"Well, because I'm a psychic, of course. Haha, I'm only joking. In truth, I'm a rookie detective."
Goro Akechi is a playable character from Persona 5. He is touted by his fans and the media as the second coming of the detective prince (after the first appeared in Persona 4), and is investigating the mysterious Phantom Thieves of Hearts case sensationalizing Japan.
Appearances
- Persona 5 / Royal: Playable Character; Justice Confidant
- Persona 5 (Manga): Major Character
- Persona 5: Mementos Mission: Major Character
- Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers: Cameo
- Persona 5 The Animation: Major Character
- Persona 5 The Stage
- Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight: Playable Character (DLC)
- Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: Playable Character (DLC)
- Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth: Playable Character
Design
Akechi has shaggy, neck length brown hair with bangs and reddish-brown eyes. He wears a tan peacoat with black buttons, striped black and white tie, black pants, black gloves and black loafers. His casual winter outfit consists of a white long sleeve shirt with flaps under a blue diamond sweater vest, beige pants and brown shoes.
As Crow, Akechi wears a princely pure-white regalia with red accents and a red, long-nosed mask. His mask motif resembles a long-nosed Venetian mask. His image is a combination of a noble's attire, and a uniform worn by cavalry or guards of honor. As with his Robin Hood Persona, it's meant to give the feeling of putting on the air of a champion of justice, with nothing to do with being a Phantom Thief, robber or burglar of any sort, invoking the image of being at the front of a stage to contrast the protagonist's image of being more of a backstage actor.
Once he reveals his true intentions, Akechi swaps his princely garb for a body-covering, black and dark blue striped outfit. In this form, he has several black studded belts strapped around his legs and arms, a short black cape and clawed gauntlets. He also wears a dark enclosed knight helmet, with a black mask resembling a sharp beak, which later breaks and turns a deep crimson from his defeat. Much like with Loki's design, it alludes to a lack of agency, and is meant to give a chaotic feeling and invoke the question "what's the real you?"
During the Third Semester in Royal, Akechi's mask is restored and becomes blue-black. On days off, he wears a green vest and white collar shirt, both under a brown coat with black buttons, and blue pants while retaining his gloves and loafers. On school days, Akechi wears a tan coat with a red and gray plaid scarf tucked underneath, while keeping his black gloves, pants and shoes from his detective uniform.
Personality
During most of the story, Akechi appears to be well-mannered, friendly and charismatic. His achievement of being a high-school detective, coupled with his handsome features, makes him highly popular among the general public and he is commented to be "The Second Coming of the Detective Prince." His intelligence and smooth-talk earned him enough trust from the police to conduct his own investigation despite his young age, which includes Sae Niijima, who fully trusts him to assist her in her investigation.
He presents himself as having a strong sense of justice, disapproving of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts for their methods. He is candid in expressing his disagreement, but never forces his views on others, and still respects people who have differing opinions. He quotes Hegel on this, citing that "advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis."
In reality, this cheery disposition is merely a mask that hides his inner darkness. Due to his mother's suicide and subsequent placement into child institutions, Akechi grew up a lonely child who yearned to be loved; this feeling persists in his teenage years. He was illegally conceived in one of Shido's sexual ventures, which would then become the basis of his incredibly misanthropic worldview and his narcissistic behavior, making him even harder to befriend.
Despite supposedly being an idol detective, this identity is nothing short of a fraud that he carefully crafted to grant him a public image in the hopes that it would make people accept him and mask his real personality; which was done by artificially fabricating and solving cases via mental shutdowns or psychotic breakdowns. He has the public's support only if he upholds the pretense of being a charismatic idol detective, and his fans are quick to turn on him if he makes mistakes, such as when the Phantom Thieves triumphed over Kaneshiro and Medjed.
Shido's abandonment resulted in Akechi developing a strong hatred for his father, to the point that he swore he would get revenge on Shido for ruining his life. His desire for revenge is so intense that he's willing to become a hitman for Shido, committing murders under his father's orders to fulfill his goal of ruining Shido when he is at the apex of his power.
After meeting the protagonist, for the first time Akechi is able to experience a simple, normal life with a friend. Akechi admires yet envies the protagonist, who does not let anything stop him from carving his own path, and considers him his rival. Persona 5 Maniax states that despite being overwhelmed with jealousy and contempt for the protagonist, who is surrounded by friends, Akechi says he would have wanted to meet the protagonist earlier, and doesn't deny what Morgana says about him taking a liking to the protagonist. In an interview in Persona 5 The Royal Official Complete Guide, director Katsura Hashino comments that Akechi doesn't care much for other people except the protagonist. In fact, besides Sumire Yoshizawa, he treats others in a cold and even abrupt manner. In the end, he seems to hold complicated feelings towards the protagonist.
Near the final act of the game, his obsession with enacting revenge on his father and his desire to be the hero of his own story overshadows his true feelings for the protagonist and the party. He becomes so desperate that he dismisses the concept of friends and true justice, claiming they are both meaningless and sickening, and even turns himself psychotic. This becomes substantial to his downfall, as his lack of bonds alongside his single-minded goal happens to be the reason why he is defeated. However, after learning how special he is to the protagonist and the party, and the truth of how Shido sees him from the cognitive version of himself, Akechi realizes how foolish he's been for letting his hatred blind him from seeing the truth, and he sacrifices himself to protect the protagonist.
He usually speaks in a calm and polite, yet unsettling fashion, but when he drops his guise and engages in combat as the Black Mask, his dialogue becomes wildly aggressive and profane. This is apparent in the Japanese script, in that the usual self-referring-pronoun that Akechi uses is "boku" and refers to others as "kimi." Under his Black Mask form, he drops his formal verbal ticks and refers to himself as "ore" and others as "omae." While he can keep a calm verbal conversation, his vocalizations are much more harsh and flippant at times.
In Royal, this side of him is elaborated upon further during battle, as he refers to small Shadows as scum and delights in killing them. Akechi no longer cares what others may think of him, completely abandoning his detective prince persona. Now perfectly comfortable with his true self, he behaves more coldly and seriously, speaking in a straightforward manner without any sugar coating, regardless of who he's talking to. He won't bother making small talk, directing the conversation straight to the point. While Akechi seems to no longer hold any contempt for the Phantom Thieves, he is no kinder than before with them since they already knew his true nature. He also shows a morbid sense of humor, dryly suggesting they kill Maruki when handing him the calling card.
When it comes to his enemies, he is still merciless, seeing no problem in killing if he feels it is necessary. During a conversation in the Thieves Den, Akechi outright states that he would have killed Madarame or Kamoshida if he were to be abused by them like Yusuke or Ann were; in turn, they respond that letting them suffer for an eternity would be better punishment than outright killing them. Akechi does show a certain restraint to this side of him, depending on who his opponents are. He chooses to back out and leave the protagonist to fight Sumire alone because he worries he might kill her due to his combat instinct. He would attempt to kill Maruki only as a last resort, when he saw no other choice.
Having been manipulated by Shido before, Akechi values free will above all else. For this reason, he is disgusted by Maruki's salvation plan that requires his memories to be distorted and changed, which Akechi sees as no different than when he was controlled by his father. He is determined to live his life following the path that he chooses for himself, without anyone dictating him, even if it means he will die doing so. Due to his relationship with the protagonist, he is alarmed and disappointed should he ever accept Maruki's reality as he believes that it's betraying his ideals and their relationship with each other. At the same time, he is relieved each time the protagonist turns Maruki's offer down, knowing that he is resolved to return to reality back to normal and by accepting Maruki's offer would be a betrayal of Akechi's wishes.
Despite not being a real detective and instead an assasin, Akechi does have excellent deduction and analysis skills, as seen during Niijima's Palace and Maruki's Palace, as well as during Persona Q2; his quick and in-depth thinking allows him to be an effective asset when an ally. He is also extremely cunning, secretly planning a means to address Shadow Sae's last minute cheating in her Palace without the knowledge of his teammates beforehand. This proves that even without having to fabricate cases, he actually does have what it takes to become a true detective. However, his usage of the Wild Card happens to very poor, as he relies on only two Personas based on parts of his personalities and doesn't have special bonds with anyone besides the protagonist.
The official Persona 5 Artbook reveals that Akechi lives alone in a city apartment. His main skill is reasoning, and he has a habit of getting lost in thought during conversations. His hobbies include cycling (specifically with a hybrid bicycle for easy turning in Tokyo), bouldering and playing fashionable games like darts. His guidebook profile also states that Akechi always makes sure to try out the latest popular dishes in order to use food as a conversation piece. Waiting in long lines for this does not bother him. He uses his cycling hobby to ride around town, gathering stories to utilize in conversation with adults. Since he spends a lot of time with adults, he has a reputation among Tokyo’s famous hidden stores and high class restaurants, although in truth he has little interest in the food’s flavor.
Profile
Persona 5
Akechi is the illegitimate child of Masayoshi Shido, the same man responsible for the protagonist's probation period. His mother was a sex worker who was shamed for having a child out of wedlock and committed suicide. According to him, before her suicide, she raised him alone, and whenever she brought men from the red light district into their home, she would tell him to go to the bath house. Akechi desired to make Shido apologize for his crime of making her illegally conceive a child, but was powerless to do anything because Shido was already a high-ranking official by then. He was then passed around child institutions as an orphan.
Two years before Persona 5, Akechi acquired the power of the Wild Card and gained access to the Metaverse, although he is not permitted to the Velvet Room. He then offered his newfound abilities to Shido, who employed him as an assassin to achieve his goal of becoming Prime Minister. However, in reality, this was just a plan by Akechi to catch Shido off guard so he could forcibly ruin his political career after winning the premiership. Shido proceeded to teach Akechi about inducing mental shutdowns by abusing Mementos. During their collaboration, Akechi used Loki to fabricate scandals of Shido's opponents to discredit them, then proceeded to "solve" the case himself. This, along with his already standing charisma, earned him the title of "The Second Coming of the Detective Prince," along with celebrity status. If any of Shido's enemies proved particularly troublesome, Akechi would assassinate them personally by inducing a mental shutdown. During an unknown period within the game, Akechi was also interviewed by Shinichi Yoshizawa's talk show "Good Morning Japan" for one week in a row, allowing him to know Shinichi's daughters, Kasumi Yoshizawa and her younger sister, Sumire Yoshizawa personally.
Around a day after the protagonist is pulled into the rehabilitation game, Akechi causes a massive subway accident for the sole reason of framing the traffic department for incompetency.
Akechi is first brought up to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts by Shadow Madarame and Shadow Kaneshiro after their fall, as a nameless figure wearing a black mask, which alarms the group. Akechi first meets the group during a Shujin Academy school trip to a TV station in Akasaka Mitsuke, where he is scheduled to appear as a guest in "Good Morning Japan." He passes by and overhears Morgana talking with the protagonist, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Ann Takamaki backstage about the shape of the TV dome resembling pancakes, attracting his attention. During the show, he expresses a distaste for the Phantom Thieves, whom he accuses of taking the law into their own hands.
