Takuto Maruki

"Happiness is not out of reach."

Takuto Maruki is a supporting character turned the main antagonist of **Persona 5 Royal.** He is also a major antagonist turned supporting protagonist in the **Shareholders Arc.** He is a therapist and researcher of cognitive psience who, once granted a great power by what appeared to be fate, resolved to manipulate reality and rid the world of all pain and suffering, despite what resistance he may encounter. Undergoing a change of heart after the canonical events of Persona 5 Royal, yet another terrible tragedy awaited Maruki back in the real world, causing him to reverse his change of heart through sheer force of will, further bolstering his resolve to see his mission through.

## Pre-Paradise

During the events of Persona 5 Royal, Maruki became a counsellor at Shujin Academy, the school which the majority of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts attend, and offers them counselling after their ordeal with Suguru Kamoshida. Over time, he forms a bond with the leader of the Phantom Thieves in particular, confiding in him about the loss of his lover as well as the unfair cancellation of his research into the field of cognitive psience, and its application to therapy and mental health treatment.

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, on Christmas Eve 20XX, delved into the Depths of Mementos and defeated Yaldabaoth, the God of Control, freeing the public from his constrictive grasp. Maruki, unbeknownst to them at the time, assumed the mantle of the God of Control after Yaldabaoth's defeat and became the master of Mementos, the Palace of the general public, thanks to the Phantom Thieves' shared belief in him and the desire to see their traumas undone and their dreams made reality. As a result, the final Palace of Persona 5 Royal is Maruki's, the Laboratory of Sorrow. Him and the Phantom Thieves are opposed due to Maruki's attempts to manipulate reality itself to grant the dreams of all of humanity and create a world devoid of suffering and human progress - Maruki takes a nonviolent approach, demonstrating great care and affection toward the leader of the Phantom Thieves, only agreeing to use force when there is no other option available. Over the course of his Palace's infiltration, the Phantom Thieves learn more of his past, including the tragedy that befell his partner Rumi, as well as the revelation that he has a Persona, that granted him a smaller-scale version of the power of actualization. He used this power subconsciously to manipulate Sumire Yoshizawa's cognition into believing that she was her deceased sister Kasumi, believing that is what would make her happy.

Once all other options are exhausted, Maruki agrees to battle the Phantom Thieves atop his Palace in the Garden of Eden, lamenting that they needn't come to blows and that a peaceful solution is possible, despite being set in his ways and unwilling himself to change. In the battle, despite evolving his Persona and very nearly wiping out all of the Phantom Thieves after merging with his Persona's ultimate form, Adam Kadmon, Maruki is defeated, the Metaverse destroyed, and all of his actualizations undone. He engages in a fistfight with the leader of the Phantom Thieves, finally venting his grief and frustration at the tragedy that befell his lover, before eventually collapsing, exhausted, and requesting that the leader leave him to die. The leader, however, refuses, instead grabbing his hand as he falls from a crumbling platform as the rest of the Phantom Thieves swoop in to rescue them.

Maruki is not again seen until the game's final cutscene in which he becomes a taxi driver, reminding the protagonist that he is always capable of starting over, and if that advice ends up saving him someday, "then I guess we're square."

## Plot Involvement

Maruki, upon waking up in the Hotel, immediately resolved to continue his mission of ridding the world of all suffering - this time, beginning with the Hotel, and spreading outward toward all worlds. To that end, he first met with one of his greatest adversaries among the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Goro Akechi, upon the hotel's rooftop. While at first appearing amicable toward the Detective Prince, the two engaging in a heated debate over the philosophy of their actions, Maruki quickly became hostile in his desperation, attacking Akechi before the two engaged in a vicious battle that both walked away from severely injured, although Maruki was the one to leave the confrontation first, beseeching Akechi to reconsider.

