The Persona series is filled with unforgettable characters from start to finish, and Persona 5 Royal is no exception. Since the release of this remastered version of the original Persona 5, the cast of characters has grown.

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While the members of Phantom Thieves have been praised time and time again, a huge part of the narrative that makes Persona 5 Royal so exceptional are the villains that you encounter through the journey. In order to give the game's baddies some love, it's time to take a look at how the villains stack up against each other.

Updated November 25, 2022, by Christopher Argentino: Persona is finally on the Nintendo Switch, and with a whole new array of players coming to enjoy one the best JRPGs on the market, we thought it was a good idea to brush up on some of the boss battles in Persona 5 Royal. Some of them are secret boss fights, so all of you completionists out there don't need to read up anywhere else. Also, we're feeling bold enough to put no other than The Reaper on the list, because a true Phantom Thief isn't afraid of no wandering Memento guardian. Just make sure you're prepared for that last one.

16 Jose

Persona 5 Royal Jose talking to the phantom thieves

When you’ve collected around 123 stamps, you’ll unlock one of the secret Persona 5 Royal bosses: Jose. Luckily for you, the Jose battle isn’t anything too frustrating, except for the Game Over if you lose during this friendly battle.

Be sure to start off with a Persona that is Physically Resistant, or that nullifies Physical attacks. Jose’s first move is a very powerful Physical attack, so be safe. You really don’t need any other strategy to fight against him, but be careful when he reaches a quarter of his Launch attack. And when you need to be careful, remember that Guard is your best friend.

15 Adam Kadmon

Adam kadmon boss fight cutscene persona 5 royal

Adam Kadmon is the ultimate Persona of Maruki. While large and imposing, the thing that puts this fight within the easier ranks is that the majority of it is scripted.

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After a few rounds, Futaba will pinpoint a weakness and the rest of the fight is history. There's a cool series of cutscenes involved and some great narrative points, but in terms of actual fighting, there isn't much that needs to be done by you here.

14 Holy Grail

persona 5 royal the thieves talking to the holy grail

When first encountered, The Holy Grail is scripted to be undetectable. Even if over-leveled beyond reason, this boss will tank all damage and likely heal up to maximum health after your turn. This makes the fight easy, knowing that it was never intended to be beaten in the first place. This fight will end quickly, and the storyline will be able to progress with minimal effort.

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The Holy Grail is faced a second time, too. This time, you can send a party member to cut the supply lines that made it unbeatable before. After that, you can use their preferred strategy to take it down.

13 Sumire Yoshizawa

Sumire and Cendrillion ready to fight in Persona 5 Royal

After some plot twists, you will find yourself squaring off against Yoshizawa, a new character and confidant in Persona 5 Royal. At the start, it's just Joker and Akechi versus Yoshizawa, but phase two of the fight sees the rest of the Phantom Thieves swooping in to join, and you can finally fight with a full party again.

From there, even the summoning of additional shadows doesn't do Yoshizawa much good since, at this point in the game, you are likely to be at very high levels.

12 Goro Akechi

goro akechi fghts the phantom thieves in persona 5

While his true intentions may surprise some, the fight against Akechi is straightforward: no gimmicks to worry about here. After beating the shadows he summons, Akechi will jump in to face the party. Akechi is singularly focused on Joker and will focus on him for most of the fight.

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This actually makes Akechi easy to defend against. Akechi's defenses aren't particularly high, so keep Joker safe and hammer away at him with the rest of the party and this fight will wrap up quickly.

11 Azazel

battling the madarame painting with ryuji and yusuke

Madarame's fight is easier in Royal, mainly because at this point in the game you should be at a level that's comfortable enough to fight against a boss. Madarame's phases consist of multiple targets at once, but taking advantage of weaknesses and baton passing for damage boosts will make this fight satisfying.

That's not to say that Madarame is a pushover; the effort that goes into this fight feels perfect for its placement in the game.

10 Asmodeus Kamoshida

shadow kamoshida in the final boss fight with joker about to attack

Kamoshida is the first boss of the game and, for series newbies, the first glimpse of what fighting a Persona boss is truly like. Challenging him while under-leveled can be punishing, which is one of the main things that makes him dangerous.

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In addition, there's a mechanic during this fight that will leave you down one party member. This is the fight where all of the combat mechanics you learn come together, so if he's not being faced in easy mode, Kamoshida should be taken seriously.

9 Bael Kaneshiro

shadow kaneshiro and his bodyguards in front of piggytron

Like most of the bosses in this game, Kaneshiro's fight happens in phases. In phase one, Kaneshiro will begin the fight inside of Piggytron, his giant weaponized robot. Thankfully, Piggytron is easier to deal with in Royal.

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During his second phase, Kaneshiro will call in reinforcements that are annoying enough on their own, but what really makes this fight tricky is Kaneshiro's affinity for the sleep status ailment. This gives Kaneshiro and his goons a technical advantage on their attacks, and if you aren't prepared, this fight can turn on them very quickly.

