Goro Akechi

Second Advent of the Detective Prince (探偵 (たんてい) 王子 (おうじ) の再来 (さいらい) , *Tantei ouji no sairai*)
Pancakes
The Charismatic Detective
Mysterious Man
Pleasant Boy
Black Mask (黒 (くろ) い仮面 (かめん) , *Kuroi kamen*)
Extra glitzy person (By Yukiko Amagi)
Pancake-Loving Detective

## Professional Status

### Occupation

Detective
Hitman for Shido (Formerly)
Student
Phantom Thief

### Affiliation

Tokyo District Special Investigation Department
Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Antisocial Force (Enforcer)
Shujin Academy

## Relationships

### Parents

Masayoshi Shido (Father)
Unnamed Mother †

## Voice Actors

### English

Robbie Daymond

**Goro Akechi** (明智 (あけち)  吾郎 (ごろう) , *Akechi Gorou*) is a public celebrity, touted by his fans and the media as the second coming of the detective prince (after the first), and was investigating the mysterious Phantom Thieves of Hearts case sensationalizing Japan.

During the course of the story, Akechi would condemn the Phantom Thieves' actions in an effort to influence public opinion against them. He temporarily cooperates with them for professional reasons, using the codename **Crow** (クロウ, *Kurou*).

Because of his otherwise lonely life as an unwanted child, Akechi would be obsessed with his hatred towards his father Masayoshi Shido, blinding him in his pursuit for justice.

Because of that, he works behind the scenes as the **Black Mask** (黒 (くろ) い仮面 (かめん) , *Kuroi kamen*) responsible for many of the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown incidents, acting as an assassin for Shido's political gain, a tool to get him to acknowledge him as means for revenge.

## Description

### Appearance

Akechi is a handsome man with 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 argyle 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 Ren'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 tinted red, resembling a sharp beak, which breaks after 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?"

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

In public and with all of his relations, Akechi appears to be well-mannered, friendly, humble 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, working with 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 he wants to hear about other people's views in an honest fashion. He quotes Hegel on this, citing that "advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis." He finds an interest in Ren because he speaks his mind.

Despite supposedly being an idol detective, this identity, as well as his cheery disposition, are 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 inducing mental shutdowns or psychotic breakdowns. The killings were commissioned by Shido's allies (sometimes other political players who aren't in Shido's party) to silence their foes or anyone they don't like, often in exchange for granting Shido funds or connections. Similarly, he has the public's support only if he upholds the pretense of being a charismatic idol detective, and even without knowing about his true identity, his fans are quick to turn on him if he makes mistakes, such as when the Phantom Thieves triumphed over Kaneshiro and Medjed.

Ironically, despite being one of Shido's most useful assets and being distinctively more skilled than most of his men (this is largely due to Shido's practice of hiring people who revere him unconditionally and not basing anything on their competence), Shido doesn't treat him like anything more than a disposable tool, and since he knew that Akechi would turn against him and that he isn't easily fooled by outward loyalties, he had plans to dispose of him if he ever got his way.

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 both his own life and his mother's. His desire for revenge was so intense that at the time when he was 14-15 years old, he was willing to use his abilities for Shido in order to fulfill his goal of ruining his father when he was at the apex of his power. Shido took complete advantage of Akechi's vulnerable state and his abilities, forcing him to initiate mental shutdowns and commit murders, treating him as the tool for these killings while also putting him under the impression that Akechi was mostly responsible for these events via manipulating and grooming him. This shows to have an impact on him later in the third semester where he believed his life was trivial while the protagonist had to decide on accepting or denying Maruki’s deal. On Christmas Eve, he offers to testify instead of Ren and give himself in as the perpetrator, saving the Ren from juvenile hall and showing how little he thought of his life if he believed he should be arrested.

After meeting Ren, for the first time, Akechi is able to experience a simple, normal life with a friend. Akechi admires yet envies Ren, who does not let anything stop him from carving his own path, and thus considers him his rival. Persona 5 Maniax states that despite being overwhelmed with jealousy and contempt for Ren, 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 Ren. In an interview in Persona 5 The Royal Official Complete Guide, director Kazuhisa Wada comments that Akechi doesn't care much for other people except Ren. In the end, he seems to hold complicated feelings towards him.

Near the final act of Persona 5, 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 Ren 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 uses his rampage ability on himself which led to him losing control. This becomes substantial to his downfall, as in spite of his commended strength, 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 Ren 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 seemingly sacrifices himself to protect Ren.

