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** Not tomention that if you play a good boy [[spoiler: and ignore Lucifer's offer to enter the Labyrinth, you will miss out on the chance to know the truth about the whole ordeal, including the nature of the Conception and God's goals]].
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* GoodIsBoring: Played with. As per SMT tradition, the real intent is to mak you think honestly what would ''your'' choices be.
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* GoodIsBoring: Played with. As per SMT tradition, the real intent is to mak make you think honestly what would ''your'' choices be.
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* GoodIsBoring: Played with. [[spoiler:It's nice to see the world restored in the Freedom ending, but the ''real'' conflict only can be glimpsed in the True Demon ending...]]
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* GoodIsBoring: Played with. [[spoiler:It's nice to see As per SMT tradition, the world restored in the Freedom ending, but the ''real'' conflict only can be glimpsed in the True Demon ending...]]real intent is to mak you think honestly what would ''your'' choices be.
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* GoodIsBoring
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* GoodIsBoringGoodIsBoring: Played with. [[spoiler:It's nice to see the world restored in the Freedom ending, but the ''real'' conflict only can be glimpsed in the True Demon ending...]]
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*** Well, considering that universe's equivale
nt of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
nt of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
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*** Well, considering that universe's equivale
ntequivalent of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
nt
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* HumanoidAbomination: LouisCypher (in ''both'' of his forms), the Lady in Black, the Demi-Fiend himself, Dante, Aradia [[spoiler: and eventually, Chiaki and Isamu,as part of their devolution into the Conception gods]].
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*** Well, considering that universe's equivalent of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
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*** Well, considering that universe's equivalent equivale
nt of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
nt of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
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* TouchedByVorlons: The whole game is a mere test by [[MagnificentBastard Lucifer]]. [[spoiler: It literally [[XanatosGambit didn't matter what the hell the Demi-Fiend did]] with the power he'd been granted - Lucifer got the Magatama's combat data either way. Once the product was tested and its effectiveness vouched for, it was just a matter of time until he found a willing accomplice. The True Demon ending, ''at worst'', was just ''a half-expected bonus''.]]
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* TouchedByVorlons: The whole game is a mere test by [[MagnificentBastard Lucifer]]. [[spoiler: It literally [[XanatosGambit didn't matter what the hell the Demi-Fiend did]] with the power he'd been granted - Lucifer got the Magatama's combat data either way. Once the product was tested and its effectiveness vouched for, it was just a matter of time until he found a willing accomplice. The True Demon ending, ''at worst'', was just ''a mathematical inevitability'' - '''''a half-expected bonus''.bonus'''''.]]
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* ToHellAndBack: The Labyrinth of Amala is just one Amala Terminal away. Easy to get in. Not so easy to break out of.
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* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: Seen as the Lady in Black explains the Conception. Worlds die in it, and worlds are born from it...
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* TouchedByVorlons: The whole game is a mere test by [[MagnificentBastard Lucifer]]. [[spoiler: It literally [[XanatosGambit didn't matter what the hell the Demi-Fiend did]] with the power he'd been granted - Lucifer got the Magatama's combat data either way. Once the product was tested and its effectiveness vouched for, it was just a matter of time until he found a willing accomplice. The True Demon ending, ''at worst'', was just ''a half-expected bonus''.]]
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->''"Call it what you will--A revelation from {{God}}, or a curse of the demon king. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The fact remains that our world came to an end]]. A [[TheAntichrist heretic]] called upon an [[LightIsNotGood unearthly light]], and [[ItGotWorse devastation ensued]]. [[CrapsackWorld Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death...nothing but death in this barren land]]. Who can we pray to? [[HellOnEarth There are only demons and fiends here]]... A voice in the dark beguiles me. "Truth is a mystery, unravelled by the candle's flames"."''
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->''"Call it what you will--A revelation from {{God}}, or a curse of the demon king. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The fact remains that our world came to an end]]. A [[TheAntichrist heretic]] called upon an [[LightIsNotGood unearthly light]], and [[ItGotWorse devastation ensued]]. [[CrapsackWorld Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death...nothing but death in this barren land]]. Who can we pray to? [[HellOnEarth There are only demons and fiends here]]... A voice in the dark beguiles me. "Truth is a mystery, unravelled by the candle's candles' flames"."''
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** Sakahagi, on the other hand, refers to an execution method in which the victim was completely flayed, referencing his MO.
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-->--From the journal of a man who wandered into another world
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-->--From the journal Journal of a man Man who wandered Wandered into another world
Another World
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** Some random encounters have Beast Eye. Sound tough? Good, because [[YourRulesAreNotMyRules some of the recruitable ones]] have ''Dragon Eye'' and will use it '' every fucking turn''.
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** Some random encounters have Beast Eye. Sound tough? Good, because [[YourRulesAreNotMyRules [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules some of the recruitable ones]] have ''Dragon Eye'' and will use it '' every fucking turn''.
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** Some random encounters have Beast Eye. Sound tough? Good, because some of the recruitable ones have ''Dragon Eye'' and will use it ''every fucking turn''.
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** Some random encounters have Beast Eye. Sound tough? Good, because [[YourRulesAreNotMyRules some of the recruitable ones ones]] have ''Dragon Eye'' and will use it ''every '' every fucking turn''.
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->''"Call it what you will--A revelation from {{God}}, or a curse of the demon king. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The fact remains that our world came to an end]]. A [[TheAntichrist heretic]] called upon an [[LightIsNotGood unearthly light]], and [[ItGotWorse devastation ensued]]. [[CrapsackWorld Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death...nothing but death in this barren land]]. Who can we pray to? [[HellOnEarth There are only demons and fiends here]]..."''
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->''"Call it what you will--A revelation from {{God}}, or a curse of the demon king. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The fact remains that our world came to an end]]. A [[TheAntichrist heretic]] called upon an [[LightIsNotGood unearthly light]], and [[ItGotWorse devastation ensued]]. [[CrapsackWorld Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death...nothing but death in this barren land]]. Who can we pray to? [[HellOnEarth There are only demons and fiends here]]... A voice in the dark beguiles me. "Truth is a mystery, unravelled by the candle's flames"."''
-->--From the journal of a man who wandered into another world
-->--From the journal of a man who wandered into another world
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* HeadsOrTails: [[GuestFighter Dante]] retains this quirk from the second ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' game. He can be recruited for one macca if you know about [[spoiler:the DoubleHeadedCoin.]]
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* EstrogenBrigadeBait: It is worth noting that the Main Character ends up spending 95% of the game ''completely shirtless''. A significant number of Norse gods also seem to like showing off quite a bit of toned physique.
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* EstrogenBrigadeBait: MrFanservice: It is worth noting that the Main Character ends up spending 95% of the game ''completely shirtless''. A significant number of Norse gods also seem to like showing off quite a bit of toned physique.
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* MagikarpPower: The pixie you meet in the medical centre at the start of the game [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] if [[spoiler:she's still in your party when you visit the fifth kalpa of the labyrinth]].
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* HellOnEarth - It is possible to make Earth an almost literal Hell - a realm only of demons - until the next Conception occurs.
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** Kagutsuchi can be this. If you take the time to Buff and Debuff to maximum, he's kind of a joke, especially compared to the rather brutal battle that precedes him.
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** Kagutsuchi can be this. If you take the time to Buff and Debuff to maximum, he's kind of mostly a joke, especially compared to the rather brutal battle that precedes him.
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** Not so much as understandable as more obscure. Strange Journey doesn't pull any punches on God's portrayal but he doesn't get as many hits since [[spoiler: he is not mentioned directly, and only appears as the Demiurge]].
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** Not so much as understandable as more obscure. Strange Journey ''StrangeJourney'' doesn't pull any punches on God's portrayal but he doesn't get as many hits since [[spoiler: he is not mentioned directly, and only appears as the Demiurge]].
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** [[spoiler: You can even get a demon from the Labyrinth of Amala; Girimekhala who has pierce and record him in the Compendium. Fusion ahoy!]]
** Kagutsuchi can be this. If you take the time to Buff and Debuff to maximum, he's kind of a joke, especially compared to the rather [[{{ThatOneBoss}} brutal battle]] that precedes him.
** Kagutsuchi can be this. If you take the time to Buff and Debuff to maximum, he's kind of a joke, especially compared to the rather [[{{ThatOneBoss}} brutal battle]] that precedes him.
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* HeroOfAnotherStory: Hee-ho. He keeps popping up across you in his quest for power, first as a shopkeeper in Shibuya, then visiting the Mantra HQ, and finally at Kabukicho Prison, where he gets his wish, and his story joins with yours.
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* HeroOfAnotherStory: Hee-ho. He keeps popping up across you in his quest for power, first as a shopkeeper in Shibuya, then visiting the Mantra HQ, and finally at Kabukicho Prison, where he gets his wish, and his wish. His story joins with yours.yours for a moment for the Black Frost battle, then he loses and you get separated again, and later you can join for good in the Third Kalpa.
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* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Fairy demons at Yoyogi Park under the control of Sakahagi.
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** [[spoiler: You can even fuse a demon that has pierce which you can buy for 500,000 Macca from the Labyrinth of Amala to any demon. Essentially making Lucifer a cakewalk provided that you have the funds to pay for all the fusions.]]
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** [[spoiler: You can even fuse get a demon that has pierce which you can buy for 500,000 Macca from the Labyrinth of Amala to any demon. Essentially making Lucifer a cakewalk provided that you have Amala; Girimekhala who has pierce and record him in the funds to pay for all the fusions.]]Compendium. Fusion ahoy!]]
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** [[spoiler: You can even fuse a demon that has pierce which you can buy for 500,000 Macca from the Labyrinth of Amala to any demon. Essentially making Lucifer a cakewalk provided that you have the funds to pay for all the fusions.]]
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* HeroicHost - TheHero, with the [[ArtifactOfDoom Maga]][[SuperEmpowering tama]].
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In January 2004 the game received a UpdatedRerelease in Japan known as ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax''. It balanced a few of the game mechanics, added in a massive optional dungeon (and a new ending and BonusBoss if you complete it) and featured Dante of ''DevilMayCry'' fame as a GuestFighter. Considering that you are a demon and Dante is a demon hunter, you don't exactly meet on good terms. Fortunately, it was this version that was localized and released in the West. In PAL territories it was known as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call'' due to copyright reasons. A second UpdatedRerelease named ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicle Edition'' came free with Japanese copies of ''RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', replacing Dante with Raidou.
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In January 2004 the game received a UpdatedRerelease in Japan known as ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax''. It balanced a few of the game mechanics, added in a massive optional dungeon (and a new ending and BonusBoss [[TrueFinalBoss Final Boss]] if you complete it) and featured Dante of ''DevilMayCry'' fame as a GuestFighter. Considering that you are a demon and Dante is a demon hunter, you don't exactly meet on good terms. Fortunately, it was this version that was localized and released in the West. In PAL territories it was known as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call'' due to copyright reasons. A second UpdatedRerelease named ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicle Edition'' came free with Japanese copies of ''RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', replacing Dante with Raidou.
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-->''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping water out of the sea with a cup... Watch, and record, thie history of the world... Witness the entirety of the endless war between order and chaos... That is your punishment for your unforgivable sin..."]]''
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-->''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping water out of the sea with a cup... Watch, and record, thie the history of the world... Witness the entirety of the endless war between order and chaos... That is your punishment for your unforgivable sin..."]]''
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** ''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping water out of the sea with a cup..."]]''
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** ''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping the ocean with a drinking glass..."]]''
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** ''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping water out of the ocean sea with a drinking glass...cup..."]]''
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[quoteright:319:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SMTNocturne2_6941.JPG]]
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->''"Call it what you will--A revelation from {{God}}, or a curse of the demon king. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The fact remains that our world came to an end]]. A [[TheAntichrist heretic]] called upon an [[LightIsNotGood unearthly light]], and [[ItGotWorse devastation ensued]]. [[CrapsackWorld Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death...nothing but death in this barren land]]. Who can we pray to? [[HellOnEarth There are only demons and fiends here]]..."''
The third main-series game in the ''ShinMegamiTensei'' [=JRPG=] series, and the first since ''Shin Megami Tensei II'' in 1994. It was released in Japan in February 2003, in America in October 2004 and in Europe in July 2005, for the PlayStation2.
