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| ā | Think about it, you both have dreams, no? I have the power to make them come true. My reality can become just the way you like. | ā |
| ~ Maruki to the protagonist and Goro Akechi |
Dr. Takuto Maruki is the secondary antagonist and final boss of the 2019 ATLUS action-adventure video game, Persona 5 Royal (which serves as a expansion re-release of the original game, Persona 5).
He originally served as a major supporting character of the first two semesters, before taking over as the main antagonist of the third semester.
He is a counselor who formerly worked at Shujin Academy and privately with Sumire Yoshizawa. During his time at Shujin Academy, he became acquainted with Ren Amamiya, becoming his Confidant. During the third semester story arc, after Yaldabaoth is defeated, he awakens to his Persona, Azathoth and gains full control over Mementos, and uses his powers to warp reality in order to rid the world of all suffering. This places him into conflict with Ren and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
He is voiced by Satoshi Hino in the Japanese version and the late Billy Kametz in the English version.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
- Even before he gained a Persona, it's implied that on some level, he ultimately cared more about proving his theories right than actually helping people. One of his journal entries in his Palace mentions that the biggest hurdle to his research was a lack of test subjects, and the very next entry shows his meeting with Sumire, heavily implying that his efforts to help her were less for her own sake and more about showing how he believed his cognitive alterations could help people.
- This resulted in Sumire spending close to a year believing she was Kasumi, with no progress being made towards resolving her grief until the illusion was undone by the third semester.
- Traps the entire world, or at least all of Tokyo, in a "perfect" reality, which in reality is actually corrupt and dystopian, as he pulls all of the strings and he tries to manipulate anyone who questions his reality.
- He forcibly gets rid of the Phantom Thieves' rebellious spirit, the very thing that allowed them to realise that society is messed up and needs reforming, and memories, turning them into shells of their former selves.
- In the ending where you accept his reality, he permanently brainwashes Sumire into thinking she is Kasumi, effectively giving her a death of personality, while Akechi is permanently trapped in this world where all of his "friends" are stuck as smiling blank slates and cannot do anything about it, as shown in the final shot at the end of the credits after the ending where you accept Maruki's reality, where Akechi looks at the camera, barely smiling.
- Manipulates Sumire Yoshizawa into fighting the protagonist.
- Makes Sumire's Persona, Cendrillon, go berserk, which is shown to be painful for Sumire.
- Evolves his Persona, Azathoth into the god Adam Kadmon and tries to kill the Phantom Thieves for interfering with his reality, though he will try to talk them out of fighting him in order to avoid killing them.
- In the ending where Joker can't decide whether to accept or deny Maruki's reality, he gives Joker a fate worse than death by taking away all of his energy and free will, and making his friends forget about him, making not even Lavenza, who is treated in universe like a supernatural deity, able to reach him.
- Despite being fully capable of bringing people back from the dead by rewriting reality so they never died to begin with, he never considers bringing the real Kasumi back, even though it would likely have resolved a large part of Sumire's issues to begin with, implicitly because he refuses to change his mind about his original plan for Sumire despite better solutions having come along. It's also implied he never brought back Rumi's parents either.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is an anti-villain and an extremist, as he believes, to some extent, that he's doing what he does for the benefit of society, such as reviving people who are dead for people who miss them and are traumitized over death, like Wakaba for Futaba, Kunikazu for Haru, and Makoto and Sae's father, or giving people their wildest dreams, such as having Ryuji back on the track team he left, or making Ann's best friend Shiho never be traumatized and possibly raped by Kamoshida. This also makes him grey zoned, as it is debatable whether or not he is in the wrong.
- He is generally pacifistic and constantly attempts to reason with the protagonist and convince them to accept his world, only fighting when given no other choice.
- He is very affable and honorable, talking politely at all times towards the Phantom Thieves, and values getting Sumire Yoshizawa to safety after drving her Persona berserk before settling the score with the Thieves.
- Is tragic as his research was stolen by Masayoshi Shido, and unknowingly gave his girlfriend Rumi memory loss when she was suffering from PTSD of her parents' death, making her forget about him.
- Redeems himself after he is defeated, accepting his defeat with dignity and becoming a taxi driver when reality returns to its original state.
External Links[]
- Takuto Maruki on the Villains Wiki
- Takuto Maruki on the Heroes Wiki
- Takuto Maruki on the Megami Tensei Wiki
- Takuto Maruki on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Takuto Maruki on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
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 Inconsistently Heinous
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