Masayoshi Shido

Masayoshi Shido is a character from Persona 5 and one of the main antagonists of the game. He is a powerful politician.

Appearances

 * Persona 5: Major Character

Design
Shido wears a pair of orange-tinted square glasses and he's bald. He has a small goatee.

Shadow Shido initially appears identical to his counterpart. Once he boards his golden mount, he dons a black army general uniform with long cape, long white gloves and knee-high white boots. His spiked helmet resembles that of the Statue of Liberty or Principality. He initially does not transform himself after becoming Samael, instead summoning a golden lion made of humanoids as a mount, which reconfigures itself into a Gryphon and then a pyramid which resembles the before it is destroyed and he fights directly.

In his second form, he rips away his upper clothing and headgear, revealing heavily built muscles with springs that resemble an exercise harness wrapped all around his upper body, and emits a red aura. In his final "true" form, his muscles bulge even more which shatter the springs and turn his skin color purplish, and he emits a dark-violet aura.

Personality
Shido is a profoundly selfish, egotistical, and arrogant man with a savior complex. He is utterly self-assured of his fundamental righteousness, believing the simple fact that the Conspiracy is able to get away with its crimes without the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and their supernatural interference, combined with his own knowledge of the Palace, is a sign that he is favored by God. He despises anyone who tries to stop him from any of his desires, no matter how fleeting. He is also quite litigious, threatening to sue anyone who annoys him. He believes that Japan's social state is utterly corrupt and weak on the world stage, completely blind to his own hypocrisy in creating a criminal conspiracy to win the election for Prime Minister unfairly. He is terrified of having his heart stolen once he realizes it is possible, making a contingency plan to prevent it just in case.

Persona 5
Masayoshi Shido is a and running for election of the next prime minister of Japan.

The protagonist met Shido in one night by the street when he was drunk, harassing a woman who attempted to flee from his car. When Shido noticed the protagonist he threatened the latter not to get in trouble with him because of his status as a powerful politician and connection to the police. He lost his balance when the protagonist attempted to pull him from the woman. His forehead hit the corner and bled. Shido angrily accused the protagonist for the nonexistent violence and forced his victim to testify against the protagonist, causing the protagonist on probation as a minor offender. Shido also specifically ordered the arriving policemen to conceal his name in this incident, which makes it nearly impossible for the protagonist to identify Shido when his fellow Phantom Thieves early on suggest the protagonist to change his heart for clearing his criminal record.

When Shido, escorted by Yakuza, has been arranged an urgent meeting in a hotel with his most relied allies from politics,, information technology and TV broadcasting, he and the protagonist meet again when the protagonist are eating together at the restaurant of the same hotel with Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki and Morgana, though he does not recognize the protagonist. While waiting for the elevator to go back to the restaurant, Shido and his Yakuza escorts rudely shove them and other people who are waiting in front of the elevator away. When the protagonist and Ryuji protest that they are there first, Shido, as usual, threatens to use his connection to sue them. This convinces the protagonist, Ryuji and Ann to continue their work as Phantom Thieves.



When it has become clear to the Phantom Thieves that Shido is the one behind all the deaths as a result of the bizarre mental breakdown, initially they have trouble to pinpoint the form of his Palace which is required to gain access to steal his heart. After listening to Shido's voice once again when he is participating in another election campaign in Yongenjaya, the protagonist has finally realized that Shido is the man who accused him for the street incident and from the vague memory, he remembers Shido's drunk talk mentioned about "obeying my wheel" and deduces that it referred to a ship's wheel, hence opening the way to his Palace.

His emotions of disdain towards the current condition of society eventually transform him into Samael. He acts as the final heist target of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts at the Shidou Palace. He embodies the deadly sin 'pride'. Instead of being merely the Cognitive existences, the Shadow Selves of all five of his most trusted connections who have appeared in the hotel also inhabit his Palace because of their strong bonds with Shido. He turns out to be at the center of a conspiracy to rig the election for Prime Minister in his favor, allowing him to put his highly draconian and ultra-nationalistic political beliefs into effect, uncaring of the misery this would cause to Japan in general.

He is also revealed to be the father of Goro Akechi, who is his illegitimate son. Shido uses Goro's fame as detective and desire to be acknowledged by him to get rid of those who are opposing him to become the next prime minister by destroying their Palace which results in severe mental disorders and ultimately kills them, framing the Phantom Thieves for these assassinations in the process. When the Thieves confront Shido's Shadow in his Palace, he admits that he was going to kill Goro anyway once he became prime minister because he knew too much. During the fight, he finally recognizes the protagonist as the student who interfered with him before.

His Treasure is his politician badge which takes the form of a wheel of his cruise-shaped Palace, symbolizing his ambition as a leader. When Shido in reality senses the change of his heart, his physician feeds him medicine to enter, hoping to kill the gang in his Palace and stop his Treasure from being stolen. The plan fails as all Phantom Thieves successfully retreat unscathed. Shido begins to repent which shocks his aides. They send him to the hospital to avoid media coverage of his mental state. On the day of the announcement of Shido's victory in the election, he openly confesses his crimes during the live conference. Sae Niijima is tasked with charging Shido.

Music
Shadow Shido's battle is the first battle playing Rivers in the Desert instead of the generic boss battle theme "Blooming Villain" for previous hosts of their Palaces. While the song is not used exclusively for him, the lyrics nonetheless match the scene of a sailing ship and the emotion of the Phantom Thieves when facing Shadow Shido.

Etymology
Masayoshi (正義) means "justice" which is identical to "seigi", its meaning is mentioned in the plot several times to satirize Shido's injustice deeds. Shi (獅) means "lion" and Dō (童) can compose the phrases related to "child".

Trivia

 * In the anime cutscene where Shido's full name in kanji is shown, one kanji is written differently, namely "堂" instead of "童" in-game. The typo does not change the pronunciation of his name, but the meaning of his surname is now "lion-institute" instead of "lion-child".
 * Shadow Shido's first form in battle bears a striking resemblance to from the  franchise who is also voiced by Shuichi Ikeda. This fits with Shido's characterization as an authoritarian politician, as Anzable's own superiors are the fascistic Principality of Zeon.
 * Shido is very similar to Steven Armstrong from : Both are highly nationalistic politicians who lead the primary antagonistic faction for the sake of being elected leader of their respective countries (President of the United States, for Armstrong), and both fight the main protagonists, first on a vehicle (Shido's lion, Armstrong's Metal Gear EXCELSUS), then become much more muscular for a direct fight in melee in a way that discolors their skin (Armstrong's nanomachines cause his skin to turn a metallic grey whenever faced with physical trauma).