"You shut your impudent mouths! I've done nothing wrong! I will wring out every last ounce of corruption from my staff by working them into the ground! I'll silence all charlatans who betray me! And I will consume every last vote in the city, whether these people agree with me or not! Only then can I build a safe haven-a radiant snow city that sparkles like winter!"
Mariko Hyodo is a character from Persona 5 Strikers. She is a politician and the former mayor of Sapporo.
Contents
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Persona 5 Strikers: Major Character (Antagonist)
Design[edit | edit source]
Mariko has brown bouffant hair and hard angled eyebrows. She wears red lipstick, eyeliner, blue to pink eyeshadow and a pair of earrings. She wears a light royal blue scarf tied around her neck and a black business suit with darker colored rose motifs around her shoulders and left side of her skirt.
As the Monarch of Sapporo's Jail, she appears grotesquely obese unlike her real self. Her entire color palette is cold pale, her skin included, aside from her makeup and her Shadow eyes. She has a pair of fangs on her upper teeth. She wears a large amount of jewelry around her neck in place of her scarf, has piercing around her left side of her face, and wears a tiara. This tiara acts as her crown, if it's taken off, all desires trapped within are freed.
During the boss battle, she takes on a giant size, with a large mouth and eyes appearing on her stomach and her lower body appearing bloblike. Her arms become several tentacles holding utensils and her head is seen tilted back past her body's apex.
Personality[edit | edit source]
Hyodo is a politician with the intent of maintaining a clean public image of her city, and genuinely cares for her people's well being. As she was a trade partner of Kunikazu Okumura, she came to know Haru Okumura quite closely when she was a child and is genuinely disheartened by Okumura's death. Even when being affected by the EMMA application, she still manages to calm down when Haru convinces her to stop berating her civil wards.
While Hyodo's care for the city and its people are legitimate, she was very bitter by the game's events, after having been forced to step down from her position as mayor, due to being blackmailed for a scandal that involved the accidental death a seven-year-old girl. In retaliation for the damage done to her name, she begins using EMMA to steal the desires of the people of Sapporo to allow her to regain her former position.
When being affected by EMMA, she becomes much colder against any incompetent civil wards in order to make sure that there are no more scandals that occur within the city. She became a highly abusive micromanager towards city workers, regularly working them to exhaustion over petty issues and regularly insulting those she regards as failing in even minor ways. She also tends to start outrageous cleaning campaigns where not even a speck of dust can remain in the city. Ironically, this makes her ignorant to the fact that using EMMA's salvation to artificially inflate her power and rig the ballot boxes is a scandal as well.
Profile[edit | edit source]
Persona 5 Strikers[edit | edit source]
Mariko is a charismatic politician from Sapporo and the city's former mayor. An incident last February caused Hyodo much disdain and resentment against her fellow politicians. During the Sapporo Ice Festival, an ice statue collapsed, killing a seven-year-old girl in the process. A senator took advantage of the scandal in an attempt to tarnish Mariko's reputation so he can become mayor himself. In reality, a sponsor used faulty materials for the sculpture. When Mariko attempted to call the police, he threatened that the police would discredit her instead and the other man would become mayor. Hyodo steps down out of fear of being discredited due to her involvement in the incident.
When she came across the EMMA application, she uses it to make the current mayor step down. Using her Jail to convert masses of people into her supporters as well, she would absolutely get elected back as mayor. Hyodo's keyword is public and announced loud during election campaigns, ensuring as many people get ensnared as possible. This allowed Hyodo to obtain an 88% approval rating in two months, three politicians getting a Change of Heart and confessing to corruption, and winning the support of an opposing political party. There are also rumors of Hyodo going to the national level. As she regains her fame, she forces her civil servants to work to their bone for petty reasons to make sure that the city is clean and devoid of corruption, for the sake of getting her public image back.
She meets the Phantom Thieves of Hearts when they visit Sapporo. When she was first met, she was forcing a civil ward to watch the garden 24 hours a day to prevent them from withering. She recognizes Haru, and reveals to her that she was previously acquainted with Haru Okumura's father, Kunikazu Okumura. According to her, she is a trade partner and when she would go play golf alongside Haru and her father when Haru was still a child. Upon obtaining intel from citizens in Sapporo, it was also revealed that she was starting unrealistic and outrageous cleaning campaigns where not a speck of dust can remain in the city.
