Makoto Niijima

Makoto Niijima is a playable character in Persona 5.

Appearances

 * Persona 5: Playable Character; Priestess Confidant
 * Persona 5 Royal: Playable Character
 * Persona 5 (Manga): Major Character
 * Persona 5: Mementos Mission: Major Character
 * Persona 5 The Animation: Major Character
 * Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: Playable Character
 * Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight: DLC partner
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth: Playable Character
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth Roundabout Special

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 is of average female height, being taller than Futaba Sakura and Haru Okumura, but slightly shorter than Ann Takamaki.

Her winter school 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 consist of a black turtleneck shirt under a teal blue coat, with tight black pants and brown-tan knee-high boots.

Her summer casual clothes consist 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 mixed with boots that sport metal heels and toes, white gloves and an iron mask.

In Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, she retains her Shujin academy school uniform except she wears dark gray tatter shirt with stitches and black splatter pattern design, thigh high stockings attached to her skirt by garters on the front and maroon high-top sneaker boots. She also wears a red scarf that matches her gloves and a chain attached to her black belt.

Personality
Despite being the student council president, Makoto is an extremely unpopular student at Shujin Academy; due to her not doing anything to stop Suguru Kamoshida's abuse, she is considered by all the students to be an arrogant, selfish control freak who knew about the abuse but chose to do nothing about it because she only cared about getting a good letter of recommendation. While she does give off the impression of this during the Phantom Thieves' first few encounters with her, these rumors are ultimately revealed to be just that: rumors. In truth, the abuse outraged Makoto, but she didn't feel like she had the power to do anything about it. In fact, Makoto holds no real authority in the school, with her position merely making her a glorified tool for the principal to use however he sees fit. Feeling overshadowed by her highly successful older sister, Makoto has almost no sense of self-worth, and so has made a habit of keeping her nose down and doing what is expected of her. Her submissive nature is noted by Goro Akechi, who condescendingly refers to her as "the good-girl type of pushover." After getting involved with the Phantom Thieves, however, Makoto realizes her frustration at the authority figures around her not living up to the expectations they've set for themselves, and vows from then on to fight for what she believes in, which triggers the awakening of her Persona. After the group defeat Junya Kaneshiro, Makoto decides to stay with the Phantom Thieves, saying that she's done being the "exemplary honour student" and that she's going to try to be more honest with herself.

Despite appearing prim and proper on the surface, Makoto is actually more of a tomboy; she's trained in aikido (though she's never seen using it onscreen), enjoys violent action movies, never wears skirts other than her school uniform (which she wears leggings under) and seems to care little about fashion other than the headband she wears in her hair. Makoto is also something of a tsundere; while she's mostly a kind person, she can also be very bossy and is harshly critical of those who don't live up to her expectations, particularly Ryuji Sakamoto, whose case she constantly gets on due to his consistently nonchalant approach to school life, implying that she's a perfectionist. She also has a ton of repressed anger issues over being made to stand on a pedestal by adults who don't follow the same standards themselves, and as such has the worst temper of the group bar none, to the point that even Ryuji, who's quite short-tempered himself, often warns the others not to get her bad side. Makoto can also be a hypocrite at times; when she first joins the team, she criticizes the others for performing their heists without a proper strategy, yet conveniently ignores the fact that only a few days before, she threw herself into Kaneshiro's territory with no plan of any kind out of a desperate attempt to please her sister, which resulted in the entire team getting blackmailed. Nevertheless, Makoto ultimately cares a great deal about her friends, and does not hesitate to praise them when she feels that they've earned it.



Despite her immensely serious personality and efforts to be above the more bizarre antics of her friends, Makoto does have her hidden, humorous elements, such as being frightened hearing ghost stories, as well as the dark. Futaba finds this hilarious upon realizing how stoic Makoto is normally, and repeatedly teases her about her phobia of horror movies throughout the game.

During times when the group does something or say something goofy or silly Makoto occasionally laughs amusingly which She usually didn't get before meeting them, like when Ann mentioned "totes busted the case." Additionally, Makoto is shown to care little for formalities, insisting that the younger members of the group call her by her first name without the -senpai honorific. She is also quite sarcastic at times; when Yusuke Kitagawa talks about his technique about filling himself on ginger before beginning to eat sushi, she states "You don't need to do that this time. Actually, definitely don't do it, okay?"