He usually speaks in a calm and polite fashion, but when he drops his guise and engages in combat as the Black Mask, his dialogue becomes wildly aggressive and profane. However, he displays this behavior only towards enemies, for example, Shadows. (Out of combat, Black Mask Akechi converses normally). 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.
Usually Akechi will use "boku" to refer to himself and "kimi" to refer to other people, which is (usually) considered polite. However, when he's the Black Mask, Akechi will always use "ore" to refer to himself (which is also used by Ryuji) and refer to others as "kisama" or "omae" (the latter of which is used by both Morgana and Ryuji.) All of the three pronouns he uses as the Black Mask are considered extremely impolite, and are also used by Shido when he drops his facade to deal with people personally.

In the third semester of Persona 5 Royal, he believes forming or fixing any relationship would be pointless due to his (presumed) death approaching. While the localization portrays Akechi as a harsh, rude person at times, the Japanese version of him is simply a tired man. Due to his mother's death and his 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.

Akechi no longer cares what others may think of him after rejoining, completely abandoning his detective prince persona. Now perfectly comfortable with his true self, he behaves more seriously and honestly. 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 know 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 their guilt for an eternity would be a better punishment than outright killing them. Akechi does show a certain restraint to this side of him, depending on who his opponents are, as shown in Maruki's Palace when he chooses to back out and leave the protagonist to fight Sumire alone: Akechi says he doesn't want to accidentally kill her, but in the Japanese version, he states he doesn't want to accidentally hurt her. He would attempt to kill Maruki only as a last resort when he'd see no other choice.

Having been manipulated and controlled 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 betrays his ideals and their relationship with each other. At the same time, he is relieved each time Ren turns Maruki's offer down, knowing that he is resolved to return to their normal reality, and accepting Maruki's offer would be a betrayal of Akechi's wishes.

Despite his reputation as a detective being a fabrication, 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 counter 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 be very poor, as he relies on only two Personas based on parts of his personalities and doesn't have special bonds with anyone besides Ren.

The official Persona 5 Artbook states 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.

## 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, while "Ro" (郎) is a suffix attached to certain male given names, meaning "son," undoubtedly a reference to his relationship to Shido. Read as *meichi*, 明智 (Akechi) is an uncommon word meaning "wisdom" or "sagacity."

It could also be a reference to Kogoro Akechi (明智 小五郎, *Akechi Kogorō*), 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 from betraying the Phantom Thieves, he is also a traitor to Shido as well, as Shido has ambitions that can be compared to Nobunaga.

Goro Akechi's codename, Crow, or specifically "Karasu," Japanese for "Raven," has been elaborated on in a class question on November 10th: the difference between the Kanji for "crow" and a regular "bird" is that the crow's doesn't have a symbol that represents the eyes, as a crow's body is black, and it's hard to see the eye. In spite of that, crows have very good vision.

## Trivia

* The gun Akechi uses is a SIG Sauer P230 with a detachable suppressor.
* Akechi breaks the recurring trend of the protagonist's rival/antagonist having the same English 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 Ren Amamiya is voiced by Jun Fukuyama/Xander Mobus.
* Akechi is one of the few confidants (along with Sae Niijima) and the sole party member not given any alternative mocking title in the official Japanese site of the vanilla *Persona 5*.
* 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.
	+ According to *Persona 5: Mementos Reports Vol. 3*, both his personas are aspects of him, so there is no particular order to their awakening.  This could imply that they were awakened at the same time.
	+ In *Persona 5 Royal*, Futaba claims that this is because Akechi never trusted anyone, so he got one Persona for his lies, and one for his hate (referring to Robin Hood and 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 to change his Metaverse outfit; how he is the only one to do so is never elaborated upon.
* Despite being a party member only briefly, Akechi won first place in a *Sega Festival 2016* poll for a 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. The period after the "A" indicates an abbreviation for "answer."
	+ *Maniax* states that it also contains student supplies, food and water if he has to rush to work without time to eat, and free samples like sweets or cosmetics for men from parties at TV stations.
* Within the Metaverse, Akechi's stance mirrors the protagonist's but lacks the natural sway that the protagonist has; instead, he stands completely still.
* 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.
* When Akechi is fighting in his Prince outfit, he is using his right hand when summoning Persona. However, when he is in his Black Mask outfit, Akechi summons his Persona with his left hand.
* In Mementos dialogue, Akechi mentions that he's a fan of horror movies.