Joker (Persona)
Joker is a male video game character who features in Persona.
Contents |
Biography
Ren Amamiya
Whilst walking in his hometown at night, he witnessed influential Japanese Cabinet politician Masayoshi Shido harass a female subordinate. After falling down whilst intoxicated, he came to injure himself and upon seeing Amamiya a simple passerby he decided to blame him. He then forced his subordinate the testify to the police that was Joker that pushed him and had injured him. At the resultant court hearing, Joker was told he had to serve a one-year probation and was forced to transfer to Shujin Academy in Tokyo that was the only place to accept him due to his current criminal record.
After infiltrating a Casino, successfully stealing a briefcase before beginning to make his escape, all the while attracting the attention of the security forces in order to allow his companions to escape the other way. He makes quick work of a Shadow taking the form of a Moloch before he continues escaping, though shortly after jumping out of a window, he is cornered by the police and is subsequently captured, being informed that he was "sold out" by one of his teammates. Later, he was found in an interrogation room, bound to a chair, having been drugged by his captors. The apparent leading investigator splashes him with water in order to wake him up and knocks him off of the chair, as he reads off his list of crimes: obstruction of business, intimidation, defamation, preparing and carrying weapons and even murder. Afterward, he asks the protagonist to write down his name, as a confession to the investigation. The protagonist complies, though the investigator tells him that he will put him through so much pain until he has paid for his crimes. The protagonist, not remembering anything at the time, questions if he really did commit all these misdeeds. Shortly after signing his name, Sae Niijima, a prosecutor leading his case, enters the room to interrogate him. She is opposed to the interrogators after seeing their blatant attempts to muddy his memory. The two seem to share a history, and she questions him how he came to learn about "that world," and how exactly his "techniques" regarding his crimes work. As the protagonist seems to ponder how to answer, he catches sight of a blue butterfly and hears a voice calling out to him, stating that his fate was already predetermined, but there was hope for him by recalling his memories.
After that, the protagonist awakens on the train bound for Shibuya, as if the events were all a foreboding dream. During the ride, he recalls an incident where he witnessed a woman being sexually harassed by a man and stopped him. In his drunken stupor, the man accidentally fell without the protagonist touching him and injured his head. He blamed it on the protagonist and forced the woman to testify that it was the protagonist's fault. He later discovers that the man was Masayoshi Shido, a corrupt politician who abruptly rose to control virtually all of Japan and commits blatantly treasonous acts for his profit. As a result of the protagonist's intervention, the incident went down on his permanent record, and he was subsequently expelled from his school. At the court hearing, he was sentenced until next spring and was ordered to transfer schools with Shujin Academy being the only school that would accept the protagonist with his current criminal record, which his parents approved. Needing a place to stay, Sojiro Sakura was approached to house the protagonist during his probation, due to connections between his customers and the protagonist's parents. However, due to the protagonist's criminal record, Sojiro does so only begrudgingly. After he arrives at the Shibuya Crosswalk, a mysterious application starts up, much to the protagonist's confusion. The world around him slows to a halt, and a fiery blue figure manifests before his eyes, followed by a vision of the flames developing a red grin, and himself with yellow eyes. Afterward, as time resumes, the protagonist deletes the application, and makes his way to Yongen-Jaya Station, and later to the alleyway, where his new caretaker resides. He arrives to find Sojiro speaking with customers.
Overview
Personality and attributes
One key trait revolving around the protagonist is his relation with fate: his entire journey after getting falsely accused by Masayoshi Shido tied him to Shido's. During his journey, the protagonist would rebel in helping others, eventually dethroning Shido himself, and would be himself regardless of what others think, but wouldn't be able to clear his criminal record during his journey.
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.
After becoming a Phantom Thief and befriending Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana, Akira became brighter and more open to speak his mind, as shown when he directly expressed his desire to help Yusuke for fear he's suffering like he did. Though Akira is still quiet most of the time, those who know him well are able to see his kind heart and how he is always there for them. Despite how his act of kindness led him to be framed before, it does not deter Akira's desire to help people in need and he would step in without hesitation when seeing someone in trouble in front of him. He has accepted that reality can be unfair, but strives to face it head on instead of running away. Being the leader of Phantom Thieves, Akira is one of the most level headed thieves, mostly keep his cool even in a difficult situation. He is also quick to catch on to certain things, showing himself to be quite observant. Though presenting himself as a well-mannered student, Akira is not keen at his school studies like Ryuji and Ann, reacting with dismay at the thought of school tests and is not confident on the result of his grades.
Powers and abilities
He came to manifest a Persona (ペルソナ, Perusona) that was a manifestation of his inner personality. The initial Persona he was able to manifest was Arsène (アルセーヌ, Aruseinu) who called itself the pillager of twilight. This was a being based off the main character of Maurice Leblanc's novels Arsène Lupin who appeared everywhere and was a master of disguise that helped law-abiding citizens. The Persona was said to be the rebel soul that resided within Joker. The source of Joker's supernatural abilities, he represented the rebellious side of Joker's soul. Arsène specializes in Curse and Physical skills.
His ultimate Persona was Satanael (サタナエル, Satanaeru) who was awakened after breaking the chains that held him within the form of Arsene. He was said to had been the form of Satan prior to his falling from Heaven and was the second son of God who rebelled against Him for freedom and bestowed free will as well as chaos upon humanity.
Joker came to be the leader of a group of Persona users known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts (心の怪盗団, Kokoro no kaitō-dan).
As a wielder of the Wild Card, he came to have access to the Velvet Room.
Notes
- Joker was created by Shigenori Soejima where he made his first appearance in Persona 5 (2016).
- In the manga adaptation of the story, the character was named as Akira Kurusu.
In other media
Television
- In Persona 5: The Animation, the character was named Ren Amamiya in the setting of the anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actor Jun Fukuyama and English actor Xander Mobus in the dub.
Video games
- In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Joker appeared as a DLC playable character in the 2018 fighting video game.
Appearances
- Persona 5:
External Links
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