Akechi quickly takes an interest in the protagonist, approaching him after the show and telling him that he enjoyed their conversation, and hopes to speak again sometime. As the Thieves' heists continue, and Akechi continues to state his disapproval of them, his own popularity begins to dip.
Once the Phantom Thieves' popularity reaches its peak, the Conspiracy tricks them into making their next target Kunikazu Okumura, who is also one of Shido's enemies and an obstacle to his path. After their target's defeat, Akechi takes the chance to assassinate his Shadow Self before his Palace collapses, subsequently causing the real Okumura to suffer a mental shutdown and die. This leads to the public believing the Phantom Thieves to be behind his death. On the other hand, Akechi's support skyrockets due to his staunch disapproval of their methods, and Shido's conspiracy takes advantage of this to frame the Phantom Thieves for a crime that they did not commit.
Sixth Heist: Sae Niijima
Later, as Shujin Academy is searching for a guest celebrity to speak at their cultural festival, Akechi is chosen by a landslide vote, and he accepts Makoto Niijima's invitation. During his speech, he boasts of knowing the Phantom Thieves' identities on stage, and uses a fake call as an excuse to talk to them personally. Backstage, he blackmails the Thieves into a deal using photographic evidence of them leaving Okumura's Palace.
Akechi claims he entered the Metaverse a month before, and awakened to his Persona when he saw the black masked man kill Okumura. Akechi requests that he accompanies the Thieves on their heist in Sae's Palace in order to catch the real culprit and clear their name. In exchange, he'll destroy the photo evidence. However, another caveat is that the Phantom Thieves must disband after this last heist. With no other choice, the group agrees.
In reality, the Phantom Thieves were planning to trick Akechi all along courtesy of him somewhat happening to hear Morgana talk about the shape of the TV Station Dome despite the Thieves were not supposed to have had met him in the Metaverse before, allowing them to deduct that he is a mole (Since this implies that he spied on the Phantom Thieves while they were dealing with Madarame) and fabricate a plan to prevent him from successfully framing them. The Thieves plan on not stealing Sae's Treasure and instead take an empty briefcase, allowing her Palace to remain, while Futaba plants a bug onto the protagonist's phone to transfer Akechi to a part of Niijima's Palace that Sae has little control of. As Niijima's Palace contains a Cognitive Akechi, Makoto would then hide this fake out of the real Akechi's sight. The protagonist would then take himself as a decoy to be arrested while tricking Sae to put the protagonist's phone near Akechi so Futaba can remotely activate the Metaverse Navigator on the protagonist's side, preventing him from assassinating the protagonist as well as keeping the other Phantom Thieves and Confidants alongside the protagonist himself, alive.
When Shadow Sae impedes the party's progress by increasing the number of coins required to enter the Manager's Floor of the casino, Akechi secretly used a loan card that Futaba told him to get rid of, to borrow as many coins from the casino as possible, allowing the party access to the Treasure. After Sae's defeat and the Treasure found, their victory is cut short with a police invasion outside Sae's Palace, heavily implied to be drawn in by Akechi via passive use of the Metaverse Navigator. The protagonist decides to act as a decoy so the rest of the Phantom Thieves can escape, and Akechi follows the others while the protagonist catches the police's attention and is ultimately caught.
Back in the present, Sae concludes the interrogation by telling him to expose the identities of all his comrades and allies. If he refuses, the protagonist's drugs will begin to wear off, and will remember that the group was aware of Akechi's malicious motives all along, and had been prepared. He intended to bait the police into capturing him, then use a modified version of the Metaverse Navigator to trick Akechi into entering a part of Niijima's Palace with no cognitive distortion. Furthermore, an empty suitcase was taken in place of the Treasure, and a cognitive Akechi was found and kidnapped within the Palace to lower the real Akechi's guard.
With the protagonist captured, Akechi heads to the interrogation room, planning to execute him. On his way there, whilst crossing paths, Sae shows Akechi the protagonist's cellphone. After Sae leaves, Akechi asks the guard outside the room to join him, before killing him with his gun. He then kills the protagonist and stages the scene as a suicide before leaving. When he reports to Shido of his success in assassinating the protagonist, he considers killing the remaining Phantom Thieves. Akechi tells him to wait until after the election to avoid rousing suspicion, and assures Shido that they won't seek revenge without their leader.
In reality, when Sae showed Akechi the phone, he was sent to the Metaverse and everything in the room were mere cognitions. The protagonist also deliberately let himself got caught and interrogated, although he was only unable to recollect that he had a plan in the first place because he was drugged. Sae is shown evidence of Shido and Akechi being the culprits and the protagonist is rescued, but to the rest of the world, the protagonist committed suicide while in custody. The conspiracy, overconfident, never checked for a corpse and immediately filed a death certificate.
Alternatively, the protagonist can reveal all of the Phantom Thieves' identities to Sae. If so, Sae leaves and crosses paths with Akechi, not knowing he came to assassinate the protagonist. Due to Sae not showing him the cellphone, Akechi murders the real guard and protagonist as planned, and the residents of the Velvet Room lament for his failure and sentence him to be imprisoned inside his cell for the rest of his life.
Seventh Heist: Masayoshi Shido
Shido threatens Akechi.
Akechi makes a public appearance where he addresses the protagonist's "suicide" on a talk show and intends to capture the remaining Phantom Thieves, even if they go after him, with full support from the public. However, in thought, he laments how the public does not know he was an undesired child, revealing he devoted himself to becoming an honor student, made his name as an ace detective and got rid of anyone who opposed him, courtesy of the MetaNav and his Persona.
At that moment, an audience member's phone rings, causing Akechi to recall how Sae showed him the protagonist's phone before he carried out the murder. Later, Shido abruptly demands that Akechi disposes of those involved with the conspiracy. When expressing doubts, Shido threatens him and asks Akechi if he knows what it means to disobey him. At this point, Akechi realizes that there is a high chance the protagonist is still alive and encroaching upon Shido's Palace, since Shido's demands were all too sudden.
After the Phantom Thieves secure the letters of invitation required to enter Shido's Treasure Room, Akechi confronts the Phantom Thieves in the engine room. When accused of cooperating with Shido, Akechi scoffs at this and reveals his plan to expose both his status as Shido's illegitimate son and the crimes they committed after Shido wins the election, thereby shattering his father's career and credibility. Furious that the Thieves are in the way of his plans, Akechi then battles the group in his Crow form with Robin Hood as his Persona and summons two Shadows to kill them, demonstrating his powers by driving them berserk with another Persona.
After his first defeat, the Phantom Thieves try to discourage him from continuing his revenge, but Akechi doesn't listen, having been blinded by his wrath and inferiority complex. He uses his own berserk ability on himself in a last ditch effort to defeat the Phantom Thieves, officially using Loki to attack them. The Phantom Thieves barely defeat him, admitting that they were only able to do so by working together against him. Upon his second and final defeat, Akechi laments about never being able to become someone special to anyone. However, to his surprise, the group talks about how they would accept him back if he so wishes.
Before Akechi can respond, Shido's cognition of Akechi appears, who explains how Shido planned to kill and pin everything upon Akechi. Initially, he criticizes the cognition on how he was used by Shido, saying that was something he would do and admitted he wondered how he could protect himself if Akechi used his power to tear through his Palace. The cognition blankly admits it is true, but mocks Akechi, declaring him as the true puppet from the very beginning, much to the Phantom Thieves' shock and anger.
Once given a chance to kill all of the Phantom Thieves, Akechi chooses to shoot his cognitive self instead before shooting the locking switch on the wall, sealing himself off from the Phantom Thieves, much to their horror. Knowing that they would die if they tried to save him, he puts his trust in the group to stop Shido for him. As Akechi faces off against his equally wounded cognitive self, aside from two gunshots, Akechi's fate is left ambiguous. Futaba is unable to detect any living signatures beyond the wall, and Sae later confirms that Akechi is reported missing after the Day of Reckoning.
After securing the infiltration route, the Phantom Thieves all express their sorrow for Akechi. Haru and Ann point out that he was a victim of Shido that couldn't be saved and Yusuke believes he himself would have become the same had he not met the party. Ryuji personally admits he cannot forgive Akechi, but openly states he cannot forgive Shido even more for warping his mind. Makoto agreed that what Shido did was truly reprehensible, and Morgana tells the protagonist they have successfully to take Shido down, no matter what.
When the party confronts Shadow Shido, he confirms his plan to kill Akechi, as his birth is a taint on his political power, and that he could not keep him alive, since he had intimate knowledge of his past. Shadow Shido gloats about how he used praise to manipulate Akechi, even brazenly declaring that it was thanks to him that Akechi could use his powers properly to begin with. The Phantom Thieves condemn Shido for corrupting Akechi only to discard him in the end, and for grooming a teenager into a murderer in exchange for acceptance and validation, arguing that he never would have been able to make it to where he was without Akechi's help.
Failing to complete any of the first six Palaces before their deadlines makes Sae leave, believing the overdose of drugs has affecting the protagonist's memories. Akechi then kills the protagonist as a mysterious figure, criticizing his righteousness as trivial. Failure to complete Shido's Palace before the Election Day leads to Akechi discovering that the protagonist is alive, and he arrests him for murdering a guard and deceiving the police after arriving at Leblanc regardless if he is fought or not.
Final Heist: Mementos
Lavenza revealed that Yaldabaoth gave Akechi access to the Metaverse to see whether or not Akechi's desire to destroy the world was stronger than the protagonist's desire for rebellion. Akechi's supposed goal after discrediting Shido is the destruction and recreation of society, as opposed to the protagonist reforming society by removing its corruption. However, Yaldabaoth would blatantly rig the outcome in an attempt to prove that humanity indeed wants his "salvation" by controlling the people of Tokyo and stagnating their thoughts regardless of who won.
Persona 5 Royal
"I refuse to accept a reality concocted by someone else, stuck under their control for the rest of my days."
An extra scenario in Persona 5 Royal has Akechi bumping into the protagonist and Kasumi Yoshizawa near the Shibuya station, where Kasumi reveals that her father hosted the talk show he was on earlier. Akechi responds that he had met the host personally, but is surprised that Kasumi is his daughter. The three then have a chat in a café, discussing the Phantom Thieves until Kasumi's father calls her back.
In Persona 5 Royal, Akechi's Confidant is also optional instead of automatic, although all original events that would've originally progress the Confidant will still happen. Doing so will include visits to Penguin Sniper and Jazz Jin, and later ranks will allow the protagonist to randomly uncover enemy weaknesses and eventually randomly uncover all of an enemy's weaknesses. The deadline for the manual Confidant is the 18th of November, and the protagonist cannot interact with Akechi afterwards until the Third Semester.
In the protagonist's Rank 8 event with Akechi's Confidant, unlocked after he joins your party, Akechi will ask the protagonist to meet with him alone in Mementos. Morgana is a bit confused by the request, but he allows them to do so. In Mementos, Akechi finds a quiet location and then pulls a silenced pistol (similar to the one he used on Shadow Okumura and later the protagonist), saying that he wanted to follow up on his agreement that he will truly duel the protagonist. This will trigger a short battle where the protagonist is able to fight Akechi solo; winning this fight is necessary in order to advance the Confidant. After the battle, he will then admit that he hates the protagonist and how he is able to recover from the situation he was thrown into, before throwing his glove at him as an offer for a duel.
