Protagonist (Persona 5)

The protagonist of Persona 5 is a transfer student at Shujin Academy. However, beneath his quiet demeanor is a juvenile delinquent known as The Phantom.

Appearances

 * Persona 5: Protagonist
 * Persona 5 (Manga): Protagonist as Akira Kurusu
 * Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers: Protagonist
 * Night of the Phantom: Cameo

Design
The protagonist has short, messy black hair and dark gray eyes. His default outfit is his school uniform, which consists a buttoned up black blazer with red buttons and the school's emblem on the pocket, a white turtleneck shirt that has two black chevrons on the collar, and black and red plaid trousers. He also wears black glasses, though he doesn't need them for vision correction.

As The Phantom, his outfit consists of a black trench coat with a gray collared shirt, black trousers, brown cuban heeled boots, and a pair of red gloves. His mask is a white bird-shaped mask with a black design around the eyes.

During visits to the Velvet Room, he wears a black and white prisoner uniform.

Personality
As per the tradition of the Megami Tensei franchise, he is a silent protagonist, whose personality is based upon the player's actions and decisions. However, he appears to have more established traits than any of the previous protagonists.

His profile states that he appears quiet and well-mannered, but this behavior is a profound ruse that hides the heart of a trickster. In the prologue scene, the protagonist seems cocky and confident even when his life is in danger. He also has a flair for showing off and making dramatic decisions, such as exiting by jumping through the stained glass windows of the Casino. According to comments from the Phantom Thieves, he is also a dependable and charismatic leader. Hifumi Togo notes, while playing Shogi with him, that he feels like a "daredevil."

Goro Akechi states that although the protagonist is taciturn, he is courageous and wise in making actions. Goro also says the protagonist has a free heart, despite his social standing and how others view him, and that the protagonist never stops choosing his own path.

In Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers, the protagonist can easily be perceived as an unassuming student during his daily life. He appears slightly introverted and absent-minded, perhaps as part of his "profound ruse" or in being mentally preoccupied with the Phantom Thieves' activities, as he was shown not paying attention in class. In truth, he is highly resourceful and plans ahead, such as using Cafe Le Blanc as bait to obtain evidence behind Kazuya Makigami's crimes, as well as obtaining the false Alarm System from Iwai. Like the other Phantom Thieves, he fully believes in their mission to reform their targets, even taking pride in his work as he declares to Kazuya that he has stolen the arrogance in his heart.

Persona 5
The protagonist is a second year high school student who meets Morgana and transfers to Shujin Academy in the Spring in Tokyo near Shibuya. He lives in a coffee shop called Cafe Le Blanc, owned by Sojiro Sakura, an acquaintance of his parents. He becomes classmates with Ryuji Sakamoto and Ann Takamaki, who join him in his endeavors alongside the mysterious Morgana. Additionally, he is the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, a group whose purpose is to steal the hearts of corrupted adults in order to create a reformed society.

Later, more members joins the Phantom Thieves: Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, Haru Okumura, and Goro Akechi.

During the game's prologue, the protagonist manages to infiltrate the Casino, successfully stealing a briefcase before beginning to make his escape, all the while attracting the attention of the security force in order to allow his companions to escape. He makes quick work of a demon before he continues his escape, though shortly after jumping out of a window, he is cornered by the police is subsequently captured, and informed that he was "sold out" by someone. Later, he is found in an interrogation room, bound to a chair, having been seemingly drugged by his captors. The apparent leading investigator splashes him with water in order to wake up him, and knocks him off of the chair as he reads off his list of crimes. Afterwards, he asks the protagonist to write down his name, as a confession to the investigation. The protagonist complies, though the Investigator tells him that he will not make it out of the room unscathed.

Shortly after signing his name, Sae Niijima, a prosecutor leading his case, enters the room to interrogate him. The two seem to share a history, and she questions him how he came to learn about "that world," and how exactly his "techniques" regarding his crimes work. As the protagonist seems to ponder how to answer, he catches sight of a blue butterfly, and hears a voice calling out to him, stating that his fate was already predetermined, but there was hope for him by recalling his memories. After that, the protagonist awakens on the train bound for Shibuya, as if the events were all a foreboding dream. During the ride, he recalls an incident where he witnessed a woman being sexually harassed by a man, and stopped him, only for the man to sue him and press charges. It is later revealed that the man was Masayoshi Shido, a powerful politician with strong connections to the police department. As a result of his intervention, and the man's injuries, the incident went down on his permanent record, and the protagonist was subsequently expelled. At the court hearing, he was told to transfer schools, and move away, a condition his parents agreed to, thus leaving him in the care of Sojiro Sakura.

