The Phantom Thieves of Mobius
Arcanas
Akira Amamiya
First Appearance: Sonic Forces (As Avatar/Buddy A/Rookie/Custom Hero/Custom Character) & IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog: Winter Jam (As Buddy The Wolf)
Akira Amamiya is a young red wolf who moved out of Golden Bay City to make a new life free from his past baggage that he wants to get away from but fate had other ideas for him and he finds himself put on a great journey as a Wild Card. From here, he'll both forge new bonds with others involved in his saga and face against a shadowy world of corruption as a Phantom Thief known as Avatar.
A wolf of many facets; he can be loving, be sarcastic or be harsh as examples of the many aspects of who he is towards other people. He used to be very apathetic towards the world and treating everything around him as not being his problem until one fateful day, Akira suddenly awoke from his waking slumber to defend another person and making him start taking action against an unjust world as he knows doing nothing would only enables the problem further through his own inaction.
Learning to start pushing back and pushing back hard; he's showing the world his newfound defiance and spirit but the demons of his past are also not far behind. Only a matter of time before he has to face the darkness within him or risk losing everything once more...
The Fool.
The Velvet Room
First Appearance: Megami lbunroku Persona/Revelations: Persona/Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
A place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter.
It along with it's attendants will be the ones to help the aimless young wolf Akira Amamiya through what they'd call 'rehabilitation' and set him on a journey that'll either make or break him depending on the choices he makes along the way while he finds himself...
Rank 2
I. The Magician.
Johnny Lightfoot
First Appearance: Sonic the Comic #5 (As an unnamed character) & #8 (As Johnny Lightfoot)
Cool, sensible and laidback are his best qualities.
Johnny is a male grey rabbit traveller that's got an affective charm skill in his arsenal. As one of Akira's accomplices and friend, he aids the wolf in his endeavours to uncover the mysteries of the Metaverse and helping other people while teaching him everything he knows along the way...
Rank 1
III. The Empress.
Vanilla Rabbit
First Appearance: Sonic Advance 2
A warm, nurturing and kindly widowed single mother of Cream the Rabbit.
Vanilla unfortunately bears the sole parental responsibility of making sure her child is living in a good home and raised right while trying to provide for the both of them which leads her to feel the weight of her husband's absence at times; often wearing a smile to other people to hide her own personal struggles. Thankfully with a bond to a person like Akira in her life, the rabbit won't have to shoulder all of the responsibilities on her own and she hopes to help him in turn as an accomplice...
Rank 1
VII. The Chariot.
Manic the Hedgehog
First Appearance: Sonic Underground: "Beginnings"
A good natured green hedgehog raised in the slums by the beloved late master thief Farrell.
Manic is a young street thief with a rebellious streak went from pickpocketing Akira for his broken watch with help from his longtime stout friend Little John Hedgehog as part of a scheme to becoming one of the wolf's first real friends after moving into his new life and now aids him in the Metaverse as a fellow accomplice to help make lives better for other people...
Rank 1
XIII. Death.
Fiona Fox
First Appearance: Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog #28 (As Auto-Fiona) & Archie's Knuckles the Echidna #26 (As the real Fiona Fox)
A beautiful but mysterious crimson vixen.
Fiona attends the same college as Akira as she's the first student to greet him on his first day there and studying to become a qualified doctor with a generally friendly, casual and personable personality when people treat her like a normal person rather than a hot piece of tail which often tends to be the case with a lot of folks that approaches her. Though an accomplice of Akira and sharing his goals of helping other people, there's more to her than meets the eye...
Rank 1
Palace Ruler
Sagittarius
Anton Veruca
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
Leader of the Hooligans in Geno City and formerly from Hedgehog Town, South Island.
Anton Veruca is a self-proclaimed Number One Hooligan and was one of Sonic's earliest foes in the blue blur's formative years. He holds a particular hatred for Sonic personally while the latter has thought little of him since then.
