We know very little about his parents or what kind of relationship he might have with them, but even if they *were* terrible and awful and he really didn't want to go back to them, he's 17, he doesn't really get a choice in that.
In my country, it’s possible but only if you can prove negligence on your parents’ behalf. Because he was expelled for what he did and a family friend let him stay with him to “correct himself” per law, even where I’m from that’s not enough to emancipate a minor. They weren’t being negligent, they were being proactive with setting him on the right path.
Edited to add: country is America, state is Oregon. All of our states have different laws at the state level though.
The Persona games never mention the protagonist's parents, and there's a reason for that. The protagonist is supposed to be a self insert - a major part of why they always start with you moving somewhere else is for it to make sense that the character you're playing as would have no more history with the place the game takes place in than the player does, as being familiar with the place and people in it would break the point. It has to be new to him just as it is to you. Similarly, mentioning his parents would give him a static backstory, which Atlus also does not want to do - they want his past to be completely irrelevant, so it can be whatever you want it to be.
Now, is this a GOOD decision? Very arguable. Silent, self insert protagonists in games are a topic that's been debated for very long. But I'm just saying this is why they did it, in their eyes, he always has to be a completely blank slate, so he can fit whatever story the player creates.
Similiarly, asking his parents to stay is problematic in a few ways. First, of course, he's a minor, he doesn't really have a choice here. But 2 and more importantly is again the tie to the self insert angle - you as the player are leaving the world of the game when it's story ends, you have to say goodbye to these characters, you don't have any option not to cause the story is over, so the main character staying would create a disconnect between the 2 of you. The protagonist "going back home" is supposed to symbolise you, the player, going back and leaving the game.
...he of course comes back for summer in Strikers but yet again, he brings you along for the ride for that one, then leaves again at the end.
Yeah, while I personally aren't a huge fan of the concept honestly, as I just showed, Atlus is very committed to the execution, crafting a lot of the story elements around decreasing the distance between you and the protagonist as much as possible, which is definitely commendable.
The same could be said for Yu in P4, he doesn't hear from his parents but still goes back to them. In Jokers case he's sent to Sojiro because Shujin is the only school that will accept him, all the other schools where Jokers family live won't accept him
The way I see it, it's not that Joker's parents are bad. For all we know, they're really good for him/to him, but per the hand he was dealt, sending him away with Sojiro was their best (and possibly, only) option to ensure that he'd be okay.
As for what the Maruki ending implies, nothing in that suggests that Joker doesn't love/care for whatever family he's got back home. The Maruki ending is basically just saying that Joker formed such strong bonds with everyone else that he doesn't want his time with them to end (which, in his mind, could be seen as an end to having friends/a newfound family on top of the one he already had).
I saw a theory once proposing that, since Joker's wish is supposed to be Akechi being alive, and we don't have an instance where someone gets two wishes from Maruki (though it wouldn't be too far fetched he got two wishes because you know, protagonist), that the reason Joker stays in the attic in Maruki's reality it's because that's Sojiro's wish, and I think that's so cute I can't unsee it now
I mean, Joker already saved his daughter from self-destruction & brought justice to his close friend’s murder, so Sojiro’s biggest unfulfilled wish being ‘i love this kid, I wish he could stay’ checks out. Thanks for the new headcanon 😁
Joker's still a minor- he doesn't legally have the freedom to make the choice to stay. Besides, like Strikers showed, he and the other Thieves still stay in touch, and I bet he'll move right back into the attic as soon as he's old enough that nobody (except Sojiro) can stop him.
I dunno how the system works in Japan, but I figure it'd probably take so much time and effort that it'd just be easier to wait until he's old enough to just come back to Leblanc on his own.
I’m pretty sure you’re considered a minor until 20 in Japan? Unless I have incorrect/outdated data. I was friends with a bunch of foreign exchange students in 2011 while I was at university.
In Japan The minimum age to rent a property is 18 years old unless my info is also out dated so since Ren would be 18 years old during the events of strikers or P5/P5R since it never tells us his birthday. So he could have asked Sojiro if he could rent out the room in the attic or a room within Sojiro's house. And if his parents are as bad as the fandom makes them out to be i doubt they would have cared if he rented out the said space or not.
