Morgana Persona 5 Guide

Morgana Persona 5 Guide: Persona 5’s Animal Mascot Explained

What do Pokemon, Digimon, and Persona have in common with one another? Besides having a penchant for collecting monsters, they each have animal mascots. Such is even the case with Persona 5 with the talking animal mascot of Morgana. Just make sure not to call him a cat. He is the star of this Morgana Persona 5 guide.

Morgana is my favorite of the three animal mascots to appear in the Persona series thus far. While I appreciate the dog party member in Persona 3 and Teddie in Persona 4, Morgana feels like a much more fleshed-out and intriguing companion. Plus, he is much closer to the protagonist, Joker, than Teddie ever was and is like a permanent family member. Find out more about why I love Morgana so much and his storyline in the masterful JRPG in this Morgana Persona 5 guide.

Bottom Line Up Front

Morgana is the talking animal mascot in Persona 5. Though he is totally a cat, don’t ever tell him that as he won’t necessarily like it. He has multiple visual forms, including a regular cat version, his Metaverse two-legged walking cat version, and another secret form.

His codename as part of the Phantom Thieves is Mona, and he is the initial analyzer for the team until Futaba joins. He is able to wield Personas in battle and is a best friend and permanent adopted family member of the main character, Joker, in Persona 5.

Morgana Persona 5 Overview

Morgana Persona 5 Overview Gameplay
Image from Fandom

The best, most popular shows and games out there usually have one element in common: a mascot. Take a look at anything from Pokemon to your favorite cereal brands to any anime series you’ve liked in the last decade. If it appeals to a broad audience, chances are it has a talking mascot of some kind.

Such is even the case with the masterpiece that is Persona 5. In order to sell lots of merch and bring in a ton of new fans, Morgana was made to be the talking animal mascot for the JRPG. Not everyone in the Phantom Thieves has to be a hormonal teenager, after all.

Morgana is one of the earliest party members to join the Phantom Thieves in Persona 5 and one of its founding members. He is the best friend of Joker, the main character in Persona 5, and one of the unsung heroes and leaders of the group. He also happens to have multiple forms and secrets to him.

The Phantom Thieves would not be successful if it weren’t for the hilarious, goofy, and lovable Morgana. He is an integral part of their team, with his expert knowledge about the Metaverse, and what to do next. He is also the best animal mascot to come out of the Persona series to date.

Appearance

Morgana Appearance Persona 5 Gameplay

What is remarkable to note about Morgana is that he has multiple appearances due to his numerous forms. Before we go any further, though, some of these might be considered spoilers so turn away now if you don’t want to know some of the significant story twists that happen with Morgana.

To start with, there is his standard cat form. This is how he appears most of the time in the real world appears like a regular cat. He is a standard black cat with blue eyes and white fur around the edges of his body. When he enters the Metaverse, though, his proper walking cat form appears where he walks on two legs and wears the Phantom Thieves outfit. He looks much more anime-style and intriguing in this appearance.

But his forms don’t stop with those. Later on in the story, he unlocks his cat car version that he can transform into in Mementos. He looks sort of like a van or RV with stripes and designs that are similar to his actual Metaverse look.

Lastly, there is his human form that only appears for a short time in Persona 5’s story. This version of him looks like a handsome young man with dark hair that matches the fur of Morgana and his signature stark blue eyes. It’s unfortunate that this version doesn’t appear that often in the JRPG.

Key Moments in Persona 5

Morgana is present throughout the entirety of the Persona 5 storyline from start to finish. He is one of the founding members of the Phantom Thieves and an early party member, so you can rest assured that there are full spoilers ahead. I will try to focus mainly on Morgana, but there will be some main story spoilers, too.

If you haven’t played or beaten Persona 5 yet, this is your chance to walk away now. This also will include some light spoilers for Persona 5 Royal’s third semester and what happens there, so be sure to have played that, too.

Joining the Phantom Thieves

Morgana With Phantom Thieves Persona 5
Image from Fandom

The origins of Morgana are a spoiler that I will deal with later as it is revealed in the main story, but the gist is that he wakes up in the Metaverse with no clue of anything about himself or the environment around him. He wanders outside of his usual space and eventually comes into contact with Joker and his friends.

Together with Ryuji and Joker, Morgana is able to learn about the Metaverse and the first villain in the game: Kamoshida. They eventually recruit Ann and take down the villain by stealing his heart’s most significant treasure in the Metaverse and changing his evil ways.

Together, Morgana and his three companions celebrate their victory with some hard-earned luxury buffet before forming the Phantom Thieves group. They decide to help others with their issues and, hopefully, make the world a better place.

Stealing Hearts

Morgana Transform Into A Van Gameplay

Morgana and the rest of the Phantom Thieves continue taking down some of the villains by stealing their proverbial hearts and changing their minds about what they’re doing. Throughout the process of taking down villains like Madarame, Kaneshiro, and others, Morgana gets closer to Joker and the other teammates as they change the world little by little.

