Kurusu Akira

Current bedroom status: Each bedroom contains a bed and a closet.

The beds in individual rooms are just mattresses on cinder blocks. At least they're all piled high with pillows and blankets...

In Joker’s closet is an attic accessible via a drop-down ladder.


Last updated: Day 136 (7/13/19)

There are a number of cells in a circle around the walls with a set of heavy metal doors interrupting them for one interval. These doors currently cannot be passed. Not all of the cells are full, either. Some are empty and dark--missing something? Or perhaps something else is needed to see what's inside--or perhaps just approaching the cells will do the trick. There are loud speakers hanging down from above. From them, there are chains attached and pulled downwards where they meet up and join forces with links of chains from the ground and walls to keep a battered and bloodied Arsene locked in place. Or more accurately, restricted in movement--only enough slack in the links to allow him to get as far as the cells' doorways.

Next to him is the unbound Joker--or it looks like Joker, anyway. Save for the golden eyes. He also seems unbothered by the three blue guillotines standing tall nearby. In fact, he seems to be puzzling over something while staring at them, but then as you move, he turns toward you… and smiles, looking happy to see you.

Anyway, ask me things.

Still have Boss/Prisoner/Joker/Akira and Dark Dragon Raijuu/Hak.

Come at me.

HERE'S THE DEAL: YOU ASK ME A THING, I BABBLE AN ANSWER, AND THEN I ASK YOU A THING THAT YOU BABBLE AN ANSWER BEFORE ASKING ME ANOTHER THING.

CURRENTLY HAVE BOSS/JOKER AND RAIJUU/HAK OK GO.

WHUPS. STUFF HERE SOON.

Character name: Kurusu Akira AKA Joker
Character canon: Persona 5

Character summary: Akira was just your average country boy student who decided to help a woman who was telling a dude no! she absolutely did not want to get into his car! he's drunk! but then said dude apparently had the power to get Akira convicted on false charges of assault which resulted in him getting expelled from his school and shipped over to Tokyo to live with some random surly coffee shop owner (it's ok he is secretly BEST DAD in the entire series) who reminded Akira lots that stepping one toe out of line would effectively get him arrested and sent to juvie. FUN!

... of course this means Akira ended up getting some weird app on his phone, allowing him to enter into people's hearts/minds where he could interact with the various shadows of a person's self and gain the power of Persona--think like headmonster except they represent various aspects of yourself. Normally, a person will have 1 Persona, but Akira is Special and therefore can collect Personas from people's hearts--LIKE POKEMON.

Naturally, this means he becomes a Phantom Thief along with other would-be delinquents and steals people's distorted desires to REFORM SOCIETY! YEAH! Of course, that means he eventually ends up getting arrested at some point and there's a whole Plot To Rule The World via a malevolent god made from the collective consciousness of society, but you know. Spoilers. GOOGLE THEM.

Character personality: A lot of the Persona series aesthetic is the whole concept of the self we present to others vs our actual selves we try to bury in order to fit in with society. Akira is not different in this as he is someone who does try (for a while) to be a good boy who doesn't get into trouble, keeps his head down, and conforms with the expectations of others. However, Akira also has a very strong sense of justice and thus will act out when he sees something wrong happening in front of him--which ultimately gets him a criminal record and the expectations from others that he's a Troublemaker. For the most part, the attempts to fit in with a society that calls a person acting on the good of others "criminal" kind of go out the window when he gains the power of the Wild Card and his Persona Arsene, based off the fictitious French gentleman thief.

The reality underneath the mask of Good Quiet (Criminal) Boy is that Akira harbors some righteous anger and resentment at having been wrongfully convicted and called a criminal for acting in the name of justice. He is someone who refuses to stand idly by as others around him are tormented and controlled by authority figures who abuse their power. While he is still a quiet person just by nature, he is also someone who doesn't believe in being polite for the sake of good society--but rather, is in the firm opinion that people who have not earned respect (and in fact have acted in ways that do not DESERVE respect) don't deserve polite words or behavior. There is an element of living up to the expectations of others--"if they think I am a criminal, then I will be a criminal"--but only in the sense of using his powers and abilities to benefit the downtrodden by stealing away the selfish and distorted desires of those who abuse their power and authority.

