RR link
Previous chapter (RETRO COSMOS)
​ #2 - THE TWISTED HEIST ​
A star had just gone out in the distance, sending its entire system, planets and moons, into oblivion. So, what was a simple life compared to a sun? Did the human existence that earthlings highly cherished in the past deserve so much fuss?
I would say no, of course, because I’m a cat. Our condition to us felines will never have to pale in front of a shiny astronomical object. Mine specifically, don’t you think?
Oswald Avery was merely a Homo sapiens. A retired buccaneer, fermenting his adulterated wine on the carcass of a drifting supercargo; all under the remodeled features of a former Galactic Trade Company’s pilot. Alas, regardless of the genetic disguise, the FID rarely lied. It hadn’t fooled us and the masks had fallen off. Just like him.
I’m such a poet.
Anyway… Avery had had a long life of crimes and adventures. He was full of energy in his youth. And as in the universe, nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed, this energy was reincarnated in a nice amount in our bank account once the old picaroon flatlined.
“We finally got it! And it was a traditional Martian contract. Payable remotely, on condition that the FID is validated. How about that?”
“God… Lee … you’re talking to yourself and it’s only 8 a.m.,” Ali grunted behind me.
My couch potato of an associate had her head still stuck in the cereal box she was nibbling before falling asleep binge-watching Captain Caveman on ABC.
“To begin with, it’s 8 p.m., Martian Time. And we do have a positive balance in our bank account for the first time in months! Do you know what that means, partner?”
“Shopping, bitches!” she shouted as she hurled herself into the void, gliding to the bathroom in the weightlessness.
With the cardboard box on the top of her head, this sugar bishop was swimming after the remnant cereals that floated on her path like Ms. Pac-Man.
“Hell! Have I just opened Pandora’s box?”
The liner Danaë and its forty-eight post-nuclear Baltimore-XVIII heavy reactors made its annual cruise from Lunapolis to the suburbs of Ceres, in the belt. Its figurehead with the effigy of the Greek princess was a two hundred meters long, green ceramic statue. The size of the ship exceeded some inhabited asteroids’ diameter so it possessed its own substantial gravitational field.
“It’s quite a symbol of the decline of humanity,” I said to Ali, pointing with my chin at this unique work of art.
“Why?” my partner asked without caring whatsoever. “Spill the beans, Plato.”
The Kitty had obtained permission to dock and began its approach. I concluded then:
“Humanity no longer erects great and beautiful things without turning them into a shopping mall.”
The gold and ivory Danaë was one of the most luxurious epicenters of human decadence in the system; comprising hotels, casinos, megastores and amusement parks spread over a dozen centrifugal rings. There was something for everyone’s wallet, ready to be emptied, whether one was welcomed at the port or had joined during the crossing.
And to my great regret, the cape of the Danaë was just passing by us that week.
“I believe we should keep our savings for the maintenance of the Swallow. The dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree. Some parts need to be changed…”
“You’re such a bore with your adult talks,” my partner said as she left the fitting room of a luxury chain overlooking the main deck. “What do you think of that? Sexy as fuck, right?”
Her camisole didn’t hide a single inch square of flesh and I subtly pointed it out to her:
“It’s a bit of a back-alley Sally.”
I took a blow on the nose which, this time, was amply justified.
“There’s nothing chicer than Borderline. You don’t know anything about fashion. It’s crazy!”
She was furious. It was entertaining. But she was right. The human female fads were way over my head and I wasn’t a good adviser. Mostly because I didn’t care. At all.
Fortunately, the upscale shopping mall where we were staying had provided us with a free assistant who was even more servile than a decerebrate canine. As usual, the robot carrier that accompanied us did the job by flattering her with its unbearable honeyed tone:
“I find you charming, Madame. Here we have the latest fashionable lingerie on Mars. It’s an ephemeral collection that appears to have been specially made to mold your discreet curves, which seem to have been sculpted by the seraphim.”
Ali gave me a satisfied look that I pretended to ignore. Then she backtracked into the fitting room to put her black suit and pink jacket back on.
I took the opportunity to climb on the shoulders of this silly robot, servant of our servants and last link in this hierarchy whose origins go back to Ancient Egypt.
“One more move like this and I’ll turn you into a gum dispenser.”
The automaton apologized before my partner’s head emerged from behind the silk curtains which were far too fragrant for my taste.
“I just checked; it’s too expensive anyway. I ain’t buying it,” she announced. “Can you order a taxicab to take us to the hotels’ ring? You’d be a sweetheart.”
Happy to leave this irascible human with her robotic slave, I proceeded to the nearest service terminal. By the time I requested a vehicle, a flying cigarette dispenser could light me a Lucky.
“It’s forbidden to smoke in our store, Monsieur.”
The customer attaché, in his blue silk suit with elephant legs, had appeared out of nowhere. Yet, with such a shiny tie, this punk should have dazzled me from the Kuiper belt.
“Please be kind and get me a Pepper Coke instead of ruining my eyesight…” I grumbled in response.
I was in an awful mood. I definitely hated shopping. And people. Yet the pedestrian avenues of the Danaë had a very exceptional population density. Perms were making a strong comeback, as were neon tattoos and overly open flowered shirts. Under the false UVA/B sun, it was a true dance of flesh, steel and plastic bodies with assumed nudity. Implants and surgery erased the hazards of the genetic lottery for better or worse. It was so superficial. So futile. So human.
“Hello, handsome!” Ali cried out, a large smile across her face. “Lee? You didn’t tell me you knew Christophe Lambert! You know I'm a huge Highlander fan!”
My partner had just joined me, arms loaded with bags massive enough to live in it, start a family and park my chromic Pontiac Firebird. All were filled with C$400 t-shirts and sneakers that she didn’t need and would only put on once.
“No smell. Hologram,” I conclude by throwing my cigarette butt through the smiling ghost.
“Shame!” Ali sighed.
She then looked at her terminal, and continued:
“Do you think I have time to grab a watch module? There are sales in the Japanese aisle! I saw some GD-8 that would go well with my new Game Pocket! This boat is fucking rad!”
Ali could not stop humming Who wants to live forever. I had to rub my temples to avoid a migraine before the arrival of our taxicab five minutes later.
These were miniature limousines with double fake leather benches, facing each other at the back. There was a minibar with expensive multicolored drinks and sugar-soaked snacks, the sapiens’ primary source of calories and high Gs space travel drug. For the sensitive, the smart-fridge provided diet sodas with aspartame, but no one took it. Finally, there were free Gauloise cigarettes next to the ashtray on the armrest. And even Tylenol!
“What a time to be alive!”
Right after leaving the fashion district, a soft voice of a young woman, who appeared to us through the armored porthole separating her from her customers, finally emerged from the cockpit:
“Good evening! I’m Miss Meera. At your service. Hotel de Saint-Malo, correct?”
I nodded. She smiled at us. She was beautiful with her incredibly dark night metal skin that contrasted strongly with her silvery-white hair. She also had charming ivory eyes with absolutely no reflection. They were a mesmerizing void of light.
In fact, it was so rare to deal with a real person, and not an AI, that we engaged rapidly in a lovely and honest discussion with Meera. We were mostly talking about life on the Danaë. As she stated, the rules on board were very strict, even military. All was done to make sure that the customer had the most pleasant time at the expense of everything else. Finally, according to her, her condition wasn’t the most to be pitied in the cosmos. And she was fully satisfied with this precarious semi-nomadic existence.
“And what about you? Are you here on vacation or in transit for work?” she eventually asked. “What do you do for a living?”
Should we have told her that we were executing infamous people so Ali would collect expensive t-shirts and I could fulfill my nicotine addiction?
“Don’t get me wrong but I saw that you had a gun. Are you in the police… or are you pirates?”
It wasn’t the first time someone asked us this question. Although weapons were allowed on most ships and stations, it wasn’t wise to display them unless you were looking for trouble. Unfortunately, hiding such a large caliber under such a tight vest was a Herculean task.
“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone”, simply quoted Ali, her forehead against the window covered with scented stickers.
Meera laughed before continuing:
“Very well, Al Capone. I understand that you’re not the type to let yourself be taken advantage of.”
The taxicab entered the central expressway after the water park then suddenly swerved violently to the left.
“What is going on?” I gasped.
After crushing the safety railing, we fell from one rotating bridge to the other in a frantic cavalcade. Judging by Meera’s swear words, this ride wasn’t part of the show.
Avoiding the stalls of an art market and a group of children coming out of an arcade, the driver finally managed to recover in extremis. It was about time, because within seconds we were passing through the transparent protective wall of the hotels’ deck.
“A thousand apologies! Another one of those mor… clients from the Middle System who doesn’t know how to use a rental car,” she shouted through the window. “Are you guys hurt?”
“No, thanks to you,” I replied, my tail spiked over my head, taped to Ali’s neck now decorated with bloody scratches.
Although my human forehead now had a bump on it the size of a golf ball, it was true that Meera had just saved our lives. This young girl had unsuspected driving talents despite taxicabs’ lack of handling. She didn’t belong here, playing the steward in a yellow circus uniform. This woman should have been a fighter pilot; or a NASCAR driver on Canyon Creek.
“In any case, here you’re almost in front of your hotel,” she replied. “You don’t have to pay anything, and I apologize again for the scare.”
From the outside, the taxicab now looked like a can of nutrigel after going through a crusher. Yet, it still worked. May God Darwin bless Venusian steel.
After thanking her, we wished Meera a good day. But the cockpit window suddenly went down on the passenger side. The smile of the driver had faded. She had tears at the corner of her white eyes.
“Wait!” she asked. “This weapon… do you really know how to use it?”
So, life on the Danaë wasn’t so sweet. As Meera explained to us in a secluded alleyway, a trio of criminals had come to threaten her a few days earlier, after finding she was a bodacious driver. They were preparing a heist in one of the flying city’s fifty casinos. The young woman was now ready to pay the price to settle the case.
“What is your opinion about this whole situation?” I asked Ali, once in our room, a small yet cozy suite whose glass walls overlooked the vacuum of space.
My human had applied a brownish ointment on her hump, which disappeared soon after, leaving only a slight pinkish hematoma.
“Meera said she would provide us with more details tomorrow. However, if she ponies up the cash, I don’t see why we would refuse. We ain’t mercs but these three guys must have a bounty on their heads. Let’s do our job, right?
“Indeed…”
All we had to do was wait for more instructions. Fortunately, it had been months since we had been able to take days off except on miserable gas stations full of drug addicts, implants scavengers and prostitutes.
After another morning of shopping, Ali went to the thalassotherapy center of the neighboring hotel. Her main occupation? Overeating sushi made by 3D nutrigel printing while getting massages.
Alas, I didn’t have the time to bask under the false sun of the lakeside resort and get my belly stroked. As a good captain, I had to go to the maintenance to fix the numerous damages of the Kitty. As always, the bill would be higher than expected.
Everything was orchestrated so that we would never hold a positive balance in this corrupted system. We had to chain contract after contract.
But Meera’s gig didn’t sound right. There was something I didn’t like and I couldn’t catch it yet. All my cat sensors were in the red. Unfortunately, the bounty hunter’s ones only saw the green of the bills.
Don’t judge me.
The young taxicab driver had finally contacted Ali again by holoconference in the early afternoon, shortly before I joined her at the exit of the tanning booths. Or as I called them: human toasters.
“Have you finished roasting like a Thanksgiving turkey?” I asked her as she plunged into the icy water of the adjacent basin, under the lustful gaze of a group of cadets from the Marine Academy.
“Meera will pick us up with a new taxicab in the hotel parking lot,” she whispered once back to me. “Alongside her, we will meet two of the criminals at the burglary location, shortly before midnight.”
“Go on.”
“We take care of these guys and we catch up with the last one: the band leader, in the storage cavities of the hangar reserved for the ship’s logistics. Below the last rotating ring.”
In Eve’s costume, Ali came out of the basin, not without deliberately drenching me. The water had a nasty chemical taste from being filtered day after day.
“Do you have any intelligence on these jokers?” I insisted while lighting a cigarette.
“The Broadway Gang. Three brothers. C$45,000 for the trio. We will also be able to recover at least C$10,000 of Techno-federal tax on their ship depending on its condition. Easy cash with the dollar credits that Meera promises us…”
