Goro Akechi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doublecrowss) wrote2018-02-23 09:59 pm
doublecrowss) wrote2018-02-23 09:59 pm
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Player name: Ruby
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Characters currently in-game: N/A
CHARACTER
Character Name: Goro Akechi (codename: “Crow”)
Character Age: 18
Canon: Persona 5
Canon Point: After his death in Shido’s palace
History: Wiki
Personality:
The second coming of the detective prince, a high school prodigy who never leaves a mystery unsolved, the unmatched ace on the side of justice. This is how the world has come to know Goro Akechi.
What everyone sees is a most pleasant boy, polished with his words and affable by nature, armed only with brilliant logic and a charming smile. He’s a model honor student at the top of his class, yet he attends cram school for his university entrance exams, somehow manages to juggle both his studies, his full-time work and practicing sports in his limited spare time, all the while keeping his impeccable good looks in check.
As the Ace Detective, Akechi likes to tout himself as a hero of justice who originally opposes the Phantom Thieves’ actions and believes they should be tried in a court of law. Despite his young years and his position as a celebrity, he remains modest about his feats, choosing to introduce himself as a rookie detective instead. He claims his popularity to be both surprising and a little embarrassing, yet he naturally exudes charisma in front of the cameras, always with a joke at the ready to give it an extra boost. He’s something of a teenage idol, and even though his fanbase can be fickle and turn their backs on him, he stands by his strong ideals to the end, never swayed by vigilantes.
That is, however, only the mask he wears in public. The reality of it is a stark contrast.
Conceived out of wedlock, Akechi experienced rejection before he was even born; his father, a rising politician whose career would have been ruined with the news of a bastard child, abandoned Akechi’s mother as soon as he learned of her pregnancy, and the despair and pressure of being a single mother would later drive her to suicide. Akechi was then tossed in the foster care system from an early age, moving from institution to institution, bearing a stigma that would prevent him from ever forming meaningful bonds. As a result, he’s gone through life alone, cultivated nothing but hate and resentment towards a father who never wanted him, and a society that wouldn’t accept him - while simultaneously going out of his way to change that. Even if that meant changing himself.
"Adults are only interested in using the young, while they simply do as the adults say."
Player name: Ruby
Contact:
Characters currently in-game: N/A
CHARACTER
Character Name: Goro Akechi (codename: “Crow”)
Character Age: 18
Canon: Persona 5
Canon Point: After his death in Shido’s palace
History: Wiki
Personality:
The second coming of the detective prince, a high school prodigy who never leaves a mystery unsolved, the unmatched ace on the side of justice. This is how the world has come to know Goro Akechi.
What everyone sees is a most pleasant boy, polished with his words and affable by nature, armed only with brilliant logic and a charming smile. He’s a model honor student at the top of his class, yet he attends cram school for his university entrance exams, somehow manages to juggle both his studies, his full-time work and practicing sports in his limited spare time, all the while keeping his impeccable good looks in check.
As the Ace Detective, Akechi likes to tout himself as a hero of justice who originally opposes the Phantom Thieves’ actions and believes they should be tried in a court of law. Despite his young years and his position as a celebrity, he remains modest about his feats, choosing to introduce himself as a rookie detective instead. He claims his popularity to be both surprising and a little embarrassing, yet he naturally exudes charisma in front of the cameras, always with a joke at the ready to give it an extra boost. He’s something of a teenage idol, and even though his fanbase can be fickle and turn their backs on him, he stands by his strong ideals to the end, never swayed by vigilantes.
That is, however, only the mask he wears in public. The reality of it is a stark contrast.
Conceived out of wedlock, Akechi experienced rejection before he was even born; his father, a rising politician whose career would have been ruined with the news of a bastard child, abandoned Akechi’s mother as soon as he learned of her pregnancy, and the despair and pressure of being a single mother would later drive her to suicide. Akechi was then tossed in the foster care system from an early age, moving from institution to institution, bearing a stigma that would prevent him from ever forming meaningful bonds. As a result, he’s gone through life alone, cultivated nothing but hate and resentment towards a father who never wanted him, and a society that wouldn’t accept him - while simultaneously going out of his way to change that. Even if that meant changing himself.
"Adults are only interested in using the young, while they simply do as the adults say."