Spiteful, arrogant, egocentric, honour-less and all-around cruel bully; he is a thug in every sense of the word who'll threaten others to get what he wants and loves to torment people unfortunate enough to be noticed by him including Manic the Hedgehog who he holds a particularly sadistic streak towards to the point of obsession in authoring his ruination on top of his own insatiable avarice.
He runs the Hooligans who are heavily involved in a number of criminal activities from production of counterfeit mobiums to extortion rackets and the gang largely comprised of characters just as unsavoury as him including a few deviants. They are one of the biggest gangs in Geno City and have something of a presence even on the good side of Cyber City including Anton owning a mansion in one of the more upperclass districts.
With the size of his gang and his connections in high places, he believes himself to be a nigh-untouchable big player in the crimnal underworld...
O.V.I
First Appearance: Sonic The Comic #6 (Kintobor Computer)
Operational Virtual Intelligence or O.V.I for short is an advanced A.I of mysterious origins and possessing an encyclopaedic index knowledge of the Metaverse including it's relationship with Jungian Theory. Kind, benevolent and ready to help his companions in need be it intel on Shadows or mathematical equations with a side order of supportive words...
Little John
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
The ever faithful friend of Manic and knew the son of Farrell from childhood. When you're in need of supplies, needing to pawn off some goods for cash or some assistance; Little John is the guy to count on in spite of his stout build and has a likeable personality that makes him very trustworthy as his friends can attest to with Manic swearing by him the most. He is also the son of an inventor and thus bears the gifts of one which comes in handy at times...
Tatiana Tiger
First Appearance: Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog #137
A childhood sweetheart of Manic and a fellow student of Farrell; the latter a father figure to her. Once a headstrong self-advocating tigress, recent events in her life have changed her for better or worse but she's never forgotten where she came from and cares deeply for her loved ones to make difficult choices to keep them all out of danger. Like Manic, she views Anton Veruca as much a threat to Geno City though she also sees the bigger picture as well...
Migu Veruca
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
The only sister of Anton Veruca and disliked by most of the campus for being an underhanded imp of a rumourmonger with a past track record of getting fellow students either for displeasing her or out of boredom. Beneath that impish demeanour is a traumatised girl with a troubled home life and a disdain for her own mother who resents her greatly. Cares greatly for Tod Veruca in stark contrast to their eldest brother...
Farrell
First Appearance: Sonic Underground: "Beginnings"
The late adopted father of Manic, highly regarded as a master thief and considered a man of the people. Farrell taught Manic many things growing up as his mentor as well as his parental figure, honourable compared to his fellow peers and was always defiant towards unjust authority including Captain Krouch. He would tragically lose his life to an assassination disguised as a random house break-in gone wrong according to official police ruling of the case though not everyone believes the narrative...
Hud Veruca
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
Embodying the worst qualities of his mother in belittling others, a wannabe tough guy who'd rarely be without his backup and for every bad bully, there's a worse enabler snaking not too far behind; that's Hud Veruca in a nutshell. Wether it'd be his snide tongue, his draining negative presence that hangs like a smog in the air, an ability to make any inoffensive statements sound like a slur coming out of his mouth or an overall unpleasant personality that lacks whatever redeeming qualities Anton has including his backpedaling in his eldest brother's presence when he acts out of turn...
Patty
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
An orange energetic and talkative vixen who's been best described as a hopeless romantic with a talent for tailoring. Patty is a kind and charitable woman caught up with the wrong crowd who loves picking on her from little jests to comments that cuts in way too deep for supposed "banter" that upsets her but she's coming back to the company of those who'll appreciate her more including Manic...
Mad Veruca
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
A deranged, nutjob with a history of violence. Mad is a wild beast that has to be reined in by others including Anton since he can fly off the handle otherwise, practices animal cruelty with mobini cats as his most frequent victims and generally a creep towards women including Monica who he's got an unhealthy affection for...