Maruki then resurfaced a while later, in a chance encounter with Ann Takamaki, in which he revealed to her his motivations and the reason for the reversal of his change of heart; upon his return to the real world, he quickly discovered that all of his actualizations had been reversed, including that of his lover, Rumi, traumatized by the murder of her parents. Maruki manipulated Rumi's memories subconsciously, and while her trauma was cured, she forgot who he was entirely as a consequence. When that was reversed, Rumi's perception of the timeline was corrected to account for Maruki's absence - convinced that he had abandoned her, she took her own life, leaving Maruki to discover the revelation by his lonesome. Wracked by grief and taken by guilt, Maruki went to sleep, and when he awoke, he was in a brand new environment. Not only that, the Metaverse was returned, as was his Persona. With his resolve amplified, Maruki set out to make his vision reality, one last time.

Maruki again went dark until the arrival of Mementos to the Hotel, at which point he made his intentions for the Hotel's happiness known in public, fully aware that once the cognitions of the masses were manipulated, the majority of residents would be in no position to resist him. Now, Maruki waits in the Cognitive Control Room, slowly weaving his power through reality and tightening his grasp for every minute that passes by, convinced that the relief of all suffering is the correct course of action. Soon enough, without intervention, the Hotel will be fully under his sway.

And by then, it may just be too late.

This promise came to its apex when Maruki willingly conjured a battlefield for himself and a group of individuals he had hand-picked for the task - namely Goro Akechi, Futaba Sakura, Ann Takamaki, and Yu Narukami. Despite throwing caution to the wind and releasing his Persona's full power, Maruki was defeated in the Garden of Sorrow and left to his own devices. Notably, during this time, the Shareholders surfaced in the Hotel and overtook the position of Management. Toffee was aware of Maruki's battle, and elected to take credit for his defeat.

After the Phantom Thieves were personally threatened by the G-Man and their group chat disposed of, Maruki was contacted by Goro Akechi. Akechi asked Maruki to assist him in infiltrating the Shareholders' main data storage facility using his power to manipulate reality, and Maruki readily agreed, setting out to do so alongside Akechi and Yu Narukami. During this timeframe, he also volunteered his services as a mental health counsellor for the Hotel's population, counselling individuals such as Toko Fukawa, Akari Kishiri, Marco Diaz and Star Butterfly.

## Character Relationships

* **Goro Akechi -** One of the main antagonists of Persona 5. Maruki's chief rival in combat, having engaged in a vicious duel with him after a brief philosophical conversation atop the roof of the Hotel. As the sun rose, Maruki attacked Akechi, and the two did battle, both sustaining severe and long-standing injuries from the fight, although Maruki was eventually forced to flee after reawakening his Persona's ultimate form, Adam Kadmon, albeit a weaker version of it. Maruki left Akechi with a promise that they would meet again. Maruki hand-picked Akechi to fight him in the Garden of Sorrow, and once defeated, left Akechi to his lonesome for a time, until Akechi personally contacted him to ask for his aid. Maruki readily agreed, but the friction between the two still remains palpable, despite Maruki's wishes to reach an understanding.

* **Ann Takamaki -** One of the main protagonists of Persona 5. Ann Takamaki and Maruki met by chance, with Ann coming across the doctor on the lakeside - against her better judgment, Ann engaged Maruki in conversation, seeking to understand the reason why his change of heart was reversed and the reason why he was so deeply entrenched in his ways. The two soon formed a melancholy bond over their shared experiences of tragedies surrounding the ones they loved, although Maruki's case did not end quite as well as Ann's, reigniting a fire under him and forcing him to resolve to make his dream reality once again. The two parted ways with Maruki begging Ann to reconsider denying his reality, a deeper understanding reached between the two despite their differences, with grief and frustration guiding Maruki's hand toward his ultimate goal. Ann was present during Maruki's defeat in the Garden of Sorrow, personally delivering the final blow. The two have not seen each other or spoken since.

## Trivia

* Maruki himself isn't particularly fond of snacks, particularly sweets, but keeps them in stock in his office and carries a juicebox or two on his person at all times in the event that a conversation should be struck up.

* Maruki intentionally avoids large crowds due to the stress inflicted upon him by his Persona's innate and presumably uncontrollable ability to detect the traumas of other people, which discomforts him greatly and may even lead to physical pain in extreme circumstances.
* Maruki often enjoys sitcoms in his spare time, citing their optimistic outlook as a reason for his taking a liking to them.
* Maruki's favourite colour is cyan, and his favourite beverage is apple juice.