"My... It's taken far too long. Tell me... Who is going to avenge her if you don't? Forgiving him was never the option... Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within... I am thou, thou art I... We can finally forge a contract... There you go... Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength."
—Carmen, Persona 5
Carmen (カルメン, Karumen)? is a Persona in Persona 5.
Carmen is a fictive female gypsy created by Prosper Mérimée. She first appeared in Mérimée's eponymous novella that was first written and published in 1845. The novella was adapted into a variety of different genres, most notably the opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet which diverges in significant points from Mérimée's original story.
Whatever the version, Carmen is generally depicted as a classic femme fatale who would take advantage of her beauty and charm to make men fall for her but quickly break the relationship once she is bored of her wooer and then looks for the next victim. Carmen is also usually seen smoking tobacco because she had once been working in a tobacco factory. She is later slain by a spurned ex-lover driven to a jealous rage after she leaves him. Though she knew he would be fated to kill her, she declares that she would rather die than allow herself to be bound to the will of another and that "Carmen will always be free".
Carmen is the Initial Persona of Ann Takamaki. When Ann is captured in Kamoshida's Palace, bound to an X frame and almost executed by the subordinate shadows of Shadow Kamoshida, she regrets rejecting the real Kamoshida's sexual advances, which is the very cause of her only friend Shiho Suzui being targeted by Kamoshida and attempting suicide to escape him. The protagonist and Carmen encourages her to stop grieving. Ann becomes determined to let loose her suppressed rage to take revenge on Kamoshida, awakening Carmen to break free from the bondage.
Shujin Academy Library has a book based on her called "The Alluring Dancer" that boosts charm.