The beginning of Persona 5 and, later, the ending of Royal, is arguably the best parts of the massive JRPG. The initial dungeon featuring Joker, who you play, and his three friends bringing down a personal enemy is spectacular. It is also the introductory dungeon in the game, allowing for a swift bad ending. This horrible ending is what I’d like to cover in this Persona 5 expulsion guide.
In Persona 5, a harsh time limit exists for every significant segment of the storyline. If players don’t finish the part in a certain amount of time, they are liable to receive a bad ending in the game and be unable to continue with the story as is. These bad endings can differ slightly but the first one that you’ll encounter has to do with getting expelled from school. If you want to know how to avoid this (or make it happen for whatever reason), you’re in the right place with this Persona 5 expulsion guide.
Bottom Line Up Front
The Persona 5 expulsion can only happen during a single portion of time in the massive JRPG. This is during the first dungeon, known as Kamoshida’s Palace, at the start of the game. If you don’t take down this horrific volleyball coach within the time limit that Atlus gives you, you will be expelled from school and end up on a dark path while the offender will go free. But it is rather easy to avoid expulsion if you plan ahead and complete the dungeon on time.
Persona 5 Expulsion Overview
Persona 5 is one of the largest JRPGs ever made, especially when it comes to how long it takes to beat its main story alone. This is a hefty game that can easily take 100+ plus hours to win without even partaking in everything that it has to offer.
With that said, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are parts to this game that some players may not know about even after beating it once. For instance, did you know Persona 5 has multiple endings? This includes some bad conclusions that you aren’t supposed to get but can.
This is where expulsion comes into play. There are two types of people who might have arrived at this article: the first is the player who wants to simply avoid expulsion and continue onward with the main story. The other might be someone who is looking to see what the bad ending of Persona 5 might be like if you do get expelled.
So, the question remains: can you get expelled in Persona 5? Or is the game simply putting that phrase out there as a way to scare you during the first section of the main story? That is the question I aim to answer, and more below. Let’s take a look.
Can You Get Expelled in Persona 5?
First and foremost, let’s begin with the meat of why you’re here. If you want to know the answer to if you can get expelled in Persona 5, the answer is, yes, you can certainly get kicked out of Shujin Academy. This is something that will happen in the game’s main story if you do the wrong things. The game is not bluffing at all here.
This is all despite the fact that Joker arrived in Tokyo at the beginning of the game after getting into trouble. He is supposed to have a fresh start to his life in the big city and at his new private school, but it is possible to tick everyone off and have a quick end to that before it’s even started.
If you are someone who likes to see people suffer, yes, it is possible to make Joker get expelled from Shujin Academy. If you can stomach the suffering, you’ll make that poor fictional protagonist go through, of course. Now, you might be here because you want to avoid this happening, though. Either way, you’re in the right place.
When Can Expulsion Happen?
There is only one point in the main story where you can expelled from Shujin Academy in Persona 5. That is during the first part of the game, where you are trying to take down the evil volleyball coach of the school, Suguru Kamoshida.
In general, how Persona 5 works is that there is a time limit for each of the main story Palaces that you explore. The rulers of each Palace have evil agendas of their own, and you only have so much time to stop them before their plans enact. Or, worse, they retaliate against you, the player.
Each of the different segments of the game has a different foundation behind the time limit, be it something horrible that could happen to the fate of one of the characters, for instance. In the case of the first Palace in Persona 5, though, the threat you face is expulsion.
And possibly worse acts that could happen because of Kamoshida if you think about the entire situation for a little bit, but the game doesn’t necessarily dive too deep into explaining that part. During this first part of the game, your time limit is arguably the harshest it will ever be in the main story.
This is possibly due to the fact that it is a mechanic that some players may not be used to, and it does a fantastic job of preparing you for the later parts of the JRPG. However, if you run out of time, you will face the expulsion that is threatened and looming over you in the top right corner of the screen at all times.
How Many Days Do You Get?
When it comes to the threat of expulsion, the solution is simple: defeat Kamoshida, steal his treasure, and finish him off before the time limit is up. If you do that, you avoid expulsion, which is understandably easier said than done. But how long do you precisely have during this time?
The build-up to the Kamoshida Palace is long and arduous as the game slowly explains everything to you and introduces the Metaverse and its characters. For whatever reason, once you have the free time to do whatever you want in the game, it gives a rather harsh time limit.
I would even say that this first section of the game with this initial time limit is possibly the harshest out of the entire JRPG’s main story. You only get 14 days — two weeks — to take down Kamoshida in his Palace and stop him from harming people at Shujin Academy again.
