Akira Kurusu

The **protagonist** of *Persona 5* is a transfer student at Shujin Academy. In the beginning of the game, he has little to no power or influence in the world and is restrained by the rules of the system he was born into.

However, beneath his quiet demeanour is a strong-willed juvenile delinquent known throughout the world as **The Phantom Thief**, to the residents of the Velvet Room he is known as the **Trickster**, and to his teammates his code name is **Joker**. The protagonist is the leader of the rebellious Phantom Thieves of Hearts which aims to change society by touching the hearts of people and performing illegal heists.

## Design

The protagonist has wavy unkempt black hair and dark gray eyes. For most of his civilian outfits, he wears a set of black glasses. While wearing his glasses, he has the appearance of an ordinary boy. However, when his glasses are removed, his eyes give off an intense gaze. As he does not wear his glasses during his first encounter with Masayoshi Shido, the fireworks scene, or the ending it is unlikely that they are necessary for vision correction, and that they are fake glasses which he has adopted as part of his public persona to make himself seem more unassuming during his probation.[1]

His default outfit is his winter school uniform, which consists of a  red-buttoned black blazer with Shujin's emblem on the pocket, a white turtleneck shirt with chevron detailing on the collar, and red plaid trousers. During the summer, he wears the school regulation polo shirt, albeit untucked and sans the suspenders.

On his days off during the winter, he wears an unbuttoned black blazer over a black-trimmed cream sweater, blue jeans, and brown shoes. During the summer, he wears an open white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up over a black short-sleeved t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown shoes. His lounge wear consists of a black long-sleeved shirt and olive sleep pants.

As Joker, his outfit consists of a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black jogger-style pants, brown-black winklepickers , and a pair of red gloves. His mask is a black and white, birdlike domino mask. His expression and demeanor are also markedly different and there's a strong air of confidence to him compared to his usual self.

During visits to the Velvet Room, he wears a black and white prisoner uniform.

In his flashback, he is wearing a black and white baseball tee with the numbers "1797" in front, gray jeans, and black shoes.

In *Persona 5: Dancing Star Night*, the protagonist wears the Shujin Academy uniform, though he replaces the turtleneck with a black shirt with a zero on the front with "DANCE" written on it. His jacket is left open and wears red gloves and shoes. A red rag is also found hanging out from his right pants pocket. Around his neck are black and red headphones.

## Personality

"Yes. Before that happens, we will take this country!"
—The protagonist to the world, *Persona 5*
As per the tradition of the *Megami Tensei* franchise, he is a silent protagonist, whose personality is based upon the player's actions and decisions. However, he appears to have more established traits than any of the previous protagonists. His dialogue options range from somewhat indifferent to outright cheeky. The game allows for quite a number of playful, snarky, or audacious answers, including teasing his friends. He also taunts his enemies like the famed Arsène Lupin. In the prologue scene, he remains cocky and confident even when his life is in danger. He also has a flair for showing off and making dramatic decisions, such as exiting by jumping through the stained glass windows of the Casino, much to the amazement of the other Phantom Thieves. This is even reflected in gameplay, as when he is turned into a mouse, he makes a flamboyant hop after escaping a battle.
Munehisa Iwai says if everyone in the world held the same code of honor as the protagonist, guns would be obsolete. Sadayo Kawakami notes that, by opposing Suguru Kamoshida, he has a strong sense of justice despite his bad reputation. Shinya Oda states that he made him realize "To be cool, you have to live life in your own way." and that's the type of person he's striving to become. Hifumi Togo notes, while playing Shogi with him, that she senses he has a "gambler's spirit." Sojiro Sakura says the protagonist has an assertive nature, to which the rest of the thieves agree. During the climax of the Niijima Palace heist, Ryuji Sakamoto states that despite being quiet, once he has made up his mind, he won't take no for an answer. Goro Akechi says although the protagonist is quiet, he possesses the courage and determination to take action, and has a free heart, despite his social standing and how others view him, and that he never stops choosing his own path.
His profile states that he appears quiet and well-mannered, but this behavior is a profound ruse that hides the heart of a rebellious trickster. He is extremely resistant to rigid and dogmatic forms of control-based authority and order. He has received much criticism, insults, opposition and even death threats for his rebellious nature, whether it be his targets, school staff, disapproving comments left on the Phantom Aficionado Website, etc. Suguru Kamoshida calls him a "defiant piece of garbage." However, despite all this, the Phantom Thieves have also received a good deal of support.