Now sitting on the ledge, my partner splashed her feet to demonstrate her eagerness to head back swimming.
“Excellent! This will pay for the maintenance and allow us to save some money on our way to the belt.”
“Can I go now?” she asked, sliding back into the water.
“You may,” I had concluded before seeing her leave for her absurd wanderings that would fill her afternoon.
I myself was very busy making eyes at the wealthy guests of the hotel restaurant to glean a few pieces of Peking duck or juicy crabs. They were real farm animals from Mars. Not nutrigel. It was worth abandoning a little dignity aside.
With a full belly, I finally joined Ali in the middle of the evening. Arriving in the corridor of our suite, I crossed the group of cadets noticed near the swimming pool. They seemed tired but blissfully smiling as they just discovered the nirvana. And I knew why…
“Ali? Are you ready?” I said as I walked through the half-open bedroom door.
Her dressing gown had been thrown on the floor. Her gun and badge were resting on the bedside table against a giant bottle of Koala Springs soda and a pyramid of little Yoyo Mints.
To be honest, I expected a bigger mess.
“Gimme five minutes,” she replied while in the shower.
An hour later, we met Meera in the staff parking lot behind the recycling stations. Without further discussion, we joined the expressway in the taxicab. Between two noisy info-ads, the radio played Sweet Transvestite then the rest of the mythical Rocky Horror soundtrack.
“I wonder what Tim Curry’s up to these days,” asked Ali while browsing the intraweb on her implant.
“Being legendary as usual,” I answered.
Afterwards, the casino was in sight. But once on the forecourt illuminated by the gold and silver bulbs, we heard gunshots and screams. My partner and I quickly realized that this was a violent robbery rather than a modest heist.
“What the fuck, Meera?” Ali asked, turning to the porthole that separated us from the cockpit.
There was a hint of irritation in her voice.
Meera remained mute, her hands on the wheel and her gaze forward. In the rear-view mirror the young woman looked panicked.
The right door of the vehicle suddenly opened and two men sat down in front of us. They were wearing theater masks: the first was Melpomene, the sad grimace of tragedy; the second, Thalia, the twisted smile of comedy. Each brigand carried a huge metal block under his arm; drawers that were sure to be full of cash. On the other hand, they held their still smoking ZeG-4 machine guns even more firmly.
When they saw us, they both gasped, in unison:
“What the fuck, Meera?”
One… two. One… two.
Four holes in their faded tuxedo. Four bullets as big as a cat’s eye that silenced them forever, before slowly repainting the bench in red.
“What the fuck was that? You killed them!” Meera shouted this time, as she started the electric engine. “You had tasers at your disposal, you psychos!”
She had finally turned around. Her voice was quivering. She was no longer panicked, but angry.
The tasers must have slipped between the seats because I hadn’t seen them. My partner raised her eyebrows and it made me realize that their use had never been in mind.
“We’re bounty hunters, not 9 to 5 social workers!” continued Ali. “Now, you gotta motor, otherwise the cops will shoot our ass on the spot before we could even meet the third dude!”
Meera put her foot on the pedal and one could almost hear the noise of the thrusters melting the white asphalt.
“I can perceive the sirens, Ali,” I concluded before Meera entered the ring's external road reserved for logistic transport.
We then had the shortest car chase we had taken part in. The Danaë security forces may not have had the best elements in the system, but Meera’s talents didn’t give them a chance. We had crossed half a dozen rotative bridges to the rhythm of Take on Me, zigzagging between expressways and maintenance tunnels to arrive before the song ended at the deserted logistics hangar.
It was similar to a huge supermarket with honeycombed shelves. Each of these garages, dimly illuminated by red LEDs, housed a delivery or transport vessel. There was the most impressive fleet I had ever seen.
In one of the first level’s cells stood, between a set of clamps, a Swift-0 scout, from Peugeot Corp, with wings spread. The Swifts were small and very high-end single-seaters. They could be modified to integrate weapons systems, but their primary characteristics were velocity and evasion.
Leaning on the flank of the mono-turbine, the last of the three criminals, a tall blond man with a “Chevy Chase” prominent chin was looking down on the approaching taxicab.
“Were they planning to escape on that ship? The three of them?” I remarked when the vehicle stopped a few meters from the small vessel.
But Meera ignored me.
“Hand me the money, I’m going out. That was the agreement.”
The porthole opened at its base, allowing us to pass the steel cash drawers. Once the taxicab’s ignition was turned off, only their holographic numbers glowed in the dark.
“It’s all over if his cronies don’t stick their noses out of the car,” Ali replied, finally giving the second drawer away. “He’s going to figure out that it went south. He will kill you!”
Outside, the man was getting impatient. Blinded by the taxicab’s headlights, he came closer before exclaiming:
“Zéphyr, are you there? Where are my brothers? Security is closing all the departure modules. We will be stuck here, for fuck’s sake!”
He now had a gun in his hand. A machine gun identical to those of his companions currently bathed in their blood, nailed to the seats.
“Zéphyr? Wait… I know that name!” I meowed to myself.
The doors and portholes of the taxicab were locked. Ali and I were now stuck in the back with the two flatlined and most wanted criminals on the ship.
“Sorry guys, but I’ll handle the rest.”
Miss Meera, alias Zéphyr, smiled at us through the armored glass just before leaving the cockpit by the driver’s door.
“What a fucking piece of shit… Lee? Do you have a plan? I think the windows are bulletproof. I don’t feel like testing. Especially if it’s bouncing around with us inside, we will be turned into ground beef!”
“Did you forget who I am, my dear?”
I was already crawling under the seat, between a pair of Méduse shoes and half nibbled fried rat wings. It was time to demonstrate all my infiltration skills learned from Ninja Gaiden. Unfortunately, both the crab and the duck slowed me down and my belly remained for a few seconds stuck under the driver’s seat with my head on the brake pedal. How outrageous!
From the porthole, I saw Ali watching what was happening in front of us, near the ship. Our eyes met for a brief moment and I could read on her lips: “diet kibble”.
“Better off dead!” I shouted.
My paw reached the bottom of the dashboard, activating the mechanical opening of doors and windows. And, accidentally, the loudest horn in this dimension.
“My bad!”
My sapiens immediately jumped outside, pointing her gun to Zéphyr. Surprised by the thunderous din, her target pivoted towards us, uncovered, turning her back to the human with the magnificent chin and his ZeG-4 who yelled:
“What in the whole universe is that? Wait! I know her! Did you bring us bounty hunters? You were clearly planning to double-cross us!”
The man shouted and his gun produced a rain of bullets. It first hit the windshield of the taxicab, passing through the conductor compartment where I was. The rounds bent the windscreen, but it held. This wasn’t, however, the case for the hood, protecting the engine and the reservoir full of coolant, which ended up covering the seat and my face.
Fortunately, the sticky alcohol allowed me to escape from this trap and jump out of the vehicle through the window I had previously opened. But, once again, a fire ring enveloped the ZeG-4’s cannon.
“This is how I die…” I meowed, eyes closed.
I was violently tackled and hit the ground. Zéphyr had saved me at the last moment, just before bullets obliterated the front of the taxicab.
Other projectiles ricocheted off the metal money drawers on the floor and got lost in the ceiling, activating the fire sprinklers. This incident triggered a silent light alarm throughout the hangar while the mobster prepared a new salvo.
“Don’t hurt my pilot, you narbo!” roared my partner.
Ali, this time taken as a target, retaliated. She fired a single shot towards the rascal with a formidable precision. No one knew how to handle such a heavy gun as she did. She was my human. She was the best in her field: murder.
And I taught her everything. Almost.
The leader of the robbers tried to reload the magazine of his weapon, unaware that his heart had been punctured a few seconds before. Adrenaline was doing its job. But the blood loss caused by the explosion of the aorta at its base, near the ventricles, gradually stopped him in his gesture. His pressure dropped and the bloodstream no longer reached the brain sufficiently. He was already in a coma when his shoulders touched the ground. He was luckier than the average Joe and died a few seconds later.
“Is everything all right?”
My voice was trembling, still in shock from this disaster. I was wet and frozen.
Zéphyr got up with difficulty. Next to us, one of the metal drawers was opened, revealing a bunch of green bills and a much stranger booty: an eight-inch gold diskette with suspicious Chinese symbols.
Well… I couldn’t read them but Chinese symbols on stuff are always suspect, aren’t they?
But there were more important matters. Because my partner, on the other hand, stayed on the ground. Blood was dripping from her black suit and mixed with the clear firefighting fluid that was falling like an endless rain.
I tried to talk to her again but my voice was lost in a groan.
“Why are you whining, you big baby? It’s just blood.”
With her nose in a puddle, my sapiens smiled at me. Her left hand was compressing her abdomen. The bullet had passed through the external oblique muscle, far from the stomach.
It wasn’t that bad after all but she had scared me. And that deserved a scratch on the wrist that made her scream:
“What the fuck?”
“And the medical expenses? Have you thought about medical expenses? We don’t have insurance!”
“God, Uncle Scrooge! I hate you!”
“We won’t be able to fix the Kitty with your heroic outbursts!” I fulminated to mask my joy of seeing her in one piece.
“I will kill you, Muppet! I almost died! I don’t give a fuck about your rusty trash can which flies like a brick!”
It was true that we hadn’t had a fight for a long time.
“Guys…” intervened Zéphyr.
“What?”
Ali and I had spoken together.
“These three ruffians had planned to steal the diskette drive from me once I got back. I needed a hand, so… thank you… I guess.”
“You’re welcome,” my human answered dryly while sitting.
Although Zéphyr saved me, I didn’t share the same kindness:
“Wait, we’re not letting him go! Do you know who he is?”
Zéphyr. Prince of thieves. And yes, he wasn’t much of a princess either. Just an androgynous cyborg. A breakout king wanted throughout the entire system for his affiliation with the Data Brokers’ Guild. With an incredible bounty of C$800,000, she or he… whatever… was the knight of the brokers’ chessboard.
“I think we’ve had enough for today,” Ali said. “Unless you hope to go after him with these big fat guts of yours.”
“By the 79 moons of Jupiter, you shall pay for this, woman!” I meowed, angry.
My ears were backwards and my hairs were spiky. But soaking wet, it just made Ali and Zéphyr laugh.
Disgrace!
“He’s so cute when he’s furious,” he joked.
Now on his knees, the night-skinned androgynous was blotting Ali’s wound with a torn piece of fabric from his driver’s uniform.
“But more seriously, I need to go. With the bounty, you’ll be able to repair your vessel. As for the hospital fees, I will contact a good friend who will take care of you for free. She’s the ship’s chief medical officer.”
“Thank you,” I simply replied as he helped my partner get back on her feet.
“It’s the least I can do. I wasn’t interested in money. More important information is contained in this,” he said as he was picking up the floppy disk.
This golden diskette must have been worth a lot of cash for Zéphyr to play a taxicab driver to ensure coverage. I had perceived that something was fishy!
Then, halfway to his Swift-0, Zéphyr stopped. I witnessed his hesitation.
“There was nothing personal, you know. We’re all just trying to make our way. The best we can…”
And he ultimately left before adding:
“Maybe we’ll see each other again! You seem like fun.”
Before fleeing away, Zéphyr abandoned one of the boxes near the criminal’s corpse. Thus, he validated the theory of a robbery that had gone wrong. When the security arrived a few minutes later, we were the heroes of the day. And with a little bribe, nobody cared about Zéphyr’s missing ship.
This whole story surely left us a bitter taste. A feeling of defeat and humiliation that the swimming pool under the synthetic sun couldn’t make disappear even a week after.
“He undoubtedly played us as we were rookies, with his little face of a young innocent girl in distress,” I said to Ali right after the end of the daily Brett Maverick.
This old show was dispensed on a couple of giant screens suspended by drones.
Until now, Ali had remained silent on her deckchair; with a brick of sour juice stuck between her breasts and a pair of straws between her teeth. Only inaudible grunts emanated from her mouth since the departure of the sexually unclassifiable mugger.
“I wonder what information this fucking cyber-Tootsie could have been looking for in that casino,” my human mumbled as she squeaked her rainbow flip-flops.
“Admit that it’s not really that question that puts you in such a state…” I answered, now well installed on my motorized buoy that I had gotten as a gift in a diet kibbles package.
“You bet! I will have a nasty tan mark on my stomach with these bandages!” she exploded, spitting out her plastic straws with infinite curls.
My float slipped towards the ledge as a robot came to bring us our next glucose overdose.
Ali finally added:
“I swear that if we run into him again, I’ll smack his fucking angel face.”
Back to business!

