99 Fun Facts About Persona 5 Royal

Which Tokyo district joins Akihabara, Shinjuku and Shibuya as a new hangout area in Persona 5 Royal?

Kichijōji is a real neighbourhood in the city of Musashino, western Tokyo; in Royal it brings a jazz bar, billiards and darts that can even sharpen the party's combat.

Which sport does Shujin transfer student Kasumi Yoshizawa, Persona 5 Royal's new Phantom Thief, compete in?

Rhythmic gymnastics won her a scholarship to Shujin, yet she is in a slump when her Confidant with Joker begins.

What job has a reformed Takuto Maruki taken when Joker meets him again in Royal's true ending?

Taxi driver Maruki offers Joker a ride past the agents tailing him, and says he will move forward with his own life just as the Thieves will.

What is the name of the general public's shared Palace, a twisted subway the Phantom Thieves explore beneath Shibuya?

Mementos is where the Thieves finally try to change everyone's heart at once, raiding its depths for the public's own Treasure; Royal adds Jose, who trades for flowers picked there.

Velvet Room wardens Caroline and Justine, like earlier attendants, take their names from which novel?

Frankenstein supplies both names: Justine is the servant framed for a murder the Creature committed, and Caroline is Victor Frankenstein's mother.

In Persona 5's Velvet Room, which execution method is the name for fusing two Personas into one?

Guillotine fusion is run by the twin wardens, who behead the chosen Personas so that the released energy forms a new one, which inherits skills from its parents.

Following Persona 3's blue and Persona 4's yellow, which colour gives Persona 5's UI its deliberately harsh feeling?

Red, with monochrome text, is almost the only colour in the menus, whose early animations were so aggressive they obscured the game and had to be toned down.

On Persona 5's reveal, Japanese fans nicknamed the bespectacled Joker after which fictional character?

Harry Potter's lookalike was simply called 'Potter' on the reveal; his designer likened him instead to a panther, against Persona 4's loyal-dog hero.

Which earlier Atlus re-release, like Royal, added a new winter chapter to its story?

Persona 4 Golden sends its cast on a ski trip that leads into a new dungeon, where its new character Marie has shut herself away and must be saved.

Which politician both framed Joker for assault before Persona 5 begins and turns out to be Goro Akechi's father?

Masayoshi Shido, running for prime minister, is the drunk Joker stopped from harassing a woman; his illegitimate son Akechi plans revenge once he wins.

Takuto Maruki's Confidant represents which Arcana, one of two that Persona 5 Royal adds?

Councillor is Maruki's Arcana; Shujin Academy hires him as a counsellor to support its students after Kamoshida is exposed.

What codename does Kasumi Yoshizawa take when she finally joins the Phantom Thieves in Royal's third semester?

Violet is the name she takes once she finally joins; earlier she had asked to fight beside the Thieves and was turned down because Joker thought it too dangerous for her.

What is the real given name of the younger sister who lives as the late Kasumi Yoshizawa in Persona 5 Royal?

Sumire is the younger sister; the real Kasumi died pushing her out of the way of traffic, and Maruki's power let the survivor believe she was Kasumi.

In which Tokyo waterfront district do Joker and Kasumi stumble into the new Palace that Persona 5 Royal adds?

Odaiba is where Maruki's lab was to be built before his funding was cut, so his Palace rises there as a research facility that numbs people into bliss.

What happens to Morgana while the Phantom Thieves live inside Maruki's rewritten reality in Royal's third semester?

He gains a human body, the wish Morgana carried all game, and loses it again once Joker convinces him the perfect world is a lie.

Which ultimate Persona, named for an Anglo-Saxon rebel against the Normans, does Goro Akechi gain in Royal?

Hereward the Wake led resistance to the Norman Conquest from the Isle of Ely; the Persona caps a Wild Card stalled at Robin Hood and Loki by Akechi's lack of real bonds.

Which ultimate Persona, a Gnostic devil wielding the seven deadly sins, does Joker awaken against the false Igor?

Satanael is summoned only when Joker's Confidants rally the public to reject the God of Control, making the climactic battle a vote for free will.

In early development, which demon was Joker's starting Persona before Arsène replaced it?

Mephistopheles lost out to a gentleman thief: Arsène and the cast's other starting Personas were themed after outlaws and picaresque heroes.

Along with Arsène Lupin and the Fiend with Twenty Faces, which Japanese outlaw hero inspired Joker's thief persona?

Ishikawa Goemon, the legendary thief boiled alive in an iron cauldron, also lends his name to Yusuke Kitagawa's first Persona.

When Caroline and Justine regain their memories and merge, what is the name of their true, single form?