Tokyo, [[ExtyYearsFromNow 20XX]]. You and two of your [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent high school classmates]] have gone to visit your sick teacher in hospital, only to find that [[AbandonedHospital the building is eerily deserted]]. The search for your teacher leads you down into the basement of the hospital, where you find evidence of sinister occult experimentation and a mysterious man who is none too happy about your intrusion. Just as he's about to have you killed, you are rescued by the intervention of your teacher, who [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong convinces the man to let you live]] and takes you to the roof.
There, you witness the Conception: the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destruction of the old world]] and its transformation into an embryonic state- [[AfterTheEnd the Vortex World]]- to prepare for its eventual rebirth. [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo becomes a spherical world]] populated by demons and the wandering spirits of those who died during the Conception, with a glowing sphere suspended in its center. You have survived... but during the Conception you encountered a mysterious young boy who [[DealWithTheDevil forcefully implanted you with a creature]] called a Magatama, [[TransformationTrauma transforming your body]] into that of a demon.
Waking up in the hospital with your new demonic body, your struggle for survival in this new, hostile world slowly becomes a battle to determine what form the new world will take. On one side is the Assembly of Nihilo, who wish to create a world of [[WorldOfSilence complete stillness and peace, devoid of emotion]]. Opposing them is the Mantra, a powerful gang who believe in ruling by [[SocialDarwinist strength, passion and fear]].
As the legendary Demi-Fiend, you have the power to decide the fate of the Vortex World. Will you side with one of the emerging armies to help make their idea of a perfect world a reality? Or will you [[KillEmAll destroy them all]] and [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial take the power of creation into your own two hands]]?
The game is largely a dungeon crawler, as you make your way across the ruins of Tokyo looking for answers and your missing friends. Gone are the cyberpunk elements of the previous ShinMegamiTensei games; as your character is a demon you have no need to use a computer to translate and summon. Your party is made up of the main character and [[CharacterMagneticTeam the demons that you have recruited to your cause]]. By talking to demons, you can convince them to give you money, items or to join your party. Most will demand money and items as a bribe before they will listen to you, but some will also pose a philosophical question that you must answer to their satisfaction.
As demons level up extremely slowly, the quickest way to maintain a strong team is to [[HotSkittyOnWailordAction fuse your demons together]] at the Cathedral of Shadows, creating entirely new demons with new powers and some inherited from their previous forms. A handful of demons will also evolve once they have reached a certain level. The Main Character develops by equipping different Magatama, each of which has a set of abilities that will be learned upon leveling up. An additional degree of difficulty is added by the fact that your character can only know eight skills at any one time, and must forget moves to learn new ones; once they are forgotten, they are LostForever.
Battles are conducted with the Press Turn system, where at the start of each round you receive a number of actions equal to the number of characters in your battle party. A normal action consumes one Press Icon, but inflicting a critical hit or attacking the enemy's weakness only consumes half a Press Icon. Thus, by attacking the enemy's weaknesses you maximize the number of turns you get in one round. Unfortunately, attacking an enemy with an element that it is strong against- or missing entirely- consumes two Press Icons, and if the enemy repels or absorbs the attack you lose all your Press Icons. This also applies in reverse; the enemy can attack your weak points to win additional actions for itself and loses actions if you defend yourself correctly. This battle system would go on to be used in ''DigitalDevilSaga'' and in a scaled-down form- the "One More" system- in ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}''.
In January 2004 the game received a UpdatedRerelease in Japan known as ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax''. It balanced a few of the game mechanics, added in a massive optional dungeon (and a new ending and BonusBoss if you complete it) and featured Dante of ''DevilMayCry'' fame as a GuestFighter. Considering that you are a demon and Dante is a demon hunter, you don't exactly meet on good terms. Fortunately, it was this version that was localized and released in the West. In PAL territories it was known as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call'' due to copyright reasons. A second UpdatedRerelease named ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicle Edition'' came free with Japanese copies of ''RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', replacing Dante with Raidou.
This game is a must-buy for any {{RPG}} enthusiast looking for a greater challenge than your average game and change from traditional fantasy settings. From the ruins of Vortex World Tokyo to the eclectic demon designs and the awesome rock/techno music of Shoji Meguro, there's just no other game like it.
----
!!This game provides examples of:
* AbandonedHospital: The Shinjuku Hygienic Hospital.
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Great Underpass of Ginza.
* AfterTheEnd: It doesn't get much more "endy" than the world turning into a giant ''egg''.
* TheAlcoholic: Loki. Wastes the entire game not doing much in Nyx's Lounge. This, interestingly, foreshadows what happens to the key you need to get from him to access the last layer of the Labyrinth: [[spoiler:he sold it for booze money]].
* AlienGeometries: Many. The Labyrinth of Amala's warp points between each Kalpa, and the Twelve Meters of Eternity in the Fourth Kalpa.
* AllMythsAreTrue
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Buffs and debuffs.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: Several. The battle against Samael (you fight him in a warped version of the Diet Building stained glass room, ''which keeps spinning impossibly on an invisible axis'') really stands out, though.
** The Fiend dimension to which you keep getting sucked to also counts, a red, barren strip of land under an eternally raging sky.
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]; one shopkeeper who acts this way implies he's actually straight, but is frequently MistakenForGay.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Manakins. They are made from compound human souls and emotions, and because the Conception killed all the humans except for the Demi-Fiend, Yuko, Chiaki, Isamu, Hikawa, and Hijiri, they are more or less the Vortex World's equivalent to humanity. They have flesh and blood just like true humans, but are also made from the earth, the substance that gives life the easiest.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Beat the game and you get the option to change your outfit at the start of a new cycle. Your choice influences your starting stats.
* [[spoiler: TheAntiChrist: What Lucifer wants you to become. Should you take the True Demon Ending, it happens.]]
* AnticlimaxBoss: Many players were surprised to find the battle against [[spoiler: Lucifer in the True Demon Route]] very underwhelming, especially when compared to the some of other nightmare-inducing [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] of the franchise (DigitalDevilSaga's [[spoiler:Demi-fiend]], anyone?). The only "trick" for the fight is to [[spoiler: keep the skill 'pierce', which you will gain from beating the Fifth Kalpa and use the game-breaking combination of Debilitate + Focus + Freikugel]]. Although to be fair, [[spoiler:it's more of a TrueFinalBoss than a BonusBoss, as you're required to win this fight to beat the game for the True Demon Ending]]. And even though he's not as strong as some [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] in the ShinMegamiTensei series, he's still considered the hardest boss in Nocturne.
** Kagutsuchi can be this. If you take the time to Buff and Debuff to maximum, he's kind of a joke, especially compared to the rather [[{{ThatOneBoss}} brutal battle]] that precedes him.
** [[spoiler:Sakahagi]]. Sure, you fight him right after taking down Girimekhala (the first boss to reflect physical attacks) and given no chance to heal, but he only knows second-tier elemental spells and can be easily taken out in one turn by this point in the game.
* ApocalypseHow: Class X at the beginning with the Conception. Class Z at the end of the True Demon Ending.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Both bosses at Kabukicho Prison, [[spoiler:Mizuchi and Black Frost]]. Both eventually lose the extra mass.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Dante. At the point where you get him, pretty much all you can use him for is the fights against [[spoiler:Metatron and Lucifer]]. And he lacks the Pierce skill which is practically required to beat the latter. On top of this, he can't be used in fusion and you can't use the Compendium to get him back in a NewGamePlus. This pretty much made him useless in comparison with Raidou, his SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute who has better stats ''and'' learns Pierce.
* BadAss: Although many qualify, the Demi-fiend takes the cake. ''Especially'' if you beat the Amala Labyrinth. To elaborate, this quest requires him to beat the crap out of the incarnations of Death (all ten of them, including certified badasses such as [[DevilMayCry Dante]] or [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha]] [[RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon the XIVth]] in the Chronicle Edition), go (literally) into the depths of hell itself through one of the largest, most grueling dungeons known to players, beat both [[spoiler:Lucifer]]'s [[TheDragon Dragon]] Beelzebub and God's Metatron, be appointed the leader of hell's army in the final battle against God after proving his worth and last but not least, he punches out [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] into oblivion to boot.
** By [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] standards, the Demi-fiend is among the most powerful entities to exist. It practically justifies [[spoiler:his [[TheCameo cameo]] as being an [[ThatOneBoss excruciatingly difficult]] BonusBoss]] in Digital Devil Saga.
* BarrierChangeBoss: Noah. [[spoiler: His weakness is changed through Aurora, and his weakness becomes the opposite of what he casts next, so if he casts Agidyne, he's weak to (or to be more precise, doesn't reflect) Bufu spells. He follows a specific pattern.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor - The power to remake the world comes at a price.
* BeneathTheEarth: The subterranean locations. Hope you stocked on Light Balls.
* BigBad: Hikawa, [[spoiler: [[EvilerThanThou Chiaki and Isamu]], and in the True Demon Ending {{God}} becomes this]]. Oddly enough, the FinalBoss isn't this.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: The religious texts of the newly born world will definitely be leaving out a few choice details where the creation myth is concerned. Also, two of the Reasons are portrayed as having ''some'' good points to them, while [[spoiler: Chiaki and Sakahagi]], both following the same philosophy, are the only characters ever canonically referred to as "evil".
* BodyHorror: Many, many instances. [[spoiler: Chiaki and Isamu]]'s mutations are only the beginning. FridgeHorror kicks Fusion Errors into this.
* BoisterousBruiser: Black Frost. Not content with incorporating hee-s {{Verbal Tic}}s in hee-s speech, he goes into full LargeHam mode when confronted, ho.
* BreathWeapon: Fire, Ice and Fog Breath. Only the first two deal actual elemental damage, though.
* BrilliantButLazy: [[NonActionGuy Jyoji Hijiri]]. The man has complete access to the AkashicRecords and knows more about what's going on than anyone else and could probably [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] the [[PersonOfMassDestruction Demi-fiend]] with what he's learned. But he never reveals much and doesn't seem to realize he could create his own [[FisherKing Reason]]. Justified, [[spoiler: since God cursed him. When he finally realizes that he could create his own Reason he dies again.]]
* CanonName: The Main Character is called Naoki Kashima in the radio plays based on the game.
* CharacterMagneticTeam
* CollectorOfTheStrange - The Collector Manikin likes to collect human-made knick-knacks.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Mostly averted, but [[spoiler: Noah]] is highly resistant to almighty attacks. And will change his immunities every turn.
** Some random encounters have Beast Eye. Sound tough? Good, because some of the recruitable ones have ''Dragon Eye'' and will use it ''every fucking turn''.
** Baal Avatar if any of your party members doesn't have Void Curse in some form. She will ''always'' target them first with Bael's Bane, which turns them into a fly - a status ailment that can't be cured by any means (except dying) and renders them utterly ''useless''. Note that only she has the ability to do this.
** Mot sometimes chain-casts "Dragon Eye" while spamming Megidolaon and Makakaja, over and over and over. And then you die.
* ContinuityNod: Plenty in the BonusDungeon. The uber pixie appears in the bonus bosses of ''DigitalDevilSaga'', [[spoiler:which is against the Nocturne player character]], ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}''.
** Mara [[NeverLiveItDown remembers]] the thing with the slime in ''StrangeJourney''.
* CouncilOfAngels: Who end up siding with Yosuga.
* CreepyChild: The Young Boy (aka [[spoiler:Louis Cypher]])
* CrossoverCosmology
* CursedWithAwesome / BlessedWithSuck: If you end up cursed by the Magatama, you will suffer random status effects (but mostly hitting your own side). However, if you enter the Cathedral of Shadows while cursed, the curse will change several fusion options so the results wind up of the darker races (Fiends, Fouls, Fallens, etc.). The results will also tend to inherit better skills.
* CuteBruiser: Pixie, [[spoiler:if you keep her with you all along and finally take her to the room only she can open on the Fifth Kalpa.]]
* CuteMonsterGirl: Virtually all of the female denizens of the Vortex World, except Datsue-Ba, Kali, and Mother Harlot.
