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2%% When spoiler-tagging something, please DO NOT hide the name of the specific game you are spoiling. Leave the work title in plain view so others know what work is going to be spoiled, or don't post the spoiler at all.
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4[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SMTImagine_1926.JPG]]
5[[caption-width-right:350: What will you do? Burn a path of Chaos with the flesh of the lawful, pave a road of Order with the blood of Demons, or create your own future?]]
6->''"'What’s at the end of the universe? Is there an end?' I think most people have asked this sort of question at some point in their life. Personally, I just love thinking about things like that. Even though humans are part of the universe, nobody knows why the universe exists, or how humans came into being. A philosophical approach is the only way we can reach some kind of conclusion. That’s exactly what myths are-philosophical explanations of the universe and man-and why I love myths so much. The demons in the Megaten series all appear with these questions. It’s not wrong to put everything into simple “good” and “evil”, like in other games, but what’s right and wrong can be completely different, depending on your position and perspective; it’s very ambiguous. So I say, why not let each player tackle that question of what’s right and wrong?"''.
7-->--'''Kazuma Kaneko in an [[https://www.escapistmagazine.com/interview-behind-the-scenes-of-shin-megami-tensei/ interview]] for ''Website/TheEscapist'''''
8
9''Shin Megami Tensei'' (Japanese for "True Reincarnation of the Goddess", though it has been kept as an UntranslatedTitle in English releases), also known as ''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname MegaTen]]'', is a [[VideoGameLongRunners long-running]] series of {{JRPG}} {{Dungeon Crawler}}s and {{spinoff}}s developed and published by Creator/{{Atlus}}. In Japan, it has been a direct competitor to ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' and ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' since TheEighties, while in the West it only gained real popularity with ''Persona 3'' in 2006, despite numerous localizations going all the way back to the 1990s.
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11Originally based on a novel series called ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'', the games tend to involve using [[CyberPunk technology]] to summon and control [[FantasyKitchenSink mythological figures from nearly every culture on the planet]], as well as [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]], [[DeconstructorFleet deconstructions of common RPG storylines]] and [[OurMonstersAreWeird far-out monster designs]].
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13Thematically, the series emphasizes following one's own beliefs: plots tend to revolve around the forces of [[OrderVersusChaos Order and Chaos]] battling it out for supremacy, and the player is generally given complete freedom in deciding which side is "right". [[TakeAThirdOption If neither side takes their fancy]], the player can even [[OmnicidalNeutral kick both sides' butts]] and declare humanity ([[ViciousCycle temporarily]]) free of either. Depending on the game, there may be other options.
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15The games also tend to be NintendoHard. Elemental affinities, buffing, and debuffing are far more effective than in most [=JRPG=]s and can make or break battles. In an aversion of UselessUsefulSpell, [[OneHitKill instant death]] and [[StatusEffects ailment]] attacks are both effective and encouraged ''repeatedly''. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' further introduced the Press Turn battle system to the series, where hitting an enemy's elemental weakness will reward the player with more actions whereas hitting their elemental strengths will cost the player actions. Variations of Press Turn went on to be adopted in multiple later [=MegaTen=] games, such as the "One More!" system in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', ''[[VideoGame/Persona4 4]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/Persona5 5]]''.
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17Although a majority of these games were released outside Japan under the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' label from ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'' (2003) to ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' (2011), in Japan only a handful of main series titles bear that name; the rest are spin-offs unofficially known as [=MegaTen=] titles. The ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'', ''Devil Summoner'', ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', and ''Devil Survivor'' series are the best-known of these spin-offs in the West. ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'', despite not being a series due to only being one game, is also a well-known [=MegaTen=] game. Regardless, many include references to other [=MegaTen=] games and [[TheCameo intra-franchise character cameos]].
18
19[[foldercontrol]]
20
21[[folder:List of games]]
22[[index]]
23* ''Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei'' [[note]]"Old Testament" Megami Tensei. Has an unofficial translation of the Super Famicom version.[[/note]]
24** ''[[VideoGame/MegamiTensei Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei]]'' (1987, Japan only): A loose adaptation of [[Literature/DigitalDevilStory its namesake novel]]. After the demon Loki unleashes his hellish hordes upon the world, Akemi Nakajima must team up with Yumiko Shirasagi to drive them back and save the world.
25** ''[[VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II]]'' (1990, Japan only): 35 years after the world was devastated by nuclear war, two youths from a fallout bunker join forces with the demon Pazuzu to save the world.
