Persona 6/Tropes

Tropes page for the game Persona 6.

Tropes (spoilers)

 * Abusive Parents: Pretty much no one in this game has a good relationship with their parents...
 * All Myths Are True: Like the previous entries of the series, a number of the Personas are named after mythological figures from all around the world.
 * Accidental Innuendo: At the beginning of the game Eiji claims that he and the protagonist are home alone and can do whatever they want. He quickly realizes the implications of his statement.
 * Alice Allusion: Alice is back! couldn't you just die for her?
 * Almighty Janitor: Walter, who is just an old man standing around being nice in the base game, is revealed to be an undefeated Persona user in Emerald, continuing the tradition of Velvet Room assistants being powerful secret bosses, set by Elizabeth, Margaret, and the Twins.
 * Always in Class One: The protagonist's classroom is class 1-B.
 * The Anime of the Game: Persona 6: The Animation, animated by Studio Madhouse, was released a year after the game's release. When Emerald came out, an OVA movie based on Emerald's bonus story titled Persona 6 Emerald: The Animation was released.
 * Ambiguously Bi: Due to most Confidants being romanceable and the protagonist's gender being unknown this could apply to everyone.
 * An Aesop: Technology is a needed thing for society to advance but an overreliance on it will eventually tear a person apart. It's always good to take a small break from your computer and talk to someone, even if it's just for a little bit. Technology can also be used to further our understanding of the world and meet people/see things you never could without it, but it can also be used for the sake of war and chaos, so we should be careful with it and use it to create rather than destroy.
 * Anti-Frustration Feature:
 * If a party member's Confidant is Rank 2, it will cause them to jump in front of the protagonist and take a hit for them in order to prevent them from dying, which comes in handy due to the fact if the protagonist dies it's an instant game over.
 * If you can't further your Confidants and you don't want to do any minigames to further your stats, there's the option to just go back to bed and sleep through the day.
 * In the previous installments, it was actually possible to accidentally date characters due to the game not telling you what would and wouldn't further your romance with a character. In P6, the protagonist outright states that they think something will "change their relationship" with someone depending on what they say next, making it very clear that you'll start/further/finish your romance with someone with your next choice.
 * Arc Villain: From the second boss onward, the group is exclusively targetting members of a massive conspiracy that threatens all of Japan and even the world. Even if they don't realize it at first...
 * Arc Words:
 * "Your other self lurks online", which is said by Seth, pretty much sums up a good chunk of the game's themes.
 * The word "hero" comes up a lot when talking about Eiji.
 * More arc letters, but war is a big theme in the game to the point "WLNW" can be found spray-painted on walls, standing for "make love, not war".
 * Of course, the entire series' arc words return: "I am thou... thou art I."
 * Artistic License - Physics: The weapons that the characters carry just sort of disappear when they're not using them, which is odd when you realize one of the weapons is a kendo stick and definitely wouldn't fit in your pocket.
 * Asshole Victim:
 * Junko is a sociopathic yandere obsessed with her boss, who is attempting to start a war, whose Shadow is shot, causing her to have a mental shutdown in the real world.
 * Kazuya's body is completely taken over by The Great Father, destroying his soul and eliminating his mind. And, once again: trying to cause a war.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Multiple cases, mostly in the main bosses.
 * Shadow Daizo turns into a huge monster that's basically a combination of a pig and bull.
 * Itsuko turns into a huge tree monster... for some reason?
 * While he himself doesn't transform, Shadow Mutsuo is controlled by a huge puppet.
 * Shadow Kazutoki turns into a surprisingly big imp.
 * A quite literal case in The Great Father's case because what the hell even is he?
 * Another literal case for the protagonist's Ultimate Persona, which is so hard to describe we have decided not to.
 * Bonus Boss: The Technological Madhouse DLC adds three optional Ultimate Bosses that take the form of the previous three games' protagonists. In addition, Persona 6 Emerald allows the player to battle Walter in New Game+.
 * Book-End: The game begins with a train door opening and ends with a train door closing.
 * Call-Back:
 * Like P4 and P5, the first official Databank of the game is based on a type of monarch, in this case, a queen.
 * The Lovers Arcana is a pop idol, just like in Persona 4.
 * Canon Identifier: The protagonist has the canon name Hikari Nakajima but they are also referred to by the titles "Green" and "Archangel".
 * Can't Drop the Hero: The protagonist is the only party member that is required to be in the team, with the player being able to swap out the rest.
 * Central Theme: Technology and to a lesser extent war.
 * Character Customization: The player can pick the protagonist's name, their personality, their Personas, and which stats they excel in.
