Persona 5: How to Beat Shadow Madarame

The first real challenge for the Phantom Thieves of Persona 5 is Shadow Madarame, a grotesque wall of vanity artwork that doesn’t go down without a fight. Here, we’ll break down how to defeat the demon and complete the Museum of Vanity palace.

Shadow Madarame is particularly difficult due to his resistances — and the multiple frames that make up his “body” — meaning you can’t deal damage to all his parts, all at the same time. Magic literally heals most of his frames, making it especially important to strike a balance in this battle.

If you’re struggling to defeat Shadow Madarame, keep scrolling for all our strategies. He isn’t so bad if you use the right combination of skills.

Find more Persona 5 guides on Gameranx:

How to Beat Shadow Madarame | Boss Guide

Shadow Madarame is the final encounter of the Museum of Vanity, and attacks after you’ve delivered the Calling Card and (mostly) escaped with his treasure. Shadow Madarame appears in the courtyard outside the inner sanctum and transforms into his demonic form — Azazel.

Quick Notes:
- Shadow Madarame consists of four targets — Left Eye, Right Eye, Nose and Mouth.
- The Left Eye, Right Eye & Nose all absorb magic attacks. Instead of taking damage, they are healed by these types of attacks. They can only be damaged with physical or bullet attacks.
  - The Mouth absorbs physical or bullet attacks.
- After destroying all four frames, the true Shadow Madarame will appear. You must defeat this “true” version to complete the battle.
  - After several turns, Shadow Madarame will retreat and the four paintings will take his place, all at full health.

Shadow Madarame is split into four painting — Left Eye, Right Eye, Nose and Mouth. Each painting attacks separately, essentially turning the first part of the battle into a 4 vs 4 situation.

During this phase, the Left Eye / Right Eye / Nose can only be damaged with physical / bullet damage. Destroying these magic-using body parts should be your highest priority. If you can, before the battle, fuse Personas so Joker can use Rampage.

Gain levels with Skull to unlock Rampage. It drains your health, but it’s absolutely worth it — buff Joker / Skull’s attack power as early as possible to deal even more damage.

If Joker and Skull both have Rampage, you can clear out the Left Eye / Right Eye / Nose in less than two turns. That just leaves the mouth — physical damage will heal the mouth, so save it for last.

Use magic-based attacks only to slowly defeat the mouth. Once it is destroyed, the true Shadow Madarame will reveal himself. You’ll automatically enter a Hold-Up state and unleash an All-Out Attack. Continue to attack — Madarame is extremely weak, he can only hit for about 10 HP per character.

If you know you can’t defeat Madarame, make sure to heal before the four paintings return. Staying alive is top priority, and it’s exceedingly easy to take a ton of damage from Madarame’s paintings in the first turn.

After the first cycle is complete and the paintings are revived, they’ll gain a new ability — Artist’s Grace. This attack covers a single character in black paint, making them vulnerable (weak) to all types of magic. The effect lasts for three turns.

Try to keep that character alive with Dia / Media, and try to take out the majority of Shadow Madarame’s “face” with more physical attacks. Just like last time, use Rampage and buffs to easily destroy 3/4rths of the frames.

Shadow Madarame also gains the ability to revive fallen paintings. This takes a turn, and revives only one painting at 50% health. Whittle down the mouth’s health with magic attacks, and use single-target physical skills to destroy the Eye/Nose.

If more than one Eye/Nose is revived, it’s better to just use Rampage again. It might heal the mouth, but dealing with too many paintings at once can be a death sentence.

The true form of Shadow Madarame will return. Go on an all-out attack. It’s very possible to defeat him in his second round.

When the painting frames appear for a third encounter, you’ll gain the ability to weaken the painting. Choose to send a single party member to get black paint — like with Shadow Kamoshida, it takes three turns, and you must attack the creature at least once per turn to keep it distracted.

If you’re able to keep Shadow Madarame distracted, it will get doused in black paint, making all the frames weak to all types of damage. Finish them off, and then finish off Shadow Madarame.

Shadow Madarame is just the start. Next, we’re heading to Shibuya to deal with the Yakuza banker Shadow Kaneshiro.