Editing Joker

Ren Amamiya is the leader of the vigilante group known as the Phantom Thieves. After being falsely accused of assault, he was labeled a delinquent and moved to Tokyo, Japan to attend Shujin Academy as part of his probation while under the care of café owner [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Sojiro_Sakura Sojiro Sakura]. While there, he discovers a strange application on his smartphone but brushes it off for the time being. After a chance encounter with fellow outsider [[Ryuji Sakamoto]] over their lecherous gym coach [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Suguru_Kamoshida Suguru Kamoshida], they discover that the app is actually a conduit to a parallel reality called the Metaverse. In it, an individual’s “cognition” is the manifestation of their twisted desires into a dream-like fantasy. In this case, Kamoshida sees himself as the king of the academy and treats the rest of the students and faculty like slaves. Wanting no part in this reality, Ren rebels against the oppression of King Kamoshida and awakens his Persona, donning the mask and cloak of "Joker".

Following this success, the Phantom Thieves pursue other targets, typically corrupt adults who victimize the young, gaining a large following and reputation. Over the course of their exploits, the group grows to include artist [[Yusuke Kitagawa]] (whose Persona is Goemon), student council president [[Makoto Niijima]] (whose Persona is Johanna), reclusive hacker [[Futaba Sakura]] (whose Persona is Necronomicon), heiress [[Haru Okumura]] (whose Persona is Milady), and briefly the detective [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Goro_Akechi Goro Akechi] (who, like Joker, also has the Wild Card ability, but his inability to forge true bonds with people has limited him to two Personas: Robin Hood and Loki), who tries to stop the group from the inside in an attempt to arrest them. Ultimately, they end up exposing and ending a conspiracy to elect the corrupt politician [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Masayoshi_Shido Masayoshi Shido] to the position of Prime Minister of Japan, who, through sheer coincidence, was the very same person who falsely accused the protagonist initially, and for which Akechi secretly works as a hitman, although he pursues his own agenda. Soon afterward, they discover that the conspiracy (up to and including granting the Wild Card ability to Joker and Akechi) was masterminded by the god-like being [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Yaldabaoth Yaldabaoth], who sought to merge the Palaces and the real world so it might seize control of both of them through the apathy of the general population. After a long and desperate struggle, spurred on by the faith of those they helped along the way, Joker summons his most powerful Persona, the gigantic Satanael, leading the Phantom Thieves into banishing the false god and freeing humanity from its control, freeing the real Igor against his impostor and fusing the twins into their true form, [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Lavenza Lavenza], shortly prior to it.

In the ''[https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Persona_5_Royal Royal]'' edition, the Phantom Thieves’ battle is not yet over, as they are trapped by psychologist [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Takuto_Maruki Takuto Maruki], who uses his two Personas (primarily Adam Kadmon, and secondarily Azathoth) to warp reality in order to fulfill everyone's peaceful desires and create a world that sacrifices strife and progress for empty happiness. As both places are wrapped into one, the protagonist sees unusual events around him after New Year's Eve, such as civilians constantly smiling and deceased persons resurrected. This also affects Mementos, as Lavenza weakens from the fusion, and Mementos now features roots all throughout that connects to the [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Path_of_Da%27at Path of Da'at] in place of where the Holy Grail was. Joined by Akechi, who had been mysteriously brought back after sacrificing himself in Shido's Palace and is now exclusively using Loki instead of Robin Hood, and gymnast [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Sumire_Yoshizawa Sumire Yoshizawa] (whose Persona is Cendrillon), whose identity was previously swapped to [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Kasumi_Yoshizawa Kasumi Yoshizawa], her elder sister who passed away after an incident that took her life (having had her personality overwritten with Maruki's powers), the Phantom Thieves return to the Metaverse to steal Maruki's heart. During this, Joker also has access to an evolved form of Arsène, called Raoul. After a one-on-one fist fight between Joker and Maruki following the defeat of his Personas, the Thieves manage to save and redeem Maruki, who starts over as a taxi driver and helps Joker and Morgana return home safely while evading government surveillance.

Months after the events of both games, in ''[https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Persona_5_Strikers Persona 5 Strikers]'', a new Metaverse threat arises during the thieves’ summer vacation, in the form of a new app called [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/EMMA EMMA] developed by Madicce (and secretly backed by the last Conspiracy loyalist, [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Jun_Owada Jun Owada]). The Phantom Thieves are joined by a sentient female A.I. named [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Sophia_(Persona_5_Strikers) Sophia] (whose Persona is Pandora, but is initially in a pre-Persona-state known as Pithos) and a family man fair cop, [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Zenkichi_Hasegawa Zenkichi Hasegawa] (whose Persona is Valjean), before their time is at its limit due to being suspects in this new crisis. The Phantom Thieves soon discover that [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Kuon_Ichinose Kuon Ichinose] had been manipulating the events and made her realize that she was unknowingly serving the Demiurge (a sentient EMMA, evolved beyond its initial programming) into stealing humanity's desires. With the Demiurge destroyed, a reformed Ichinose departs with her "daughter" Sophia, the death of Zenkichi's wife has been avenged thanks to a testimony by former Madicce CEO [https://megatenwiki.com/wiki/Akira_Konoe Akira Konoe], ensuring Owada's arrest, and the Phantom Thieves disband once again.