After he arrives at the Shibuya Crosswalk, a mysterious application starts up, much to the protagonist's confusion. The world around him slows to a halt, and a fiery blue figure manifests before his eyes, followed by a vision of the flames developing a red grin, and himself with yellow eyes. Afterwards, as time resumes, the protagonist seemingly deletes the application, and makes his way to the Yongenjaya station, and later to the alleyway, where his new caretaker resides. He arrives to find Sojiro speaking with customers. Sojiro is surprised that the "punk kid" he was asked to look after is the protagonist, implying that he once met the protagonist in the past. Sojiro shows him his new room, though despite it's rather large size, Sojiro says he has to be the one to clean it up. He also touches upon the details of the incident for a brief moment before leaving him alone to clean up the room, though he also warns the protagonist that if he causes any trouble, he will kick him out.

As the protagonist prepares for bed, he recalls the incident, thinking to himself that he simply couldn't ignore the woman being harassed. He hears his phone ringing, and to his surprise, he finds that the mysterious application from before is still there, despite having deleted it earlier. He shortly falls asleep afterwards. Later, he awakens in the Velvet Room, and finds himself in prison garbs, even bound in handcuffs with a ball and chain on his leg. Igor greets him to his Velvet Room, and the twins tell him that he is still asleep in the real world. Caroline scolds him to stand up straight as Igor is present. Igor greets him, explaining that the Velvet Room is a place that exists between dream and reality, and is only accessible to those who have, in some form, made a contract. He then explains that he brought the protagonist here in order to discuss an important matter that will affect his life. He also expresses surprise at the state of the Velvet Room, mentioning that it's form represents the state of the guest's heart. Igor also refers to the protagonist as a "Prisoner of Fate," and that destruction awaits him in the future.

Igor informs him that there is a way to avoid that destruction, stating that he must be "rehabilitated into a free man." He also asks the protagonist if he is ready to fight against the world's corruption. After the protagonist gives his answer, Igor expresses his delight, saying that he will observe the miracle of his "rehabilitation." He then introduces his newest attendants: Caroline and Justine, his prison guards. Caroline tells him that fighting is pointless, whereas Justine informs him that, as his guard, it is their duty to protect him, but only if he is obedient. Igor states that he will explain the twins' importance another time, as dawn has already approached in the real world.

On his way to school the next day, the protagonist once again open the mysterious app in his phone and then sees Ann being offered a ride to school by a teacher, Suguru Kamoshida. As he sees them go to school, Ryuji arrives and calls Kamoshida a perverted teacher. The protagonist gets acquainted with Ryuji and inquired what he meant, which resulted his inquiry is responded by the app, opening the path to another world. He and Ryuji encounters Shadow Kamoshida who is about to kill Ryuji while the protagonist is restrained. The protagonist hears a voice that questions if he is just going to keep quiet and reminds him of the incident that led to his probation. As the protagonist remembers the incident, he comes to the conclusion that he didn't make the wrong choice to save the woman. In response to his determination, he then awakens his Persona power, summoning Arsène. While escaping, they also encounter a cat-like creature, Morgana, who got captured and asks to be freed and in exchange he will show the way out for them.

Once both he and Ryuji are out, they confront Kamoshida about this, but the teacher has no idea what they are talking about. This causes Kamoshida to force the protagonist's classmate, Yuki Mishima, to spread bad rumors about the protagonist to the whole school. After visiting the world the second time and heard everything from Morgana, the protagonist and Ryuji decide to expose Kamoshida's true nature. The protagonist asks Ann about this, and she confirms that Kamoshida is trying to make a move on her. Since no other students are willing to talk, Morgana proposes to make Kamoshida admit his sin by stealing his Treasure in his Palace, which represents his arrogance. However, when Morgana warns them that if they kill Shadow Kamoshida the real Kamoshida will also die as well, the protagonist and Ryuji request Morgana to give them some time to think.

The protagonist and Ryuji finally decide to accept Morgana's suggestion after witnessing Ann's friend, Shiho Suzui, attempted suicide after being molested by Kamoshida. The three of them are then joined by Ann who wants to avenge Shiho. To make Shadow Kamoshida confront them himself, Ryuji pins a calling card on the school board to Kamoshida under the name "Phantom Thieves of Heart", enraging Shadow Kamoshida in the Palace. They succeed in stealing Kamoshida's treasure, and the next day just like Morgana has said, Kamoshida abruptly confesses all of his crimes in front of the whole students. Thanks to this, the bad rumors about the protagonist and Ann stopped and his and Ryuji's expulsion get dropped.