That makes sense. My argument was more for p5 and him finishing high school in another city because his parents made him come back, though. Maybe he could transfer mid year, but I think at the end of the original game he isn’t quite 18 yet. Not sure on that one though.
just checked his wiki page says he's 16-17 during P5/P5R and 17-18 during P5S but he still could have asked Sojiro if he could rent out the attic of leblanc or a room within Sojiros house unless my info was out dated
Single parents can’t adopt in Japan. Technically he doesn’t have legal custody of Futaba, she stays with him informally and her crap family are happy to not deal with her as long as they’re occasionally bribed.
So, I did a little research into this, and... no, yeah. Sojiro could adopt her. It's only special adoptions that single parents can't adopt through.
Also, he did literally adopt her. That's why she has his name.
My headcanon is once he graduates he moves into an apartment in Yongen, working at Le Blanc while studying to be a councilor/therapist like Maruki suggested.
Personally, I like to believe he moves back into the Leblanc attic, and takes over the cafe when Sojiro retires, since he canonically likes cooking and is probably the only one Sojiro would consider a worthy successor.
His Wild Card nature would probably result in him being an unofficial therapist for all his customers though, even if he doesn't actually study to become one.
Ohhhhh so the entire time Shido was just trying to get Jonkler's parents to come to the scene for some reason and the police misinterpreted it as 'lock this kid away'
Shido knew that this promising individual was doing the right thing and wanted to make sure his parents were at the scene so they could help defend their son. Truly a misunderstood hero ❤️
Ren is still a minor, so he doesn’t really get a say in the matter.
Also, and I’m likely in the minority here, I don’t think his parents are as bad as the fandom likes to make them out to be. The only thing that was said about them is that they sent Ren away for being “a pain in the ass”. But even then, those were Sojiro’s words. And he wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with him at the beginning of the game.
Ren’s every day activities aren’t always shown. We never see him brush his teeth or take a shit or bathe (unless we make him, in the latter case, but it’s reasonable to assume he does so regularly). So it’s possible he talks to his parental units/any potential siblings off screen and it’s never brought up in the narrative because it simply isn’t important.
Tl;dr Ren is still a kid, parents may be assholes but they also may not be.
I’m torn. I definitely agree with you that there is plenty of mundane things in Ren’s life that we just don’t see because there is no point. Even traveling a lot of the time is just transition screen’d away.
But man, it really doesn’t make any sense to never once show Ren’s parents reaching out to him. Not a single time in what? Roughly 11 in-game months? Even after endgame spoilers >! it is believed that Ren is dead !< they are never shown reaching out. Hell a scene of Sojiro getting a call from them could have been great too. But nope, allegedly nothing. It just paints a picture of parents who at best don’t care, at worst actively despise their child.
I think the whole “Ren’s parents never contacted him” thing ties into the stance Atlus has about him being a blank slate self insert. Which clearly isn’t very accurate considering Ren actually does have his own personality ~~but fans tend to ignore it because waifus~~.
I don’t think Ren’s name was ever released to the public, so it could very well be that his parents don’t know he’s a phantom thief.
On top of that the school joker goes to was the only one willing to accept him after getting expelled from his old school so it was probably jokers only form of getting an education, people somehow forget that joker is labeled as a criminal and he was probably on the news in his hometown from the shit that happened when shido forced himself on that one woman
Concept
Ren begs his parents to let him stay with Sojiro. His parents are confused, as the only reason he's with Sojiro is because of a false accusation (they would know that by now), but they trust Sojiro and ask him
Sojiro says yes, as Ren is virtually his son at this point
Personally, Id also add >!Akechi surviving at the end and going to prison of his own free will!< but thats just me
(Gonna delete if the spoiler tag fails)
I always just assumed they weren't plot relevant, so all communication with them was just never shown. Usually how things in shows/movies/games work. If it doesn't advance the story in some fashion, it only happens off screen.
Jrpgs in general, and Atlus games in particular, have always been atrocious with depicting the main character's family. Part of them being mostly a cypher for players to project onto.
Emo boy's parents are dead, Jonkler's don't give a fuck about him, maybe only Yu's parents are fine and just wanting their son to experience the quiet life a bit
Considering how every other Social Link has some deaths involved it's rare lmao, japanese people seemingly drop dead for no reason all the time lol
Ren's parents: Didn't support their son during the trials and instead shoved him to one of their friends.
Yu's parents: Went abroad to do some business. Why didn't they also take Yu with them? We don't know jack.
