The eight-year Sequel Gap paid itself off in memes during the first week of release alone.

Pre-release

The game was delayed from Winter 2014 and 2015 release dates in its early-stage announcements. On social media, it wasn't uncommon seeing people celebrate the game as if it already came out before its official release (I.E. A tweet stating "Persona 5 came out 2 years ago today in Winter 2014").

Originally popping up during the Japanese promotion, referring to the little attention Akechi received. Making a comeback, due to Atlus USA not releasing Robbie Daymond's interview on the same schedule as the others.

Ann's Persona was simply called "Carmen" when it was finally revealed. It's actually supposed to be the titular character from the novel/opera " Carmen ", but given how relatively unknown that is among the game's main audience, and the fact she's a Classy Cat-Burglar , gamers were quick to make the connection.

Although Joker and his friends refer to their group as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, there are quite a few situations in which they end up resorting to brute force, such as during the boss fight of each Palace, where they basically rob the Treasure from the owner instead of stealing it.

When the protagonist for Persona 5 was revealed, tons of people noticed how similar he looked to Harry Potter. Many, many jokes were made.

The first teaser for Persona 5 was a picture of five chairs that were "held down" with prison weights, and had this line of Engrish text to go along with it. Oddly enough, the only localization change to the tagline was to add an a before "slave". This also gained traction with fans who had gotten tired of the constant Persona 3 and 4 spinoffs.

Post-release

FOR REAL?!?! Explanation Ryuji Sakamoto has the tendency to say "FOR REAL?!" quite a bit, complete with voice acting no less!

YUSUKE'S FUCKIN PISSED!! Explanation Yusuke's battle cut-in looks utterly furious, a stark contrast to the relatively neutral expressions worn by the other characters and Yusuke's normally calm demeanor. The fandom was quick to make jokes about this.

"Yosh!" Explanation After doing an activity that raises a stat in the Japanese version, Joker always says this. This quickly became an ear worm after Atlus showed off a bunch of gameplay videos during a stream.

Photoshopping Shinya Oda's "Get Smoked" hat onto other members of the cast caught on very quick once the character portraits were dropped online. And that turned into photoshopping said hat onto everything that has a head.

Pancakes Explanation (Spoilers!) Goro accidentally reveals himself when he overhears Morgana describe a building as being shaped like a pancake, then mentions that remark while talking to the Thieves. Since only Persona users can hear Morgana and Goro isn't yet friendly with the Thieves, this becomes his undoing later in the story. Naturally, the fandom was quick to run with it.

Trust no one not even yourself. Explanation (Spoilers!) The confrontation between Goro and Shido's projection of Goro in Shido's palace, with one pointing his gun at the head of the other naturally led to referencing the memetic 2014 twitter post of a teenager photoshopping a picture with two copies of himself, with one pointing a gun at the other. lol2goros Explanation (spoilers!) /vg/ Persona Thread's term to refer to said scene.

"A RIVER IN A DRY LAND" Explanation The extremely catchy lyrics from River in the Desert were a hit with fans.

P5 FES / P5 Crimson soon Explanation A lot of players have been unsatisfied with the ending, feeling that it was rushed and incomplete, resulting in people expecting the story to be more fleshed out in an Updated Re-release , DLC, or spinoffs. True to form, an Updated Re-release came to be with Persona 5 Royal, which adds an original story chapter during the Time Skip , with a plot that is distinct from but ties into the original game's ending.

YOU'LL NEVER SEE IT COMIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG Explanation Last Surprise's lyrics are often posted in response to the game's many twists and has spawned many image and video parodies. It's used also in Atlus USA's Twitch when they showed the ambush gameplay as Lauren demonstrated. Has taken on new life when Joker was revealed as a playable DLC character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (especially since everyone was predicting the reveal of a Square Enix character). Even more so when rather than his gameplay trailer and release happening in a Nintendo Direct, it was in a video that showed up out of the blue.

It's time to BUTTON MASH: Nyaaaa!! This one comes from a scene early in Madarame's arc, where the Phantom Thieves have to take a train to his home. They are approached by a little kid and try to pass Morgana off as a toy that meows when its head is pressed. When the kid asks again, one of the options is this. Choosing the option makes Joker repeatedly and painfully swat Morgana on the head. Fans have naturally latched on to this. Became an Ascended Meme in 'Royal', since this was given full voice acting.

Being Goro is suffering Explanation (spoilers!) and even up to his death . Sometimes also used when people are complaining of how poorly ATLUS treated the character. A meme taken from Puella Magi Madoka Magica , refers to Goro's tragic life. Sometimes also used when people are complaining of how poorly ATLUS treated the character.