 * Color Motif: Green, which is the natural evolution of P3's blue, P4's yellow, and P5's red. Green also fits the technological theme of the game, as green is often associated with the code of computers and machines.
 * The Conspiracy: The main threat of the whole game is a conspiracy involving high-ranking members of society.
 * Continue Your Mission, Damnit!: If you chose to ignore the main mission and not go after an antagonist's Databank for a while the characters will message you and ask you when you're taking care of it.
 * Continuity Lock-Out: Persona 4's theme of accepting your Shadow is referenced at the beginning of the game with Eiji and Kaori.
 * Continuity Nod: There are five different TV shows that the player can watch that reference the previous games in the series.
 * "There's a show on that involves teenagers playing some kind of Bloody Mary-like game in their class": Persona 1.
 * "There's a show on where high school students are fighting what appears to be a jester or clown": Persona 2.
 * "There's a show on about a paranormal investigator fighting either demons or ghosts": Persona 3.
 * "There's a show on that seems to be about teenage detectives investigating the murder of a classmate": Persona 4.
 * "There's a show on about gentlemen thieves stealing from what appears to be a businessman": Persona 5.
 * Curb-Stomp Battle: The final form of The Great Father is his weakest and it's fairly easy to defeat him thanks to your Ultimate Persona.
 * Dancing Theme: The opening movie of the game features all the characters dancing their hearts out while the theme song, Exceptional, plays in the background.
 * Dare to Be Badass: Each of the protagonists hears their Personas call out to them and tell them to unleash their power and beat the crap out of whoever they're facing.
 * Darkest Hour: This happens at the end of the game after Nyarlathotep destroys the protagonist's Personas and starts threatening the world.
 * Death Glare: Like the previous game, when critical hitting/hitting weaknesses a close-up is shown of the characters' eyes showing just how pissed off they are at the enemy.
 * Dénoument: After meeting Kazuya for the first time after years, both the protagonist and Kazuya himself begin piecing everything together simply from seeing each other.
 * Developer's Foresight: Like in the last game, the player can name their team and certain characters give special responses depending on what you enter. For example:
 * If you try and name your team after a party member that party member will speak up and request you to change it. A special shoutout goes to Kaori, who simply says "no" with the naming screen coming up without the player even forwarding her dialogue.
 * If you write is as something like "AAAA" or "dhfpe" then the characters will seem far warier and ask if you're 100% sure that you want to go with that name.
 * While it's asked you don't, you are allowed to name your team a swear word and doing so causes Goro to say he likes your style.
 * Dialogue Tree: Many aspects of the game involve dialogue trees, including Confidants, jobs, and bargaining with Shadows.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Quite literally as one of the minibosses faced near the end of the base game is named Cthulhu. The final boss of the base game is also Nyarlathotep.
 * Do Not Spoil This Ending: For a good few months, Atlus asked people to not post footage of the game past Kazutoki.
 * They did the same for Emerald, saying people were allowed to do let's plays but asked to not show footage of the new Emerald story parts for at least three months.
 * Downer Ending: The game goes for a much more subtle and Fridge Horror approach to its bad ending, only being scary when you think about the implications for both the protagonist and the other main characters.
 * The new bad end added in Emerald could also be considered this, having the main character literally burning away the traces of their previous life by burning down their school and becoming a bogeyman-like figure that the world is terrified of.
 * Downloadable Content: The game has multiple DLC packs, the biggest of which being the Technological Madhouse pack.
 * Early-Bird Cameo:
 * Eiko is seen repeatedly on TV screens and posters even before she joins the team. This was done to make her eventual introduction feel less weird.
 * Kazumi can be seen standing behind Goro and Daizo in his boy's clothing when the pair are picking on the protagonist.
 * Mutsuo Fuyuki can be seen in the background during a cutscene with Muneo.
 * Junji Idoki is shown right before Kazutoki's arc, though his face is cut-off by the camera.
 * Easier Than Easy: Safe Mode makes a return in the game, making it impossible for the protagonist to die. This mode can't be turned off when turned on and it is only recommended for people that want to experience the story rather than the battles.
 * Evil Counterpart: Persona 6 Emerald introduced the world to The Worm, AKA You, who takes the form of a villainous version of the protagonist.
 * Heaven Versus Hell: The protagonist's Persona, Ezekiel, is based on a religious prophet while their rival, Daizo's Persona, Amon, is based on a duke of hell.
 * Theme Music Power-Up: During the final boss fight with Nyarlathotep a much faster and upbeat version of the opening theme song, Exceptional, called Digital Avalanche plays.
 * Unsettling Gender Reveal: During the Itsuko arc of the game, Eiji meets and hits on a girl he finds incredibly beautiful. Turns out, she's a he and Eiji is very conflicted about his feelings.