If the protagonists accepts, after the battle with Akechi in Shido's Palace, when he traps himself with Shido's cognitive version of himself, the protagonist reminds him of their promise, which bewilders Akechi.
Taking Back Reality
If the protagonist maxed the Councillor Arcana Confidant, Akechi reveals himself on Christmas Eve after Yaldabaoth's defeat, offering himself to take the protagonist's place for Sae to testify about his and Shido's crimes. He turns himself in to the police and confesses to the murders he committed on Shido's behalf.
Akechi was released on January 1st for no reason, and sensed the world had been altered. Seeing an alive and well Wakaba Isshiki, and a human Morgana in Leblanc confirmed his suspicions. He asks the protagonist, who is the only other person aware of the irregularity, to help him investigate. After receiving a call from Kasumi, they go to Odaiba where an unknown Palace appears. The trio gather in the unknown Palace, but notice that the Metaverse Navigator has returned with a different icon, this time in white and black.
Entering the Palace, Akechi proceeds to take on his Black Mask form, as he has no reason to lie about his true self anymore. Upon rejoining, he has Loki instead of Robin Hood, and consequently Bless Skills in his arsenal. He also acts as the navigator during the trio's investigation. While infiltrating the Palace, Akechi begins to suspect that Kasumi is the Palace Ruler once she identifies her deceased sister as Sumire after seeing footage of her past.
This is proven false once Takuto Maruki reveals himself as the real Ruler and the one who created the 'ideal' reality that they currently live in using his amplified actualization powers. When Akechi and the protagonist reject Maruki's reality, the former counselor gives them a week for the protagonist to snap out all of his other comrades from his manipulations before confronting him. Akechi, on the other hand, gathers information about Maruki. He also calls Sumire's parents and learns that Maruki already manipulated them into thinking that she's in a training camp. In addition, he reveals to the protagonist that, in Maruki's reality, the two of them haven't committed crimes, despite the Phantom Thieves causing a stir in society for both realities. However, he stated that Shido alone was arrested for attempting to overthrow the government.
After a week passes, the protagonist and Akechi return to confront Maruki and reject his reality again. Kasumi, revealed to be her younger twin Sumire whose memory was altered by Maruki prior to the story, refuses to return. If the protagonist denies Maruki's offer, Akechi will be pleased, saying to Maruki that negotiations are now over. Choosing to accept Maruki's offer leads to a bad ending, much to Akechi's immense shock.
Should the protagonist decide to accept Maruki's offer anyway, he will be happily hanging out with the other (former) members of the Thieves in LeBlanc on the 3rd of February. During the 15th of March, he offers to take a group photo for the protagonist and his friends, only for Maruki to take the picture instead, allowing Akechi to be in the photo himself. He can be last seen in the credits playing chess with the protagonist, and like him, at the credit's final snapshot, he gives the camera a knowing look as the rest of the former thieves hang out in LeBlanc.
Sumire, completely in denial of returning to who she once was, engages the two in battle, but Akechi excuses himself, knowing the protagonist wants her alive and he'd only end up killing her. After the fight, Maruki restrains Kasumi, which drives her Persona Cendrillon berserk, much to Akechi's disgust and anger as he rejoins the fight. They are close to defeat until the rest of the Phantom Thieves arrive. After defeating Cendrillon and leaving the Palace, Akechi offers his help to the rest of the party as they share the same goal, which they accept.
On the evening of February 2, if Akechi's promise is fulfilled, he also appears in Leblanc when Maruki visits, although in hiding until Maruki calls him out. Akechi corroborates Maruki's statement where he brought Akechi back to the fake reality out of the protagonist's desire to save him. Akechi admits he was fully aware of this from the start, as he does not remember anything after the encounter with the Phantom Thieves in the engine room. Despite knowing this, he still refuses the reality Maruki created because that would be no different from being enslaved. Akechi then speaks alone with the protagonist and makes it clear that he decides his own path, urging the protagonist to fight Maruki even if it means losing him, saying that the indecisiveness betrays his wishes and is irritated if the protagonist argues that the issue isn't trivial. The protagonist is then given the option to accept Maruki's reality by canceling the heist on his own. If he doesn't, Loki will transmogrify into Hereward, with Akechi vowing to "sow chaos as far as the eye can see."
If the protagonist chooses to stay in Maruki's reality and has confirmed to do so, Akechi will be disappointed by his choice and angrily storm out, only to later reappear in the ending with his memory distorted by Maruki's power. The same ending that occurs when the protagonist directly accepts Maruki's offer during their second visit to his Palace will play afterwards.
After Maruki is defeated and the original reality is restored, Akechi remains missing in the real world. When the other Phantom Thieves are told this by Morgana, they express their dismay. Ryuji even points out that Akechi fought hard, knowing he would disappear all this time.
When saying goodbyes to everyone, if the protagonist decides to check out the Jazz Club and has maxed Akechi's Confidant, the owner will ask the protagonist if he knows where Akechi is, which reminds him of the glove in his pocket and that their duel is "not over."
Should the protagonist max out Akechi's Confidant, in the epilogue of the true ending, a glimpse of a figure resembling Akechi is briefly seen passing by outside of the train the protagonist is boarding, accompanied by two suited men, who disappear before the protagonist looks out of the window. This sighting leaves Akechi's ultimate fate uncertain.
In New Game Plus, Akechi can wear his Black Mask outfit during the Sixth Heist and his Crow outfit upon rejoining during the Third Semester. This only changes his aesthetics and does not change his in-game properties.
Confidant
- Main article: Confidant/Goro Akechi
"I can't believe you evaded the police's network until today… The only logical explanation is that someone in the police has ties to the Phantom Thieves… Explain yourself!"
Akechi's Confidant is automatically established on June 10th. This Confidant progresses along with the story, and can only progress past Rank 7 if the protagonist answers Sae's questions correctly during the interrogation in November. Because Akechi's stay in the party is only temporary, his battle abilities are all activated when he first joins. This Confidant will automatically reach Max rank during the main storyline. Maxing this Confidant unlocks the fusion of Metatron; this depends on when Akechi is fought in Shido's Palace, with November 25th as the earliest, and December 16th as the latest. Akechi's Confidant is one of two that does not have a farewell gift to the protagonist, a result of his sacrifice for him.
| Rank | Date | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 10th | - | - |
| 2 | July 24th | - | - |
| 3 | August 28th | - | - |
| 4 | October 24th | - | - |
| 5 | October 26th | - | - |
| 6 | October 29th | Baton Pass | Allows you to pass your turn over to other Baton Pass users after a 1 More. |
| Follow Up | Chance to perform a follow-up attack if Joker's attack does not down the enemy. | ||
| Detective Talk | Chance to step in after Shadow negotiation fails, allowing a retry. | ||
| Harisen Recovery | Chance to cure status ailments inflicted upon party members. | ||
| 7 | November 19th – After clearing Niijima's Palace | - | - |
| 8 | November 20th – After answering Sae's questions correctly | - | - |
| 9 | Encounter Akechi in Shido's Palace | - | - |
| 10 | Defeat Akechi | - | - |
Royal
In Royal, Akechi's Confidant is manual. Like before, his Confidant will be established automatically. The player can then rank him up to Rank 6, but cannot rank him up any higher until Akechi joins the party during Niijima's Palace. Once he joins, the player can rank him up to Rank 8, which is the max level of his manual Confidant. When the group fights Akechi in Shido's Palace, his Confidant will rank up automatically to Rank 9 and 10, regardless if the player reached Rank 8 beforehand. If the player did not reach Ranks 2, 4, or 7 before completing Niijima's Palace, his abilities will not be usable for the rest of the game. When his Confidant is maxed, under the right conditions, Robin Hood and Loki merge to become Hereward.
Akechi's story involves forming an unexpected bond with the protagonist by hanging out in different places in Kichijoji. After meeting the protagonist at the TV studio, Akechi decides to invite him to play Billiards in Kichijoji during his spare time. As they play, the protagonist notices something off, specifically with Akechi's hands; he is usually a lefty, as shown when he was shaking the protagonist's hand at the TV studio, as well as when they were playing billiards. However, in the most recent play, he was playing with his right hand. When he brings this up to Akechi, he explains he was trying to go easy on him and is slightly ambidextrous. Later on, he invites the protagonist to a restaurant to eat cake. While they are eating, multiple bystanders notice him due to his celebrity status, much to Akechi's dismay. To solve this, the protagonist gives Akechi his glasses and also messes up his hair a bit as a decoy to shoo away his fans. Once again, Akechi invites the protagonist to a place in Kichijoji, this time the Jazz Jin. Inside, they have drinks while listening to gentle jazz music inside. After saying that the place is his go-to place, Akechi is shocked when the protagonist tells him that he lives in a café, and also rants about his lack of cooking experience. While Akechi was busy with his detective job, he noticed some people at an arcade playing a shooting game and got interested in it, so he calls the protagonist to come and try the game out with him. Akechi wins against the protagonist, and calls the game nostalgic due to it reminding him of his wanting to be a hero when he was a kid.
The protagonist comes home one night to find Akechi sitting at a table in LeBlanc. While sitting there, Sojiro suggests that they go to the bathhouse nearby to calm down. While they are sitting in the tub, Akechi begins to talk about his past to the protagonist. His father died when he was really young, and his mother, who works at a nightclub, forced him to go to the bathhouse whenever she brought a man home. When they get out, Akechi points out how he and the protagonist share an unusual bond because they both had adults that ruined their lives (coincidentally being Masayoshi Shido for both of them). The rest of the story happens after Akechi joins the Phantom Theives. The two eventually go on to play billiards again, with Akechi comparing their game to changing hearts. While they are standing outside, Akechi asks a surprising question to the protagonist: if he wants to abandon his friends and join Akechi alone.
The next time the protagonist meets Akechi, he requests that the two of them go to Mementos alone. After wondering why he brought them there, he explains that they will have a duel which has built up in urge for Akechi, supposedly for beating him with both his dominant and non-dominant hand. The two of them will then have a 1-on-1 duel. Should the player lose, Akechi claim dominance but will allow the protagonist to challenge him as many times as he wants. If he wins, the two will go back to reality where Akechi will question the protagonist's strengths in having his allies. That's when he will honestly admit to the protagonist that he actually hates him, being irritated and jealous of his uniqueness and ability to beat Akechi, and calls him the one foe he does not want to lose to. He then throws one of his gloves at the protagonist, telling him to hold on to it if they want to have another duel in the future.