26* ''Shin Megami Tensei''
27** ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI Shin Megami Tensei]]'' (1992, Japan only) [[note]]has fan translations for the Super Famicom, Game Boy Advance, and [=PlayStation=] versions; iOS version was officially translated in 2014, but has since been delisted[[/note]]: As the city of Kichijoji spirals into chaos, a young man is granted a special device to commune with demons, and must rally his allies to combat the darkness that is fast approaching.
28** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' (1994, Japan only) [[note]]has an unofficial translation of the Super Famicom version; iOS version was available in 2012, but in Japanese and has since been delisted[[/note]]: Decades after the events of the previous game, a young arena fighter is thrust into a war between devils and angels for the fate of humanity, a war in which he is destined to play a key role.
29** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'' (1994, Japan only) [[note]]has an unofficial translation of the Super Famicom version; iOS version was available in 2013, but in Japanese and has since been delisted[[/note]]: When an attempt at petty vengeance goes horrifically awry, the students of Karukozaka High School must find a way to survive after they and their school are sent into the demonic realm.
30*** ''Shin Megami Tensei: if... Hazama's Chapter'' (2004, Japan only) [[note]]cellphone game; prequel to ''if...''[[/note]]
31** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNINE'' (2002, Japan only): Set between ''[=SMT1=]'' and ''[=SMT2=]'', humanity has taken shelter from nuclear war in a virtual world called "Idea Space", but soon find themselves beset by the "Noise": demons made manifest within virtual reality.
32** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' (2003) [[note]]Retitled ''Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call'' in PAL regions[[/note]]: When the world is destroyed and the greater Tokyo area is reduced to primordial chaos, a young man will be turned into a partial demon and must fight for the kind of world he wants.
33** ''Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX'' (2004, Japan only) [[note]]cellphone game; a "What If?" scenario where the Order of Messiah won in SMT 1[[/note]]
34** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiImagine'' (2007 to 2016) [[note]]MMORPG; had a run in the US from 2008 to 2014[[/note]]
35** ''Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX Devil's Colosseum'' (2008, Japan only) [[note]]cellphone game; prequel to SMT 20XX[[/note]]
36** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' (2009): When a mysterious field of dark energy envelops Antarctica, an international team of scientists and soldiers venture into the "Schwartzfeld" to investigate and determine how to prevent it from engulfing the world.
37*** ''Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux'' (2017)
38*** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiSynchronicityPrologue'' (2017) [[note]]Something of an official joke fangame made prior to the Japanese release of ''Strange Journey Redux''[[/note]]
39** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' (2013): A warrior from the angel-blessed village of Mikado ventures into the demon-infested ruins of Tokyo, becoming caught up in a war that has been waging since antiquitiy.
40*** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' (2016): A GaidenGame taking place around the same time as ''[=SMT4=]'': A native of Tokyo makes a deal with a demon after a brush with death. In exchange for his life, however, he must play his part in the demons' war against the heavens.
41** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiLiberationDx2'' (2018) [[note]]A [[AllegedlyFreeGame free-to-play mobile game]] spinoff. [=Dx2=] stands for "Devil Downloader", in case you were wondering.[[/note]]
42** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' (2021): When the world is completely broken and infested with demons, a high school student merges with the godlike Aogami, gaining new power that will be instrumental in determining the fate of the world.