Monica
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
A nice if offbeat mouse forced into joining the Hooligans by her toxic colleagues when Manic got sent to juvenile hall and forced to dress herself up as a boy with a few people being after her including pimps; expecting Anton Veruca to provide her protection from them but suspects he's not doing much about the problem. Monica would rather stick with Manic's crew if she could but willing to aid them against the Hooligans whenever possible...
Tod Veruca
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
Poor Tod has the misfortune of being both related to Anton and be his personal punching bag either verbal or physical. Compared to his brothers, he's the least malicious, witless and timid of them all to his own detriment; coming off as a pushover than a real hooligan. Always trying to win his disinterested eldest brother's respect...
Hogi Veruca
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
A put-upon father of five kids trying to put food and works as a head chef for Mayor Fumfer. Trying his best for his kids but Anton always resents him for being a loser parent in his eyes who gets surpassed by other dads while his wife continually questions why she ever got with him...
Vera Veruca
First Appearance: Shogakukan's Sonic the Hedgehog
Domineering, bullying and dismissive; this fearsome member of the P.T.A can intimidate even Anton who once disappointed her for bringing shame to her when he was a loser son until he suddenly started earning her a lot of mobiums where she changed her stance on him being the real breadwinner in the house. Vera is as beastly on the inside as she is on the outside with her belittling of others including her own husband and much of her children's negative traits all seem to originate from her one form or another...
Mayor Fumfer
First Appearance: Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: "The Last Resort"
Once a victim of identity theft, the current Mayor of Cyber City is a crooked politician who's policies largely benefits the wealthy side of the city plus his own political party and his housing scheme for Geno City smelling like a gentrification plot to folks who don't buy his con with faint rumours going that the recent extortion of family owned businesses over in the slums might be connected but he's always ready to defuse them with a smile while the reporter looking into it mysteriously commits suicide by rope... Just like that other reporter looking into his rumoured connections to organised crime who mysteriously commits suicide by drowning himself inside of a welded barrel...
Mr. Hedgehog
First Appearance: None (Conceived during the original Sonic the Hedgehog' development and often misreported as Mr. Needlemouse due to mistranslation)
Mr. Hedgehog is the enigmatic Master of the Velvet Room with a strong resemblance to Sonic, he takes on Mobian Guests including his most recent Akira Amamiya aka Avatar and handles Advance Fusions plus Special Fusions for he's got the expert skills to handle them safely. Despite his reserved and mysterious nature, he's a warm patient presence with great insights and wisdom. He hopes for the young wolf to succeed in completing his rehabilitation...
Tiara
First Appearance: Sonic X-Treme (Unreleased) & Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog #134 (The infamously awful one)
Tiara is one of Mr. Hedgehog's assistants assigned to Akira Amamiya, carrier of his Persona Compendium, acting her trickster's go-between and roommate. A spunky attendant with some rudimentary knowledge of Akira's world but still a little wet behind the ears on the subtleties of it and she's not above slyly aiding him within reason. Akira suspects she's not as much a stickler for rules as Mr. Hedgehog is and would happily exploit any possible loopholes to help out while claiming plausible deniability at the same time...
Gazebo
First Appearance: Sonic X-Treme (Unreleased)
Of the Velvet Room Attendants working with Akira Amamiya, Gazebo is something of an eccentric and a friendly easygoing personality to the Wild Card. He is tasked in the important duty of strengthening of Personas to make them stronger and vending of rare items only he can provide in exchange for credits or money.
Joe
First Appearance: Sonic the Hedgehog 1 (As Rocky) & Sonic the Poster Mag #1 (Conceived as a large, buff angry member of the Freedom Team named Joe Sushi in an early pitch for Sonic Satam with Freedom Team becoming the Knothole Freedom Fighters while he became Rotor Walrus)
Joe has something of an intense aura around him with his build but largely a calm person who acts more stern than Gazebo and Tiara, coming off as no-nonsense in comparison. Tasked with handling Fusions and Network Fusions to provide Akira with the Personas he needs including those bearing useful skills he's looking for...