Once Akechi betrays the group, he will find them at Shido's Palace, where he will automatically reach Rank 9 and 10 during the story, as in the original Persona 5, although if Akechi reached Rank 8 before, the protagonist's dialogue options when accepting Akechi's promise will be different.
| Rank | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| - | Follow Up | Chance to perform a follow-up attack if Joker's attack does not down the enemy. |
| - | Smooth Talk | If negotiation with a god-like Shadow fails, you can try again. |
| 2 | Sleuthing Instinct | Chance to reveal one enemy affinity at the start of battle. |
| 4 | Sleuthing Mastery | Chance to reveal all of one enemy's affinities at the start of battle. |
| 7 | Harisen Recovery | Chance to cure status ailments inflicted upon party members. |
| 10 | Endure | Chance to withstand an otherwise fatal attack with 1 HP remaining. |
| Protect | Chance to shield Joker from an otherwise fatal attack. |
Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers
"Well, if there really are thieves like them out there, I believe they should be brought to justice in a court of law. Twisting other people's hearts by force... That's the worst thing any human could do."
Akechi makes an appearance on TV, where he is asked his opinion on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. His response is that whether or not they truly exist, they are criminals who should be brought to justice; he goes on to denounce their actions, and believes that forcing people to change what's in their hearts is wrong.
He is later present at the arrest of Kazuya Makigami and his gang, noticing the protagonist when Kazuya sees him.
Persona 5 The Animation
Akechi has a more active role in helping Ren escape from the Casino. Throughout the series, Akechi is seen in interviews on various media devices. Akechi makes his physical appearance during the tenth episode and like before, voices his disapproval of The Phantom Thieves' methods. His Black Mask persona appears during the battle with Kaneshiro, observing the fight through the security monitors.
Unlike in the game, Ren's interactions with Akechi are shown in detail, such as having him help investigate Futaba's uncle in his blackmail against Sojiro Sakura.
Later, he fulfills the same role as in the game, trying to assassinate Ren during Sae's interrogation during the final episode of the anime. He assassinates Ren after Sae shows him his phone. Judging from the purple flash and the blue butterfly that appears before he enters the interrogation room to assassinate Ren, he had just assassinated Ren's cognitive copy.
In the Dark Sun special, Akechi's role is similar to the events of the game, meeting up with Shido and reminiscing on how they met, to him lamenting during the talk show and eventual fight against the Phantom Thieves in the engine room. Though in this, he is implied to have assassinated the SWAT team responsible for capturing Ren as well, most likely to clean up loose ends.
During the engine room fight, he fights solo against Ren and is pushed back due to hits from the leader's gunfire. Enraged, he transforms into his true form as the "Black Mask" and summons Loki to attack, a move that leads to Ren's initial persona, Arsène, to clash with his own. He clashes with Ren in a melee battle, wrathful and baffled as to how despite Ren having a criminal record, he has what Akechi doesn't: friends.
In the end, Arsène bests Loki and Akechi is defeated. Like in the game, cognitive Akechi appears and summons Shadows to deal with the Phantom Thieves and Akechi himself. However, in the animation's version of events, Akechi is able to kill the cognitive version of himself and returns the black king piece that Ren gave to him before (signifying how Ren finally outplayed Akechi) before closing the shutters. With this version of events, the last we see of Akechi is him staring down a horde of Shadows before the point of view switches to the side of the Phantom Thieves. They hear rounds of gunfire go off on the other end, while Futaba confirms that his signal is gone. With the implication of Akechi's fate, the Thieves are saddened by their loss, with Ren, in particular, slamming his fist against the door, but they are forced to press on in order to get to change Shido's heart in his stead.
In the Stars and Ours special, near the end of the battle against Yaldabaoth when the Phantom Thieves are immobilized by the false god, Ren hears Akechi's voice encouraging him while he holds the chess piece Akechi returned to him.
In the Proof of Justice special, which takes place after Shido's change of heart, Ren and Morgana find "Proof of Justice" in Akechi's hand-writing, in a zigzag puzzle magazine that Akechi played before. Morgana dismisses it as a mere scribble and that Akechi is already gone, but Ren is curious of its meaning.
The next day, Ren visits the places where he used to hang out with Akechi, reminiscing about their time together. Ren spends the whole day asking around about the words and finds nothing until he overhears a child whining his father about "Proof of Justice." When Ren asks, it turns out the words came from a toy gun commercial. Ren recognizes the toy gun as similar to the one Akechi used in the Palace. This makes Ren realize that the words represent Akechi's desire to be a hero. Back at Leblanc, Ren laments his inability to save Akechi, but is determined to move forward for the sake of his own proof of justice. The next morning, Ren arranges the chess board that he usually played with Akechi and places the chess piece he once entrusted to Akechi, acknowledging Akechi as his friend.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
As the game takes place during the Sixth Heist, Akechi is included as a party member as Crow. He is in the party's default team and is one of the brains of the cast, helping in solving the puzzles and riddles throughout the labyrinths. While he can be seen as distant, he is much easier to interact with and does not display obvious signs of his darkness, though the Phantom Thieves still don't hold him in high regard.
When meeting the P4 cast, he is interested in Naoto Shirogane, who was the first Detective Prince before him. They get along fairly well, due to their sharp wit and shared careers as detectives. There is a side-quest in which both of them must work together to find the culprit who steals Theodore's handmade popcorn (later revealed to be Caroline and Justine disguised as Teddie). This experience grants Akechi and Naoto a unison attack which they can use together against an enemy.
Akechi's insecurity grows as he adventures in the labyrinths, watching the rest of the cast accepting each other for who they truly are. The P5 hero notices the change in Akechi's behavior, though Akechi denies it. Koromaru, who also senses this, grows unusually close to Akechi. Ken starts to think that Akechi is different from the rest of Phantom Thieves after seeing Koromaru's behavior towards Akechi, stating that Koromaru only acts that way with people who have deep problems. Akechi assures Ken that there's nothing wrong with him, but later quietly reveals his astonishment at Koromaru's sharp instinct. Shinjiro also notices Akechi’s isolation from his team and correctly surmises Akechi’s dark past. He comforts him to look ahead and stop letting his past bind him. Akechi turns down the suggestion, however, as he cannot understand the notion of getting over his actions.
At the end of the game, he stutters for a bit before returning back to reality alongside the Phantom Thieves. Unlike the other members of the group, he does not appear in the post-credits events, indicating that he is still the traitor. According to the official artbook, the experience has made Akechi aware of how unfavorable his personality actually is and he does not wish to leave, as he fears reverting back to his old self.
Party
- Main article: Party/Goro Akechi
Akechi temporarily joins the Phantom Thieves on October 29th for the heist of Niijima's Palace only.
In Persona 5 Royal, Akechi aids the protagonist during their infiltration in Maruki's Palace.
Boss
Strategy
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Unlike most other major boss fights in the game, Akechi is fairly straightforward and does not possess many gimmicks or high enough defense to stall the fight for long. Most of his movement patterns are linear and predictable, allowing the party to outmaneuver him with specific methods. The party should still prepare and recover HP/SP after defeating Ongyo-Ki and before charging further into the engine room, as that will trigger the boss encounter instantly and his attacks hit fairly hard. The party also cannot use a Goho-M after defeating Ongyo-Ki, so fuse the required Personas beforehand.
During the first phase, Akechi is shielded by Guard Dog of Hades and Spear-wielding General. He will cause them to use Desperation which greatly raises their offense at the cost of defense. As these two heavily favor physical attacks, throwing up Physical Ointments or Tetrakarn will speed up this part of the fight.
Once his two minions are down, Akechi enters the fight himself, attacking the protagonist exclusively in this order: Kougaon, Eigaon, Megaton Raid. This makes Akechi easily exploitable by putting up Tetrakarn and Makarakarn on the protagonist in the right order. This pattern will repeat until Akechi's health is halved, in which he will use his next turn to cast Megidolaon. If the battle continues past that turn, Akechi will use his next two turns to Charge then Megaton Raid towards the protagonist.
In the second phase, Akechi focuses on Physical attacks. He will use Tetrakarn to repel Physical attacks and use Brave Blade afterward. Occasionally, he may use Negative Pile, which is dangerous if the target is the protagonist and he's inflicted with Despair. It's best for the protagonist to use a Persona which nullifies/repels the damage of his Physical attacks.
After a portion of his HP is down, he'll begin focusing on Magic-based skills. Like the previous phase, he'll use Makarakarn to repel Magic attacks and use a Magic skill. It is recommended not to have Yusuke in the party, since Akechi can easily gain One More if Maragion lands on him. The protagonist should be wary of using Personas that are vulnerable to Fire or Curse skills.
When his HP is reduced to at least a third, Akechi will begin to routinely switch patterns, but he doesn't use a Physical skill along with a Magic skill in his turns. Occasionally, and on the first turn of this phase, Akechi will use Laevateinn, a powerful Almighty-type skill, to the protagonist which cannot be deflected. It is wise to have the protagonist guard to reduce the damage, and have his allies recover his HP or also reduce Akechi's offensive damage and increase the protagonist's defense.
Whenever Akechi successfully downs an enemy, he'll use the follow-up to apply Desperation on himself. Otherwise, he'll perform a different action, mainly Dekaja if the protagonist's party has buffs, or Heat Riser to apply buffs to himself, if Desperation is already active.
Royal
Unlike in Persona 5, Berserk Cerberus is weak to ice. Therefore, if Berserk Cu Chulainn is defeated and Berserk Cerberus is downed, an All-Out Attack can be used. Finishing all enemies with an All-Out Attack automatically skips Akechi's Robin Hood phase.
Stats
Stats for Akechi are identical in both Persona 5 and Royal.
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Justice Confidant Rank 8, Royal
During Rank 8, the protagonist is required to drop this Akechi's HP to one-third alone. Remember to save before interacting with him, since even if being defeated by him will not result in a Game Over, it ends the day and can potentially waste your valuable time slots.