In *Persona 5 The Animation The Day Breakers*, he can easily be perceived as an unassuming student during his daily life. He appears somewhat introverted and absent-minded, perhaps as part of his "profound ruse" or in being mentally preoccupied with the Phantom Thieves' activities, as he was shown not paying attention in class. In truth, he is highly resourceful and plans ahead, such as using Cafe Leblanc as bait to obtain evidence behind Kazuya Makigami's crimes, as well as obtaining the false alarm system from Iwai. He also has a reckless side, as seen when Ryuji and Ann question his audacious decision to use Leblanc as bait despite numerous dangers, including the risk of Sojiro finding out. In response, the protagonist simply says he'll cross that bridge when he comes to it. Like the other Phantom Thieves, he fully believes in their mission to reform their targets, even taking pride in his work as he declares to Kazuya that he has stolen the arrogance in his heart.

In the process of designing characters for *Persona 5*, Shigenori Soejima imagined the protagonist as the type who plans things but does not talk about them. Jun Fukuyama, his Japanese voice actor, described the protagonist as the the type of person you cannot get to know easily. However, he also says the protagonist has the characteristics of a leader and that the other members of the Phantom Thieves trust him deeply.

Unlike previous Persona protagonists, the catalyst for his Persona awakening is specific (his desire to help people in need). Arsene notes this, and wonders if the resolve the protagonist showed in the past was valid or not. This in turn proves instrumental to Awakening, as it is the basis for his rebellious will, allowing him to form a contract with Arsene and summon him.

In the manga adaptation, Akira Kurusu comes off as initially quiet and awkward while showing his obvious discomfort and confusion with the crowded streets of Tokyo. He is also severely disheartened and saddened when none of the students, save for Ryuji who he helped earlier in Kamoshida's Palace, want nothing to do with him because of his record. Like in the game, Akira is quick to catch on to certain things, showing himself to be quite observant.

## Battle Quote

* *"Arsene!"* or any other Persona names (Hitting weak point/critical with physical skill)
* *"Go! Persona!"* (Using Persona skill)
* *"You're mine!"* (Using Persona skill)
* *"Go down!"* (Using Persona skill)
* *"Ravage them!"* (Hitting weak point/landing killing blow)
* *"Show me your true form!"* (Tearing off a Shadow's Mask)
* *"I'll reveal your true form!"* (Tearing off a Shadow's Mask)
* *"Do it!"* (Using Baton Pass)
* *"Leave it to you!"* (Using Baton Pass)
* *"Go ahead!"* (Using Baton Pass)
* *"Roger!"* (Accepting a Baton Pass)
* *"Persona!"* (Accessing Persona skill menu)
* *"Let's go."* (Accessing Persona skill menu)
* *"Come!"* (Accessing Persona skill menu)
* *"That's not right!"* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"Hold on!"* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"No..."* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"This isn't it!"* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"Some other way."* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"There's something else."* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"Not that."* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"Not this."* (Backing out of the Persona skill menu)
* *"Calm down."* (Idle in Persona skill menu)
* *"I'm not done!"* (Idle in Persona skill menu)
* *"Let's see..."* (Idle in Persona skill menu)
* *"No changes!"* (Backing out of Party menu)
* *"Stay in formation!"* (Backing out of Party menu)
* *"This group works."*(Backing out of Party menu)
* *"Let's keep going!"*(Backing out of Party menu)
* *"Stick to the plan."* (Backing out of Party menu)
* *"What's the plan?"* (Checking next turn)
* "Next up" (Checking next turn)
* *"Improvise!"* (Changing tactics to Act Freely)
* *"Do what you want."* (Changing tactics to Act Freely)
* *"Don't hold back!"* (Changing tactics to Full Assault)
* *"Full power!"* (Changing tactics to Full Assault)
* *"Save your strength."* (Changing tactics to Conserve SP)
* *"Be mindful."* (Changing tactics to Conserve SP)
* *"We have to survive!"* (Changing tactics to Heal/Support)
* *"Focus on your health."* (Changing tactics to Heal/Support)
* *"I'll command you!"* (Changing tactics to Direct Commands)
* *"Listen to me."* (Changing tactics to Direct Commands)
* *"\*sigh\*"* (Idle in battle)
* *"It's time."* (Idle in battle)
* *"There!"* (Using items)
* *"I'm using this!"* (Using items)
* *"Too slow!"* (Dodging an attack)
* *"Saw that."* (Dodging an attack)
* *"What!?"* (Downed by an enemy)
* *"Gah!"* (Downed by an enemy)
* *"Damn it!"* (Debuffed by an enemy)
* *"It can't be..."* (Incapacitated)
* "*Pillage him Satanael!*" (Before firing the Sinful Shell with Satanael)
* "*Begone*." (Firing the Sinful Shell with Satanael)
* *"Cross Slash!/Slash!"* (Using Izanagi/Izanagi Picaro's Cross Slash skill)
* *"Cadenza!/Leave it to me!"* (Using Orpheus/Orpheus Picaro's Cadenza skill)
* *"Doors of Hades!/Let us end it!"* (Using Thanatos/Thanatos Picaro's Door of Hades skill)
* *"How about this?/You need proper punishment."* (Using Magatsu Izanagi/Magatsu Izanagi Picaro's Magatsu Mandala skill)
* *"Behold forth, sacred tempest!/Violent wind!"*(Using Kaguya/Kaguya Picaro's Shining Arrows skill)
* *"Blastoff!/It's educational guidance!"* (Using Ariadne/Ariadne Picaro's Beast Weaver skill)
* *"This fight will be your death!/Die, die, die!"* (Using Asterius/Asterius Picaro's Titanomachia skill)
* *"Face my fury!"/"Iiit's Sho-Time!"* (Using Tsukiyomi/Tsukiyomi Picaro's Abyssal Wings skill)
* *"Reverberate, Orotario!/I can't fall!"* (Using Messiah/Messiah Picaro's Orotario skill)