Inigo Cortez
First Appearance: Archie's Sonic Universe #95 (Unreleased)
The blue badger they call Inigo Cortez is a fellow Persona user, a skilled swordsman with a confident personality and generally the most enigmatic amongst his teammates. Akira is curious to know more about what makes him tick, understand what his whole deal is and maybe get an insight into who he is as a person...
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts: Elysium of Wealth Party Roster List
1. Akira Amamiya
Codename: Avatar
Arcana: The Fool
Special Ability: Wild Card (Able to use more than one Persona of different arcana types)
Metaverse Appearance: A black cloak cape with red trimmings, black velvet pants, a red shirt under a black velvet jacket, a pair of brown swashbuckling high boots, a pair of blue gloves of the same shade as the mask, a black wide-brimmed hat and a long red scarf.
Inspired by both Toulouse-Lautrec's Aristide Bruant poster art and Persona 5's concept design for Joker.
Weapons: Rapier swords and semi-automatic pistol.
Initial Persona: Doctor Omega
Initial Persona Description: A man dressed in an Edwardian/Victorian-style getup with a dark flocked coat, creamy tweed waistcoat, a white wild Einstein-style haircut, a purple ascot, orange tartan trousers for leg-wear and a pair of brown shoes. His physical appearance like a photorealistic painting with an injection of caricature-styling while his stern facial features have sharp, angular lines to them.
He holds an item that resembles a silver wand or tool with a red ring on top in his left hand. Lastly, there's a small silver projectile-shaped spaceship that's he riding on top of like a skateboard and having the name 'Cosmos' written on the side of it.
Elemental: Any (Applies to all Personas he uses)
Elemental Weakness: Any (Applies to all Personas he uses)
Role: The Wild Card/Party Leader
Types of Skills: Fire (Doctor Omega's default element), Passive Skills and Support Skills + Any (Applies to all Personas he uses)
Initial Persona's Background: Protagonist of the 1906 French novel 'Le Docteur Oméga/Doctor Omega' by Arnould Galopin. Doctor Omega is a mysterious but brilliant and witty inventor who builds a rocket ship Cosmos that takes him plus his companions to Mars on a grand adventure while using his cunning to save the day...
2. Johnny Lightfoot
Codename: Rogue
Arcana: The Magician
Special Ability: Bullet Speed (Able to slow down time temporarily to draw and aim faster than his opponents)
Metaverse Appearance: A black striped double-breasted suit with a right-sided breast pocket, a chain on the left pants pocket, a blue shirt, black shoes, a blue bowtie and a golden ball mask that obscures the upper part of his face barring the eyes.
Inspired by the styles of 1920's Gangsters.
Weapons: Bow staff club weapons and small submachine gun.
Persona: John Dillinger
Persona Description: A cartoonish-looking figure that could be described as an old-school Great Depression Era mobster in a navy blue tailored suit, a single-breasted jacket, a bow tie, a stylised pencil moustache, a cool smile with an intense gaze, an Italian boater straw hat with a bullethole on it and a tommy-gun with a barrel the size of a lampshade.
Elemental: Force
Elemental Weakness: Gravity
Role: Gunner
Types of Skills: Force and Pierce-related skills
Persona's Background: A historical gangster prominent in the Great Depression Era America. A rebel with a bravado and colourful personality whose exploits has made him be considered the Robin Hood of his time...
3. Manic the Hedgehog
Codename: Sly
Arcana: The Chariot
Special Ability: Masquerade (Able to assume a disguise as a Shadow, a fellow teammate or somebody else within the Metaverse for infiltration purposes)
Metaverse Appearance: An emerald green 1970's leisure suit with black dress shoes and a pair of black leather thief gloves on his hands with a black eye thief mask.
Inspired by Lupin III Part I's green jacket attire.
Weapons: Baton clubs and big submachine gun.
