Persona Users

Lore & Background

Persona Users in Persona 5 are high school students who awaken to their Personas after confronting their own inner truths. The protagonist, Joker, awakens to his Persona after he and Ryuji are captured by Shadow Kamoshida, the school's abusive gym teacher, and are about to be executed. Other party members include Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Morgana, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, and Haru Okumura. Their Personas are based on literary outlaws and rebels, reflecting the game's themes of attaining freedom from the limitations of modern society. The Velvet Room, a place that exists for the growth of Persona users, takes the form of a prison in this game, where Joker can fuse Personas through the Guillotine process or send them to Solitary Confinement for training.

In Their Own Story

The story of Persona 5 is told largely through flashbacks during an interrogation by Sae Niijima. After being framed for assault and put on probation, Joker moves to Tokyo and transfers to Shujin Academy. He is drawn into the Velvet Room, where Igor warns him he must be rehabilitated to avoid future ruin. Joker and Ryuji Sakamoto are captured by the Shadow Self of Suguru Kamoshida, at which point Joker awakens to his Persona. Over the course of a school year, the group explores Palaces—story-specific dungeons within the Metaverse—and Mementos, a randomly generated dungeon, to change the hearts of criminals and other malevolent people. The game's themes revolve around attaining freedom from the limitations of modern society, inspired by picaresque fiction.

Reader's Guide

To become a Persona User in Persona 5, a character must confront their own Shadow Self within the Metaverse, a supernatural realm born from humanity's subconscious desires. Once awakened, they can summon Personas—physical manifestations of their psyche—to battle Shadows, which are physical manifestations of suppressed psyches modeled after mythological and religious figures. Combat is turn-based: striking an enemy's weakness knocks them down and awards an extra turn. If all enemies are knocked down, a Hold Up is triggered, allowing an All-Out Attack, demanding money or items, or convincing a Shadow to become one of Joker's Personas. New Personas can be gained through successful negotiation in battle, and fused in the Velvet Room using the Guillotine process. Improving Confidant relationships with party members unlocks combat abilities, while non-party Confidants grant bonuses like new equipment or boosted experience points. Joker's activities in the real world affect his social statistics, which grant additional activities and options.

Did You Know?

• Persona 5 is the sixth mainline installment in the Persona series, itself a spin-off from the Megami Tensei franchise.
• The game was first announced in 2013 with a planned release in 2014, but saw several delays due to needing more development time.
• Including Royal, Persona 5 is the best-selling title in the Persona sub-series, with over 10 million copies sold worldwide as of 2025.
• Joker appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, released as DLC in April 2019.
• The Velvet Room in Persona 5 takes the form of a prison, shifting appearance depending on the current guest.