​
Three Jokers
This is Part 3 of my After-Issue posts:
After-Issue Post 1
After-Issue Post 2
I wasn’t sure if I was going to make this at first, but after reading the final issue, I just had to. Like the last two, I’ll break down the issue, find some references/easter eggs, theorize and give my thoughts.
I thought there wouldn’t be much left to theorize but fortunately for me, there’s still quite a ton. I recognize that reception is a bit more mixed, but I personally really enjoyed this book with a few minor disappointments IMO. I’ll get into that.
This’ll also be my big farewell to this series after theorizing on it for almost two years. So, I know I’ve said it before, but this is the biggest post I’ve made, ever.
​

I. The Briefing

The issue begins with the trio, after a brief fight, putting aside their differences and finally focusing on detective work. Something hinted at last issue with Bruce looking into his leads on the Jokers.
Credit to u/XxRambo-ApocalypsexX for the following image from his post:
https://www.reddit.com/DCcomics/comments/jj7ixa/comic_excerpt_flashbacks_batman_three_jokers_3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
​
Flashbacks
First let’s break down each.
The first we see is the Criminal, who Bruce confirms is the first he encountered and points out his more serious and focused personality. A calculating mastermind indeed.
The flashback is from a panel in Batman #1 (1940, the Joker’s first appearance), specifically the very first Joker story (there are two in this issue).
If you’ve been following my posts, this should be familiar as I pointed it out in the first post as Jason Fabok teased this on Twitter earlier this year.
​
I called it!
As I said last time, this means that the original version of their encounter takes precedence over Man Who Laughs retconned version. Dick Grayson is now once again already Robin, so the Criminal likely stole jewels as well as murder his victims. His conflicts with organized crime may also be back.
Next up is the Clown, and we once again see a reference to Gaggy (the Original Court Jester and Sidekick of the Joker) and his first appearance in Batman #186 (1966). The way Bruce describes him of course matches what we know, and also very much reminds me of Mark Hamill’s Joker. Like I said in the first post, he’s my personal favorite, even if he’s the least in depth as a character.
But finally, here we have the Comedian.
Credit to u/WarWolf343. It is the obvious choice, and that actually adds a lot to the Comedian in the end which I’ll get to. Of course, that means that Rebirth image was inaccurate after all.
The implication of this of course is that Scott Snyder’s run IS considered canon to this story (which is a given if this is in main continuity), meaning Zero Year is canon. The story featuring a new version of the Red Hood gang, with Red Hood One being a true criminal mastermind, not a decoy, leading several Red Hoods. This could explain how there could be more than 3 Jokers if Bruce only had 1 encounter with RH.
Bruce points out a level of sadism under his smile that’s different from the others. I can see where’s he coming from. To me, that smile just looks fake compared to the Clown, who looks genuinely happy. Just my thoughts.
​

II. The Confrontation at the Monarch Theatre

​
\"Joker The Immortal\"
Next up we have the climax taking place in the Monarch Theatre, the cinema Bruce watched Mark of Zorro in with parents that fateful night.
Sound familiar?
We’ve had similar Joker confrontations happen in both Arkham City and recently in Joker War.
Jw’s wasn’t quite a climax as it took place in the middle of the arc, and there’s also a horde of zombies that Bruce sees as Jokers (and so fights them blindfolded). Funny similarities there but I doubt any of this is intentional. 3 Jokers was written long ago and Jason Fabok and James Tynion IV both support the idea that Joker War was made without any knowledge or consideration of 3 Jokers.
However, I’d like to talk more about Arkham City.
This was also the big ending of the game. I still remember playing it for the first time. Here, the Joker died after accidentally preventing Bruce from curing him. This was after it was revealed that he was still poisoned and that there was a second healthy Joker which was Clayface in disguise.
Hmmm. Sounds familiar.
Does this live up to those two?
IMO? Absolutely. Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson make this a fiery climactic battle while Geoff Johns does, IMO, a great job tying up what he’s set up since #1 (get to that in a bit).
The Joker’s death in AC was of course more impactful than the Criminal’s, but his and the Comedian’s plan here was great and the twist is just as good. I’ll get to that in a bit.
Lastly, Geoff Johns apparently has advised on Origins and Knight’s stories. Knight of course has the weakest, but IMO the character arcs in Origins makes it the best. The way there were “multiple Jokers” in Knight and City might have inspired him to make this. Also, both City and Knight has at least one line from thugs talking about there being or possibly being Three Jokers.
This could be a whole post on its own so better go back to the book.
The Criminal Joker reveals he wants to turn Joe Chill into the new Joker.
As I’ve said before, Jason Fabok points to Jack Nicholson’s Joker as an inspiration for him, who killed the Waynes and not Chill. Because of that, Michael Keaton’s Batman then aimed to kill him for revenge.
This confirms he did not hire Chill (who is not a hired killer).
Now, why would the Criminal want to do that….
​

III. Batman’s Greatest Scar

This book made clear from the very first pages and in interviews with GJ and JF that the main theme is about scars. Physical and emotional.
This in fact the whole purpose of the scars montage with Bruce.
He’s had many, many scars from his rogues gallery, but we see that the Joker has caused them the most.
But no matter what, the scar caused by Joe Chill will always be deeper than the others.
More than Penguin, Bane, Scarecrow, Riddler, Catwoman…
More than the Joker
Well, from the Joker(s)’ point of view, that’s just not right.
To the Criminal, this meant he had to fix the Joker. To make a new one that’ll far surpass him, his other two “apprentices”, and mean more to Batman than ever. Someone “far younger and more powerful” maybe (more on the Sith Lords later)?
He’s old and tired. He can’t even laugh without crying over the pain. He wants the Joker reborn better than ever, mattering more to Batman than ever, so he could finally rest.
In my last post, I pointed this out as the motivation for the Joker and recalled how Jeremiah Valeska (Proto-Joker 2) from Gotham had a similar gripe with it.
​
“I want to be the star of the show!”
So what did HE do to try and fix that?
Reenact the Wayne murders with Jim Gordon and Leslie Thompkins, complete with Crime Alley, pearls and Bruce being there to see it of course!
Now, both plans have flaws.
All Jeremiah is doing with this rehash would be to remind Bruce of that original trauma anyway. Even if Selina wasn’t there to stop him, this probably won’t make him mean more to Bruce than Joe Chi- err- Matches Malone (see: Gotham).
Unlike the Jokers in this book, Jeremiah failed to realize that Bruce will never be more broken from what he can do over than what Chill/Malone did.
The Criminal would be pulling a Batman ’89, as Bruce would know the Joker’s identity. Something the Comedian doesn’t want.
Which leads me to the twist on what the Comedian’s plan was, and to me it was genius and out of the box. Far surpassing Jeremiah and the Criminal.
He didn’t rehash or steal that trauma.
He took it out of the equation entirely.
He. Healed. It.

“It wasn’t the Joker that was broken. It was the Batman”
-more on that quote later

After the Criminal failed to turn his new potential successor, he planned to kill him and Batman instead, only for the Comedian to shoot him dead.
The Comedian was playing him all along in a plan to become the last remaining, definitive Joker and become the worst source of suffering Batman has ever had. Something foreshadowed last issue when the Criminal confirmed that it was his suggestion to reveal their secret.
And in the end?
It worked.
And it would only not work if Bruce didn’t have forgiveness in his heart.
It was checkmate.
​
BRIEF DETOUR
An evil master (cough Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine) failing to turn a prospective apprentice/successor (cough Mark Hamill cough), then deciding to kill said person only to be betrayed and killed by his current apprentice who tended to plan behind his back (cough Vader)? His other apprentice (The Clown and Dooku) being killed by another younger, edgier prospective apprentice (Jason/Anakin) before this?
Sorry I just had to bring that up lol. I haven’t watched Mandalorian S2’s premiere yet to not get distracted from this or my IRL responsibilities which also delayed this.
But seriously, the Criminal emphasizing the rule of threes (which is actually a real thing) last issue did remind me of the rule of two. His search for a successor and his traitorous relationship with his protégés here really, really made me see them like Sith Lords lol.
DETOUR ENDS HERE
​
u/Hmz_786 and I discussed before about how the Comedian could have been planning to betray the Criminal and the others all along. Maybe even seeing the Clown’s death coming. It seems that may be the case after all. Which I will delve into more later.
Besides Jack Napier from Batman ’89 and Jeremiah Valeska from Gotham, one Joker that I got reminded of in this was John Doe from Telltale’s Batman and Batman: Enemy Within. His last lines to Bruce in the Villain ending (there are 2 versions depending on your choice of dialogue to him) evoke the themes of this story or parallel what the Comedian says here.
​
(“Sure we’ve had some good times”) “I hope you’ll look at that scar and remember those good times”
​
(“I wish we never met”) “I’ll be the knife on your side until the end of time”
Back to Bruce and Joe Chill.
Definitely the best part of the issue and this story, is Bruce forgiving Joe Chill and healing his greatest scar. I’ve seen people say this has been done before. That’s true, but never exactly like this, not quite to this extent.
He didn’t forgive him in his mind as an old man after witnessing a new gang of criminals act far worse than him. He didn’t just spare him and leave him to die by either suicide or murder by his fellow criminals or to just rot in poverty.
This Joe Chill was truly remorseful, dying of cancer and wasn’t active as a criminal anymore.
Bruce stayed by his side and held his hand as he passed.
This is the most positive closure Bruce has ever had with Joe Chill, ever IMO.
​
“Forgiveness is Freedom”
So, the Comedian Joker won.
He healed Bruce’s greatest scar.
He killed the Criminal and became the last Joker.
But most of all, the ambiguity behind who the Joker is remains.
Or does it?
​

IV. The Joker’s Name

One thing I brought up in my last post is that the Comedian hates memory and remembering the past.
Since he is the Endgame Joker after all, that means he likes to tell his false origins as supernatural, demonic or nightmare fuel stories that prey on his victims (the back up stories).
Which in retrospect, fits with the idea that he doesn’t want people to know about his tragic past. He wants people to think he’s chaos incarnate, but he’s not.
Which is why in Death of the Family, he panicked and fell when Bruce claimed he knew his real name, which would prove he was human.
Then in Darkseid War, Bruce got the Mobius Chair.
He asked it two questions. One rhetorical for a test, and the other we assumed wasn’t. He asked who killed his parents and then asked what was the Joker’s real name, only to learn the premise of this very story. There were Three Jokers.
Here we learn that Bruce DID know the Joker’s name all this time. This means that it was also a test (which Jason Fabok has confirmed on Twitter to multiple people).
Let’s go back to The Killing Joke
The Joker attempted to drive Jim Gordon insane to prove his absurd, nihilistic thesis that life is a joke and anyone can see that just like he did by going through “One Bad Day”. Which in turn is to prove to Batman that they are alike and that he should be insane just like him.
Thing is…
…
He failed.
Jim wasn’t driven mad. Bruce wasn’t convinced and instead tried giving a counteroffer of rehabilitation. But the Joker refuses because he thinks A) He’s too far gone and B) He doesn’t trust that Bruce will keep the light on and commit to doing it.
The Joker did not prove his point and yet couldn’t accept an alternative hypothesis. If this was an official social experiment for research, he’d get an F (and then get kicked out and thrown in jail for unethical human testing without consent).
And really the flashbacks themselves prove it.
The flashbacks take more than one day. He was a struggling comedian in poverty and at times vented this on his wife.
No, that is not an invention of this book. That panel is directly adapted from TKJ.
We don’t see more from this scene in 3 Jokers, so it’s left ambiguous whether they reconciled or not the way we see in TKJ, but I think the latter works still. Even after apologizing the comedian still vented and ranted about his life. He made it clear he wants to get out of there, but he didn’t try more comedy gigs or getting his old job back at ACE.
No, instead he gave in to crime. Not too different from Joe Chill.
Note, there is an unspecified time gap between that scene and his meetings with the criminals.
He’s had 2 in fact.
He had to find them first, possibly introduced to them by the Criminal (more on that later) and then have that first meeting planning the heist and setting him up as a decoy Red Hood. From dialogue, their next meeting will be “next Friday” right before the heist. At least a week has passed then.
“One bad week” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
But that’s not the point.
He gave into crime even before the accident and he relied on that to save his family.
What would Jeannie think if she heard about him being willing to associate with criminals?
How would he act toward her in that 1 week where he still hasn’t fixed his life?
Whatever the case, we don’t learn his name
but we do learn that Jeannie lived.
Whatever happened in that lost week, she eventually couldn’t take it anymore and got help from cops to escape. She and her son (who IMO btw has to be 15-20 years old, or at least older than Damian) are alive in Alaska. Which is why Bruce wasn’t looking at missing Comedian files earlier, and instead looked at his globe.
This does feel like a very similar situation to the psychiatrist who tried curing the Joker in Killer Smile, only to end up driving his wife and son away and nearly killing them in the Joker’s plot to make him like him.
We then learn why Bruce can’t reveal his name, and possibly why he can’t kill the Joker.
If he reveals the Joker’s name, people will find his family and they wouldn’t be safe. The Joker would find them too.
As for the latter, if Bruce kills the Joker, he would be taking a father away from his son (more on the son of the Joker in the bonus segment!)
So in the end, Bruce had the last laugh.
He knows the Joker isn’t the devil. He was a man once. He had a wife who he loved before turning to insanity. The Joker failed in keeping the ambiguity behind himself, a week after Bruce fought the Joker (the Criminal?). He failed a long time ago.
And now,
Both refuse to reveal the identity of the other.
​