They decide to celebrate their success at an expensive restaurant by using the money from selling Kamoshida's treasure. At the restaurant, the protagonist and Ryuji meet a man named Masayoshi Shido who rudely looks down on them. The protagonist notices that Shido's voice reminds him of the man who falsely accused him, but quickly dismisses this thought. Their encounter with Shido convinces the protagonist, Ryuji, and Ann to continue their work as Phantom Thieves to steal corrupt hearts of adults and reform society so there will be no victims like them.

Yuki, who knows of the protagonist's identity as one of the Phantom Thieves, created a website that also serves as request board for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts to take on missions. However, since not many people believing their existence, the Phantom Thieves decide to change another corrupt famous adult to make their name known. They get this opportunity when an art student and disciple of famous Japanese painter Ichiryusai Madarame, Yusuke Kitagawa, asks Ann to become his model for his next work. A former apprentice of Madarame, Natsuhiko Nakanohara, tells them that Madarame actually steals his students' painting, one of them even committed suicide after his was stolen. So Natsuhiko asks them to stop Maradame before he can steal Yusuke's painting.

Yusuke's trust for his teacher makes the protagonist and the others has difficulty in finding information to enter his Palace until Ann found the proof of Madarame's doing in his studio and shows it to Yusuke. When escaping from Madarame and enters the Palace, Yusuke gets dragged as well and he awakens his Persona power after saw his teacher's true nature. To reform his teacher, Yusuke joins the Phantom Thieves as well. After defeating Shadow Madarame and steals his treasure, they finds out that there's a third party beside them inside the Palace, but Madarame only reveals the person to be a person with black mask. Yusuke then gives Madarame's treasure, the real "Sayuri" painting that his mother painted before her death, to the protagonist and it's then displayed at Cafe Le Blanc.

Following Madarame's confession at Live television, the Phantom Thieves' activities becomes known and attracts many people, particularly high school detective Goro Akechi and student council president Makoto Niijima. During a study trip, the protagonist meets Goro who reveals his disdain towards the Phantom Thieves' actions. Despite this, the protagonist gets well acquainted with Goro. The principal of Shujin Academy also got worried so he asks Makoto to investigate the possibilities the Phantom Thieves are amongst the students of their school. Makoto quickly gets suspicious of the protagonist and his friends, secretly following them and finally gets the proof in a form of recording of Ryuji who declares themselves as Phantom Thieves. She blackmails the protagonist to take her to their meeting place and demands the Phantom Thieves to show her their justice, and if they can prove they are right, she won't reveal her recording. She gives them a target of a man who has connection with yakuza and is extorting some of their school mates. Without any choice, the Phantom Thieves accepts her request.

They eventually tracks down the extorter, Junya Kaneshiro, and enters his Palace, but can't find his treasure since they don't know his whereabouts in real life. Makoto helps them locating the real Kaneshiro, but Makoto's reckless way leads Kaneshiro to takes picture of them in his club and threatens to leak it to the media unless they pay him. To stop Kaneshiro from leaking the photos, the Phantom Thieves invites Makoto to the Palace where she awakens her Persona power and joins them. At the end of their fight against Shadow Kaneshiro, he reveals there's a third party that manipulates the Palace and Mementos for their own ends without caring for the consequences. With Kaneshiro's heart stolen, he deletes the photos and turn himself in, assuring the protagonist and the others there won't be any photo leak.

Their success in changing Kaneshiro's heart earns them the attention of a hacker group called Medjiedo who demands the Phantom Thieves to cease their false justice by joining them. Following Medjiedo's offer, the protagonist receives an unknown chat from a mysterious hacker called Alibaba who requests him to steal a certain someone's heart in exchange they will take care of Medjiedo. Should the protagonist refuse, they will leak his identity to the media. The protagonist and the others thinks that the chat is a mere prank, but Alibaba proves themselves that they do know about the protagonist by leaving a calling card in Le Blanc. Alibaba requests him to steal the heart of a girl named Futaba Sakura, who is revealed to be related to Sojiro. Since information about Futaba is too lacking, the protagonist tries to ask Sojiro, but he refuses to tell him anything and threatens to kick him out if he ask more. The protagonist tries to ask Alibaba for more detail and asks to meet them, but his request leads Alibaba to abruptly cancel their request.