These are the rules of the game, as Akechi has learned to play it. Because he craves validation and love so badly, he has taken particular care of his reputation, his personality and his school grades, all for the sake of becoming someone that others would want to have around. Whether because he never had any parental attention as a child or simply because he’s surrounded by them, he seems to especially value bonds with adults over those with people his own age, and he goes the extra mile to achieve that. Even though he doesn’t care about the taste of food, he eats at trendy places just to use it as a conversation starter, he rides his hybrid bike around town to pick up stories he can use in conversation, even chooses fashionable games (such as throwing darts) just to boost his popularity and have some common ground with his peers.
Flaws:
Akechi's biggest flaw is how vengeful he is. It's the primary reason that led him to commit atrocities like murder and psychotic breakdowns with little to no remorse. It's a severe case of tunnel vision, and this thirst for revenge is so great that it blinds him to other possibilities, such as maybe reaching out for help from the Phantom Thieves and going down a far less sinister path than he did.
On a similar note, he is incredibly selfish. Save for his one moment of clarity right before sacrificing himself, everything he's ever done was for his own well-being and for the sake of his plans, even if it means using human lives as stepping stones to accomplish his goal. Because he's always been alone, he lacks empathy, and for all that he wants people to rely on him, he doesn't exactly give them good reason to, ultimately preferring to act on his own.
Finally, he's a skilled liar, and it comes as no surprise, considering that's what his life has been all about. His Pleasant Boy mask and practiced charisma have not only earned him a celebrity status, but also managed to fool even those who were closest to him - his work peers, namely Sae Nijima. Though he certainly tries, the one person he can’t lie to is himself, and in the end he admits all he really wanted was to have friends who acknowledged him.
SAMPLES
Action Log Sample:
TDM thread
But the effort to keep it up is stifling, and when he later becomes a Persona user, the kind of power that is born from his heart is indicative of his true self. His original Persona, Loki, can use an ability named Call of Chaos, which can grant tremendous power upon even the feeblest existence by breaking the chains on its heart – a reflection of Akechi’s real idea of strength and rebellion against society. At one point, he admits to being envious of Joker, who doesn’t allow himself to be “enslaved by human relations or past selves,” and so his heart is always free - the exact opposite of Akechi’s, who is bound by his desperate need for approval and acknowledgement. Though he’s not beyond using it on himself , this is a skill that has given him a fighting chance, a tool for achieving his primary goal: to get back at the adults who took from him.
Akechi ‘s primary motivation is his thirst for revenge, and at the top of his hit list sits Masayoshi Shido, his father. While he could have approached this the easy way (that is to say, killing his father’s shadow version in the Metaverse), Akechi’s calculating nature leads him down a different path: he offers his powers to assist Shido in destroying his political opponents, aiming to become his right hand man – only to promptly turn on him the moment Shido acknowledged him as indispensable for the completion of his plans. Akechi wants to thrust him into a living hell, and he would do so by revealing his identity once Shido was at the apex of his power, using his status as his bastard child and the threat of a political scandal as leverage over his deadbeat father. If he doesn’t kill him, it isn’t out of mercy or any compassion towards Shido; if anything, it’s because death would be too kind - though it surely doesn’t hurt to get the rightful acknowledgement that he was denied from an early age.
Akechi ‘s primary motivation is his thirst for revenge, and at the top of his hit list sits Masayoshi Shido, his father. While he could have approached this the easy way (that is to say, killing his father’s shadow version in the Metaverse), Akechi’s calculating nature leads him down a different path: he offers his powers to assist Shido in destroying his political opponents, aiming to become his right hand man – only to promptly turn on him the moment Shido acknowledged him as indispensable for the completion of his plans. Akechi wants to thrust him into a living hell, and he would do so by revealing his identity once Shido was at the apex of his power, using his status as his bastard child and the threat of a political scandal as leverage over his deadbeat father. If he doesn’t kill him, it isn’t out of mercy or any compassion towards Shido; if anything, it’s because death would be too kind - though it surely doesn’t hurt to get the rightful acknowledgement that he was denied from an early age.
"How does someone like you have things I don't!? How can such a worthless piece of trash be more special than me!?"
