After a long year’s wait, Persona 5 Strikers has arrived and the Phantom Thieves have returned to face a new slate of foes in the metaverse. Strikers is a very different beast than other games bearing the Persona name, featuring a Dynasty Warriors-inspired combat system and a deeply simplified social link system, the game’s narrative feels like a natural extension of the original Persona 5, complete with a fresh cast of characters. The first new party member players encounter is none other than Sophia, a “Super A.I.” aspiring to become “humanity’s companion.”
Sophia will inevitably draw comparisons to Kasumi of Persona 5 Royal, as both redheads feature prominent roles in their respective Persona 5 follow-ups. But a more apt comparison would be to Morgana’s role in the original game. Like the cat-who-is-not-a-cat, Sophia is initially discovered in the metaverse, with no memories and very little identity save for a strong sense of duty to support people. She even adopts a different physical form in reality—dwelling in Joker’s phone—and receives a similar codename which is just an abbreviated form of her usual name: Sophie. Her design is very different from the other, roguishly-attired Phantom Thieves, with a streamlined look recalling Apple packaging and Eve, of Disney’s WALL-E.
There is good reason for this, seeing how Sophia manifests as the evolved, self-aware form of a Siri-like virtual assistant. While Persona 5 Strikers is shorter than a main entry or “director’s cut” in the Persona franchise, it is still a robust title with meaningful character arcs, and Sophia’s journey from a charming curiosity into a genuine companion wrestling with the same weighty themes the Thieves tackled in the first Persona 5. Be warned, Persona 5 Strikers spoilers follow.
Sophia (as Sophie) is an extremely effective fighter featuring unique yo-yo weapons and a fun timed-strike mechanic. As a party member, her affinity for the bless element and healing abilities are also valuable in a number of different dungeons.
As an A.I., Sophia has a tremendous aptitude for technology that exceeds even Futaba’s talents, in certain respects. With Dr. Tae Takemi of the Death Arcana and Munehisa Iwai of the Hanged Man both MIA, sourcing equipment for metaverse runs falls to the Thieves’ newest recruit. Her ability to navigate the dark web is humorously conveyed early on, also demonstrating how sophisticated her programming is. While there are mechanical rate-limiters in place on what she can acquire, she represents a tempting, powerful resource that is nearly on-par with access to the metaverse itself.
The Thieves never abuse her abilities (aside from some replica gun-running and minor drug smuggling) and this restraint is one of the most important examples they set for the newly awakened A.I. who seeks to understand humanity. Early on, the Thieves teach her the value of preserving human life whenever possible which is a valuable lesson given who her creator is.
Sophia possesses an innate ability to interact with the Metaverse, that neither she or the Thieves can explain, but it is ultimately revealed to be powered by a broken, or incipient persona referred to as Pithos. Those up to speed on their Ancient Greek myths may know that the word “pithos” does not refer to a figure from fiction, history, or folklore, but rather a small urn that features prominently in the legend of Pandora.
The term “Pandora’s Box” used to refer to the myth in modern times is actually due to a translation error caused when “pithos” was misunderstood to refer to a small container rather than an urn. For those unfamiliar with the story, Pandora was supposedly the first woman ever created, fashioned from clay by the Greek gods. The gods later entrusted her with a small urn that contained all the mortal evil and misery in existence. They warned Pandora not to open it, but knew that curiosity was in her nature, and that she would open it anyway. Once opened, all of the evil in the world flew out of the urn, save for one entity: Hope. In some versions of the story, Hope is the salvation of mankind, but in the original telling, it was described as the most malignant evil of all.
Hope is also the name of Sophia’s arcana. While not one of the traditional major arcana, its themes are easy to theorize. Given hope’s potential to lead to salvation, as well as great harm, it would likely govern aspiration, risk, and determination, which suit a first-of-her-kind A.I. perfectly. And eventually, when Sophia is pushed too far, her shattered persona, pithos, assembles and awakens as the persona Pandora, bringing things full circle. It is also worth mentioning that Sophia’s original name connotated wisdom and intelligence in ancient Greek, providing the root for words such as “philosophy” and “sophistry.”
As with all the other Thieves, Sophia’s awakening is rooted in an act of rebellion; specifically, the confrontation with her enigmatic creator, Kuon Ichinose. Again, the myth of Pandora is a kind of mirror for Sophia’s relationship with Kuon. Just as the gods knew Pandora would disobey them, and in a certain sense, designed them for that explicit purpose, Kuon created Sophia to assess and assist humanity. But this noble goal was rooted in Kuon’s desire to understand and connect with humanity despite her own lack of understanding.
The fact that Pandora was fashioned from clay is also a parallel to Sophia being created with code, as both mediums are reflections of the people who work with them. Finally, Sophia facing her creator is akin to Joker, a mythological trickster, dethroning a false god.
Just as Ann feels the urge to “floof” Sophia upon their first meeting, fans may be initially drawn to Sophia for her cute design, vibrant personality, and robotic mannerisms, but they may also initially underestimate her depth as a result. Like the other Phantom Thieves, her character arc is a microcosm for Persona 5‘s themes: a story from classic folklore told in modern trappings, where rebellion is the key to personhood as well as autonomy.
Persona 5 Strikers is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Switch.
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