Ichiryusai Madarame

Ichiryusai Madarame is a character from Persona 5. He is Yusuke Kitagawa's foster father and art teacher.
==Appearances==
*Persona 5 / Royal: Major Character (Antagonist)
**Persona 5 (Manga): Major Character (Antagonist)
**Persona 5 The Animation: Major Character (Antagonist)
==Design==
Madarame is an elderly man with long grey hair tied in a ponytail and he has short facial hair. He wears traditional Japanese clothes.
His Shadow Self wears traditional yellow kimono with make-up on his face (which Ryuji Sakamoto compares to a ), with his hair being styled in a Japanese topknot look that closely resembles a paint brush, as well as his eyebrows, which are bushier than his normal ones.
When Shadow Madarame fights the party as Azazel, he initially becomes a set of four paintings that show different parts of his face (two eyes, his nose, and his mouth). He doesn't actually transform into the paintings, but merely hides within them. Upon the painting's destruction, the real Azazel (Shadow Madarame) exposes himself, rendering himself vulnerable.
== Personality ==
In public, Madarame comes off as polite, humble, and soft-spoken with a passion for the arts and pride in his impressive collection of art over the years. He might even self-deprecate himself as "cranky" and the like to emphasize on a virtuous display of character. In truth, Madarame is an amoral, greedy con man with an extremely self-centered view of the world and a bloated sense of self-importance, believing that he is a "God of the Art World," with merely taking the artwork of his pupils and claiming it as his own. Although Madarame was seemingly skilled enough at art to actually tutor students, he claims that the pupils that he's taken care of are his art, and uses that as an excuse to take their work as his own. Having suffered years of artist's block, Madarame resorted to extortion of his pupils to maintain his fame and cast them away the minute they were of no use to him. He is also not as poor or humble in his origins as he claims to be, as he owns a luxury car and a mansion.
Unlike Kamoshida who outright abuses his volleyball team in Shujin Academy, Madarame hides his crimes and real personality from the public well. In the eyes of the public he is just a polite, humble and inspiring artist, even with many public protests against him, and his true personality is only known by people who know and live with him personally, namely his pupils. However, his Shadow Self blatantly admits and flaunts his immoral and criminal acts in the open, which exposes himself to Yusuke who otherwise was supportive of him and couldn't even fathom of his malicious personality. Shadow Madarame is extremely loud, boisterous and flamboyant, and he uses the informal "Washi" to refer to himself in Japanese. "Washi" is a term used by elders on juniors and emphasizes one's superiority, indicating that he thinks that he is superior over all others.
He believes his advanced age and skill as a tutor gives him the right to treat his students as unpaid labor and a source of artwork to keep his fame and income. In fact, Shadow Madarame even refers to them as his livestock right in front of Yusuke, and in a conversation during Persona 5 Strikers, it's heavily implied that he actually treats them as so, for at one point, he has so many pupils that he refuses to even give some a proper bed and forces them to sleep on the floor. He has a very cynical view of art and beauty, seeing both primarily as an avenue to profit, and is extremely bitter about his lack of personal inspiration as an artist, even going as far as hiding artwork of his students and exhibiting their artwork using his name. His greed and vanity is best represented with his treatment of Yusuke's mother, as he let her die of a seizure so he could steal her artwork and create forgeries of it to make money. Despite this, he takes great care and effort towards his subjects and actually raised them like his own children, which more often than not results in his victims having stockholm syndrome that lingers even after his fall.
As revealed by his rationalizations after being defeated, Madarame reveals two ulterior motivations for his crimes: an intense fear of poverty and a cynicism about how the public views art. He claims to be a victim of a trite society seeking the highly casual enjoyment of art as if it were a consumable item rather than an expression of the mind, and he most probably could produce decent paintings without resorting to fraud. However, despite feeling scorn for this perceived view on the world around him, instead of protesting, Madarame adapts by shamelessly treating art as merchandise and selling it for profit and fame. His opportunistic attitude and distorted desires came to a climax when he let Yusuke's mother die from a seizure so he could steal her artwork.
