Persona Compendium: Robin Hood

[@thomashalkes4699]

Another thing to note is how Robin Hood is reflective of Akechi's childishness. Several bits of Akechi's overall aesthetic are calls towards childhood: his laser sword, his zappy gun, and his dark featherman costume so it makes sense that his persona designs make calls to retro comic book aesthetics. What exactly we take away from this implied childishness is up for interpretation.

[@derumasforlos4285]

One detail about the original Robin Hood that most people don’t know about, is the fact that Robin Hood was originally a tool by the nobility to demonize highwaymen of the era. It wasn’t until the people adopted Robin Hood that he became the people’s hero. This is what makes the use of him as Akechie’s first persona so awesome to me personally.

[@Liezuli]

Interestingly, in a Q&A, P Studio said that Akechi awakened to both Loki and Robin Hood at once, and that both Robin Hood and Loki were aspects of Akechi.

[@brinst_ar]

I agree, this Persona is one of the coolest in appearance and meaning.

[@dededeletethis9940]

When you first see robin hood's moveset, you feel like something's up. Almighty, curse and bless? Every other party member only has one element to cover, but akechi has multiple. I feel like this too-good-to-be-true moveset is supposed to make you think "is there more to this? Why is akechi so much more versatile than everyone else?" Two more notes about this: first, when i first saw zenkichi's moveset in strikers, i was like "are they going to pull an akechi again?" Almighty, strong physical, all buffs, debilitate and heat riser later on, it felt too good to be true - but, thankfully, it was true. Zenkichi's just that awesome. Second: the combination of almighty and both curse and bless instant-kill isn't new to the series. There's another character with the same combination of skills: naoto in persona 4, a.k.a. the original detective prince. The fact that akechi's detective prince facade goes so far as to emulate the persona skills of the original is really interesting and something you could easily miss if you haven't played p4 or haven't used naoto in that game

[@3Waifu]

I haven't gotten to use Naoto in P4 yet so I didn't notice this parallel but I'm glad you pointed it out because it's really cool!

[@zeelyweely1590]

Also something very interesting is that Akechi is the *only* party member to not learn any healing or buff skills, apart from Samarecarm. Which, when you think about it, is pretty much the series' "I'm in deep shit, help" skill. Very fitting imo

[@canchanyyuki]

I always thought Robin Hood was possible because of Akechi bond to Joker. The confidant probably worked two ways in their case. Compared to Akechi and Shido, Joker and the Phantom thieves were Heroes, they did everything for the right reasons even if it was against the law (like Robin Hood). He probably knew that too.

[@brunovarao2207]

Loki is my favorite Persona. He look like a demon lord, like Satanael

[@LazerShark7777]

My man

[@earl_stranger3878]

And they're in the same 2nd Tier Category

[@brunovarao2207]

The parallels between them do not end here. In fact, they both has unique skills( satanael has Sinful Shell and Loki has call of chaos). Loki can control the masses like the god of control, in the case of satanael he can punish who tries to control the masses. That's why Igor bet on joker, because he has the power to defeat the Yaldabaoth and Akechi, to rise against the ruin. In my opinion, of course

[@tsukinoke7379]

Funnily satanael is the angelic form of satan

[@aliasmp4]

Akechi's exaggeration of visual heroism also expands to his own visual design. While other Phantom Thieves have some white present in their designs, none of them have nearly as much white on their outfits as he does, despite the fact that white is typically associated with good and justice. Gold is also featured prominently on his outfit, another typical color of good, whereas most Thieves have either very little or no gold at all. (Interestingly, Maruki's entire outfit is gold with some white despite his role in the game as a primary antagonist.) Black, which is practically the primary color of the Thieves' outfits, making up the majority of most of their outfits, and is typically associated with evil and darkness, is only very lightly present on his outfit; just his shoes. Obviously this is flipped on it's head when he switches outfits, his second outfit being completely black. Another awesome video! Excited to see whatever is next. Just to toss a recommendation out there, Johanna and Makoto's other Personas would be cool to see. Keep up the good work!

