Great Oak Gazette

By Alex Coppock

“A Reality Where None Shall Suffer”

Dr. Takuto Maruki, a fictional character from the 2019 video game Persona 5 Royal, brings to light the extent of suffering and personal hardship experienced by ordinary members of society. While these members of society are all, in fact, fictional, Dr. Maruki still sheds light on the injustices faced by ordinary people in reality.

The Hardships of Reality

Who is Takuto Maruki?

Dr. Takuto Maruki first appeared in the game as the counselor at Shujin Academy following the game’s first segment, being hired by the school after Suguru Kamoshida, a P.E. teacher and volleyball coach, publicly confessed to his crimes, which included the abuse of students on his team. Ultimately, his goal was to ease the pain and suffering of others, which was his motivation for becoming a counselor.

After being hired, Dr. Maruki was assigned to monitor the game’s protagonist, a second-year student who goes by the codename of “Joker” while exploring the Metaverse, the world manifested by people’s cognition. As a result of their counseling sessions, the two eventually became good friends, and they helped each other with their respective problems. Additionally, Dr. Maruki became aware of the Metaverse’s existence, which was tied to his research on “cognitive psience,” the study of cognition in the Metaverse to influence the external world. He was also acquainted with Kasumi Yoshizawa, a first-year student and gymnast, who later became aware of the Metaverse and used the codename “Violet.”

Eventually, Dr. Maruki’s tenure as the school’s counselor came to an end, and he continued to pursue his research on the Metaverse, finishing his research paper. On the Day of Reckoning, in which reality and the Metaverse merged into one as a result of the machinations of Yaldabaoth, the God of Control made manifest by the masses’ distorted cognition, Dr. Maruki awakened to the power of his Persona, the manifestation of his rebellious spirit, named Azathoth. When Joker and his allies, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, used their Personas to destroy Yaldabaoth and free reality, Dr. Maruki, with Azathoth’s power, took control of the Metaverse.

Upon taking control of the Metaverse, Dr. Maruki realized he could alter cognition and completely change reality. With this power, he desired to create a world where suffering and hardships did not exist, free from injustice. The Phantom Thieves, all of whom had suffered hardships in their lives, became Dr. Maruki’s first targets. He altered reality to create their ideal lives, even resurrecting a former member of the Phantom Thieves, Goro Akechi, as a result of Joker’s desires.

Eventually, Joker, Akechi and Kasumi realized that reality is being altered, which the other Phantom Thieves did not. Discovering Dr. Maruki’s involvement, they confront him, where he reveals that Kasumi is actually Sumire Yoshizawa, Kasumi’s younger sister who became crippled with survivor’s guilt after an accident that took Kasumi’s life one month before the game’s events, and had her reality subconsciously altered by Dr. Maruki in order to prevent her suffering. It is also revealed that Dr. Maruki’s ex-girlfriend, Rumi, had witnessed the murder of her parents prior to the game’s events, becoming severely traumatized. Dr. Maruki subconsciously altered her cognition to remove this event from her memories and remove her trauma, erasing her memory of him in the process. This became his ultimate motivation to create a reality where no one had to suffer.

Despite this revelation, Sumire, now resolved to live her own life, sides with the other Phantom Thieves, who had been restored to their unaltered lives by Joker and Akechi, to defy Maruki’s reality and create a world where people are free to make their own choices and live their own lives. The Phantom Thieves eventually defeat Dr. Maruki and shatter his reality, with Akechi disappearing in the process.

Following this, Maruki abandoned his quest, realizing that people should be free to make their own lives and choices, even when faced with suffering, and he became a cab driver. He later sees Joker one more time, telling him “If you find yourself struggling in life, you can start over, like me. Remember that,” and the two part ways as friends, accepting reality for what it is.

Ideal and Real: Suffering and Reality

Maruki’s actions raise a significant question: What is truly ideal? Maruki’s reality may eliminate all injustice, pain, and hardship, but there is no free will, as reality exists as Maruki commands. The freedom to make your own choices vanishes, and you would ultimately be subject to the whims and wills of an outside party. Even if they had your best interests in mind, would it truly be ideal?

Despite serving as Persona 5 Royal’s ultimate and final antagonist, Maruki is not inherently evil in any way. While some people in-game, namely Akechi, find his actions to be nothing more than a self-serving and ultimately dangerous attempt to rewrite reality to his own desires, it can’t be denied that Dr. Maruki ultimately has good intentions and wants everyone to be happy, believing that he can achieve it with his Persona, Azathoth. When battling Maruki, he declares that “No matter what happens to me in the end, I will fix this torturous world! That…is my own rebellion!” His resolve to do what he believes is right is strong enough that even after his defeat, he still continues to fight for what he believes in, evolving his Persona into its ultimate form, Adam Kadmon (lit. Primordial Man), before fighting Joker one-on-one after their respective Personas disappear with the collapse of Maruki’s reality.

Throughout his battle with the Phantom Thieves, Maruki pleads with each member to accept his reality, begging them to let him fulfill their dreams without suffering. His theme that plays during his final boss fight, “Throw Away Your Mask,” reflects his desire to grant the wishes of the people and eliminate all pain. Even as Maruki has the upper hand in battle, he still begs the Phantom Thieves to stand down, and his theme reads as follows:

“Don’t sleep through

dreams that can come true

No more tears shall drop from your cheeks anymore

you won’t need to

strive for greatness

Believe in me

That you don’t need to suffer from

Anything”

The lyrics reflect the fact that he truly wants to help others by granting their wishes, asking for everyone, including the Phantom Thieves, to believe in his work, telling them that they don’t need to suffer from anything anymore. Even before fighting him, he waits a full month after asking the Phantom Thieves to at least consider letting his reality stand, proving that he truly does not want to fight them over this. If his offer is accepted in what is technically considered to be the “Bad Ending,” the Phantom Thieves remain happy, but unaware that they lost their freedom.

Despite having the best intentions of everyone at heart, Maruki ultimately wants to control reality to his own design, taking away the freedom of choice from the entire world. While everyone may be happy and unaware of the fact that reality was changed, it comes at the cost of free will, a price that the Phantom Thieves, who had struggled to reform society and create a world where everyone was free to make their own choices, were ultimately unwilling to pay in the True Ending of the game. Even Akechi, knowing he would disappear, fought to undo Maruki’s reality, believing that despite the pain, a reality free from control was what the world deserved. Upon his final defeat, Maruki too accepts this, accepting that as long as one can forge their own path in life, then one could truly live a happy life, even if there is pain and suffering as well.