Persona: A. J. Raffles
Persona Description: A visually cartoonishly looking but snappily dressed dark curly-haired figure with chin length wearing a dark shirt, sleek pants, shoes, the distinctively eye-catching white tie, black jacket and a black top hat. Having a gentleman's posture and one leg bend back as if leaning on a wall while having a mischievous smile on him.
Elemental: Earth
Elemental Weakness: Water
Role: The Thief
Types of Skills: Earth, Pierce and Strike-related skills.
Persona's Background: A literary master thief created by E. W. Hornung, brother-in-law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A gentleman cricketer known for targeting the rich and committing the capers is something of a sport to him; he is also a master of disguises...
4. Inigo Cortez
Codename: Seeker
Arcana: ?
Special Ability: Charmer (Able to charm, persuade or disarm a Shadow)
Metaverse Appearance: A blueish armoured tunic with a left armoured shoulder-pad, a grey gauntlet on the left hand, a brown torso strap and belt with a yellow buckle, purple boots and a golden Horus mask that covers most of the upper part of his face.
Modelled after male Ancient Egyptian apparels of the period.
Weapons: Greatswords and silencer pistol.
Persona: Guardian
Persona Description: A buff gold-armoured man with an Egyptian Sphinx-Nemes helmet on him and having a near-robotic appearance to him, arms crossed across his chest. Wielding a Crook and a Flail in both hands just like what would be found on a pharaoh's sarcophagus.
Both Guardian is based off the scrapped Guardian Sphinx boss from the cancelled Sonic X-Treme.
Elemental: Bless
Elemental Weakness: Curse
Role: Swordsman
Types of Skills: Bless and Slash-related skills
Persona's Background: Guardian is either based on the Sphinx whom in some mythologies has been depicted as both a benevolent protector and a treacherous destroyer or based on the Golems of Judaism born from inanimate matter; it is still a formidable sentinel to face against regardless...
EX. Operational Virtual Intelligence
Codename: O.V.I
Description: A holographic head of a bald-topped bespectacled man with an orange moustache and a wild orange Einstein-style haircut.
Special Ability: Interface (Able to be hooked up to and interact with other devices both in the real world and the Metaverse)
Role: Navigator & Analyst
Types of Skills: Navi Skills, Treasure Chest Scans, Enemy Scans and Weakness Scans.
Palace Ruler. Anton Veruca
Negative Zodiac: Sagittarius
Shadow Title: Don Chairman of AntonCo
Shadow Description: Dressed in an expensive purple suit with a black tie, a purple hat with a grey feather on it, a red undershirt, expensive jewellery that's on all of his fingers, the gold jacket cufflinks shaped after the graffiti gang symbol, a carot gold jewelled cane in one hand, dark crocodile shoes, a gold neck-chain and slicked back jet-black hair. Golden eyes and crimson scales.
Shadow Monster Title: Sagittarius Anton Veruca
Shadow Monster Description: A large centaur-like form the size of a small house. A large ebony lizard with a dragon-like head, a dragon-like tail and a horse-like lower torso dressed in spike-studded punk clothes. Black sleeveless hoodie with a yellow skull and thunderbolts under it acting as the crossbones.
In his hands, he wields a long chain whip in the right hand and a big spiked club in the left hand. The spiked club being about the size of a small tree log. When he had his Treasure on him, it took the form of a statuette and situated on his back like a horse jockey.
Special Skill: The Showstopper (Almighty Skill)
Palace Theme: Elysium of Wealth. A hellish apocalyptic rendition of Cyber City and Geno City with only a large golden corporate AntonCo HQ building that reaches high into the heavens and a massive golden statue of Don Chairman Anton standing tall amongst the ruins as monuments to the Palace Ruler's own overly inflated opinion of himself.
It uses Shadow Enforcers as security and enforcers of Don Chairman Anton's will. Patrolling in and around the premises in addition to the ruined streets of Cyber City.
Employs versions of Anton's siblings Migu, Mad and Hud as high-ranking corporate officials barring his version of Tod who works as his muscular janitor bodyguard servant and features cognitive versions of other people in his own Palace including Secretary Patty.