[@jj_grabes]

It’s also kind of cool how the developers stated they made Robin Hood to resemble Superman. Then you have Robin fuse with Loki to become Hereward, who largely was made to resemble Batman. Adds a unique layer to Crow’s Personas that resonates with me more than others.

[@hannah4588]

I didnt realize just how much akechi stands out from the rest of the thieves until I saw everyone in their phantom thieves outfits next to each other.

[@ButterflyScarlet]

I'm kinda not a fan of when people act like Robin Hood was just a facade and Loki is the true Akechi, because not only does it rob Akechi of nuance (the duality of believing in justice and wanting to be loved vs vengeful rage at a harsh, uncaring world), it ignores stuff about the original Robin Hood stories. The thing about Robin Hood is that, despite being commodified as a "righteous hero of the people" the original stories presented him more as an opportunistic, violent trickster and thief who targeted almost anyone who wandered into his turf (not only rich aristocrats and clergy, sometimes just random travelers and salesmen). He didn't always take from the rich and give to the poor, sometimes he just took from the rich and kept it for himself. He was also prideful, cocky, and nosy as hell. Robin Hood was just as much of a trickster archetype as Loki and Arsene, it wasn't until recent years where he became the unproblematic heroic fave we see in cartoons.

[@hannah4588]

So in a way his true personality or crimes were covered up because the public thought he was a hero and nothing else. quite similar to akechi himself.

[@sai2931]

Great video! The fact there's so much to look into regarding all 3 of Akechi's personas is part of why he's such a fun character imo. Though I think there's something noteworthy you missed about what part of Akechi Robin Hood represents. In the confidant rank where you and Akechi go to the arcade, he talks how as a kid he used to play with a toy gun a lot, wanting to be a hero. In the bathhouse confidant rank, he talks about how as a kid he wished he could force his deadbeat father to apologize to his motber for what he did to her, which is a bit more altruistic than what Akechi's future actions ended up being. I think the writers included these details to imply that Robin Hood represents the hero that Akechi wished he could've been. He might see that kind of heroism as nonsense by the time of the game, but a small part of him does genuinely want to be that glamorous shining figure beloved by all. This also extends to the metaverse gun he uses, which for both costumes is a sort of toy laser gun. The P5 OVA "Proof of Justice" also delves into this. There was also a fan question P-Studio answered about whether Akechi got Loki or Robin Hood first, and they answered that there was no order as they're both aspects of him, which I think supports this interpretation personacentral.com/persona-5-mementos-reports-vol-3-developer-qa-trivia/ Sorry for the ramble lol, I just personally think this aspect of Akechi gets overlooked a bit too often, but that aside this was a very interesting video and pointed out some details that I hadn't even thought about, I look forward to your future analyses!

[@3Waifu]

This is a really cool point of view! I think this is a totally reasonable and well said analysis. I usually try not to get too close too deep into the text/source material and instead look at more general themes and trends as I know I get easily side tracked but its this kind of stuff that I absolutely love! Great observation, I hope you stick around and let me know how you feel about some of my other works!

[@sai2931]

@@3Waifu Thanks! Yeah analyses and the like can get pretty long when you start looking at individual pieces of dialogue lol so I get ya there. Either way keep up the good work!

[@dhi_holo]

I never considered bless and curse like this for Robin Hood, it makes a lot of sense I saw it as gameplay coverage first (not knowing the twist right away), and maybe showings Akechi having gone through hell in life (curse skills) but now being a hero (bless skills), which would also align with Joker having curse skills, he's gone through hell thanks to Shido so he's on the demon side of rebellion almost

[@hannah4588]

I thought he was just suppose to be a really strong and capable teammate and thats why he had such strong and diverse skills including curse. That's why I didnt suspect him even though his level was even higher than joker despite his lie that he got the nav app a month prior to meeting the phantom thieves.

[@janussimonsen24]

Man, I do wish we got to see Robin Hood more. If I could make a suggestion for the next Persona, maybe go a little topical and pick Valjean? His symbolism for Zenkichi is probably my second favorite of all the starting Personas, just behind Joker and Arsene?

