Suguru Kamoshida is a character from Persona 5. He is a former Olympian athlete who has become the volleyball coach of Shujin Academy.
Kamoshida is a former professional athlete and Olympic volleyball champion, and an alumnus from Shujin Academy, who later became the school's volleyball coach. During his time as a teacher, Kamoshida's fame was used as a means to give Shujin Academy and its students more publicity, be it for scholarships or college applications. His ego, inflated by the clear favoritism of Principal Kobayakawa caused him to blatantly predate other students. One of the causalities was Ryuji Sakamoto, who Kamoshida purposefully goaded into having a violent fit on him by spreading his undesirable family history around the school with the intent of ensuring that his own team stays on the frontlines, allowing him to break Ryuji's leg in an apparent case of "self-defense" resulting in the subsequent disbanding of the team.
While his Volleyball Club is voluntary instead of forced draft (and thus not all students are directly affected by his tyranny), all athletes in his own sports club are invariably abused. He sexually harasses his female athletes while subjecting male athletes to brutal physical abuse which he justified by labeling it as "training." The cognitions in his palace heavily imply that his usual methods of abusing his athletes are physically assaulting them with his fists, spiking volleyballs directly aimed at their faces and denying them water or rest even if they need it. Presumably, due to the abuse, the sounds of students screaming or other weird noises (which are implied to be of moans when he is molesting students) can be often heard near the PE faculty office. Students out of the volleyball team are sometimes targeted: if he does not like a specific student, he will tell Yuuki Mishima, a volleyball athlete who he often abuses to spread unfavorable rumors about them.
Despite his blatancy, the students could not speak up against Kamoshida as the principal silenced any attempt to speak up against or otherwise report Kamoshida's actions. With no way to stop his systemic abuse at Shujin Academy, known by the students, staff and even the parents, Kamoshida began to see himself as nothing less than an untouchable ruler - a king who had the entire Shujin Academy as his own castle.
Kamoshida is first shown in a cutscene where Sadayo Kawakami complains to him about the protagonist being transferred to the school, due to fears based on his criminal record. He assures Kawakami that if anything were to happen, he would kick a student like that out right away. He also gloats about the supremacy of his Volleyball Team enough to cover for the protagonist's record. On the first day of school, he offers to give Ann Takamaki a ride, which she accepts reluctantly. After the accidental entry of his Palace by the protagonist and Ryuji, he is completely unaware of its existence, but regardless acts against the protagonist in a hostile manner simply because of his baseless criminal record and he was with Ryuji on the first day at school, with one of his aggressive acts against him is spreading rumors about his record around the school using Mishima. In Royal, he also told Kasumi to stay away from the protagonist because of how dangerous he (supposedly) is and spread the rumors that he is trying to hit on athletes (based on the first two people that he was with on the first few days of school, Ryuji and Kasumi being athletes), causing Kawakami to scold him after school. According to Kasumi on the field trip, some of the fabricated crimes that he spread against the protagonist also include burglary, murder, and smuggling ivory.
He often asks Ann out for dates which she repeatedly (and reluctantly) accepts under the term that she will not accept any sexual advance from him, but upon the second entry of his Palace, a cognitive copy of Ann, known as "Princess Ann" also appears alongside him in his Palace with her behavior and clothing vastly altered from the original person she is based on, revealing that he doesn't see Ann as anything other than an obedient sex slave. He is later seen spiking a volleyball aimed directly at Mishima's face in front of numerous students in the volleyball tournament, further showing the blatancy of his abuse. The protagonist and Ryuji attempt to interrogate the students in order to expose his crimes. Despite multiple athletes were heavily injured due to Kamoshida physically abusing them in the volleyball rally, the interrogations end up with no avail as all of the students refused to speak against Kamoshida out of fear of retaliation, forcing the two to act on their own.
The duo and Morgana eventually plan a heist to steal his corrupt heart at Kamoshida's Palace, initially to prevent the abuse of the volleyball team, which is indicated by the volleyball team member's Cognitive existences being subject to torture in his Palace, inferring the severity of his abusive training techniques in reality. In a private meeting with Ann, the protagonist also discovers that Kamoshida is trying to extort her into sexual relations with him, but to no avail. As an act of revenge against Ann rejecting his sexual advances, he sexually assaulted (and it was heavily implied that he sexually violated) her friend Shiho Suzui because Ann repeatedly refused to go to bed with him. This resulted in her attempted suicide on the next day, adding a further incentive to their original mission; indeed, it is at this point that they stop caring about potentially killing him, since the suicide attempt makes it clear just how dangerous he is. When Ryuji, the protagonist, and Mishima confront Kamoshida after Shiho's attempted suicide, he taunts them for their lack of evidence and mocks Shiho's predicament, enraging Ryuji enough to nearly attack him before being stopped by the protagonist. He then decides to threaten to manipulate the school board into expelling them, adding a deadline to their mission. Ann, furious at what he did to her friend, enters Kamoshida's Palace herself while the party is scouting it that day, and ends up awakening her Persona and joining them.
After reaching the depths of his Palace the party discovers his treasure, which cannot be stolen until it is given form by the Palace's owner. After Morgana explains that treasures gain form once the owner is aware it is in jeopardy, Ryuji creates several calling cards and posts them all over the school. Kamoshida sees the calling cards and realizes he is under threat, causing his treasure to take on a physical form; in this case, a shiny royal crown.