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Quotes
Main Story
- "Enough of this high-and-mighty bullshit! You're pissing me off!" (Maruki Telegraphing movement ban)
Battle
Ally – Crow
- "Robin Hood!" (Using Persona skill)
- "Now, Robin!" (Using Persona skill)
- "Loki!" (Using Persona skill - unused)
- "Arise, Loki!" (Using Persona skill - unused)
- "My skills exceed yours!" (Selecting Persona skill)
- "Taste my wrath!" (Selecting Persona skill)
- "Manifest!" (Selecting Persona skill)
- "Persona!" (Selecting Persona skill)
- "It doesn't die!" (Akechi's attack or skill doesn't defeat the enemy)
- "I was merciful." (Akechi's attack or skill doesn't defeat the enemy)
- "Very clever..." (Akechi misses or skill fails to inflict damage)
- "Someone cover me!" (Akechi misses)
- "Saw that." (Akechi dodges)
- "Too slow!" (Akechi dodges)
- "One down, now it's two!" (Akechi reduces the enemies to two)
- "It's the last one!" (Akechi reduces the enemies to one)
- "You need my help?" (Initiating Follow-Up)
- "Understood. Moving in!" (Follow-Up attack)
- "We're still fighting!" (Using Harisen Recovery on an ally)
- "How inconvenient." (Using Harisen Recovery on an ally)
- "I'll use this!" (Using an Item)
- "There." (Giving Baton Pass)
- "I'll do my best!" (Receiving Baton Pass)
- "Roger." (Receiving Baton Pass)
- "Allow me." (Receiving Baton Pass)
- "My turn." (Receiving Baton Pass)
- "This can't be..." (Incapacitated)
- "Lucky hit..." (Incapacitated)
- "Ugh, electrified!" (Inflicted with Shock)
- "That takes care of that. Let's move!" (Battle results)
- "Let's keep up this pace!" (Battle results)
- "Checkmate." (Initiating Hold-Up)
- "Freeze!" (Initiating Hold-Up)
- "It'll be a massacre!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
- "This is what I was waiting for!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
- "They're scattered!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
- "Learned your lesson?" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
- "Stay out of our way." (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
- "That is the taste of defeat!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
- "Just watch me." (Tactics changed to Act Freely)
- "Very well, there will be no survivors." (Tactics changed to Full Assault)
- "Roger. No Persona skills." (Tactics changed to Conserve SP)
- "Safety first." (Tactics changed to Heal/Support)
- "I expect concise commands." (Tactics changed to Direct Commands)
- "Time to go, withdraw!" (Escaping from battle)
- "Nothing but trash." / "Come on, take your best shot!" (Using Taunting Aura)
Ally - Black Mask
- "Persona!" (Selecting Persona skill)
- "Fear my power!" (Selecting Persona skill)
- "I'll break them." (Selecting Persona skill)
- "Loki! / Hereward!" (Exploiting enemy's weakness with Persona skill)
- "To me, Loki!" (Exploiting enemy's weakness with Persona skill)
- "Kill them, Hereward!" (Exploiting enemy's weakness with Persona skill)
- "Manifest!" (Attacking with offensive skill)
- "PERSONA!" (Attacking with offensive skill)
- "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" (Attacking with offensive skill)
- "Get lost." (Attack with melee weapon)
- "Wasting your time." (Taking damage)
- "Oh, yeah?!" (Taking damage)
- "I can be merciful." (Akechi's attack or skill doesn't defeat the enemy)
- "Don't bother!" (Akechi dodges)
- "It's over." (Akechi kills an enemy)
- "Tch. / Nice timing. / No time for thanks." (Akechi's HP is recovered by someone's skill or item)
- "Wake up!" (Using Harisen Recovery on an ally)
- "What are you doing?!" (Using Harisen Recovery on an ally)
- "Move and you die." (Initiating Hold-Up)
- "No time for mercy, right?" (Initiating Follow-Up)
- "Now, let's hunt them down!" (Follow-Up attack)
- "Don't drag me down." (Using Harisen Recovery on an ally)
- "Don't embarrass me." (Using Harisen Recovery on an ally)
- "Oh… so this is what fear feels like." (Inflicted with Despair)
- "God, I live for this!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
- "Slaughter them!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
- "Now let's have some fun!" (Initiating All-Out Attack)
- "You just piss me off!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
- "Tell me how much it hurts!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
- "Oh, yeah!" (All-Out Attack finishing touch)
- "I'm getting a warm, tingly feeling from all this power!" (Initiating Showtime)
- "Let's do this, Joker…" (Initiating Showtime)
- "Working together means extra pain for them!" (Initiating Showtime)
- "I'm going to make its last moments on Earth its most painful…" (Initiating Showtime)
- "They're wide open; let's slaughter 'em!" (Initiating Showtime)
- "They'll die!" (Initiating Showtime)
- "I hate weaklings like you! - What a waste of time." (Showtime attack finisher, defeat)
- "Stand still, you little shit!" (Showtime attack finisher)
- "God, I feel so alive! - Well, that was disappointing." (Showtime attack finisher, defeat)
- "Hm, you— I mean we… can do better." (Showtime attack finisher does not kill enemy)
- "You are nothing to me!" (Showtime attack finisher against boss)
- "You don't control me!" (Showtime attack finisher against boss)
- "I do what I want." (Tactics changed to Act Freely)
- "I'll tear them apart!" (Tactics changed to Full Assault)
- "No Personas for now, then." (Tactics changed to Conserve SP)
- "I don't need your concern." (Tactics changed to Heal/Support)
- "Don't get me killed." (Tactics changed to Direct Commands)
- "Just trash after all." (Battle results)
- "Heheheheh! I love it!" (Battle results)
- "I can still feel the rush." (Battle results)
- "Well! Time to be on our way." (Battle results)
- "What a let down. Pretty sad performance on their part!" (Battle results)
- "Hahaha! We didn't even break a sweat." (Battle results)
- "That should do..." (Using a support skill)
- "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" / "Now, time for a massacre!" (Using concentrate / charge)
- "Who's next in line to die?" / "Oh no, I'm so scared! HAHA!" (Using Taunting Aura)
Navigator
- "We've got them surrounded!" (Entering a battle via Ambush)
- "We have the element of surprise! Fun!" (Triggering Bullet Hail)
- "They let their guard down! They'll pay for it with their lives!" (Triggering Bullet Hail)
- "Pathetic trash; they didn't see us at all." (Entering a battle with weak enemies via Ambush)
- "Just one little pipsqueak. It's going to regret challenging us..." (Entering a battle with 1 weak enemy)
- "Two weak ones; let's swat them like the flies they are." (Entering a battle with 2 weak enemies)
- "Three enemies, all laughably weak." (Entering a battle with 3 weak enemies)
- "They encircled us! But they're a bunch of frail wimps!" (Ambushed by weak enemies)
- "Well, well, well. How should we kill off the last one?" (1 enemy remaining)
- "Dying last has GOT to be the worst." (1 enemy remaining)
- "Just two more annoyances to take care of." (2 enemies remaining)
- "Come on! It's just these two and we're done!" (2 enemies remaining)
- "We're nowhere near victory... But we'll get there; keep fighting!" (Party is surrounded)
- "We can't relax yet; the enemy still has the upper hand!" (Party is surrounded)
- "Let's exploit the hell out of that weakness!" (Analyzing an enemy that has a weakness)
- "Nice! I love a good vulnerability in my enemies!" (Analyzing an enemy that has a weakness)
- "Take advantage of that weakness!" (Analyzing an enemy that has a weakness)
- "We don't have any skills that can hit it where it really hurts..." (Analyzing an enemy that does not have an available weakness)
- "Shit, we don't have the skills to exploit their weaknesses. Use something else!" (Analyzing an enemy that does not have an available weakness)
- "We can't bring them maximum pain..." (Analyzing an enemy that does not have an available weakness)
- "Agh, we don't know shit about them! Just try different attacks." (Analyzing an enemy whose affinities are unknown)
- "We could kill them faster if we knew their weakness... Let's find it!" (Analyzing an enemy whose affinities are unknown)
- "Too much of the team is about to die! They need healing, stat!" (2 or more party members' HP is below 25% at the start of a turn)
- "You make that look easy, Joker." (Protagonist dodges an attack)
- "That's one enemy immobilized! Finish it, Joker!" (Protagonist downs an enemy)
- "Hahahaha! That's what I like to see, Joker!" (Protagonist downs an enemy)
- "Enemy down! That was satisfying!" (Protagonist downs an enemy)
- "That's two knocked down, but you can do more, can't you, Joker?" (Protagonist downs 2 enemies)
- "Ahaha, that's it, Joker! It's time to kill!" (Protagonist downs all remaining enemies)
- "Joker took one down! I gotta keep up." (Protagonist defeats an enemy)
- "Joker got a two-for-one deal there!" (Protagonist defeats 2 enemies)
- "Damn, Joker! You wiped 'em out!" (Protagonist defeats the last enemy)
- "They dodged your attack, Joker!" (Protagonist's attack or Skill misses)
- "Joker, watch it! You're at death's door!" (Protagonist's HP is below 25% at the start of his turn)
- "Hey Joker, instead of dying, how about we crush them together!?" (Protagonist's HP is below 25% at the start of his turn)
- "Joker, if you die now, I... I'll kill you again myself!" (Protagonist's HP is below 25% at the start of his turn)
- "What's going on with you!?" (Protagonist's HP is below 25% at the start of his turn)
- "You'll pay for this with your life!" (Protagonist's HP is below 25% at the start of his turn)
- "Joker, your strength is reduced!" (Protagonist affected by Tarunda)
- "Joker, your defense is compromised!" (Protagonist affected by Rakunda)
- "Joker, you've been slowed down!" (Protagonist affected by Sukunda)
- "Joker's paralyzed with electricity!" (Protagonist is suffering from Shock)
- "Joker's frozen! Do something before it gets worse!" (Protagonist is suffering from Freeze)
- "Joker's more brainwashed than a cult member! He can't tell friend from foe!" (Protagonist is suffering from Brainwash)
- "Joker's in despair! Do something before he gets himself killed!" (Protagonist is suffering from Despair)
- "Joker can't remember anything! Least of all his Persona!" (Protagonist is suffering from Forget)
- "Joker's mind is muddled! He might do weird stuff while confused!" (Protagonist is suffering from Confuse)
- "Joker's enraged? I kind of like it, but it's not you! Calm down!" (Protagonist is suffering from Rage)
- "Get up, Joker! Do you wanna die!?" (Protagonist is downed)
- "Joker's back! Time to retaliate." (Protagonist recovers from being downed)
- "What are you...!? Joker, get up!" (Protagonist is incapacitated)
- "Joker! How could you let them..." (Protagonist is incapacitated)
- "No way, they got Joker?" (When protagonist is incapacitated)
- "Ha, that one was TOO easy to knock down!" (Akechi downs an enemy)
- "Ah... what a lovely sight!" (Akechi downs all remaining enemies)
- "I missed!?" (When Akechi's attack or skill misses)
- "Agh! I'm flagging. Someone heal me!" (Akechi's HP is below 25% at the start of his turn)
- "Argh! My... my attack's not as strong right now..." (Akechi affected by Tarunda)
- "Agh, now my defense isn't where it should be!" (Akechi affected by Rakunda)
- "Agh, feels like I'm trying to run in sand!" (Akechi affected by Sukunda)
