Persona 5 Royal character poll has Ryuji fans in shambles

Persona
(Image credit: Atlus)

The results of a Persona 5 Royal character poll have been revealed, and Ryuji's fans are in tears.

Over the past weekend, Atlus and Sega revealed the results of a Southeast Asian-facing character poll for Persona 5 Royal. The results, which you can see in full just below, have protagonist Ren Amamiya first, Makoto Niijima second, and sidekick Ryuji all the way in second-last place, higher only than Haru.

In the comments underneath the Persona subreddit post above, Ryuji's fans bemoan the poll results. The trusty sidekick's fans are wondering how the hell their best boy managed to come second to last in the new poll, and what Southeast Asian players have against Ryuji in particular.

One comment theorizes that voice actor Max Mittleman's performance in the English language dub of Persona 5 Royal wins over plenty of western fans for Ryuji, and it's hard to argue against that. Another commenter writes that Ryuji's perceived vulgarity in Asian languages doesn't do him any favors, unfortunately.

Elsewhere, others are wondering how Haru managed to come in last place in the poll. This one isn't a huge surprise, honestly, as Haru has always typically been one of the less popular Persona 5 character at large, due to her reduced screen time in the original 2017 release when compared to other characters like Ann and Futaba.

No one's particularly surprised that Makoto's finished in second place, however. The kickass honors student has always been a fan favorite since 2017, and one could easily make a case for Makoto being one of the best Persona franchise characters at large.

Don't forget, Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden finally release on modern platforms later this month on January 19. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Read more
The White Deer Inn in the Suikoden game
Fans are concerned Critical Role's Suikoden one-shot will be ruined by one player's "complete incompetence and blaming the game"
Metaphor: ReFantazio's protagonist smiles at his fairy companion, Gallica in an anime-style cutscene.
After dominating 2024 with Sonic, Persona, Yakuza, and Metaphor, Sega is the first company to become the year's best-rated publisher 3 times
Yakuza Kiwami
Years before we learned of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Majima's voice actor pitched a JRPG about the fan-favorite anti-hero and was told "that's not going to happen"
Close up of Metis from Persona 3 Reload
Atlus makes games like Persona 3 by "serving players deadly poison wrapped in a sweet coating"
Ichiban Kasuga grapples with Yutaka Yamai in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
The best Yakuza games, ranked
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Latest in Persona
A screenshot from an animated cutscene in Persona 4 Golden, showing Teddie and protagonist Yu Narukami stood looking surprised.
Persona 4 fans are in shambles as website domain for "p4re" appears, potentially following in the footsteps of the Persona 3 Reload announcement
Persona 5 Royal screenshot
Sega outlines plan to "strengthen" Persona, Yakuza, and Sonic studios, says "Atlus is an important studio for us to expand Japanese IPs overseas"
Persona 4 Golden All-Out-Attack cut-in screenshot featuring Kanji, Yu, Chie, and Yukiko.
Persona 4's iconic singer confirms she's "recording for a new game," leaving JRPG fans wondering if a remake is finally on the cards
Close up of Metis from Persona 3 Reload
Atlus makes games like Persona 3 by "serving players deadly poison wrapped in a sweet coating"
Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis screenshot showing Aigis, a young woman with short blonde hair, standing against a tiled blue backdrop
"Persona is a story about growing up": Atlus lead reveals why the JRPG series always centers around a young male protagonist, but doesn't rule out adults or women in the future
Metaphor: ReFantazio screenshot showing an anime-style young blond man with light blue eyes, a window's light glowing behind him
Before Persona veterans decided Metaphor: ReFantazio had to be a fantasy JRPG, they had "talks about making a science-fiction universe"
Latest in News
Adam Scott as Mark S and Britt Lower as Helly R in Severance season 2
There might have been another reason for Mark's decision in the Severance season 2 finale
Silent Hill f art showing a person covered in plants
Silent Hill f has been pre-emptively banned in Australia, with no reason given for the 'refused classification' rating
Assassin's Creed Shadows review gameplay showing Yasuke overlooking the sea and lush green scenery
Assassin's Creed Shadows has already "surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey" with 2 million players and counting
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing someone using a big gun
Helldivers 2 boss says "death and rebirth" is a natural part of the games industry, but it's "unnecessarily brutal" right now "because we don't diversify enough"
A Dragon Age character stares out against a blue background.
BioWare makes a return to Dragon Age: The Veilguard with a surprise PC update, months after layoffs and a seemingly final patch
God of War 3
God of War PSP's seamless loading was only possible because a Jak & Daxter game was also running in the background