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Takeyuki Kiuchi is a character from Persona 5: The Phantom X. He is a former baseball player who lost his career after an incident and became a salesman.
Appearances[]
- Persona 5: The Phantom X: Major Character (Antagonist)
Design[]
Kiuchi appears to be a typical Japanese business man with slick black hair and dark eyes.
His Shadow Self wears pink heart-shaped glasses, a baseball uniform with matching shorts and a pink jockstrap with the word "BASEBALL" written on it. His shoes and shirt are both shaped like hearts, and his shoulder pads resemble baseballs. His skin tone changes to that of a bright pink color.
During the second phase of his boss fight, Kiuchi transforms into Cupid, which appears as a demonic and muscular being with dripping tongue-like wings, a white baseball cap with a halo above it, a pair of pink buttoned white underpants with an innertube with a cannon mounted on the front and a pair of white shoes and fishnet stockings. He is armed with a golden bow and arrows with a heart-shaped head and a fletching that looks similar to Slipping Hablerie.
Personality[]
Upon becoming a Menace, Kiuchi is a vengeful, arrogant and lustful man who has a reputation as a womanizer, and is known to attack and harass women at train stations. When Kiuchi was a baseball player, he was known to be rather arrogant, and would proudly believe he did not have to practice, claiming he was already a great baseball player through natural talent. Kiuchi also seems rather unscrupulous and callous, showing indifference towards the harm and the pain he causes women at the train station, shown by his response after he pushed Tomoko onto the train tracks while trying to attack Motoha. At the peak of his rampage, he appears to be entirely unrepentant, and mocks Motoha's intention to get him arrested.
Little is known about his personality prior to becoming a Menace. In his brief appearance in front of the protagonist prior turning into a Menace, he seemed more relaxed and polite. However, it is shown through his memories that his bitterness and mistreatment towards women are a consistent factor with him. He spent a decade blaming Motoha and the women he sexually harassed for the ruination of his sports career (despite the fact that Motoha had been a child), rather than accepting his own failures. This resentment would fester into an irrational dislike of women in general. This shows that even before he was made into a Menace, he had tendency toward deflecting blame and predilection toward holding petty grudges, particularly against women, and will easily discriminate against a whole group of people over the perceived transgressions of a few individuals.
After he had a change of heart, he felt deep remorse for his misdeeds and turned himself over to the police.
Profile[]
Persona 5: The Phantom X[]
"Mission 1: Traces of Dreams"[]
Kiuchi first appears in Shibuya Station walking to get on a train, while he accidentally bumps into the protagonist getting off the train. Realizing this, he politely raises his hand with a gentle smile as a sign of apology. When he is walking in the station and sees a woman passing him, however, he suddenly feels a strong impulse to attack her.
By the time of his second appearance, Kiuchi has already developed an obsession to violently bump into women he thinks won't fight back on the street. His misdeeds lead him to be labeled as a certified "Menace" on Divine Justice as "The Subway Slammer."
He sees Motoha Arai and Tomoko Noge chatting together, and later recognizes Motoha in front of the Hachiko statue. Seeing Motoha sends Kiuchi into a rage, and he begins planning his revenge against her. The next morning, when Kiuchi was influenced by the Shedim, he attempts to push Motoha into the train tracks but pushes Tomoko instead after she pushes Motoha to safety, which causes a severe injury to her shoulder.
When Motoha ask why he did what he did to her injured friend, he answered because he wanted to, but she's unable to get him arrested because of lack of evidence, lack of witnesses and plausible deniability, which Kiuchi later taunts her over this.
When the protagonist and Lufel venture through Kiuchi's Palace, Motoha manages to follow them in. They learn that years ago, Kiuchi was a baseball player who was humiliated Motoha scored a home run against him during a volunteer program for Motoha's little league team. He was reprimanded by his team manager and head coach for losing to a little girl and entered a slump. He still holds a grudge against her years later.
Suddenly, Motoha is captured and sent to Shadow Kiuchi. He begins tormenting Motoha, blaming her for destroying his career. With Wonder's encouragement and the thought of Tomoko, Motoha fights back and awakens her Persona, Awilda.
Motoha joins the protagonist and Lufel's party, and they work together to change Kiuchi's heart. As they continue their mission, they learn through Kiuchi's memories that Kiuchi had to give up on his dreams due to a sexual harassment scandal. This was the final nail in the coffin for Kiuchi and his chance to play major league baseball is revoked. Additionally he is forced off the team. However, knowing how difficult it is for athletes to change careers and in an attempt to garner some sympathy from his boss, he offers Kiuchi a position in the company's sales department. His boss also lies to the public, and announced that Kiuchi was actually injured back while working with the little league team, and was trying to hide it and continue on. After learning the truth, Closer is infuriated, finding Kiuchi's reasoning for his misogyny utterly pathetic, and becomes frustrated at herself for feeling sorry for him. With the protagonist designing the icon and Motoha elaborating the warning statement, they make a bunch of Calling Cards. Just as Kiuchi passes by Shibuya Station Square, Lufel spreads the cards from the sky. As people read the cards and recognize Kiuchi, he becomes furious in embarrassment. His shadow is enraged and his treasure materializes.
When Wonder, Closer and Lufel invade Kiuchi's Palace to steal his treasure, Shadow Kiuchi transforms into Cupid to fight against them. Upon defeat, Shadow Kiuchi confesses, and is left wondering how he'll go on living after what he's done and his utter lack of purpose. However, Motoha realizes he still loves baseball when he was a kid and encourages him to confront his wrongdoings and atone, suggesting that he become a baseball instructor for children. Accepting her advice, Shadow Kiuchi disappears.
When the three return to the real world, they see Kiuchi is being taken away by the police and learn that Kiuchi has confessed his crime and turned himself in.
The group celebrates and Motoha is grateful they stopped Kiuchi before things escalated. The protagonist suddenly sees a vision of Kiuchi laughing maniacally as he is apprehended by the police as he proudly admits to killing people in one of his bumping attacks. It is strongly implied that this is what would have happened if they had not changed his heart.
Gallery[]
Video[]
Trivia[]
- Kiuchi's aggression and deliberate attack on women in the station might be inspired by "Bumping Man (Butsukari otoko)," referring to a phenomenon in Japan when a man deliberately carries out ramming attacks specifically targeting women in train stations.
- Kiuchi represents the Deadly Sin of Lust, and his sin is expressed in a nonsexual lighting and leans towards fixation and resentment, in this case his aggression against women.