- "Dammit, I can't move! Stupid electricity!" (Akechi is suffering from Shock)
- "Dammed fire! Now my health's dropping!" (Akechi is suffering from Burn)
- "Gah, I can't move. I'm frozen!" (Akechi is suffering from Freeze)
- "You're all my enemies! No, I am NOT brainwashed!" (Akechi is suffering from Brainwash)
- "Guys... don't you see? There's no hope... we're going to die here..." (Akechi is suffering from Despair)
- "Persona? What's that? Damn, I can't remember..." (Akechi is suffering from Forget)
- "Uh... Where am I?" (Akechi is suffering from Confuse)
- "YOU PIECE OF SHIT, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" (Akechi is suffering from Rage)
- "Aaiiee! I-I don't want to do this scary shit anymore!" (Akechi is suffering from Fear)
- "Zzz..." (Akechi is suffering from Sleep)
- "Shit, I'm dizzy... Where's the enemy again!?" (Akechi is suffering from Dizzy)
- "You'll pay for that!" (Akechi recovers from being downed)
- "Not possible..." (Akechi is incapacitated)
- "Nice move, Yoshizawa-san!" (Kasumi dodges an attack)
- "One enemy taken out by Yoshizawa-san. Nice!" (Kasumi defeats an enemy)
- "Whoooa, all enemies wiped out! Pretty damn good, Yoshizawa-san." (Kasumi defeats the last enemy)
- "Yoshizawa-san's in danger of dying!" (Kasumi's HP is below 25%)
- "Yoshizawa-san is cornered! Help her or she'll die!" (Kasumi's HP is below 25%)
- "Yoshizawa-san's attack is lowered!" (Kasumi affected by Tarunda)
- "Yoshizawa-san's defense is compromised!" (Kasumi affected by Rakunda)
- "Yoshizawa-san's speed is lowered!" (Kasumi affected by Sukunda)
- "Yoshizawa-san is paralyzed by electricity!" (Kasumi is suffering from Shock)
- "Yoshizawa-san's frozen! Somebody help her!" (Kasumi is suffering from Freeze)
- "Yoshizawa-san got brainwashed! She's being controlled by the enemy!" (Kasumi is suffering from Brainwash)
- "Yoshizawa-san is despairing! Do something to help her!" (Kasumi is suffering from Despair)
- "Yoshizawa-san's memory is damaged! She can't remember her Persona!" (Kasumi is suffering from Forget)
- "Oh, perfect, Yoshizawa-san's confused!" (Kasumi is suffering from Confuse)
- "Yoshizawa-san's enraged! Calm her down!" (Kasumi is suffering from Rage)
- "Yoshizawa-san's asleep! Someone give her a wake-up call!" (Kasumi is suffering from Sleep)
- "Yoshizawa-san's scared to death! Do something before she just runs away!" (Kasumi is suffering from Fear)
- "Yoshizawa-san is burning! Can anyone put her out!?" (Kasumi is suffering from Burn)
- "Yoshizawa-san is dizzy! It'll be a lot harder for her to land a hit!" (Kasumi is suffering from Dizzy)
- "Yoshizawa-san! Wasn't anyone paying attention to her!?" (Kasumi is incapacitated)
- "Ahahahaha! It's useless, idiot!" (When the entire party evades an attack)
- "All right, next!" (Triggering first Baton Pass)
- "Nice to see someone getting more power because of the Baton Pass..." (Triggering first Baton Pass)
- "Keep it going!" (Triggering first Baton Pass)
- "The Baton Pass gave the first passer some extra power!" (Triggering first Baton Pass)
- "It's not in the mood to talk." (Attempting to converse with Shadow immune to negotiation)
- "There's definitely a communication barrier with this one." (Attempting to converse with Shadow immune to negotiation)
- "Hey, it looks cheerful. Try to be funny!" (Attempting to recruit upbeat Shadow)
- "Looks like it doesn't have a care in the world. You should act that way, too." (Attempting to recruit upbeat Shadow)
- "That sure is a jovial Shadow. Don't be too serious." (Attempting to recruit upbeat Shadow)
- "Looks nervous, doesn't it? Say something to allay its fears, I guess." (Attempting to recruit timid Shadow)
- "So, that mask any good?"" (Protagonist recruits a new Persona)
- "Hey, that looks useful." (Getting item in negotiation)
- "Hmph, not bad..." (Getting item in negotiation)
- "Ah, such a rarity..." (Getting rare item in negotiation)
- "Yeah, this is a good one." (Getting rare item in negotiation)
- "Let's make them rue the day they refused us!" (Negotiation fails)
- "Let's make them regret this... in their afterlife!" (Negotiation fails)
- "Let's show them our real power." (Announcing All-Out Attack)
- "Slice and dice!" (Announcing All-Out Attack)
- "Ahaha! It's killing time again!" (Announcing All-Out Attack)
- "Yeah, destroy them!" (Entering Rush mode)
- "Heheh, let's crush them!" (Entering Rush mode)
- "Run! Get out, get out!" (Party manages to escape from battle)
- "We broke through! Run!" (Party escapes from battle with Kakoi Kuzushi)
- "Quick, nab them before they get away!" (Enemy prepares to flee)
- "One of them is trying to get away!" (Enemy prepares to flee)
- "Shit... They got away, and now all their buddies will know about us." (An enemy flees in a Palace)
- "No! Shit, it's gonna go warn its friends!" (An enemy flees in a Palace)
- "This one just got betrayed by its teammate! Ha, imagine how that feels!" (An enemy flees in a Palace)
Boss Battle 1
- "I won't let you stop me."
- "Kill them... Persona!"
- "Take them down... Robin Hood!" (Using Megaton Raid)
- "Perrrsonaaa!" (Using Charge)
- "Damn you..." (Taking damage)
- "Whoa!" (Dodges attack)
- "Serves you right!" (Protagonist dies)
- "Who...is...next?" (Kills a party member with Megidolaon)
- "Let's do this." (Randomly at the start of someone's turn)
- "You'll pay for that!" (Randomly at the start of someone's turn)
- "I...!" (Randomly at the start of someone's turn)
- "How dare you!" (Unused)
- "H-Help me...I don't want to disappear..."' (Hold Up initiated; not viewable under normal circumstances)
- "You're merciless, aren't you?"' (When negotiated upon, not viewable under normal circumstances)
Boss Battle 2
- "You are the trash of society. I will kill you! Destroy you! Crush you...! Teammates are nothing but trash!"
- "You're just... pieces of shit... who lick each other's wounds...! Anything goes... if you say you're teammates...!" (At medium health)
- "Why are you... looking at me like that...!? I've... I've succeeded until now... all by myself...! I don't need... teammates... I don't..." (At low health)
- "Persona!" (Unused)
- "Loki!" (Unused)
- "Descend, Loki!"
- "I'm not letting you off!"
- "Take them down Loki!" (Using Deathbound)
- "Eat this!" (Using Brave Blade)
- "Die." (Using Eigaon)
- "Incinerate!" (Using Maragion)
- "Go to Hell!" (Using Megidolaon)
- "Freeze, you fools!" (Using an Ice skill, unused)[5]
- "Tremble in fear!" (Using Bloodbath, unused)[6]
- "What!?" (Akechi's Skill misses)
- "Grr..." (Akechi's Skill misses)
- "The hell was that?" (Taking damage)
- "Too slow!" (Dodges attack)
- "Bastard!" (Knocked down - Unused)
- "I’ll kill you." (Getting up from knockdown - Unused)
- "Stay down." (Downs an enemy/Attacking Downed enemy)
- "You’ll die." (Reduces a party member to low health)
- "Serves you right." (Kills a party member)
- "Uaaaaaggggghh!" (Defeated)
- "Hahahaha... AHHAHAHAHA!!" (Protagonist dies)
- "You pieces of shit!" (Randomly at the start of someone's turn)
- "Whaaat?!" (Randomly at the start of someone's turn)
- "I... will KILL you!" (Randomly at the start of someone's turn)
- "You piss me off!" (Unused)
- "H-Help me...I don't want to disappear..."' (Hold Up initiated; not viewable under normal circumstances)
- "You're merciless, aren't you?"' (When negotiated upon, not viewable under normal circumstances)
Battle quotes are not officially translated. Translations are provided with the original text for comparison.
- "Roger that, Oracle." (了解したよナビ) (Battle start, responding to Oracle)
- "Everyone, be cautious!" (みんな、警戒よ！) (Battle start, Enemy Advantage)
- "I'll show you the extent of my power!" (僕の力を見せするよ！) (Select skill)
- "Let's go about this calmly." (冷静に行こう) (Select skill)
- "I can attack its weakness." (僕なら弱点を付けるよ) (Select skill, with Enemy's weakness)
- "This is great! This is really great!" (いいね！実にいいよ！！) (Select skill, with Boost)
- "This is what I call an opportunity!" (これはチャンスってことだね！) (Select skill, with Boost)
- "I'll aim for its nine lives." (九生狙いで) (Select skill, choosing Enemy with weakness)
- "Whoops..." (おっと) (Select skill, cancel)
- "Maybe not this..." (違うかな) (Select skill, cancel)
- "Let's aim for its weakness no matter what." (どうやら弱点を狙えそうだね) (Turn starts, Enemy weakness identified)
- "(chuckles) I'm overflowing with energy!" (ふふ、力が漲ってくるね！) (Turn starts, with Boost, responding to Oracle)
- "Joker, I have high hopes for you." (ジョーカー 期待してるよ) (Turn starts, P5 hero has Boost)
- "Robin Hood!" (Skill, Robin Hood)
- "Kill them with a shot! Robin Hood!" (射殺せ！ロビンフッド！) (Skill, Robin Hood)
- "Persona!" (Skill, Sub-Persona)
- "Manifest! Persona!" (顕現せ！ペルソナ！) (Skill, Sub-Persona)
- "Witness this!" (思い知れ！) (Skill, Sub-Persona)
- "Just as I predicted." (読み通りかな) (Bind/Status effect inflicted)
- "What?" (なんだと？) (Miss)
- "I missed?" (外した？) (Miss)
- "Like you'd hit me!" (当たるか) (Enemy misses)
- "I saw that coming!" (見え見えだ) (Enemy misses)
- "How dare you..." (よくも…) (Gets hit)
- "Impossible!" (バカな…！) (Gets hit)
- "Why you...!" (…貴様！！) (Gets hit)
- "I give my regards." (礼を言うよ) (Item, from allies)
- "This... might be a bit bad..." (ちょっと…マズイかな…) (Low HP)
- "I can't, to this extent..." (僕、この程度では…) (0 HP)
- "I'm..." (この僕が…) (0 HP)
- "I've been waiting for this!" (この瞬間を待っていたよ！) (Punisher, prompt)
- "The enemy has fallen!" (敵は総崩れだね！) (Punisher, prompt)
- "Now, let's go all-out!" (さぁ、意気に行こう！) (Punisher, accept)
- "Time to strike back! Let's do it!" (応射つだ！やろう！) (Punisher, accept)
- "Oh? It's surprisingly tough." (おや？以外とタフだね) (Punisher, no enemies defeated)
- "Just as expected, Joker!" (さすがはジョーカーだ！) (P5 hero gets Boost)
- "Good one, Skull!" (Skull gets Boost)
- "Good one, Panther!" (いいぞパンサー！) (Panther gets Boost)
- "Nice attack!" (いい攻撃だね！) (Non-Phantom Thief member gets Boost)
- "You should become the stars!" (星になるといい) (Battle end, Crow finishes)
- "(chuckles) I won't let you get away." (ふふ、逃がさないよ) (Battle end, Crow finishes)
- "They were pretty much small fries." (ほとんど雑魚だね) (Result, low-leveled Shadow)
- "Seems like it dropped something." (何か落ちたんじゃない) (Result, Treasure)
- "Just a little more until I level up." (レベルアップってはもう少しだね) (Result, close to leveling up)
- "Truthfully, I'm going to level up soon." (実はそろそろレベルアップあまりそうだな) (Result, close to leveling up)
- "I can feel my Persona growing!" (ペルソナの成長を感じる！) (Result, level up, Robin Hood)
- "I feel like I'm getting close to great power." (これ、寄りそうで好感の力よ) (Result, level up, Sub-Persona)
- "Everyone, look! This is my new attack!" (みんな見てて、僕の新わざだ！) (Result, level up, new skill)
Gallery
| Persona 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Akechi's Cut-in
Akechi's Cut-in (Black Mask)
Akechi's Level-Up icon
Akechi's text icon
Akechi's Confidant portrait
Concept art
Concept art
Crow concept art
Akechi sitting
Akechi and the protagonist for Persona 5 Premium Event
Illustration of the main members of Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Illustration of the main members of Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Illustration of Goro Akechi and the protagonist by Rokuro Saito
Illustration of Akechi and the others by Shigenori Soejima
Official Wallpaper
Theme
Theme
Theme
All-Out Attack portrait
All-Out Attack finishing touch
All-Out Attack finishing touch
Goro Akechi and Sae Niijima
Akechi as the "Black Mask" in a flashback
Akechi swipes a policeman's gun and kills him
