New World Order
"Tatsuzou Sudou... I'm sure you've at least heard the name. A kid like you couldn't even begin to touch a great man like him. The New World Order will create a world without sin!"
- --XO pilot of the New World Order, moments before his fateful meeting with Tatsuya Suou's fist
The New World Order is a swiftly growing fascist movement within the shadows of the Liberal Co-Prosperity Party of Japan. Originally formed by the current Foreign Affairs Minister, Tatsuzou Sudou, and his mercenary army, he's been joined by the clandestine governmental conspiracy under Cabinet Minister Masayoshi Shido, which provides the majority of its financial backing.
The New World Order is based out of Sumaru City, and takes full advantage of Kotodama in order to meet its goals of creating a pure world without sin by utilizing rituals that beseech aid from their ancient, fictional mummy of Kiyotada Sumaru, whom they call 'Gozen.'
The Structure of the New World Order
The leadership of the New World Order is invested into two figures in command, that of Tatsuzou Sudou, 'The Silver Lion' and his mysterious co-executive, 'The Gold Lion', the title of his anonymous co-conspirator: Masayoshi Shido. Tatsuzou Sudou has ultimate authority within the New World Order for being Gozen's chosen medium, the reality is that Masayoshi Shido has near equivalent power in terms of influence and authority.
This encapsulates the two competing threads within: traditional pseudo-spiritualism for supernatural power and belief thereof in the ideology of a 'pure world without sin' vs. ruthless pragmatism that would take advantage of the supernatural for worldly power.
The unifying element on both sides is certainly absolute loyalty to the people at the top. Your survival within the New World Order as a member is entirely on the whims of your superiors and your ability to convince them of that loyalty. Even the merest, most offhand derisive mutter can be a death sentence if the wrong person overhears.
Punishments are harsh and swift, ranging from being handed over to Hisataka Shinjo's facilities to being 'rewarded' with The Mark in a ritual before Gozen himself.
The main base of power for Tatsuzou's faction is Sumaru City, wherein he is quietly building his military power with the political backing of jingoist warhawks in the government who are producing advanced otherworldly technology that can battle Persona Users. This effort is aided by Hisataka Shinjo's laboratory facilities in Narumi Ward, wherein unspeakable experiments are being performed upon subordinates, dissenters and innocents alike, and by Captain Shimazu on the ground. Together, they begin to move events towards the destruction of this impure world of sin.
Masayoshi Shido, meanwhile, has near absolute power within Tokyo due to how his conspiracy has infiltrated every level of law enforcement and governmental institutions. His methods generally rely on blackmailing officials to bring them under his control, utilizing secrets he absolutely should not be able to possess. He has gained significant popular public support by creating disasters through Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns in order to blame his opponents and detractors in office for their incompetence.
Currently, he is gradually making plans within the Diet to have his faction break from the ruling Liberal Co-Prosperity Party and form his own party to force an election that will give him absolute power as the Prime Minister.
Major Figures of the New World Order
- Tatsuzou Sudou - 'The Silver Lion' official head of the New World Order and Foreign Affairs Minister. Though he's getting up there in years and needs a cane to walk, he's still as sharp as ever... for a man who worships a mummy head. He has a calm, dignified bearing, graying leonine hair, and truly believes in his "world without sin"--including that he alone is without sin, no matter what wretched, hateful things he does.
- Masayoshi Shido - 'The Gold Lion' who within the order himself is anonymous, and careful not to leave any clues as to his true identity. He is both Tatsuzou's ally and rival, and as Cabinet Minister for 'Special Missions' technically outranks him in the Japanese government. He's charismatic and passionate, with a stylish bald pate and goatee, but his pro-Japan, pro-governmental responsibility political rhetoric only masks his vicious temper, womanizing, and insatiable thirst for power. Anyone who crosses him goes, no hesitation. The majority of the NWO doesn't know who he is of course, only understanding that Tatsuzou has a very powerful partner that one does not wish to cross.
- Hisataka Shinjo - Tatsuzou's right hand man, in charge of research and development within the New World Order's facilities. Now confirmed after recent events to be Takahisa Kandori, despite his demise three years ago during the SEBEC Scandal. Unfortunately, death seems not to have diminished his godly powers one iota, and most would say he is the most dangerous man in the New World Order when he decides to take action.
- General Sugawara - A cynical, pragmatic general who outwardly commands part of the JSDF, but has committed himself to the New World Order if only for their promise of eternal life as his reward. He has little belief in Tatsuzou's ideals and even less respect for his fellows. The branch of the New World Order he leads is called the Tenchu Army, comprising mostly their unpowered armed forces. While he wields little supernatural power, some of Hisataka Shinjo's secret projects hope to change that soon.