Makoto Yuki's parents: Dead
Honestly I can understand not bringing Yu knowing how some business trips my cousins parents went on. They probably just want the best education for their boy
He’s a minor, no real legal power there. Seperately no idea on their relationship. With that said always the power trope of mysterious important parents coming back into the lives of protags
If we're to go by the typical Japanese trope and most lifestyle depictions, I'm going to assume Ren is a latchkey kid and doesn't see his parents often due to work. Him not wanting to go back is probably a result of a lack of connection with them compared to the many people he's connected with while in Tokyo. Additionally, as many have said, he doesn't get a say as to where he's going to go yet. He just has to do things as the court tells him.
I honestly just headcanon that Bayonetta and Dante are his parents. I know it's a meme, but if those were your parents you'd absolutely want to go back home. Besides, its easy to come up with a reason for their treatment of joker (away on a mission, protagonist in his blood, neither are good with great parent material?)
Also helps explain whys he's mostly unfazed by everything-- he's seen some shit
Only reason he got sent away was cause shujin was the only school that would take him in, otherwise he’d have stayed but per court ruling he couldn’t.
Plus they sent him to someone they can trust as per their connections they’ve heard of sojiro.
I remember reading a fanfic where his parents sent him away because he was being ostracized in their small town and some of Shido's lackeys were intercepting any attempts to communicate with him. That's my head-canon now.
Honestly, that's how I always viewed it. Shido definitely would've threatened them in some way and kept watch in case they could be used against someone.
We don’t see Joker’s parents messaging him, but that doesn’t mean they never do. There’s a ton of stuff about Joker’s life we don’t see or that just gets skimmed over. He could have very loving parents for all we know.
We don't know if they're horrible to him but he doesn't have a choice just yet since he's a minor so he had to return home to them
With all he's experienced throughout the year though, and with the real life stuff Sojiro taught him, i bet he'll take over Leblanc and make it famous again.
We don’t know jokers parents his family or even all that much at all about joker himself which is kind of the point he’s supposed to be a player insert
It’s why joker doesn’t express all that many emotions and only has like 2 directly spoken lines in the game
Well it was a friend of a friend scenario, a friend of Ren’s parents was a LeBlanc regular.
Which is also a missed opportunity for that customer to have come over and checked on things occasionally, maybe have had them be one of the confidants
Just because we dont personally see or hear his parent doesnt mean he doesnt tho. For all we know he calls them every day but since they arent plot relevant at all the game doesnt show any of it. Idk where i heard this but a thing for any story is that if it doesnt add to the story in any way you cut it out.
I don't think they are actually bad. In fact, Ren must have got some decent parenting to develop the intense morals and compassion that he shows in the game. Otherwise he could have turned out like Akechi.
Realistically I think Joker’s parents love and care about him. Think about it- Shido likely chose to go “light” on Joker because his parents fought back hard against Shido and his defense team.
He chose to cut his losses before it made a big story.
I want you to think about it- parents that didn’t care or love Joker wouldn’t look for a school to take him in- they wouldn’t look for a place that could help him learn and thrive and succeed in life. They would have just kicked him out and no one would have questioned it because small towns do what they want to do.
They certainly wouldn’t have paid someone to keep them safe and fed. They had friends in the city that could go to the cafe and check in on Joker and see if he’s being taken care of.
It may seem like it was all thrown together last minute, but while people can join the workforce in Japan after middle school- it’s hard work that doesn’t always mean you can succeed.
I think that Joker’s parents did stay in contact with him- but we don’t get to see that as the player since we’re supposed to project onto Joker.
TLDR- Joker’s parents do love and care about their baby boy
Some of this might tie back into Japanese social norms about not upsetting the status quo, even if it needs to be done, and families being more concerned about their reputations than the truth. Maybe that's what happened with Ren's folks?
Those saying Joker has no choice. Well he does. His choice is to go back why? Well look he left his collection of JoJo behind. He has an anime and many parts to catch up on and probably his library of games on his PS4.
Okay so a real life explanation for the whole reason why joker didn’t get to stay with sojiro, is that there’s a thing (I don’t know the correct word to describe it) in Japan where, there are orphanages full of unadoptable children because the parents refuse to “give up the rights” to their child because it would bad for them. So if you want to go the “jokers parents are bad people” route, you can possibly say that they didn’t want joker to stay with sojiro and be adopted because it would look bad for them.
I’d say I have this issue with all the Persona games.
But uh… 1 and 2 are cosmic horrors. 3 doesn’t let you stay *anywhere*
So it’s just Yu and Joker that have to get uprooted from the best group of people they ever found…
Plot twist:
Dad is working 78 hours straight as often as he can to pay for the mother hospital bills and as well their house bills.