Due to his upbringing in an environment where he had to compete for attention, Akechi also has a huge inferiority complex, and on some subconscious level, it can fuel him even further than vengeance. His relationship with Joker, arguably his only meaningful bond, is based on both, genuine interest and deep-seated jealousy in equal measure. He can’t accept the fact that an attic-dwelling delinquent with a criminal record and no remarkable skills to speak of could so easily have everything he had always wanted, namely recognition from his teammates – a blow that hurts all the harder, considering Akechi himself is inexplicably drawn to him. He often attributes their meetings to fate, claims he feels like he could tell Joker about anything, and even confides in him about his past. But his contempt for Joker can be overpowering, enough to make him forget all about earning Shido’s acknowledgement; when he turns himself psychotic, it’s only so he can prove he’s better than Joker and his team.
His ambivalent feelings towards Joker are far from being the only complicated aspect of Akechi; in fact, there’s much about him that is contradictory. The main driving forces behind his actions are a prime example of that: he claims to be seeking revenge against a father who never wanted him and a society that doesn’t take kindly to orphans and bastard children, yet he longs to be loved and accepted by them –a trait so obvious that Shido quickly picked on it, using both praise and threats to get his son to do his bidding. Having built strong resilience over the years, Akechi is also willing to do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means killing the closest thing to a friend he’s ever had. But at his core, he’s also very self-destructive; the main premise of his original plan was to prevail over his father by threatening to expose himself as his illegitimate son, a scandal that would not only ruin Shido’s career and entire life, but also the flawless reputation Akechi had crafted for himself. And after losing to the Phantom Thieves and his subsequent breakdown, he’s so desperate to kill them that he’s even willing to take himself down along with them.
His ambivalent feelings towards Joker are far from being the only complicated aspect of Akechi; in fact, there’s much about him that is contradictory. The main driving forces behind his actions are a prime example of that: he claims to be seeking revenge against a father who never wanted him and a society that doesn’t take kindly to orphans and bastard children, yet he longs to be loved and accepted by them –a trait so obvious that Shido quickly picked on it, using both praise and threats to get his son to do his bidding. Having built strong resilience over the years, Akechi is also willing to do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means killing the closest thing to a friend he’s ever had. But at his core, he’s also very self-destructive; the main premise of his original plan was to prevail over his father by threatening to expose himself as his illegitimate son, a scandal that would not only ruin Shido’s career and entire life, but also the flawless reputation Akechi had crafted for himself. And after losing to the Phantom Thieves and his subsequent breakdown, he’s so desperate to kill them that he’s even willing to take himself down along with them.
”My contempt for such people drives my sense of justice. It isn't some grand reason like society's sake or some lofty ideal. It's simply an absurd grudge... and extremely personal."
The biggest contrast probably lies in his relationship with his major arcana, Justice. On the outside, he pretends to be a poster boy for the legal system as the ace detective, and his TV appearances show him passing on harsh judgment upon the Phantom Thieves, claiming their methods are unknown, and either way they shouldn’t be used indiscriminately – because a person’s heart should never be forced to change. In reality, he’s committed atrocities far worse than the Phantom Thieves ever did, and the only justice he really cares about is his own – the kind that can only be achieved through revenge. He will stop at nothing to accomplish his goal, and he shows little, if any, regard for the people he has targeted under Shido’s command, claiming “they were all doing the same damn thing in this eat or be eaten world,” and that all he did was remove their evil from society.
While the morality of his actions shouldn’t really be questioned, it’s important to note Akechi isn’t all bad or entirely without remorse. After Okumura dies during a live broadcast on television, he gets fairly nauseous at the gruesome sight – arguably because, while that hadn’t been his first kill, it was the first one he actually witnessed in the real world – and he later retreats to Café Leblanc, where he’s seen crestfallen and lost in thought. And even though he barely hesitates to betray the team, sell their leader out to the police and kill a cognitive (that is to say, a dummy) version of Joker, he tries to keep the bloodshed to a minimum, reasoning with Shido that the continued deaths of the remaining Phantom Thieves, plus one mascot-like member that Akechi swears is just an ordinary cat, would be a bit too much and possibly raise suspicions.