The Goropocalypse Explanation (spoilers!) and the rest is history . /vg/ got ahold of the game shortly after release, and proceed to datamine everything in the game. Then they found the cutscene where Goro shoots Joker in the Non Standard Game Over

GORO AKECHI'S WILD RIDE Explanation (spoilers!) Taken from the /vg/ general for Persona to refer to the story twists around the character Goro Akechi. It started after datamining revealed Goro as the traitor; as everyone was sure that was supposed to be the big twist, everyone was disappointed. Little did they know that there is much more to it than that . This term exploded when one anon posted a picture of two Goros without any explanation or context before streamers reached that part and sent the general into a meltdown, beginning the meme with people alternating between wanting to get off and wanting it to continue. I WANT OFF AKECHI-SAN'S WILD RIDE Explanation The continuation of the above meme.

stop talking about groo holy shit Explanation One poster suddenly declared during all this for everyone to stop talking about Goro, as they were tired of several threads in a row being nothing but this; however, they spelled his name as "groo" and also used no capitalization or punctuation, causing posters to not only mock the poster's poor typing but also saying they weren't talking about Gru from Despicable Me at all. Another poster responded with an edit of the Principal with Igor's nose (which looks just like Gru) and called it the worst thing they'd ever made. Now whenever anyone brings Goro up on the general, expect someone to respond with this, with the edited picture following soon after.

Ann's poor spine. Explanation When she was officially announced, Ann's official art showed her angled that it appeared that she was hunched.

#NotMyIgor Explanation (spoilers!) A response to both Igor's The Other Darrin treatment and The Reveal that he's actually Yaldabaoth, not the real Igor (which is the real reason for the change in voice).

Everyone is Shido's kid . Explanation (spoilers!) Due to the number of characters with absent fathers (Ryuji, Yusuke, and Futaba), the fandom began to joke that it's because Shido abandoned them like he did with Goro.

7/7 Explanation ATLUS made a statement detailing that Twitch streamers playing the localized/English version of Persona 5 aren't allowed to stream past the in-game date 7/7 for the sake of spoilers despite the fact that the game's been out in Japan for nearly 7 months now, much to many streamers' dismay. "The tutorial ends on 7/7." Explanation Streamers new to the game have complained about the overwhelming amount of tutorial/tips given to the player; even after 40+ hours of playing, Twitch chat figured the tutorial wouldn't end until 7/7, streams would (supposedly) have to stop streaming the game.

*interacts with anyone* *time flashes forward* Explanation Establishing a new Co-Op causes a brief jump back to the interrogation room , where Sae notes that the Phantom Thieves must have had someone with a specific skill as an accomplice. This quickly turned into jokes about Sae accusing every random NPC you pass of being part of your schemes or that mundane/silly actions required the aid of a "specialist" to pull off. Nasty Crimeboy Explanation The name used by one of the first people to make such a post, presumably in reference to Monster Factory , is rapidly gaining popularity. In a similar fashion, Akechi is referred to as "Decent Lawboy."

Makoto's Browser History Explanation A certain scene in the game has Makoto access Sae's laptop to take her data into Futaba's USB. The fanbase immediately took to this and started photoshopping websites of all kinds that Makoto was browsing. In a similar vein: "I would like your honest opinion...if you would." ◊ Explanation Like the Makoto image above, the fanbase uses this set up to photoshop all kinds of artwork (usually low-quality or adhering to certain fetishes ) into Yusuke's canvas. For context, this is from the Rank 2 event of his Confidant where he's submitting his first major art piece to an exhibition.

"The influence of ___ knows no bounds... I underestimated it, honestly." Explanation Akechi fills in the blanks with whatever you name the Phantom Thieves of Hearts for online play. It didn't take long for the fanbase to put in all sorts of funny and lewd combinations.

Lala Escargot is best girl. Explanation Camp Gay guys who harass Ryuji. A variant on the "best girl" memes from Persona 4. Lala Escargot runs the Crossroads bar and is fairly popular despite being a minor NPC without a Confidant, due to being a positive portrayal of an LBGT person (they're implied to either be a gay Drag Queen or a transwoman) and all round Reasonable Authority Figure , especially when compared to the two Yusuke, perhaps to an even greater degree, is given the same treatment.

Same with Ryuji. Explanation If Joker doesn't have a Love Interest , he'll end up spending Valentine's Day only with Ryuji, who even gives him chocolate.

Ooh, we can do this! Explanation During every set of exams, Morgana will say this line aloud every time Joker picks a correct answer. Given that you get to answer two questions a day and exams can last up to a week, players can hear Morgana say this line up to a dozen times in the space of about 5 minutes. Looking cool, Joker! Explanation In the same vein as above, Morgana tends to say this line whenever Joker hits a Shadow with its elemental weakness; which, combined with the fact that the PC might as well be the character you rely on for all elements before late-game, equals that the player will hear this line a lot. It's spread even more now that Joker has been released in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , and one of his taunts in that game has Morgana say this exact line.