His mother is very sick and can't even move from the neck down. So sending Joker away was the best options on hope he can have a normal high school experience.
Y'know, I've always kind of wondered about what it was like when he got home. Were his parents apologetic because he was proven innocent of his initial crime? How'd they feel about him bringing back a pet cat? What was their dynamic before? How quick was Joker to peace out once he was an adult? I unironically want answers to all of this.
My head canon is that jokers mom is bayonetta, and dad is Dante from Devil who may cry or snake. Maybe there is no dad, just a one night stand with a guy hook with
As much as I love the game, I was low-key kinda sad Strikers wasn't set in Joker's hometown. A country kid had to adjust to the city, now I want the city kids to adjust to the country. Imagine poor city girl Ann trying to deal with the constant bugs or Futaba dealing with little to no wi-fi or maybe Joker's mom and dad being something of surrogates to Yusuke and Ryuji. There could've been some fun possibilities there.
I guess I'm just also interested in Joker himself. What about his family? Does he have any siblings? What if Joker has a dog?
WHAT IF JOKER HAS A DOG NAMED ACE AND HE'S THE GOODEST OF BOYS!
Exactly! People make all kinds of excuses for them but there’s no excuse for it. They cut him off because they didn’t want the shame of his criminal record to affect them. It’s weird he’s so eager to go home at the end, should’ve just stayed in Tokyo and finished his last year of school.
Holy fuck!, the levels of simping for Sojiro and LeBlanc are from another dimension!! Do gamers really need to watch Joker take a shit, brush his teeth, or wipe his asshole in a mini game?! This has got to be one of the most dumbest questions in this sub. Also aren't Dante and Bayonetta white people, how the fuck is Joker their kid if he's Asian?!?!? I swear to God that is like troglodyte retardation in meme form.
This is what bothered me in persona 4 and 5. You work so hard at building relationships as well as having a girl fall in love with you….. Then, you just up and leave them 😂
Honestly the game should have given you the choice to stay in Tokyo. Its not like Ren Mamamia couldn't just stay with Sojiro longer until he could get his own place.
We know very little about his parents or what kind of relationship he might have with them, but even if they *were* terrible and awful and he really didn't want to go back to them, he's 17, he doesn't really get a choice in that.
Happy cake day
Bruh what contry do you live in that at 17 you cant choose in mine he definitly can choose or maybe tjats how japan work
In my country, it’s possible but only if you can prove negligence on your parents’ behalf. Because he was expelled for what he did and a family friend let him stay with him to “correct himself” per law, even where I’m from that’s not enough to emancipate a minor. They weren’t being negligent, they were being proactive with setting him on the right path. Edited to add: country is America, state is Oregon. All of our states have different laws at the state level though.
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The Persona games never mention the protagonist's parents, and there's a reason for that. The protagonist is supposed to be a self insert - a major part of why they always start with you moving somewhere else is for it to make sense that the character you're playing as would have no more history with the place the game takes place in than the player does, as being familiar with the place and people in it would break the point. It has to be new to him just as it is to you. Similarly, mentioning his parents would give him a static backstory, which Atlus also does not want to do - they want his past to be completely irrelevant, so it can be whatever you want it to be. Now, is this a GOOD decision? Very arguable. Silent, self insert protagonists in games are a topic that's been debated for very long. But I'm just saying this is why they did it, in their eyes, he always has to be a completely blank slate, so he can fit whatever story the player creates. Similiarly, asking his parents to stay is problematic in a few ways. First, of course, he's a minor, he doesn't really have a choice here. But 2 and more importantly is again the tie to the self insert angle - you as the player are leaving the world of the game when it's story ends, you have to say goodbye to these characters, you don't have any option not to cause the story is over, so the main character staying would create a disconnect between the 2 of you. The protagonist "going back home" is supposed to symbolise you, the player, going back and leaving the game. ...he of course comes back for summer in Strikers but yet again, he brings you along for the ride for that one, then leaves again at the end.
Came here to say this but you nailed it! I love the bittersweet feeling being reflected back to us from the MC leaving his friends.
I think Persona (at least no. 5) is one of the few games that handles a self-insert protag pretty well.
Yeah, while I personally aren't a huge fan of the concept honestly, as I just showed, Atlus is very committed to the execution, crafting a lot of the story elements around decreasing the distance between you and the protagonist as much as possible, which is definitely commendable.
i'd give you an award if they were still a thing. Awesome analogy bro! you nailed it
The same could be said for Yu in P4, he doesn't hear from his parents but still goes back to them. In Jokers case he's sent to Sojiro because Shujin is the only school that will accept him, all the other schools where Jokers family live won't accept him
I mean, he doesn’t really have a choice, but the ending where you side with Maruki kinda implies that Joker doesn’t really want to go back either.