Akechi staring at the dead policeman
Akechi smiling after killing the policeman
Akechi looking down at the protagonist
Akechi kills the protagonist
Akechi transforming into the "Black Mask"
Akechi summons Loki
Akechi going psychotic
Akechi after transforming into the "Black Mask"
Akechi berserk
Akechi as the Black Mask (Model)
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Akechi on the P5R key art
Character art
Akechi's Close Up (Third Semester)
Concept art
Concept art (2)
Akechi with the protagonist and Sumire in the DARTSLIVE collaboration
Akechi's Confidant Portrait (Third Semester)
Akechi's Black Mask All-Out Attack portrait
All-Out Attack finishing touch (Black Mask)
Akechi's Black Mask finishing touch
Akechi's Showtime trigger
Akechi and the protagonist's Showtime
Akechi with the protagonist and "Kasumi"
"One Conclusion"
"A Reality Without Pain"
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| Persona 5 Portraits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Akechi's portrait
Akechi smiling
Akechi scowling
Akechi sad
Akechi shocked
Akechi harmed
Akechi's summer school uniform
Akechi's casual attire
Akechi’s ‘Crow’ outfit
Akechi smiling (Crow outfit)
Akechi scowling (Crow outfit)
Akechi sad (Crow outfit)
Akechi shocked (Crow outfit)
Akechi harmed (Crow outfit)
Akechi's Crow outfit (no mask)
Akechi scowling (Crow outfit, no mask)
Akechi's intimidating stare
Akechi smirking
Akechi angry (unused)
Akechi upset (unused)
Akechi staring (Crow outfit)
Akechi smirking (Crow outfit)
Akechi angry (Crow outfit)
Akechi upset (Crow outfit)
Akechi staring (Black Mask)
Akechi smirking (Black Mask)
Akechi angry (Black Mask)
Akechi smiling (Black Mask, unused)
Akechi upset (Black Mask, unused)
Cognitive Akechi
Cognitive Akechi smiling
Cognitive Akechi angry
Akechi cut-in
Akechi winking cut-in
Akechi winking cut-in
Akechi surprised cut-in
Akechi sad cut-in
Akechi harmed cut-in
Akechi annoyed cut-in
Akechi smiling eerily cut-in
Akechi smiling eerily cut-in (unused)
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| Persona 5 Royal Portraits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Akechi portrait
Akechi smiling
Akechi scowling
Akechi sad
Akechi surprised
Akechi harmed
Akechi blank
Akechi cocky
Akechi disgusted
Akechi pondering
Akechi confused
Akechi's summer uniform
Akechi's casual attire
Akechi's outdoor winter coat
Akechi's indoor winter coat
Crow portrait
Crow smiling
Crow scowling
Crow sad
Crow surprised
Crow harmed
Crow surprised
Crow cocky
Black Mask Portrait
Black Mask smiling
Black Mask scowling
Black Mask sad
Black Mask surprised
Black Mask harmed
Black Mask blank
Black Mask cocky
Crow disgusted
Black Mask confused
Black Mask pondering
Akechi's gym uniform
Akechi shirtless
Akechi disguised as the protagonist
Akechi smiling eerily cut-in
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| Persona 5 Costumes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Detective Uniform
Winter Casual Wear
Summer School Uniform
St. Hermelin High School Uniform (DLC)
Kasugayama High School Uniform (DLC)
Gekkoukan High School Uniform (DLC)
Yasogami High School Uniform (DLC)
Persona 4: Dancing All Night Costume (DLC)
Persona 4 Arena Shadow Operation Outfit (DLC)
Karukozaka High School Uniform (Ideo Hazama) (DLC)
Shin Megami Tensei IV Costume (DLC)
Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Costume (General Munakata) (DLC)
Butler Uniform (DLC)
Christmas Costume (DLC)
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| Persona 5 Royal Costumes | ||||||||||||||
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Tracksuit
Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight costume (DLC)
Demonica costume (no mask, DLC)
Demonica costume (masked, DLC)
Featherman costume (DLC)
Velvet Room costume (DLC)
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth costume (DLC)
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| Persona 5 (Manga) | ||||||||||||||
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Cover for Volume 6
Persona 5 Character Anthology
Illustration by Persona Q: Side P4 manga author Mizunomoto
Illustration countdown of Akechi for volume 1 of Persona 5: Mementos Mission
Akechi in Persona 5: Mementos Mission
Akechi with Joker in promo art for Persona 5: Mementos Mission
Illustraion of Akechi promoting Mementos Mission's final chapter
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| Persona 5 The Animation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Visual art of Goro Akechi
Akechi on the special visual
Akechi on DVD Volume 9's Cover
Akechi on DVD Volume 9's Cover
Ren and Akechi on the DVD cover of P5A Volume 11
Ren and Akechi on the DVD Reverse Cover of P5A Volume 11
Akechi in the P5A Artbook
Akechi in the P5A Artbook (2)
Akechi in the P5A Artbook (3)
Akechi in the P5A Artbook (4)
Akechi in Persona 5 The Animation Attic Meeting
Persona 5 x SHIBUYA109 artwork
Persona 5 Masquerade Party Event
Persona 5 Sega Campaign
Akechi and Ren in the October 2018 issue of Newtype Magazine
Official wallpaper
Akechi as the "Black Mask" in a flashback
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| Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight/Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight | ||||||||||
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Winter Elite Outfit
White Surf Trunks
Prince Suit
Butler Suit
Deep Blue Clothes
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| Persona 5 The Stage | ||||
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Akechi on the left on the Persona 5 The Stage cover
Goro Akechi in Persona 5 The Stage
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Akechi with the group
Akechi with the P5 cast
Concept Art
Akechi's Cut-in
Akechi's All-Out Attack
Akechi in the end credits
LINE sticker
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| Tribute Artworks | ||
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Illustration of the protagonist and Goro Akechi by Teita (Norn9 illustrator)
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| PERSONA 20th Anniversary Festival | ||
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20th Anniversary
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| Other | ||||
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Picaresque Mouse Phantom Thieves
Picaresque Mouse Akechi
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Videos
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Etymology
"Go" (吾) of Gorou is the archaic form of the first person pronoun "I" in Chinese which carries no meaning in formal Japanese language and is merely borrowed for Chinese translation or naming. Akechi (明智) literally means "wisdom" in Chinese, the same meaning in Japanese would be "kenmei" (賢明).
It could also be a reference to Kogoro Akechi (明智 小五郎), a fictional private detective created by Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Ranpo (a pseudonym for Tarō Hirai) from the story "The Case of the Murder on D. Hill" in January 1925 and continued to appear in stories for a quarter of a century. Edogawa Rampo is considered the father of the Japanese detective story and was a great admirer of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Akechi is the first recurring detective character in Japanese fiction and is clearly inspired by Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. It also makes sense for Akechi to be the rival of the team as in the introduction to the translated version of "The Early Cases of Kogoro Akechi," The Fiend with Twenty Faces (Akechi's main rival) is referred to as "more of an Arsène Lupin than a Moriarty."
It may also be a reference to Akechi Mitsuhide, a retainer of the notorious daimyo and conqueror Oda Nobunaga who rebelled against him for reasons that are often interpreted as disgust for Nobunaga's flaunting of bushido. This ties to aside of betraying the Phantom Thieves, he is also a traitor to Shido as well, as Shido has ambitions that can be compared to Nobunaga.
In Other Languages
| Language | Titles | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 English
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Goro Akechi | Crow | Black Mask |
 Japanese
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明智 吾郎 (Akechi Gorou) | クロウ (Kurou) | 黒い仮面 (Kuroi Kamen) |
 Korean
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아케치 고로 (Akechi Goro) | 크로우 (Keurou) | 검은 가면 (Geom-eun Gamyeon) |
  Traditional Chinese
|
明智 吾郎 (Míngzhì wúláng) | CROW | 黑色 面具 (Hēisè miànjù) |
Trivia
- He breaks the recurring trend of the antagonist having the same voice actor as the protagonist: in Persona 3 Ryoji Mochizuki was voiced by the same voice actor as Makoto Yuki (Akira Ishida/Yuri Lowenthal), while in Persona 4 Tohru Adachi was voiced by the same English voice actor as Yu Narukami (Johnny Yong Bosch). Goro Akechi, on the other hand, is voiced by Soichiro Hoshi/Robbie Daymond while Joker is voiced by Jun Fukuyama/Xander Mobus.
- Ordinarily, in the Japanese version, Akechi’s name is written in kanji. It is used for all of his text boxes, as well as the boss title card for his first fight. However, during the fight against his black masked form, his name is displayed on his boss title card in katakana as "アケチ ゴロウ." This is the only time Akechi’s name is written this way, as the kanji is still used for his dialogue boxes during this same fight.
- Unlike most party members, Akechi is always referred to by his surname, which would otherwise be shared by most antagonists in the series.
- Akechi's outfit when he uses Loki has a pattern of blue and black in contrast to his outfit when he uses Robin Hood, which has a theme of red and white.
- While Akechi is a Wild Card just like the protagonist, unlike him, he can only use two Personas.
- In Persona 5 Royal, Futaba claims that this is because Akechi never trusted anyone, so he got one Persona for his lies (Robin Hood), and one for his hate (Loki.)
- Akechi himself hints at the idea of having the same potential as the protagonist in a conversation between him and Yusuke in the Thieves Den, before jokingly shrugging it off.
- Akechi has the ability of being able to change his outfit. It is never elaborated upon, it's just something he can do.
- Despite being a party member only briefly, Akechi won first place in a Sega Festival 2016 poll for favorite party member.
- According to an episode of Persona Stalker Club, Akechi's attaché case contains a laptop and documents about various cases. The "A" mark stands for "Akechi," and was created by him because he likes to show off. Apparently, the period after the "A" indicates an abbreviation for "Answer."
- Within the Metaverse, Akechi's stance mirrors the protagonist's, but lacks the natural sway that the protagonist has, instead standing completely still.
- Many of Akechi's DLC outfits hint at his status as the traitor: he is dressed as a major antagonist for three sets (Boss from Catherine, Ideo Hazama from Shin Megami Tensei: if... and General Munakata from Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army) and as a major enemy-turned-ally for the Persona 2 set, as he's the only one wearing the Kasugayama uniform: the same worn by Jun Kurosu and Eikichi Mishina, though the latter being a party member since the start.