Lavenza calls Joker 'Trickster' instead of 'inmate'; she had been split in two by the impostor who jailed the real Igor, so that she could not act.

Gym teacher Suguru Kamoshida's Treasure, an ornate crown inside his castle Palace, manifests in reality as what?

His Olympic medal is the physical root of his tyranny: a former Olympic volleyball champion, he runs Shujin's team as its self-appointed king.

Which form does the Palace of Okumura Foods CEO Kunikazu Okumura take, with his employees as disposable robots?

A space station suits a man who sees his company as a launch pad: worn-out robot workers are incinerated as fuel for the ship meant to carry him into politics.

Prosecutor Sae Niijima's Palace, a rigged casino where she always wins, embodies which deadly sin?

Envy is the sin of a prosecutor who has come to see trials as games to win; her heart changes without her Treasure ever being stolen.

Which deadly sin does Futaba Sakura's pyramid Palace, guarded by a Sphinx of her mother, embody?

Wrath is the true sin: the Sphinx is a warped version of her mother Wakaba, embodying Futaba's false belief that her mother hated her.

Which painting, Madarame's Treasure, turns out to be a self-portrait of Yusuke Kitagawa's mother holding him as a baby?

Sayuri had the infant Yusuke painted out of it by Madarame to add mystery; Yusuke later lets the original hang in Café Leblanc.

Which Confidant was originally written as a Phantom Thief, a radical strategist, before being cut to a side role?

Hifumi Togo, the shogi champion, lost her seat to a story already too large; her radical streak was folded into Makoto Niijima's strategist role.

Homeroom teacher Sadayo Kawakami secretly works which exhausting second job to pay a dead student's guardians?

Maid shifts pay off the guardians of Taiki Takase, a former student killed in a car accident, who blame her and extort money; once their hearts change she quits and resolves to teach better.

Former yakuza Munehisa Iwai, the Hanged Man Confidant, runs a Shibuya airsoft shop with which name?

Untouchable can arm the Thieves with replicas because fakes work like the real thing in the Metaverse; Iwai keeps his yakuza past secret from his adopted son Kaoru.

Fortune-teller Chihaya Mifune scams Joker out of ¥100,000 for a 'Holy Stone' that is actually what?

Rock salt is all a Holy Stone is: the Assembly of Divine Power, a group of con artists, has Chihaya sell them until Joker changes its leader's heart.

Makoto Niijima's Persona Johanna, which she rides like a motorcycle, is based on which legendary figure?

Pope Joan is the legendary woman said to have risen to the papacy in disguise, her sex revealed when she gave birth during a procession; Makoto rides her namesake into battle.

Ryuji Sakamoto, the Phantom Thief codenamed Skull, summons a first Persona named after which pirate?

Captain Kidd sailed as a privateer with a royal commission, was denounced as a pirate and hanged in London in 1701; Ryuji's Persona later becomes Seiten Taisei.

Morgana's minivan form, the Phantom Thieves' Metaverse ride, is modelled on which real French van?

Citroën Type H vans were built for 34 years, from 1947 to 1981, and owe their look to corrugated metal panels chosen to save material, weight and cost.

Futaba Sakura's old hacktivist alias, later hijacked by a fake group threatening the Thieves, was what?

Medjed was Futaba's own handle before she became Alibaba; the impostor using it turns out to be a script kiddie loyal to the conspiracy.

Under which alias does Haru Okumura roam her father's Palace with Morgana before joining the team?

Beauty Thief is the name she uses while Morgana sulks away from the team; her real codename becomes Noir, and she fights with axes and grenade launchers.

Goro Akechi's 'Crow' thief outfit includes a mask modelled on which creature of Japanese folklore?

Tengu, the long-nosed mountain goblin, was picked to give him a condescending look, while the formal outfit was kept to resemble an officer's uniform.

Which food became an internet meme tied to Goro Akechi, the detective who joins the Thieves as Crow?

Pancakes gave him away: he mentions overhearing talk of delicious pancakes, words only Morgana had spoken, which someone new to the Metaverse should not have understood.

Akechi's name and celebrity-detective role reference Kogoro Akechi, a creation of which Japanese mystery writer?

Edogawa Ranpo was the pen name of Tarō Hirai, chosen because it echoes the sound of 'Edgar Allan Poe', the mystery writer he most admired.

Akechi's media title 'Second Coming of the Detective Prince' nods to which Persona 4 character?

Naoto Shirogane was Persona 4's original Detective Prince; Akechi inverts that ally role, becoming the rival who hunts the Thieves while secretly working for the conspiracy.

Which ability of Joker's highlights interactable objects and enemy strength while sneaking through Palaces?