This is perhaps the shortest time limit in the entire story, which usually gives you at least 20 days to complete the Palace and sometimes even longer than that. Worse still, there are some elements to this time limit that the game doesn’t fully explain to you, which can make this situation even worse than it initially sounds.
How to Avoid Expulsion in Persona 5
May 2 is the fateful day in which you must have defeated Kamoshida by this point. This is the deadline to take him down, but not necessarily the last day in which you must enter his Palace and beat him (more on that in a bit). Instead, May 2 is the day by which you will find out if you are expelled or not.
For most players, you will likely want to avoid expulsion in Persona 5. However, if you are someone who wants to see what happens when you get expelled, check further below. For everyone else, though, what you’ll need to do is stop Kamoshida before the 14 days are up.
Unfortunately, this is more complicated than simply entering the Palace on the final day of the time limit and being good to go. There are some parts to this deadline that Persona 5 doesn’t tell you and has tripped up many players in the past. Here’s how to avoid expulsion.
Final Day to Enter Kamoshida’s Palace Explained
For starters, May 2 is the day which, if you haven’t taken Kamoshida down by now, you will get expelled. This is not, however, the final day on which you can enter Kamoshida’s Palace. In fact, if you enter on this day or even May 1, you will literally waste all of the hours you spend exploring and beating his dungeon.
Don’t make this mistake that a lot of first-time players make. Instead, the final day that you can enter Kamoshida’s Palace, take him down, and continue on with the rest of the story without being expelled from the academy is April 29.
Yes, this is several days before the deadline, but this is surprisingly the final day in which you can enter Kamoshida’s Palace to secure the route for his treasure. This is what trips up many players because they think they have at least three more days to complete everything, but that’s not how it works.
If you don’t enter Kamoshida’s Palace and secure the treasure on April 29, you will get a bad ending and waste so much of your time in the process. How it works is that you need a day to enter the game to secure the treasure. What this means is that you basically explore the entire dungeon from start to finish.
You can do this on a single day and, in fact, I recommend it as it frees up the other days to do whatever activities you want. The goal is to make it to the end of the dungeon, which you will know because you will find the treasure that Kamoshida is hiding in his Palace in the Metaverse.
Once you do this, you will be kicked out of the dungeon for the main story to progress later on in a couple more days. This is why the deadline for entering the Palace to do all of this is on April 29. So long as you secure the route to the treasure on that day, you’ll be good to go.
There will be some main story events that will happen on April 30, and then May 1 will be the day that you steal the treasure and put an end to Kamoshida’s wicked ways. This is the last day you can do this, too, because you won’t have the chance to do it on May 2, or you’ll get expelled.
This is the last resort option for avoiding expulsion, but you should honestly do all of this many days before April 29. That is if you want to have a relatively stress-free and fun time in Persona 5. My recommendation is always to plan ahead in this game.
Recommended Daily Schedule for the 14 Days Until Expulsion
If there is one tip that you can take away from me when it comes to Persona 5, it is to take care of the main story stuff first so you can relax and have fun the rest of the time. The daily schedule in Persona 5 makes it so flexible that you can complete Palaces whenever you want (within the time frame).
This freedom comes with some issues since it means that some players may make mistakes since they procrastinate and think they are good to go. In general, if you visit the Palace and complete everything you need to do there as soon as it becomes available or on the second day, you’ll always be good.
However, if you are someone who needs some hand-holding, at least for this first Palace, that is understandable. The entire situation is pretty overwhelming. In that case, I have come up with a quick daily schedule for you to abide by for the duration of this time limit.
This is part of my recommended daily calendar for the entire Persona 5 school year to help you get the most out of your journey in this game. Here is a brief schedule of what you should do each day from the moment Kamoshida’s Palace becomes available, and you are free to explore it within the 14 days time frame:
- April 18: Go to Kamoshida’s Palace on this day. Yes, it would be best if you went on the first day. Complete everything in the Palace from start to finish until you secure the route to the treasure. You will know when you’re done. Take your time, bring as many items as you can, and save often. It is possible to do this in one go, and you should.
- April 19: Hang out with Ryuji during the day and start your relationship with your guardian, Sojiro, at night. Confidants are key in this game and should be your priority.
- April 20: You will now be able to send the calling card. Go ahead and do that. In the evening, you can make infiltration tools if you’d like at the workbench or spend it reading one of the books.
