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 wears 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. In his second form, he rips away his upper clothing and headgear, revealing heavily built muscles with strand-pulling strings wrapped all around his upper body and emits a red aura. In his final "true" form, his muscles bulge even more which shatter the strand-pulling strings and emits a dark-violet aura.

Persona 5
The protagonist met Shido when he was drunk, harassing his wife. 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 his wife. His forehead hit the corner and bled. Shido angrily accused the protagonist for the nonexistent violence and forced his wife to testify against the protagonist, causing the protagonist on probation as a minor offender.

He and the protagonist meet again when the protagonist are eating together at a hotel restaurant with Ryuji, Anne and Morgana, though he does not recognize the protagonist. While waiting for the elevator to go back to the restaurant, Shido and his subordinates 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 Anne to continue their work as Phantom Thieves.

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 'wrath'. 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, without knowledge of his son's apparent death, he admits that he is going to kill Goro anyway once he becomes prime minister because he knows 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, symbolizes 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.

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".
 * The song that plays during his boss fight is Rivers in the Desert.
 * Shadow Shido's first form in battle bears striking resemblance to from the  franchise who is also voiced by Shuichi Ikeda.