Third Eye also solves Palace puzzles; Royal adds a grappling hook on top, so Joker can reach new areas hiding three Will Seeds per dungeon.

Which company published Royal in Europe and Australia, taking over from the original's PAL publisher Deep Silver?

Sega is the parent company of Atlus, so for Royal it handled the Western release itself instead of leaving Europe to an outside publisher.

Takuto Maruki's Persona, Azathoth, takes its name from a deity created by which horror writer?

H. P. Lovecraft made Azathoth the supreme deity of his Cthulhu Mythos; Maruki's Persona awakens in that form when the Metaverse merges with reality.

Royal was the first Persona game with subtitles in French, German, Italian and which other language?

Spanish completes the set of four; for the original's English release, the Japanese dub was offered as free DLC instead.

Which platform's version supplied 79% of UK boxed launch-week sales when Royal reached new consoles in 2022?

Nintendo Switch buyers led in Japan too: 45,998 physical copies in launch week against 5,051 on PlayStation 5, for a game first made for PlayStation consoles.

Which 2020 game beat Royal to the RPG prizes at both The Game Awards and the D.I.C.E. Awards?

Final Fantasy VII Remake won the role-playing prize at The Game Awards yet lost Game of the Year the same night to The Last of Us Part II.

Singer Lyn called which part of the opening theme 'Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There' the hardest to perform?

A rap segment stumped a jazz and soul singer on her first video-game job; she sang seven of the game's tracks in English.

Which Atlus sound director, who went freelance in 2021 and later scored Metaphor: ReFantazio, composed Persona 5?

Shoji Meguro wrote about 80% of the tracks over three years with full creative freedom, leaning on acid jazz to match the visuals.

Sayo Yamamoto, who directed Persona 5's animated opening sequence, is also the director of which anime?

Yuri on Ice director Sayo Yamamoto used the skating as a symbol of breaking free from an oppressive force; the blue Persona flames were hand-drawn, not CGI.

Which director of Persona 3, 4 and 5 left to found the internal team Studio Zero after Persona 5 shipped?

Katsura Hashino treated 2011's Catherine as a dry run for Persona 5 and personally apologised for the repeated delays that followed.

Which student's attempt to investigate mafia boss Junya Kaneshiro gets the Phantom Thieves blackmailed for ¥3 million?

Makoto Niijima lets Kaneshiro's men take her so that she can reach him; when the Thieves follow, he photographs them in his club and demands the money within three weeks.

Ikue Ōtani, the Japanese voice of Morgana in Persona 5, is best known for voicing which Pokémon?

Pikachu and Morgana share a voice: Ikue Ōtani, who also plays Tony Tony Chopper in One Piece and is known for taking both male and female roles.

Which nightly habit of Morgana's became a Persona 5 meme until Royal toned it down?

Sending Joker to bed so often took choices away from players, a common complaint about the original game. Morgana's English actress Cassandra Lee Morris later parodied it by reading a bedtime book in character.

Xander Mobus, Persona 5's English Joker, was already the announcer of which fighting series?

Super Smash Bros. had used Xander Mobus as its announcer and as Master Hand since 2014, so when Joker arrived as a paid fighter in 2019 the actor simply added one more role.

How do Persona 5's Phantom Thieves cross from Tokyo into the Metaverse to change hearts?

A smartphone app does it: Igor of the Velvet Room grants Joker a supernatural mobile navigator, and its first trip lands him in a gym teacher's castle.

Which Persona 5 song earned a Grammy nomination through a cover by The 8-Bit Big Band?

Last Surprise got its nod for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals after the band reworked it in 2023. The same group had already won a Grammy for a tune from a Kirby game.

The Persona series' Velvet Room was based on the Black Lodge, an eerie otherworld in which TV drama?

Twin Peaks inspired the room, a place between reality and unconsciousness that changes form to match the psyche of each game's guest.

Persona 5 took Best Role Playing Game at The Game Awards 2017 but lost Game of the Year to which title?

Breath of the Wild won, and it shadowed Persona 5 elsewhere too: GameSpot named the Phantom Thieves' adventure its second-best game of 2017, right behind the same Zelda epic.

Which sport does Persona 5's gym teacher Suguru Kamoshida coach after playing it professionally?

Volleyball fame is why the principal looked away: Kamoshida's winning team shielded him until the Phantom Thieves stole his heart and he confessed.

Persona 5 Strikers swaps turn-based battles for the hack-and-slash action of which Koei Tecmo series?

Dynasty Warriors studio Omega Force co-developed the sequel with Atlus, taking the reunited Thieves on a summer-vacation camping trip that turns into another heist.