## TMNT X Pokemon

Akira is usually silent except for a few words. But as Joker, he can be daring and cheeky and loves to take risk in order to run from being captured.

## Trivia

* He is designed to be reminiscent of a cat with a hidden side while the protagonist of *Persona 4* was designed to be reminiscent of a loyal and sincere dog.[1]
* He is the first protagonist in the *Persona* series to be a criminal.
	+ If one includes the rest of the playable characters, Baofuis the first criminal for conducting telephone tapping.
* The protagonist's mugshot reads "P508954TS."
* His code name, Joker, in card games can act as either the ultimate trump card, the beneficial Wild Card, or harmful unmatched card such as in the Old Maid game.
* Uniquely, he is the first protagonist shown speaking in several in-game cutscenes. Likewise, most of the in-game narration is his internal monologue, instead of the second person narrator used in the previous games.
* In the 5th episode of Persona Stalker Club V, it is revealed that originally the protagonist's initial Persona was going to be Mephistopheles, but was later changed to Arsene since it fits better with the overall theme of the game.
	+ Additionally, the protagonist was meant to live with Sae Niijima, though the reasons behind this were not stated.
	+ Also revealed in Persona Stalker Club V, the protagonist's design was meant for him wearing his uniform similarly to the styles of the protagonist of *Persona 3* and Yu Narukami, in where the jacket was left open.
* In Sega Festival 2016, the protagonist won second place in fans polling of favorite party member, only beaten by Goro Akechi.
* When using a DLC Persona, the protagonist's battle quotes change, and sometimes reference the original owners of those Personas.
* He is the third character to be named 'Joker;' the first two being Jun Kurosu and Tatsuya Sudou from the *Persona 2* duology.
* His attire in *Dancing Star Night* is similar to the design of Yu Narukami in *Persona 4: Dancing All Night*: both wear their school uniforms, only modified. Additionally, both are wearing headphones around their necks.
* Excluding the cast of *Persona* and the *Persona 2* duology, if the protagonist does not max out the Strength Confidant, he is the first guest of the Velvet Room to not receive the key that opens its door.
* Amamiya Ren 雨宮 蓮: 雨 means rain, 宮 means palace and 蓮 means lotus, but it can also mean 'to carry; to lead'. The double meaning here is that not only is he the leader of the Phantom Thieves come to rain on the palace, but the lotus in Buddhist teachings is symbolic of purity and cleansing.