Morgana, in particular, is in a strange place with the team as a pseudo-leader of sorts, but not the de facto one, and yet he isn’t always treated as such. Over time, he gains the ability to transform into a van that is then used to traverse the Metaverse and, specifically, Mementos.

He acts for a time as the analyzer for the time, giving out instructions and ideas for what the team does while also acting as a combatant. Eventually, once Futaba joins the team, Morgana is able to step back from being too much of a supporter and focus on being one of the frontline fighters.

He is with the Phantom Thieves until their eventual betrayal by a particular member and what seems to be the downfall. However, Morgana is able to help the team recover and eventually stop the main villain from enacting his plans.

Finding Out His Identity

Morgana Identity Gameplay

Towards the end of the journey, Morgana wishes to finally discover the truth about who he really is. During the midst of this, he fights with the group and leaves them before forming a new partnership with a Persona user that he met in the Metaverse.

They fight against the Phantom Thieves and compete against one another as rivals for a short time before joining back with the Phantom Thieves in the end. In the final arc of the game, Morgana finally has the opportunity to learn the truth about his origins.

It turns out that he’s just a man-made creation that was built to help out Joker and his team. That is his sole purpose in life, and he fulfills that to significant effect, helping the group to defeat the evil in the Metaverse once and for all.

In the third semester, though, in Persona 5 Royal, Morgana’s wish to be a human comes true. In the true ending, he pushes past this and gives up his right to be a human to get back to the real world and helps the team to do so. From there, he goes with Joker to go live with Joker’s family outside Tokyo. Morgana returns with Joker in the future for the summer road trip storyline in Persona 5 Strikers.

Special Abilities

There are a couple of notable special abilities that Morgana has. They come down to his unique nature as a talking cat and the fact that he can wield a Persona in battle like the other members of the Phantom Thieves. Here’s what you need to know about his various powers in Persona 5.

Talking Cat

Morgana True Form Gameplay

No matter what Morgana actually is, he is a being who is in the form of a cat. He is able to walk on two legs and even talk in English (well, Japanese, technically) and understand what humans are saying. These are powers in and of themselves as they give Morgana the ability to think, act, and talk like a human does.

However, he isn’t a human. So, without spoiling too much of what Morgana truly is, he has some sort of unique powers that give him intelligence and the ability to act like a human that most cats and even some shadows from the Metaverse aren’t able to do.

Persona User

Morgana Persona 5

The most significant part of Morgana’s abilities comes from his understanding of Personas and their wielding. Despite being (not) a cat, he is able to wield Personas in the same way that Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves are able to.

Morgana can summon Personas in battle and use their skills to battle against the shadows of the Metaverse. He is even able to, spoiler alert, acquire new Personas, at least through the form of evolution when his heart grows and changes some.

He can also wield weapons in battle, most noticeably melee swords. He especially has a penchant for pirate-themed armaments like cutlasses and scimitars. These allow him to use his Persona skills to the max. But for ranged weapons, he, oddly enough, uses slingshots.

Morgana Voice Actor

Voice Actor Cassandra Lee Morris Morgana Persona 5
Image from Fandom

A couple of primary voice actors bring Morgana to life in Persona 5. It comes down to which version of the game you play, the English version or the Japanese one. While I am a purist (mainly for learning purposes) when it comes to Japanese with English subtitles, most of the time, that isn’t the case with Persona 5.

It has one of the best English dubs out of any game or anime ever. So, you really can’t go wrong with hearing Cassandra Lee Morris as the voice of Morgana. Some of my favorite roles for her outside of the lovable Phantom Thief cat are Kyubey in Madoka Magica and Fie and Princess Alfin in the highly recommended The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel games.

On the other hand, the legendary Ikue Otani is the voice of Morgana. She is one of Japan’s most famous and talented voice actors, known for bringing to life many iconic characters like Pikachu, Tony Tony Chopper from One Piece, and Vivi in the Final Fantasy series.

Key Relationships

Morgana Relationships Persona 5 Gameplay

There are a few special relationships at the heart of Morgana’s story. Sure, the lovable cat companion is friends with everyone in the group, but a few are notable. For one, there is the player character in Joker, who is the best friend of Morgana and his closest example of family.

They are tied to the hip, and they do everything together. Even when the future seems like Joker might be going home with his family, it is Morgana is going to join him. They are essentially brothers and so much more than having a relationship between an owner and his pet.

Then there is Ann, who is someone in that Morgana has a romantic interest. It is undoubtedly a one-sided affair, but Ann at least enjoys the company of Morgana and values their friendship. The same goes for Ryuji, though the two will seldom say it to one another since they bicker the majority of the time.

For Futaba, there is a mutual level of respect as the two seem to have an understanding of their roles on the team. When it comes to Haru, though, this is where Morgana finds a true friend that isn’t familial in a way like Joker. They team up together before Haru joins the Phantom Thieves, and they work well together as a battle duo.