What are your thoughts? Explanation Similar to the exam line, this sounds every time the player crafts an infiltration tool, up to five times in a single sitting.

#LetRyujiSayFuck Explanation Ryuji holds the title of the only main character to explicitly say "fuck" in game (though it is never voiced; the line is voiced in Royal, but Ryuji says "shittiest" instead), and then proceeds to never say it again, substituting it for "eff". Naturally, fans are (jokingly) rallying for him to say it again.

The kid behind Joker's desk. Explanation Joker sits in front of a student in class; one of whom the fandom quickly realized would have seen Morgana, him making lockpicks or other suspicious items, and possibly his texts about the Phantom Thieves. He quickly became hailed as the "real hero" of the game for never snitching on any of these.

This portrait of Yusuke . Explanation This was a dialogue portrait for Yusuke found in the art book that was only used in the scene where he first talks to Futaba. Once it got leaked into the internet, it started gaining a lot of popularity mostly due to its narmy nature and how out of character it is for Yusuke.

I am certainly in the mood For something salty today. Explanation A two part text from Yusuke in-game. Mostly used out of context.

Hoo boy Explanation On Valentines' Day, Sojiro expresses surprise that Joker has spent a year in Tokyo without romancing a single woman, comparing him unfavorably to himself. "When I was your age... Hoo boy." You try anything with my daughter, and hoo boy. Explanation Repurposing the above quote as a warning to Joker if he is in a relationship with Futaba and tries anything funny with her.

You've hoo'd your last boy. Explanation Another variation, usually in conjunction with either Sojiro being an Overprotective Dad to Futaba or the Harem End

Photoshopping different characters into Kawakami's maid outfit Explanation Became a massive trend on Persona 5 forums, especially on Reddit, to photoshop various characters heads onto Sadayo Kawakami's maid uniform portrait, alongside a quote calling Joker; "Master".

"Let's do it in the student council room, I'll leave the back entrance open for you" Explanation A quote from early in Makoto's Confidant Link, the "it" in question being a talk with Joker and having to have him sneak into the student council room since it's after-school hours. With it sounding extremely suggestive when taken out-of-context, what with the double-meanings of "Do it" and "back entrance" and all, fans naturally ran with it, especially considering that the Joker/Makoto ship is one of the most popular pairings of the game.

Rank 5 [Skill name] Explanation Similar to The Elder Scroll's "[skill name] 100" meme, it's popular to take images and videos and insinuate that the people involved have/need to level(led) their skills to the corresponding level.

Train Missed. Game Over. Explanation It's possible to miss the train to Shujin Academy on your first day of school. Many-a-player freaked out, believing it to be a Non Standard Game Over or possibly even a Game-Breaking Bug . In actuality, a new train can be called by walking over to the platform and pressing X. Finding the Ginza line. Explanation On a similar note, after getting on the train at Yongen-Jaya on the first school day you are required to manually transfer to the Ginza line platform. Given the confusing layout of Shibuya station, fans have named this action the most difficult part of the game, and several joked about needing to visit the real-life Shibuya station in order to succeed.

John Cena's a Phantom Thief. Explanation Due to his Catch Phrase "You can't see me" and his signature pose being similar to how the characters pose when summoning their Personas led to his likeness being drawn in Persona fanart or his music mashed up with the game.

"Cognitive psience, son." Explanation (Spoilers) ◊ looks quite a lot like Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising. Naturally, the fandom had fun with this one. Shido in his Samael form looks quite a lot like Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising. Naturally, the fandom had fun with this one.

The sex. Explanation Sae's unused lines were datamined, and part of it involves her making a few gasps in quick succession.

Haru's forehead Explanation Haru's hairstyle leaves her forehead uncovered, leading to many jokes about how huge her forehead is, despite being normally sized.

Futaba X Inari = Futanari Explanation Putting together Futaba's name and her nickname for Yusuke, Inari, when shipping them results in the term "Futanari".

"Damn brat, I'll sue!" Explanation Shido's outburst when Joker stopped the sexual assault that lead to his false accusation and his probation, cue fans quoting these words whenever Joker does anything remotely threatening. Or just when Shido comes up, period. "Damn brat!" Explanation Shido and Eric are played by the Persona 5 fans that are also Zero Escape fans notice that bothand Eric are played by the same English voice actor and even yell similar lines (the latter saying "Damn brat, stop bullshitting me!").

Ryuji declaring that he's a Phantom Thief Explanation Ryuji cannot keep quiet about being a Phantom Thief, blurting it out several times — in publicly crowded areas, no less. Cue the fanbase making a lot of jokes about Ryuji revealing his secret at the most inopportune times.