His stint as one of the Phantom Thieves, however brief, also allowed him to experience some joy and camaraderie for perhaps the first time in his life; from his dance-like, over-the-top finishing moves to his genuine surprise upon figuring out the method behind the change of hearts, it’s like he’s seizing the chance to enjoy what could have been, and maybe he’s become so good at lying that he even manages to fool himself for a little while. On occasion, he’s seen dropping hints about the circumstances surrounding the “true culprit” behind all the murders and psychotic incidents (namely how there was no way anyone else could have found out their modus operandi, and how the culprit was probably being manipulated), and while that could have been just a part of his detective act, it’s also possible he was, on some level, reaching for help. Too little, too late.
While the morality of his actions shouldn’t really be questioned, it’s important to note Akechi isn’t all bad or entirely without remorse. After Okumura dies during a live broadcast on television, he gets fairly nauseous at the gruesome sight – arguably because, while that hadn’t been his first kill, it was the first one he actually witnessed in the real world – and he later retreats to Café Leblanc, where he’s seen crestfallen and lost in thought. And even though he barely hesitates to betray the team, sell their leader out to the police and kill a cognitive (that is to say, a dummy) version of Joker, he tries to keep the bloodshed to a minimum, reasoning with Shido that the continued deaths of the remaining Phantom Thieves, plus one mascot-like member that Akechi swears is just an ordinary cat, would be a bit too much and possibly raise suspicions.
His stint as one of the Phantom Thieves, however brief, also allowed him to experience some joy and camaraderie for perhaps the first time in his life; from his dance-like, over-the-top finishing moves to his genuine surprise upon figuring out the method behind the change of hearts, it’s like he’s seizing the chance to enjoy what could have been, and maybe he’s become so good at lying that he even manages to fool himself for a little while. On occasion, he’s seen dropping hints about the circumstances surrounding the “true culprit” behind all the murders and psychotic incidents (namely how there was no way anyone else could have found out their modus operandi, and how the culprit was probably being manipulated), and while that could have been just a part of his detective act, it’s also possible he was, on some level, reaching for help. Too little, too late.
“I wonder why we couldn’t have met a few years earlier, Akira.”
If there’s anything true about Akechi, it’s that he regrets having taken so long to meet someone who could accept him for who he was, social misfit and all, just like Joker had done for the rest of the team. Though he previously acts as though he hated Joker, he doesn’t deny that he’s grown fond of him, claims they could have been great rivals or even friends under different circumstances, and once his berserk form is defeated, he’s open about his jealousy, admitting Joker is lucky for having those precious teammates – the same teammates who, despite all his lies and betrayal, still offer him a chance to join their ranks so they can take down their common enemy.
Ultimately, and perhaps moved by that show of sympathy, when given the choice between killing the Phantom Thieves or facing execution at the hands of a puppet version of himself, Akechi performs what is likely his first altruistic act and gifts them with a chance to escape, at the cost of his own life, sealing the unbreakable blood oath between Joker and himself.
As Morgana so eloquently put it, Akechi talks big, but he is really nothing more than a little kid throwing a temper tantrum – a lonely, angry little kid with a thirst for revenge and too much power to carry it out. A little too much access to guns, too. That’s a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up, really.
Inventory:
The clothes on his back (black trousers, white dress shirt, striped necktie and his tan school jacket) and personal effects, that is, his wallet and smartphone with the Metaverse app installed. Also, a gun silencer that he may or may not carry everywhere.
Once in the Metaverse, his outfit transforms into either the white, princely suit with a red mask or the dark knightly armor with a black helmet - he's the only member of the main cast that has two Metaverse forms, and while the game doesn't explain why or how, it's implied he can switch between them at will. As such, he'll also be bringing his weapons: for melee attacks, he has his laser sabers and serrated swords, and for ranged attacks, he resorts to ray guns and silenced pistols.
Abilities:
Persona users are people who can summon entities that exist as embodiments of human aspects, namely the darkest parts of the user's psyche that they have come to embrace. These entities will assist them in battle using various physical attacks, as well as elemental magic. That said, Akechi is also a Wildcard, one of the select few who can summon more than one Persona, though in the game he's only seen with two: Robin Hood and Loki.
Robin Hood is based on a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman whose motto is "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor." It specializes in Bless attacks, is weak to Curse moves, and its highest stat is strength, though it's a rather balanced persona. Its current moveset is:
Ultimately, and perhaps moved by that show of sympathy, when given the choice between killing the Phantom Thieves or facing execution at the hands of a puppet version of himself, Akechi performs what is likely his first altruistic act and gifts them with a chance to escape, at the cost of his own life, sealing the unbreakable blood oath between Joker and himself.