8 Cognitive Wakaba

futaba confronting the loss of her mother during the shadow wakaba fight

This fight requires a lot of multitasking. Cognitive Wakaba's first mechanic, her flight, makes her impervious to physical attacks until she's brought down. In order to do this, a party member has to be sent to the ballista similar to Kamoshida's fight.

On top of that, Wakaba also will occasionally pose a question that you will need to answer, or otherwise risk being hit by one of her most powerful attacks. To top that off, Wakaba's attacks can inflict dizzy and despair. There's a lot going on in this fight, and if you don't come prepared, you'll be devastated quickly.

7 Leviathan Niijima

sae leviathan niijima choosing an affinity by roulette wheel

In Royal, the boss fight against Sae, Makoto's older sister, is trickier than before. While her physical, gun, and almighty skills are pretty strong in their own right, Niijima will utilize her roulette to change the element of her attacks.

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Naturally, this can be bad news for at least one member of the party, so it helps to have established the Star Confidant by the time they face off against her; this will allow you to swap out party members mid-fight to avoid weaknesses. As mentioned before Sae hits pretty hard, so the best way to deal with her is to hit her back even harder.

6 Mammon Okumura

shadow okumura taunting the group with his robot army during the boss fight

In Royal, Mammon Okumura is more challenging. The first thing worth noting is that this battle has a 30-minute time limit. That aspect is further complicated by Okumura's ability to summon various waves of Corporobo minions, similar to the ones encountered throughout his palace.

To make things more difficult these waves will be replenished if not completely wiped out within two turns. These mechanics make Okumura's fight especially challenging, so it is highly recommended that you take advantage of weaknesses to dispatch the waves as quickly as possible.

5 Azathoth

Azathoth and maruki ready to fight the phantom thieves in persona 5 royal

This fight against Maruki's initial persona is certainly a tough one. There are five targets: Azathoth's main body, three tentacles, and Maruki himself. While either Azathoth or Maruki can be reduced to zero HP to satisfy a win condition, Azathoth will keep Maruki healed.

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Azathoth will take advantage of fear and dizzy conditions, and Maruki will occasionally restrict the use of a certain skill — physical, magic, recovery, and so on. Be ready for this, as well as Azathoth's one-hit KO moves, as they can end the fight very quickly.

4 Lavenza

Persona 5 Royal Lavenza boss battle

If you’ve ever gone through the New Game Plus in Persona 5, you’ll know that you can fight Carole and Justine. Atlus offers you the same chance with Persona 5 Royal, but this time against Lavenza.

Lavenza isn’t just strong — she also has the chance to use a whole variety of Personas, just like Joker. To beat Lavenza, you’re going to want to deal at least 5000 damage within nine turns. The best way to accomplish this is by dealing with at least one Technical per attacking round. All-out-attacks are okay, but there’s a cap to how much damage they do. Don’t worry though — if you lose the battle, it isn’t a direct Game Over, and you can keep trying over and over.

3 Yaldabaoth

persona 5 royal yaldabaoth with the bell arm fighting

Yaldabaoth will test everything that you've learned. After enough damage has been done to him, Yaldabaoth will produce arms that utilize enhanced forms of status conditions. In addition, its arms also possess their own weaknesses and resistances, which can cause problems when relying on multi-target attacks. Yaldabaoth will also summon defeated arms which then utilize new skills.

Between managing status conditions, HP, SP, and remembering to attack, this fight piles a lot on your plate — but a strong strategy, and equally strong party members and Personas, will ultimately bring Yaldabaoth down.

2 Samael Shido

persona 5 royal shido form five before he fights all the thieves

One of the most challenging boss fights in Persona 5 Royal is this grudge match finally come to fruition. This boss fight is a long one, with Shido fighting in multiple forms. Between his strong defenses and powerful attacks, HP and SP management and effective accessories are a must for this fight.

What sets Shido apart from other bosses is that he will isolate the protagonist after reaching about 1/4th of his health. There's no gimmick here; you have to finish the fight alone and truly put your combat skills to the test.

1 The Reaper

persona 5 royal the reaper after breaking a magic wall fight

There are legends that say The Reaper cannot be defeated, and we totally understand why. The guardian of Mementos isn’t someone you should play around with. If you decide to face him, don’t in any way get there unprepared. You’re going to need these three abilities to enter the fray: Makarakarn, to repel any single magic attack, Marakukaja, to increase the parties defense stat for three turns, and finally, Mediarahan, which heals your whole party to max HP.

Don’t show up to the battle with any party member that hasn’t maxed out their confidant level, and be sure that everyone is past level 60. The Reaper doesn’t forgive those who wander Mementos for too long, and The Reaper has no weakness.

NEXT: Persona 5 Royal: Ranking The Worst Villains in the Game