V. Is the Joker Broken, or Chaos Incarnate?

Now, a lot of people think this book is painting the Joker as someone who was always bad and that this ruins TKJ. I kind of already talked about that in the previous segment, but here I’d like to bring back an old post I made discussing the conflicting views of the Joker:
From IGN
Alan Moore of course argued for the Joker being a dark reflection of Batman. Both born from tragedy.
but
Frank Miller argued the Joker was pure evil. Satanic even. Evil incarnate. Not insane. Evil.
“I am chaos. I am the devil. I am everything to you and nothing. It wasn’t the Joker who was broken. It was the Batman.”
Putting that quote in that context, it looks like Miller’s version is what’s coming here.
But I don’t think so.
As I’ve pointed out, the Comedian is a liar that takes credit from the other Jokers and pretended he was an immortal supernatural boogieman in Endgame.
This is how he wants to be seen, because he’s afraid of the truth.
In reality, he’s the only one of the Jokers who has a desire outside of Batman and apparently the only one with One Bad Day. The Clown said he loved to take credit, he teased him about being a failed comedian and the Criminal called him out for wasting time with fantasies. They were the ones pushing him down. It was the Criminal trying to get him to focus on what matters.
He almost comes off as the bullied co-worker that gets reminded every time about where he came from and he HATES that. This was his revenge. By killing them and taking credit for all their work. He became the Joker who mattered. Not Chill, the Clown or the Criminal.
“Says the failed Comedian” “There is no her. There is no one else but the Batman”
Clearly, he still loved his wife. Despite him venting to her, she and their unborn son were still the reason for him going insane. Even now he secretly fantasizes them being with them.
Another thing to take note of is that, in both the Killing Joke and Three Jokers,
He NEVER reveals this specific origin to others
It’s always flashbacks and fantasies. When he does tell false origins, it’s always to paint him as this bigger force of chaos. A façade to hide his real past that the other Jokers see right through and belittle him for. With them dead, no one else knows now…except Bruce.
Speaking of which, this makes him more like Batman.
Because the way he wants to be seen by others,
is just like how Batman wants to be seen by criminals
Pretending to be a supernatural force of nature to strike fear is now common among the two victims of trauma. He failed to prove anyone can be like him in TKJ, so he decided to embrace the idea that no one can be like him.
In many ways this also relates to the Joker movie, where Arthur pretended, he killed those people for no reason other than them being awful. Hiding his pain by embracing evil. Of course there’s also the fact that, it hurts when he laughs and likely cannot control it.
I discussed that in the last post, but it’s based on a real condition: Pseudobulbar Affect.
The Criminal’s age makes it, so he cries almost every time. But from what he asked Jason, and the Comedian in Doomsday Clock, I’m betting all the Jokers have this trait to varying effect.
Finally, before moving on, one of the most important things to take note, is that the book spent a lot of time blurring the line between Jokers and victims.
Jokers and Victims
The jokerized Red Hood/Comedian lookalaike at the beginning of the story, the horde of Jokers at the pool, and of course, Jason himself. Being the Joker in this story seems to be about taking your pain and trauma, then inflicting that onto others. Which is again, the exact opposite of Batman, which all about taking that pain, using it to do good and making sure no one else has to face it alone.
In the end, can the Comedian be redeemed?
Maybe. Maybe not. But if even Joe Chill can, maybe one day the Joker can too. Or not
This again reminds me of Telltale Joker (voiced by Anthony Ingruber). One path lets him become a vigilante modeling himself after Batman, but in the end, he just couldn’t change his fate even with Bruce’s help, and he will become a villain anyway unless you offer your friendship to him.
“I really wanted to be a hero you know. But…I-I just can’t!”
I honestly did think we could’ve gotten a redemption for the Joker. I even had a theory (never published) about how Bruce’s new yellow oval having a flashlight as a reference to the titular Killing Joke and him not turning it off. But since this book does want to be canon somehow, it’s stuck from fixing that status quo even if they wanted to.
In the meantime, we have White Knight by Sean Gordon Murphy for those who want it.
​

VI. Who is the “Real”/Original Joker?

This is definitely something the book, and the Comedian specifically, want to keep ambiguous. But just to theorize, let’s list down the points for and against them.
Case for the Criminal

1. He states to Jason that he was the first Joker, and that he ran Gotham before Batman.
2. Bruce confirms he reminds him the most of their earliest confrontations. That briefing scene and the scars montage include flashbacks that clearly feature him as the first.
3. Why would the Comedian only show up WAY later if he was the original?
4. IRL he literally is the original Joker.
5. He is the oldest and his laughing condition has been the worst. He wishes to retire after this.
6. The captions place as him as number 1.
7. He’s the only one to not claim to be the “real” Joker, as to him the Joker is an idea. Meaning he’s the only one willing to create new Jokers in the first place. The others don’t want to share the spotlight as both the Clown and Comedian claim to be the definitive Jokers.
8. The Criminal acts like a boss and strict mentor to the Jokers, specifically the Comedian.
9. The Comedian, from the first pages he’s introduced to the ending, is a liar.

Case for the Comedian

1. He is the Joker who Bruce identified the past of a week after their first encounter.
2. He “has a good eye for talent” meaning he probably did find the others.
3. His normal-ish life before this and desire to hide it means he has the most to gain by making new Jokers. They hide his identity and teach him various skills. The Criminal can teach him marksmanship and planning. The Clown can teach him to be more creative and actually be funny. Meanwhile he was an ex-chemical engineer who worked at Ace so he has the means.

As you can see, I favor the Criminal, with three times the points as the Comedian’s 3.
However, if ever this becomes fully canon and referenced, there is a 90% chance the others will be retconned into being fake Jokers made for this story and there is an explanation for it.
BUT
What’s the THIRD option?
What if they were all born on the same night? This was hinted at in the first issue with the 3 Red Hoods jokerized. If Zero Year is recanonized, well then that explains how there can be multiple Red Hoods.
The most skilled and experienced at being the Criminal, the Criminal took the lead and taught the other two until they were ready.
The Comedian having the most normal life, made him the easiest and first choice for Bruce to deduce.
​

VII. Who are the Three Jokers?

How did they become to be?
Now that is a question that’s been in my mind for a long time.
Earlier this year I made several posts about the Three Jokers. Last year made several Doomsday Clock posts which was what got me known.
But before all that?
Almost two years ago now, this book was announced. I was curious.
Whenever I was waiting for a car, bus, commuting or whatever after class, after training or whatever on my way home, I didn’t have anything to do but use my phone. Except I didn’t have data and I grew out of mobile gaming. Usually I bring comics to read, but one day I decided to use that time to type down notes on who I thought the Three Jokers would be. For fun. Who knows maybe I’ll be close?
I used that to also read a lot of old classic Batman-Joker comics and even episodes of BTAS, Batman ’66, Brave and the Bold etc. A few months later, I realized how long it ended up and decided, what the heck, what if I make this an write up and post it on Reddit or something.
And so I posted this:
https://www.reddit.com/DCcomics/comments/a7odrk/my_theory_on_the_three_jokers/
It was really long and REALLY messy. Very outdated too.
I didn’t make anything like it again until the Doomsday Clock stuff, but this was the first. Then a few months ago I did more when the covers were released.
So, without prolonging this any longer, the Three Jokers, who they are and how they came to be:
The Criminal
The Criminal Joker was the original Joker. A calculating and cold criminal mastermind with a method to his madness. He challenges Batman and the police. He likes to mess with gangsters because he hates organize crime. Batman is his ultimate rival. As the oldest of the three, the pain of his laughs has grown to the extent that he cries uncontrollably when doing it. Because of this he rarely laughs and smiles now.
In the past he was a criminal who grew up on the streets of Gotham. He was a rebellious young man who injected chaos onto organized crime. He was skilled in hiding his identity and was smart enough to stay a step ahead. Bank robber, jewel thief, hitman, enforcer, con artist, gambler he’s been them all. Skilled with guns, knives, explosives, poisons and more. The world’s greatest criminal like Batman is the world’s greatest detective. Eventually he rose to the top as a mob boss. He ran Gotham before Batman came in. Due to boredom he created the Red Hood gang. He named himself the Joker after the wildcard, as he planned to rob the Monarch Playing Card company next to Ace Chemicals.
Today due to his old age, he’s the one that looks the most different from the other two and so in the decades since he’s avoided fighting Batman again out in the open. Preferring instead to mentor and boss his successors. His last known appearance was in-universe was War of Jokes and Riddles.
The Clown
The Clown Joker is the classic Joker. A theatrical but murderous prankster-thief with a creativity and charisma that surpasses the others. He only kills when it’s funny. His plans are smart but also outrageous and non-sensical. He loves using gags and trick novelties, at times weaponizing them to be lethal. He recruited Gaggy from a circus as his sideckick but later ditched them and killed his henchmen. He made the Laughing Fish. He killed Jason Todd because it was funny, and it would get to Batman. No real other reason. He doesn’t need a big point. He’d love to have this fun forever if he could.
In the past, he was likely a clown. He might’ve ran away to the join a circus once and met Gaggy there. After that he left to stay in Gotham and tried to be a clown at children’s parties and such. It didn’t work out and he joined the Red Hood Gang as the Criminal’s right hand man. But really he’s the one whose origin we have no clear knowledge on other than his title.
Today he’s the substitute Joker who does the smaller acts for fun and to throw Batman off their trail.
​
The Comedian
The Comedian Joker is the modern Joker. The one with the most meaning. He believes life is a joke. He’s the most sadistic and crazy Joker. His ability to evolve and change himself is due to his Super-Sanity. He thinks outside the box all the time, even as Batman tries to make a new one around him. He is the most unpredictable and dangerous. His obsession with Batman is the strongest, yet unlike the others it’s ironically not the only thing he wants. Unfortunately, he can never have the other thing, and that’s why he’s the most hateful. Love and Hate are almost the same to him.
In the past, he was a former chemical engineer at Ace chemicals who gave up his job to achieve his dream to be a comedian. It didn’t work out. He was a poor desperate man with a pregnant wife he loved and wanted to provide for but vented his anger on due to stress. He turned to the Criminal and Clown who made him a decoy Red Hood in their gang. Before their heist, his wife left him and faked her death, which broke the man. He didn’t want to do it anymore, but he had no choice.
Today, he’s the main and only Joker left. He’s learned enough from the other two. He surpassed them in intelligence and insanity.
How they look similar?
I believe they are brothers who were separated, not at birth but early in life, taking different paths but ending up in the same place. The Criminal being the eldest at 10 years older than the youngest but looking much older due to his lifestyle pre-Joker. The Clown and the Comedian are possibly twins. That’s how the Comedian found a job with criminals so fast. That’s how they were so familiar with each other. That’s how they (somewhat) trusted each other as Jokers. That’s how Jeannie became horrified and left him. She also likely informed the police of their heist which is how security increased and Batman got there. Which is also likely how Bruce discovered the Comedian so easily. His wife was the one who tipped him and the police off.
But if ever the other two are retconned as fake later, they could always either use:

• Cadmus Tech cloning (the Joker apparently used this in ROTJ according to Terry in Epilogue)
• Multiverse/Metaverse side effect after the constant reboots and anti-reboots making them all matter (cough Doomsday Clock cough Death Metal cough Generations Shattered and Forged cough Prime Time Punch)
• Facial surgery done on the other two

Why should there even be 3 Jokers in the first place? Super-Sanity is better.
Super-Sanity isn’t mutually exclusive IMO. At least 1 of them has one with the Comedian being Morrison and Snyder’s Joker, but considering how the Clown also changed to be more lethal I’d say he too has it.
What this adds is the ability to give ambiguity to the other two Jokers while giving one a defined origin. You see Alan Moore believed the Joker wasn’t a very good character. I believe it’s partly because he couldn’t have a real origin. TKJ didn’t invent the trope of a mysterious origin for him. That appeared in Dennis O’Neil’s Joker run and Brian Bolland himself says he didn’t originally plan on making an origin for him when he pitched the book. That was Moore’s decision and the main point of TKJ hinges on it being at least generally true. So no gangster Joker who was always evil.
With one Joker having a defined origin, we have a deeper understanding of his character and motivations while still having mystery on the others. With Super-Sanity, the Joker can have an infinite amount of personalities, motivations and fake origins but since we can never know which is real, they might as well all false. Which is what the psychiatrist concluded in Serious House on Serious Earth. “He has no real personality”.

VIII. Who is the Best Joker? Who is my favorite?

Now if we’re going by who’s the most in depth character and best villain, then the Comedian is it. His origin gives meaning and depth to his character and motivations while making him a parallel to Bruce. His rant on the other two sums it up pretty well. He doesn’t want to give the Joker the identity like the Criminal or Tim Burton did. He was more than the Clown.
BUT
He’s not my favorite or best Joker.
u/mojothemobile said it best on a thread I saw earlier. The best Joker is the one you can laugh at as much as be scared off. A hilarious Joker that can make such vile acts seem funny. The kind of the Joker who would try and copyright fish infected by Joker venom, kill people with deadly pranks, make a Christmas special, stalk some guy who cursed at him on the road, attack Gotham with an army of bane-like Titan monsters, pull a fake Joker ga-
“Wait a minute, are you just describing Mark Hamill’s Joker?”
Yup. He had Criminal elements in Mask of the Phantasm, was the Comedian in the Killing Joke movie and maybe Return of the Joker, but in pretty much everything else (BTAS, TNBA, JL, JLU, JL action, Arkham Asylum, City and Knight (Troy Baker was more Comedian in Origins)), the definitive Joker voice played the Clown archetype.
Brave and the Bold and Batman ’66 adapted this Joker well.
Nothing beats the classics. But I understand it’s up to preference.
​

IX. BONUS ROUND

Did I have any disappointments with the book

Sure. Like I said I almost expected Bruce to try and rehabilitate the Joker again. I did wish we had more closure with Jason and Barabra.
On how little they reveal on the 3 themselves, IMO they gave enough for me to make this so I’m grateful lol but it’s probably necessary to keep ambiguity for it to be canon.
Otherwise a great book for me overall. Is it on the same level as Long Halloween or even Killing Joke?! Maybe not. But I’d personally put this equal to or greater to Hush which has similar strengths and weaknesses. Though not sure where I’d put it compared to DOTF and Endgame, but IMO this is above Joker War for me.
Before moving on, I’d like to add a random bit. The panel in the police car with the light shining on the Joker declaring he’ll be Batman’s pain until they die, absolutely great art. I think this was what Jason Fabok talked about when he said Brad Anderson homage the original colors of TKJ by John Higgins.

