The SIU Director is a major antagonist in Persona 5. He is the Director of the Special Investigations Unit of Japan, responsible for dealing with cases involving political crimes and terrorism. He serves as Masayoshi Shido's enforcer for the Antisocial Force up until his death after the heist of Sae Niijima, using his power to turn cases into Shido's favor and hide his involvement in other cases. He was also the corrupt boss of Sae Niijima.
Biography[]
Past[]
Little is known about the SIU Director before the events of Persona 5. It appears that he betrayed his own political party by siding and supporting Masayoshi Shido, after likely being promised prestige. He is not one of Shido's direct underlings though, as noted by how Shido said he would "pick a successor," likely someone who he could control better than current The SIU Director.
Early Game[]
The SIU Director is first seen talking to Sae Niijima about the recent subway accident. He noted that this would be a major blow to the Minister of Transportation. He noted Sae Niijima's diligence in connecting all the recent mental shutdown cases, but did not reveal much beyond that. Later, it is revealed that he used his power to cover up all involvement that Shido ha and that the subway accident was a calculated move to rid of the minister of transportation, weakening the ruling party in favor of Shido.
The SIU Director is seen throughout the game talking to Shido (Though it's not revealed to be Shido) about the handling of the conspiracy and mental shutdown cases. Once the Phantom Thieves become popular, The SIU Director figured they had access to the cognitive world as early as the Kamoshida case. After multiple heist and growing public support for the Phantom Thieves, taking away support from Shido, The SIU Director devises a plan to take down the Phantom Thieves. The SIU Director further set this up by laying Principal Kobayakawa, the principal of Shjuin Academy where the Phantom Thieves have their roots, off. Kobayakawa tried to sell out The SIU Director, but before he could he had a mental shutdown triggered within him, set up by The SIU Director. He would later set it up to make it appear as though the Phantom Thieves killed him.
Fifth Heist: Okumura[]
After Shido used his IT connections to set up the Medjed Hoax, to which the Phantom Thieves "overcame" and gained massive popularity, The SIU Director's plan was in motion. After Shido's hackers manipulate the phansite to pressure the Phantom Thieves to target President Okumura of Okumura Foods, the Black Masked Metaverse User would kill Okumura's shadow after his heart was stolen. This trigger a Mental Shutdown as he was confessing his crimes, making the Phantom Thieves look like the culprits behind the mental shutdowns. This was furthered by a forged calling card being found in Kobayakawa's desk at Shujin Academy being "discovered."
Sixth Heist: Sae Niijima[]
With the public on Shido's side now, The SIU Director orders his passionate subordinate, Sae Niijima, to capture the Phantom Thieves, knowing she'd do anything in her power to succeed, especially after he pressured her with a promotion and termination if she failed. Knowing she'd use illegal means, this allowed Akechi, under the impression of not allowing unjust actions, to convince the Phantom Thieves to target Sae Niijima in order to avoid an unfair arrest. In reality, the entire plan was a conspiracy to which on the day of the heist, Akechi would set up the Police to capture Joker red-handed. The plan was a sucess and Joker was captured. It was then planned for Joker to be assassinated by Akechi in Police custody while telling the public he had committed suicide. Although this failed as Akechi and the rest of the conspiracy took the bait that the Phantom Thieves laid for them, allowing Joker to escape unharmed whilst fooling the conspiracy to believing he was dead. Shortly after the supposed death of Joker, The SIU Director suffered a mental shutdown himself, being targeted for knowing too much. His death was seemingly swept under the rug, and any other mental shutdown incidents where since the supposed culprit had been caught and committed suicide. He left very little legacy, as an interim director was quickly picked to cover up any leaks of Shido's conspiracy.
Appearance[]
The SIU Director wears a dark blue business suit jacket, a white business shirt, a blue business vest, dark blue business suit pants, and black business shoes. Her wears a pair of glasses on his head. The SIU Director is rather old, with a balding head, white hair, and a hunchback. His look is too represent the stereotypical person of authority in Japanese culture.
Personality[]
The SIU director is like most of the minor corrupt adults in Persona 5. He is very cold and self-centered. Most of his interactions with his subordinates involve cold orders with no personal touch to them. He is known to pressure his underlings to get the job done, with consequences if they fail to do so. He serves Shido quite loyally, but it's clear he's only in it to benefit his own social standing.
The SIU Director is implied to be misogynistic, or at least a support of the Institutionalized mysogyny against women in the SIU. This would lead Sae Niijima to envy the high-power holding males of her occupation and be a contributing factor into her descent to Villainy.. He is quite arrogant, as seen when he was surprised that he was targeted by Shido despite knowing Shido got arid of all who did and could stand in his way, including those who could sell him out, yet he somehow didn't see himself being targeted.
Trivia[]
- Of all the Persona 5 who could be considered major, The SIU Director is the only one to be unnamed.
- The SIU Director is the most dangerous enemy of the Phantom Thieves whose existence was never directly known by the Phantom Thieves.
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 Villains
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SEBEC Route Takahisa Kandori | Nyarlathotep | Pandora Snow Queen Quest Victims of the Snow Queen Mask | Tomomi Fujimori | Night Queen
Innoncent Sin Masked Circle | Master Joker | Tatsuya Sudou | Junko Kurosu | Anna Yoshizaka | Ginji Sasaki | Akari Hoshi | Nyarlathotep Eternal Punishment New World Order | Tatsuzou Sudou | Kiyotada Sumaru | Takahisa Kandori | Chizuru Ishigami | Nyarlathotep
Strega (Takaya Sakaki | Jin Shirato | Chidori Yoshino) | Kouetsu Kirijo | Shuji Ikutsuki | Nyx Avatar Persona 3 FES
The Killer | Mitsuo Kubo | Izanami Persona 4: Arena & Persona 4: Arena Ultimax Sho Minazuki | Shadow Labrys | Hi-no Kagutsuchi
Suguru Kamoshida | Sphinx | Sae Niijima | Antisocial Force (Ichiryusai Madarame | Junya Kaneshiro | Kunikazu Okumura | The Traitor | SIU Director | Sugimura | Kobayakawa | Masayoshi Shido | Yaldabaoth) | Shiro Asakura Persona 5 Royal Persona 5 Strikers Alice Hiiragi | Ango Natsume | Mariko Hyodo | Shuzo Ubukata | Akira Konoe | Jyun Owada | Kuon Ichinose | EMMA | Lock Keepers
Teru Gojuin | Dark Yashiro | Yatsufusa Hatanaka
Persona Q Clockwork God Persona Q2 Kamoshidaman | Enlil
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