Ryuji IS the Phantom Thief Explanation Since Ryuji can't keep his mouth shut about their sercet identity in public, some fans are so annoyed that they decided to sell Ryuji out the first chance they got. It doesn't help with the fact that there is actually an option for player to tell Akechi the exact meme-namer in the game. Though Akechi brushed off as if it is a joke.

Fursona 5 Explanation Promotional material for Sonic Forces revealed that Persona 5 clothing will be available for the Avatar character , with many joking the example posted there was Joker's own Sonic OC. What helps is that Sonic Original Characters are often seen as a "beginner fursona" for furries , and given how many of the thieves have an animal motif to them, this can be easily extended to Joker's teammates too. NO GLOVES! Explanation The above lead to this common reaction since the render shown in the advert lacks Joker's red gloves and just has the hands shown bare instead, which is especially strange seeing as they're a big part of Joker's design and gloves in general are considered a standard element in most official Sonic designs as well.

Cowboy Bebop's opening syncs up a little too well Explanation The opening theme for Cowboy Bebop fits very well with the style of the opening of Persona 5, with the characters appearing at exact matching times.

Haru is a sadist. Explanation should he cheat on her by Valentine's Day , and having Haru is a cute lady that has some questionable decisions, such as carrying an axe and a grenade launcher into a battle, saying in a cheerful tone that she gets shivers whenever she hears Shadows plead for their lives, easily having the scariest reaction to Joker, and having Blood Knight tendencies so great she scared both Makoto and Ryuji once. This led to jokes that Haru is secretly a sadistic person beneath all of her normally cute looks

Make Japan Great Again Explanation Due to the game's release coinciding with the election of United States President Donald Trump , with many claiming he shares similarities with Shido , the internet wasted no time spinning memes linking the two.

Goro Akechi is Mike Wazowski Explanation After a limited edition of the game shows Akechi's face being blocked by the price tag, jokes have been made about Akechi being Mike Wazowski.

Captain Akechi. Explanation (spoiler) During the Casino arc, Akechi had his moment to shine as part of the Phantom thieves. With his cunning tactics and powerful skills, players feels Akechi is more like the leader of the team comparing to Joker . Also, Akechi's bright costume resembles to the uniform of a navy officer. Hence the meme is created. Another interpretation is that during the interrogation scene, a streamer mused why Joker didn't just tell Sae that Akechi is the mastermind of Phantom Thieves. His fans soon began to refer Akechi as "Leader".

"I'm a teacher....and you're my student." "That's the best part." Explanation In her romance path, Kawakami will try to discourage Joker from pursuing a relationship with her due to the taboo nature of it. One of Joker's potential responses "that's the best part" reached memetic levels due to how much it Crosses the Line Twice

Retort it Explanation After Joker was released as DLC in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , Kotaku published an article falsely accusing the song "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There" of containing the slur "retarded", which turned out to be a mondegreen of "retort it". On top of Kotaku getting criticism for the misleading article, people started making jokes about the incident, such as using "retort it" as a substitute for the actual slur.

Bayonetta is Joker's mom. Explanation Due to both characters being dark-haired, having powers associated with darkness, being extremely stylish and sassy, using melee weapons and guns at the same time, and a few other similarities; it became extremely popular Fanon that Joker is Bayonetta's son. After Joker got included as a DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the meme really took off. Joker, two years later. Explanation A variation of the above, popular with the game's LGBT fanbase, is that Joker is trans and becomes Bayonetta after undergoing Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Futaba sleeping. Explanation (spoilers) After completing her Palace, Futaba "decides to sleep" and will not wake up until the plot-mandated deadline of August 21st. Since her dungeon starts in late July, completing it early results in her sleeping for almost a month, which is not helped by how nonchalant everyone is (including Sojiro, her adoptive father). Cue jokes and memes.

Pleasant Boy. Explanation (spoilers) Akechi is referred to with this epithet before his introduction. It becomes ironic considering the unpleasant things he's done such as being responsible for the psychotic breakdown and mental shutdown incidents.

Haru's Screen Time Explanation Unlike everyone else who joins the Phantom Thieves, Haru does not interact with the group before joining. In her father's palace, her persona awakening is offscreen and she is overshadowed by the feud between Morgana and the rest of the Phantom Thieves. Her confidant is also late in the game and requires Rank 5 proficiency at Rank 2. This has led to jokes about Haru not having any screen time.

Cuck the cat. Explanation A running joke among fans who don't like Morgana is that they romance Ann purely to spite him due to his crush on her. "Spare coochie Lady Ann" Explanation A term used as a slang to try and get with a woman, with coochie being referring to the genitals. It's been mixed with Morgana asking for this with Ann due to him having a crush on her.