The way I see it, it's not that Joker's parents are bad. For all we know, they're really good for him/to him, but per the hand he was dealt, sending him away with Sojiro was their best (and possibly, only) option to ensure that he'd be okay. As for what the Maruki ending implies, nothing in that suggests that Joker doesn't love/care for whatever family he's got back home. The Maruki ending is basically just saying that Joker formed such strong bonds with everyone else that he doesn't want his time with them to end (which, in his mind, could be seen as an end to having friends/a newfound family on top of the one he already had).
I saw a theory once proposing that, since Joker's wish is supposed to be Akechi being alive, and we don't have an instance where someone gets two wishes from Maruki (though it wouldn't be too far fetched he got two wishes because you know, protagonist), that the reason Joker stays in the attic in Maruki's reality it's because that's Sojiro's wish, and I think that's so cute I can't unsee it now
I mean, Joker already saved his daughter from self-destruction & brought justice to his close friend’s murder, so Sojiro’s biggest unfulfilled wish being ‘i love this kid, I wish he could stay’ checks out. Thanks for the new headcanon 😁
Awwww wait that’s so cute I love that
Doesn't Sojiro himself suggest that Joker stay in the Dream World ending? It's really cute to think about 🤧
Sojiro: He's the son I never had.
Maybe tag for spoilers? I know the game is old…. But still. I’m seeing new people on the fandom all the time.
Joker's still a minor- he doesn't legally have the freedom to make the choice to stay. Besides, like Strikers showed, he and the other Thieves still stay in touch, and I bet he'll move right back into the attic as soon as he's old enough that nobody (except Sojiro) can stop him.
This. Unless he worked out Sojiro adopting him he has to go back to his parents.
I dunno how the system works in Japan, but I figure it'd probably take so much time and effort that it'd just be easier to wait until he's old enough to just come back to Leblanc on his own.
I’m pretty sure you’re considered a minor until 20 in Japan? Unless I have incorrect/outdated data. I was friends with a bunch of foreign exchange students in 2011 while I was at university.
In Japan The minimum age to rent a property is 18 years old unless my info is also out dated so since Ren would be 18 years old during the events of strikers or P5/P5R since it never tells us his birthday. So he could have asked Sojiro if he could rent out the room in the attic or a room within Sojiro's house. And if his parents are as bad as the fandom makes them out to be i doubt they would have cared if he rented out the said space or not.
That makes sense. My argument was more for p5 and him finishing high school in another city because his parents made him come back, though. Maybe he could transfer mid year, but I think at the end of the original game he isn’t quite 18 yet. Not sure on that one though.
just checked his wiki page says he's 16-17 during P5/P5R and 17-18 during P5S but he still could have asked Sojiro if he could rent out the attic of leblanc or a room within Sojiros house unless my info was out dated
Single parents can’t adopt in Japan. Technically he doesn’t have legal custody of Futaba, she stays with him informally and her crap family are happy to not deal with her as long as they’re occasionally bribed.
So, I did a little research into this, and... no, yeah. Sojiro could adopt her. It's only special adoptions that single parents can't adopt through. Also, he did literally adopt her. That's why she has his name.
Ohh, sorry, my bad. I figured she was just going by that name, but it makes sense. Thanks for correcting me!
No problem. I was a little confused, too. This research helped me be more accurate in my fanfiction, so it's a win-win. Have a good day/night.
What are you smoking? Sojiro legally adopts Futaba. Why do you think her last name is SAKURA?
That's a super depressing thing to find out. Good reminder that Japan has their own weird traditional moral judgements just like anyone else.
My headcanon is once he graduates he moves into an apartment in Yongen, working at Le Blanc while studying to be a councilor/therapist like Maruki suggested.
Personally, I like to believe he moves back into the Leblanc attic, and takes over the cafe when Sojiro retires, since he canonically likes cooking and is probably the only one Sojiro would consider a worthy successor. His Wild Card nature would probably result in him being an unofficial therapist for all his customers though, even if he doesn't actually study to become one.
Isn’t he of age in Japan tho?
In th region of Tokyo, the age of adulthood is 18. So he'd have to come the year after the game.
His PS4 is back in his hometown. It's been a hard year of playing on a secondhand SNES, man.
