application for reverie

[ryuji]

PLAYER
» HANDLE: Jay
» CONTACT: centerfold
» AGE: 30
» CHARACTER(S) IN-GAME: n/a

CHARACTER
» NAME: Ryuji Sakamoto
» CANON: Persona 5
» CANON POINT: 12/31, before the final boss
» AGE: 17

» SETTING: Tokyo, Japan; in the middle of an onslaught of strange public mental shutdowns

» SHORT DESCRIPTION: determined, pugnacious, earnest, delinquent, blunt, energetic

» INFLUENTIAL EVENTS:

1. Father leaving his family.

Bluntly put, Ryuji had a particularly rough childhood. Throughout his most formative years, he had a particularly harsh, alcoholic father who would often seek to displace his anger onto his son through abuse. As someone who grew up in that environment, Ryuji had a skewed view of the world. Someone who he should love and someone who should love him back treated his family like garbage, which has put a lot of mistrust in him toward how he views adults. He often sees himself as an underdog, a person who can rise above the odds that are dealt to him and persevere through them- particularly despite the fact that he had a rocky youth. When his father eventually leaves the family for unidentified reasons, Ryuji becomes the man of the house. Throughout the game, he states how much he cares about his mother and looks after her, even to the point of ensuring that there's food for her to eat when she gets home from work. He doesn't want to cause her any additional trouble than he's already caused, but there are a lot of things that happen that are only partly under his control. The relationship he forms with his mom is really tight, and forms who he is as a person and how he views people that can't fend for themselves. He wants to help him- even if it's a granny crossing the road.

2. His track coach, a supposed role model and beacon of Shujin Academy, breaks his leg.

Running has always been a major outlet for Ryuji's vast personality faults. He's hyper, energetic, doesn't know when to stop, and can never seem to sit still for very long periods of time. There's a livewire that beats in time with his heart that propels him to buzz with energy, and the only thing that ever seemed to quell that urge was the track team. It was a chance at doing something he was good at (because he knew his grades weren't going to be particularly amazing), a chance to eventually relieve some of his mother's worries and burdens; get a scholarship, and go to college if he continued the path he was on. And he was great at it. Unfortunately, his coach, who happened to be an Olympic Japanese volleyball player, resented the fact that the track team was gaining traction and wanted to propel the volleyball team to true stardom. Ryuji, easily pissed off and agitated in part due to his rough upbringing and rambunctious nature, was a perfect target for his coach to go after. He spread the truth about the nature of his dad, and pushed a confrontation that ended up with the coach breaking his leg in an act of "self defense." It shattered Ryuji's hopes and dreams viscerally; but not only was his running capability smashed, the track team was forced to disband entirely. Without a promise to get more out of life than what was handed to him, he decided to give up everything. It wasn't long after that he started to dye his hair blond, run around with a chip on his shoulder, speak with vulgarities, and loudly pronounce that adults can't be trusted. It was this event that shattered his trust with the rest of the world, and once he turned punk, he never looked back.

3. Meeting Joker and forming the Phantom Thieves.

Everything up until the point he met Joker (Akira/Ren) had put him on a fast track to sub-standard mediocrity. He was failing his grades, accepted that he was going nowhere in life, and generally didn't care about the labels people started to put on him. A problem student. A loner. When Joker transfers to Shujin Academy, they accidentally wander into the realm of the Metaverse and discover a layer of existence below the physical realm. Here, people with truly distorted desires become rulers of palaces that spawn forth from their corruption. Of course, this particular palace's ruler was none other than his track coach. Ryuji and Joker discover the potential of personas through a cat trapped in the same space, and learn that they can force a person's heart to change if you steal their darkest desires from them in this world. Shortly thereafter, Ryuji finds solace and acceptance- two things he had never had in his life before- in the band of teammates he meets up with along the events of Persona 5. For the first time in forever, when he and Joker establish the Phantom Thieves, Ryuji has a purpose in life. At first, the desire is to become famous, but that need eventually changes and warps over time as he realizes just how important his friends are to him... and how much they actually need him.

4. Letting go.

Eventually, Ryuji confronts the rest of the track team that he had once been friends with in his time before becoming a Phantom Thief. At first, these reunions are tenuous, and there's a sense of guilt and shame for what he did. As time goes on and he begins to see the world and how it truly is, some of that anger and naivete eventually subside, and he looks to make peace with his former teammates. He wants to take the brunt of their anger- let them beat the hell out of him if it makes them feel better. And in the end, he learns a valuable life lesson that changes him for the better. People aren't always going to be forgave for the things that they've done in the past, but it doesn't mean that they can't work in life towards being a good person afterward. He learns to let go of what's keeping his chained down, reconciling his own ambitions as he learns what freedom truly means to him. It's an aesthetic where you aren't controlled by anyone but yourself. It's this concept that he wants to protect and nurture, and even as he says goodbye to the track team forever, he recognizes that he'd like to run again one day. Even if it's not for a team, and only for himself... so that he can feel free and unencumbered.

5. Ultimate sacrifice for his friends.

At the climactic conclusion of the Phantom Thieves' heists, Ryuji sacrifices himself to make sure that his friends can escape from a palace safely. He almost falls to his death to make sure that they're secured an exit route. It shows a lot of development for him as a character- not that he's ever going to change from being that feisty, rambunctious dweeb who wants to get into fights at the drop of a hat, but more that he has a reason to fight and protect the people he loves. He will go the distance, prove himself, and come back alive still standing. That's the essence of who Ryuji Sakamoto is- someone that can be relied on, someone who's often misunderstood, but also someone who gives his somewhat beaten up heart to the people he truly wants to fight for.

» FIT: seriously, a mixed bag. On one hand, he's traversed through and worked with his team through the perils of the Metaverse- a world that exists on a subconscious level below the human psyche- and on the other hand, he's nearly incapable of understanding half the stuff that's going on. When he arrives at Reverie, he's going to be seriously pissed that he somehow ended up in space, but it's mostly due to his lack of comprehension to the nature of things that are transpiring. Once he starts to understand that what he's doing there has purpose, though, he'll quickly come to terms with it and learn to accept that this is his life. Even embrace it. He didn't know what he would do following the events of Persona 5, but this is an opportunity... in a really, really roundabout way. That said, he's a momma's boy and, man, is he going to miss her.

» POWERS: The ability to call on his persona, Seiten-Taisei, and utilize its power in battle.

◇ God's Hand - Colossal Physical damage to 1 foe.
◆ Agneyastra - Medium Physical damage to all foes 1x to 3x.
◇ Maziodyne - Heavy Electric damage to all foes. Rare chance of Shock.
◆ Matarukaja - Buff party attack power for 3 turns.
◇ Shock Boost - Enhance chance of inflicting Shock status. (passive)
◆ Evade Wind - Triple evasion chance against Wind attacks. (passive)
◇ Adverse Resolve - Increase critical rate when being ambushed. (passive)
◆ Charge - Next physical attack inflicts 2.5x damage.

» NOTES: none!

» SAMPLES: TDM toplevel, network post, and log sample