His Phantom Thief outfit contains a mask that resembles a tengu to give him a condescending appearance, while his outfit was kept formal, resembling an officer. Akechi also wears black gloves, though at one point, the creative team believed it would give him away as the group's traitor. His main color is white to contrast with Joker's black color scheme. Eventually, the team decided to make him look well-behaved with a cheerful personality, leaving his collar button unbuttoned, his tie slightly loosened, and his hair messy.
Early in development, the creative team decided he was going to be a detective but was unsure on how suspicious he would look or what role he would play in the story, with one early suggestion being that he was Makoto Niijima's brother. However, upon the release of Royal, critics found Akechi more likable due to how Atlus started handling him in a different fashion from his original version.Īkechi's character design was created by Shigenori Soejima.
Initial critical reception towards his character has been mixed in both the first game and the anime television series despite ranking high on official character polls. He is voiced by Sōichirō Hoshi in Japanese and Robbie Daymond in English. Due to polarizing reception, Akechi was further explored in Royal. Besides printed and animated versions of the series, he has also been featured in the spin-offs Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth.Ĭreated by Shigenori Soejima, Akechi was developed to be a mysterious detective who would be the opposite of Joker. For Persona 5 Royal, Akechi's characterization was further explored in order to appeal more to players. A high school detective nicknamed "The Second Coming of the Detective Prince", Akechi opposes the Phantom Thieves' actions and becomes both a rival and a foil to Joker, the group's leader.
Goro Akechi ( Japanese: 明智 吾郎, Hepburn: Akechi Gorō), who uses the code name Crow ( クロウ, Kurō), is a fictional character in the Persona series, first appearing in Persona 5.