Morgana Confidant Explained

Morgana is one of the prominent party members in Persona 5, so, like everyone else in the group, he has a Confidant based around him. This is a unique bond that Joker can develop over the course of the game. It grants not only some extra story details about Morgana as you navigate the ten various ranks, but you get some special rewards at the same time. Here’s everything you need to know about Morgana’s Confidant.

How to Start

Persona 5 Morgana retains his Metaverse form in some promotional material
Image from Fandom

Thankfully, Morgana has one of the easiest Confidants in the entire game. Unlike many of the other Phantom Thieves, his is an automatic relationship that develops alongside the main storyline. To this point, you don’t have to do anything at all besides continue playing the main game to unlock his Confidant in the first place.

All you need to do is keep playing the main story early on until you reach April 15 in the in-game calendar. On this day, there will come a moment before bed where Morgana and Joker have a touching little scene together. At this point, you will unlock the first rank of his Confidant automatically without having to do anything or fulfill some sort of requirements.

How to Advance

When it comes to advancing the Morgana Confidant ranks, there is also nothing you need to do here other than keep playing the game. So long as you continue the main story and finish all your dungeons on time, there will be no issue in advancing the relationship between you and Morgana.

All ten of the ranks for his relationship happen automatically over the course of the story. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait quite some time to experience the final one, which means that you won’t benefit too heavily from this relationship. At least not as fast as some of the others that you have more control over.

Rank Benefits

Morgana Rank Benefits Kitty Talk Rank 4

That said, if you happen to continue the story and see the ranks go up, you will unlock various benefits for most of the Confidant levels for Morgana. These will both help you out and him as a party member in battle. Here are all of the rank benefits you’ll receive for ranking up his bond with Joker. Keep in mind that I’m using the Persona 5 Royal ranks, which are only slightly different from the base game’s version.

  • Rank 1: Infiltration Tools – This lets you craft the most basic versions of the infiltration tools for dungeons.
  • Rank 3: Follow-Up – If Joker attacks and it doesn’t down the enemy for whatever reason, there is a chance that Morgana will show up randomly for a second follow-up attack to help.
  • Rank 4: Kitty Talk – If you try to negotiate with a specific type of Persona — usually ones that are animalistic in nature — there is a chance that Morgana will intervene and give you a second chance to try it again.
  • Rank 5: Pickpocket – There is a chance that Morgana will steal an item from the enemy whenever Joker attacks.
  • Rank 6: Ace Tools – This upgrades your infiltration tools and now lets you craft some of the higher-level versions.
  • Rank 7: Harisen Recovery – Sometimes, Morgana will slap party members who are infected with a status ailment and cure them of it.
  • Rank 8: Endure – There is a chance that Morgana will survive an otherwise deadly attack and have one health point left.
  • Rank 9: Protect – Morgana will now defend Joker sometimes and block him from being killed by an attack that would finish him off. (Very good for avoiding those annoying games overs)
  • Rank 10: Second Awakening – (Spoiler alert) Morgana’s Persona, Zorro, will now evolve into Mercurius. In addition, Joker can now fuse together the ultimate Persona of the Magician Arcana, Futsunushi, in the Velvet Room.

FAQs

Question: Is Morgana from Persona 5 a girl?

Answer: No, Morgana isn’t a girl in Persona 5, despite being voiced by females in both English and Japanese. His pronouns are he/him.

Question: Is Morgana a cat or a human?

Answer: This is somewhat a spoiler answer, but, honestly, neither. That said, if I had to pick, I would say that Morgana is undoubtedly more of a cat than a human. And he at least accepts his feline transformation as his canonical look in the real world.

Question: Does Morgana turn into a human?

Answer: This is another spoilery answer, so turn away now if you haven’t beaten Persona 5. Yes, Morgana does turn into a human at some point in Persona 5, but not nearly as often as Teddie does in Persona 4 in the slightest. Don’t expect too much from him in this regard.

Question: Is Morgana in love with Ann Persona 5?

Answer: Yes, it appears that Morgana is in love with Ann Takamaki in Persona 5. Or at least infatuated with her. It’s more of a joke than anything else.

Who to Check Out Next in the Phantom Thieves

Morgana is the ultimate example of what some of us pet owners would love to see in real life. He is a walking, talking cat companion who isn’t just there to eat all your food and bother you (though he does that, too).

He is Joker’s best friend, a valuable member of the Phantom Thieves, a strong party member, and the group’s heart. He is also the perfect example of how to do a talking animal mascot in a game right.

But he is far from the only member of the Phantom Thieves. There are many other members of the group that you should know about, including the navigator of the team, Futaba Sakura.

Together with Morgana, Futaba is the brains of the operation, coming up with the detailed plans of how to take down a Palace’s ruler and steal their treasure. She is also quite close to Joker, similar to Morgana, almost being like family to him.

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