- Just like with Makoto Niijima before, the official twitter account for the Persona series posted a "Happy Birthday" message for Akechi on June 2, 2017 JST.
- Akechi is left-handed. In P5R, when meeting the protagonist for the first time, Akechi shakes hands with his left hand. Later, during a game of pool with the protagonist, Akechi uses his right hand. The protagonist notices this and even points it out, surprising Akechi. During their duel in Mementos, Akechi admits he was surprised that the protagonist noticed such a small detail.
- According to Akechi's Maniax profile, his ideal type of lover is someone who keeps a reasonable amount of distance. Also, if he won 700 million yen, he would travel and see the world after his entrance exams.
- In Maniax, Akechi's message for someone in the PT reads: To the leader: "You don’t seem to excel particularly in areas of looks, intelligence, or athletics. Yet I wonder why people tend to gather around you... it makes me very curious."
- In Shido's Palace, the Justice Confidant ranks up from 8 to 9, and then 9 to 10, in back-to-back story cutscenes. Since there is no opportunity to go to the menu to view the Confidant menu in-between those 2 rank up scenes due to boss battles, the description for Justice rank 9 is normally not viewable in-game.
- Rank 9 reads as following: "Akechi's objective is to settle the score that stems from his hatred for—and attachment to—Shido, the father who threw him away. Now an enemy after revealing his true feelings, Akechi attacked..."
- Akechi's Confidant was originally planned to be optional in Persona 5. Because he became an enemy later on, it was difficult to incorporate it into the plot, so his Confidant became automatic. This idea was later restored in Persona 5 Royal.
- All characters within the protagonist's party will learn Protect upon reaching Rank 9 Confidant, which has the member sacrifice themselves in order to protect the protagonist from a fatal attack. Upon reaching Rank 9 for Akechi in the story, Akechi sacrifices himself to protect the protagonist and his party against Shido's cognitive Akechi and Shadows. In Royal, however, he possesses the ability normally after rejoining.
- Despite Akechi technically being responsible for murdering Futaba and Haru's parents, they never put the full blame on him. Their anger is instead directed towards Shido, as he was the one who made Akechi murder them, and Akechi was only following orders.
- Akechi is the only major boss in Persona 5 that is fought while securing the treasure route instead of after.
- Unlike other team members who join, a book based on Akechi's persona, Robin Hood, won't be available to check out at the library in Persona 5.
- Unused Shadow negotiation files in the game indicate that Akechi was intended to have a Palace at some point.[8]
- Unused files in the game indicate that Akechi was intended to be fought after sending the calling card to Shido instead of before.[9]
- According to the Art book of Q2, Akechi is the one who painted the Phantom Thieves in the subway during the opening movie (excluding himself.)
- In Royal, Akechi gives his glove to the protagonist at Rank 8 with a promise that he will defeat him the next time they fight. This mirrors the time Ren gave Akechi the chess piece that he and Akechi usually use to play, along with a promise to defeat him in Persona 5 The Animation.
- In Royal, even if he joins the party as the Black Mask, Akechi's Persona Q2 DLC Outfit always has him retain his princely outfit's appearance.
- During the protagonist's Showtime with Akechi, if he is wearing any costume that exposes his face, it can be seen that his eyes glow red throughout.
- During a Mementos skit in the third semester, it's revealed that Akechi still holds a grudge concerning his exposure courtesy of his "Pancakes" comment.
- This could be a reference to the same line becoming a popular meme in the community following the release of Persona 5, even being acknowledged by Robbie Daymond, Akechi's English voice actor, himself.
- According to the official interview from the Persona 5 Royal Official Complete Guide, Futaba and Haru were deliberately designed to distance themselves from directly interacting with Akechi during the third semester in order to display that they never forgave him.
- In Royal, Akechi's voice clips and properties change to those from his Crow form to his Black Mask form based on a flag on January 2.
- According to the Proof of Justice OVA and his Confidant in Royal, Akechi cannot cook.
- In the Royal completion guide, it is revealed that the new portraits he received in the third semester was a late development decision brought up by the art team.
- When Akechi takes the role as temporary Navigator, if he loses all of his HP in battle, unlike Morgana, who hides behind the sidelines to continue providing support during battle, he will simply faint and his navigation will cease.
- If Akechi is invited to play Darts in Kichijoji, no other party member will show up alongside him, aside from Morgana. Furthermore, unlike any other party member, he will only play 701 darts (The hardest difficulty) and nothing else.
- He will also attempt to mimic the protagonist's throwing behavior. For example, if the protagonist continuously throws bulls-eyes, Akechi will match him with unnerring accuracy.
- In Akechi's in-game model, his Black Mask helmet is completely black. However, in his dialogue portraits (after his boss battle in Shido's Palace), the helmet is tinted blue while the visor is tinted dark red. During the Third Semester, the visor is tinted blue to match the rest of the helmet.
Unused scenario
Unused Akechi Rehab Center Event - Persona 5 Royal
Akechi's unused event
An unused scenario in Persona 5 Royal implies that Akechi was actually alive after escaping Shido's Palace, via unknown means.
During the December of 24th, Akechi voluntarily turned himself into a rehabilitation center out of Tokyo during the same time the protagonist was assigned to Juvenile Hall by Sae after Yaldabaoth's fall. The employees there knew him well enough to remember that he often brought his mother there to deal with her depression. However, due to Maruki's actualization, he was instead assisting Joker to get out of Juvenile Hall during that day, while the actual reality's Akechi was within the rehabilitation center all along. He will leave the center after a month back to Tokyo (after Maruki's reality was destroyed) for an "unfinished deed," presumably to help the protagonist in overturning his probation.
Appearances in other media
- Puzzle & Dragons:
- Puyo Puyo!! Quest:
- Kyoutou Kotoba RPG:
- Akechi (Enemy > Can join as Kotodaman)
- Normal (5-star), Phantom Thief (6-star)
- Collaboration event: March 5th, 2019 – March 28th, 2019[12]
- Super Smash Bros: Ultimate:
- Palette swap for Joker
- Spirit (Support, Advanced Class)
- Article in SmashWiki
- Part of the Joker DLC: April 17th, 2019
- Identity V:
- Skin for Playable Character
- Second collaboration event: November 7th, 2019 – November 28th, 2019[13]
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle:
- Palette swap for Tohru Adachi
| Puzzle and Dragons | ||
|---|---|---|
Goro Akechi in Puzzle and Dragons
|
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Joker using the Crow palette in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Goro Akechi's Spirit Battle in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
|
| Kyoutou Kotoba RPG | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Akechi in Kyoutou Kotoba RPG
Crow in Kyoutou Kotoba RPG
|
| Identity V | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Illustration of the Phantom Thieves as part of the 2nd Identity V collaboration event
Crow in Identity V
Crow in Identity V
Akechi in Identity V
|
| Other | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Persona 5, in collaboration with Sanrio
The protagonist and Akechi, in collaboration with SuperGroupies
|
References
- ↑ 6月2日はアケチの誕生日だ。ニイジマにスシをゴチソウしてもらうって言ってたな…くぅ～、ワガハイも大トロが食いたいぜ！ #ペルソナ5 #明智吾郎, @p_kouhou (June 2nd, 2017)
- ↑ そう、今日6月2日は、高校生探偵 #明智吾郎 の誕生日だぜ！！ #ペルソナ５ #p5a #P5D, @p_kouhou (June 2nd, 2018)
- ↑ 6月2日は高校生探偵 #明智吾郎 の誕生日だ！ハッピーバースデー、アケチ！ #P5R #ペルソナ５, @p_kouhou (June 2nd, 2019)
- ↑ 高校生探偵にしてジョーカーの好敵手！ 今日６月２日は、 #明智吾郎 の誕生日だ。ハッピーバースデー、アケチ！ #P5R #ペルソナ５, @p_kouhou (June 2nd, 2020)
- ↑ Unused skill voice clips
- ↑ Unused skill voice clips
- ↑ List of unused books in Persona 5
- ↑ Unused Palace
- ↑ Unused Akechi boss dialogue
- ↑ Persona Collab Arrives! Puzzle & Dragons (July 13, 2018)
- ↑ Persona 3, 4, 5 Popular Scene Vote Results, Persona Q2 Line Stamps Announced, Persona Q2 x Puyo Puyo!! Quest Collaboration. Persona Central (Reggy, November 24th, 2018)
- ↑ Persona 5 x Kyoutou Kotoba RPG: Kotodaman Collaboration Trailer, Starts on March 5, 2019. Persona Central (Reggy, March 4th, 2019)
- ↑ Persona 5 x Identity V Collaboration Part 2 Announced for November 7 to November 28, 2019 Persona Central (Reggy, November 6th, 2019)
| Characters | |
| Playable | Ren Amamiya - Ryuji Sakamoto - Morgana - Ann Takamaki - Yusuke Kitagawa - Makoto Niijima - Futaba Sakura - Haru Okumura - Caroline & Justine |
| DLC | Shinjiro Aragaki - Goro Akechi - Theodore - Lavenza - Sho Minazuki - Labrys |
| Locations | |
| Tokyo | Café Leblanc - Shibuya - Shujin Academy |
| Palace | Kamoshida's Palace - Madarame's Palace - Kaneshiro's Palace - Futaba's Palace - Okumura's Palace - Niijima's Palace - Shido's Palace - Mementos |
| Other | Velvet Room - Hawaii |
| Music | |
| Songs | GROOVY - One Nightbreak |
| Albums | Persona Dancing P3D & P5D Soundtrack Advanced CD |
| Archive | |
| Lists | Social - Trophies - Patches and Updates |
| Development | |
| Corporate | Atlus Co., Ltd. |
| Personnel | Kazuhisa Wada - Shigenori Soejima - Ryota Kozuka - Shoji Meguro Toshiki Konishi - Atsushi Kitajoh - Jazztronik - tofubeats - Mito - Yukihiro Fukutomi - KAIEN - Shacho - Taku Takahashi |
| Characters | |
| Playable | Makoto Yuki - Yukari Takeba - Junpei Iori - Akihiko Sanada - Mitsuru Kirijo - Fuuka Yamagishi - Ken Amada - Aigis - Elizabeth |
| DLC | Shinjiro Aragaki - Goro Akechi - Theodore - Lavenza - Sho Minazuki - Labrys |
| Locations | |
| Port Island | Velvet Room - Tartarus - Gekkoukan High School - Paulownia Mall - Iwatodai Station - Port Island Station - Naganaki Shrine - Iwatodai Dormitory - Moonlight Bridge |
| Music | |
| Songs | Our Moment - Moonlight Serendipity |
| Albums | Persona Dancing P3D & P5D Soundtrack Advanced CD |
| Archive | |
| Lists | Social - List of Patches and Updates - Trophies |
| Corporate | Atlus Co., Ltd. |
| Personnel | Kazuhisa Wada - Shigenori Soejima - Ryota Kozuka - Shoji Meguro Toshiki Konishi - Atsushi Kitajoh |