It's actually thanks to having similar-minded people getting pulled into the whole heart-stealing gig and becoming his friends that Akira does not end up on a more self-righteous and dangerous path. As much as others rely on him to be the level-headed leader of the Phantom Thieves and a sympathetic and understanding person in confidence, Akira also benefits from others seeing him in these roles, keeping an even keel even when his own troubles come back to haunt him. With his friends, he's able to act out more as the person he actually is--a kind yet gutsy person with a strong sense of responsibility who is full of teasing/deadpan jokes, sassy/sarcastic remarks, and is straightforward/blunt to a fault.

Overall, Akira is no slouch when it comes to how he presents to others--managing to keep up his grades in school, working diligently at multiple side jobs, helping confidants and friends with their personal troubles and mysteries, and even helping out at Leblanc (the coffee shop he lives above) while stealing the distorted desires of others no matter how little or big the offence. He thrives off of a need to be needed and keeping active, going from one thing to another always with a goal in mind. The bonds between himself and others that he forges along the way are the most precious things to him, moreso than any treasure or desire he's stolen in the hearts of others. This is exactly why, in the end, he is 100% willing to sacrifice his freedom and innocence to spare them from any fall-out that comes with the Phantom Thieves' actions.

Character in Imeeji: Essentially, all the above would apply in a lot of ways in Imeeji. His profile will have a list of his "crimes", so there will be the impression that he's already been written off as a criminal by society and thus a drive to prove that being seen as a criminal doesn't necessarily make a person unwanted or incapable of doing good. That's assuming he at all believes that the profile's list is true which he very well may not since he won't have remembered any of his "crimes" until he regains his memory.

The whole aesthetic of Persona 5 is about The Spirit Of Rebellion, so Akira already has that in spades for BAD END=DEAD END. Not only is he someone who stands in opposition to authority figures who abuse their authority but he also does it in a way that is decidedly not in line with what society sees as Good or Right. He is a contrary person by nature and thus very much will act in opposition to opinions he simply disagrees with. Basically, while he's a silent protagonist and therefore not very loud in the talkative or yelling sense, his actions and his personality is VERY loud when it comes to standing up for what he believes in. And by and large what he believes in is JUSTICE and PEOPLE DON'T DESERVE TO BE TREATED LIKE SHIT BECAUSE OF SHITTY CIRCUMSTANCES SHITTY ADULTS ENABLED.

Without his memories, Akira will essentially have less of the pressures of conforming to society that he has in canon--no parents or teachers or other adult, authority figures to tell him to not step out of line least he gets into further trouble. In canon, it was through his ideals/sense of justice and connections with friends that Akira's able to feel free enough to express himself without fear of repercussion. Without the external conflicts of conforming, Akira will very much be a free-spirited person who doesn't care what others think of him (albeit probably temperamental if they judge him simply on what a possibly made up profile says about him) and doesn't care to judge others for anything but their own current actions and behavior.

Possibly, BAD END=DEAD END could be a bad influence on him as he is someone who can harbor a lot of resentment and anger and being encouraged to use abilities that exacerbate others' negative emotions might have negative effects. However, chances are also likely that the unit will have a number of loud and dysfunctional types that will keep Akira feeling the need to be the level-headed and calm one who balances out the unit. He will very much likely get attached to the people of his unit even if they're not the best people in the world simply because he is an empathetic/sympathetic person who also is 100% willing to let his righteous anger be utilized to others' benefits.

Unit Preferences:
Priority: BAD END=DEAD END
Acceptable: I don't really have one... MAYBE Heart Soldier Senshi
Do not place: Do not place on same team as Akechi Goro

Voice Samples: Please provide a sample of your character in action. We require any one of the following:
♔ 2 threads, each with at least 10 comments by you, the applicant
- Thread 1
- Thread 2

This is where the censored bits go!