His treasure at first appears to be too heavy to lift, until Shadow Kamoshida suddenly appears and changes the crown's size so he can hold it. The party is forced to fight him in order to make him surrender the treasure and he transforms into his boss form, Asmodeus, a mutated demon of lust and contains "Princess Ann" into a glass of wine that he uses to boost his attack and his cognitive female volleyball students into the Trophy of Obsession which he uses to heal himself. Once the party discovers he is healing with the trophy, they destroy it and devised a plan to knock off his crown, severely weakening him and causing his defeat.
After he is defeated, the team allows Ann to decide how to deal with him. Despite a clear desire to inflict pain on him or even kill his now cowering Shadow, Ann holds back, indicting him to return to his body and atone. The formerly haughty and lustful Shadow can do nothing except weep and comply with her instructions, finally realizing the impact of his actions.
On May 2nd, during a school assembly to address the concerns brought up by Shiho's attempted suicide, Kamoshida dramatically enters the gymnasium while declaring in a subdued tone that he has been "reborn." As he walks onto the stage, Kamoshida prostrates in front of the entire school and admits his guilt for his sexual harassment and abuse. Though the principal attempts to hush him, Kamoshida continues to openly confess to his crimes, so distraught that he offers his own life as payment to atone for his actions. Ann reprimands him, telling that Shiho was still alive after everything that drove her to her suicide attempt, and that he has no right to escape from his guilt. Kamoshida agrees and apologizes for his attempts to force Ann into having relations with him, much to the students’ immense disgust, and begs for the police to be called so that he can turn himself in and properly atone, after saying he will resign as of that day. Over the next few days, Kamoshida's confession is broadcast across Japan, leaving a legacy of shame for the former Olympic athlete.
In the real world, Kamoshida's Treasure is his Olympic medal, which the Thieves sold to Munehisa Iwai for 30,000 Yen and used it to celebrate at a buffet in Shibuya's Wilton Hotel and gave 6,000 from among them to the protagonist. Their victory and their fateful encounter with Masayoshi Shidoafterward has inspired the Persona users to form the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in order to reform society to its right path.
Kamoshida's scandal kickstarts the public's interest in the Phantom Thieves, although they discover that reporters have no interest in Kamoshida's story, but try to exaggerate it and even make the Phantom Thieves seem real for the sake of ratings, aware that the information they have on them is ambiguous at best and incorrect at worst.
If the party fails to clear his Palace in time, he will manipulate the school board to expel the protagonist, Ryuji, and Mishima from school, and he will file a charge against the protagonist for crimes during his probation period. This is a false recollection made by the protagonist during his interrogation with Sae. She then leaves to let the protagonist recover, in which a mysterious persontakes the opportunity to assassinate him.
Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter Kamoshida's Shadow in the Depths of Mementos, locked in the massive cell at the start of the second floor alongside their other previous targets. Upon being first encountered in the cell, he jokingly makes a pass to Ann, angering her, before switching to an emotionless tone. He, alongside the other Palace owners whose hearts have been stolen, praises the cell from which he originally escaped, declaring that he is content now that he is able to live without having to think for himself anymore, even thanking the Phantom Thieves for changing his heart. It turns out that the Phantom Thieves did not make Kamoshida atone, but instead made him a member of the apathetic public, which explains his behavior as a weeping husk instead of somebody who tries to atone for himself after the Phantom Thieves changed his heart.
While his role is identical to Persona 5, he now summons cognitive copies of Yuuki Mishima and Shiho Suzui to cast his killshots, once Cognitive Shiho is neutralized, the special operation begins.
In order to soothe the mental health of the students in Shujin, Kobayakawa hires Takuto Maruki to comfort the students who were victims of Kamoshida's crimes. Due to initial members of the Thieves being the victims of his most heinous activities, Maruki quickly becomes one of their greatest sponsors.
Kamoshida appears in the manga adaption of the game. Here he is shown having better control over his emotions and keeps a straight face more often.
While in the palace, his Shadow Self is a great deal more cunning, having captured Ann, who in the manga adaption hasn't awakened her persona yet, as a bargaining tool for when Joker, Skull and Mona take his treasure.
Kamoshida's role in the anime adaption is near identical to his game counterpart. However, it also goes more in-depth to the abuse Kamoshida dealt to various students, showing him punching Shiho with his fists and deliberately using his Olympian skills on Ren to knock his glasses off during class. (Although the latter resulted in Ren giving him a threatening glare, causing him to show signs of fear.)
Kamoshida is briefly seen in the in-game trailer of the movie Kamoshidaman, transforming into its titular superhero when a giant burglar is wrecking havoc in the movie's city.
At the end of the Castle in the Void Crossfate the team encounters shadow named Raga who initially sports a rooster’s head. As the team goes for the core it transforms into a form resembling Shadow Kamoshida. The ensuing battle has Raga use many of Shadow Kamoshida’s moves, including the signature Gold Medal Spike.
In the Legacy of Chris Thorndyoke,
And he is reprised by DC Douglas in the English dub and Yuji Mitsuya in the Japanese dub.
THEMES[]
- Castle Course (Yoshi's Woolly World) - Kamoshida's Palace
- Tension (Persona 5) - Uh-oh!/Caught!
- Dinosaur Boss Battle (The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time) - Vs. Kamoshida