- Chizuru Ishigami - A celebrity Wang Long fortune-teller who makes frequent TV appearances. Within the New World Order, she is a deadly onmyoji and the last of her family line, with a reputation as a woman that one never crosses unless they wish to risk death by a terrible curse.
- Captain Shimazu - A corrupt captain of the Sumaru PD, fully on Sudou and Shido's payroll, who's been busy rooting out 'problems' to the New World Order, starting with police who do not show absolute loyalty to their authority. The New World Order's 'problem-solver' on the ground level, he has several Special Assault Teams ready to go at a moment's notice.
- Yung Pao - A Taiwanese mafia boss of the Tien Tao Lien who has been strong-armed into serving the New World Order by Tatsuzou holding his younger brother hostage.
- The Black Mask - Most rank and file within the NWO don't even know Shido's assassin exists, but the majority of his backers are aware that one of his subordinates is responsible for the lion's share of the Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns within Japan--and that these services can be made available to them, for a price. Recently the Persona User community of Sumaru City encountered him when he assassinated the son of the Silver Lion, Tatsuya Sudou.
- SIU Director Mouri - The director of the Special Investigations Unit within Tokyo and one of the top prosecutors within Japan. After initially being coerced by blackmail, he now serves smugly as the middleman for Shido's dirtiest dealings in order to insulate him from scrutiny. (He has no name in canon; staff has given one to him for the purposes of Velvet Room MUSH.)
The Reality of the New World Order
The entire leadership of Tatsuzou's branch of the New World Order is currently being deceived by Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, into believing they can purge the world of sin and create a pure one solely for the elite. He uses Gozen as his catspaw to do this; almost no one, not even Tatsuzou himself, is aware Nyarlathotep even exists. They think it's all Gozen.
It is wholesale Law being subverted by Chaos into the delusion that their goals can actually be met using its powers. The reality is that one way or another Nyarlathotep is hoping to win, again, by convincing humanity to destroy their own world.
Not all members of Tatsuzou's arm of the Order are deceived, though this typically takes the form of being skeptical of Gozen. At present, only Hisataka Shinjo, Tatsuzou's right-hand man, is fully aware of the reality of the organization, but he isn't the type to discuss it with his superiors or his subordinates.
Masayoshi Shido's conspiracy, on the other hand, are authoritarian populists who fully believe that the plan to purge the world of sin is utter nonsense. He instead plans to usurp the New World Order and take it under his full control to solidify his coming plans to rule as Japan's Prime Minister. They also don't know about Nyarlathotep.
The difference between the two men ideologically is mostly academic. Tatsuzou Sudou believes the masses should die to create his new world. Masayoshi Shido understands the masses must exist, but only to be continually sacrificed by the strong.
OOC Notes and Hooks
- A PC does not need to be a true believer to be a member of the New World Order. Far from it! Most characters absolutely do not believe in Tatsuzou's 'Pure World' ideal. Backstories of being blackmailed, being taken from an orphanage to a New World Order lab, a family member taken hostage or simply using them to your own ends are all appropriate.
- Masayoshi Shido is careful about keeping himself anonymous and using proxies to deliver his orders so as not to expose himself as 'The Gold Lion'. Nevertheless, when his orders come through, they are respected by the rank and file, or else they're quickly disposed of.
- However! True believers are also appropriate. Desperate and groomed teenagers, entitled rich kids and adults who believe the world should be theirs, the disaffected and downtrodden, the people hurt by the world and simply hate the way it is and want to believe it can be better by burning it all down. These characters are quite likely to begin with The Mark and can sometimes hear voices that enable them.
- Shido's faction has their own facilities studying cognitive psience and collaborating with Hisataka Shinjo's people. He is absolutely the type to create Persona Users and other supernatural monstrosities to hedge his bets so he's not forever reliant on the Black Mask.
- While Persona Users are the only ones who can fight Shadows and Demons, that doesn't mean the New World Order's unempowered soldiers in the Tenchu Army are absolute chumps. Among Persona Users' many known weaknesses, one of them is bullets.
- Hisataka Shinjo is at the beginning of organizing a mission to Tatsumi Port Island to attempt to capture one of the Major Arcana Shadows. Not a single member of the NWO is aware of why that might be, only that it is crucial that they prevent SEES from killing it. Most assume he wants to experiment on it.
Integration Trivia
- The SIU Director was given a name on Velvet Room MUSH by staffer Naganaki Shrine. He doesn't have a canonical name in Persona 5, but inspiration was taken from how another NPC was merely The Principal in Japanese but became Principal Kobayakawa in the English localization. We feel he's less confusing all around if he has a name.