Shiho Suzui

"Ann...? I'm sorry. I... I can't take this... anymore..."

- Shiho explaining to Ann why she jumped

Shiho Suzui is a supporting character in Persona 5. She is a student at Shujin Academy and plays a significant role in the incidents involving Kamoshida's abuse.

While unable to directly cooperate with the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, the suffering that Shiho experienced has eventually transformed into the foundation of their motivation to reform society and free it from the chains of corrupt people.

Appearance

 * Persona 5 / Royal: Supporting Character
 * Persona 5 (Manga): Supporting Character
 * Persona 5 The Animation: Supporting Character
 * Persona 5 The Stage

Design
Shiho has brown eyes and black hair tied in a ponytail, held in place with a pink elastic band. Her bangs are parted to her left. She also wears two gray hairpins. Shiho wears her uniform without the black jacket nor the suspenders. She keeps the beige turtleneck sweater rolled up to her elbows, and wears the standard uniform skirt. Underneath her skirt, she has black athletic shorts, and beneath her shirt, she wears elbow braces. She also has a black knee brace on her right leg. She wears white running shoes with red designs and white ankle socks.

In Royal, a cognitive copy of her appears in Kamoshida's Palace as a scantily clad Playboy bunny, wearing a fluffy white bikini with matching wristbands and collar, a white rabbit tail and ears, hot pink heels and a crown. When Shiho briefly returns in the third semester, she wears a dark purple jacket with coral trimming and white buttons, a large pink scarf and a navy shirt with red and white stripes. She also wears cuffed white shorts, black leggings and black and white sneakers.

In the anime, she has dark brown hair. She is not shown with her hair down until the scene during which she wakes up from her coma, revealing that it reaches shoulder length.

Personality
Shiho at first glance seems to be a quiet and reserved girl who rarely talks to anyone and doesn't smile much. In fact, the only person she lights up around at school is Ann. She lacks confidence to a significant degree, thinking her volleyball skills are her only valuable attributes, and that this is "all she had."

In reality, she is an extremely stressed and traumatized teenager because she was one of the most frequent victims of Kamoshida's abuse; he sexually harasses, assaults, and spikes volleyballs at her any time he sees fit. She would endure all of this and more for the sake of volleyball. Eventually, her friend Ann outright begins to avoid Kamoshida's sexual advances; as a consequence, he declares he's going to strip Shiho of her starting position.

However, this would escalate, and it is heavily implied that she was sexually assaulted by Kamoshida. This is the "final straw" that causes her to attempt suicide. As Shiho was being manipulated, it is most likely that Kamoshida exploited his authority over her position on the team and made good on his intent to threaten her.

Although grief-ridden by her attempted suicide, Ann calls Shiho an "idiot" out of lamentation for how Shiho allowed herself to be manipulated and driven to commit suicide by Kamoshida, and further states that she herself was an even larger idiot for having not noticed or taken action sooner. Ann refers to Shiho as a strong person for her endurance and perseverance through her situation, and her determination to move again in grueling physical therapy sessions. Ann also blames herself for not having faith in Shiho's abilities, instead turning Kamoshida's threats on him by pressuring him to remove his star player from the team and see what happens.

It is said that Shiho used to be an outgoing and sociable person until she began to suffer under Kamoshida's abuse at Shujin Academy.

Persona 5
Shiho is Ann's best and only friend at Shujin Academy, due to the both of them being the "unpopular" and "outcast" girls of the school; as such, they can relate to and empathize with one another. Shiho didn't start out friendly however, as when she met Ann, the first thing she said to her was, "Takamaki-san, your paintings suck,” when she saw Ann's painting during art class. This amused Ann and this became the start of their friendship.

She joined Kamoshida's volleyball club shortly before the start of the game. She is an excellent volleyball player and has been playing since middle school. According to a few students in Shujin Academy, she was a lot happier and more outgoing before Kamoshida began frequently propositioning her for private training sessions. Afterwards, she suddenly suffers from a swollen knee, allegedly an injury sustained during the aforementioned "training." It is heavily implied that Kamoshida physically abused her. She decided to keep this a secret out of fear of being expelled from the volleyball team. When first met by the protagonist, Shiho has bruises all over her face, presumably due to Kamoshida beating her. Unlike the majority of students and teachers at school, Shiho doesn't believe the bad rumors surrounding the protagonist and even tells him not to let the rumors get to him due to how Ann being misunderstood by other students because of rumors surrounding her.

After Ann refuses to accept Kamoshida's inappropriate sexual advances, he declares to her that he's going to take away Shiho's starting position on the team. Later, when she is called into his office by Yuuki Mishima, it is heavily implied that Shiho was sexually assaulted by Kamoshida.



