Two Gay NPCs in Persona 5

In Persona 5, there are two unnamed NPCs called “Scruffy Romantic” and “Beefy Trendsetter,” who are flamboyant gay men that hit on Ryuji and the player character. The two follow stereotypes about gay men being flamboyant, feminine, and pedophiles/predators. The game uses them as comedic jokes as they hit on underaged boys. In Persona 5 Royal, Atlus addressed concerns over the portrayal of these two characters by changing their content in Royal’s Western localization to make them drag queens who wanted to get Ryuji in drag. This has drawn critique for not addressing the core issue from the original game. The differences from Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal with these two characters can be seen in this video. LGBTQ content in this game series: Persona 2: Innocent Sin (1999): Tatsuya Suou; Jun Kurosu Persona 3 (2006): Unnamed Female Student; Unnamed Beautiful Lady Persona 3 Portable (2007): Elizabeth; Female Protagonist; Aigis; Mitsuru Kirjo; Ryoji Mochizuki Persona 4 (2008): Kanji Tatsumi; Naoto Shirogane; Chie Satonaka; Yukiko Amagi; Yosuke Hanamura Persona 5 (2016): Two Gay NPCs; Lala Escargot; Yusuke Kitagawa See also QRM’s entry for this game series. Citations:
  1. Burbeting. (2017, April 25). Taking a look at the LGBT representation in Persona 5 (Light Spoilers). Retrieved May 7, 2019, from https://www.neogaf.com/threads/taking-a-look-at-the-lgbt-representation-in-persona-5-light-spoilers.1364049/
  2. Dale, L. (2020, March 31). Atlus tried, and failed, to fix Persona 5’s most controversial scene. Retrieved from https://www.polygon.com/2020/3/31/21199516/persona-5-royal-edits-changed-scene-ryuji-homophobia-controversy
  3. Marks, T. (2020, February 15). Persona 5 Royal Will Change Homophobic Scenes For Western Release. Retrieved from https://www.ign.com/articles/persona-5-royal-will-change-homophobic-scenes-for-western-release?fbclid=IwAR0dJ3poutRI_uhaqxrD2aCZAmb4ySMq3ESma-AtuMZP2ZDin4asAHEHOlE
  4. Naughty Gaming. (2020, April 7). Persona 5 Royal Gay Guys (Original Vs Royal) Censorship? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdk10em1FdU