The Chairman H-Morale Team is an all-female team comprising of Shadow Patty, Shadow Monica, Shadow Tatiana and Shadow Fiona that were fought by the Phantom Thieves. All four are objectified and physically exaggerated versions of their real world counterparts with them embodying unflattering traits down to Shadow Tatiana being initially portrayed by Anton as an air-handed bimbo prior to the cognitive change where she became more like the real Tatiana Tiger.
Inspired by BiffCo Enterprise and the Biffhorrific 1985 timeline from Back To The Future Part II, Sonic the Hedgehog 2006's Crisis City and Pottersville from It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Keywords: Anton Veruca. Influential. Cyber City.
Treasure: Sharp S. Chicken's Prized Black Custom Acoustic Guitar.
Calling Card Message: "...Dear Don Chairman Anton Veruca, the rotten bastard of Geno City.
You have build up your ill-gotten wealth off the back of others, hurting many people with your selfish actions including your own and you corrode everything you touch by your toxicity.
You even began your empire with your hands stained in blood and thought your secret could be kept silent forever but we will make you confess to your crimes with your own mouth.
From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts..."
Glossary
Personas.
They are the user's subconscious, psyche and inner voice given form. To awaken to a Persona, one must have the will to confront one's suppressed self and break their own shackles to wield this great power. Often occur under stressful and traumatic circumstances. A type of spiritual cleansing.
They can be used to combat other Shadows and act as companions to their hosts. What forms the Personas will take is influenced by the user's own personality, arcana type and an understanding of who they are both good and bad. Additionally, Personas have their own personality traits, elemental affinities and skills that can make them useful in the fields of combat.
Lastly, those who gain a Persona may find their physiology slightly altered including having faster healing.
Wild Card.
A Wild Card is a user with the unique ability to wield multiple Personas at once and a versatile team member who can cover different roles through their various Personas from different arcanas. Inheriting the strengths and attributes of the many Persons they carry. Even use their traits to their advantage.
There are three drawbacks to the ability. Three that can affect the user.
1. The Wild Card has a limit on how many Personas they can carry and once they hit a max amount, they must sacrifice or release ones in their arsenal to acquire newer Personas.
2. Because of the personalities of the many Personas, the Wild Card may find themselves unwittingly exhibiting the traits of their equipped Persona which can cause issues for them.
3. Due to them wielding multiple Personas and their abilities, the user also bear their weaknesses which can leave them vulnerable to enemy attacks. Similarly, the user might find themselves expending more energy based the spell costs of their Personas if they're not careful.
Velvet Room.
This is a special location that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It a hub where the Wild Card can enter as a guest to acquire new Personas at and improve existing Personas. The guest can go to it at any time up to whenever their journey comes to a close.
If one were to start seeing this room, it's a sign that their journey is about to begin...
Metaverse.
The Metaverse is a tangible, cognitive realm where thoughts and subconsciousness takes physical form. A metaphysical universe existing alongside the real world and tied to the cognition from said world. Having different rules and laws compared to the real world, the Metaverse is a treacherous and dangerous place for those without a Persona.
This realm is influenced by the real world and in return, the real world is influenced by it. How it came to be is a mystery.
Palaces.
These are locations within the Metaverse where distortions are at their highest, occupied by a lot of Shadows and ruled over by a Palace Ruler. Birthed from a host's distorted desires, what forms they take are influenced by how they view themselves, how they view their world and how their place in society.
Valuable loots are often found in these locations but security is also an issue for anyone raiding them and there are security measures in place that act as obstacles for those daring to meet the risks.
Shadows.
They are inhabitants of the Metaverse and take on many different forms. Born from the collective subconscious, they are embodiments of the suppressed self and bear the darkest aspects of the conscious mind. They're generally hostile to outsiders.
There are the common Shadows who roams the realm and can be fought. Defeating them can help Persona users grow experience and even earn goodies if they happen to have any.