With his change of heart, he eventually repents for his actions and openly confesses his crime at a live conference while having an emotional meltdown in front of the populace. He realizes that his actions have caused irrevocable pain and suffering to all his victims, in which many of them which were his intended pupils who put great faith on him.
==Profile ==
===Persona 5===
Madarame is a prestigious artist that is famous for his Japanese art. In the past, he was actually a brilliant artist who did not plagiarize or fleece anyone for profit. However, an artist's block had resulted in him running a scam where he would find pupils and tutor them, then sell or exhibit their work using his own name for profit.
Over the years, he mentored many students, many of which lived with him in his humble shack near Shibuya. The shack is not his real home, and is merely a front used to build up the image of an impoverished painter; his real home is actually much more lavish and registered under the name of a mistress. Additionally, his tutelage is merely a trap for him to find young and talented artists and plagarize their work as his own. As a result, many of his pupils found themselves ruined from their time there, losing their passion for the arts or simply being cast aside once their artistic drives were depleted. Once these occurred, Madarame would abandon his apprentice, use his connections in the art world to blacklist them, and search for a new student to continue his scheme. Among the many affected by his scheme was Natsuhiko Nakanohara, who similarly had his prospects as an artist ruined and lost all of his passion after being "mentored." Due to Madarame's large influence in the art world, none of his former pupils were able to speak up about him after they were cast aside, allowing him to continue his abuse and plagarism for several years. To make matters worse, a number of his victims ended up commiting suicide after he ruined their lives. One of Madarame's most famous paintings is the art piece titled "Sayuri," which was the self-portrait of a woman and her child that he stole and claimed for himself as he took the opportunity to let her die of a seizure. The woman's child is then taken under his adoptive care in hopes that he could fleece him of his artistic talent as well. In order to make his claim as the painter of "Sayuri" more believable, he painted over the child in the woman's arms, adding a sense of mystery to the painting that he knew would attract the public's attention.
He used to have many pupils in his shack at the same time, but all of his other surviving pupils left him on their own accord (and suffered from his retaliation as a result) or were simply cast away from him, except one, Yusuke Kitagawa. Terrified by the Stockholm syndrome that Madarame inflicted on him, he continues to defend his mentor and deny his crimes. Despite this, when Nakanohara was still in his shack, Yusuke reveals to Nakanohara that he wanted to leave if he could.
He was first mentioned when the Phantom Thieves defeat Shadow Natsuhiko in Mementos. Natsuhiko was a victim of Madarame's extortion and ended up getting a job in the municipal ward after striking out on his own where he would constantly stalk his ex-girlfriend to vent his stress. Madarame first appeared alongside Yusuke who was following Ann to try to get her to be a model for his next piece and was sitting inside a black luxury car congratulating Yusuke for finding his artistic inspiration. His art exhibit opens next day and Yusuke offers them the tickets to enter, where they saw Madarame being interviewed and speaking about his sources of inspiration for his art that the group later discovers, is completely conflicting with what he actually is. His real self acts calm and humble throughout the events surrounding the heist and even when angered, manages to keep some of his cool, although his Shadow Self will emphasize and flaunt his criminal acts.
His sin is Vanity, which forms the basis of his Palace. His Palace transforms his modest, run down shack into a high scale museum with crowds waiting to see the exhibits. Inside the Palace, dozens of pictures line the exhibits comprised of the portraits of all of the students he has extorted over the years, including Natsuhiko and Yusuke. It also consists of other exhibits that embody his vanity and self entitlement, including a "Spring of Life" sculpture and a giant statue of himself.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts plan a heist at his Palace to steal his heart after hearing numerous stories of how he has ruined the lives of his former pupils and how he is now using Yusuke for that end. Despite Yusuke's refusal to believe him, after Ann Takamaki models for Yusuke in order for Morgana to infiltrate a special door. Madarame catches them in the act, forcing Ann to take Yusuke inside the room. They discover multiple copies of Sayuri. Madarame claims that they are replications due to the original being stolen and had been selling them as a means to pay off a severe debt. However, they soon find the original hidden under a drape in the same room. With his ruse revealed, Madarame plans on suing Ann and Yusuke for trespassing, as well as the Phantom Thieves for inspiring the heist. However, due to his exhibit still on display, he decides to wait until it has concluded so he can prevent attracting unwanted attention.
