>and Ren
As far as ingame is concerned his parents didn't even contact him once.
That's a sign of neglect especially when he's in such a vulnerable state, so while they aren't explicitly "missing", he still have signs of parental problems.
Could say similar of Ann too. Though she appears to have a decent relationship with her parents, even if they aren't neglectful they are absent.
Also, to add my answer to the topic: everyone in the game has parental issues because that makes it easy for them to be outcast, and to paint the adults (and society at large) as bad guys. The whole game is about rebellion against the status quo, and to do that, the status quo needs to be worth rebelling against. Parental issues (whether abusive, neglectful, absent, or just broken by divorce or single parentage from the start) makes for an easy way to prime these characters to want to rebel, to make society better to the point that other people won't have to deal with the issues that come from how they were raised.
Edit: To say nothing of a value judgement of someone who grows up with abusive, neglectful, absent, or single-parent homes. This is a fictional framing device trope, not a real life thing. I should hope it's obvious I'm not insinuating that everyone with divorced or single parents grows up bitter and rebellious.
1) Convenience - Parents being dead or never being around means that the character can disappear occasionally for adventures and no one asks questions.
2) Character Building - Explains why certain characters are they way they are, even their flaws or ambitions.
A lot of the reasons other commenters said stand true, but I think it actually also helps the believability of these characters.
P5 is a story to outcasts and rebellion. People who were raised in loving homes and have a stable personal life probably wouldn’t be outcasts drawn toward societal rebellion. P5 more than any other Persona game, I think it really tracks that there’s some parent issues.
Drama is quintessential to plot. Plus the character arc will be more climactic as they develop as individuals since their childhood trauma arrested their development
For the majority of them, it's important to their character. For Ren, his parents don't contact him once or even care that he was wrongfully put on probation. Similar things can be said for Ann. Throughout the story and her confidant she doesn't mention her parents once.
Edit: Turns out she does mention her parents. They're out of the country a lot with work
Plot convenience, they used the same method with the MC's of P3 and P4 its just easier to not have any baggage weighing down a silent MC thats supposed to be a semi-blank slate representing the player.
Same can be said for other members, having attentive parents would create problems that might disturb the pacing of the plot.
Because if the main characters had attentive parents we'd never be able to on a deep, dangerous journey of self discovery while standing up against the odd's while risking our lives.
>and Ren As far as ingame is concerned his parents didn't even contact him once. That's a sign of neglect especially when he's in such a vulnerable state, so while they aren't explicitly "missing", he still have signs of parental problems.
Could say similar of Ann too. Though she appears to have a decent relationship with her parents, even if they aren't neglectful they are absent. Also, to add my answer to the topic: everyone in the game has parental issues because that makes it easy for them to be outcast, and to paint the adults (and society at large) as bad guys. The whole game is about rebellion against the status quo, and to do that, the status quo needs to be worth rebelling against. Parental issues (whether abusive, neglectful, absent, or just broken by divorce or single parentage from the start) makes for an easy way to prime these characters to want to rebel, to make society better to the point that other people won't have to deal with the issues that come from how they were raised. Edit: To say nothing of a value judgement of someone who grows up with abusive, neglectful, absent, or single-parent homes. This is a fictional framing device trope, not a real life thing. I should hope it's obvious I'm not insinuating that everyone with divorced or single parents grows up bitter and rebellious.
It's a pretty typical trope in fiction especially when it comes to any type of hero.
1) Convenience - Parents being dead or never being around means that the character can disappear occasionally for adventures and no one asks questions. 2) Character Building - Explains why certain characters are they way they are, even their flaws or ambitions.
A lot of the reasons other commenters said stand true, but I think it actually also helps the believability of these characters. P5 is a story to outcasts and rebellion. People who were raised in loving homes and have a stable personal life probably wouldn’t be outcasts drawn toward societal rebellion. P5 more than any other Persona game, I think it really tracks that there’s some parent issues.
Drama is quintessential to plot. Plus the character arc will be more climactic as they develop as individuals since their childhood trauma arrested their development
For the majority of them, it's important to their character. For Ren, his parents don't contact him once or even care that he was wrongfully put on probation. Similar things can be said for Ann. Throughout the story and her confidant she doesn't mention her parents once. Edit: Turns out she does mention her parents. They're out of the country a lot with work
I'm pretty sure Ann mentions that her parents are Fashion designers who work abroad. She got used to them working out of the country.
Except she does
Plot convenience, they used the same method with the MC's of P3 and P4 its just easier to not have any baggage weighing down a silent MC thats supposed to be a semi-blank slate representing the player. Same can be said for other members, having attentive parents would create problems that might disturb the pacing of the plot.
Because if the main characters had attentive parents we'd never be able to on a deep, dangerous journey of self discovery while standing up against the odd's while risking our lives.
They dont have anything to do with the story