is the leader of the Phantom Thieves. As with the other "time-out" bad endings, it is revealed that this is a false recollection caused by the protagonist being heavily drugged during Sae's interrogation. She leaves to let him collect himself, at which point Akechi takes the opportunity to assassinate him.

Confidant
Haru's Confidant can be unlocked on October 30th. Starting her Confidant will allow the protagonist to harvest vegetables with her on the roof of Shujin Academy. However, the player needs maxed Proficiency to be able to advance the Confidant past rank 1. The vegetables grown are consumables that the party can use in dungeons to restore SP. Maxing this Confidant makes Milady evolve into Astarte and unlocks the fusion of Mother Harlot.

Haru's Confidant revolves around her trying to become more involved in Okumura Foods by developing ways to use the produce she grows in order to eventually create a café chain much like her grandfather once did. She brings her first batch to Sojiro Sakura who states that the vegetable quality is impressive for home grown produce, but hardly of quality suited for a business chain. It also deals with Haru having to deal with the fallout of her father's death, including people trying to take advantage of her as a large stakeholder for Okumura Foods as well as Sugimura who threatens her with their marriage agreement made with her father previously, which he states is still legally binding despite his death.

Near its climax, Haru grows her own coffee beans and vegetables and presents it to the new stand-in president Takakura. She makes it clear to him that her father's death as well as his schemes caused her to lose a lot of trust in the officials of the company, including Takakura himself. With the protagonist there when she presents her coffee to Takakura, she musters the courage to tell Takakura of what she intends to do with the company once she is able. Takakura comments that the coffee that she grew and brewed were similar to the one her grandfather once made, which is the reason why he joined the company in the first place. Takakura sees Haru's resolve and states that he wishes to turn Okumura Foods back the way it was before Kunikazu's changes, making it a company that customers and employees will both enjoy. He extends an invitation to Haru to come to the next company meeting as means of resolving issues of company trust among the administration, and to help be a guide in bringing Okumura Foods back on the right path. Haru accepts.

Takakura also brings up the matter of her marriage contract with Sugimura, stating that there is no formal legal deal requiring the two be wed if she does not desire it. Haru politely, but firmly, tells Takakura to annul the marriage agreement between the two, formally ending the prospect of her marriage to Sugimura. Haru's resolve strengthens from being able to speak her mind to President Takakura, and he even drops a comment that she must be close with the protagonist since she brought him along to tell him all this. Alone, the protagonist can choose whether he wishes to support her as a boyfriend or just as a close friend.

Regardless of the outcome of the protagonist's choice, during the final Confidant Rank, Haru reveals that she did attend the company meeting and was able to speak her mind to the administration. She reveals that she plans to attend college to get the skills necessary in order to open the café chain she dreams of. In the meantime, she resolves to remain a supporter of the protagonist's ambitions as a fellow Phantom Thief.

Haru's farewell gift after maxing her Confidant is the Dyed Hankerchief, allowing the protagonist access to Soil Improvement once her Confidant has been established in New Game+. If the protagonist pursues a romantic relationship with Haru, she will give the protagonist a Hat on Christmas, allowing the protagonist to earn more points when using an Empress Persona during their Confidant in NG+, and Haru's Chocolate on Valentines Day, which fully restores SP to one ally when consumed.

Persona 5 The Animation
Haru makes a brief appearance in the second episode tending to the garden.

Battle Quotes
Quotes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKOY2Xavtn0
 * "Persona!" (Summoning Persona)
 * "Perrrrsonaaaa!" (Summoning Persona)
 * "Come!" (Summoning Persona)
 * "Behold!" (Milady / Astarte casting skill)
 * "Milady! / Astarte!" (Exploiting an enemy's weakness with Persona skill)
 * "Rush them, Milady!" (Exploiting an enemy's weakness with Persona skill)
 * "Astarte, descend!" (Exploiting an enemy's weakness with Persona skill)
 * "It's still alive!" (Leaving the enemy alive)
 * "Someone, finish it off!" (Leaving the enemy alive)
 * "That's right!" (When using an item)
 * "Dodging!" (Dodging enemy attack)
 * "We can't miss this chance!" (Initiating All-out Attack)
 * "Time to punish them!" (Initiating All-out Attack)
 * "Good choice." (Initiating All-out Attack)
 * "Wasn't that graceful?" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
 * "So much for them." (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
 * "Coup De Grâce!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
 * "Thank you so much!" (When someone heals her)
 * "Much obliged!" (When someone heals her)
 * "Thank you!" (When revived)
 * "Yes, I'll do my best!" (Tactics changed to Act Freely)
 * "Understood. Full power!" (Tactics changed to Full Assault)
 * "I'll save my strength, right?" (Tactics changed to Conserve SP)
 * "I'll keep my health in mind." (Tactics changed to Heal/Support)
 * "I'm listening, Leader." (Tactics changed to Direct Command)
 * "How's this? Painful?" (Attacking normally)

Trivia

 * Haru may be a historical reference to (平塚 明), a Japanese feminist in the early 1910s. This is further supported by Haru's last name "Okumura" which is the same as Hiratsuka's artist lover, Hiroshi Okumura (奥村 博史).
 * Haru's Personas specialize in Psy skills, which have not appeared in the franchise since Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner.
 * Noir in the Japanese official site is given the title of "Phantom Thieves' Noble Daughter", implying she still acts like a wealthy lady during the heist.
 * The deadline for reforming Kunikazu is before Haru's marriage. In the Japanese version, this is written as "x days before Haru's body is sold" which almost looks like "prostitution".
 * Haru's English voice actress, Xanthe Huynh, cosplayed as Noir while attending Anime Expo 2017.
 * Haru and Makoto share the same Blood Type
 * Haru was originally supposed to be fragile like she's portrayed in her designs, similar to Fuuka Yamagishi.
 * Just like with Makoto Niijima, Goro Akechi, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Ann Takamaki before, the official twitter account for the Persona series posted a "Happy Birthday" message for Haru on December 5, 2017 JST.

Appearances in Other Media

 * Chain Chronicle: Noir, Archers class. (Article in Chain Chronicle Wiki)