Yusuke escapes into the Metaverse along with Ann afterwards, but still refuses to believe the rumors to be true after being shown evidence in the Metaverse. However, when the party encounters Madarame's Shadow, the Shadow reveals his true intentions that he has no regard of Yusuke or his other pupils and is simply using them for his own profit. This confirms Yusuke's fears to be true and it results in his Persona awakening. After the party defeats some of his Shadow Guards, Shadow Madarame threatens to destroy Yusuke's art career and leaves.
thumb|right|250px|Shadow Madarame (Azazel) boss.
Despite Madarame being a more well prepared opponent than Kamoshida, having protected the treasure with a highly secure control grid consisted of an infrared barricade and a bunch of guards surrounding him, a hole through the infrared, alongside a hook on top lets the Phantom Thieves locate and formulate a plan to steal the Treasure. Once this is done, the party sends a calling card to the real Madarame, turning it physical. As a precaution, Shadow Madarame swaps the Sayuri painting with a covered hehenonomoheji to trick the Thieves into a trap. Thinking that he has won, he shows Yusuke the true treasure, the Sayuri painting in its original condition. The lower quarter is now revealed, depicting a mother holding her newborn child.
Shadow Madarame informs the group that it was Yusuke's mother who painted the original Sayuri and the baby is Yusuke. Madarame coveted the painting so much that when Yusuke's mother had a seizure, rather than call an ambulance, he simply left her alone to die, allowing him to take the painting with little opposition. To cover the picture's true intention, Madarame modified it into the Sayuri painting that he released to the public. Outraged at his former master for causing the death of his mother, Yusuke no longer feels any remorse for opposing him and the Phantom Thieves, with Yusuke making a final resolve, battle Shadow Madarame. His boss form, Azazel, hides behind four floating paintings and Azazel will only be exposed once all paintings are destroyed, leaving him open to attack until the paintings reform. Despite a difficult fight, the Phantom Thieves managed to weaken him by coating him with black paint and emerge victorious.
After his defeat, Shadow Madarame clings onto the Sayuri painting and pleas to Yusuke to spare him. Though Yusuke does, he tells the Shadow to return to the real Madarame and repent for all the damage he caused. Yusuke then takes the Sayuri painting with him out of the Palace. As the Palace collapses, Shadow Madarame lets the Phantom Thieves know about a black masked person who had also infiltrated his Palace.
His treasure, the original "Sayuri" painting, was given to Café Leblanc by Yusuke as a thanks for letting him stay for one night, and the Phantom Thieves celebrate their victory by eating hot pot in the Leblanc attic.
On June 5th, the real Madarame admits at a press conference that he plagiarized his own pupil's work. As he weeps heavily from the guilt of all the suffering he caused, Madarame turns himself into the police to atone for his abuse of his former pupils and his plagiarism. Many are shocked by this revelation and Madarame loses credibility and respect, especially by the art community. The revelation of his crimes also draws attention to the Phantom Thieves by the public and inspires Yusuke to continue his work with the Phantom Thieves.
After defeating the TV manager in Shido's Palace, the Phantom Thieves learn Madarame was also involved in the conspiracy. The manager explains that the funds generated from the counterfeiting scam were used to fund Shido's campaign. 
Over the course of Yusuke's confidant, he and the Protagonist meet Akiko Kawanabe, who in the final portion reveals to be an old friend and classmate of Madarame. Kawanabe reveals to the two that Madarame didn't always act the way he did, but rather hated the concept of vanity and evil. He also told the two that Madarame once rushed all over trying to find a doctor in the later hours of the night when a young Yusuke developed a bad fever. But over time, Madarame began to use his students in the way he was originally against. According to Kawanabe, Madarame also got in the way of him getting locations to set up art studios. Akiko was also happy to know Yusuke was freed from Madarame's chains.
Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter Madarame's Shadow in the Depths of Mementos, locked in the massive cell located within the entrance of the second floor alongside their other previous targets. Much like them, the Phantom Thieves did not properly change his heart. Instead, he was merely reverted into a member of the distorted public, which explains why he became an "apathetic, weeping husk" instead of trying to atone as intended. He, alongside the other Palace owners who's hearts have been stolen, praises the cell from which he originally escaped, declaring that he mistakenly believed himself to be talented and now views himself as a fool for wanting too much.
===Persona 5 Royal===
Madarame is largely identical to his original game counterpart. However, once his painting form is destroyed, Madarame will no longer restore it and will attack on foot. He attacks with elemental duplicates of himself that become progressively weaker as he summons them.
====Taking Back Reality====
When Tokyo is affected by Takuto Maruki's reality, Madarame reconciles with Yusuke and encourages him to exhibit the true Sayuri using his mother's name, reverting him back to the father that Yusuke used to admire. This is actually a result of Maruki's actualization, altered according to Yusuke's ideal reality. Once Yusuke chooses to deny it, Madarame is never heard from again, presumably behind bars just like after his heart was changed.
Before the protagonist visits all of his teammates, Madarame can be seen personally at the Shibuya central square, where he would talk affairs with a contractor to hold a collaboration exhibit between him and Yusuke. He speaks highly of Yusuke's mother, genuinely acknowledging her talent that has passed to his disciple, and recognizes all of Yusuke's mother and his work as their own instead of his. This indicates that Yusuke's desire wasn't for his mother to return to life, but rather for her work to be publicly recognized and his mentor to be the good person Yusuke had always wished he had been.
==Strategy==
Madarame cycles between two phases throughout his battle. First, Madarame takes on the appearance of four different portraits; two eye portraits, a nose portrait, and a mouth portrait. Each portrait will absorb specific attacks; the eyes absorb Fire, Ice, Elec, and Wind attacks, the nose absorbs Psychokinesis, Nuclear, Bless and Curse attacks, and the mouth absorbs Physical and Gun attacks. A common tactic is to use multi-targeting Physical attacks to destroy the eyes and nose, as the mouth has very little variety to its attacks, so that the party can whittle down its health with magic without much concern about elemental weaknesses or enemy buffs and debuffs.
After defeating all four portraits, Shadow Madarame appears in his normal form and is automatically put into a Hold Up for an All-out Attack. Madarame spends two full turns in this form before he reforms his portraits, albeit at half health, and needs to be defeated in this form to complete the battle. He only uses Madara-Megido, which deals a pitiful 10 damage, so take the opportunity to mount a full offense.
Once Shadow Madarame has cycled through both forms once, the portrait version gains a new attack called The Artist's Grace which coats a party member in black paint. This status ailment lasts two turns and makes them weak to all forms of attacks, and it cannot be protected by guarding. The portraits usually cast Rakunda right after using this skill, causing the painted individual to take even more damage. They also will revive a painting that is downed to 25% health, forcing the party to defeat them all at once to draw out Shadow Madarame once more.
If the party does not defeat Shadow Madarame after a second cycle, a new prompt is given to the party on the third cycle. A party member in battle can be sent to use some nearby black paint cans to inflict the same effect as Artist's Grace onto the portraits. It takes roughly three rounds for the character to use the paint on Shadow Madarame. The party must distract him in the meantime by attacking the portraits until then in order for this advantage to take place. In this case, not only the portraits take extreme amounts of damage, they can be downed for an All-out Attack.
====Royal====
Madarame is significantly easier in Royal. He begins in his portrait form, which has The Artist's Grace and Restore. All strategies for this should be the same as the painting's first regeneration in Persona 5. The special operation to paint the paintings with black paint will trigger after he uses Restore the second time.