What about Jason and Barbara?

Jason, I think had the second most important part just below Batman. His arc is about realizing how close he is to becoming the Joker, and maybe realizing that he might need to find a new identity, which Bruce offers to him. But of course that can’t happen here or they can’t really be in continuity fully.
Barbara doesn’t get to do much but she does act as the heart of the trio who understands both and wants them to reconcile (but. She initially wanted to bring Jason in, but seeing him vulnerable as he was made her understand him more. In turn Jason seeing how she became this way inspires him to be better.

“Don’t tell me you’re a Jaybabs shipper Earthmine!”

Relax I’m not calling for that at all. I’m not really into shipping period and I do think the book could improve without it. But their relationship and parallels are important in this story and I think it was well done.
By the way, I like the idea of Jim knowing Barbara and Barbara knowing he knows.

What about Harley?

Harley in continuity appeared during No Man’s Land. That plus the Comedian wishing he still had Jeannie, means he likely filled that void with Harley, only to be abusive to her. She reminds him too much of Jeannie. Punchline doesn’t though.
I would like to share a theory I’ve had a long time now. In Case Study, it’s reveled that it was Harleen who made the report, concluding the Joker is sane, should be retried and executed. She changed her mind about it after meeting the Joker herself. She discovered the past of the Criminal, but by then he was semi-retired. If the Criminal found out he probably had the Comedian change her mind. The Clown of course likely avoids her since he hasn’t had a sidekick since Gaggy.
So she only worked with, and maybe met, 1 Joker.

Will it Canon?

^{please don’t sue me Watchtower Database, big fan}
So, after all’s said and done, is this canon?
Well it can be. I’d say, in the past of the next new timeline which restores more Pre-New 52 (including Pre-Crisis) history.
I understand reception of this is more mixed than Doomsday Clock (which wasn’t universally loved either) and not everyone, maybe most people, aren’t sold with their being 3 Jokers.
But they can easily retcon that premise out for the other things or once again give multiversal, excuses. There really is a lot of potential to deal with all of this.

Detective Comics #1000: The Last Crime in Gotham

The son of the Joker.
Gee that sounds familiar. Maybe Geoff Johns already used this concept before?
He did! In his short story in ‘Tec 1000. There are plenty of themes of family in this. The Joker died due to the chemicals that created him and somehow his son became just like the father and died too. His last act was a gift to Batman and Gotham. He left a note, emphasizing the importance of family.
Besides that, this possible future includes Barabra and (a) Jason being married and Bruce and Selina having a daughter. Though at the end it’s implied to just be a wish by Bruce.
I recommend reading this after Three Jokers. It serves as a good extra epilogue IMO.

Post-Script

Well that’s it.
This was a great series for me and I’m glad to be able to do this.
Thank you so much for giving your time reading these and special thanks to the following users I’ve had discussions about this. Whether in Reddit threads, DMs, Disqus, Twitter and more. Whether short or long they’ve helped me a lot in making this, either by giving me more ideas or motivating me to keep doing this crazy thing. Thanks also to those who appreciated these so much they used their had earned coins for rewards. I’m really glad these aren’t just for nothing, thank you.
All of these include (but definitely aren’t limited to):
u/Hmz_786, u/WarWolf343, u/HelloGoodbyeOhGawd, u/xXRambo-ApocalypsexX, u/ScottishRyzo-98, Joe57039631 from Twitter, u/Tough-Part, u/Badbatmanman, u/mrwiyagi, u/NewsYouDontNeed, u/Ricky_Ticky_Tangy, u/Ozymandias2019 and many more I probably missed looking through my history, my sincerest apologies in that case.
Thanks to you all.

During 2020 I decided to branch out more and discover more entertainment and more art that I hadn’t experienced yet. This led me to the IMDB Top 250. Recently I made it halfway through and I wanted to share my rankings and my thoughts. Since these are the best of the best I’ve given each movie their own best picture superlative. (Number in parentheses are IMDB ranking and number on the side are mine)

1. The Dark Knight (4)- Best Picture For: Being compared to every new superhero movie ever
2. The Shawshank redemption (1)- Best Picture For: Having a poster that spoils the movie
3. Inception (13)- Best Picture For: The trailer that changed everything
4. Return of the Jedi (85)- Best Picture For: Having homicidal bears that make some people really upset
5. Terminator 2 (38)- Best Picture For: How to do a proper sequel
6. Infinity War (64)- Best Picture For: Zoe Saldana haters
7. 1917 (93)- Best Picture For: Being a war movie not about WWII or Vietnam
8. The Prestige (47)- Best Picture For: Magic David Bowie that’s not Labyrinth
9. Aliens (74)- Best Picture For: Alienating the horror movie crowd
10. The dark knight rises (71)- Best Picture For: Bane’s voice setting the standard for Nolan’s sound engineer
11. Full metal jacket (99)- Best Picture For: People leaving halfway in
12. Saving private Ryan (26)- Best Picture For: People leaving twenty minutes in
13. Forrest Gump (12)- Best Picture For: Stopping Richard Nixon. God bless you Forrest
14. Memento (55)- Best Picture For: B movie +Gimmick= A+
15. Good will hunting (88)- Best Picture For: Baseball gloves
16. The usual suspects (33)- Best Picture For: A prequel to Seven
17. Empire strikes back (14)- Best Picture For: Being compared to every sequel ever
18. The last crusade (121)- Best Picture For: Buddy cop comedy
19. Schindler’s list (5)- Best Picture For: Best Picture
20. Ford v ferrari (197)- Best Picture For: Fast and Furious for the Oscars
21. The Truman show (171)- Best Picture For: Conspiracy theories
22. Se7en (20)- Best Picture For: Letting us know about Kevin Spacey
23. Whiplash (46)- Best Picture For: Anxiety inducing jazz
24. The silence of the lambs (23)- Best Picture For: Putting the Sir in Sir Anthony Hopkins
25. 3 Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (151)- Best Picture For: Grief
26. Prisoners (200)- Best Picture For: Wait, that guy is gonna be the riddler? Oh my...
27. Parasite (30)- Best Picture For: Explaining class systems better than school
28. 12 Angry Men (5)- Best Picture For: Truth being relative
29. Fight Club (11)- Best Picture For: Having a quote everyone knows, but actually about the dismantling of society as we know it
30. The Sixth Sense (164)- Best Picture For: Proving M. Night was once a legend
31. Star wars: A new hope (25)- Best Picture For: Creating the largest hate group of all time. Star Wars fans
32. Raiders of the lost ark (56)- Best Picture For: Being a cool Sunday school lesson and a movie about beating the Nazi’s at the same time
33. The Departed (44)- Best Picture For: Rats
34. Pulp Fiction (8)- Best Picture For: Everyone skipping Bruce Willis’ hotel section
35. Lawrence of Arabia (109)- Best Picture For: What 1917 did for one shot WWI films this movie did for coloration and shot composition for WW1 films
36. Django Unchained (60)- Best Picture For: Bounty hunting
37. Fargo (176)- Best Picture For: Midwesterners
38. Interstellar (31)- Best Picture For: Quantum physicists
39. Hacksaw ridge (190)- Best Picture For: Having a pacifist first half and the most violent things you’ll ever see in the second
40. Up (122)- Best Picture For: People leaving 15 minutes in
41. Monsters Inc (232)- Best Picture For: Making liars of parents who said there’s no monsters in your closet
42. Toy story 3 (110)- Best Picture For: Breaking grown adults
43. Toy story (81)- Best Picture For: Getting every 2D animator fired
44. Endgame (73)- Best Picture For: Audience applause
45. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (96)- Best Picture For: Break up depression
46. Kill bill Vol.1 (175)- Best Picture For: Quinten Tarintino doing whatever he wants for four hours straight
47. Requiem for a dream (91)- Best Picture For: Being a better drug PSA than anything school taught
48. Inglourious Basterds (86)- Best Picture For: Learning German through tension
49. The lion king (35)- Best Picture For: Being a PG Hamlet musical
50. Spotlight (226)- Best Picture For: Redeeming Scott Templeton from The Wire
51. The Green Mile (29)- Best Picture For: Weeping
52. Gone girl (188)- Best Picture For: Never trusting your spouse again
53. The Godfather Part 2 (3)- Best Picture For: Being the best prequel-sequel outside of lion king one and a half
54. The Matrix (16)- Best Picture For: Woah’s
55. Die hard (127)- Best Picture For: Being the template of every action movie to come after it
56. Logan (218)- Best Picture For: Proving X Men movies can be good
57. Hamilton (27)- Best Picture For: The reason to get Disney +
58. Hotel Rwanda (225)- Best Picture For: Being Schindler's list for people that hate black and white
59. Goodfellas (17)- Best Picture For: The origin of the Wet Bandits
60. Room (172)- Best Picture For: People that think castaway is overrated
61. The Pianist (37)- Best Picture For: Being Schindler's List for people that hate black and white
62. Inside out (160)- Best Picture For: Expressing emotions better than you ever will
63. Braveheart (78)- Best Picture For: FREEDOM!
64. Gladiator (42)- Best Picture For: Showing the good half of Ridley Scott’s filmography
65. The Shining (62)- Best Picture For: Pissing off Stephen King
66. Back to the future (36)- Best Picture For: Being a light hearted family movie that has plot points of rape and incest
67. Dr. Strangelove (69)- Best Picture For: Satire of the Cold War
68. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (9)- Best Picture For: Being so proud of a piece of music you include it as much as possible
69. City of God (22)- Best Picture For: Being the most violent movie I’ve ever seen
70. The Godfather (2)- Best Picture For: Proving Al Pacino was once a good actor
71. Batman begins (130)- Best Picture For: Creating the gritty superhero genre
72. Apocalypse Now (54)- Best Picture For: Cow parallels
73. The terminator (245)- Best Picture For: The movie with that one quote in it
74. Wall-e (63)- Best Picture For: An easily digestible dystopian look at our bleak future
75. Alien (74) - Best Picture For: Being the wrong answer to Alien vs. Aliens
76. Return of the King (7)- Best Picture For: *Insert multiple endings joke here
77. Deathly Hallows part 2 (217)- Best Picture For: Milking cash from consumers and milking tears from fans
78. Finding Nemo (170)- Best Picture For: Anxiety for parents
79. Dead gets society (214)- Best Picture For: Creating the gold standard for teachers that can never be met
80. Mad Max; Fury Road (205)- Best Picture For: Fire guitars
81. Pan’s labyrinth (142)- Best Picture For: If Alan Moore wrote the Chronicles of Narnia
82. It’s a wonderful life (24)- Best Picture For: Wait this Christmas movie is about suicide
83. How to train your dragon (199)- Best Picture For: Adorable killer beasts
84. Stand by me (206)- Best Picture For: Oh this is where stranger things comes from
85. Coco (76)- Best Picture For: Crying in Spanish
86. The princess bride (244)- Best Picture For: A bigger disparity in quality from first half to second than full metal jacket
87. Catch me if you can (195)- Best Picture For: Being Spielberg's most underrated movie
88. Into the spider verse (67)- Best Picture For: Actually doing a good job replacing an iconic character
89. Before sunrise (193) Best Picture For: Being a super unrealistic love story yet at the same time extremely honest
90. Warrior (161)- Best Picture For: Having actors before they were famous do a better fighting movie than Rocky
91. Fellowship of the ring (10)- Best Picture For: *Insert eagles joke here
92. Two Towers (15)- Best Picture For: Being the first of many opportunities to give Andy Serkis an Oscar
93. Amadeus (83)- Best Picture For: The kind of movie you watch expecting nothing and being blown away
94. Jurassic park (166)- Best Picture For: Having a banner fall over a T-Rex
95. Rocky (230)- Best Picture For: Training montages
96. Joker (58)- Best Picture For: Wait this is ranked 58th movie of all time. It’s great and all… but 58th really?
97. Raging bull (147): Insecure boxing
98. 2001 (90)- Best Picture For: Educated stoners
99. Million Dollar Baby (209)- Best Picture For: Adding depth to the argument is Hillary Swank hot or not
100. Platoon (215) - Best Picture For: Charlie Sheen not being on your TV at 2 at night for two and a half men reruns
101. Gran Torino (180)- Best Picture For: Clint Eastwood learning not to be so racist
102. There will be blood (148)- Best Picture For: Milkshakes
103. Network (207)- Best Picture For: Prophesying clickbait
104. A clockwork orange (102)- Best Picture For: Make sure no one walks in on you watching this movie
105. Taxi Driver (106)- Best Picture For: The movie with that one quote in it
106. Rear Window (52) Best Picture For: Peeping Toms
107. Green Book (131)- Best Picture For: Ending racism
108. The Help (243)- Best Picture For: Ending racism
109. One flew over the cuckoo’s nest (18)- Best Picture For: Jack Nicholson is Jack Nicholson in a psych ward
110. The wolf of wall street (143)- Best Picture For: Make sure no one walks in on you watching this movie
111. V for Vendetta (156)- Best Picture For: Making a random day in November a nerd holiday
112. Witness for the prosecution (68)- Best Picture For: Having six plot twists in five minutes
113. Sunset Blvd. (65)- Best Picture For: Lying to help someone’s mental health and hoping it ends well
114. To kill a mockingbird (119)- Best Picture For: Having a dog die that inadvertently propels the plot that’s not of mice and men
115. The General (198)- Best Picture For: Train enthusiasts
116. A Beautiful mind (139)- Best Picture For: Being a boring biopic, having a twist, and then being boring again
117. The Circus (236)- Best Picture For: Music but with pictures
118. The Kid (101)- Best Picture For: Music but with pictures
119. Blade runner (169)- Best Picture For: Having more cuts than a butcher house
120. Monty python and the holy grail (126)- Best Picture For: If quoting, opens doors like some form of secret society
121. Heat (124)- Best Picture For: Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro fanfiction
122. Monty python’s life of Brian (216)- Best Picture For: Making Christians mad without seeing it even though the movie is about blindly following the crowd
123. Anand (125)- Best Picture For: Random sing along sections
124. Hachi: a dog's tale (211)- Best Picture For: Not being a good movie but at least it has a dog
125. Klaus (185)- Best Picture For: Being overrated