For Wild Cards, they are also a means to acquire new Personas if they can successfully negotiate with a Shadow to join their party.
Then there are Shadows attached to residents of the real world and will bear their host's likeness. Characterised by their distinct golden eyes, these Shadows are different from regular examples for they are often stronger than their peers and embody the hosts' repressed self more than the common Shadows with them knowing the hidden anxieties, desires or thoughts they may keep buried from everyone else.
Due to them belonging to real people, killing their Shadows could be fatal to the hosts.
Lastly, there's the Palace Rulers. Shadows of their hosts who's distorted desires were strong enough to bring a Palace into existence and these types are the most formidable to battle with as they hold power over common Shadows. Depending on their hosts and how exaggerated they are within the Metaverse, they might either be the most wicked and repulsive monster around or the most sad and tragic figure who needs help. The one thing they all have in common is that they'll fight for their Treasure; an item that is the heart of their Palace's being and embodiment of their greatest desires.
Defeating a Palace Ruler and taking their Treasure will lead not only collapse of the Palace they reside over but also a change of heart where they'll no longer bear the guilt and turn themselves in depending on the severity of their crimes. For the more sympathetic Palace Rulers, the change of heart might be an expulsion of the negative smog of the soul like a surgeon removing a cancer and free them from their own darkness to live again.
Skills.
Every Persona and every Shadow has a skill.
Skills are divided into five types: Attack, Support, Ailment, Healing and Passive.
Attack comprises of damage-dealing physical and magic skills. Physical attacks are made up of three types in the form of Strike where blunt damage is dealt, Slash where damage is achieved through bladed attacks and Pierce where it deals puncturing damage to foes.
Support comprises of skills that can buff allies, debuff foes and more that helps to assist the party in more challenging circumstances or to end battles quicker. They can even double up the spell caster's own stats for greater damage, agility and defence.
Ailment are skills that don't deal damage but can leave the affected to be more vulnerable to attacks from foes, unable to act or in worst case scenarios, attack both foes and their own allies with no control.
Healing skills are invaluable in battle for they're the difference between victory and defeat.
Passives are skills that can't be used but does boost the damage output, increase the effectiveness of the spells, make the user harder to be hit, reduce spell costs, reduce the damage received and so on. A number of Passives can stack with each other to get greater benefits and complimenting a Persona's arsenal.
Elementals.
Elementals are magic spells that inflicts damage according to the element. Said damage and infliction can be doubled with corresponding Passives. Each of the elements have a weakness/counter to an opposing element.
Fire vs Ice
Wind vs Elec
Earth vs Water
Nuclear vs Psychokinesis
Gravity vs Force
Bless vs Curse
There is also the powerful Almighty element which has no counter, can hit targets regardless of what resistances they have and a game changer in the heat of battle. It is the most dangerous of the elemental types for it can heavily damage or wipe out an entire party if they're on the receiving end of an Almighty spell.
Cyber City.
It is a metropolis found in Northamer. One with a storied, bloodied history including one of the most bloody gang wars in recent history that almost brought Cyber City to its' very knees. A city of two halves with a great wall dividing them from one another.
One half is a bright, shiny wealthy city of the future and christened as Cyber City. Seemingly utopian in appearance but beneath the glittery surface lies the epicentre for corruption, vices and exploitation of the more insidious kind with most of the upper echelons having earned their fortunes off the exploitation backs of the lower classes.
Folks who could barely stand one another and eager to screw each other as though they're businessmen in a corporate environment right down to extortion, blackmail and even assassination. As some criminals from Geno City would say, they got nothing on the real crooks living in luxury and mansions with what they get up to.
The other is a dirty, crime-ridden reminder of the city's violent past named Geno City with Geno in Old Latin meaning to produce, to birth or to bear fruit but it is more unflatteringly referred to as 'Genocide City' by the snobs of Cyber City ignorant or indifferent to the struggles of the lower class. Crime highs are high and many do what they can to survive while dealing with the unfair treatment from the good side who see them as bottom of the barrel or criminal lowlifes that spoil their perfect city.