[@igorpolotai]

I agree

[@shadowstar8619]

I'd also volunteer Pandora, Sophia's Persona. Her transition from Pithos is probably the best awakening I've ever seen!

[@chesterevans5228]

When I first saw that Robin Hood could attack in curse and bless was when I realised there might be something more than meets the eye. Really love all the hints towards Akechi’s true nature throughout the game

[@jjvalnv01]

Unpopular opinion, I actually like Princekechi

[@dig1taltoaster]

Another awesome video 3Waifu

[@neoncreator]

Here's a recommendation, what if u talk about satanel. Amazing video by the way

[@nastycrimeboy5279]

I love this game so much and even got the platinum in persona 5 royal last night. It is so cool to hear the ideas behind these personas. Thank you for teaching this to your viewers.

[@B_A-tr]

A persona is the mask we wear around others. In the franchise, they arw the true inner selves, representing our protagonists being who they are truly. Akechi however display the heroic persona even in everyday life, making robin hood a more traditional persona.

[@chriswolf9063]

I like how in-depth you explain about Robin Hood's design and even bringing up that...hilariously over exaggerated artwork of Captain America, its really interesting. If there is one request I would like to see in your next video or future video(s) may I suggest Ann's Persona Carmen/ Hecate or Futaba's Persona Prometheis and/or her third persona?

[@regigoogas2887]

Really enjoying this series, I hope you can make it a long one cause there's tons to cover and I really hope it helps your channel grow.

[@abdullahamr9941]

Am I the only one who when they saw robin hood thought "yup that's an elemental hero"

[@redsunset6863]

Lets go Mara(just joking)

[@BogusBeam]

I always thought of Robin Hood as Akechi's Hero he looked up to when he was young and I also always thought that the reason why Akechi is weak to Bless Skills during the 3rd Semester was because he saw Blessings as a Curse, and vice versa

[@helpihavebats6392]

I think its more likely they just wanted to balance him out as if I remember the black mask boss ver actually gained a resistance to bless and curse instead of Just bless and that will always annoy me

[@AdachiSimp]

My interpretation is that, as Joker's chosen counterpart, Robin Hood is also an interpretation of the "Fool" as Robin's tale of stealing from the rich not for himself, but for the poor, could be seen by the nobles as a "foolish" behavior. Also, both Robin Hood and Arsene Lupin steal from bad guys for the sake of good people, usually wronged by the nobles.

[@tacobaco6460]

Nice job as always, can't wait for the next one!

[@therookie12347]

Awesome video! I do agree Robin hood is cool persona it’s bummer he wasn’t there for long. Could you do a video on Loki and herehard

[@princeoftrash8497]

We gotta get loki next then finish it off with there fusion it only makes sense

[@PK-ow1kj]

This ☝🏻

[@PK-ow1kj]

Great explanation and analysis. I'm looking forward to see your take on Loki.

[@walesjedi9217]

I have 2 things to say, the first is that I love that Robin Hood is the most literal Persona, since it's Akechi's "Detective Prince" facade (he's just better at consciously manipulating it) the second is the question of if you think Akechi is a sort of failed Wild Card, which I always felt was hinted at and makes the link between him and Joker even stronger

[@3Waifu]

I'm fairly sure in the game it's stated that Yaldabaoth gave Akechi the wild card as well to pit him against Joker. I don't remember the exact quote off the top of my head but to be double sure I looked on the megaten wiki and it says "Goro Akechi was given the same power as well (referring to the wild card), but was only shown to be able to use two Personas: Robin Hood and Loki." The article goes on to elaborate but the concept of a "failed wild card" is really interesting. It reminds of how Futaba says that he could only control two personas one for the lies he tells and one for his inner hatred (also sourced from the megaten wiki). Either way whether you chose to believe he has one, doesn't have one, or somewhere in between I agree that it makes his connection to joker all the more interesting! If you haven't seen it already you might enjoy my video about Akechi as I touch on the connection between him and Joker at length in that video! Here is a link if you are interested! kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6WzgIlsaKaErbs

[@turtleknight7015]

Aww heck yeah 3Waifu released another video

[@wingsofzero5732]

