The Famed Junior Dectective, Crow/Goro Akechi for Smash!

[NintenZ]

Who is Crow/Goro Akechi?

Goro Akechi is the famed junior detective seen during Persona 5, he’s known for solving many cases and has a charismatic, polite, and charming personality. During the beginning of Persona 5 he is first shown talking to Sae Nijima, who he helps to try getting a lead on the Phantom Thieves case.

Later on in Persona 5 it’s revealed that he can enter the Metaverse as well, and as a result becomes a Phantom Thief going under the codename Crow. He helps the Phantom Thieves during the Sae investigation with his Persona Robin Hood.

However, this does not come without repercussions:

Spoiler: Major P5 spoilers

Later on in the game Crow betrays the Phantom Thieves and joins Shido, the main antagonist of the game. It’s revealed that he’s the Black Mask, the culprit of the murders going on throughout the game and also a Wildcard user who can wield multiple Personas. He’s also revealed to be Shido’s son and considers himself a “******* child”. This all ends with him being defeated and him ending up saving the Phantom Thieves before his demise. Ultimately going out in a heroic act.

He is shown as Joker’s equivalent, in the sense that one is Yin while the other is Yang, and they parallel each other in terms of personality and abilities (with Joker being more cocky and outgoing and Crow being more polite and cordial).

In addition he’s been heavily promoted by Atlus, in things such as P5A, PQ2, several merchandise, and even more. He’s also dominated several popularity polls in Japan, proving he’s a very popular character overall.

How would he work in Smash?
An idea of Crow in Smash is to have him be and Echo Fighter of Joker. In Persona 5, when Crow joins the party he has various similarities to Joker, while also having quite a few differences. However these can be easily addressed in Smash. Joker’s knife in Smash from what we’ve seen so far is rather long, so Akechi’s sword can be easily scaled down in size to match the rig. In addition, recent artwork from Soejima shows that Crow is ambidextrous:

This means he could wield his sword in his right hand just like Joker has shown to be. In addition to this there’s also the matter of Joker being a Wildcard user, however this can be easily solved:

Spoiler: P5 Spoiler stuff

It’s shown later in the game that Crow is a Wildcard user, meaning he can wield multiple Personas just like Joker.

This means that it can be easily solved, and Crow can wield the Personas Joker has as well without issue.

Once we find out more about Joker, we’ll see how this all stacks up, but at the moment things look pretty good for our pancake-loving detective!

Spoiler: Supporters

Sigran101
Robertman2
Golden Icarus
Sari
EarlTamm
RealPokeFan11
Black Link521
mbvswb
Flyboy
lukinator1
ジョルノ ジョフラミンゴ
Ultrashroomz
Peripuff
Dyllybirdy
Probably_Evil_
CallMeKnux

More to be added soon!

Now let’s keep up the pace!

 

[Sigran101]

I support Don't know if it's likely, but if they're going to throw in some freebies then I'd count on Crow. The long knife is the biggest thing to me.

 

[Robertman2]

put me on the list

 

[Golden Icarus]

I’d love to be added to the support list! While I’m not the biggest fan of Akechi’s character, I absolutely love his design. And more clones in Smash, and more Persona always sounds like a good idea to me! My one condition is that they have his All Out attack pose as a victory animation. That dance is way too stylish to ignore.

 

[NintenZ]

You’ve all been added!

Here’s hoping we get some freebie Echoes and Akechi is one of them! I could easily see him being a favorite tbh.

 

[Sigran101]

I’d love to be added to the support list! While I’m not the biggest fan of Akechi’s character, I absolutely love his design. And more clones in Smash, and more Persona always sounds like a good idea to me! My one condition is that they have his All Out attack pose as a victory animation. That dance is way too stylish to ignore.

I would think that could be his final smash.

 

[Sari]

I support the idea of pancake detective being a Joker echo.

Also like most other echos such as Daisy and Richter, he can easily have a similar final smash as Joker assuming they both use All Out Attack.

 

[EarlTamm]

I'd really like to see our resident pancake king make it into the roster. I am a bit iffy about him being a Joker echo and I certainly don't expect him to show up anytime soon, but I guess the echo bit really depends on how Joker is in gameplay.

