Ren Amamiya

A silent vigilante who wields the power to change hearts and reshape reality.

Ren Amamiya is the main protagonist of Persona 5, a 2016 role-playing video game owned by Sega subsidiary Atlus. He is a second-year high school student who is placed on probation after being falsely accused of assault by a corrupt politician. As a result, he leaves his hometown and moves in with a family friend in Tokyo to serve a one-year probation. Upon transferring to Shujin Academy, he and a group of other students awaken to a supernatural power known as the Persona. Soon after discovering these powers, they form a vigilante group known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts with Joker as their leader, as they explore the Metaverse, a realm consisting of the physical manifestations of humanity's subconscious desires, and remove malevolent intent from people to cause a change of heart within them.

Quick Facts

Series

Persona

First game

Persona 5 (2016)

Designer

Shigenori Soejima

Portrayed by

Hiroki Ino (stage plays)

Voice

EN
Xander Mobus
JA
Jun Fukuyama

Nationality

Japanese

Lore & Background

Joker is the codename of Ren Amamiya, the main protagonist of Persona 5. He is a second-year high school student who is charged with assault by Masayoshi Shido, a corrupt politician, after witnessing him harassing a female subordinate. When Shido falls and claims Ren pushed him, he forces his subordinate to testify to police that Ren assaulted him. At the court hearing, Ren is told he must serve a one-year probation and transfers to Shujin Academy, a school in Tokyo which will accept him with his current criminal record. Needing a place to stay while there, Sojiro Sakura, an acquaintance of Ren's parents, offers to house him at his café Leblanc. During his time at Shujin, he and other students awaken to their supernatural powers known as the Persona and become a group of vigilantes known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. They explore the Metaverse, a supernatural realm consisting of the physical manifestations of humanity's subconscious desires, to change malevolent intent in the hearts of adults.

Reader's Guide

Despite primarily being a silent protagonist, Joker occasionally speaks short phrases during cutscenes and battles; being voiced in Japanese by Jun Fukuyama and in English by Xander Mobus. Fukuyama used two different tones for the character and felt proud of his performance. While the player can freely choose a given name for Joker, his Phantom Thief codename, he is canonically named Ren Amamiya in most appearances. Akira Kurusu is used in the game's manga adaptation. Amamiya was chosen by the anime's producer who thought that the combination of his full name, which means lotus rain palace in Japanese, sounded 'quite poetic' together. The producer further stated that remaking Joker's characterization in the anime was challenging, but was ultimately a success. In the musical theater adaptation, Persona 5 the Stage, the protagonist's name changes every performance. In the version released on Crunchyroll, his name is Itsuki Onda. Joker also appears in several of the series' spin-off media, including Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5 Tactica, and Persona 5: The Phantom X. He is also a playable character in the crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, released as paid downloadable content in April 2019.

Did You Know?

Joker's initial Persona was originally inspired by Arsène Lupin, not Mephistopheles; early concept art and interviews confirm Arsène was always the intended design.
The three main inspirations behind Joker were the original Arsène Lupin, The Fiend with Twenty Faces, and Goemon Ishikawa XIII from Lupin III.
Joker's design was likened to a black panther by artist Shigenori Soejima, contrasting with Persona 4's protagonist Yu Narukami, who was designed around the image of a loyal and sincere dog.