Ann Takamaki

Ann Takamaki (, Takamaki Ann) is one of the main protagonists of Persona 5.

Origin
Ann is a second year high schooler at Shujin Academy, the same school Joker attends. She faces discrimination from the other students, due to being partly of American descent, with her only friend being Shiho Suzui, whom Ann knows is secretly being molested by the school volleyball coach Suguru Kamoshida. Ann always stays with Shiho when called by Kamoshida, which starts rumors that she is sleeping with him. After she witnesses Suzui try to kill herself by jumping off the school roof, Ann follows the protagonist and Ryuji Sakamoto into Kamoshida's palace. She is captured, but is able to awaken to her Persona, Carmen, which allows her to break free and get her revenge on Kamoshida. She later forms the Phantom Thieves of Hearts with the protagonist, Morgana and Ryuji Sakamoto in order to target the "corrupt adults" and steal their "corrupt hearts". Ann becomes a valuable member of the team, often acting as a diversion. A notable example is where she distracts Yusuke Kitagawa long enough for the others to slip by and enter Madarame's palace undetected.

Should the player pursue a confidant with Ann, she opens up about how she feels about the incident with Shiho and how she has changed over time. Ann resolves to further improve herself through activities like acting, albeit with limited success due to her rival Mika using dirty tactics to upstage her. Late into the confidant, Ann eventually learns that Shiho would be transferring schools. After saying goodbye and promising to keep in touch, she finally comes out of her shell and is able to express her emotions freely, to the point of accidentally confessing her love to the protagonist to her embarrassment. Ann also exposes Mika for her underhandedness, humbling her and forcing herself to take Ann seriously. When Takuto Maruki creates a new reality in Persona 5 Royal, Shiho was never molested by Kamoshida and becomes a famous volleyball player. However, this is only an illusion created from Ann's will for this reality to exist. After Ann is confronted by the protagonist and realizes this is not her reality, everything returns to normal and the alternate version of Shiho is never heard from again.

In Persona 5 Strikers, Ann develops a personal connection with Alice Hiiragi, the first antagonist of the game, as they were both outsiders from Shujin academy with a love for fashion. Once all of this was revealed, Ann resolves to help Alice atone for her corrupted ways.

Taking the codename Panther, Ann uses a whip and submachine gun in battle, while Carmen gives her access to a number of fire and single target healing spells, making her a valuable asset to the Thieves.

As a background character
Ann makes an appearance as a background character on the Mementos stage, dressed in her Panther outfit. Ann has her body, except her face, facing the opposite direction due to the revealing portion at her chest area.

Assist role
In All-Out Attack, Ann appears in one of the variations of the attack, fighting alongside Ryuji Sakamoto and Morgana.

Spirits
Ann also appears as an Advanced-class primary spirit and her Phantom Thief identity, Panther is featured on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts spirit in the Persona DLC Spirit Board.

In both spirits' battles, Ann uses a puppet fighter.

Ann is fought along a Giant puppet fighter representing Ann's Persona, Carmen and is fought on the Castle Siege stage's Throne Room layout. During the battle, the Fire Flower item appears, referencing Carmen's floral design and fire-based attacks.

During the Phantom Thieves of Hearts spirit battle, Ann is fought on the Mementos stage and is the third Phantom Thief to defeat before fighting Joker. During the battle, the Zero Suit Samus puppet fighter starts off with a Fire Flower, further referencing Carmen's fire-based attacks.