The Phantom Thieves thinks that the problem has been solved with Alibaba not bothering them again, until they heard from Goro that Medjiedo has declared an all out war against them, so they have no choice but to once again track down Alibaba. Machete correctly deduces that Alibaba is actually Futaba herself, which is confirmed when Sojiro finally explains about Futaba after the protagonist and the others caught a glimpse of her when visiting Sojiro's house. They confronts Futaba and asks to make a deal with her again, which she agrees.

After the climax of Casino heist, the protagonist uses himself as a bait to lure the Shadows so the party can escape. When he exits the Palace, however, he is quickly apprehended by the police. While in custody, he is interrogated by Sae. If the protagonist answered correctly, the protagonist reveals he knows that Goro is the traitor so he already hatched a plan with his friends to expose him. He tells Sae to show his smartphone to Goro, which has been programmed by Futaba using the Palace's reality-warping ability, saving himself when Goro attempts to kill him and make it look like a suicide. Afterwards, Sae helps the protagonist escape and escort him back to Cafe Le Blanc.

Once his apparent death is broadcasted, the protagonist remains in the cafe and goes out without showing his face for a while to deceive their enemies. Finding out that a politician Masayoshi Shido is the one Goro is woking for, he and the party tries to find the keyword to enter his Palace, but got nothing until the protagonist remembers his voice, which is the same as the man who falsely accused him before. From his reminiscence when Shido assaulted the woman, the protagonist finds out the keyword to enter Shido's Palace where he and the party confronts Goro and Shido, eventually succeeding in changing the latter's heart.

During the climax of the game, the protagonist learns that the Igor who had been helping him was, in truth, a being called Yaldabaoth, who had imprisoned the real Igor, thus taking over the Velvet Room in the process. He also split the true attendant, Lavenza, into the twins Caroline and Justine, resulting in them possessing amnesia.

The Phantom Thieves are virtually left helpless at Yaldabaoth, as he easily overpowers them. However, the tables quickly turn when the party hears the voices of the masses, which were inspired by the cheering of Yuki Mishima. Eventually, everyone believes in their existence, which leads to the protagonist awakening to his Ultimate Persona: Satanael, who's size is equal to even Yaldabaoth. The god tries to strike them down, but his attack does nothing. The protagonist then finishes him off, blasting a hole straight through Yaldabaoth's head. Their victory causes the Palace and Mementos to cease from existence as well as Morgana who is created to assist the protagonist on his journey, and the world return to normal.

Unfortunately, on Christmas Eve, Sae informs the protagonist that even though Shido confessed his crimes, it's difficult to prove it since there's little solid evidence as the other world is no longer exist. Because Goro has disappeared, the only ones who can prove it is the Phantom Thieves. To properly judge Shido, his testimony is necessary. Reluctantly, Sae asks the protagonist to turn himself in to avoid further complication and promised she will make sure his friends will be safe. Doing this, however, means there's a big possibility he will be sent to youth detention centre and will be closely observed. Despite knowing the consequence, to save his friends, the protagonist agrees. After the interrogation, the protagonist is sent to youth detention centre.

In respond to his arrest, the rest of the Phantom Thieves together with the ones he made cooperation with, tries their best to look for proofs to prove the protagonist's innocence. Two months later, they eventually found the woman whom the protagonist helped when she was assaulted by Shido and she testified against Shido, allowing the probation and charges against the protagonist to be dropped. He is then picked up by Sojiro to the cafe where everyone, for exception of Morgana, welcomes him back. While talking about Morgana, Ryuji also asks the protagonist does next month he is going back to his hometown since his probation has been dropped, something that the protagonist confirms. The party then decides that if their leader goes back, this means the Phantom Thieves will officially be disbanded. Morgana then comes shortly after, revealing that the one that disappeared is his other world self while his real world self is still exists. Morgana then decides he will stick with the protagonist from now on to look for a way to become a human.

At the end of the game, the protagonist joins the Phantom Thieves, leaving to parts unknown for a much needed vacation, all the while leaving behind a pair of investigators in a stalled car behind them. As they begin to see their intended destination, he uses the roof door to get a better view, smiling in satisfaction.

Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers
The protagonist is shown spacing off during class before he is hit with a piece if chalk by the teacher. Afterwards, he receives a message from Ryuji, who asks him if they want to meet up at the usual place. Later, Ryuji complains about the recent activity regarding the group of burglars who break into restaurants with lax security. Yusuke arrives, parting with Naoya Makigami, and informs the group they have a new request on the "Ask-a-Thief" Channel, in which the client of the requests is fearing for his life. The group agrees to take the request, and the protagonist tails Naoya's older brother, Kazuya Makigami. When Kazuya arrives at the park, he asks Morgana to eavesdrop on their conversation, learning that Kazuya is apart of the group of burglars.