* DarkIsNotEvil
* DarkWorld: Downplaying with the Mirage dimension in Kabukicho Prison. Visually, the lighting and mist actually make it less creepy than real one even if it's upside-down. Then you found how empty rooms in real world are torture chambers to drain Magatsuhi from Manikins in this side.
** Another, smaller example is the World of Shadows in the Red Temple. Which is necessary to traverse in order to reach the floor above.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Hijiri]].
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Some bosses can be summoned only after you have defeated them.
** More "subjugation" than "friendship", though.
* DegradedBoss: Almost every sub-boss becomes a regular enemy not soon after; a large part of the difficulty of a sub-boss battle is that the EnemyScan move doesn't work.
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Aradia]], a goddess from an AlternateUniverse, possesses [[spoiler:Ms. Takao]] halfway through the game.
* DePower: Subverted in the Freedom/Neutral ending. [[spoiler: Judging from Lucifer's words, the main character is still very much powerful despite losing his tattoos. He says to stay strong for the upcoming day where he'll have to fight again.]]
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: If you go to the Third Kalpa chamber and talk to Black Frost with a full roster, he will remain waiting until you come back with an open spot for him. If you ''already'' have a Black Frost, though, he will get annoyed and leave.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In the True Demon ending, the Demi-Fiend [[spoiler: not only kills Kagutsuchi, essentially an avatar of God, but simultaneously annihilates ''every Kagutsuchi in every vortex world'' effectively ending the cycle of creation and destruction]] and then goes out to top himself by [[spoiler: succeeding Lucifer as the General of the LegionsOfHell and goes to wage war against God himself]]. He doesn't just punch out Cthulhu. He has the power to ensure Cthulhu will never get back up again.
* DiscOneFinalDungeon: The Obelisk. It's huge, the puzzles are tricky (even the bosses are a puzzle in a way), you finally get to rescue Yuko, finishing it will turn off the Nightmare System...oh, yeah, and then there's all the stuff after it.
* DiscOneNuke: Fog Breath, which can be learned from the second Magatama at a low level (Lv.21), and basically acts as a double-strength Sukunda that hits all enemies and never misses. Extremely worth the high MP cost, this skill is useful for the entire game. Can also apply to Tornado + Force Boost.
** Or Daisoujou, if you manage to beat and fuse it. It has an almost-GameBreaker skill which allows it to drain HP and SP out of the opponent which drains more SP than it costs, is immune to ailments, has a very high magic stat; the best healing spell in the game which not only heals your party to full HP, it also cures status ailments. The icing on the cake is that the drain skill mentioned above is considered a magic attack, meaning that it can be buffed and an opponent's defense against it de-buffed. Put two and two together and you have a demon that fills its own SP to full and sucks the opponent dry in no time WHILE healing everyone. Needless to say, this demon stays in parties for a long time.
** Dark Might. Available as soon as you leave the hospital as one of Jack Frost's starting skills. Can turn any boss that isn't resistant to physical attacks in a complete joke, as long as your entire party has the skill and you time the battle accordingly. Bright Might works just as well, but appears slightly later.
* DoppelgangerSpin: Ongyo-Ki. You can figure out the real one by [[spoiler:fighting him during a Full Moon and looking for the shadow]]. This only upgrades him from "impossible" to "extremely hard", though.
** Well, until you realize he only uses [[spoiler: physical attacks and buff spells, which can be countered rather easily.]]
* TheDragon: Three in the Amala Labyrinth, one on each of the last three Kalpas.
** The player himself will become this to Isamu or Hikawa if you ally with them sending you to focus on remaking the world while they hold down the fort. Hikawa even puts his former Dragon Samael at your command if you join with him.
*** The player also becomes the Dragon for [[spoiler: Lucifer in the True Demon Ending]].
** Thor to Gozu-Tennoh, and later [[spoiler:Chiaki if you didn't take that spot already]].
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: A human dreams of the Conception before it happens. [[ConspiracyTheorist He thinks aliens from Jupiter did it.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:The Neutral/Freedom ending]].
* EldritchLocation: All of the Vortex World. Particularly interesting examples are the Diet Building, the Obelisk / Tower of Kagutsuchi and the Labyrinth of Amala, though the Assembly of Nihilo's Shiodome base, Kabukicho Prison and to a much lesser extent the Mantra HQ also qualify.
* EmptyShell: The Reason Of Shijima is to turn everyone into this.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Within the first hour, no less.
* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: The whole story is to get to this [[spoiler: if you don't follow Lucifer, anyhow]].
* EstrogenBrigadeBait: It is worth noting that the Main Character ends up spending 95% of the game ''completely shirtless''. A significant number of Norse gods also seem to like showing off quite a bit of toned physique.
** And then there's [[DevilMayCry Dante]], who gets special mention for having [[FemaleGaze a crotch shot]] before jumping off a very tall building.
* EternalRecurrence: The way it's supposed to work. The wheel's broken in the Demon and True Demon endings.
* EverybodysDeadDave: The only true humans that remain after the conception is Yuko, Chiaki, Isamu, Hikawa, Hijiri [[spoiler: or not in Hijiri's case]] and the protagonist (and even then only partly). Everyone else? If they aren't turned into pure Magatsuhi, they either get reincarnated into Manakins, the Vortex World equivalent of humans, who suffer from muscle spasms and are [[spoiler:unable to make their own Reasons unlike real humans]], or they get reincarnated into Souls, the Vortex World equivalent to ghosts, who are mostly friendly but are still unable to do much, being intangible spirits.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: The Amala Drums.
* EvilerThanThou: Every faction ends up trying to one-up each other.
* EvilIsHammy: Fiends are near-impossibly hammy. Matador's battle quote sums it best:
-->Matador: ''"I swear, by my sword and capote, that once again I shall prove victorious!"''
* EvilMakeover: The Main Character. Later, [[spoiler:Chiaki and Isamu]].
* EvilVersusEvil
* EvolutionaryLevels: Some demons will, contrary to the series' normal expectations, ascend into superior forms. The result of doing this are stronger demons you never get the chance to recruit or even ''see''. The only way to know if a demon can evolve is training it so it gains a level, at which point the game will inform you of the changes.
* EyeScream: In the cutscene in which the Demi-fiend receives the first magatama, it burrows into his body via his eye-socket.
* TheFairFolk: A Pixie is the first demon that joins your cause. Later you visit a construction park that has been completely taken over by Fairy demons.
* FantasyKitchenSink
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Jyoji Hijiri]]'s fate (speculated to be a result of his [[spoiler:[[ShinMegamiTenseiII brief dabbling in deicide]]]]) is to be doomed to an endless cycle of torment, death and rebirth without hope of reincarnation into a better existence. It's implied that {{God}} will do the same thing- or ''worse''- to [[spoiler:the main character in the True Demon ending if He gets his hands on him]].
** [[spoiler: It's also applied that it will happen in the Freedom ending where the Great Will will come after the main character one day for returning the world back to normal. He gets to keep his power for when this happens.]]
* FightWoosh
* FisherKing: The Reasons.
* FrickinLaserBeams: Divine Shot, Spiral Viper, Freikugel.
** Also [[spoiler: Metatron's]] Fire of Sinai attack has him shoot lasers from his eyes.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: If you notice, the "press start button" screen mirrors one of the ending sequences.
* GameWithinAGame: The BlockPuzzle game in Asakusa. [[ThatOneSidequest Prepare some aspirin.]]
* GatelessGhetto
* GlobalCurrency: Macca
* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:His endless cycle of creating and destroying Earth is more or less genocide to billions and billions of humans]]. Notably, this is among the last times God is portrayed as card-carryingly evil or overly lawful in [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]]; his portrayals in games after this are a bit more sympathetic and understandable.
** Not so much as understandable as more obscure. Strange Journey doesn't pull any punches on God's portrayal but he doesn't get as many hits since [[spoiler: he is not mentioned directly, and only appears as the Demiurge]].
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: According to her backstory, this is what brought [[spoiler:Aradia]] into the Vortex World.
* GoldfishPoopGang: The Spectre.
* GoodIsBoring
* GoodIsDumb: Recruited demons always join as the lowest level possible, making them forget skills they possessed normally; bosses fused have a fraction of the HP they normally have.
** Additionally there are several skills like Dragon Eye that you can never use.
* GroundhogPeggySue: [[spoiler: Played with Hijiri. He gets to live, over and over and over... but he NEVER gets to ''win''.]]
** ''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping the ocean with a drinking glass..."]]''
* GuideDangIt: Double whammy since not only is it difficult to know where you're supposed to be going, but the actual guide is very little help.
* HeroicMime
** And when he DOES speak (or at least leave a written message) in DigitalDevilSaga after you beat him ([[HarderThanHard good luck with that, by the way]]), what does he say? One of the most BadAss lines ever:
--->[[spoiler:[[BadassCreed "Death's vastness holds no peace. I come at the end of the long road. Neither human, nor devil... all bends to my will".]]]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Hee-ho. He keeps popping up across you in his quest for power, first as a shopkeeper in Shibuya, then visiting the Mantra HQ, and finally at Kabukicho Prison, where he gets his wish, and his story joins with yours.
* HollowWorld: With [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo at the center]] metaphorically and a sun in the center literally.
* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: You have to fight them as part of the Amala subquest.
* {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler: Isamu]]. The world he intends to create is based on doing everything by yourself and not relying on others, but he never does anything ''but'' ask for help from others.
** Hikawa too. For a guy supposedly interested in creating a world of stillness and silence, he sure stirs up a lot of chaos and disorder.(e.g. causing The Conception, stirring up and participating in a war between the Mantra and his own followers, the riot at Yoyogi Park, etc.)
* IncomingHam: ''"The flames of the Candelabrum beckon me to the battlefield!"''
* IndecipherableLyrics: The normal battle and boss battle themes contain vocals in the background that pretty much sound like demons screeching gibberish. However, the actual lyrics connect very closely to the plot of the game.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Masakados magatama. Subverts some elements in that, this being [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]], it is pretty ''damn'' useful even as late as you get it. With it on, you become TheJuggernaut stoppable only by a barrage of Almighty attacks.
* ItsAWonderfulFailure: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cZX00grie0 And hopefully you don't mind it]], because you will see it a ''lot''.
** ''Shin Megami Tensei'': where getting sent to Heaven is the ''worst possible thing that can happen to you''.
*** Well, considering that universe's equivalent of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: Played straight in the TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Inverted in the optional dungeon.
* IWorkAlone: The Reason of Musubi is to apply this to the entire Universe. As in, you and you alone are responsible for your corner of the cosmos, free to do as you wish without being able to interfere with others.
* JiveTurkey: Comes as a ''magatama-imparted skill''. Allows you to talk to Foul, Wilder and Haunt demons, who normally are TheUnintelligible.
* KangarooCourt: The Mantra Army Court. Where you prove you're innocent by [[MightMakesRight punching out the judges]].
* LightIsNotGood: Most of the Angel races align themselves with Yosuga, the most blatantly evil of the Reasons. It's almost a MythologyGag that the angels side with a MightMakesRight philosophy and the demons side with the WorldOfSilence side, when in previous games it's been the exact opposite.
** And then we have horrors as Amaterasu's [[SignatureMove Godly Light]]. Yay, 80% of everyone's HP just vanished in a single blow! Not satisfied? How about Kagutsuchi's Vast Light and Infinite Light? Metatron's Fire of Sinai? Radiance for the top angels? Thunderclap?
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Played with. Magical attacks are actually ''less'' effective at high levels due to the damage formula used.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: Get TakenForGranite and there's a chance of this happening if you take a hit. Take a [[BlowYouAway Force]] attack and this happens without fail.
* LonersAreFreaks: Chiaki insists on doing everything by herself. Result: [[spoiler:later on she ''literally'' becomes a freak]].
** [[spoiler:Isamu]] fits the bill better. [[spoiler:His entire philosophy is based around doing everything by yourself, [[BodyHorror and his transformation is way more freaky than Chiaki's, what with friggin' faces growing out of him]].]]
* LostForever: Miss anything in the Shiodome portion of the Assembly of Nihilo and you never get a chance to go back for it.
* LouisCypher: Aka, [[spoiler:the Young Boy and the Old Man]].