so basically we live in a society
Obtainable via idk, Velvet Room? maybe just finding a mask lying around during the Dark Hour or inside a TV with a 50% chance of obtaining Arsene?
Design
Passive A - SP Bar : The user's GUI will come with a light blue bar, representing how much “SP” the user has, which is 335 SP total. Moves that require the use of a Persona's special abilities to attack will drain the user's SP. The user can regenerate SP from successfully landing specific melee attacks(I know this isn't how it works in the games, but it's better than having people run while spamming SP regeneration items like every JRPG protagonist)
Passive B - Critical Hit : There is a 5% chance for the user's attack to crit, showing a little cut-in of the user's face before knocking down the foe off their feet and pulling up a menu for the user. While this menu is pulled up, the foe will remained stunned until the user chooses an option. Pressing LMB again will initiate the All Out Attack while pressing X will allow the user to simply cancel it, leaving the foe stunned for 10 seconds or until they're hit again. This passive can also be used against the user, allowing other players to crit the user and pull out an All Out Attack themselves. and yes, the foe and the user cannot be harmed while the menu is pulled up, so you can't just smack someone with a critical hit and leave them permanently stunned while your goons beat them up on top of the 10 seconds to use the menu before the foe gets back up, main difference with this is that Arsene users get to hold the stunned enemy at gunpoint too
Passive C - All Out Attack : If the player or foe chooses to use an All Out Attack, the person who performed the original crit will rush at the foe and perform Persona 5’s classic All Out Attack in a series of flurries directed at the foe before the user jumps away and does Joker's signature pose, dealing 45dmg or instantly killing if the victim is under 30% hp.
Passive D - Persona Mastery : you know what CD does with that “attack to automatically summon stand”? just that, but the funny mask just burns away

Stats :

Power - B+
Speed - C
Durability - B
HP : 285

Stats :

Q - “I am thou. Thou art I... Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts of thine own justice.” : Joker's mask will appear on the user's face before the user rips it right off, summoning Arsene.
LMB - “Swing your blade!” : The user will slash their dagger, dealing 15dmg and regenerating 15 SP. Cooldown : 4 seconds
E - Trickster's Combo : Arsene will perform a basic three jab combo, dealing 10dmg in each jab with an additional “curse” afterburn that deals 3dmg per second for about 5 seconds from the last punch. Cooldown : 6 seconds
R - Brave Blade : Arsene will swing their leg down onto the floor, slashing the foe ahead of them and dealing 35dmg with weak knockback. There's a cool downwards sword swinging effect that comes along with the attack. Cooldown : 8 seconds
T - “For his neutral special, he wields a gun.” : The user will strike a pose as they hold out their pistol, holding the camera in an over shoulder angle basically like a third person shooter. Pressing LMB will allow the user to fire the pistol in their current direction, dealing 15dmg in each shot. Pressing T again will cancel the move. Cooldown : 5 seconds
V + T(cursor on target) - Down Shot : The user will roll to the side before performing a leap as they fire at the target relentlessly in style, dealing no damage but stunning the target and applying Passive B. This move can be completely nullified if used on players who are blocking or performing unique attacks(ie VTW’s Roadroller or TA4's nail shot), rendering the user immobile and unable to attack for 3 seconds. This move can only be used 5 times per life. Cooldown : 20 seconds shares cooldown with default T
Y - Eiha : Arsene will jab their arm into the ground before a burst of dark energy bursts from the ground in front of them, dealing 25dmg + 5 additional curse damage to any foe caught within the 10 stud radius blast zone. This move eats up 40 SP. Cooldown : 10 seconds
F - Showtime : The user leaps upwards as Arsene does the same downwards jab motion in the air, causing a burst of red energy to burst underneath the user in a 45 stud radius, dealing 65dmg and great knockback. This move consumes 150 SP. Cooldown : 35 seconds
G - Cognitive Outlook : Basically, kneel down as blue flames engulf your entire body, giving you a free Joker cosplay. Press G again to go back to normal clothes. Cooldown : 10 seconds
J - Chains of Society : For some unexplained reason, chains will begin to surround the user before they grab it and lash it forwards, smacking the foe and dealing 25dmg with weak knockback. Cooldown : 15 seconds
J(if foe is killed) - Sinful Shell : Spoilers for Persona 5’s EndingThe chains that surround the user will begin to start breaking apart, summoning Satanael who will appear from the skies and fire a single shot at the target. [insert Persona 5 Final Boss defeat] A bullet made from the Seven Deadly Sins that can pierce even a god. imagine being a TWOH user on a building and seeing some giant demon lord point a gun at you
Z(cursor on target) - Grappling Hook : Just like Persona 5 Royal and Smash Bros, the user will fire a hook from their hands onto their cursor's location, pulling themselves towards their cursor if it hits anywhere within a 100 stud distance of the user. Cooldown : 12 seconds
Q + Z - Wings of Rebellion : Much like the Smash Bros Moveset for Joker, Arsene will flap their wings and propel the user upwards, creating great vertical distance with little horizontal distance. Cooldown : 16 seconds
X - Rebel's Guard : you know, the Smash move where Joker just holds his face and soaks damage, but it lasts for 7 seconds and you only get half the amount of SP out of every attack done to you(ie attack that does 50dmg will only give you 25 SP, 8dmg attack gives 4 SP, etc. decimals will automatically round up to next number for sake of long decimals breaking GUI). Cooldown : 10 seconds
C - Dash : The user will dash ahead. Cooldown : 5 seconds
Pose
Pose Theme
Stand(?)’s idle pose

Quotes :

same thing, couldn't pick between English or Japanese

English Dub

“Now that's comedy!”
“It's showtime.”
“I'll reveal your true form!”

Japanese Dub

“You need proper punishment.”
“It's showtime!”
“It's useless.”
Remember that feature I mentioned in the last two posts? Here it is again: When the user decides to just start smacking people or gets smacked, Life Will Change plays. Once the user hits 30%, it just kinda cuts to Last Surprise, which will start playing.
Sinful Shell sounds like a pain to code, but it'll look cool to pull out against that one guy with Doppio KC for absolutely no reason
oh, and I guess you can start running in circles after you beat someone to death

Arthur Fleck, a man who suffered with life and society in general. “Joker” (2019) is an outstanding film and definitely worth a watch.
Here are some quotes from the film:

• People are awful
• I haven’t been happy one minute of my entire fu**ing life
• All I have are negative thoughts
• The worst part about Mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t
• For my whole life, I didn’t think if I even existed
• What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?
• I thought my life was a tragedy, turns out, it’s a comedy
• I don’t want to feel bad anymore
• Is it just me or is it getting crazier out there?

This film dives deep into the Mental Health world.
Thanks all. :)

HEROINE [her-oh-in ]

1. a woman noted for courageous acts or nobility of character.
2. a woman who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal
3. the principal female character in a story, play, film, etc.

Here is the essay 2 of 3. The most important one.
Intro
I find harem anime repulsive. I hated that Persona 4 was one in disguise, undermining its own messages about the "Power of Friendship/Love" being something you build with personal growth, emotional intelligence and interpersonal outreach, not something handed to you because you're a hot protagonist. I was unpleasantly surprised that P4 Arena's hero Yu, in the original game, turned out to be a nameless, perfect boy that was supposed to be "me," who was the center of the universe, to help young men feel like a sex god. I was very disappointed and disgusted when P4’s anime leaned into this instead of the good parts. They made him an emotionless Gary Stu that stared at the wall, while three girls worshiped him, instead of making him grow into an emotionally intelligent man-among-boys, because they were simply too terrified to get him to speak, smile, chat about the weather with a girl his age, or look at them too long. I'm troubled that incels can't see through it and think he's cool.
But after an eight year hiatus from "weeb @#%&," I finally completed Vanilla P5 in April 2020, and was shocked. If I knew Atlus and P5 created a character as thoughtful as Makoto "Queen" Nijima, I would have played P5 upon release. Makoto is the most popular woman in the franchise. She is simultaneously praised, analyzed, hated, and the subject of so many mature, hard hitting fics from her perspective. And I spotted why as I played.
She shatters the self-insert, harem anime narrative boundaries that P4 set up and takes Persona's character writing to new heights, especially for its women. Anime feminism done right. This redeemed Persona in my eyes, tore down a lot of things I hate about it, and is very good news for the series. This means Persona could be growing up.
I didn't start this fire. P5 came out years ago. A lot of what is written here is derived from players between 2017 to 2020, by searching ("Makoto popular") on Reddit and Google.