Morgana fights with a slingshot and curved sword and summons a Persona named after which swashbuckler?

Zorro is what the game's director called Morgana's ideal form, and as the bond with Joker grows the Persona transforms into Mercurius.

Ann Takamaki, the fashion model among Persona 5's Phantom Thieves, takes which feline codename?

Panther suits a look that was feline from the first sketches, though early designs gave Ann goggles and a crossbow in place of her whip.

Which randomly generated Persona 5 dungeon is the shared Palace of Tokyo's general public?

Mementos is everyone's Palace, and deep inside it the Thieves find a public that has given up its free will in the belief that this would set it free.

Which self-styled God of Control spends most of Persona 5 impersonating Igor inside the Velvet Room?

Yaldabaoth was born from humanity's wish to be ruled, and gave Joker his powers as part of a wager with the real Igor that he then rigged.

Once every enemy is knocked down in a Persona 5 Hold Up, which group move can the party launch?

All-Out Attack is one of three choices in a Hold Up: the Thieves can also demand money or items, or talk a cornered Shadow into becoming one of Joker's Personas.

Which Persona 5 restaurant chain was founded by Haru Okumura's father, whose firm mistreats its staff?

Big Bang Burger grew out of a small family company, but that growth came at the staff's expense, which is why its boss tops the Phantom Thieves' online poll of targets.

Persona 5 was first announced as an exclusive for which console before a newer one joined it?

PlayStation 3 was the lone target for a planned 2014 launch; a Sony event that year added its successor and pushed the date back, the first of several delays.

Which Persona does Goro Akechi unleash on the Phantom Thieves after dropping his Robin Hood act?

Loki wears a dazzle-camouflage pattern likened to First World War battleships, meant to disguise it from enemies, and Akechi switches to it midway through his boss fight.

Which ability, shared by Joker and Goro Akechi, lets a Persona user hold more than one Persona at once?

Wild Card lets Joker fuse and swap Personas freely, but Akechi's version stalled at just two because he never formed real bonds with anyone.

The Palace of the politician who framed Joker in Persona 5 sails a sunken Tokyo in which form?

A cruise ship carrying the Diet building lets him and his conspirators live in luxury while the capital lies drowned around them.

Under which alias does Futaba Sakura first contact Joker, demanding the Phantom Thieves steal her heart?

Alibaba struck a deal with the Thieves but abandoned it on realising it meant meeting them in person; they came to her door anyway once they learned of her plight.

Futaba Sakura's Phantom Thief codename is Navi in Japanese; what is it in Persona 5's English release?

Oracle fits her job: she replaces Morgana as the team's navigator, feeding the Thieves locations and support without ever joining the fight directly.

Persona 5's Confidant system is an evolution of which bonding mechanic from Persona 3 and Persona 4?

Social Links were originally called "Community", but that word carried too specific a meaning in English, so the localisers borrowed from Igor's talk of society and bonds.

Persona 5's manga calls Joker Akira Kurusu, but what is his name in the anime and most other appearances?

Ren Amamiya was chosen by the anime's producer, who thought a full name meaning lotus rain palace sounded quite poetic.

Ann Takamaki's Persona Carmen shares its name with the heroine of which composer's scandalous Paris opera?

Georges Bizet died after the 33rd performance, never knowing his opera would win worldwide fame. The game's director called Ann's Persona a femme fatale character.

In Persona 5, which classmate of Joker's runs the Phantom Aficionados fan site that collects heist requests?

Yuuki Mishima builds the site once he works out who the Thieves are; earlier, a teacher had forced him to leak Joker's criminal record on the internet.

Which office does Makoto Niijima hold when her principal orders her to unmask the Phantom Thieves?

Student council president Makoto tails the Thieves for the principal, then loses respect for him on learning he knew about a teacher's abuse and did nothing.

Ryuji Sakamoto starred in which Shujin Academy sport before a clash with a teacher broke his leg?

Track and field lost its squad to a suspension that Ryuji was blamed for, earning his delinquent reputation; the teacher had goaded him by spreading rumours about his family.

Which disaster led Persona 5's director to drop a globe-trotting backpacker story and stay in Japan?

The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011 changed the plan: seeing people bond in the crisis, the director moved the journey into ever-shifting Palaces at home.

Which genre did Persona 5's composer weave through the score to express the game's mood?

Acid jazz runs through a score its composer described as one continuous work; he produced about 80% of the music himself over roughly three years.

Which parent-series moniker was dropped from Persona 5's title in English-speaking regions?

Shin Megami Tensei vanished from the Western title, yet the link stayed in the game: paid costumes dress the Thieves as characters from the older demon-summoning series.

