Joker, Persona 5's protagonist, is a pretty mysterious character. Being a silent protagonist and the leader of a merry band of misfits makes him the perfect trickster. However, he is also your average high school boy. As he tries to make the world a better place by stealing people's hearts, he is also trying to get good grades, a possible girlfriend, and make money at various part-time jobs.
Since he has been revealed as a character in Super Smash Bros: Ultimate, now seems like a good time to review some facts about him. Here are details about his character that are worth knowing for fans of his character and the game itself.
10 The Glasses Are Just For Show
A lot of fans have a good laugh at this one. Joker's glasses are not a needed accessory! He is not near or far-sighted and they are just an aesthetic. Fans figured this out during the fireworks festival part of the game. Joker is not wearing his glasses and yet happily watches the fireworks. That is just one out of a number of instances outside of the Metaverse.
There are also rumors that the glasses are symbolic for a mask he wears in real life. Joker is known for his piercing and memorable gaze, so he tries to look more like an ordinary bystander through his glasses. Or he just likes wearing hipster glasses.
9 Has More Personality Than Past Persona Protagonists
It is a Persona tradition for the protagonist to be silent, which typically makes their personality pretty limited. However, the players' options when Joker can talk have created pretty interesting and unique personality traits for him. He can be very sassy, indifferent, and/or love messing with people.
You get a lot of snarky options in the game, which makes Joker a pretty lovable and fun character to play. What makes it better is his outward appearance is very straight-laced and non-offensive while his personality can be quite audacious.
8 Cat Person
It was learned from the official Persona design book that Joker's character model was made based on the idea of being cat-like. By cat-like, it meant that he was a person with a hidden side. After all, cats in media are usually made to look like they are up to something. They can be sneaky, cocky, and playful.
This was decided so he could be the opposite of the Persona 4 protagonist, who was designed to be loyal and sincere like a stereotypical dog.
7 He Was Nicknamed "Potter" By Fans
Back in 2014, Joker's character design was shared with the public. While they got to know what the future protagonist looked like, they did not know much else, including his name. That's why they nicknamed him "Potter" as a placeholder until his real name was learned.
He got this nickname because fans thought he looked like Harry Potter. Like Harry, he has black hair and glasses. Due to his looks, there is a lot of Harry Potter meets Persona 5 fanart.
6 Cameo Appearances
Due to his popularity, some cameos of Joker has appeared in other games. In Sonic Forces, you can unlock his outfit so you can basically be a hedgehog version of him. There was also a collaboration between Dragon's Dogma and Persona 5 in 2016 where the Joker and Ann visited the world of Dragon's Dogma.
Granblue Fantasy also had an event with Joker as a visiting character. He has also appeared in Puzzles and Dragons. That's a decent amount of cameos!
5 ENFP Personality Type
It's been agreed on by fans and various Myers-Brigg nerds that ENFP is Joker's personality type. That combination is known as "The Campaigner." Despite being a silent protagonist, he is an extrovert who makes a lot of connections with other people. Having good intuition is a major aspect being one of the Phantom Thieves, so Joker would be more intuitive than sensible.
He follows his heart before his brain as well, which is what ultimately got him arrested at the beginning of the game. Also he improvises everything, so he would definitely be more perspective than judging.
4 Background Is Unknown
Despite being a more defined character than previous protagonists, there is very little information on Joker's background. While it is known why he is moving and why he is an outcast in society, there are a lot of unknowns as well. We do not know anything about the family he came from. In fact, they have zero contact with him for the whole game. We also do not know where he came from and what his old life was like.
This is all left to the players' imagination, but it definitely raises some questions about how Joker became how he is and what his relationship with his old family was like.
3 Canon Names
Joker's name is written down by the player at the beginning of the game, but he has a canon name as well. Well, sort of. There are actually two canon names. Also, the characters in the game will always refer to him as "This guy" or "Joker" no matter what you write down.
In the official manga, his name is Akira Kurusu. So fans often call him by his manga name when not referring to him by his thief name. A second canon name exists in the official anime too, Ren Amamiya. So neither of them is more correct than the other, but they both exist in different versions of his story.
2 Arsène Lupin
You cannot completely finish talking about Joker without discussing his powerful persona, Arsène. Like all other personas the Phantom Thieves have, Arsène is based on a real character. If you research them all, you will find that they are all rather fitting for Persona 5's story.
Arsène was a famous gentleman thief that was created by a French writer, Maurice Leblanc, in 1905. The character was a part of a series of short stories.
1 No Canon Romance
Romance is totally up to the player. So there is little to say about Joker's tastes since you can romance almost every woman in the game. In fact, you can even romance multiple at once (and get in trouble for it later).
Who is the best romance for Joker is probably the most common divider between fans. There is no canon in the manga or anime either. The romance choices are so vast too from your homeroom teacher to one of the other Phantom Thieves to a fortune teller in the streets. Only one fact is certain: Joker is a desirable person.