1. Anime law broken: A human among anime characters

She gets flak that she's portrayed as the "genius' surrounded by idiots, or that she's "boring." She's actually a positive representation of a high-performance young woman...surrounded by wacky anime characters. It’s tough being a hard-working student figuring out your future and pursuing college without really knowing why. It’s even harder to make living in reality look cool when an anime model, anime punk, anime mascot, anime artist, anime hacker, anime zaibatsu heiress, anime gymnast, anime Shogi idol, anime hippy, anime big-#!&@\ goth doctor and anime maid/teacher don't need to think about those things.* She's may be a Student Council President, but she remains believable and relatable, because she has none of the godly power and respect that most anime counterparts have. Plenty of schools in the west have equivalent leadership programs. She's as normal and hardworking...as Joker.
Look back at some of Persona's most beloved darlings, and you'll see Makoto have pieces of them while being more believable and less "anime." She's a leader like Mitsuru and Naoto but more down to earth and approachable. She's defies Yukiko's "Yamato Nadeshiko" trope as Haru embraces it. She tells a subtle story on gender roles like Kanji and Naoto without taking ten rankups to do it. She's a calmer, more believable feminist warrior than Chie (who would not survive Shinjuku.) And she is central to the plot and themes without being the clone of the hero like Yosuke.
Joker may be the player's self insert, but it turned out many men and women identify with Makoto. Women find her empowering, and singles want to adopt her traits and find a partner like her in real life because they absolutely can do both.
2. Persona law broken: A strong, independent woman who don't need no man for character development
This is the most important part:
Don't like her? Then leave her alone all year. She doesn't need you, and she's not interested unless your grades are in order! Not only will she still grow strong and whole in the plot, she will also do so without Joker's help in many critical POV swaps.
Her "boring" problems are the ones that feel real, relatable, and thematic. The themes of Rebellion and Justice are obvious. The less obvious theme of P5 is seeking approval from the wrong people (this nearly destroys the Phantom Thieves, many of the Confidants, and does destroy Akechi). Her setup as a party member is a very thoughtful, thematic and slow burn.
Going through life doing absolutely nothing but what the adults in her life say is important (grades) left her socially and emotionally malnourished. If this were P4, she'd have been the darling of the school and she'd be fighting off dudes with a broom like Yukiko. Instead, she was lonely because everyone found her unapproachable and bitchy. But why? Surely, she's doing all the right things in life, right? She didn't know it yet, but she was being set up for an unhappy adulthood. All the while being shunned by peers, mocked by Akechi, and run ragged by her faculty.
Threatened by the Principal and starving for approval, she spied on Joker...poorly. She had no clue how ridiculous (and cute) she looked. Ashamed of the state of her school and feeling powerless, she became desperate and aggressive, and homed in on the Phantom Thieves rapidly. But it was no longer for approval: The scene happened and then it was known why.
Her only real social support, Sae, losing her shot to fame because of the Phantom Thieves, let out traumatic verbal abuse, revealed her own abandonment trauma, and lashed out for Makoto's grievous sin of being a dependent. The most realistic, intimate, mundane yet heartbreaking scene in P5.
The hearts of players raised by a struggling single parent, or had a bad fight with a sibling, bled for both of them. Players who were starting to hate Makoto suddenly saw her in a new light. In that moment, she could never make them happy, and that it was time to test the virtues of the Phantom Thieves. Little did she know she was going to join them.
It couldn't have ended in any other way than a nuclear blast.
As the "strategist" (more like second leader,) she discards the senpai title and comes down to the team's level while letting her intellect and leadership speak for themselves (a critical leadership skill that Mitsuru never figured out.) She reconciles with Ann and becomes her friend (and this should have been explored more.) She betrays her sister at every turn (while still loving her) and abandons the principal, saying she no longer needs his "vouch" for college (a dangerous move as a woman in Japan.) All of it without Joker.
Her growing talent for deception, analysis, leadership and empathy make her the leader in all but name. Her "arc" is slow burning and almost game-wide. In her conclusion, she reveals her dirty little secret that her sister developed a Palace, and must musters the courage to change her heart, partially to save the Phantom Thieves, and partially because she was secretly craving it. Her stalking is her true Rank 1 and Sae's Palace is her true Rank 10. She is so well written that she would have been a stellar playable protagonist.
How to tell if a character is a Satellite, only existing to be a friend or lover: "What would this character be like if they'd never met the protagonist or vice versa?" Who loses their purpose or never had one? Who takes charge?
If Joker wasn't in P5, she would have stalked Ryuji or Ann instead, caught them all over again, and took the lead all over again. If Persona wasn't aimed at thirsty dudes, and Joker wasn't in it, she would be the hero, no matter who got the Wild Card. Persona 5 is her story, as much as it is Joker's story.
3. Persona rule broken: A character with an actual parent
A parent?! Persona teens don't have parents! Sae's outburst was the moment I knew she was actually a single "mother," aged down for fanservice.
The best Persona characters are the ones with flawed, but sustained, social support that doesn't involve the hero, invisible parents, or throwaway NPCs. It gives them roots, makes them more alive, and prevents them from being Satellites (a major problem in anime and Persona.) These relationships that don’t revolve around the hero are a breath of fresh air. Makoto and Sae's relationship is sustained throughout the game, and more important to her character than her rankups. Makoto has been heavily shaped by Sae, intentionally or not, for better or worse. Sae raised her to survive, but not live, and she suffers for it. Its Sae's suffering too because they both had to grow up too fast. Like most emotionally immature parents, Makoto's emotional well being was trumped by Sae's survival needs. That is a very realistic parent/child relationship. Her Personas are women who "stole" the positions of power from men, trying to strive in a man's world, just like her and Sae. Which leads me to 4.

1. An anime Mulan

"Queen" is heavily misunderstood in the west. Sae and Makoto tell a feminist tale. Japan is struggling with misogyny, and Persona is a product of that (it is a harem visual novel in disguise after all.) Japan is bad to women and orphans. Makoto and Sae are both.
I once walked the streets of Rappongi, Tokyo. Trafficked Southeast Asian women would try to grab me and persuade me to walk into their bars, under the watchful eye of bouncers, asking if I wanted "******s and Beer". Makoto's father was murdered trying to create a better Japan for women and Makoto instinctively carried his torch on a smaller, more interpersonal scale.
Makoto and Sae are attracted to masculine empowerment. But Makoto also favors justice and heroism, two things that were fading from Sae. This is reflected in the 80s Shounen aesthetics of her Queen form, and her interest in motorcycles, action movies, and Aikido (these hobbies are taboo for women in Japan!) Queen clothes and arms herself with what she craves in the real world. Take your eyes off her ass, and you'll notice Queen wants to look scary. Panther is dressed for kinks, but Queen is dressed for war. In combat, she shouts cheesy, empowering Shounen lines. In Mementos, she is a shieldmaiden, A resilient tank/healer that protects others, matching her values, and even the real-life nature of Aikido. In the real world, she performs a feminist deed by mentoring an immature, emotionally vulnerable girl being manipulated into selling her body.
In fact, elements 1-3 are traits in good feminist characters too (and good women characters in general.) She doesn't turn to putty around Joker. She has a social circle without Joker, and she has plot agency without him.
5: A guide through the "Grownups are Bad" discussion
Before Makoto showed up, the Phantom Thieves were not good at their jobs outside of the Metaverse. Furthermore, they were not critically thinking about why they were changing hearts, beyond "grownups are bad, Approval Rating is good." If you ever watched the movie Kick Ass, you knew the Phan-site was hubris. Ann and Ryuji's suffering at the hands of Kamoshida was perfectly valid, but its not until Yusuke must face the soul of his abusive parental figure that the tough questions start to get asked.
Then came Makoto, who with a quick poke of her phone, gave the Phantom Thieves' anime nonsense a needed dose of reality. Sae's outburst was not just about Makoto feeling like a burden. It revealed Sae's abandonment trauma and blaming her father's values and the martyrdom it led to. Makoto liked the results the Phantom Thieves were getting but was still wrestling with the ethics of "mind control" Akechi was complaining about, so she issued a challenge to hunt and change the heart of a wicked mobster who was tormenting the students of Shibuya. He became the first target none of the original Phantom Thieves had a vendetta towards but would have if they got their heads out of their asses. The dungeon was not about her, but the team, and the community they lived in.
She did the team a massive favor, raising the stakes, taking the Phantom Thieves on the path to fame they were craving, getting them thinking more critically about what they do, and steering the conversation about why. And this never really went away. When she learned Sae had a palace, she kept it bottled up for months because she was terrified to change her heart and felt it was selfish. Unlike Yusuke and Haru, she had no anime vocation to keep herself afloat if Sae’s had a career ending confession. She could have become homeless. She hits P5's theme of Justice harder than any other character. She starts the real "Grownups are Bad" conversation, and Sae finishes it.

1. Persona law broken: A FeMC in disguise

Those who weren't paying attention to her "boring" rank-ups were missing something special, long overdue and desperately needed: seeing a character Social-Linking someone else and solving their problems, just like Joker does, revealing that she's as strong and virtuous as him. This is something that needs to be explored more. Imagine Ann and Shiho confronting the sexist entertainment industry they work in. Imagine Futaba helping Mishima with the Phan-Site. Imagine Futaba getting mentorship from Ann, Makoto, Taekemi or Haru, instead of from the sexy boy next door...
Her inner voice tells her Eiko is in trouble. She is forced to put her senpai hat back on and risk her friendship to become a mentor to Eiko. She applies what she's already learned in the plot about approval to help a friend who is looking for love in all the wrong places. Its not all about Eiko. Eiko's loneliness hits close to home for Makoto, and she also reflects on the values that her father died for, and that were slipping away from Sae, who was slowly rationalizing "Justice" as the thing that killed their father. Joker is brought along as an assistant and fake boyfriend because she feels safe with him, oblivious to what an awkward and steamy position that puts him in. There are few things sexier than a man making a woman safe after all, which leads me to....
7. Romance part 1 - A subtle, yearning romantic
Don't like her? Friendzone her, and she'll be fine. No blubbering, and no guilt, like Chie. She drops hints of interest, but was oblivious to the thought of him admiring her, as is happy being Joker's "big sister." She dismisses Eiko's poisonous words, knowing she has the capacity to give and receive love. If Joker makes his famous move in Rank 9, she is so shocked and delighted that her heart swells three sizes. She ultimately reveals her capacity for love, intimacy and subtle, High Priestess sensuality (dat cake move, hoo boy!) Being the older one and being college bound, she didn’t bat an eye at the inevitable long-distance relationship, giving Joker someone to never stop striving for. It’s not an ending, but a beginning. In a relationship, she explicitly says she wants to be equal partners, something progressives adore (and Japan needs more of.) But she never really had to say that, because she always was...
8. Romance part 2 - An equal
The overall message of Persona from P3 and beyond is that what happens in the real world is more important than all the anime superpowers. That the hard work and personal development needed for friendship, family, love gives you power and makes you a hero, NOT the other way around. She doesn't look like a FeMC, but she lives like one.
Many players who (rightfully) can't see themselves as Joker, and those who aren't playing P5 "4 tha waifuz" (gasp) favor her because they see her as his social, intellectual and thematic equal, wanting whats best for both of them. Makoto is Joker's equal in what she says, what she does, and who she is in the real world. She doesn't dress like him in combat, her Persona doesn't match his, and her Thief name matching is a reach. She is 100% her own independent person. She leads, takes charge, craves Justice, gives a damn about school, protects friends, deceives enemies, seeks growth, and solves the problems of others like Joker. Joker defied a corrupt adult and was crushed by it. She did everything the adults around her wanted and was being crushed anyway. As he is a male beacon of rebellion, she becomes another beacon, not just as a woman, but for women.
Royal changed dialog of Valentine’s Day, adding a bit more tension after a tragic moment. One that the girls seemingly ignored in Vanilla P5. Of all the women, only the Phantom Thieves express an unselfish grasp on what happened and why. Of the four, her words reinforce their equal partnership harder and more maturely than any other girl in P5R. She brings up Joker's flaw of taking on everything bad by himself (just like her,) his pain (not just her own,) and a desire to share in that pain. That is true love. Atlus buried a genuine, healthy relationship beneath a harem game. Was that an accident?
Their relationship may have been confined by the "Persona Bubble" because Persona has no story branching, but players simply cannot help but fill the gaps. The words that get thrown around are "Power Couple" and "Romance" and "Sae." So many more moments could have been more intense, joyful or painful if Sae was aware of their relationship and it wasn't hidden in a "bubble." And they didn't add it in Royal, as if they knew it would be "too perfect." But all that did was make fans bonkers and create ammo for all the fic writers.
The ocean of fanarts and love they get depict the aura of a power couple everyone wants to stand in (why yes, that does sexy). Delightfully mature and disciplined fic writers write (POV swaps) and alternate universes for them that work over (Cop & Robber), and over (The Gun, the Sword and the Vampires), and over (Until the Sun Sets) because P5 gives them so much to work with, emphasizing their independence from each other, similarities, and equality. I like comparing them to FF9's Zidane and Dagger. Take the relationship away, and she'll still be the best written character in P5, and the franchise, as the first true heroine seen since the P3 FeMC. You want a FeMC? She's it.
​
The Bingo sheet of why she’s hated
Because she's overwhelmingly popular, globally, and evergreen. This has never happened in the franchise's history, and I have never seen such hypocrisy and petulance in response. But a character like her hasn't appeared since P3 either.
As I gathered up what people praised, I also gathered the very shallow complaints, and there's a pattern to them. Modern Persona is a harem anime in disguise, and its dynamics stir something black in young males. Makoto either isn't "anime" enough, or breaks harem anime narrative conventions.

1. What's a Mary Sue?

A Mary Sue (or Gary Stu) is a character that exists for a kind of blatantly selfish fantasy. Sometimes it is for the author, viewer, reader, or player (Yu.) There are many kinds. Sometimes they are perfect, invincible and always get what they want. Sometimes their dreadful behavior is portrayed as cute and endearing (called a Jerk Sue, like P4G's Marie.) Sometimes they warp the story and its tone or themes (Rin from Catherine Full Body). Sometimes they are handcrafted to exist to love with the hero and be perfect for them through shallow brute force (Relationship Sue. Guess.) Makoto fits none of them. Alas, in certain internet circles, any woman with plot agency is a Mary Sue...
She also has subtle, realistic, and non-anime flaws she becomes very aware of. She an anxious, internalizing liar. She could have saved herself pain if she was open about her feelings towards the Phantom Thieves. She bottles up her emotions (because she is punished for expressing them at home.) She explicitly admits she feels the need to take on everything by herself in the worst of times (she tells Joker he has the same problem on Royal's Valentine's Day.) She kept three secrets from the Phantom Thieves because she was too terrified to speak up: that she believed the Phantom Thieves were being set up, that her sister had a palace, and that (she organized visiting Sae's Palace behind Joker's back.) Just because no one is yelling at her for her shortcomings like Morgana/Ryuji doesn't mean the flaws aren't there, or that she doesn't suffer for them.

1. Forced!

"Sen-pai! I'm in love with you!"
"He...said that I like you. Why would he say that?" ;_;
Again, ignore Makoto all year, and she will still grow without Joker's help. She will not be interested unless Joker has his social skills up. And the player can reject her without guilt or pressure. Like Chie! Everybody loves Chie, right?

