Persona

The Persona franchise is a series of Japanese role-playing video games developed by Atlus and published by Sega. The series is also a sub series of the less popular Shin Megami Tensei series. The games are all self contained stories, which take place in varying parts of Japan. The general premise of the games is a group of high schoolers awaken to the power of Persona, which is used to battle demons to save the world from certain doom. Chris has been aware of the series since at least 2019, but has been brought into the spotlight in 2024 thanks to weens and enablers.

Involvement with Chris

In October 2019, Chris drew Teddiechu, a Sonichu designed after the character of the same name from Persona 4. Chris would also draw a custom Teddiechu TSSSF card, which would be revealed in July 2022.

In a November 2023 livestream, a troll asked Chris how he felt about "being featured in the new FNAF movie", prompting Chris to randomly bring up Persona 5 and Joker, the game's protagonist.

In January 2024, Chris would livestream himself playing Persona 5 Royal, which was gifted to him by Ren Ryghts. It is unclear if Chris played the game out of genuine interest, fan demand, or simply out of a rare sense of obligation to Ren, although the name of the livestream, "Popular Game Request Stream", as well as his Twitter post announcing the livestream, "By Popular (Memeful) Request", suggest that it was due to the latter. He would make many insane comments, comparing the game’s Metaverse to the Dimensional Merge, finding the Ginza Line with somewhat ease; despite having trouble finding Cafe Leblanc and the ringing phone, and possibly most importantly, dropping the fact that he considers Flutter one of his wives. Chris would end the stream shortly after awakening his Persona, Arsène.

In a February 2024 livestream, Persona 5 Royal could be seen on Chris’s Switch dashboard, having not been touched since the initial stream.

In February 2024, Chris would draw a paid commission of the cast of Persona 3 for Ren.

In July 2024, another paid commission, this time featuring the cast of Persona 4 Golden, was drawn. Seemingly aware of efforts to make him become a Persona fan, Chris wrote a note on the back stating he is not really into the series.

Irony

Ren Ryghts, during a confession on Discord, would state that the main reason he introduced Chris to the Persona franchise was to troll its fandom. Though, he also stated that he would not have gifted the game to Chris if he thought he wouldn’t like it, but that all of the game’s lessons and messages would fly over his head.

The first villain of Persona 5 Royal, Suguru Kamoshida, is a corrupt gym teacher who takes advantage of his female students, mistreats the male ones, and is a sexual deviant, similar to Chris’s own sexism and lust. The second villain, Ichiryusai Madarame, is an artist who steals his pupil’s work and passes it on as his own, similar to Chris’s plagiarism and “original” characters.

The series, on paper, does appeal to Chris. The game takes place in a high school setting, features dating mechanics, and allows you to be the hero, which Chris would do in his own comics, as well as romanticize his high school days. The issue is that the game is long, features lots of dialogue, and requires skills, all being things that Chris doesn’t like in his video games.

As of now, Chris’s only exposure to the series has been through weens and enablers. Only time will tell if Chris chooses to get further invested into the series, but it is unlikely.

Gallery

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  A drawing featuring Teddiechu.

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  Teddiechu's TSSSF card.

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  The cast of Persona 3, perfected by Chris.

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  The Persona 4 Golden cast, as drawn by Chris.