43* ''VideoGame/LastBible'' sub-series
44** ''Last Bible'' (1992) [[note]]Game Boy Color port was localized as ''Revelations: The Demon Slayer'' in 1999, complete unofficial translation for Game Gear port.[[/note]]
45** ''Last Bible II'' (1993, Japan only) [[note]]completed unofficial translation[[/note]]
46** ''Another Bible'' (1995, Japan only) [[note]]completed unofficial translation[[/note]]
47** ''Last Bible III'' (1995, Japan only) [[note]]completed unofficial translation[[/note]]
48** ''Last Bible Special'' (1995, Japan only) [[note]]completed unofficial translation[[/note]]
49* ''Majin Tensei'' sub-series
50** ''VideoGame/MajinTensei'' (1994, Japan only) [[note]]completed unofficial translation[[/note]]
51** ''VideoGame/MajinTenseiIISpiralNemesis'' (1995, Japan only) [[note]]completed unofficial translation[[/note]]
52** ''VideoGame/{{Ronde}}'' (1997, Japan only)
53* ''Devil Summoner'' sub-series
54** ''VideoGame/{{Devil Summoner}}'' (1995, Japan only)
55** ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' (1997) [[note]]was Japan only, until a 3DS re-release in 2013.[[/note]]
56** ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'' (2006)
57** ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'' (2008)
58** ''VideoGame/SoulHackers2'' (2022)
59* ''VideoGame/JackBros.'' (1995, Platform/VirtualBoy)
60* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' sub-series [[note]]Western releases stopped [[DolledUpInstallment dolling up]] entries with the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' label starting with ''Persona 4 Arena''[[/note]]
61** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' (1996) [[note]]originally ''Megami Ibunroku: Persona: Be Your True Mind''[[/note]]
62** ''VideoGame/Persona2'' duology
63*** ''Persona 2: Innocent Sin'' (1999) [[note]]was once Japan only, until its PSP re-release in 2011[[/note]]
64*** ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment'' (2000) [[note]]the 2012 PSP re-release is Japan only, but the [=PS1=] version is available for purchase on the Plyastation Vita[[/note]]
65** ''VideoGame/Persona3'' (2006)
66*** ''Persona 3 FES'' (2007)
67*** ''Persona 3 Portable'' (2009)
68*** ''VideoGame/Persona3DancingInMoonlight'' (2018)
69*** ''VideoGame/Persona3Reload'' (2024)
70** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' (2008)
71*** ''Persona 4 Golden'' (2012)
72*** ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' (2012)
73*** ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' (2014)
74*** ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight'' (2015)
75** ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'' (2014)
76*** ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'' (2018)
77** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' (2016)
78*** ''VideoGame/Persona5DancingInStarlight'' (2018)
79*** ''Persona 5 Royal'' (2019)
80*** ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'' (2020)
81*** ''VideoGame/Persona5ThePhantomX'' (2023)
82*** ''VideoGame/Persona5Tactica'' (2023)
83* ''[[VideoGame/GitenMegamiTensei Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation]]'' (1997, Japan only)
84* ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' sub-series
85** ''Devil Children: Red Book/Black Book'' (2000, Japan only)
86** ''Devil Children: White Book'' (2001, Japan only)
87** ''Devil Children: Card Summoner'' (2001, Japan only)
88** ''[=DemiKids=]: Book of Light/Book of Darkness'' (2002)
89** ''Devil Children: Puzzle de Call!'' (2003, Japan only)
90** ''Devil Children: Book of Ice/Book of Fire'' (2003, Japan only)
91** ''Devil Children: Messiah Riser'' (2004, Japan only)
92** ''Devil Children Mobile'' (2011, Japan only)
93* ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' sub-series
94** ''Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner'' (2004)
95** ''Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2'' (2005)
96** ''Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner: A's TEST Server'' (2006, Japan only)
97* ''Devil Survivor'' sub-series
98** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' (2009) [[note]]originally ''Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor''[[/note]]
99*** ''Devil Survivor Overclocked'' (2011)
100** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' (2011)
101*** ''Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker'' (2015)
102* ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' (2011) %% Per Ask the Tropers, due to being based around Astaroth/Ishtar (single combined character with male and female avatars specific to SMT franchise) and having the same Urban Fantasy Order Versus Chaos Central Themes, Karma Meter and Multiple Ending mechanics (along with multiple other secondary connections), this game meets this site's definition of a spin-off. Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
103** ''Catherine: Full Body'' (2019)
104* ''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'' (2015) [[note]]Formerly known as ''Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem''. A {{Crossover}} where Atlus basically made a [=MegaTen=] spinoff using the mythology of Creator/IntelligentSystems's ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' franchise.[[/note]]
105** ''Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore'' (2020)
106[[/index]]
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:List of animated adaptations and installments]]
110[[index]]
111* ''[[Literature/DigitalDevilStory Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei]]'' (1987)
112* ''Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation'' (1995)
113* ''Shin Megami Tensei: [=DeviChil=]'' (2000)
114* ''Shin Megami Tensei: D-Children Light & Dark'' (2002)
115* ''Anime/PersonaTrinitySoul'' (2008)
116* ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation'' (2011)
117* ''Anime/Persona3TheMovie'' (2013-2016)