Unlike in the original game, once the portrait form is knocked out, he will no longer restore it. Instead, he will begin use True Fake to summon Ersatz clones of himself, starting with one of each: Ersatz Anger (Fire), Ersatz Joy (Elec), Ersatz Sorrow (Ice) and Ersatz Mirth (Wind). In all subsequent uses of True Fake, the Ersatz summoned are random. All Ersatz have weaknesses and can be spammed for One Mores. Baton Pass, which the party has as default in this game can be used to take out multiple Ersatz at a time. If one does it correctly, it is possible to get around this phase taking no damage. Do not get complacent however, as these Ersatz can repel any attack that the element checks and any of the same element as their color, so beware when using crowd control attacks. (For example, a red/Fire-based Ersatz Anger is weak to Ice and Repels Elec and Fire.) They also resist Physical, although because of their low HP, they can be easily finished using physicals. The Ersatz Madarame use attacks that they represent, which are identical to the elemental attacks the portraits cast, although due to their low stats, they will usually hit for around half the damage of the same attack from his portrait form. They can also occasionally use Tarukaja on themselves or skip their turn contemplating.
The Ersatz have very low stats and can be taken down in a few super-effective hits. As a result, save for the repels or multiple clones piling up on the same party member, they are not very threatening and most of them will very likely be taken down in a single Baton Pass cycle.
Madarame himself has to be defeated to end the fight, and he does not do anything other than using True Fake to summon Ersatz if there are less than four clones on screen. Make sure to keep him busy, as if there are four Ersatz Madarames on screen and the party does not kill at least one within 5 turns, he will paint the entire party with black paint with Fake Artist's Grace. As his HP drops lower, he has a chance of summoning faulty Ersatz which are near-death and sleeping, with the odds of him doing so increasing after each use. Should the battle drag longer past this point, he might summon exclusively faulty Ersatz. Therefore, the more he wastes time summoning Ersatz as long as damage output can be maintained, the easier it becomes.
If the battle drags on for too long in either phase (approx. 50 turns total), Madarame will use a special Megidolaon to wipe the party out.
==Stats==
<tabber>
Shadow Madarame =
|-|
Painter's Eye =
|-|
Painter's Nose =
|-|
Painter's Mouth=
</tabber>
===Royal===
* Megidolaon is only used if the battle is drawn out for Madarame to take 50 turns.
* Shadow Madarame (Azazel) will only use Fake Artist's Grace if the party passes five turns without destroying an Ersatz Madarame.
<tabber>
Painter's Eye =
|-|
Painter's Nose =
|-|
Painter's Mouth=
|-|
Shadow Madarame =
|-|
Ersatz Joy =
|-|
Ersatz Fury =
|-|
Ersatz Sorrow =
|-|
Ersatz Mirth =
</tabber>
==Quotes==
=== Battle Quotes ===
* "Mine is a world the mediocre cannot understand." 
* "Now... let's begin, you vermin!"
* "Stupid brats."
* "Take this!"
* "Dammit... I'm the great Madarame... The Madarame who gathers a full crowd every time he opens an exhibit! I'm not someone that worthless brats like you are allowed to defy...!"
* "Damn brats!"
* "You'll regret this!"
* "Grrr.... impertinent brats...! It seems you need a good whipping to make you understand!"
* "Dammit... Dammit... Stop it, you brats, or else...!"
* "N-Nghhhhhh...!? Wh-What the...!? My powers... They're suddenly draining..." (if paint is splashed on)
* "Ngh.. D-damn brats... Even if you cry for help someday... you'll regret this... No adult will help you..."
===Royal===
* "I'm the great artist, Madarame! If you brats cannot fathom that... Then you'll witness it for yourselves! Behold my master craft!" (Introductory of phase 2)
* "N..Ngh! Stop this...Is this how you show your gratitude to the man who raised you!?" (HP reduced by one quarter)
* "Damnit... Damnit... Stop it, you brats, or else...!" (HP goes below half)
* "What!? I, the great Madarame... made an error!?" (Summoning defective Ersatz)
* "Enough of this...!" (Randomly on someone's turn, Low HP)
* "I won't forgive you!" (Ersatz recovers from being knocked down)
* "My brilliance strikes like a flash of lightning - and now you'll taste it for yourselves!" (Ersatz Joy attacks for the first time)
* "Damn clueless brats... My fiery rage shall reduce you all to mere ashes!" (Ersatz Fury attacks for the first time)
* "You dare defy an esteemed elder? May you all be frozen in fear!" (Ersatz Sorrow attacks for the first time)
* "Disappear from my sight without a trace, like dust scattered in the wind!" (Ersatz Mirth attacks for the first time)
* You've angered me! (Ersatz attacking)
* Damn brats! (Ersatz attacking)
* Take this! (Ersatz attacking)
* Crying won't help! (Ersatz downs someone)
* Hahahaha! (Ersatz downs someone)
===Will Seed Chamber Quotes===
* "Don't worry, this is a genuine masterpiece..."