- April 21: This is the time in which you enter Kamoshida’s Palace and finish him off for good, only a few days into the deadline. Complete this part of the main story and then sleep the night away after a long day.
- April 22: During the daytime, study in the library at school. At night, clean up your room to unlock some books and the CRT TV.
- April 23: Rent out some DVDs from Shibuya for your new TV and then hang out with Tae Takemi during the day. At night, craft on the workbench.
- April 24: See a movie at the theater in Shibuya during the daytime. At night, take a bath at the bathhouse near Cafe Leblanc.
- April 25: Hang out with Takemi again after school. Once it is nighttime, hang out with Sojiro once more.
- April 26: Study once more at the library at school right after class. Then watch one of the DVDs you rented at night or read a book at home.
- April 27: Hang out with Ryuji once more after school. At night, hang out with Sojiro again.
- April 28: Hang out with Tae Takemi at her clinic near the cafe again after school. Then at night, head to the bathhouse for some more Charm points.
- April 29: Head to the movie theater and watch the film that is offered there after school. At nighttime, read a book at home. You can get free ones from the library.
- April 30: Hang out with Takemi at her clinic again during the daytime. At night, chill at Cafe Leblanc with the book of your choice and read.
- May 1: Hang out with Ryuji and up his Confidant rank during the daytime on this fine Sunday. Then at nighttime, watch the TV shopping program and buy something if you’d like, watch a DVD on your TV or read a book.
- May 2: This is the deadline for Kamoshida’s Palace. Just continue the main story at this point in time during the day. Study in the booth at the cafe on the first floor when you have some free time at night.
What Happens If You Are Expelled?
Now I know there are some players who would like to know what happens if you are expelled in Persona 5. For those who want to get expelled, do nothing and don’t steal the treasure from Kamoshida’s Palace, and the deadline will arrive sooner rather than later.
When this happens, expulsion will occur. This is where things get pretty intriguing real fast. If you happen to get this bad ending, you’ll find out that Kamoshida will win in the end, getting Joker expelled from his new school, and his life turned upside down.
Worse still, this is far from the end of his story. It will cut back to the plot that is happening in the far future (well, technically, present) where the police are interrogating Joker. This return will see someone appear and murder Joker for whatever reason. What is going on? Why is someone killing the main character in this bad ending?
Who is the person who killed Joker? Those are all questions you won’t even come close to having the answers for. This is because you got a bad ending so early in the game without any information about what is happening in the world of Persona 5 and the Metaverse.
However, it doesn’t stop there, either. Some players may be wondering what happens after this and if you get a game over because of this bad ending. Thankfully, Atlus is somewhat generous and doesn’t make you start the game entirely over from this point forward.
Instead, what happens is the game sends you back in time to a week before the deadline. You’ll have seven days left on the clock to finish off Kamoshida’s Palace, and the game will offer you the chance to redo the last seven days to ensure that you complete this Palace without any issues this time around. But you will lose any stats and progress you made in the final seven days that were essentially erased.
I don’t recommend doing this as it is a total waste of time. If you want to see this bad ending, by all means, do it, but I recommend watching the cutscenes on YouTube rather than unlocking it yourself. You don’t gain anything from this except maybe some frustration over lost progress.
FAQs
Question: Should you Finish Kamoshida’s Palace in One Day?
Answer: Yes, you should undoubtedly finish all of Kamoshida’s Palace in a single day. If you don’t, you are wasting an entire other day that you shouldn’t. That day could have been spent raising your social stats or spending time with the Confidants that you have in the game.
Question: What Level Should you be for Kamoshida?
Answer: You should be at least level 10 before you take on Kamoshida. You can try it at level nine, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Level 10 or 11 at the earliest would be best.
Question: What Happens if you Fail Kamoshida’s Palace?
Answer: Joker will be exposed, he will be murdered in the present, and the game will send you back seven days to try the Palace once more.
This Is Only the Start of the Bad Endings
Getting expelled in Persona 5 is one of the more intriguing parts of the game that many players may not know about. If you fail to live up to your expectations of taking down Kamoshida and starting the Phantom Thieves, you will end up with a horrible bad ending. This ending is not the canon one, and the game doesn’t even let you get a game over from this. However, this is far from the only secret that Persona 5 has.
Did you know that there are several bad endings that exist in this JRPG? Each of them is slightly different from the others, and then there are some truly extensive bad endings you can receive. I don’t recommend most players to aim for these endings as they are a waste of time so it is best to watch the bad endings on YouTube or read our complete endings guide to find out what happens during all of them.
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