Feeling used, traumatized and humiliated, Shiho attempts suicide by jumping off the school roof, yet survives the fall. Upon witnessing this incident, Ann is horrified and nearly rendered speechless. Before she falls unconscious, Shiho reveals to Ann that Kamoshida was the motivation behind her attempted suicide. After she is hospitalized, her condition quickly worsens, and she slips into a coma. Shadow Kamoshida later reveals the implied sexual assault was due to Ann repeatedly rejecting his advances, "forcing" him to take out his frustrations on her only friend. This sparks Ann's desire to get revenge on Kamoshida for what he had done, not only to her, but most importantly, to Shiho. As a result, she decides to join Ryuji, the protagonist and Morgana in their pursuit of stealing Kamoshida's heart, which would make him confess his own crimes.

Following Kamoshida's defeat and confession, Ann reveals that Shiho has regained consciousness. However, she also sadly informs the group that Shiho's mother has decided to transfer her daughter to another school, in hopes of distancing her from the trauma and gaining a fresh start. Ann tearfully accepts this turn of events, realizing that the rumors may not go away even after Kamoshida's admittance of wrongdoing. Ann worries about Shiho moving away, but ultimately realizes she will be okay as it would be the best path for her to take.

After the defeat of Yaldabaoth, followed by the protagonist being sent to juvenile hall, the party attempts to acquit him. Makoto is seen talking to Shiho in line with that pursuit.



If the protagonist advances Ann's Confidant, Ann makes regular visits to Shiho, who is in physical therapy to recover her strength. Near the end of the Confidant, the protagonist and Ann help Shiho revisit the Shujin rooftop, where she walks near where she jumped. This helps Shiho conquer her fears and reconcile with her memories of the traumatic event. She explains that she was desperate to escape Kamoshida's influence; she did not really wish to die, but she heard a voice from within her that urged her to kill herself, as if she was being pulled by an invisible force. She notes that, after she recovered, the other voice disappeared. Shiho vows to keep in touch with Ann and follow her friend's success as a model.

Persona 5 Manga
In the manga adaptation of the game, Shiho's role is near identical to her game counterpart. Among the major differences is the fact that Shiho is among the students Ryuji interrogates in regards to the rumors of Kamoshida's abuse. Prior to her fall from the roof, she is shown talking to Kamoshida in his office. Here, he reveals his intent to remove Shiho from the team's starting roster due to her "poor performance." Horrified, Shiho begs him to reconsider; Kamoshida puts on a sinister grin, implying that this is when he sexually violates her.

Persona 5 Royal
Shiho now has a cognitive copy during the fight with Asmodeus/Shadow Kamoshida. She appears as a scantily clad version of herself in an outfit reminiscent of a Playboy bunny, and is summoned by Asmodeus to allow him cast his Killshot of Love. She can be killed and downed by any attack in order to interrupt the Killshot, although if one attacks Kamoshida for a total of around 300 damage, Kamoshida will drive her away.

When Tokyo is affected by Takuto Maruki's reality, she will plan on re-transferring to Shujin in the next school year, and is now hanging out with Ann in the shopping districts at the station. Her personality is demonstrated to be that of a happy, successful student, as she was prior to being abused by Kamoshida. She is now a volleyball ace who constantly wins top scores for her team. Her reason for transferring schools is instead explained away as her parents moving, rather than to cope with the abuse of Kamoshida (which did not happen in this reality). If one spends time walking around the underground mall during January 3 to January 8, they will see Shiho shopping for volleyball supplies alone, who looks forward to seeing the protagonist more. This is a result of Ann's desire to see Shiho fully rehabilitate and reunite with her. Once Ann chooses to deny Maruki's reality, Shiho is presumably no longer at Shujin.

If the protagonist accepts any of Maruki's offers to overwrite the current reality with his, Shiho will be seen reading a magazine with Ann where she is featured as a volleyball ace.

Stats

 * Notes:
 * Cognitive Shiho is summoned by Asmodeus-Kamoshida in Royal upon the second Super Move, and will act as a part of the animation for his Killshot of Love attack if unchecked. If she is destroyed, the Killshot will fail to activate. Furthermore, the party can avoid attacking her completely by directly targeting Kamoshida via the top prompt, in which Kamoshida will drive Shiho away after taking a total of 300 damage.

Gallery

 * Persona 5

Etymology

 * Her given name, Shiho (志帆), means "aspiration sail." This might be in reference to how her suffering inspires the creation of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Trivia

 * It's implied by students of Shujin that Shiho is not the first athlete that suffered from sexual assault by Kamoshida, as shown when they claim that "other weird sounds" can be heard outside the PE faculty office (other than screaming).