* "It doesn't matter who painted it, all who matters is who unveiled it to the world!"
* "Any lie if you wait long enough with will truly become a fact, no matter how long you must wait."
*"If my name didn't grace that painting, it would be absolutely worthless."
*"Nosy pupils have to have their prying eyes plucked before they become a real problem."
* "A good pupil devotes their whole being to their master."
* "Who is to say, whether or not is protected?"
* "You don't have what it takes to distinguish imagery from the real image!"
== Gallery ==
===Persona 5===
File:MadarameArt.png|Concept art
File:MadarameBossArt.png|Concept art (2)
File:P5_possibly_Madarame_.png|Shadow Madarame
File:MadarameLaugh.gif|Shadow Madarame
File:P5 Azazel boss appearances.png|Azazel
File:Azazel_boss.png|Azazel
File:MadarameIcon1.png|Icon
File:MadarameIcon2.png|Icon
File:Shadow Madarame (P O.A.).png|Shadow Madarame in Persona O.A.
===Persona 5 Portraits===
File:Madarame.png|Madarame.
File:P5 portrait of Madarame crying.png|Madarame weeping.
File:Madarame_cut-in.png|Madarame cut-in
File:Madara_cut-in.png|Shadow Madarame cut-in
===Persona 5 Royal===
File:Yusuke and Madarame Wrong Ending.png|"The Ideal Teacher and Student"
===Persona 5 (manga)===
File:P5 manga Azazel.jpg|Azazel's demon form in the manga adaption
===Persona 5 The Stage===
File:Cover_of_P5_the_stage.jpeg|Madarame with Kobayakawa and Kamoshida
File:P5_the_stage_Cov2.jpeg|Persona 5 The Stage Volume 2 with Madarame on the left-top corner
===Persona 5 The Animation===
File:P5A Madarame in his youth seen in Yusuke's flashback.jpg|Madarame in his youth seen in Yusuke's flashback
File:P5A Azazel.jpg|Azazel's demon form in Persona 5 The Animation
==Etymology==
Ichiryū (一流) means "top-notch." Sai (斎) is a suffix for male given name or title which more commonly appears in classical literature. Madarame (斑目) means "speckle-eye."
In the cut scenario, Madarame's true given name is revealed to be "Ichitaro" (市太郎), this is the milk name of , on whom Yusuke Kitagawa's name is based.
==Trivia==
* Madarame's forging the theft of the painting "Sayuri" is an allusion to the actual painting , which is believed by some critics that its worldwide recognition was largely contributed by its theft instead of its technical aspects. Furthermore, Madarame's scam of selling forgeries of the supposedly missing "Sayuri" by making each buyer think they're buying the stolen original is a reference to a theory proposed by journalist Karl Decker in 1932, positing that the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 was part of a larger scheme masterminded by Argentine con man . According to Decker, Valfierno commissioned six copies of the painting before paying several men to steal the original, including Louvre employee who would eventually commit the robbery. Once news of the crime went public, Valfierno sold each copy to pre-selected collectors who believed the original was stolen for them.
** The composition of the unedited Sayuri bears resemblance to the actual ukiyoe "" by Utamaro Kitagawa, depicting the Mountain Witch affectionately nursing the baby Kintaro.
* Madarame is likely based on a combination of two personalities;
** The Japanese musician , which is supposedly a deaf musician who was crowned as a "Digital-age Beethoven" by TIME magazine in 2001. In Feburary 2014, reveals that his work is actually by him and he is actually not deaf.
** A Japanese artist known as , who has got an Education, Science and Technology Minister's Art Encouragement Prize due to his paintings, only for it to be stripped due to allegations of plagiarism stating that his artwork structure is very similar to Alberto Sughi's, an artist that he knew during his study in Italy.