118* ''Anime/DevilSurvivor2TheAnimation'' (2013)
119* ''Anime/Persona4TheGoldenAnimation'' (2014)
120* ''Anime/Persona5TheDayBreakers'' (2016)
121* ''Anime/Persona5TheAnimation'' (2018)
122[[/index]]
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:List of literary works and adaptations]]
126[[index]]
127* ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'' Trilogy (1986)
128* ''Shin Megami Tensei: if...'' (1995)
129* ''Shin Megami Tensei: Kahn'' (1995)
130* ''[[Manga/{{Persona1}} Megami Ibunroku Persona]]'' (1996)
131* ''Megami Ibunroku Persona: Shadow Maze'' (1997)
132* ''Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Konton'' (2003)
133* ''That's Catch-22'' (2005)
134* ''Manga/Persona3'' (2007-2017)
135* ''Manga/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheLoneMarebito'' (2009)
136* ''Literature/QuantumDevilSagaAvatarTuner'' (2011)
137* ''Literature/PersonaXDetectiveNaoto'' (2012)
138* ''Devil Survivor 2 The Animation: Cetus's Prequel'' (2013)
139* ''Shin Megami Tensei IV DEMONIC GENE'' (2013)
140* ''Shin Megami Tensei IV -Prayers-'' (2013)
141[[/index]]
142[[/folder]]
143
144[[folder:List of live-action works and adaptations]]
145[[index]]
146* ''Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner'' (1997-1998)
147* ''Persona 4 Visualive'' (2012)
148** ''Persona 4 Visualive the Evolution'' (2013)
149* ''Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena Stageplay'' (2014)
150** ''Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Stageplay'' (2016)
151* ''Theatre/Persona3TheWeirdMasquerade'' (2014-2017)
152* ''Persona 5 The Stage'' (2019)
153[[/index]]
154[[/folder]]
155
156An extensive article about the games in the series can be found [[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten.htm here]]. There's also a comprehensive database of all the games in French [[http://shindds.free.fr/index.php here]]. [[Characters/ShinMegamiTensei Also has a massive character sheet, which is under construction]].
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158For tropes exclusive to the ''Persona'' sub-series, please check [[Franchise/{{Persona}} this page]].
159
160----
161!!Examples: This section is for universal tropes related to the series as a whole. Please place tropes related to specific games in their own article, if it exists.
162
163[[folder: A-C]]
164* AboveTheGods: Fitting for a franchise which liberally applies AllMythsAreTrue, there are forces which exist above gods and demons.
165** The Great Will, first mentioned in ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'', YHVH describes himself as being a small part of an entity which controls infinite universes. It is described as a core being who is both responsible for reality being the way it is (''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV V]]'') and being ''reality itself'' (UpdatedReRelease for ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII''). It has various manifestations acting on its behalf across [[AlternateContinuity Alternate Continuities]], with YHVH being its most recurring one. Despite the prominent GodIsEvil tendencies of its agents, it is up to interpretation if any of that reflects its intentions, because each one is a manifestation of the very forces and laws governing the world(s) they operate in (and for many worlds, that includes [[DeityOfMortalCreation human perception]]). It is also a constant subject of {{Unreliable Narrator}}s who tend to describe it with various bias, with the Law faction typically claiming to act on its behalf.
166** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' introduces the Great Reason (translated as the Axiom). It is described as both the origin of everything in ''IV'' and ''Apocalypse'' set of universes (possibly even beyond), and the collective summation of all its components and entities. It is not sentient in a way lesser beings could really understand: its known actions are responses to the collective which makes up its whole. Despite its similarities with the Great Will, limited information both in and [[AllThereInTheManual out of universe]] makes it impossible to say for certain if these two are two names for the same entity or if they are distinct beings.
167* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The series has a habit of featuring Sewers big enough to house entire cities. Particular offenders include the Great Underpass of Ginza in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'' and the Samsara Tunnels in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga''.
168* AcademyOfAdventure: High schools in ''[=MegaTen=]'' games usually turn out to be built on a HellGate or a front for an AncientConspiracy.
169* AdaptationalHeroism: The various demons change morality from one work to another to suit the story, but one who consistently gets this trope is Ishtar. In real-life Myth/MesopotamianMythology, she was an exceedingly unpleasant deity even in comparison to Old Testament YHVH who frequently killed people, sent natural disasters to them, or turned them into animals [[ItAmusedMe for fun]]. At one point in Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh she threatens to raise the dead and have them eat the living, in the earliest known reference to a ZombieApocalypse in human history. Her only totally altruistic quality was her love for her husband Tammuz (despite frequently cheating on him), whom she saved from [[EverybodyHatesHades Nergal]] every year to bring spring to the world. In SMT she's a helpful, nurturing mother goddess who is frequently abused by YHVH essentially just for being from a competing pantheon, and often ends up being forcibly turned into the demon Astaroth by Him.
170* AffablyEvil: Most demons are happy to talk with you in the middle of a battle about their lives and interests; however, this won't stop them from tearing you limb from limb if you piss them off.