Makoto is often believed to have the personality of a robot. The reason her classmates get this impression from her is that they believe she blindly follows the principal's orders, doesn't show a lot of emotion and is very focused on getting good grades. Even among the Phantom Thieves, she takes on the role of analyzing and memorizing enemy data much like a computer would and even has a few robot-like mannerisms, one example being when the Phantom Thieves find a treasure chest in Mementos, and she tells them to "await Joker's orders." At one point, she is even called a robot by Eiko Takao, much to her embarrassment. Makoto also has a habit of overthinking things, such as when she can't shake the idea that Sojiro Sakura could be abusing Futaba until Ann assures her that he's innocent. She suspects that she gets this habit from her sister.

As the sister of a prosecutor, Makoto is always prepared to believe the worst of others, such as her above-mentioned suspicion of Sojiro and when she forces the Phantom Thieves to prove that what they're doing is just. However, this doubt doesn't seem to extend to her friends; when Futaba suspects Morgana of betraying them via teaming up with Haru, Makoto isn't convinced, believing that if he really had betrayed them, he would have blackmailed them by threatening to make their identities public. Additionally, despite being a strong believer in justice, Makoto nevertheless believes that drastic measures are necessary sometimes, which she uses to justify her disappointment about not being able to bring Futaba into crowds of people so soon after they started helping her; although Makoto does show empathy and pity for her considering she's lost her mom and understands how she feels. She also isn't above keeping secrets from her friends; when Akechi reveals that Sae has a Palace, Makoto admits that she knew for some time, and that her motive for joining was to change her sister's heart, but she kept it a secret because she thought it was "too selfish of a reason."

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 very hard so that she can enter a top notch university and relieve Sae's burden once she graduates. She can initially be found in the school library on 4/18 studying at a table after school lets out for the day, and will appear semi-regularly there from then on.

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 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 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 party cannot complete Kaneshiro's Palace in time, the police come 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

 * To see Makoto's Confidant's dialogue options and skills, see Confidant/Makoto Niijima

Makoto's Confidant can be unlocked on June 24th after you have finished Kaneshiro's Palace. However, one can only commence this Confidant while the protagonist has Knowledge rank 3 (Scholarly) or higher, and the Confidant cannot proceed past rank 5 unless the protagonist has maxed Charm (Debonair). 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 the Crossroads Bar where the protagonist can decide to pursue a relationship or not. Regardless of the outcome, she makes amends with Eiko who has returned to studying hard for college and she makes the decision to become a police commissioner to not only honor her father's legacy, but to destroy the lawless and help rescue victims. Finding irony in her new resolve, Makoto fully pledges to give her all in both her new goal and her duty as a Phantom Thief, causing Johanna to transform into Anat.

Makoto's farewell gift after maxing her Confidant is the Buchi Calculator, allowing the protagonist the ability to use Shadow Factorization at Rank 1 of her Confidant in New Game+. If the protagonist pursues a romantic relationship with Makoto, she will gift the protagonist a Wristwatch on Christmas, allowing the protagonist 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.

Persona 5 The Animation
Makoto makes a brief cameo in the second episode talking to some students in the hall. She makes her full appearance in the fifth episode, being ordered by Principal Kobayakawa to investigate the connection between the Phantom Thieves "prank" and Kamoshida's confession.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Makoto is a member of the default party along with Haru Okumura. Her Persona, Johanna, has Diarama, an advanced healing skill and just like Haru, her starting level is much higher than the other party members in the default party. However, the girls were kidnapped by an F.O.E at the start of the game, who kidnapped them and handed them to Kamoshidaman because they are the criminals disrupting the peace of Kamocity. Despite being kidnapped, she was able to give the party clues to weakening Kamoshidaman. After Kamoshidaman was defeated, the two girls were freed and after the party returns to the cinema they join the party.

Quotes
Persona 5=

Trivia

 * Makoto doesn't like her mask.
 * 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.
 * Apparently has a fondness for Buchimaru-kun merchandise, even though the merchandise is no longer sold. This is revealed when Eiko Takao notices her pencil case is a Buchimaru-kun (and rather old).
 * The official twitter account for the Persona series posted a "Happy Birthday" message for Makoto on April 23, 2017 JST.
 * On 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)
 * BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle: Color swap for Chie Satonaka
 * BanG Dream! Girls Band Party: Outfit for Udagawa Tomoe
 * Catherine: Full Body: DLC NPC