* Madarame's abuse of his art slaves and drawing attention from the Phantom Thieves are reminiscent of the "" episode of the detective mystery series .
* Madarame's shadow's red lips are likely a reference to the painter Yoshide from Hell Screen, a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
* Madarame's public apology is believed to be a parody to the hysterical defense by politician Ryutaro Nonomura which went viral in Japan. Incidentally the reason led to Nonomura's tearful press conference, spending tax money on numerous private hot spring trips, is also the court case followed by Sae Niijima during the main plot.
* While Azazel is not associated with any sin in Judeo-Christianity, he being Shadow Madarame's battle form and association with paintings fits his role in mythology. He is generally taken to be one of the , angels who fell separately from Lucifer's rebellion when they taught humanity forbidden knowledge out of lust for human women-Azazel is credited with teaching the techniques for blacksmithing weapons and the art of cosmetics, especially makeup and mascara. This fits with Madarame being a formerly skilled painter who now parasitizes his own students for the sake of his vanity.
* Madarame's motif shares similar origins from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the loyal retainer to Oda Nobunaga. Like Hideyoshi, both were notorious for living off the talents of other people. Yusuke's persona Goemon was known for his failed assassination attempt on Hideyoshi and like Goemon, Yusuke's clumsy offer of having Ann as a model forces him to uncover the truth about Madarame.
* In the Japanese version, Shadow Madarame's unique skill "Madara-Megido" is still pronounced "Megido" but the skill name is rendered in kanji "目偽怒" instead of katakana "メギド" with each syllable given a random kanji. It loosely means "Eye-Fake-Anger."
* Most of Azazel's "unique attacks" are renamed versions of basic spells-Maelstrom is Garula, Dust Flurry is Magarula, Thunderclap is Zionga, Flame Dance is Agilao, and Silent Snowscape is Bufula, although the Ice and Electricity skills are unable to inflict ailments. These moves even share the same animations as their original counterparts. This ties into Madarame's plagiarism, with him rechristening spells that are not his property as "uniquely" his own. Further driving the point home is the incredibly weak Madara-Megido or the increasingly weak Ersatz clones of himself used by his true form, implying that Madarame has lost all of his desire to create his own work and is just stealing other's credit. 
* After his press conference confession, a chalk drawing of him weeping can be seen on the blackboard in the protagonist's class at Shujin Academy.
* Out of the seven deadly sins, Madarame's sin of vanity (an excessive love of one's appearance) can be related to pride (excessively high self-esteem); however, pride is already represented by Shido. Prior to Pope Gregory the Great's official listing of the seven deadly sins, or capital vices, eight vices were traditionally listed by theologian monk Evagrius of Ponticus. Included in this original list was vainglory, which can be defined as the excessive desire for praise and fame, or the desire for praise without merit. This sin would apply to Madarame for seeking fame in exchange for plagiarized and stolen pieces of art.
* Western sculptures and paintings can be seen in models of his Palace hidden inside the coding, indicating that he was originally intended to draw Western art instead of Japanese art. 
* Originally, Madarame's surname was Katsushika (Japanese: 葛飾), in which he is referred to in his in-game files. He also hides a smoking pipe inside his model, although he does not use it anywhere in the game, and his Shadow Self does not have the pipe inside his model.
** In the bad ending where the protagonist accepts Takuto Maruki's version of reality in Royal, Madarame is seen holding his smoking pipe in Yusuke's end card.
* According to Yusuke in Strikers when the boys are forced to sleep outside the camping van in Sendai, Madarame used to have lots of pupils in his shack, to the point that he barely has enough bed for his pupils, that many had to sleep snuggled with each other on the floor.
* The Ersatz clones are a reference to the Japanese phrase , which refer to the range of human emotions.
* In Royal, if Yusuke is active in Madarame's boss battle, he will have special dialogues to harshly refute Madarame's words. If Yusuke is not in the party, has an ailment, or has fainted, there will be alternative dialogues said by Morgana. If neither is present, there will be no responses from the Phantom Thieves.
==References==
Category:Persona 5 Enemies
Category:Persona 5 Bosses
Category:Persona 5 The Animation Characters
Category:Persona 5 Royal Characters