On Thursday, presumed images of two Persona 6 characters made their way around the internet, allegedly originating on the Chinese social network Xiaohongshu. The Persona series is almost notorious for facing leaks, so a lot of fans quickly assumed they were real and ran with these designs.
The leaked art depicts a blond dude with a bowl cut-esque hairstyle and big eyelashes. He’s next to a sad-looking girl with a black and red bob (who is saying “hi” for some reason). Fans initially assumed these were the rumored male and female main characters, but another reliable leaker, who jumped in to confirm the leaks, asserted that the boy is the protagonist, while the girl is just a side character.
It seems that a reliable leaker pointed out these are official Persona 6 concept arts.
Literally can’t wait for the official reveal! pic.twitter.com/MgQ58njfhW
— Syl ※ (@realityindadark) May 28, 2026
I’m not here to speculate on whether these leaks are real or not. I’m instead here to say that the internet is absolutely freaking out about the protagonist, whose rumored design has already fueled fan art, a charming nickname, and even merch that will absolutely sell regardless of if he’s real or not.
Initially, people didn’t seem to like this guy. Some fans took to Twitter to call him ugly. Others jumped to compare him to Bebe, a foreign exchange student from Persona 3 who’s pretty widely disliked but can be befriended anyway. People in the Bebe-hating camp were, predictably, not happy to see this design:
DMCA-free Persona 6 protag designs in case ATLUS starts taking leaks down pic.twitter.com/JexVupgr4x
— Dastanovich (@Dastanovich_) May 28, 2026
He looks like the French dude from persona 3, wtf. I’m hoping this is fake
— ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏pepsi (@OfflinePepsi) May 28, 2026
Apparently, though, fans have turned around on this guy pretty quickly. This protagonist is now all over the place, and he’s been lovingly dubbed “John Persona 6.” This might be a reference to that one unnamed Dragon Ball XenoVerse 3 character who everybody jokingly calls “John Dragon Ball,” or it might not be. I honestly have no idea where the name came from! What I do know, though, is that it’s now all over the place:
ENOUGH TIME HAS PASSED. JOHN PERSONASIX IS OFFICIALLY MORE ICONIC THAN ALL THREE MAINLINE PERSONA MCS!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/RUtt736smO
— stars⛓️🗝️ (@BigGengarFan04) May 28, 2026
stop insulting john persona 6’s haircut if you like this haircut pic.twitter.com/mFJnGas719
— amen | FES GLAZER PLAYS P3R (@amen_handle) May 28, 2026
Fans like John Persona 6 so much that Twitter is now full of fan art of him:
you guys are too mean to john persona 6 i think he looks like a polite young man pic.twitter.com/ObKQTNTxMD
— miin of JOHNTWT!!!!!🐌 (@JakesRightBoob) May 28, 2026
i doodled this pic.twitter.com/zJDUYe82O1
— Raeru (@RaeruINK) May 29, 2026
i like the john persona 6 guy, he’s fun to draw pic.twitter.com/btmnMdU40i
— Koto💗 (@personakoto) May 29, 2026
john and jane persona 6 pic.twitter.com/VnTb2nPZ8t
— meowgui 🐟💨 (@988meigui) May 29, 2026
People have even thrown him into their Tomodachi Life islands:
HERE HE IS. JOHN PERSONA 6 THE MII pic.twitter.com/OTffq4RUsR
— miin of JOHNTWT!!!!!🐌 (@JakesRightBoob) May 28, 2026
And now there’s…merch???? Of a potential leak????
my ORGINAL CHARACTER john persona 6 is now on acggoods (SMILES) pic.twitter.com/9hcocygrUu
— miin of JOHNTWT!!!!!🐌 (@JakesRightBoob) May 29, 2026
I think John Persona 6 is pretty cool despite looking exactly like Bebe, but that doesn’t really matter to me because I’ll be picking up the game on day one regardless of who its main character is. What I do care about, though, is that mysterious girl with red and black hair (Jane Persona 6?) who’s missing out on most of the fan art fun. I feel bad for her!