YMMV

 * Abandon Shipping: The protagonist x Daizo Matsuya was a ship before the game was released due to viewers thinking the two looked good together. This ship quickly dropped in popularity when it was revealed who Daizo actually was.
 * Acceptable Professional Targets: Socialites and people in high society.
 * Acceptable Targets: Like in the last game, abusers of all sorts are the most common target of the Archangels.
 * Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Daizo always on a path to become the antagonist he became or was it really the protagonist's fault like he claimed?
 * Anvilicious: Muneo's Databank has him as a monster being controlled by Kazuya. What this means is so obvious the game doesn't even point it out.
 * Awesome Art: It's a Persona game, what did you expect?
 * Awesome Music: Several examples including, but not limited to:
 * The opening, "Exceptional" is a slow and thoughtful song about how the singer lives in a future where everyone is exceptional except for them.
 * "Digital Avalanche", which is a techno cover of the opening, flips these lyrics into being about how someone went from being unnoticed to being exceptional.
 * Breather Boss: Mutsuo Fuyuki's boss fight doesn't have any particularly outrageous gimmicks and he mainly focuses on Physical attacks which is a nice breather after the previous bosses.
 * Base-Breaking Character: The Shadow bosses in Emerald have caused the fans to split on whether or not they forgive the actions of the people that committed them in spite of their corruption.
 * Catharsis Factor: When Kazuya is finally beaten and has his big breakdown it is quite possibly one of the most satisfying moments in the game due to how in control he seemed the entire time.
 * Complete Monster: Kazuya frames a nine-year-old child for burning down their school and borderline ruins their reputation for years all because he needed a way to make himself look good by rebuilding the school. If that's not enough, he plans on starting a third world war in order to keep his company afloat.
 * Demonic Spiders: The final act of the game has a lot of these including Cthulhu, Hastur, Azathoth, and Yog Sothoth.
 * Ending Fatigue: Some believe that Emerald gave the game this problem, as it adds multiple new bosses and even a new final boss after the base game's finale boss.
 * Ensemble Dark Horse:
 * Wolf quickly became an incredibly poplar Confidant simply because of the fact he's a dog. Everyone loves dogs and thus everyone loves Wolf.
 * Fusako Iwaki is constantly bullied by her peers and has the self-proclaimed worst luck on the planet. No wonder everyone wants to protect her.
 * Yamato Fujita is fairly popular in the fandom. Many expected him to be edgy and nihilistic but were pleasantly surprised when it was revealed how positive he was, even when it came to the topic of death.
 * Epileptic Trees:
 * Like most of the games before it, Nyarlathotep returning is a theory that basically everyone gave. Almost no one believed it when it actually turned out to be true.
 * As per usual, the Arcana of the main cast was speculated intensely by the fandom.
 * Evil is Sexy:
 * Daizo is good-looking, charismatic, and is very confident in himself. He's also incredibly evil.
 * Itsuko is fairly attractive, wearing a strapless dress and having make-up that compliments her looks. Still an abusive parent, though.
 * Kazuya and his Shadow forms are apparently in their mid to late 40s but don't look a day over 20.
 * Fan-Preferred Couple: It's almost become a tradition at this point for fans to believe that the two first characters (in this case Eiji and Kaori) would make a good couple. Many people like the happy-go-lucky boy and the tsundere girl and how else could you describe Eiji and Kaori?
 * Fanon:
 * The protagonist's mother is never seen throughout the game or even mentioned by their father. This has caused some people to believe that she is dead but a more popular theory is that she and the protagonist's father have divorced and that the two don't like each other anymore, explaining why she is never mentioned.
 * Another headcanon amongst fans is that the protagonist is somehow related to Chie from Persona 4 due to the two having similar clothing and the same hair color, as well as both usually wearing the color green.
 * Due to the reveal that Daizo is adopted many theories have sprung forth on who his real parents are. One of the most common theories is that he and the protagonist are half-siblings on their mother's side. Another common one is that Kazutoki is his father and that he was born through either an affair of sexual assault.
 * The protagonist's gender is stated as unknown and they are only referred to with they/them pronouns. This has caused fans to headcanon that they are nonbinary, with many fanfictions referring to them as such.
 * The fanbase is also split right down the middle on whether the protagonist is biologically a man or a woman. Atlus has never commented on it and has said whatever biological gender the person thinks they are then they are that, more or less saying it's up to the player.
 * Franchise Original Sin: Some fans claimed that Emerald was just the same game repeated and it was greedy and lazy on Atlus' part to release it, forgetting at this point it's a tradition in Persona for an updated rerelease of the game to be made.
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: While in most places Rio Kasamatsu is a liked character, she for some reason has an incredibly large fanbase in America, especially among female fans for one reason or another.
 * Harsher in Hindsight: When trailers came out, fans compared some of Daizo's facial expressions to those of Tohru Adachi and Goro Akechi when they're going crazy which becomes very unfortunate when you realize, like those two, Daizo is the protagonist rival and a murderer.

