It’s all based off an idea I had of the metaverse being the main setting, while the ‘real’ world is used to show the consequences of the main cast’s actions. He can see through the masks quite easily and identify the ‘real’ person underneath and doesn’t fully respect Mona’s rules about remaining anonymous until Haru’s palace. However, he’s not the best a being a phantom thief, simply because he knows people well. Taking the initiative to leave and help people, I feel, would be the start of that journey for him. I feel like a lot of Ryuji’s insecurities come from that feeling that highschool is what the world is like and he’s going to be stuck in this position his whole life. Honestly, I don’t think he’d be able to get off the war path until after Kamoshida was taken care of and he’s introduced to the idea that he could leave the palace behind him entirely and roam the metaverse as a phantom thief. He’d provide most of the exposition on palaces while Mona would cover the metaverse and phantom thief concepts. According to him, the school’s palace was stolen from it’s previous ruler (a court of the most influential students) and the place has been in chaos ever since. (Canonically he had a femur fracture, though I couldn’t find if it ever said which one.)įor this AU, Ryuji starts out in the dungeon of the palace, seemingly defeated by Kamoshida before tricking Joker into setting him free. Not pictured is the scar on the outer thigh that goes from the knee to the hip. His injury is represented with a chain that restricts his movement (a call back to him starting out in the dungeon of the palace).

For Ryuji’s shadow, I went with a kind of warlord vibe, playing into assessment that his shadow would fixate on Ryuji’s short-temper and aggressive nature.

I am a shadow the true self