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: The Spectre will absorb his brethen and inflate himself to giant size in the first fight against him.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Several, but the Diet Building really stands out.
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: Aradia. She lures Yuko with promises of giving her the power to remake the world and uses her as a pawn in a bid to become real in the new world birthed from the Conception; while supportive, she's not overtly concerned about her well-being and will often use her as an underling without explaining her the exact idea as to why she can't get a Reason from her. You could say Isamu tries to be one - if you're actually listening to his ''very'' poorly thought out {{The Reason You Suck Speech}}es.]]
* MarathonBoss: Noah, unless you have the skill Pierce ''and'' Freikugel, the one combination he can't defend himself successfully against.
* MeaningfulName: Aradia, goddess of falsehood, [[spoiler:isn't really a god at all.]]
* MindScrew: There's plenty of it. One of the most prominent examples is the cutscene where Chiaki reveals her intentions at the Mantra HQ. When did everything become white? Why is she sitting on a desk that definitely wasn't there before? Is this just a hallucination? [[MathematiciansAnswer Yes.]]
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: When Mot disguises himself as a statue, this is how you pick him out from the real statues. (He doesn't create a reflection; the real ones do.)
* MonumentalDamage: The ruins of Shibuya's Scramble is one of the first locations visited during the game.
* MultipleEndings: There are six, depending on what sort of world you want to create. It's unusual, since usually there are only three different endings in the series, one for Law, Chaos, and Balance. The new worlds created don't really resemble the paradise either YHVH or Lucifer strive to create in earlier games, instead:
** [[spoiler: A world of total freedom and isolation]].
** [[spoiler: A world where the weak are slaughtered and the strong rule]].
** [[spoiler: A world of unchanging stillness and silence]].
** [[spoiler: Bring back the old world]].
** [[spoiler: Try to create your own world, but fail, leaving the Vortex World unchanged, or possibly like the Vortex World the way it is intentionally]].
** [[spoiler: Destroy the world [[DeaderThanDead even worse]] and become the new Demon King and lead the forces of darkness to battle God]].
* MusicalNod: When you enter the Cathedral of Shadows during a new Kagutsuchi with series mascot Cerberus in your party, and the music changes to the one used in ''ShinMegamiTenseiI''. You can also do this with Orthrus in the party.
** The ([[WastedSong very underused]]) Amala Network battle theme is quite close to the battle theme from the first game as well (particularly the PS1 version).
** The music used in Ginza was used in towns in ''ShinMegamiTenseiI''. Beelzebub's and Metatron's themes are also the chaos and law themes of the same game.
** The Puzzle Boy music was originally used as the world map music before the missiles hit in ShinMegamiTenseiI. The Fiends battle theme also comes from SMTI.
** The terminal theme is the same as ''ShinMegamiTenseiII'''s terminals.
* MusicalSpoiler: If you're in the Third Kalpa of the Labyrinth [[spoiler:and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngUfhhoRh84 Dante's theme]] starts playing, it means he's about to catch you.]]
* MythologyGag: You get 65535 experience points after beating [[spoiler: Lucifer]]. This was the maximum amount of XP you could earn per battle in ShinMegamiTenseiII because of the variable type that was used in the game.
** Dante uses the same coin when playing Heads or Tails that he did in DevilMayCry 2, [[spoiler:meaning if you pick heads, you always win the gamble.]]
** In DigitalDevilSaga, the last boss has an Amala Drum on its forehead. Given it's an avatar of God, it could spawn orchards of EpilepticTrees by itself.
*** Not really since Schrodinger himself says that [[spoiler:the God worshipped in DDS is a different God after you beat Satan.]]
*** And exactly what is an [[spoiler: entirely foreign God doing with an Amala Drum]], [[WildMassGuessing hmm]]?
** Baal Avatar looks just like the [[{{Persona2}} Bolontiku]]...
** Watch carefully the background during the fight against Mara; there's a small altar with four dolls there. It's the same altar Mekata attempted to use to open a gate to the Abyss in ''ShinMegamiTenseiII''.
** The Super Pixie you can get is summoned by the [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] in Personas 3 and 4.
*** The Demi-Fiend is the BonusBoss of DigitalDevilSaga with the aforementioned Pixie as one of his backup flunkies.
* NewGamePlus: Lets you keep your Demon Compendium, gives you a new choice of wardrobe for the first part of the game and lets you select a "first person" view for that authentic [=MegaTen=] experience.
** It also allows you to get an extra press-turn for the demi-fiend if you complete a certain sidequest in your previous playthrough. Needless to say, this is very important for people who are interested in tackling hard more.
* NiceHat: Isamu. Even his GOD wears it!
** Not only that, it's even lampshaded in-universe where one of the manikins talks about Isamu for a bit and finishes off with "....That hat bugs me".
** Hijiri has one, but almost never puts it on his head.
* NietzscheWannabe: The Assembly of Nihilo. It's even in the name.
* {{Nintendo Hard}}: It's a [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] game. OF COURSE IT'S HARD!
** As if to press home the point, the game describes its "Hard" difficulty setting as "A level of difficulty suitable for one seeking the thrill of death".
*** Those playing in hard mode occasionally die to the TUTORIAL battle. Heck, I've seen people die in the TUTORIAL on ''normal'' mode.
** Just for comparison, [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/TClaymore/HOLYSHITDUNGEONSOFMADNESS.png here's a summary of the dungeons]].
* NumberOfTheBeast: The final floor of the Tower of Kagutsuchi is the 666th floor. Beelzebub is given this number in HP when fused, per MegaTen tradition. And then there's the Tomb of Yomi in the Labyrinth of Amala's 666th basement.
* OhCrap: "The flames of the [[color:red:Candelabrum of Sovereignty]] are flickering wildly..."
** "You feel the presence of a terrifying demon...Will you stay here?"
** [[spoiler:Dante]]'s theme whenever [[spoiler: he]] chases you through the Third Kalpa.
*** [[spoiler:Lucifer]]'s true form.
* OneHundredPerCentCompletion: If you fill up the Compendium with ''every'' demon available, you will get a [[BigYes MASSIVE summoning discount]].
* OneWingedAngel: The [[spoiler:three Reason]] bosses. The most notable of them is Baal Avatar, who is both aligned with the angels and has one large wing.
** Before these, [[spoiler:Chiaki]] and [[spoiler:Isamu]] both undergo transformations to power themselves up.
* OrderVersusChaos: Slightly subverted as the three main Reasons don't cleanly fall under "Law" or "Chaos".
** Taken into a broader context (i.e. the other ending possibilities), the three main Reasons fall under "Law."
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: The Main Character, Chiaki, and Isamu.[[spoiler: This doesn't last, though.]]
* OptionalPartyMember: Dante will offer to join your party in the [[BonusLevelOfHell Fifth Kalpa]] for 1 macca or half of your macca. It depends on a [[LuckBasedMission coin flip]]... ''except'' if you've played ''[[DevilMayCry Devil May Cry 2]]'' and know that [[spoiler:he uses a double-sided coin]].
** Also Black Frost after beating him at the prison, and Samael in the final tower if you are allied with Hikawa. Although they can also be fused elsewhere these two will join you on the spot free of charge at a high level regardless if you could fuse them at that point, provided there is a spot for them in the roster.
** It should be noted that you actually ''need'' to recruit Dante at some point if you want the summoning discount, and it's possible to fuse both Samael and Black Frost as soon as you beat them. So Dante's optional unless you want the full compendium. Also, if you go for the True Demon Ending (and if you go to the Fifth Kalpa, you probably are doing just that), then Dante becomes ''useless'' against [[spoiler:Lucifer]] since he can't get Pierce. And no, once you hire him, you're stuck with him till the end of the game.
* PerfectRunFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Lucifer]], who you fight if you complete the Labyrinth of Amala.
* PlanetHeck: The Labyrinth of Amala. Even better, it becomes progressively more so, from the nice-looking First Kalpa to the Magatsuhi-leaking Fifth Kalpa.
** Especially the Cursed Zones. Unless you defeat [[spoiler:Beelzebub]]. [[ScrappyMechanic Let's stroll through the purple haze that sucks out your life, shall we?]]
* PunnyName + BilingualBonus: Futomimi's name means "Fat Ears", referring to how he seems to touch the top of his ear as he prophesises.
* ThePurge: Within the Mantra Army, as Thor kicked out Ongyo-Ki, Fuu-Ki, Sui-Ki and Kin-Ki.
* PuzzleBoss: The Spectre, though Matador can also count [[spoiler:force immunity and accuracy buffs/dodge debuffs]]. The Trumpeter is more of a puzzle game than a fight, considering his attack pattern.
** You might say the Moirae Sisters puzzle/fight at the Obelisk also counts. [[spoiler: Defeat them all in a single go with the Kagutsuchi Phase blocks]].
* PointOfNoReturn: Once you enter the final dungeon or [[spoiler: finish the Labyrinth of Amala]], your ending is set in stone.
* PowerTattoo: Inverted; from what can be inferred from the Neutral ending, the Demi-fiend's tattoos are a side-effect of his power.
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: The entire game becomes one if you choose the True Demon route.
** Although given the MegaTen God, AntiVillain [[VillainProtagonist Protagonist]] seems more appropriate.
* PsychologistTeacher: Yuko appears to be the perfect teacher: smart, strong, wise and confident. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, she suffers from crippling self-doubt and gets easily manipulated by both Hikawa and Aradia]].
** [[spoiler: She also naively thinks Aradia will give her a Reason. Problem? Conception gods ''don't'' give Reasons. As in ''at all''. '''''She's''''' the one who has to develop the inner philosophy to create the Reason, but her own self-confidence issues prevent her from doing so, and she is crushed when Hikawa humiliates her at the Diet Building and [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] how she has been doing nothing but run away from one thing or another and being used as Aradia's patsy. She has a HeroicBSOD there and is vaporized shortly after.]]
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: The [[spoiler:"True Demon"]] ending.
* RedRightHand: [[spoiler:Chiaki]] after her EvilMakeover.
* ScrewDestiny: The [[spoiler:Neutral, Demon and True Demon]] endings.
* SelfDestructiveCharge: Several enemies have suicidal explosive abilities. Leaving them to the brink of health will lead them to prefer killing themselves and blowing up as many of your team as they can instead of waiting patiently to die.
* ShoutOut: Many of the bosses and songs from the Labyrinth of Amala subquest are from previous ''ShinMegamiTensei'' games. Having Kerberos or Orthus in your party changes the BGM of the Cathedral of Shadows to the Jakyo Manor [=BGMs=] from ''Shin Megami Tensei'' and ''Shin Megami Tensei II'' respectively. Also, a hidden debug mode reveals that the developers may have originally planned to include a cameo by Lisa Silverman of ''Persona 2: Innocent Sin'' fame.
** The Fiend "Hell Biker" is an obvious Shout Out to GhostRider. He's a biker with a skull for a face and flaming wheels on his motorcycle. His original name was yet another shout out; it was "Hell's Angel."
** The Lisa Silverman thing was [[http://www.siliconera.com/2010/10/03/more-on-that-lost-shin-megami-tensei-game/ confirmed]] in recently released alpha screenshots of ''SMT III'', though she was evidently removed fairly early in development (her art style isn't even the same as the rest of the game).
*** This wasn't intended to be a cameo. It was just a tech demo. Note that there's also a screenshot of Sid Davis, from the very first ''Devil Summoner'' game, too.
** The Shinjuku Hospital may be one to the location of their headquarters.
* SignatureMove: Fiends love their special moves. Other than them, a handful of demons also have at least one of these.
* SinisterGeometry: There are many structures throughout the Vortex World that don't appear to have been built by human hands at all; they're just ''wrong,'' covered in TronLines and have no furniture or apparent functionality at all.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The final boss music is ''techno''. You'd expect something more orchestral or grandiose considering that [[spoiler:you're fighting an avatar of {{God}}]], though it does serve to underscore just how alien [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] is to the world.
** The techno music is actually quite appropriate for [[spoiler: a giant disco ball.]]
* SocialDarwinist: Chiaki.