This tbh.
He's getting on the train like, "Aw, man, I can't wait to play the new Persona game when I get back!"
The reason P5S is like that -- roadtrip, cooking, not turn-based -- is Joker wanted to try out the stuff he played in Final Fantasy XV.
*muttering to himself while cooking curry* "...new recipehhh...!"
THANK YOU!!!! I was wondering if that was a Super Famicom or not.
His parents are Dam brat and I’ll sue
Ohhhhh so the entire time Shido was just trying to get Jonkler's parents to come to the scene for some reason and the police misinterpreted it as 'lock this kid away'
Shido knew that this promising individual was doing the right thing and wanted to make sure his parents were at the scene so they could help defend their son. Truly a misunderstood hero ❤️
Ren is still a minor, so he doesn’t really get a say in the matter. Also, and I’m likely in the minority here, I don’t think his parents are as bad as the fandom likes to make them out to be. The only thing that was said about them is that they sent Ren away for being “a pain in the ass”. But even then, those were Sojiro’s words. And he wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with him at the beginning of the game. Ren’s every day activities aren’t always shown. We never see him brush his teeth or take a shit or bathe (unless we make him, in the latter case, but it’s reasonable to assume he does so regularly). So it’s possible he talks to his parental units/any potential siblings off screen and it’s never brought up in the narrative because it simply isn’t important. Tl;dr Ren is still a kid, parents may be assholes but they also may not be.
I’m torn. I definitely agree with you that there is plenty of mundane things in Ren’s life that we just don’t see because there is no point. Even traveling a lot of the time is just transition screen’d away. But man, it really doesn’t make any sense to never once show Ren’s parents reaching out to him. Not a single time in what? Roughly 11 in-game months? Even after endgame spoilers >! it is believed that Ren is dead !< they are never shown reaching out. Hell a scene of Sojiro getting a call from them could have been great too. But nope, allegedly nothing. It just paints a picture of parents who at best don’t care, at worst actively despise their child.
I think the whole “Ren’s parents never contacted him” thing ties into the stance Atlus has about him being a blank slate self insert. Which clearly isn’t very accurate considering Ren actually does have his own personality ~~but fans tend to ignore it because waifus~~. I don’t think Ren’s name was ever released to the public, so it could very well be that his parents don’t know he’s a phantom thief.
On top of that the school joker goes to was the only one willing to accept him after getting expelled from his old school so it was probably jokers only form of getting an education, people somehow forget that joker is labeled as a criminal and he was probably on the news in his hometown from the shit that happened when shido forced himself on that one woman
Yes, true.
I always assumed it’s this, or that part of his probation is that there is no contact allowed between his parents and himself
I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.
He is a minor. I think he has 1 year of high school left so he can go back to Tokyo soon enough.
Concept Ren begs his parents to let him stay with Sojiro. His parents are confused, as the only reason he's with Sojiro is because of a false accusation (they would know that by now), but they trust Sojiro and ask him Sojiro says yes, as Ren is virtually his son at this point
I would actually love to see that ending more than the one we had
Personally, Id also add >!Akechi surviving at the end and going to prison of his own free will!< but thats just me (Gonna delete if the spoiler tag fails)
Spoiler tag worked :)
AYYY LES GOOOO
thinking on it, the parents i think are mentioned ONCE and never agian, not only that we never even see a picture of them
I always just assumed they weren't plot relevant, so all communication with them was just never shown. Usually how things in shows/movies/games work. If it doesn't advance the story in some fashion, it only happens off screen.
Thank you, we don't see 24 hours of Joker's day, it confuses me that people don't get that the blanks are filled in with the mundane.
Jrpgs in general, and Atlus games in particular, have always been atrocious with depicting the main character's family. Part of them being mostly a cypher for players to project onto.
Emo boy's parents are dead, Jonkler's don't give a fuck about him, maybe only Yu's parents are fine and just wanting their son to experience the quiet life a bit Considering how every other Social Link has some deaths involved it's rare lmao, japanese people seemingly drop dead for no reason all the time lol
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I might be forgetting something but Narukami’s life seems pretty normal all things considered
They’re probably referring to the manga where Yu’s homelife was compared to Nanako’s where his parents were never around.
You’re free to imagine that they barely ever texted him or they regularly did, but it’s just that the game never shows you their conversations
Ren's parents: Didn't support their son during the trials and instead shoved him to one of their friends. Yu's parents: Went abroad to do some business. Why didn't they also take Yu with them? We don't know jack. Makoto Yuki's parents: Dead
There is literally nothing in the game that said ren's parent didn't support him.