As Morgana so eloquently put it, Akechi talks big, but he is really nothing more than a little kid throwing a temper tantrum – a lonely, angry little kid with a thirst for revenge and too much power to carry it out. A little too much access to guns, too. That’s a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up, really.
Inventory:
The clothes on his back (black trousers, white dress shirt, striped necktie and his tan school jacket) and personal effects, that is, his wallet and smartphone with the Metaverse app installed. Also, a gun silencer that he may or may not carry everywhere.
Once in the Metaverse, his outfit transforms into either the white, princely suit with a red mask or the dark knightly armor with a black helmet - he's the only member of the main cast that has two Metaverse forms, and while the game doesn't explain why or how, it's implied he can switch between them at will. As such, he'll also be bringing his weapons: for melee attacks, he has his laser sabers and serrated swords, and for ranged attacks, he resorts to ray guns and silenced pistols.
Abilities:
Persona users are people who can summon entities that exist as embodiments of human aspects, namely the darkest parts of the user's psyche that they have come to embrace. These entities will assist them in battle using various physical attacks, as well as elemental magic. That said, Akechi is also a Wildcard, one of the select few who can summon more than one Persona, though in the game he's only seen with two: Robin Hood and Loki.
Robin Hood is based on a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman whose motto is "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor." It specializes in Bless attacks, is weak to Curse moves, and its highest stat is strength, though it's a rather balanced persona. Its current moveset is:
- Kougaon: deals Heavy Bless damage to 1 foe.
- Eigaon: deals Heavy Curse damage to 1 foe.
- Megaton Raid: deals Severe Physical damage to 1 foe; it takes 16% of Akechi's HP as recoil
- Megidolaon: deals Severe Almighty damage to all foes.
- Charge: the next physical attack will inflict 2.5x damage.
- Fortify Spirit: lowers susceptibilities to all ailments
- Attack Master: automatically raises the user’s attack (Tarukaja) at start of battle.
- Samarecarm: Revives 1 ally with maximum HP.
Loki is based on the trickster god from Norse mythology, a shape-shifter who sometimes aids the gods and sometimes behaves in a malicious manner towards them. It's a non-playable Persona in the games, but it's seen using the following moves:
- Negative Pile: deals Heavy Physical damage to 1 foe. Medium chance of inflicting Despair.
- Desperation: boosts the user's attack but drops defense for 3 turns. Cannot be negated.
- Brave Blade: deals Colossal Physical damage to 1 foe.
- Laevatein: deals Heavy Almighty damage to the protagonist after staring at him in the previous turn.
- Deathbound: deals Medium Physical damage to all foes 1x to 2x.
- Dekaja: negates all buff effects of all foes.
- Dekunda: negates all debuff effects of party.
- Heat Riser: buffs attack, defense and agility of 1 ally for 3 turns.
- Tetrakarn: erects a shield on 1 ally to repel 1 Physical/Gun attack.
- Makarakarn: erects a shield on 1 ally to repel 1 magical attack.
- Maeiga: deals Medium Curse damage to all foes.
- Maragion: deals Medium Fire damage to all foes. Rare chance of Burn.
Flaws:
Akechi's biggest flaw is how vengeful he is. It's the primary reason that led him to commit atrocities like murder and psychotic breakdowns with little to no remorse. It's a severe case of tunnel vision, and this thirst for revenge is so great that it blinds him to other possibilities, such as maybe reaching out for help from the Phantom Thieves and going down a far less sinister path than he did.
On a similar note, he is incredibly selfish. Save for his one moment of clarity right before sacrificing himself, everything he's ever done was for his own well-being and for the sake of his plans, even if it means using human lives as stepping stones to accomplish his goal. Because he's always been alone, he lacks empathy, and for all that he wants people to rely on him, he doesn't exactly give them good reason to, ultimately preferring to act on his own.
Finally, he's a skilled liar, and it comes as no surprise, considering that's what his life has been all about. His Pleasant Boy mask and practiced charisma have not only earned him a celebrity status, but also managed to fool even those who were closest to him - his work peers, namely Sae Nijima. Though he certainly tries, the one person he can’t lie to is himself, and in the end he admits all he really wanted was to have friends who acknowledged him.
SAMPLES
Action Log Sample:
TDM thread