* StatisticallySpeaking: Averted, for the most part. Almost any locked door in the game can be unlocked after a certain stat gets to be high enough. You actually are required to if you want to get all 24 Magatama, as there's one behind a door that requires [[spoiler:a base of 25 strength]] to open.
* StatusBuff: The -kaja series of spells (Tarukaja, Makakaja, Rakukaja, Sukukaja) and to a lesser extend Dekunda.
** StatusBuffDispel / Status Debuff: Tarunda, War Cry, Sukunda, Fog Breath, Rakunda, Taunt, Debilitate and to a lesser extent Dekaja. It is also very important: while War Cry and Fog Breath will knock the enemy's fighting capacity and accuracy and evasion by two levels, respectively, Taunt will lower their defense by two levels ''and'' raise their attack power by two.
*** To elaborate: Dekunda and Dekaja removes all -nda and -kaja effects on your party and the enemies, respectively. While you can't buff/debuff using them, they ''are'' useful for removing multiple de/buffs (stacked and/or various).
* StickyFingers: In the Labyrinth of Amala, there are these two ghosts that heal you for [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity an exceedingly modest fee]]. [[spoiler: They drug you, kick you back to the Kalpa entrance and take a whole lot of your money.]]
* SummoningRitual: Both the Cathedral of Shadows and the ritual chamber in Shibuya.
* SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity: The twin ghosts in the Labyrinth. [[spoiler: Trust them at your peril.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th in the Chronicle Edition is identical to Dante of the Maniacs version in pretty much every way, with one major improvement: he learns the pierce skill that Dante's lack of restricted him to AwesomeButImpractical territory.
** Not to mention his slightly-improved versions of Dante's attacks with new animations and better stats. Although the fact that he has pierce is indeed a huge bonus, as it was the lack of it that made Dante near-useless in everyone's eyes.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: ''[[AvertedTrope No]]''. While it ''is'' possible to convince monsters to drop the attack, if the attempt fails by any reason, you ''will'' lose the Press Turn.
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: You can convince monsters to help you (or just leave you alone) by talking to them.
* TeleportersAndTransporters: The Amala Drums. Other examples include several parts of the Fourth Kalpa and the final stretch in the Tower of Kagutsuchi.
** Fiends can also pull you into an Alternate Dimension for Boss Battles through some sort of teleportation magic.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne
* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Played straight in spirit, but literally inverted, in this case. Tokyo has been folded up until it is on the inside of a sphere, so it's not the center of the universe, but rather the edge of it. This has an interesting effect late in the game: if you gain the favor of Masakado, the guardian spirit of Tokyo, you're basically being blessed by the ''universe itself,'' which is why his magatama makes you practically invincible.
* ToHellAndBack: Constantly! Feel free to feel LikeABadassOutOfHell! [[spoiler:[[UpToEleven EXTRA]] {{Badass}} [[FutureBadass after]] [[BeyondTheImpossible reaching the deepest part]]!]]
* TraumaInn - The Fount of Healing.
* TurnsRed: Usually, when bosses start spamming Dragon Eye, you know they're almost dead.
* TwoHeadedCoin: [[DevilMayCry Dante's]] makes an appearance in his {{cameo}}.
* UndergroundLevel: All of the Metro stations.
* UpdatedRerelease: ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax''
** The limited edition of ''Devil Summoner: RaidÅ Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon'' includes a new version of ''Nocturne'', in which Raidou replaces Dante.
*** [[NoExportForYou Only in Japan]].
* UselessUsefulSpell: Averted. You're cruising for a bruising if you don't use [[StatusBuff buffs]] and debuffs during boss fights.
** Averted to the point that the most (arguably) useful spell [[spoiler: Fog Breath, which reduces all enemies' accuracy by half]] can be learned at level 21, from the second magatama.
** Against some of [[spoiler: the four horsemen of Apocalypse]], using petrification against their helpers will make the fight much easier.
** If you manage to freeze or shock your opponent, ''every'' hit becomes a Critical, earning bonus turns. It's even better if you manage to do it on a boss like [[spoiler: Aciel]].
* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The [[spoiler:Tower of Kagutsuchi]].
* ViciousCycle: The Conception itself.
* WaitingPuzzle: The old man in the Fourth Kalpa. [[spoiler: Instead of immediately answering his question as he poses it, wait for three minutes and ''then'' answer "Yes".]]
* WakeUpCallBoss: Matador again. Up to this point, none of the bosses are too much trouble if you play smart and target elemental weaknesses. Then comes Matador, to whom you will lose several times if it's your first time through. (Hint: [[spoiler:you ''will'' need Sukukaja, Sukunda or Fog Breath]].)
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: It's Game Over the moment the Demi Fiend dies.
* WinYourFreedom: The Mantra Army court.
* [[spoiler: TheWorfEffect: If you follow the Musubi Ending, you can see Isamu and Noah slowly dying on the floor. Isamu then remarks that he never knew Chiaki could be so strong.]]
* WorldOfHam: After the conception, demons fully embrace the ham.
* WorldOfSilence: Hikawa's Reason of Shijima seeks this. Unusually, the normally-chaotic demons ''love'' the idea as it means ''everyone'' will be just like God, in essence triggering an universal Enlightenment.
* YetAnotherStupidDeath: Combine NintendoHard with the sometimes long distances between save points and the tendency to get used to certain types of enemies, it's quite possible to frustratingly die like a chump just by having the wrong magatama equipped or the wrong demon in your party when you get to a new game level with different adversaries. Many players have sad stories of ignorance or hubris lamenting a particularly painful GameOver.
* YeOldeButcheredEnglish
* YouAreNotAlone: [[spoiler: Lucifer grants you his protection for choosing his path, and offers you his blessings.]]
* YouCantThwartStageOne: Practically the poster child.
* YourMoneyIsNoGoodHere: Rag's Gem Shop.
->''"Call it what you will--A revelation from {{God}}, or a curse of the demon king. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt The fact remains that our world came to an end]]. A [[TheAntichrist heretic]] called upon an [[LightIsNotGood unearthly light]], and [[ItGotWorse devastation ensued]]. [[CrapsackWorld Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death...nothing but death in this barren land]]. Who can we pray to? [[HellOnEarth There are only demons and fiends here]]..."''
The third main-series game in the ''ShinMegamiTensei'' [=JRPG=] series, and the first since ''Shin Megami Tensei II'' in 1994. It was released in Japan in February 2003, in America in October 2004 and in Europe in July 2005, for the PlayStation2.
Tokyo, [[ExtyYearsFromNow 20XX]]. You and two of your [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent high school classmates]] have gone to visit your sick teacher in hospital, only to find that [[AbandonedHospital the building is eerily deserted]]. The search for your teacher leads you down into the basement of the hospital, where you find evidence of sinister occult experimentation and a mysterious man who is none too happy about your intrusion. Just as he's about to have you killed, you are rescued by the intervention of your teacher, who [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong convinces the man to let you live]] and takes you to the roof.
There, you witness the Conception: the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destruction of the old world]] and its transformation into an embryonic state- [[AfterTheEnd the Vortex World]]- to prepare for its eventual rebirth. [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo becomes a spherical world]] populated by demons and the wandering spirits of those who died during the Conception, with a glowing sphere suspended in its center. You have survived... but during the Conception you encountered a mysterious young boy who [[DealWithTheDevil forcefully implanted you with a creature]] called a Magatama, [[TransformationTrauma transforming your body]] into that of a demon.
Waking up in the hospital with your new demonic body, your struggle for survival in this new, hostile world slowly becomes a battle to determine what form the new world will take. On one side is the Assembly of Nihilo, who wish to create a world of [[WorldOfSilence complete stillness and peace, devoid of emotion]]. Opposing them is the Mantra, a powerful gang who believe in ruling by [[SocialDarwinist strength, passion and fear]].
As the legendary Demi-Fiend, you have the power to decide the fate of the Vortex World. Will you side with one of the emerging armies to help make their idea of a perfect world a reality? Or will you [[KillEmAll destroy them all]] and [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial take the power of creation into your own two hands]]?
The game is largely a dungeon crawler, as you make your way across the ruins of Tokyo looking for answers and your missing friends. Gone are the cyberpunk elements of the previous ShinMegamiTensei games; as your character is a demon you have no need to use a computer to translate and summon. Your party is made up of the main character and [[CharacterMagneticTeam the demons that you have recruited to your cause]]. By talking to demons, you can convince them to give you money, items or to join your party. Most will demand money and items as a bribe before they will listen to you, but some will also pose a philosophical question that you must answer to their satisfaction.
As demons level up extremely slowly, the quickest way to maintain a strong team is to [[HotSkittyOnWailordAction fuse your demons together]] at the Cathedral of Shadows, creating entirely new demons with new powers and some inherited from their previous forms. A handful of demons will also evolve once they have reached a certain level. The Main Character develops by equipping different Magatama, each of which has a set of abilities that will be learned upon leveling up. An additional degree of difficulty is added by the fact that your character can only know eight skills at any one time, and must forget moves to learn new ones; once they are forgotten, they are LostForever.
Battles are conducted with the Press Turn system, where at the start of each round you receive a number of actions equal to the number of characters in your battle party. A normal action consumes one Press Icon, but inflicting a critical hit or attacking the enemy's weakness only consumes half a Press Icon. Thus, by attacking the enemy's weaknesses you maximize the number of turns you get in one round. Unfortunately, attacking an enemy with an element that it is strong against- or missing entirely- consumes two Press Icons, and if the enemy repels or absorbs the attack you lose all your Press Icons. This also applies in reverse; the enemy can attack your weak points to win additional actions for itself and loses actions if you defend yourself correctly. This battle system would go on to be used in ''DigitalDevilSaga'' and in a scaled-down form- the "One More" system- in ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}''.
In January 2004 the game received a UpdatedRerelease in Japan known as ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax''. It balanced a few of the game mechanics, added in a massive optional dungeon (and a new ending and BonusBoss if you complete it) and featured Dante of ''DevilMayCry'' fame as a GuestFighter. Considering that you are a demon and Dante is a demon hunter, you don't exactly meet on good terms. Fortunately, it was this version that was localized and released in the West. In PAL territories it was known as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call'' due to copyright reasons. A second UpdatedRerelease named ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax Chronicle Edition'' came free with Japanese copies of ''RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', replacing Dante with Raidou.
This game is a must-buy for any {{RPG}} enthusiast looking for a greater challenge than your average game and change from traditional fantasy settings. From the ruins of Vortex World Tokyo to the eclectic demon designs and the awesome rock/techno music of Shoji Meguro, there's just no other game like it.
----
!!This game provides examples of:
* AbandonedHospital: The Shinjuku Hygienic Hospital.
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The Great Underpass of Ginza.
* AfterTheEnd: It doesn't get much more "endy" than the world turning into a giant ''egg''.
* TheAlcoholic: Loki. Wastes the entire game not doing much in Nyx's Lounge. This, interestingly, foreshadows what happens to the key you need to get from him to access the last layer of the Labyrinth: [[spoiler:he sold it for booze money]].
* AlienGeometries: Many. The Labyrinth of Amala's warp points between each Kalpa, and the Twelve Meters of Eternity in the Fourth Kalpa.
* AllMythsAreTrue
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Buffs and debuffs.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield: Several. The battle against Samael (you fight him in a warped version of the Diet Building stained glass room, ''which keeps spinning impossibly on an invisible axis'') really stands out, though.
** The Fiend dimension to which you keep getting sucked to also counts, a red, barren strip of land under an eternally raging sky.
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]; one shopkeeper who acts this way implies he's actually straight, but is frequently MistakenForGay.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Manakins. They are made from compound human souls and emotions, and because the Conception killed all the humans except for the Demi-Fiend, Yuko, Chiaki, Isamu, Hikawa, and Hijiri, they are more or less the Vortex World's equivalent to humanity. They have flesh and blood just like true humans, but are also made from the earth, the substance that gives life the easiest.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Beat the game and you get the option to change your outfit at the start of a new cycle. Your choice influences your starting stats.
* [[spoiler: TheAntiChrist: What Lucifer wants you to become. Should you take the True Demon Ending, it happens.]]