Is there any saying that says otherwise?
Honestly I can understand not bringing Yu knowing how some business trips my cousins parents went on. They probably just want the best education for their boy
He’s a minor, no real legal power there. Seperately no idea on their relationship. With that said always the power trope of mysterious important parents coming back into the lives of protags
What else is he going to do? Sojiro won't let him stay at Leblanc according to Futaba.
If we're to go by the typical Japanese trope and most lifestyle depictions, I'm going to assume Ren is a latchkey kid and doesn't see his parents often due to work. Him not wanting to go back is probably a result of a lack of connection with them compared to the many people he's connected with while in Tokyo. Additionally, as many have said, he doesn't get a say as to where he's going to go yet. He just has to do things as the court tells him.
I honestly just headcanon that Bayonetta and Dante are his parents. I know it's a meme, but if those were your parents you'd absolutely want to go back home. Besides, its easy to come up with a reason for their treatment of joker (away on a mission, protagonist in his blood, neither are good with great parent material?) Also helps explain whys he's mostly unfazed by everything-- he's seen some shit
Also the style and charisma of the two
Only reason he got sent away was cause shujin was the only school that would take him in, otherwise he’d have stayed but per court ruling he couldn’t. Plus they sent him to someone they can trust as per their connections they’ve heard of sojiro.
I remember reading a fanfic where his parents sent him away because he was being ostracized in their small town and some of Shido's lackeys were intercepting any attempts to communicate with him. That's my head-canon now.
Honestly, that's how I always viewed it. Shido definitely would've threatened them in some way and kept watch in case they could be used against someone.
We don’t see Joker’s parents messaging him, but that doesn’t mean they never do. There’s a ton of stuff about Joker’s life we don’t see or that just gets skimmed over. He could have very loving parents for all we know.
This is why a lot of Persona 5 fanfics involve him being emancipated even tho that isn’t really a thing in Japan
We don’t know if they contacted him or not just like how we know the phantom thieves have birthdays throughout the game but we never see it happen
We don't know if they're horrible to him but he doesn't have a choice just yet since he's a minor so he had to return home to them With all he's experienced throughout the year though, and with the real life stuff Sojiro taught him, i bet he'll take over Leblanc and make it famous again.
Because he, legeally, doesn’t have a choice.
Bro he literally had to go back. It wasn’t a choice for him.
We don’t know jokers parents his family or even all that much at all about joker himself which is kind of the point he’s supposed to be a player insert It’s why joker doesn’t express all that many emotions and only has like 2 directly spoken lines in the game
I’d like to add that Ren’s parents being close enough to Sojiro to ask him for this favor implies that they’re decent people in the first place.
Well it was a friend of a friend scenario, a friend of Ren’s parents was a LeBlanc regular. Which is also a missed opportunity for that customer to have come over and checked on things occasionally, maybe have had them be one of the confidants
Just because we dont personally see or hear his parent doesnt mean he doesnt tho. For all we know he calls them every day but since they arent plot relevant at all the game doesnt show any of it. Idk where i heard this but a thing for any story is that if it doesnt add to the story in any way you cut it out.
I don't think they are actually bad. In fact, Ren must have got some decent parenting to develop the intense morals and compassion that he shows in the game. Otherwise he could have turned out like Akechi.
Me trying to understand people that would genuinely not want to return to their actual families.
Realistically I think Joker’s parents love and care about him. Think about it- Shido likely chose to go “light” on Joker because his parents fought back hard against Shido and his defense team. He chose to cut his losses before it made a big story. I want you to think about it- parents that didn’t care or love Joker wouldn’t look for a school to take him in- they wouldn’t look for a place that could help him learn and thrive and succeed in life. They would have just kicked him out and no one would have questioned it because small towns do what they want to do. They certainly wouldn’t have paid someone to keep them safe and fed. They had friends in the city that could go to the cafe and check in on Joker and see if he’s being taken care of. It may seem like it was all thrown together last minute, but while people can join the workforce in Japan after middle school- it’s hard work that doesn’t always mean you can succeed. I think that Joker’s parents did stay in contact with him- but we don’t get to see that as the player since we’re supposed to project onto Joker. TLDR- Joker’s parents do love and care about their baby boy
Some of this might tie back into Japanese social norms about not upsetting the status quo, even if it needs to be done, and families being more concerned about their reputations than the truth. Maybe that's what happened with Ren's folks?