It was probably already mentioned in the comments, but I interpret Robin Hood as an indicative of Akechi, for lack of a better term, playing out a childhood that he missed out on growing up. Robin Hood is, as you said, based on American comic book superheroes who fit neatly into the alignment of Lawful Good. His namesake is taken from a hero who is deified as a rebel doing unquestionably good things against bad people. It's a very black-and-white and juvenile way of seeing morality in the context of the game as a whole where the other main characters grapple with moral ambiguity of changing hearts. And I like to see this as Akechi projecting his more 'inner child' thoughts outwards even if, on the surface, he's putting up too much of a front to seem legitimate. It might sound silly but I like to think that his time in Sae's Palace was something he genuinely enjoyed (partly, anyway) - there are interactions where it seemed like he was letting loose a bit but not too much to mess up his plan.

[@adrianarballo179]

Videos are always so informative really gives me an idea on the personas. It's also going to help me with my latest project.

[@into_the_tombs]

another great video! good job!

[@ambivert_artist0170]

I'd love for you to cover Sophie's Persona one day! Her Persona design is super interesting to me

[@themistymagixen]

I really love the channel and the content, I just wish the videos were longer but I totally get why they wouldn't be. Keep up the good work!

[@marcusbullock2753]

Damn so this is why I’m so drawn to Akechi. I think the same way he does and I’m kinda glad they took the western ideal of super heroes with his persona. It all makes sense since I do love heroes and believe in justice above all else. Can’t wait to see a Loki and Herreward.

[@jsj0520]

Quality as always. I've got a few personas id be interested to hear in. any of Sumire's personas that you find most interesting or any of the 3rd stage personas, although if im not mistaken theyre just the same as their first right? since Ryuji's is just William kidd. i just wanna keep adding more but i think thats enough for now lmao.

[@3Waifu]

So I've looked into third tier personas a few times most notably for Arsene, Captain Kidd, and Robin Hood and one common theme I've found is that usually the 3rd tier persona is the historical counterpart to the fictional influence for the tier 1 persona. For example Hereward, Akechi's tier 3 is said to be one of the many inspirations for the original Robin Hood and as such he shares a lot of backstory/symbolism with him. This, while very cool, makes it difficult to make a worth while video out of as I'd mostly be restating myself given that I've already covered Robin Hood. However I haven't looked at every tier 3 yet and if I find one that I can make a video on I absolutely would love to!

[@jsj0520]

@@3Waifu thats what i was more or less expecting from the teir 3 personas, i still love all of them lol. and finally understanding adam kadmon from your azathoth video was awesome. i honestly didnt like adam at all when i first played P5R a year ago but what you talked about honestly made me like him so much more. hell throughout the past year i grew to love maruki more and more because i honestly didnt like the new ending at first but now i gotta finish my NG+ to experience it again

[@ethanbaczynski8652]

Nice work with Robin Hood! I realise you might be getting sick of doing P5 personas for the compendium, so if you were to do a persona from a different game, may I suggest P4's Izanagi? Yellow might be a decent change the red colour scheme of P5.

[@sirjoker4410]

It really was a Shame that in the 3rd semester that akerchi (sorry if I spelled it wrong) couldn't use robin hood and loki

[@migguman1724]

Please cover Akechi's other personas too. Especially Hereward.

[@AnnonymousCommentor28]

Are you planning to cover 2nd tier Personas as well?

[@3Waifu]

I absolutely plan on covering 2nd tier personas! I'm not going in any particular order but rather a mix of what I see in the comments from you guys and what personas I feel have enough lore to make a full video out of. That said there are a few that I have my eye on and I don't plan on slowing Persona Compendium down any time soon!

[@AnnonymousCommentor28]

@@3Waifu OK then, Good luck!

[@westwood111]

sick video bro

[@everettwatsonrazorearcwolf6553]

Ayy Persona 2 music!

[@guywithrevolver]

I find it funny that the mask Akechi hides behind uses a persona that you would most likely guess when asked the question "Who would fit into this game as a justice-based thief". Robin Hood would be the obvious answer to that question for most people, and it fits with Akechi's whole deal of trying to build up this fake persona just to appease all those around you, as well as making for an extremely good disguise.