* AnticlimaxBoss: Many players were surprised to find the battle against [[spoiler: Lucifer in the True Demon Route]] very underwhelming, especially when compared to the some of other nightmare-inducing [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] of the franchise (DigitalDevilSaga's [[spoiler:Demi-fiend]], anyone?). The only "trick" for the fight is to [[spoiler: keep the skill 'pierce', which you will gain from beating the Fifth Kalpa and use the game-breaking combination of Debilitate + Focus + Freikugel]]. Although to be fair, [[spoiler:it's more of a TrueFinalBoss than a BonusBoss, as you're required to win this fight to beat the game for the True Demon Ending]]. And even though he's not as strong as some [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] in the ShinMegamiTensei series, he's still considered the hardest boss in Nocturne.
** Kagutsuchi can be this. If you take the time to Buff and Debuff to maximum, he's kind of a joke, especially compared to the rather [[{{ThatOneBoss}} brutal battle]] that precedes him.
** [[spoiler:Sakahagi]]. Sure, you fight him right after taking down Girimekhala (the first boss to reflect physical attacks) and given no chance to heal, but he only knows second-tier elemental spells and can be easily taken out in one turn by this point in the game.
* ApocalypseHow: Class X at the beginning with the Conception. Class Z at the end of the True Demon Ending.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Both bosses at Kabukicho Prison, [[spoiler:Mizuchi and Black Frost]]. Both eventually lose the extra mass.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Dante. At the point where you get him, pretty much all you can use him for is the fights against [[spoiler:Metatron and Lucifer]]. And he lacks the Pierce skill which is practically required to beat the latter. On top of this, he can't be used in fusion and you can't use the Compendium to get him back in a NewGamePlus. This pretty much made him useless in comparison with Raidou, his SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute who has better stats ''and'' learns Pierce.
* BadAss: Although many qualify, the Demi-fiend takes the cake. ''Especially'' if you beat the Amala Labyrinth. To elaborate, this quest requires him to beat the crap out of the incarnations of Death (all ten of them, including certified badasses such as [[DevilMayCry Dante]] or [[RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou Kuzunoha]] [[RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon the XIVth]] in the Chronicle Edition), go (literally) into the depths of hell itself through one of the largest, most grueling dungeons known to players, beat both [[spoiler:Lucifer]]'s [[TheDragon Dragon]] Beelzebub and God's Metatron, be appointed the leader of hell's army in the final battle against God after proving his worth and last but not least, he punches out [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] into oblivion to boot.
** By [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] standards, the Demi-fiend is among the most powerful entities to exist. It practically justifies [[spoiler:his [[TheCameo cameo]] as being an [[ThatOneBoss excruciatingly difficult]] BonusBoss]] in Digital Devil Saga.
* BarrierChangeBoss: Noah. [[spoiler: His weakness is changed through Aurora, and his weakness becomes the opposite of what he casts next, so if he casts Agidyne, he's weak to (or to be more precise, doesn't reflect) Bufu spells. He follows a specific pattern.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor - The power to remake the world comes at a price.
* BeneathTheEarth: The subterranean locations. Hope you stocked on Light Balls.
* BigBad: Hikawa, [[spoiler: [[EvilerThanThou Chiaki and Isamu]], and in the True Demon Ending {{God}} becomes this]]. Oddly enough, the FinalBoss isn't this.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: The religious texts of the newly born world will definitely be leaving out a few choice details where the creation myth is concerned. Also, two of the Reasons are portrayed as having ''some'' good points to them, while [[spoiler: Chiaki and Sakahagi]], both following the same philosophy, are the only characters ever canonically referred to as "evil".
* BodyHorror: Many, many instances. [[spoiler: Chiaki and Isamu]]'s mutations are only the beginning. FridgeHorror kicks Fusion Errors into this.
* BoisterousBruiser: Black Frost. Not content with incorporating hee-s {{Verbal Tic}}s in hee-s speech, he goes into full LargeHam mode when confronted, ho.
* BreathWeapon: Fire, Ice and Fog Breath. Only the first two deal actual elemental damage, though.
* BrilliantButLazy: [[NonActionGuy Jyoji Hijiri]]. The man has complete access to the AkashicRecords and knows more about what's going on than anyone else and could probably [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] the [[PersonOfMassDestruction Demi-fiend]] with what he's learned. But he never reveals much and doesn't seem to realize he could create his own [[FisherKing Reason]]. Justified, [[spoiler: since God cursed him. When he finally realizes that he could create his own Reason he dies again.]]
* CanonName: The Main Character is called Naoki Kashima in the radio plays based on the game.
* CharacterMagneticTeam
* CollectorOfTheStrange - The Collector Manikin likes to collect human-made knick-knacks.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Mostly averted, but [[spoiler: Noah]] is highly resistant to almighty attacks. And will change his immunities every turn.
** Some random encounters have Beast Eye. Sound tough? Good, because some of the recruitable ones have ''Dragon Eye'' and will use it ''every fucking turn''.
** Baal Avatar if any of your party members doesn't have Void Curse in some form. She will ''always'' target them first with Bael's Bane, which turns them into a fly - a status ailment that can't be cured by any means (except dying) and renders them utterly ''useless''. Note that only she has the ability to do this.
** Mot sometimes chain-casts "Dragon Eye" while spamming Megidolaon and Makakaja, over and over and over. And then you die.
* ContinuityNod: Plenty in the BonusDungeon. The uber pixie appears in the bonus bosses of ''DigitalDevilSaga'', [[spoiler:which is against the Nocturne player character]], ''{{Persona 3}}'' and ''{{Persona 4}}''.
** Mara [[NeverLiveItDown remembers]] the thing with the slime in ''StrangeJourney''.
* CouncilOfAngels: Who end up siding with Yosuga.
* CreepyChild: The Young Boy (aka [[spoiler:Louis Cypher]])
* CrossoverCosmology
* CursedWithAwesome / BlessedWithSuck: If you end up cursed by the Magatama, you will suffer random status effects (but mostly hitting your own side). However, if you enter the Cathedral of Shadows while cursed, the curse will change several fusion options so the results wind up of the darker races (Fiends, Fouls, Fallens, etc.). The results will also tend to inherit better skills.
* CuteBruiser: Pixie, [[spoiler:if you keep her with you all along and finally take her to the room only she can open on the Fifth Kalpa.]]
* CuteMonsterGirl: Virtually all of the female denizens of the Vortex World, except Datsue-Ba, Kali, and Mother Harlot.
* DarkIsNotEvil
* DarkWorld: Downplaying with the Mirage dimension in Kabukicho Prison. Visually, the lighting and mist actually make it less creepy than real one even if it's upside-down. Then you found how empty rooms in real world are torture chambers to drain Magatsuhi from Manikins in this side.
** Another, smaller example is the World of Shadows in the Red Temple. Which is necessary to traverse in order to reach the floor above.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Hijiri]].
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Some bosses can be summoned only after you have defeated them.
** More "subjugation" than "friendship", though.
* DegradedBoss: Almost every sub-boss becomes a regular enemy not soon after; a large part of the difficulty of a sub-boss battle is that the EnemyScan move doesn't work.
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Aradia]], a goddess from an AlternateUniverse, possesses [[spoiler:Ms. Takao]] halfway through the game.
* DePower: Subverted in the Freedom/Neutral ending. [[spoiler: Judging from Lucifer's words, the main character is still very much powerful despite losing his tattoos. He says to stay strong for the upcoming day where he'll have to fight again.]]
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: If you go to the Third Kalpa chamber and talk to Black Frost with a full roster, he will remain waiting until you come back with an open spot for him. If you ''already'' have a Black Frost, though, he will get annoyed and leave.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In the True Demon ending, the Demi-Fiend [[spoiler: not only kills Kagutsuchi, essentially an avatar of God, but simultaneously annihilates ''every Kagutsuchi in every vortex world'' effectively ending the cycle of creation and destruction]] and then goes out to top himself by [[spoiler: succeeding Lucifer as the General of the LegionsOfHell and goes to wage war against God himself]]. He doesn't just punch out Cthulhu. He has the power to ensure Cthulhu will never get back up again.
* DiscOneFinalDungeon: The Obelisk. It's huge, the puzzles are tricky (even the bosses are a puzzle in a way), you finally get to rescue Yuko, finishing it will turn off the Nightmare System...oh, yeah, and then there's all the stuff after it.
* DiscOneNuke: Fog Breath, which can be learned from the second Magatama at a low level (Lv.21), and basically acts as a double-strength Sukunda that hits all enemies and never misses. Extremely worth the high MP cost, this skill is useful for the entire game. Can also apply to Tornado + Force Boost.
** Or Daisoujou, if you manage to beat and fuse it. It has an almost-GameBreaker skill which allows it to drain HP and SP out of the opponent which drains more SP than it costs, is immune to ailments, has a very high magic stat; the best healing spell in the game which not only heals your party to full HP, it also cures status ailments. The icing on the cake is that the drain skill mentioned above is considered a magic attack, meaning that it can be buffed and an opponent's defense against it de-buffed. Put two and two together and you have a demon that fills its own SP to full and sucks the opponent dry in no time WHILE healing everyone. Needless to say, this demon stays in parties for a long time.
** Dark Might. Available as soon as you leave the hospital as one of Jack Frost's starting skills. Can turn any boss that isn't resistant to physical attacks in a complete joke, as long as your entire party has the skill and you time the battle accordingly. Bright Might works just as well, but appears slightly later.
* DoppelgangerSpin: Ongyo-Ki. You can figure out the real one by [[spoiler:fighting him during a Full Moon and looking for the shadow]]. This only upgrades him from "impossible" to "extremely hard", though.
** Well, until you realize he only uses [[spoiler: physical attacks and buff spells, which can be countered rather easily.]]
* TheDragon: Three in the Amala Labyrinth, one on each of the last three Kalpas.
** The player himself will become this to Isamu or Hikawa if you ally with them sending you to focus on remaking the world while they hold down the fort. Hikawa even puts his former Dragon Samael at your command if you join with him.
*** The player also becomes the Dragon for [[spoiler: Lucifer in the True Demon Ending]].
** Thor to Gozu-Tennoh, and later [[spoiler:Chiaki if you didn't take that spot already]].
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: A human dreams of the Conception before it happens. [[ConspiracyTheorist He thinks aliens from Jupiter did it.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:The Neutral/Freedom ending]].
* EldritchLocation: All of the Vortex World. Particularly interesting examples are the Diet Building, the Obelisk / Tower of Kagutsuchi and the Labyrinth of Amala, though the Assembly of Nihilo's Shiodome base, Kabukicho Prison and to a much lesser extent the Mantra HQ also qualify.
* EmptyShell: The Reason Of Shijima is to turn everyone into this.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Within the first hour, no less.
* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: The whole story is to get to this [[spoiler: if you don't follow Lucifer, anyhow]].
* EstrogenBrigadeBait: It is worth noting that the Main Character ends up spending 95% of the game ''completely shirtless''. A significant number of Norse gods also seem to like showing off quite a bit of toned physique.
** And then there's [[DevilMayCry Dante]], who gets special mention for having [[FemaleGaze a crotch shot]] before jumping off a very tall building.
* EternalRecurrence: The way it's supposed to work. The wheel's broken in the Demon and True Demon endings.
* EverybodysDeadDave: The only true humans that remain after the conception is Yuko, Chiaki, Isamu, Hikawa, Hijiri [[spoiler: or not in Hijiri's case]] and the protagonist (and even then only partly). Everyone else? If they aren't turned into pure Magatsuhi, they either get reincarnated into Manakins, the Vortex World equivalent of humans, who suffer from muscle spasms and are [[spoiler:unable to make their own Reasons unlike real humans]], or they get reincarnated into Souls, the Vortex World equivalent to ghosts, who are mostly friendly but are still unable to do much, being intangible spirits.
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: The Amala Drums.
* EvilerThanThou: Every faction ends up trying to one-up each other.
* EvilIsHammy: Fiends are near-impossibly hammy. Matador's battle quote sums it best:
-->Matador: ''"I swear, by my sword and capote, that once again I shall prove victorious!"''
* EvilMakeover: The Main Character. Later, [[spoiler:Chiaki and Isamu]].