 

[RealPokeFan11]

Sadly, Akechi was one of the few characters that I actively disliked throughout Persona 5, especially near the end. But I would love to see Joker get the Bowser Jr treatment, and have the rest of the Phantom Thieves as alternate skins. The 8th slot would go to Akechi or Joker's school uniform. They should also have their signature poses for their all out attack final smashes.

 

[Black Link521]

I support this no hesitation. I don't know if it's just me but no matter where Joker is, Akechi is never far behind in both story and merchandise, advertisement even for that matter.

But yes, I would pass out if Crow was chosen as an echo fighter for Smash because I love this character very much and I'm happy there's even a thread now.

 

[mbvswb]

I was thinking of making this thread just earlier. I just played through P5 (working on P4G tomorrow!) and Akechi was my favorite character both design and story-wise. I think he's perfect as an echo and would be a super nice and surprising addition to the game. I definitely expect at least a skin. Put me on the list!

 

[Flyboy]

I doubt this will happen but I mean, the pieces are there as we've been discussing. He would be a welcome surprise. Get me on that list!

 

[lukinator1]

they added richter and ken, both 3rd party characters that got echo fighters so i don't see any reason not to (they also don't have the space to add all human phantom thieves as alternative outfits anyways)

 

[StormC]

Wait, how do you get Akechi to appear in the bathhouse?

Also Akechi did everything wrong.

 

[Robertman2]

Wait, how do you get Akechi to appear in the bathhouse?

Also Akechi did everything wrong.

That's from after the P5R trailer

 

[TrashLad]

I'm not opposed to Akechi in smash, I'm all for as much Persona 5 content as possible since it's my second favourite game after Ultimate.

However I don't think Akechi would work as an echo of Joker. While he is said to be an equal to joker his powers and abilities are much different since he has a completely different Persona. I can see them sharing some possible moves however I think the majority of their movesets would be too different to for them to be echos

But we still have yet to see Joker's moveset so for all I know I could be horribly wrong and Joker's moveset may also fit Akechi perfectly

 

[ジョルノ ジョフラミンゴ]

While I don't think this is likely, I would ****ing love for Akechi to be in either as an Echo or an Alt Costume. Add me to the support list.

 

[Ultrashroomz]

ngl, the only reason I would love to see Akechi in Smash is to see pancake memes become rampant among the Smash scene.

He's far from my fav characters in Persona, but any more representation is fine by me!

 

[Peripuff]

One of my 3 favourite characters from my favourite game

Easily my most wanted. I really really hope he makes it, if not in Ultimate then maybe Smash 6

I really don’t expect it, but I’d love it

Edit: I forgot to mention, but I likely would’ve made a thread if you didn’t

 

[NintenZ]

Everyone has been added thus far!

I was wondering how he’d be revealed tbh, would it be through a special trailer or would Sakurai reveal him in a special Echo Fighter showcase like Daisy, Chrom and Dark Samus?

Also I’m sure Will Power would play alongside him.

 

[Peripuff]

Everyone has been added thus far!

I was wondering how he’d be revealed tbh, would it be through a special trailer or would Sakurai reveal him in a special Echo Fighter showcase like Daisy, Chrom and Dark Samus?

Also I’m sure Will Power would play alongside him.

Probably in a trailer with Joker. Since Akechi is a third party, I don’t see his reveal being taken lightly

 

[Sigran101]

Everyone has been added thus far!

I was wondering how he’d be revealed tbh, would it be through a special trailer or would Sakurai reveal him in a special Echo Fighter showcase like Daisy, Chrom and Dark Samus?

Also I’m sure Will Power would play alongside him.

I would imagine it would be kind of like Simon and Richter. Joker's trailer is just about done, and then Crow pops up out of nowhere with the splash screen.

 

[Peripuff]

I would imagine it would be kind of like Simon and Richter. Joker's trailer is just about done, and then Crow pops up out of nowhere with the splash screen.

The only question about this is how many buckets I’ll need for my tears if this happens

 

[Sigran101]

The only question about this is how many buckets I’ll need for my tears if this happens

Because you're happy or because you're upset? People are very polarized about Akechi.

