Futaba is a whiz when it comes to computers. At a young age, she already has the hacking prowess at an international level. In fact, Futaba is the original Medjed, a famed hacking group akin to the real life Anonymous. She is able to bypass any security in a matter of days and has gone undetected to this day. To earn the trust of one confidant, Futaba even hacked into the server of an online game in a mere matter of minutes just to put the logo of the Phantom Thieves on the front page.

In the Metaverse, Futaba acts as a support character. Her abilities in hacking enable her to interrupt the battle at random moments to provide buff ups to the vanguard team. She was known as Oracle and befitting her name, was able to provide the map in Mementos. These aids occur at random and were only possible due to her being able to manipulate any system and find the loopholes in them. Indeed, her young age and her skills can put just about any hacker to shame.

You can't be a hacker at a young age unless you are a genius. That much can be said about Futaba. To be able to dive past numerous security protocols at such a young age with ease can only mean that she must be someone amazing. Futaba once exclaimed that she could memorize all the title of the books in a library and then recite them back to her friends. Unfortunately, this only caused them to view her as someone weird. Having an eidetic memory is a usual characteristic used to identify geniuses in drama and she is no exception.

When discovering her, the protagonist and his team noted that her room is incredibly messy but the thing that stands out to them the most is the presence of many advanced level textbooks. These topics ranged from anything from Economics to Psychology. When asked, Futaba even said that she could read through them with ease. Then there is her eccentricity which we will discuss next. Her vast amount of knowledge, her impeccable analytic skills and her hacking all points her to be a genius, to say the least.

Futaba is borderline agoraphobia. She spent most of her time growing up in the room that Sojiro provided for her. This allowed her to have a false sense of identity to her room as represented by her palace. It also means that her very room is one of the contributing factors to her escapism. It was not until the protagonist’s meddling into her daily lives that Futaba finally decides to step out into the real world. Even then, she does it bit by bit. She even wore a comical mask while doing so!

Treating her room as a sanctuary, the state of her room also identifies her character. It is messy, dark and cluttered. Before her change of heart, Futaba even suffers from mild depression to the point of almost suicidal. She questions her meaning in life and blamed herself for her mother's death. Eventually, Futaba became a hermit who only stays at home.

Her loneliness tied in with her maladaptive social behaviour all stems from her growth since childhood. It can be said that with her genius level, Futaba either suffers from Asperger's or high functioning autism. Her eccentricities range from sitting like L from Death Note to speaking in net lingo in daily conversations. While it may be cute, you just can't forget the fact that all these came from a particularly dark past of her life.

One of the ways to escape from reality, cope with her depression, and to take a break from her routine as a hacker was to indulge in the otaku lifestyle. Futaba has commented that she likes to watch anime and play video games. This is also reflected in her speech as mentioned as she always speaks with the net lingo. Futaba also has a collection of anime figurines in her room and has stacks of video games by the side. She was even pissed at one point in the game due to Yusuke's meddling with one of the character poses.

Her confidant path includes trips to Akihabara - the holy land of otaku. Most of the interactions that occur between her and the protagonist are set in Akihabara. Futaba has a great love for the subculture. She talks in a very distinct manner under the typical trope of how otakus are represented. One of the greatest achievements in overcoming her hikikomori lifestyle was her own independent decision to buy a figurine by herself. That just shows the dedication and commitment she has towards the culture.

Futaba's arcana is the Hermit. In the world of Tarot, the Hermit is interpreted as a lonesome person who is seeking the meaning to life. He isolates himself in order to do some deep soul searching. After prolonged introspection, he comes out again in the world to illumine the path with his wisdom. Sounds familiar? In the same way, Futaba spent most of her childhood years in order to discover the meaning to her life. While most of it is her repressing her emotions, she eventually came out of her shell in order to bring light to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts cause. After some deep soul searching, it was her turn now to illuminate the path for her companions as depicted in Mementos, one of her skills is to reveal the whole terrain to her party members.

Necronomicon has long been revered in the H.P Lovecraft fandom as an arcane book with many secrets. Futaba being physically inside the Necronomicon represents the vast amount of knowledge that she has and the unlimited potential that she possesses. Her Ultimate Persona is Prometheus. In the same way, this titan god has gifted Man with fire and metal in order to advance civilization, Futaba bestowed upon the Phantom Thieves of Heart foresight in order to further their cause.

All these just goes to show that the Persona series always has a deeper meaning to things. The character of Futaba has strong connections to her Arcana and her Personas. These underlying messages would usually not be uncovered unless a little bit of research is done. Pretty cool if you think about it. And hence, this is why Futaba is the Hermit in Persona 5!