* EvilVersusEvil
* EvolutionaryLevels: Some demons will, contrary to the series' normal expectations, ascend into superior forms. The result of doing this are stronger demons you never get the chance to recruit or even ''see''. The only way to know if a demon can evolve is training it so it gains a level, at which point the game will inform you of the changes.
* EyeScream: In the cutscene in which the Demi-fiend receives the first magatama, it burrows into his body via his eye-socket.
* TheFairFolk: A Pixie is the first demon that joins your cause. Later you visit a construction park that has been completely taken over by Fairy demons.
* FantasyKitchenSink
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Jyoji Hijiri]]'s fate (speculated to be a result of his [[spoiler:[[ShinMegamiTenseiII brief dabbling in deicide]]]]) is to be doomed to an endless cycle of torment, death and rebirth without hope of reincarnation into a better existence. It's implied that {{God}} will do the same thing- or ''worse''- to [[spoiler:the main character in the True Demon ending if He gets his hands on him]].
** [[spoiler: It's also applied that it will happen in the Freedom ending where the Great Will will come after the main character one day for returning the world back to normal. He gets to keep his power for when this happens.]]
* FightWoosh
* FisherKing: The Reasons.
* FrickinLaserBeams: Divine Shot, Spiral Viper, Freikugel.
** Also [[spoiler: Metatron's]] Fire of Sinai attack has him shoot lasers from his eyes.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: If you notice, the "press start button" screen mirrors one of the ending sequences.
* GameWithinAGame: The BlockPuzzle game in Asakusa. [[ThatOneSidequest Prepare some aspirin.]]
* GatelessGhetto
* GlobalCurrency: Macca
* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler:His endless cycle of creating and destroying Earth is more or less genocide to billions and billions of humans]]. Notably, this is among the last times God is portrayed as card-carryingly evil or overly lawful in [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]]; his portrayals in games after this are a bit more sympathetic and understandable.
** Not so much as understandable as more obscure. Strange Journey doesn't pull any punches on God's portrayal but he doesn't get as many hits since [[spoiler: he is not mentioned directly, and only appears as the Demiurge]].
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: According to her backstory, this is what brought [[spoiler:Aradia]] into the Vortex World.
* GoldfishPoopGang: The Spectre.
* GoodIsBoring
* GoodIsDumb: Recruited demons always join as the lowest level possible, making them forget skills they possessed normally; bosses fused have a fraction of the HP they normally have.
** Additionally there are several skills like Dragon Eye that you can never use.
* GroundhogPeggySue: [[spoiler: Played with Hijiri. He gets to live, over and over and over... but he NEVER gets to ''win''.]]
** ''[[FateWorseThanDeath "A task as endless as scooping the ocean with a drinking glass..."]]''
* GuideDangIt: Double whammy since not only is it difficult to know where you're supposed to be going, but the actual guide is very little help.
* HeroicMime
** And when he DOES speak (or at least leave a written message) in DigitalDevilSaga after you beat him ([[HarderThanHard good luck with that, by the way]]), what does he say? One of the most BadAss lines ever:
--->[[spoiler:[[BadassCreed "Death's vastness holds no peace. I come at the end of the long road. Neither human, nor devil... all bends to my will".]]]]
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Hee-ho. He keeps popping up across you in his quest for power, first as a shopkeeper in Shibuya, then visiting the Mantra HQ, and finally at Kabukicho Prison, where he gets his wish, and his story joins with yours.
* HollowWorld: With [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo at the center]] metaphorically and a sun in the center literally.
* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: You have to fight them as part of the Amala subquest.
* {{Hypocrite}}: [[spoiler: Isamu]]. The world he intends to create is based on doing everything by yourself and not relying on others, but he never does anything ''but'' ask for help from others.
** Hikawa too. For a guy supposedly interested in creating a world of stillness and silence, he sure stirs up a lot of chaos and disorder.(e.g. causing The Conception, stirring up and participating in a war between the Mantra and his own followers, the riot at Yoyogi Park, etc.)
* IncomingHam: ''"The flames of the Candelabrum beckon me to the battlefield!"''
* IndecipherableLyrics: The normal battle and boss battle themes contain vocals in the background that pretty much sound like demons screeching gibberish. However, the actual lyrics connect very closely to the plot of the game.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Masakados magatama. Subverts some elements in that, this being [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]], it is pretty ''damn'' useful even as late as you get it. With it on, you become TheJuggernaut stoppable only by a barrage of Almighty attacks.
* ItsAWonderfulFailure: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cZX00grie0 And hopefully you don't mind it]], because you will see it a ''lot''.
** ''Shin Megami Tensei'': where getting sent to Heaven is the ''worst possible thing that can happen to you''.
*** Well, considering that universe's equivalent of "Heaven" and [[GodIsEvil who it is run by]] as far as [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] is concerned...
* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: Played straight in the TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Inverted in the optional dungeon.
* IWorkAlone: The Reason of Musubi is to apply this to the entire Universe. As in, you and you alone are responsible for your corner of the cosmos, free to do as you wish without being able to interfere with others.
* JiveTurkey: Comes as a ''magatama-imparted skill''. Allows you to talk to Foul, Wilder and Haunt demons, who normally are TheUnintelligible.
* KangarooCourt: The Mantra Army Court. Where you prove you're innocent by [[MightMakesRight punching out the judges]].
* LightIsNotGood: Most of the Angel races align themselves with Yosuga, the most blatantly evil of the Reasons. It's almost a MythologyGag that the angels side with a MightMakesRight philosophy and the demons side with the WorldOfSilence side, when in previous games it's been the exact opposite.
** And then we have horrors as Amaterasu's [[SignatureMove Godly Light]]. Yay, 80% of everyone's HP just vanished in a single blow! Not satisfied? How about Kagutsuchi's Vast Light and Infinite Light? Metatron's Fire of Sinai? Radiance for the top angels? Thunderclap?
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Played with. Magical attacks are actually ''less'' effective at high levels due to the damage formula used.
* LiterallyShatteredLives: Get TakenForGranite and there's a chance of this happening if you take a hit. Take a [[BlowYouAway Force]] attack and this happens without fail.
* LonersAreFreaks: Chiaki insists on doing everything by herself. Result: [[spoiler:later on she ''literally'' becomes a freak]].
** [[spoiler:Isamu]] fits the bill better. [[spoiler:His entire philosophy is based around doing everything by yourself, [[BodyHorror and his transformation is way more freaky than Chiaki's, what with friggin' faces growing out of him]].]]
* LostForever: Miss anything in the Shiodome portion of the Assembly of Nihilo and you never get a chance to go back for it.
* LouisCypher: Aka, [[spoiler:the Young Boy and the Old Man]].
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: The Spectre will absorb his brethen and inflate himself to giant size in the first fight against him.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Several, but the Diet Building really stands out.
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: Aradia. She lures Yuko with promises of giving her the power to remake the world and uses her as a pawn in a bid to become real in the new world birthed from the Conception; while supportive, she's not overtly concerned about her well-being and will often use her as an underling without explaining her the exact idea as to why she can't get a Reason from her. You could say Isamu tries to be one - if you're actually listening to his ''very'' poorly thought out {{The Reason You Suck Speech}}es.]]
* MarathonBoss: Noah, unless you have the skill Pierce ''and'' Freikugel, the one combination he can't defend himself successfully against.
* MeaningfulName: Aradia, goddess of falsehood, [[spoiler:isn't really a god at all.]]
* MindScrew: There's plenty of it. One of the most prominent examples is the cutscene where Chiaki reveals her intentions at the Mantra HQ. When did everything become white? Why is she sitting on a desk that definitely wasn't there before? Is this just a hallucination? [[MathematiciansAnswer Yes.]]
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: When Mot disguises himself as a statue, this is how you pick him out from the real statues. (He doesn't create a reflection; the real ones do.)
* MonumentalDamage: The ruins of Shibuya's Scramble is one of the first locations visited during the game.
* MultipleEndings: There are six, depending on what sort of world you want to create. It's unusual, since usually there are only three different endings in the series, one for Law, Chaos, and Balance. The new worlds created don't really resemble the paradise either YHVH or Lucifer strive to create in earlier games, instead:
** [[spoiler: A world of total freedom and isolation]].
** [[spoiler: A world where the weak are slaughtered and the strong rule]].
** [[spoiler: A world of unchanging stillness and silence]].
** [[spoiler: Bring back the old world]].
** [[spoiler: Try to create your own world, but fail, leaving the Vortex World unchanged, or possibly like the Vortex World the way it is intentionally]].
** [[spoiler: Destroy the world [[DeaderThanDead even worse]] and become the new Demon King and lead the forces of darkness to battle God]].
* MusicalNod: When you enter the Cathedral of Shadows during a new Kagutsuchi with series mascot Cerberus in your party, and the music changes to the one used in ''ShinMegamiTenseiI''. You can also do this with Orthrus in the party.
** The ([[WastedSong very underused]]) Amala Network battle theme is quite close to the battle theme from the first game as well (particularly the PS1 version).
** The music used in Ginza was used in towns in ''ShinMegamiTenseiI''. Beelzebub's and Metatron's themes are also the chaos and law themes of the same game.
** The Puzzle Boy music was originally used as the world map music before the missiles hit in ShinMegamiTenseiI. The Fiends battle theme also comes from SMTI.
** The terminal theme is the same as ''ShinMegamiTenseiII'''s terminals.
* MusicalSpoiler: If you're in the Third Kalpa of the Labyrinth [[spoiler:and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngUfhhoRh84 Dante's theme]] starts playing, it means he's about to catch you.]]
* MythologyGag: You get 65535 experience points after beating [[spoiler: Lucifer]]. This was the maximum amount of XP you could earn per battle in ShinMegamiTenseiII because of the variable type that was used in the game.
** Dante uses the same coin when playing Heads or Tails that he did in DevilMayCry 2, [[spoiler:meaning if you pick heads, you always win the gamble.]]
** In DigitalDevilSaga, the last boss has an Amala Drum on its forehead. Given it's an avatar of God, it could spawn orchards of EpilepticTrees by itself.
*** Not really since Schrodinger himself says that [[spoiler:the God worshipped in DDS is a different God after you beat Satan.]]
*** And exactly what is an [[spoiler: entirely foreign God doing with an Amala Drum]], [[WildMassGuessing hmm]]?
** Baal Avatar looks just like the [[{{Persona2}} Bolontiku]]...
** Watch carefully the background during the fight against Mara; there's a small altar with four dolls there. It's the same altar Mekata attempted to use to open a gate to the Abyss in ''ShinMegamiTenseiII''.
** The Super Pixie you can get is summoned by the [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] in Personas 3 and 4.
*** The Demi-Fiend is the BonusBoss of DigitalDevilSaga with the aforementioned Pixie as one of his backup flunkies.
* NewGamePlus: Lets you keep your Demon Compendium, gives you a new choice of wardrobe for the first part of the game and lets you select a "first person" view for that authentic [=MegaTen=] experience.
** It also allows you to get an extra press-turn for the demi-fiend if you complete a certain sidequest in your previous playthrough. Needless to say, this is very important for people who are interested in tackling hard more.
* NiceHat: Isamu. Even his GOD wears it!
** Not only that, it's even lampshaded in-universe where one of the manikins talks about Isamu for a bit and finishes off with "....That hat bugs me".
** Hijiri has one, but almost never puts it on his head.
* NietzscheWannabe: The Assembly of Nihilo. It's even in the name.
* {{Nintendo Hard}}: It's a [[MegamiTensei [=MegaTen=]]] game. OF COURSE IT'S HARD!
** As if to press home the point, the game describes its "Hard" difficulty setting as "A level of difficulty suitable for one seeking the thrill of death".
*** Those playing in hard mode occasionally die to the TUTORIAL battle. Heck, I've seen people die in the TUTORIAL on ''normal'' mode.
** Just for comparison, [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/TClaymore/HOLYSHITDUNGEONSOFMADNESS.png here's a summary of the dungeons]].
* NumberOfTheBeast: The final floor of the Tower of Kagutsuchi is the 666th floor. Beelzebub is given this number in HP when fused, per MegaTen tradition. And then there's the Tomb of Yomi in the Labyrinth of Amala's 666th basement.
* OhCrap: "The flames of the [[color:red:Candelabrum of Sovereignty]] are flickering wildly..."