 

[Peripuff]

Because you're happy or because you're upset? People are very polarized about Akechi.

Having any Persona 5 rep would be absolutely amazing, having it be AKECHI would be probably the most hype thing I could imagine for Smash

 

[NintenZ]

So P5R info has been confirmed for tomorrow.

Now I don’t want to get any hopes up too high but the teaser did specify “Multiple Projects”, so personally I’d keep Smash in the back of your minds, just don’t expect it at the same time.

Hope tomorrow’s reveals are exciting!

 

[Sigran101]

So P5R info has been confirmed for tomorrow.

Now I don’t want to get any hopes up too high but the teaser did specify “Multiple Projects”, so personally I’d keep Smash in the back of your minds, just don’t expect it at the same time.

Hope tomorrow’s reveals are exciting!

Wait, they said there's more than P5R tommorow?

 

[NintenZ]

Wait, they said there's more than P5R tommorow?

Yup, after The Stars and Ours airs.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[Sigran101]

Yup, after The Stars and Ours airs.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

That's just confirming the P5R announcement. The bit in the article is saying that the initial teaser said there would be new projects, not that we'll see them tommorow.

 

[NintenZ]

That's just confirming the P5R announcement. The bit in the article is saying that the initial teaser said there would be new projects, not that we'll see them tommorow.

Yeah I know, but I don’t think P5R is a single game but a codename for multiple games releasing (As evidenced by the multiple domains registered by Atlus, this may be more of a hub for these announcements than a single game)

We’ll see tomorrow but I can’t help but wonder...

 

[Sigran101]

Yeah I know, but I don’t think P5R is a single game but a codename for multiple games releasing (As evidenced by the multiple domains registered by Atlus, this may be more of a hub for these announcements than a single game)

We’ll see tomorrow but I can’t help but wonder...

That makes sense, but it's definitely not related to smash. Multiple game announcements would be awesome though!

 

[Peripuff]

That makes sense, but it's definitely not related to smash. Multiple game announcements would be awesome though!

I’d just like them to milk the game as much as they can

 

[NintenZ]

Welp, no Smash news, didn’t expect it tbh but that new Confidant looks cool, too bad we’ll have to wait a couple weeks to find out more but oh well I guess.

(She seems very similar to Akechi in personality tbh)

 

[EarlTamm]

Welp, no Smash news, didn’t expect it tbh but that new Confidant looks cool, too bad we’ll have to wait a couple weeks to find out more but oh well I guess.

(She seems very similar to Akechi in personality tbh)

Well, she could be a new FeMC. We have had an idea of her existence for a while due to the "Jane" costume data that was found in Smash. And we know it's her because said data had pony tail physics.

 

[NintenZ]

Well, she could be a new FeMC. We have had an idea of her existence for a while due to the "Jane" costume data that was found in Smash. And we know it's her because said data had pony tail physics.

I don’t think so, we’ll see but the dialogue suggests she’s against the Phantom Thieves so I don’t think she’s a protagonist, that’s just speculation on my part however.

 

[Peripuff]

Well, she could be a new FeMC. We have had an idea of her existence for a while due to the "Jane" costume data that was found in Smash. And we know it's her because said data had pony tail physics.

I’m still not sure I know what’s up with that. Is it really an alt or could it be something different?

 

[EarlTamm]

I’m still not sure I know what’s up with that. Is it really an alt or could it be something different?

The code is the same sort of code used for costumes and it was specifically attached to "Jack."

 

[Peripuff]

The code is the same sort of code used for costumes and it was specifically attached to "Jack."

Hmm, that’s odd. I not sure what it could be, especially since it’s only tied to one of the costumes whereas other alts usually have their own set.

 

[Sigran101]

Hmm, that’s odd. I not sure what it could be, especially since it’s only tied to one of the costumes whereas other alts usually have their own set.

It was found in the junk code, so presumably it would be for four sets and this is just the one that happened to be there. We don't actually have access to Joker's files to know for sure.

 

[Peripuff]

It was found in the junk code, so presumably it would be for four sets and this is just the one that happened to be there. We don't actually have access to Joker's files to know for sure.

Oooh, that makes more sense now, thanks.