The next day, the protagonist and his friends begin their task in stealing the target's heart. To completely reform them, they need evidence, thus Ann and Ryuji give two of the crooks false information, saying that a shop in Yongenjaya is severely lacking in security, and the owner keeps all of his money in the shop. When the burglars arrive, the protagonist sets off a fake alarm system that causes the crooks to flee, though Kazuya takes with him a warning card, supposedly written by the Phantom Thieves.

Later on, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts begin their task to steal the target's heart, entering The Palace. There, they encounter their target; Kazuya Makigami. The client was actually his younger brother Naoya, who stated in the request that Kazuya physically abused him regularly in order to relieve stress from being with his group of burglars. In order to prove this, the protagonist set up the botched attempt to rob the cafe in order to gather evidence that Kazuya was in league with them. However, Kazuya corrects them by stating that he wasn't "with them," but rather the one leading them. Later, Kazuya transforms into a demon, and attacks the group, summoning two other minions.

The protagonist manages to repel and pin down Kazuya by summoning his Persona, Arsène, and then seems to perform a Baton Touch with Yusuke, who proceeds to summon Goemon, followed by Ryuji and Ann. Kazuya seems to relish the fight, saying that he feels de-stressed, and notes how thrilling stealing is. Morgana follows up Ann and destroys the remainder of the minions Kazuya summoned, and the protagonist proceeds to finish Kazuya off, stating that he has "stolen the arrogance in his heart." Afterwards, he takes the Treasure; a key that opens up a drawer in his room. Kazuya requests that he give it to his brother, and tell him to take what's inside and burn it and throw it away. As he disappears, the protagonist and his friends then leave the Palace.

The protagonist is present as Kazuya and his gang is being arrested, after he openly confessed to a large group of people with an officer present, due to being reformed by the Phantom Thieves. Kazuya notices him as he walks away, and asks who he is. Later, the protagonist reunites with his friends back in the Palace, as they note that their next prey is much larger.

Afterwards, the protagonist is then shown to be in the Velvet Room. Igor tells him that what he experienced was a possible future, and refers to him as the "prisoner," asking him what his name is.

Night of The Phantom
The Phantom appears during the final event of Night of the Phantom, where he announces his plan to steal the hearts of the audience with the first gameplay trailer for Persona 5. He is portrayed by voice actor. He is said to have stolen secret material from the event, but that it would be revealed by Famitsu in the near future.

Battle Quotes

 * "Show me your true form!" (Ripping the Mask of the Shadow)
 * "Arsène!" or any other persona names. (Enemy weak to attack/Critical with Phys skill)
 * "Go! Persona!" (Using Persona skill)
 * "Do it!" (Using Baton Touch)
 * "Leave it to you!" (Using Baton Touch)
 * "Too slow!" (Dodging an attack)

Trivia

 * He is the first protagonist in the Persona series to be a criminal.
 * If one includes the rest of the playable characters, Baofu is the first criminal for conducting.
 * The protagonist's mugshot reads "P508954TS".
 * His code name,, in card games can act as either the beneficial Wild Card or harmful unmatched card such as in the Old Maid game.
 * Uniquely, he is the first protagonist shown speaking in several in-game cutscenes. Likewise, most of the in-game narration is his internal monologue, instead of the second person narrator used in the previous games.
 * Interestingly, the protagonist has two different cut-in images. The first was shown in the first trailer of the game, which showed him having a menacing smirk, whereas the game shows him having a confident grin.
 * In a sense, the protagonist also represents a Deadly Sin: Superbia, or pride. This is represented by his Ultimate Persona, Satanael, who, like Lucifer against God, rebelled against the Demiurge because of pride.
 * This could also apply to the protagonist's decision to be the one who punishes the targets of the Phantom Thieves' heists, rather than the proper authorities.
 * So far, he is the youngest protagonist in Persona series.
 * In the 5th Persona Stalker Club V, it is revealed that originally the protagonist's Initial Persona was going to be Mephistopheles, but was later changed to Arsène since it fit better with the overall theme of the game.
 * Additionally, the protagonist was meant to live with Sae Niijima, though the reasons behind this were not stated.
 * Also revealed in Persona Stalker Club V, the protagonist's design was meant for him wearing his uniform similarly to the styles of the protagonist of Persona 3 and Yu Narukami, in where the jacket was left open.
 * In Sega Festival 2016, the protagonist won second place for fans polling in favorite party member, only beaten by Goro.