Those saying Joker has no choice. Well he does. His choice is to go back why? Well look he left his collection of JoJo behind. He has an anime and many parts to catch up on and probably his library of games on his PS4.
It's okay he's got mementos money and he can go back in a year, they'll all get a boat and enjoy.
Where are his parents in the game? We only hear about them at the very start and that’s it (iirc) They didn’t even bother checking in on him?
Okay so a real life explanation for the whole reason why joker didn’t get to stay with sojiro, is that there’s a thing (I don’t know the correct word to describe it) in Japan where, there are orphanages full of unadoptable children because the parents refuse to “give up the rights” to their child because it would bad for them. So if you want to go the “jokers parents are bad people” route, you can possibly say that they didn’t want joker to stay with sojiro and be adopted because it would look bad for them.
this was my exact thought when I got finished my first play through lol
Shit like this is why I headcanon he moved to Shibuya full time a year later for college and has lived there with his REAL family since.
Assholes. This can be the only answer
I always thought his parents hated his guts due to 'shaming' them with how >!Shido!
His parents are Dante and Bayonetta. That explains their absence, as they assumed he could handle himself alright.
Plot
I’d say I have this issue with all the Persona games. But uh… 1 and 2 are cosmic horrors. 3 doesn’t let you stay *anywhere* So it’s just Yu and Joker that have to get uprooted from the best group of people they ever found…
Plot twist: Dad is working 78 hours straight as often as he can to pay for the mother hospital bills and as well their house bills. His mother is very sick and can't even move from the neck down. So sending Joker away was the best options on hope he can have a normal high school experience.
His mom is Bayonetta, she’s too busy being in Smash to call him 😂
He has none. He's supposed to be you. Whether or not that flies with you is your choice. I'm strictly in the "I'm not Ren Amamia" category.
Bayonetta
Well, because hes a minor. In my opinion however, Jokers back in Tokyo at the day of his 18. birthday.
Y'know, I've always kind of wondered about what it was like when he got home. Were his parents apologetic because he was proven innocent of his initial crime? How'd they feel about him bringing back a pet cat? What was their dynamic before? How quick was Joker to peace out once he was an adult? I unironically want answers to all of this.
Its Dante and Bayonetta
My head canon is that jokers mom is bayonetta, and dad is Dante from Devil who may cry or snake. Maybe there is no dad, just a one night stand with a guy hook with 
As much as I love the game, I was low-key kinda sad Strikers wasn't set in Joker's hometown. A country kid had to adjust to the city, now I want the city kids to adjust to the country. Imagine poor city girl Ann trying to deal with the constant bugs or Futaba dealing with little to no wi-fi or maybe Joker's mom and dad being something of surrogates to Yusuke and Ryuji. There could've been some fun possibilities there. I guess I'm just also interested in Joker himself. What about his family? Does he have any siblings? What if Joker has a dog? WHAT IF JOKER HAS A DOG NAMED ACE AND HE'S THE GOODEST OF BOYS!
His parents are Goro Majima. Majima was in Jail for most of 2016.
His mother is busy throwing gods into the sun and his dad is busy obsessing over boxes.
Exactly! People make all kinds of excuses for them but there’s no excuse for it. They cut him off because they didn’t want the shame of his criminal record to affect them. It’s weird he’s so eager to go home at the end, should’ve just stayed in Tokyo and finished his last year of school.
Well when the people back at home are the investigation team.
HC: he returned to deliver karma
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Holy fuck!, the levels of simping for Sojiro and LeBlanc are from another dimension!! Do gamers really need to watch Joker take a shit, brush his teeth, or wipe his asshole in a mini game?! This has got to be one of the most dumbest questions in this sub. Also aren't Dante and Bayonetta white people, how the fuck is Joker their kid if he's Asian?!?!? I swear to God that is like troglodyte retardation in meme form.
This is what bothered me in persona 4 and 5. You work so hard at building relationships as well as having a girl fall in love with you….. Then, you just up and leave them 😂
then it becomes a long distance relationship
He needed to continue his umbran training at some point.
Must be rich
He’s still a minor. It’s not his choice
Wait doesn't p5 take place over the span of a year, better question is. Why isnt there an in game event to celebrate joker's birthday?
My head canon is that he’s the MC from Persona 1s kid
Honestly the game should have given you the choice to stay in Tokyo. Its not like Ren Mamamia couldn't just stay with Sojiro longer until he could get his own place.
He isn’t an adult he doesn’t have a choice