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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
Takuto Maruki is a major character in the 2019 video game Persona 5 Royal as well as its final boss, unless you fail to meet the requirements to unlock the third semester. He is a former counsellor at Shujin Academy, as well as Sumire Yoshizawa's former personal therapist.
In the original Japanese version, he is voiced by Satoshi Hino and in the English dub he is voiced by the late Billy Kametz.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- Was a brilliant genius in his own right, who had figured out most of the details about cognitive psience. Even Shido, despite cutting off his funding, was so impressed by it that he stole the research and ordered Wakaba Isshiki to work on his findings because he was getting close and he needed his findings to become Prime Minister of Japan.
- When realizing that Joker, Ann and Ryuji are Phantom Thieves in April, Maruki kept their secret due to admiration for them taking down Kamoshida.
- Despite his self-confessed inexperience, Maruki is still an excellent counselor who helped Joker and others in their therapy sessions.
- Manipulates the Phantom Thieves of Hearts into believing his false reality for a short while.
- Is portrayed as very charismatic and charming, as well as someone who is a well-intentioned extremist.
- Futhermore, his arc ultimately leads to the philosophically difficult question: "Would you live in the perfect world or the real world?" This makes him all the more epic & understandable.
- He is also proven wrong in the most magnificent way possible after the police arrests Joker at the end of Royal, with Joker's confidants helping him in ways including, but not limited to the following:
- Mishima asking bystanders to give him signatures for a petition to prove Joker's innocence because he was his best buddy.
- Shinya pleading to the adults in the arcade to say that Joker is innocent, even taking off his "Get Smoked" cap to do so, just to challenge Joker to a game of Gun About.
- Ohya searching for the woman Joker saved from Shido in the beginning of the game to know what actually happened the night Joker got a criminal record.
- Iwai returning back to the yakuza underworld since some of his old pals there know a guy in Public Security, all to keep Joker safe.
- Kawakami asking her fellow faculty members to release an official statement from Shujin Academy about Joker's arrest.
- His appearance, both inside & outside the Metaverse, is very cool-looking & symbolizes his pacifistic nature, mostly being colors close in both shade & cultural prestige to white. Inside the Metaverse, he also has a cool-looking cloak & an epic-looking staff that makes him look like a saint, & a cool-looking mask that symbolizes his altruistic intentions for humanity, despite his horrible methods.
- Adding onto his magnificence, he is, to date, the ONLY Palace ruler to also be a Persona user, which can be explained by his reality-warping, being genuine to his desires (although they are distorted enough to create a Palace), & his Persona Azathoth possibly being the Palace itself due to elements of it being present throughout the Palace.
- Manipulated Sumire into fighting the protagonist and caused her Persona Cendrillon to go berserk, all in attempt to help Yoshizawa come to her senses, at least in his mind.
- Even in his boss fight, Maruki never sheds his affable nature, showing he really does just want he thinks is best for everyone, as he begs for the Phantom Thieves to reconsider and accept his reality, which never comes as petty due to his largely altruistic and well-meaning nature.
- His bossfight has one hell of a boss theme. All phases of it.
- While he had a breakdown after Joker destroyed his Palace, he recovered from it and bade the Phantom Thieves well.
- Redeems himself after being defeated by the Phantom Thieves, starting anew and becoming a taxi driver.
- This also signifies how he has humbly come to the conclusion that the path to humanity's perfect world is one that they themselves can choose on their own, rather than them needing someone else to decide that path for them.
- Is genuinely tragic, with his own fiance having memory loss due to Maruki unknowingly using his power on her when she was suffering from PTSD of her parents' deaths, and having his research papers being stolen by Masayoshi Shido.
What Makes Him A Baddie?[]
- Used his powers to warp reality and brainwashed all of humanity to be "perfect" versions of themselves, despite this also turning them into shells of their former selves for the rest of their lives.
- Evolved his Persona Azathoth into Adam Kadmon, whom he fuses with and tries to kill multiple teenagers, just for interfering and objecting to his reality and his actions.
- Manipulated Sumire Yoshizawa into fighting the protagonist, and then drove her Persona, Cendrillon, insane.
- In one possible bad ending, he can give the main protagonist a fate worse than death, where he is permanently tired, sleepy, and has no free will, to the point where the attic he lives in is so dirty it has lots of cobwebs, & where Lavenza, who is in-universe treated like a supernatural deity, is not able to reach him, and also makes all of his friends forget about him.
Trivia[]
- He and Kuon Ichinose are currently the only Persona 5 Magnificent Baddies.
- Maruki being a taxi driver at the end of Royal symbolizes how although the driver is the one in control of the taxi, it's ultimately the passenger who controls where the vehicle should go, similar to how Maruki accepted that the perfect reality he sought is one made from each individual's own choices & decisions.
External Links[]
- Takuto Maruki at the Villains wiki
- Takuto Maruki at the Megami Tensei wiki
- Takuto Maruki at the Inconsistently Heinous wiki
- Takuto Maruki at the Inconsistently Admirable wiki
- Takuto Maruki at the Heroes wiki
[]
 Magnificent Baddies
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