The game's character design and setting distinguish it from previous entries in the series, replacing Persona 4 's yellow-and-green palette with reds and blacks. The seven deadly sins are a recurring theme within the game, with certain characters and situations representing certain ones. Although the suit has twenty-two cards and Royal-exclusive characters account for two additional, alternate Arcana for a total of twenty-four, only twenty-one (twenty-three in Royal) are represented by characters the last one, The World, is given at a later point in the game.

Many of the game's characters represent the tarot's Major Arcana suit. Also interacting with Joker are Goro Akechi, a high-school student and ace detective Sae Niijima, a public prosecutor and Makoto's older sister the residents of the Velvet Room Igor and his assistants, Caroline and Justine. More characters join the group during their heists, including fashion model Ann Takamaki, art prodigy Yusuke Kitagawa, student-council president Makoto Niijima, hacker and foster daughter of your temporary guardian Sojiro Sakura, Futaba Sakura and business heiress Haru Okumura. He forms it with Morgana, a mysterious cat-like creature who serves as the Thieves's second-in-command, guiding them around the Metaverse, wanting to discover his origins and restore his true form, alongside Ryuji Sakamoto, who is seen as a delinquent at his school due to an incident with his former track team. He is a high school student who moves to Tokyo after being expelled from his former school due to a false accusation of assault, later forming the Phantom Thieves. The player character is a silent protagonist codenamed Joker. Persona 5 is set within Tokyo beginning in April of the year '20XX'. People with great desires and a distorted perception of the world have a Palace in the Metaverse which the Phantom Thieves access through a mobile app on their smartphones. Its playable characters can be controlled in the game's many locations, known as 'Palaces'. Persona 5, a role-playing video game by Atlus, is centered on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, a vigilante group of high-school students working to change the hearts of criminals by getting them to confess their crimes through defeating a physical manifestation of their subconscious in a mysterious realm known as the Metaverse. Playable characters from Persona 5: (left to right) Makoto, Ann, Yusuke, Joker, Haru, Ryuji, Morgana and Futaba

Persona 5 confidants