[@wittynickname4870]

God I love this series.

[@igorpolotai]

Can you do Valjean next from Scramble?

[@mona6317]

Im very interested to see the symbolism in Thanatos or Orpheus. Disappointingly i dont hear much about them

[@supremequantv6887]

Can you do Thanatos next?

[@rawrdino7046]

Remember when everyone was a Wildcard in person

[@sergiosalazar8702]

Well, the “Wildcard” wasn’t a thing until P3 I guess the other director didn’t put much thought into it and just let everyone have many personas

[@DonutMaster2000]

I’m still waiting on that Goemon video

[@Vinylmelody1517]

Will you talk about the third tier versions of the party personas? Or will you combine them with the other original personas in a video ( ie Zorro and Diego in the same video since they share the same inspiration and similar designs)? And will you talk about the second tier persona like ryugi's Saiten taisei?

[@3Waifu]

I'm definitely open to looking at 3rd tier personas but one thing I've noticed when doing other personas is that the tier 3's are usually very similar to their tier 1 counterparts which makes it difficult for me to craft a full video on them. That said I haven't looked too much into every tier 3 so perhaps there are a few that would be good fits for this series!

[@Vinylmelody1517]

@@3Waifu maybe going forward combine the first and third tiers together? Maybe talk about how they tie together and the evolution of the design of the two.

[@hunnibuttr]

I didn't get the tip off from the bless/curse/insta kill skills on Akechi as the detective prince before him (Naoto) also comes with curse/bless/insta kill skills. But it is a good tip off for sure.

[@hunnibuttr]

the bigger tip off for me was that he dressed like Light Yagami

[@SageDarkwind]

You forgot to mention how Robin Hood lacked any shades of green.

[@kylemcdougal5842]

I think next should be loki

[@MarioGMan25]

Hereward is based around Batman, yeah? Also since Akechi himself is also a Wildcard, do you think Robin Hood spawned from his friendship with Joker?

[@3Waifu]

I'm not sure if it is mentioned outright anywhere or not but I believe the consensus is that Hereward takes inspiration from Batman. His color scheme and overall design are extremely reminiscent of Batman and he even has the little ear things batman has on his cowl lol! Also I personally see Robin Hood as more emblematic of Akechi's false identity he puts on to fool the people around him. On TV and in front of the Phantom Thieves Akechi wears the facade of the "detective prince" where he plays the part of a hero solving crimes and bringing people to justice. I think his desires to be seen this way influenced Robin Hood more than anything as it was necessary for his persona to reflect those righteous values. In the same way that Loki represents his true more criminal nature I think Robin Hood is the persona of the """"good"""" side of Akechi, even if that side of him is just a cleverly crafted lie. That being said however I also think that these kinds of things are up for personal interpretation and it is a cool and interesting thought that Robin Hood may be more connected to Joker than originally thought!

[@KousakaHonoka12]

@@3Waifu a persona can be your true mask but it can also be a way to make people believe stuff that is not true it really works both ways

[@jennapineapple5867]

💞

[@luigifan7726]

Can you do Akechi’s Loike next

[@jayyy3820]

Random question: what level were you in the gameplay in the background

[@3Waifu]

This footage was taken from a NG+ save file I think? I had to reload an old file to get footage of Akechi and I think I was just about done grinding to level 99 at that point. So most of the party was around 99 and a few were anywhere from like 95 to 98 I think. That could be wrong I didn't look at the stats much as I just hopped on to get some gameplay but I'm pretty sure that's roughly correct.

[@jayyy3820]

@@3Waifu thank you. Just curious is all!

[@samo227]

Are you by any chance gonna do the personas of character in past games?

[@3Waifu]

Definitely something I'm considering! I've had a few ideas of personas I'd like to cover from past games and I would say at this point it's only a matter of time before I jump into previous titles!

[@fink_rat]

The Aztec god approves. My vote is for the cat's first persona

[@laravioliiii2832]

Robin hood is kinda hot😳😳😳

[@Zahri8Alang]

THICCCQUE

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

:)