Despite being home to the most foul and unsavoury characters one can find outside of the upperclass, there are plenty of good people who strive to make Geno City a good place and ones to fight against the criminals plaguing their home. Some hoping to bring down the wall to unify the people of the city as one again rather than as two separate urban tribes.
There is also a number of people from the good side who are sympathetic to the plight of those on the other side of the wall.
Cyber City has the dubious or fortunate distinct depending on who you ask of being one of the few places during the First Robotnik War that was spared by the Robotnik Empire who had dominion over most of Northamer; home to the Kingdom of Acorn. Wether it was due to not seeing the value in a city that is at odds with itself or them even finding the vices and grime around it too much for them to stomach, no one can say for sure.
Lastly, it is the city in which the Phantom Thieves of Hearts would make their debut in...
Mobius.
It is the home world of Sonic the Hedgehog; the fastest thing alive and Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik; a mad scientist with an IQ of 300 who seeks ultimate power. A lush, green beautiful flora-rich planet populated primarily by Humans and Mobians with Mobini making up the animal population. It was once called Earth long ago in the distant past and everything from prior to the appearance of Mobians are referred to as Old World Earth.
There many different countries and zones full of diversity from the picturesque South Island to the rich culture of Soleanna. Where one goes, they'll see what the world has to offer and unfortunately for some; they desire all of it.
In the recent past, there was the Great War. A five year conflict between the Kingdom of Acorn and the Dingo Regime with the United Federation plus other major factions throwing their chips in the pile. The Kingdom of Acorn would win the war but victory was short-lived when it found itself betrayed from within as one of its' Warlord of the War Ministry seizes power and forms the Robotnik Empire which led to the First Robotnik War. A war that'd be won ironically by the very inhabitants he sought to rule over.
In the present day, Doctor Eggman now aims to conquer the whole world with his Eggman Empire but Sonic and his friends continues to thwart his schemes in what is currently dubbed the Second Robotnik War while also stopping other evil forces from taking or destroying the world along the way. Sonic being the embodiment of rebellion and freedom to Ivo's oppression and domination. The two standing on both ends as living example of good versus evil.
Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts was the name of a famous historical outlaw group originating from Japan, Old World Earth. They fought against their own unjust and unfair society by taking on those in authority whom abused their powers for selfish gains. The vigilantes went about enacting their vigilante justice by making these corrupt criminals confess to their own crimes through taking their hearts.
How exactly they achieved their means of changing the hearts of their targets without being caught has been debated for centuries by the many historians of Mobius. Some say it was blackmail, some say it was intimidation, some say it was brainwashing and a few say it was magic. No one really knows the full science behind their methods but the results gain from them are definitely factual.
For a long time during their heyday, the identities of these vigilantes were a mystery even to most of their enemies who tried to hunt them down or crush them but always losing the advantage to them. Everyone who tried to quash them always failed and everyone who admires them viewed the Phantom Thieves as champions against corruption. Bringers of hope, truth and righteousness.
As the passage of time passes, their identities would slowly be uncovered over the years alongside their accomplices either thanks until the last of the Phantom Thieves passes away either through surviving diaries, memoirs or other mementos that tied them to the cases.
The leader of the group codenamed Joker was a young raven haired gentleman by the name of Ren Amamiya who had been falsely charged with assault and accounts differ regarding his personality ranging from quiet to eccentric. He began his capers in Tokyo as Joker at the youthful age of 16 which still shock those looking into his history for the first time and tales of his many exploits are the stuff of legends. Some people have referred to Sonic the Hedgehog as a current day Joker due to similarities between the two and both sharing a similar stance on oppression.
What was once the name of a long-extinct group from a bygone era has now become the name of a new group whose mission is very much like those of their namesakes: Bringing freedom and liberation to society overrun by corruption and injustice...