Funny

 * During your visit to the beach, you accidentally get yourself stuck in a hot bathroom with whichever party member you have the highest Confidant with. One of your options for staying cool is "maybe we should take our clothes off". This causes some pretty funny reactions from the character you're talking to. For example:
 * Goro straight-up asks if you're hitting on him and seems both slightly disturbed and intrigued by the possibility.
 * Kazumi claims that seeing him shirtless could "be a big shock" to whoever saves him, going as far as to claim he doesn't want to give anyone a heart attack.
 * Beatrice, surprisingly enough, is all for the idea and even begins removing her clothes before realizing that the protagonist was more than likely joking, causing her to curl up in a ball in embarrassment.

Trivia

 * Adored by the Network: Atlus LOVES P6 and has been showing it just as much love as the previous three entries in the series.
 * Big Name Fan: Long-time Persona fan Masahiro Sakurai played the game and enjoyed it immensely. According to him, his favorite character is Eiko.
 * Defictionalization: The Bottomless Bowl of Noodles that the protagonist can eat had an official recipe released for it.
 * Fan Nicknames:
 * Green: Not Chie (referencing their resemblance to Chie), Shinobu Nakajima (combination of their two canon names), Peroku (combination of the Japanese words for Persona and six), Archie (shortening of their username "Archangel")
 * Eiji: Not Yosuke (referencing his personality being similar to Yosuke), Hero Boy (referencing his obsession with becoming a hero)
 * Kaori: Scorpion tail (referencing her hairstyle), Tsundere Fujio (referencing her "tsundere" tendencies)
 * Seth: Not a clown (referencing his constant insistence that he's not a clown)
 * Beatrice: Bea (shortening of Beatrice)
 * Goro: Giant (referencing his massive size), Malesuru Kirijio (referencing the fact he slightly resembles a male Mitsuru)
 * Kazumi: Kazurin (combination of Kazumi and Rin, referencing the fact they're both crossdressers), the Persona trap (comes from the "trap" meme)
 * Eiko: Dark-Skinned Goddess (referencing something a let's player said)
 * What Could Have Been: There were a LOT of scrapped plans for the game. Some of the more interesting ones are:
 * In the concept art for the game, Eiji and Kaori were referred to as Eiju Bando and Jitsuke Fuke. Seth also didn't exist and in his place as a fox in a scarf named June. Eiju and Jitsuke were also the Heirophant and Priestess Arcana, respectively, with Eiju later being changed to the Hanged Man.
 * The before mentioned June was the original Hermit Arcana. This and June himself were likely removed for being too similar to the Persona 4 character, Fox.
 * According to the games' director, back when Kaori was named Jitsuke she was envisioned as being a computer hacker that helped the group. She went through serious changes and the role of a computer hacker was given to the Confidant Itsumi.
 * The beta of the game revealed that Green's Persona was codenamed Uriel and, through hacking, their Ultimate Persona was codenamed Holy Trinity.
 * The beta also included a short boss battle against a character who was cut from the actual game: Yoshiro Ueno. Whether Ueno played a big role or not is unclear, though it is worth noting that originally Persona 6 took place in a fictional city called Ueno (most likely based on the region in Tokyo).
 * The protagonist's home town in the beta is referred to as "Kinshita" and their school is called Kinshita Academy.
 * Kaori in the beta possesses a Persona referred to as Morgan le Fey, which later became her Ultimate Persona.
 * Cut dialogue found in the game's code revealed that Shadow Eiji was originally driven by his own insecurities rather than a boiling point of negative emotions.
 * The original choice of Eiji's English voice actor was Johnny Yong Bosch.
 * Databanks were originally simply called "Banks", according to scrapped concept art of Shadow Eiji.
 * Eiko originally joined before Kazumi. Their order was swapped for pacing reasons.
 * Mahiro's name was originally Fujio. This was changed due to Kaori's surname also being Fujio.
 * The original themes of the game had to do with war and rejecting the past.
 * Itsumi's original online alias was Baba Yaga.
 * Igor was originally the Judgement Arcana before the character "Dad" was introduced.
 * Daizo's original demon form and Shadow were based on Roman coliseums before being changed to a boxing ring. Both of these were changed due to finding it hard to think of a demon form for them.
 * The lesser-known character YHVH was originally planned to be the main antagonist of the game. This was changed due to the protagonist having more holy themes to them and the creators thought it'd be weird for them to battle against a representation of the Judeo-Christian God.