It was revealed she's the Monarch of Sapporo's Jail after an election campaign where she requests her supporters to use EMMA so they can "befriend" her. Her keyword is "Snow City". After exploring her Jail once, she then can be seen berating another civil ward because he was getting forced to work despite having a flu. According to her, she's organizing a mass cleaning campaign for a month. When Haru berates Hyodo for her distorted behavior, Hyodo is successfully convinced to leave the ward alone for the time being.
When the party sends the calling card, they cover Mariko's election posters with them. Once confronted, the lower body of Shadow Mariko transforms into a large bullfrog like creature towering over most of her upper body, with a massive face consisting of a pair of eyes and a massive mouth. Once she was defeated, Haru chides Hyodo for straying from her beliefs, and urges her to stop feeling sorry for herself and stand up to face her problems. The next day, Hyodo admits her involvement for the oversight that resulted in the snow statue accident, as well as her involvement in the conspiracy to hide the truth, thus disqualifying herself from the elections. Once the confession is over, Zenkichi Hasegawa allow the Phantom Thieves to meet Mariko in private, and she admits to making an illusion that even the deceased child would not like to see. As Hyodo leaves, she encounters the mother of the deceased child who tells her that even if Hyodo were to leave politics behind and disappear into obscurity as recompense, her child would still not come back, and that Hyodo should deal with the grief and keep trying to get re-elected as mayor, which she accepts.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
Preparation[edit | edit source]
Snow White Mariko is weak against Psi and Curse skills, resistant to Electric and Nuclear skills, and can nullify Ice skills. For Team Composition, it is advisable to bring Haru to the battlefield. Other members can include Ann, Morgana, and Sophia. Never bring Yusuke as his Ice skills will be nullified. The player is recommended to have personas with Psi and Eiha skills Also, bring a huge amount of medical supplies and healing skills as she is a deadly enemy due to her speed and attacking power; she can kill most party members within a few hits.
During Battle[edit | edit source]
Do not be fooled by Snow White Mariko's clumsy appearance; she is extremely fast and most of her attacks can take down party members in a few hits, and like Mad Rabbit Alice, her attacks have very little telegraphing between them. During this, keep the distance to not get affected. She also uses Ice skills and Physical skills to sweep her surroundings.
Mariko will turn red regularly; during half HP or below, she will always retain this state. It will put her into rage mode and she will always eat one of your teammates, preventing them from returning until she is stunned. Luring the enemy into one of the 4 chandeliers and drop it will both free the teammate and snap her out of rage mode, in addition to giving you a window to attack. If there are no chandeliers left, taking out her down gauge or using Show Time will result in the same. At 50% HP, she might also summon a blizzard, which can slow any party member to a crawl, while Mariko remains unaffected. Due to her high moving speed, this is lethal if left unchecked. If this happens, head to the exclamation mark that appears on the map and turn on the stove.
Stats[edit | edit source]
- Notes:
- HP is from the Normal difficulty.
- If Snow White Mariko turns red with "Rage," she will be vulnerable to Psi technical damage.
- At 50% or below, Snow White Mariko will be constantly in Rage unless an All-Out Attack is triggered and in the duration where she is staggered.
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Gallery[edit | edit source]
Add a photo to this gallery
Etymology[edit | edit source]
Mariko (鞠子) means "ball, child." Her last name, Hyodo (氷堂) means "ice institute," referencing to her Jail and her merciless attitude towards her civil wards for their incompetence.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Hyodo is a reference of the fairytale the Snow queen, which features a mirror that can only view things as distorted and negative. This reflects on how bitter she has became, and that her "mirror self" is ugly and obese as opposed to her appearance in the real world as a stern, slender middle-aged woman.
- Her Japanese boss name is a reference to Snow White, as in the fairytale. The character itself has no direct resemblances to Snow White herself, however.
- Her design is based off the former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
