Character from Persona 5 Royal by Atlus
The cognitive researcher whose discovery of the Metaverse got her killed — her murder is the thread that connects every conspiracy in the game.
Wakaba is dead before the game begins, but her shadow stretches across the entire plot. She discovered cognitive psience — the scientific basis for the Metaverse. Shido had her killed via mental shutdown to steal her research. Her death was staged as suicide, and a forged note blamed Futaba, traumatizing her daughter into years of isolation. Sojiro loved her. Futaba was destroyed by her loss. Her research enabled both Akechi's assassinations and Maruki's reality manipulation. She's the absent center around which multiple character arcs revolve.
Appears only in photographs and cognitive versions. Dark hair, glasses, warm maternal features. In Futaba's Palace: a monstrous sphinx — the cognitive distortion of Futaba's guilt transforming her loving mother into a creature that blames her for everything.
Also known as: Wakaba, Isshiki-san, Mom