Which group did Atlus threaten with channel strikes at Persona 5's Western launch, then apologise to?

Livestreamers were warned not to show footage past a certain in-game date; the notice was widely read as a threat, and Atlus soon relaxed it considerably.

Persona 3's rhythm game is Dancing in Moonlight; which word replaces Moonlight in the Persona 5 version?

Starlight sets its dance-off in a Velvet Room dream: jealous attendants pit their guests against each other, then declare both sides winners and wipe everyone's memories.

In which 2018 dungeon crawler are the Phantom Thieves locked in a cinema with two earlier games' heroes?

Persona Q2 sends its casts through films with titles like Kamoshidaman and Junessic Land, rewriting each movie's ending to find a way out.

In Persona 5 Strikers, what are the Metaverse dungeons ruled by Monarchs called, taking the place of Palaces?

Jails are ruled by Monarchs who steal the desires of ordinary people, and their Treasures are tied to the traumatic memories that corrupted them.

Zenkichi Hasegawa, a police officer in Persona 5 Strikers, wields Valjean, a Persona drawn from which novel?

Les Misérables gives Victor Hugo's hero to a lawman codenamed Wolf, who awakens the Persona when his estranged daughter in Kyoto is turned against the Thieves.

Futaba Sakura's Necronomicon and Takuto Maruki's Azathoth are Personas taken from which horror writer?

H. P. Lovecraft said the title Necronomicon came to him in a dream, and pranksters have since listed the invented grimoire in real rare-book catalogues.

Which artist, who took over Persona's art direction with Persona 3, designed Joker and the Phantom Thieves?

Shigenori Soejima called Joker his most challenging recent design, a silent lead he imagined as someone who makes plans but never shares them.

Which mechanic from the earliest Persona games returned in Persona 5 after sitting out Persona 3 and 4?

Negotiation came back because fans saw it as a core part of the wider franchise, and the game ties it to Shadows being suppressed psyches.

Which original Critical Role Dungeon Master is the English voice of art student Yusuke Kitagawa in Persona 5?

Matthew Mercer ran Critical Role's first three campaigns from 2015 before handing the Dungeon Master's seat to Brennan Lee Mulligan, and his game roles range from Cole Cassidy in Overwatch to Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom.

Which Atlus game did Persona 5's director later call a test run for the next Persona's development?

Catherine shipped in 2011 on a third-party engine with realistically rendered characters; the Persona 5 team then built its own engine and judged that look wrong for the series.

Which studio animated Persona 5: The Animation, the 26-episode TV retelling of Joker's story?

CloverWorks made the series with the game's composer writing new music for it; an earlier one-off special, The Day Breakers, had come from A-1 Pictures.

Persona 5's English song lyrics are credited to a writer sharing his name with which US Founding Father?

Benjamin Franklin is the credited lyricist for the songs Lyn sings in English, while the Japanese ending song had its words written by Shigeo Komori.

Guillaume Broche, director of which 2025 RPG, named Persona 5's stylish menus among his favourite UI designs?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is among the games journalists say Persona 5 influenced, alongside Atlus's own Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Which studio, new to the Persona series, animated Persona 5's cutscenes, hand-drawing their blue flames?

Production I.G had never worked on the series, though many of its staff were fans; together the animated scenes run to over an hour of footage.

Which classic Chinese novel about 108 outlaws did Persona 5's developers cite as a main story inspiration?

Water Margin, whose band gathers in a marsh to rebel against the government, was cited beside a Japanese crime film and the picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes.

In Persona 5: The Phantom X, the hero's talking guide Lufel takes the form of which creature?

An owl named Lufel fills the mentor role Morgana plays for Joker, recruiting a student codenamed Wonder after he awakens the Persona Jánošík.

Which additional difficulty setting was released for the original Persona 5 as free downloadable content?

Merciless arrived free, unlike the paid costume packs, whose outfits swap the battle music for tunes from the game each costume comes from.

Shinya Oda, the boy called the King at an Akihabara arcade, holds the top score on which game?

Gun About is where Shinya teaches Joker the gun moves he then uses in the Metaverse, after Joker seeks him out to beat a cheating gamer.

Which leader of the Rebel Corps rescues Joker and Morgana from a brainwashing tyrant in Persona 5 Tactica?

Erina leads the freedom fighters against Tyrant Marie, in a strategy spin-off where the Thieves fight on a grid and take cover to reduce damage.

Readers of which Japanese gaming magazine voted Persona 5 the greatest game of all time in a 2017 poll?

Famitsu readers put it first, and the magazine's own reviewers had already given the game a near-perfect score on release.