** "You feel the presence of a terrifying demon...Will you stay here?"
** [[spoiler:Dante]]'s theme whenever [[spoiler: he]] chases you through the Third Kalpa.
*** [[spoiler:Lucifer]]'s true form.
* OneHundredPerCentCompletion: If you fill up the Compendium with ''every'' demon available, you will get a [[BigYes MASSIVE summoning discount]].
* OneWingedAngel: The [[spoiler:three Reason]] bosses. The most notable of them is Baal Avatar, who is both aligned with the angels and has one large wing.
** Before these, [[spoiler:Chiaki]] and [[spoiler:Isamu]] both undergo transformations to power themselves up.
* OrderVersusChaos: Slightly subverted as the three main Reasons don't cleanly fall under "Law" or "Chaos".
** Taken into a broader context (i.e. the other ending possibilities), the three main Reasons fall under "Law."
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: The Main Character, Chiaki, and Isamu.[[spoiler: This doesn't last, though.]]
* OptionalPartyMember: Dante will offer to join your party in the [[BonusLevelOfHell Fifth Kalpa]] for 1 macca or half of your macca. It depends on a [[LuckBasedMission coin flip]]... ''except'' if you've played ''[[DevilMayCry Devil May Cry 2]]'' and know that [[spoiler:he uses a double-sided coin]].
** Also Black Frost after beating him at the prison, and Samael in the final tower if you are allied with Hikawa. Although they can also be fused elsewhere these two will join you on the spot free of charge at a high level regardless if you could fuse them at that point, provided there is a spot for them in the roster.
** It should be noted that you actually ''need'' to recruit Dante at some point if you want the summoning discount, and it's possible to fuse both Samael and Black Frost as soon as you beat them. So Dante's optional unless you want the full compendium. Also, if you go for the True Demon Ending (and if you go to the Fifth Kalpa, you probably are doing just that), then Dante becomes ''useless'' against [[spoiler:Lucifer]] since he can't get Pierce. And no, once you hire him, you're stuck with him till the end of the game.
* PerfectRunFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Lucifer]], who you fight if you complete the Labyrinth of Amala.
* PlanetHeck: The Labyrinth of Amala. Even better, it becomes progressively more so, from the nice-looking First Kalpa to the Magatsuhi-leaking Fifth Kalpa.
** Especially the Cursed Zones. Unless you defeat [[spoiler:Beelzebub]]. [[ScrappyMechanic Let's stroll through the purple haze that sucks out your life, shall we?]]
* PunnyName + BilingualBonus: Futomimi's name means "Fat Ears", referring to how he seems to touch the top of his ear as he prophesises.
* ThePurge: Within the Mantra Army, as Thor kicked out Ongyo-Ki, Fuu-Ki, Sui-Ki and Kin-Ki.
* PuzzleBoss: The Spectre, though Matador can also count [[spoiler:force immunity and accuracy buffs/dodge debuffs]]. The Trumpeter is more of a puzzle game than a fight, considering his attack pattern.
** You might say the Moirae Sisters puzzle/fight at the Obelisk also counts. [[spoiler: Defeat them all in a single go with the Kagutsuchi Phase blocks]].
* PointOfNoReturn: Once you enter the final dungeon or [[spoiler: finish the Labyrinth of Amala]], your ending is set in stone.
* PowerTattoo: Inverted; from what can be inferred from the Neutral ending, the Demi-fiend's tattoos are a side-effect of his power.
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: The entire game becomes one if you choose the True Demon route.
** Although given the MegaTen God, AntiVillain [[VillainProtagonist Protagonist]] seems more appropriate.
* PsychologistTeacher: Yuko appears to be the perfect teacher: smart, strong, wise and confident. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, she suffers from crippling self-doubt and gets easily manipulated by both Hikawa and Aradia]].
** [[spoiler: She also naively thinks Aradia will give her a Reason. Problem? Conception gods ''don't'' give Reasons. As in ''at all''. '''''She's''''' the one who has to develop the inner philosophy to create the Reason, but her own self-confidence issues prevent her from doing so, and she is crushed when Hikawa humiliates her at the Diet Building and [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] how she has been doing nothing but run away from one thing or another and being used as Aradia's patsy. She has a HeroicBSOD there and is vaporized shortly after.]]
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: The [[spoiler:"True Demon"]] ending.
* RedRightHand: [[spoiler:Chiaki]] after her EvilMakeover.
* ScrewDestiny: The [[spoiler:Neutral, Demon and True Demon]] endings.
* SelfDestructiveCharge: Several enemies have suicidal explosive abilities. Leaving them to the brink of health will lead them to prefer killing themselves and blowing up as many of your team as they can instead of waiting patiently to die.
* ShoutOut: Many of the bosses and songs from the Labyrinth of Amala subquest are from previous ''ShinMegamiTensei'' games. Having Kerberos or Orthus in your party changes the BGM of the Cathedral of Shadows to the Jakyo Manor [=BGMs=] from ''Shin Megami Tensei'' and ''Shin Megami Tensei II'' respectively. Also, a hidden debug mode reveals that the developers may have originally planned to include a cameo by Lisa Silverman of ''Persona 2: Innocent Sin'' fame.
** The Fiend "Hell Biker" is an obvious Shout Out to GhostRider. He's a biker with a skull for a face and flaming wheels on his motorcycle. His original name was yet another shout out; it was "Hell's Angel."
** The Lisa Silverman thing was [[http://www.siliconera.com/2010/10/03/more-on-that-lost-shin-megami-tensei-game/ confirmed]] in recently released alpha screenshots of ''SMT III'', though she was evidently removed fairly early in development (her art style isn't even the same as the rest of the game).
*** This wasn't intended to be a cameo. It was just a tech demo. Note that there's also a screenshot of Sid Davis, from the very first ''Devil Summoner'' game, too.
** The Shinjuku Hospital may be one to the location of their headquarters.
* SignatureMove: Fiends love their special moves. Other than them, a handful of demons also have at least one of these.
* SinisterGeometry: There are many structures throughout the Vortex World that don't appear to have been built by human hands at all; they're just ''wrong,'' covered in TronLines and have no furniture or apparent functionality at all.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The final boss music is ''techno''. You'd expect something more orchestral or grandiose considering that [[spoiler:you're fighting an avatar of {{God}}]], though it does serve to underscore just how alien [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] is to the world.
** The techno music is actually quite appropriate for [[spoiler: a giant disco ball.]]
* SocialDarwinist: Chiaki.
* StatisticallySpeaking: Averted, for the most part. Almost any locked door in the game can be unlocked after a certain stat gets to be high enough. You actually are required to if you want to get all 24 Magatama, as there's one behind a door that requires [[spoiler:a base of 25 strength]] to open.
* StatusBuff: The -kaja series of spells (Tarukaja, Makakaja, Rakukaja, Sukukaja) and to a lesser extend Dekunda.
** StatusBuffDispel / Status Debuff: Tarunda, War Cry, Sukunda, Fog Breath, Rakunda, Taunt, Debilitate and to a lesser extent Dekaja. It is also very important: while War Cry and Fog Breath will knock the enemy's fighting capacity and accuracy and evasion by two levels, respectively, Taunt will lower their defense by two levels ''and'' raise their attack power by two.
*** To elaborate: Dekunda and Dekaja removes all -nda and -kaja effects on your party and the enemies, respectively. While you can't buff/debuff using them, they ''are'' useful for removing multiple de/buffs (stacked and/or various).
* StickyFingers: In the Labyrinth of Amala, there are these two ghosts that heal you for [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity an exceedingly modest fee]]. [[spoiler: They drug you, kick you back to the Kalpa entrance and take a whole lot of your money.]]
* SummoningRitual: Both the Cathedral of Shadows and the ritual chamber in Shibuya.
* SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity: The twin ghosts in the Labyrinth. [[spoiler: Trust them at your peril.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th in the Chronicle Edition is identical to Dante of the Maniacs version in pretty much every way, with one major improvement: he learns the pierce skill that Dante's lack of restricted him to AwesomeButImpractical territory.
** Not to mention his slightly-improved versions of Dante's attacks with new animations and better stats. Although the fact that he has pierce is indeed a huge bonus, as it was the lack of it that made Dante near-useless in everyone's eyes.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: ''[[AvertedTrope No]]''. While it ''is'' possible to convince monsters to drop the attack, if the attempt fails by any reason, you ''will'' lose the Press Turn.
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: You can convince monsters to help you (or just leave you alone) by talking to them.
* TeleportersAndTransporters: The Amala Drums. Other examples include several parts of the Fourth Kalpa and the final stretch in the Tower of Kagutsuchi.
** Fiends can also pull you into an Alternate Dimension for Boss Battles through some sort of teleportation magic.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne
* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Played straight in spirit, but literally inverted, in this case. Tokyo has been folded up until it is on the inside of a sphere, so it's not the center of the universe, but rather the edge of it. This has an interesting effect late in the game: if you gain the favor of Masakado, the guardian spirit of Tokyo, you're basically being blessed by the ''universe itself,'' which is why his magatama makes you practically invincible.
* ToHellAndBack: Constantly! Feel free to feel LikeABadassOutOfHell! [[spoiler:[[UpToEleven EXTRA]] {{Badass}} [[FutureBadass after]] [[BeyondTheImpossible reaching the deepest part]]!]]
* TraumaInn - The Fount of Healing.
* TurnsRed: Usually, when bosses start spamming Dragon Eye, you know they're almost dead.
* TwoHeadedCoin: [[DevilMayCry Dante's]] makes an appearance in his {{cameo}}.
* UndergroundLevel: All of the Metro stations.
* UpdatedRerelease: ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax''
** The limited edition of ''Devil Summoner: RaidÅ Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon'' includes a new version of ''Nocturne'', in which Raidou replaces Dante.
*** [[NoExportForYou Only in Japan]].
* UselessUsefulSpell: Averted. You're cruising for a bruising if you don't use [[StatusBuff buffs]] and debuffs during boss fights.
** Averted to the point that the most (arguably) useful spell [[spoiler: Fog Breath, which reduces all enemies' accuracy by half]] can be learned at level 21, from the second magatama.
** Against some of [[spoiler: the four horsemen of Apocalypse]], using petrification against their helpers will make the fight much easier.
** If you manage to freeze or shock your opponent, ''every'' hit becomes a Critical, earning bonus turns. It's even better if you manage to do it on a boss like [[spoiler: Aciel]].
* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The [[spoiler:Tower of Kagutsuchi]].
* ViciousCycle: The Conception itself.
* WaitingPuzzle: The old man in the Fourth Kalpa. [[spoiler: Instead of immediately answering his question as he poses it, wait for three minutes and ''then'' answer "Yes".]]
* WakeUpCallBoss: Matador again. Up to this point, none of the bosses are too much trouble if you play smart and target elemental weaknesses. Then comes Matador, to whom you will lose several times if it's your first time through. (Hint: [[spoiler:you ''will'' need Sukukaja, Sukunda or Fog Breath]].)
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: It's Game Over the moment the Demi Fiend dies.
* WinYourFreedom: The Mantra Army court.
* [[spoiler: TheWorfEffect: If you follow the Musubi Ending, you can see Isamu and Noah slowly dying on the floor. Isamu then remarks that he never knew Chiaki could be so strong.]]
* WorldOfHam: After the conception, demons fully embrace the ham.
* WorldOfSilence: Hikawa's Reason of Shijima seeks this. Unusually, the normally-chaotic demons ''love'' the idea as it means ''everyone'' will be just like God, in essence triggering an universal Enlightenment.
* YetAnotherStupidDeath: Combine NintendoHard with the sometimes long distances between save points and the tendency to get used to certain types of enemies, it's quite possible to frustratingly die like a chump just by having the wrong magatama equipped or the wrong demon in your party when you get to a new game level with different adversaries. Many players have sad stories of ignorance or hubris lamenting a particularly painful GameOver.
* YeOldeButcheredEnglish
* YouAreNotAlone: [[spoiler: Lucifer grants you his protection for choosing his path, and offers you his blessings.]]
* YouCantThwartStageOne: Practically the poster child.
* YourMoneyIsNoGoodHere: Rag's Gem Shop.