1. Too smart, everyone else looks like idiots!

Ryuji was always loud, Ann was always average, Joker was always silent, Yusuke was always Yusuke, and they didn't get dumber when she showed up. I shelved P5 for eight months after the Kamoshida Arc because I was fed up with their nonsense. I've seen many posts from players losing interest around the Madarame arc for similar reasons. They usually turn around and call Makoto a breath of fresh air when she pulled her phone out.
Ryuji and Ann verbally delegated decision making to her. If that intelligence and maturity came from nowhere, it would be concerning. She was raised by a tiger mom (Sae,) college bound (which is on a whole other level from the west,) participating in a perfectly normal school leadership program, had been busting ass in school her whole life, and forced to grow up too fast. Where does Futaba's intelligence come from?
There's only one character who weakened the others to make himself look righteous: (Maruki.)

1. Stalker!

Re-watch her scene with the principal. She wasn't doing it because she wanted to.

1. She became friends too fast!

I guess only Joker gets that privilege. She got a Persona. Then she and Ann mutually reconciled. They're gonna be friends. I'd be worried if they didn't (see Ryuji, Morgana & Kasumi.)

1. Boring and robotic!

Realistic. Someday, you will meet someone like her. Don't call them boring ;)
Also, she only gets two "wacky anime moments" and she's hated for both: wrapping herself around Joker scared, and the volleyball spike. Its comedy! Laugh!

1. She's always right

No, Joker is (unless the player makes him agree with Ryuji's obsession with fame). She was dead wrong about jumping to conclusions that Futaba was abused. She should have opened up about Sae's and Okumura's palaces earlier. But if she did she would get hate for that too.

1. Queen is just to make her look cool! She never acts like that in real life!

How should she act? Punching bad guys in Shinjuku? Buying a real motorcycle? Look at what happened to Joker for stopping a rapist. The Phantom Thieves project power differently in reality because its reality. Ann is comically terrible at manipulating men, Ryuji doesn't hit people with pipes, and Haru is not a sadist (that's a meme.) The Thief forms are a better metaphor for Personas than the Personas, which are simply SMT PokeDemonStands. And if she acted any more "tough and badass" in her leadership role, then she'd be P3's over-the-top ouju Mitsuru.

1. Blackmail!

She was testing their questionable values and competency, comparing them to her father. Yusuke, Futaba and Akechi each genuinely blackmailed the team. In the end she was planning to betray Kobayakawa and gave the team exactly what they wanted: a target to raise the Approval Rating.

1. She took Hifumi's role

Myth.

1. If Hifumi had her role, she'd be Best Girl!

Oops, they forgot about Sae! Personalities would need to be reshaped by being raised by her. If they're fine with that, they're separating girls by looks. More commonly, they think Hifumi's Shogi craze and idol status are more interesting than the more human dynamic between Makoto and Sae. That doesn't even cover losing Queen, Johanna & Anat.

1. If [insert girl here] got more lines, she'd be Best Gurl!

I'm frustrated the characters aren't as strong as her. But improving them doesn't look like what fans think it does (forcing them on Joker earlier and more often.)
Improving them means making them more like people and less like satellites. Strong characters have sustained, walking, talking, visible family and social circles. Strong characters have agency and empowerment. Strong characters make decisions, grow, and commit feats without a hero breathing down their neck. What Makoto does hasn't been seen since P3. Atlus, and their fanbase, need to understand this for P6. (See conclusion.)
I have laid out theories that would put other characters on her level without jamming them in Joker's lap (here).
If you want to see what this should look like, check out the fic (Crimson). Haru is established established as a friend early, and it works. There are many POV swaps. Ann successfully manipulates others and its scary.

1. She's Yukiko! A Yamato Nadeshiko! Handcrafted to appeal to Japan!

P5 has only one quivering, blushing, modern Japanese princess with a hidden mean streak, thirsty for a worthy prince to sweep her off her feet: Haru. (Then they plastered her traits onto Kasumi and her Personas.)

1. She's just Joker's voice!

Watch P4 or P5's animes (or better yet, don't waste your time.) Yu & Ren take no lines from anyone. Atlus gave them standard harem protagonist personalities: none. And Ren has less personality than in the original game! Pay attention to the 1st person view shots, to make sure you never know their emotions. Yosuke and Makoto's voices are their own. The animes get a bad rep for a reason. They try to make everyone happy, but they make no one happy instead (the awful animation and "psst, buy the game for more" undertones don't help either.)

1. Her rankups are about Eiko!

I guess its only cool when Joker helps others. Never mind that he's helping Makoto in a dangerous part of town.
Listen to her. She is helping Eiko because she knows what its like to feel abandoned at home. She is also reflecting on the values that her father died for, and Sae was abandoning (which is where Sae's palace comes from.) If she made it any more clear, like start crying over her dad or something, she'd get hate for that too. Makoto is not a damsel in distress Confidant, and that's a good thing. Her growth happens in the plot, without the need of a hero. If her rankups were about her secret masculine hobbies, she would be Chie/Kanji/Naoto. If her rankups were about "being a normal girl," she'd be Futaba. If her rankups were about Sae, they'd need an entirely different sixth Palace. She got a lowkey rankup that would not affect, or be affected by, the plot, like everyone else (except Kasumi, whose entire second half of her rankups are bound by the plot.)

1. There's no chemistry!

Translation: she's not sufficiently blushing. They're talking about anime chemistry (one-sided and exaggerated.) Turning to quivering, blushing jelly. Getting clingy and flirty. Maybe going "OMG I LOVE YOU" at Rank 9. She acts interested enough in Hawaii, late in the rankups, and drops hints subtly & maturely without getting her hopes up. And her game is tight once in a relationship. This is what no force looks like. They're comparing her to thirstier, pushier, more emotionally intense girls and saying Makoto is not sufficiently interested.
If she got thirsty she would be forced, slip into "waifu" territory, and lose feminist strength. It doesn't matter how physically or politically powerful a woman is if their brain rots when near a man. What do they want? More "anime chemistry" or less force? Who are they giving a pass to?
And yes, in real life (and non-anime romance,) its okay for women to express desire first at "Rank 1," because men could discuss it at "Rank 1" (and vise versa.) But in P5, JRPGs & shounen, men can't respond and the women are forced to fawn, agonize and get their hopes up to tantalize male viewers who think a one-sided horny hunt & chase is "chemistry." A male saying "I like you" is a dramatic, forbidden ending, instead of a beginning (because if they said it too soon, they'd actually have to write a relationship, and they don't want to do that.) Persona, and shounen, are not set up for "chemistry." (This is why I put FF9 on a pedestal.)

1. The girls are supposed to be balanced!

They must really hate Royal, then. People who think like this prioritize Persona as a harem anime first and an RPG second. What are they supposed to do? Introduce every girl simultaneously, all being raised by Sae? All equally intelligent no matter their background? All taking turns in Joker's lap like P4's crappy anime? All taking turns to speak? See 9 for what real balance looks like.
If harem balance is so more important than storytelling, they can be honest about what they really want and go back to P4, watch a harem anime, or play some harem sim on Steam. Or they can play Harvest Moon where every love interest is equally irrelevant. Or Conception if they still want JRPG combat. They have all the balance they want. They'll be back feeling unfulfilled (or prefer feeling like a sex god and never return.) :D

1. Harem?! The harem is optional! I didn't play harem route!

Neither did Tenchi in Tenchi Muyo, or Tsukune in Rosario + Vampire, but they were still in the harem anime genre. In a harem anime, all attractive females exist for the hero and the fantasies of the consumer. They rarely feel attraction to anyone else, and the hero is the gatekeeper to their sexuality and happiness. They are hero-sexual. Sometimes desperately so. Harems are often not about sex, they're about availability. Possessive sexuality. Whether the player dates one girl, all of them or none of them, they belong to the hero, so its still a harem. Its gross.

1. What's wrong with harem elements?! Its not real!

They should play Persona, a harem visual novel, or watch a harem anime with their friends or loved ones watching and tell them that. See what happens.

1. Too important

I saved this bull@#$% for last.
​
Conclusion - Why there's simultaneous hate and praise: A Heroine in a Harem.
In harem manga, anime, and even JRPGs with a love triangle, a ridiculous zero-sum balance is sought out. Women rotate their time, importance, dialog amount and proximity to the hero, with him disallowed to react to their increasingly aggressive advances. The women have very little life beyond the man. Neither are called out for it. In stories that aren't trashy, people don't behave that way. Women don't obsess, take turns, tolerate divided attention, or need a man's presence to grow. And real men do not meander between them. When men get signals at "Rank 1," they respond at "Rank 1." Persona's harem elements were born from an older culture of toxic Japanese masculinity that men could not be friends with women, else the man would be labeled an "herbivore" (equivalent to incel words I refuse to type.) This is why they didn't figure out friend-zoning until P4.
P4 was a harem vacation with a Shinto murder mystery on the side. Yu was a perfect blank slate, and the center of the universe. No one grew or made decisions without him. The only two with visible social support beyond him were Chie & Yukiko in each other. Chie, Yukiko and Rise were "balanced" because they were equally irrelevant beyond looking pretty and slinging spells. Naoto and Yosuke carried the team, but this was accepted because Naoto joined last and Yosuke was male. P4 set bad expectations for P5.
But P5 turned out to be the opposite. A mature social commentary on the problems of Japan and their lack of altruism with harem elements on the side. That story takes precedence over "harem balance." Joker has triple the personality of Yu by necessity. Joker, Makoto, Morgana and Sae shoulder the most narrative burden. P5 makes a statement, through them.
Typical JRPG players don't play them "for the girls." They will usually single out a hero and heroine. The majority came, chose Makoto, praised her, and moved on to new games (as they should.)
To understand Makoto, lets talk about Yosuke.
Yosuke was the thematic clone of Yu, and like Makoto, would have been the hero if it wasn't for the player. P4 did everything it could to make him look bad compared to Yu. He was a fun, multifaceted trickster, and like Yu, a city slicker forced to live in a small sleepy town. Driven by revenge for a puppy love crush Saki, he established and lead the team, all the while still secretly mourning for her. Players always forget about this. He ultimately came to cherish his new town, and though he never found a girlfriend, he valued a handful of friendships over the crowds of the city and the Sounds of Silence it produces. Privately between him and the hero, he outright states the overarching moral of P3 and beyond:
"I always wanted to be special. I thought my life'd finally have meaning if I was special to someone. That's why I was really exited when I got my Persona. But I really didn't need it. It’s not what you have or what you can do. Just being born, living your life. Before you know it, you're already special to someone. Like you! You're special to me, you know!" I wished Chie and Yukiko heard this. I wished so bad I could help him date one of them...
Close your eyes, look back at P4, and replace Yosuke with a woman, seeking revenge for a male crush. Still lacking glaring anime flaws, realistic, leading the team, and central to the plot and themes. Picture her telling Yu all that. People back then would have praised "her" as "best girl," crying out for "her" happiness, and the haters would say terribly similar things you hear now. And if it were to flip, Makoto being a male with no shot at a girl, there would be no complaints, and "his" role as a leader and deuteragonist would be accepted, (but there would be plenty of gay shipping.)
Makoto is a "Lady Yosuke," central to the plot and themes, fighting harder, and growing stronger than the rest of the team. Yet she is no one's clone or voice:
Atlus accidentally created a A Heroine in a Harem. Even if the player leaves her alone all year and dates everyone but her, she would still be the heroine, and P5 would still be her story. She matches all three definitions of Heroine. Fans, new and old, aren't afraid to call her the heroine. Joker and Akechi's Japanese VAs called her the heroine. Makoto Nijima bursts through the trashy genre she is in, she is praised globally for it, and P5 is stronger and more mature for it. The anime and Royal couldn't "undo" it. Players can't unsee it. There is no going back, and I'm not just talking about P5...
Atlus has proof that down to earth, independent, empowered and well developed heroines are cooler and more popular than thirsty, fetishized, or emotionally vulnerable "waifus." They're rediscovering how to cut characters loose from the player like P1 through P3, how to write real parents, and that it takes more than ten rankups and a silent hero's presence for good character development.
If Atlus understands this, its great news for Persona 6.
For that, a loud, petulant minority lashes out, because in a harem, no woman can have that much appeal, independence, leadership, and plot agency. And if someone really thinks this way, it says a lot why they buy Persona and how they perceive women in it. But for every player that doesn't like it, two or three do. She is proof that harem balance and good writing are mutually exclusive. Proof that Persona doesn't need an army of fetishy love interests. Proof that Persona's too good for it. Maybe Atlus is returning to their pre-P3 roots. Maybe Persona is finally outgrowing its need to be a trashy self-insert harem sim, and that's for another essay. A highly divisive one...
Newly revised
Analysis 1 - How Persona 5 turned what I expected upside down
Analysis 3 - Bad Romance - Persona is held back by the self-insert harem genre
Analysis 4 - Techniques and Reading Lists to make You a Gentleman Thief or Femme Fatale!