Player Name: Chelsea.
Age: 18+
Contact: protestations
Timezone: EST.
Other character currently in game: N/A.

Character name: Akira Kurusu / Joker.
Age: 16.
Canon: Persona 5.
Canon point: Post-Game/True Ending.
History: Wiki link

Three key adjectives: Determined, Self-Assured, Selfless.

Influential Events:

The Framing: At the very beginning of Persona 5, Akira interrupts an attempted assault of a young woman by a powerful Japanese politician, Shido. He does so without thinking, because it's the right thing to do, and ultimately winds up punching Shido to defend himself and the woman. However, Shido retaliates against Akira by framing Akira for a vicious and violent crime, and effectively ruins Akira's future by pinning a violent crime on his record. Akira gets sent out of his home across the country to attend Shuujin Academy, and has a reputation as a violent deliquent from then on out. Had Shido not framed Akira, he would have never been put in Shuujin, and would have never met his friends.. and, by extension, never become the leader of the Phantom Thieves, a group of teenagers who are tired of shitty adults ruining their lives. The Framing also frames Akira's decisions throughout the majority of the game -- he is fixated on Shido as a person, and while part of that is for selfish reasons, most of what Akira wants is simply for Shido to never ruin another life like his own again.

The First Palace: Bringing down Kamoshida, a sexual predator within Akira's high school that preyed upon teenage girls, was the Phantom Thieves' first major victory in stealing hearts. Akira took on a leadership role immediately, indicating that the Phantom Thieves' should spare Kamoshida's life when stealing his heart... because killing Kamoshida inside the Palace would have resulted in a potential brain-shutdown, and Akira believed that killing Kamoshida made them no better than their enemies. This setting of the tone for the Phantom Thieves' mission (fighting back against shitty adults and changing hearts) created a purpose for the organization, and solidified Akira's view that the Phantom Thieves' mission was to do good for the world, not evil.

The Arrest: Midway through the game, Akira gets arrested in a ploy to catch Goro Akechi, one of the game's antagonists, in the act of betraying the Phantom Thieves. This results in Akira being interrogated for hours by Sae Niijima and spinning a tale in order to buy the Phantom Thieves' time to recuperate. Throughout the hours of interrogation, Akira doesn't sell out his teammates, and continually lies in order to keep Sae talking. Eventually, after the interrogation ends, Akechi kills Akira by shooting him in the head... or so Akechi thought. In actuality, Akira and the rest of the Phantom Thieves staged the assassination, so Akechi killed a Metaverse-version of Akira, rather than the real thing. In staging his death, Akira lost his social life (or what little remained of it, given he's a violent delinquent) and the ability to freely move throughout Shibuya, but also gained the upper-hand on Akechi and Shido's scheme. By faking his death, the Phantom Thieves' enemies thought they had disbanded, which gave them time to plan their strike back.

The Death(?): In Shido's palace, Akira and the Phantom Thieves are in the midst of escaping when Akechi find them, and attempts to kill them. Akechi (a fellow Wild Card persona user like Akira) reveals to the Thieves that he is Shido's illegitimate son, and is determined to kill Shido. Instead of lashing out in anger, Akira and the rest of the Thieves plead with Akechi to see sense and encourage him to rely on them, rather than resign themselves to be enemies. Akechi winds up dying in Shido's palace after sealing the Thieves away, telling them to run while he fights off the Shadows... and the sacrifice is remembered by Akira and the Thieves when they fight Shido, and encourages them to rally for the final battle.

The End: At the end of the game, Akira is faced with a choice: allow the Holy Grail to seize control of the world, eradicate free will, and keep his friends safe... or refuse to comply with the Holy Grail, fight back for all of humanity, and save his friends on his own terms. Akira chose the latter and managed to free his friends in order to rally against the false God. This choice bore a lot of risks, but highlights Akira's dedication and determination to what he believes is correct, even if it poses self-sacrifice in the end. This choice carries through after the false God is defeated, and Akira turns himself into the police as the leader of the Phantom Thieves. He spends a handful of months in juvenile prison in order to maintain his friends' freedom, and allow them to live their lives uninterrupted. Again, Akira places the importance of the whole above himself, and while Akira eventually gains his freedom and peace, he isn't afraid to stick to his guns and keep to the path of what is right. And, for him, what's right is the safety of the people, over his own personal needs.



Link to Samples: one and two . The first is my TDM top level.