Fans of the Persona video games are a bit confused, but also enthralled, by one of the villains in the new Persona 5: The Phantom X (P5X) game, nicknamed the "Subway Slammer."

Takeyuki Kiuchi, as he's known outside of the train station, is one of the oddest antagonists in all of fiction, according to internet users on Twitter / X, Reddit and TikTok, where Subway Slammer memes are now commonplace. They show him "soloing" every protagonist in everyone's favorite franchises.

No one's hero is safe from the Slammer.

But where did he come from? Who is the "Subway Slammer," and why is he trending in memes? Let's explain.

Be advised, spoilers for P5X are ahead.

Who Is The 'Subway Slammer' In Persona 5: The Phantom X?

The Subway Slammer is a nickname for Takeyuki Kiuchi, an office worker in Tokyo, who has a taboo taste for targeting women, who he thinks won't fight back, in the subway station and intentionally bodychecking them into oblivion.

This is all according to the dialogue in Part 2 of the new Persona game, Persona 5: The Phantom X, which was released globally last Thursday, June 26th, according to outlets like Polygon.

P5X was originally released in Asian countries like China and South Korea in April 2024, according to Crunchyroll News.

How Is The 'Subway Slammer' Used In Memes?

The Subway Slammer immediately sparked memes on social media when P5X was globally dropped last week. The central motif of the memes so far is that the premise of the "Subway Slammer" is ridiculous, especially when compared to the heinous first villain in the precursor Persona 5 game.

"I genuinely could not believe the first villain of P5X is called The Subway Slammer," wrote one befuddled X user in a viral tweet. "I was certain it had to be some elaborate fan joke," they continued.

This feeling of disbelief among the Persona fanbase and gamers at large was ripe for memetic exploitation.

For instance, a meme creator can pretend in a post that the Subway Slammer is the most powerful character ever conceived, able to defeat the likes of Goku, Saitama and Wally West, among others considered to be some of the strongest.

The fandom practice known as "powerscaling," in which fans compare and contrast the stats of fictional beings, usually to speculate who would win in a fight, is the online language that the Subway Slammer memes have taken root in.

What Are Some More 'Subway Slammer' Memes?

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For the full history of Subway Slammer, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.