171* AfterCombatRecovery: Victory Cry is a passive skill that restores the user's entire HP and MP/SP after winning a battle. Given that [[MagicIsRareHealthIsCheap MP/SP is meant to be difficult to recharge]] without leaving the current dungeon for the nearest TraumaInn, the skill is usually only available on late-game demons/Personas.
172* AliceAllusion: Alice, the CuteGhostGirl who has been a RecurringCharacter since ''Shin Megami Tensei'', regularly makes {{Shout Out}}s to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland''. The Mad Hatter, White Rabbit, Jabberwocky, Trump Soldier, and March Hare have also made appearances in the franchise.
173* AlignmentBasedEndings: Many of the games have a choice between [[OrderVersusChaos Order, Chaos or Neutral]] endings. What each alignment ''means'' can vary, however, and some of the games mix the formula up and go for endings that don't directly match up with these alignments.
174* AllMythsAreTrue: All mythical creatures from various folklore and religions are real in one form or another, including {{God}} and [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]].
175* AllianceWithAnAbomination: The series has you forming contracts and summoning various supernatural beings from any and all kinds of mythologies. This ranges from weak [[TheFairFolk Pixies]] to [[{{Satan}} Satan and Lucifer]]. Some of the games even feature Lovecraftian monsters like Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep themselves.
176* AlternateContinuity: The franchise has multiple continuities running through its numerous games.
177** For the mainline series, ''SMT I'' and ''II'' occur in one universe, while ''Nocturne'', ''Strange Journey'', and ''IV'' (along with its pseudo-sequel ''IV: Apocalypse'') each occur in their own self-contained universes, with ''IV'' and ''Apocalypse'' being {{Alternate Timeline}}s to each other connected via [[PlaceBeyondTime the Expanse]]. ''V'' has a lot of CallBack to ''Nocturne'' and like ''IV'' duology might be different universes in the same continuity (connected by [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds the Amala]]), but there are enough ContinuitySnarl to be read as its own continuity as well.
178** ''SMT If...'', the original ''Devil Summoner'', ''Soul Hackers'', ''Persona 1'' ''Persona 2'', and ''Soul Hackers 2'' share continuity with each other, being a split timeline of the original ''SMT'' timeline. ''Persona 2'' has its own timeline split due to the events of ''Innocent Sin'', resulting in ''Eternal Punishment'': [[spoiler:the new timeline was supposed to overwrite the previous one, but as a result of Tatsuya refusing to forget his childhood memories, his spirit persists into the new world and becomes a ParadoxPerson, and the two realities become parallel universes]].
179** ''Raidou Kuzunoha'' acts as a prequel to both ''SMT I'' and the original ''Devil Summoner'', existing in both continuities at once (the events of ''Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army'' likely having some effect on the timeline split).
180** ''Giten Megami Tensei'' and ''SMT NINE'' are alternate continuties of ''SMTI'', sharing the same basic premise (a nuclear war caused by Thorman and Gotou) but incompatible with its plot and having their own lore. Similarly, ''SMT IMAGINE'' is a sequel to ''SMTI'', but incompatible with ''SMTII''.
181** The original ''Megami Tensei'' continuity (''MT 1'', ''MT 2'' and the ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'' novels); the ''Majin Tensei'' strategy game continuity; the VideoGame/DragonQuest-esque ''VideoGame/LastBible'' continuity; the Franchise/{{Pokemon}}-esque ''VideoGame/DevilChildren''/''[=DemiKids=]'' continuity; then the ''Digital Devil Saga'' duology, ''Devil Survivor'', and ''Devil Survivor 2'' standalone games are all set in their own universes with little to no connection to the rest of the series. ''Digital Devil Saga'' has a few references to both ''Nocturne'' and ''SMT II'', but the game itself is completely self-contained and is not chronologically connected to either.
182* AlternateSelf:
183** Related to AlternateContinuity above, demons and gods and other entities with the same name from different continuities are existences completely independent from each other. Even incarnations of [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiYHVH YHVH]] and [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiLucifer Lucifer]] can vary wildly in history and personality. However, there are exceptions -- there are several hints implying, and in some cases outright confirming, that certain characters are in fact moving across different continuities. Outside of those few confirmed ones, deciding exactly which ones aren't subject to this trope are basically Headscratchers.
184** This trope is also used to justify CharacterizationMarchesOn and DependingOnTheWriter. While most recurring demons and gods generally follow specific characterizations, that may change to fit with whatever themes to be explored in a game. This is most obvious with the demons who are involved with OrderVersusChaos conflicts: [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiForcesOfLaw the angels of Law]], [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiForcesOfChaos the forces of Chaos]], many of whom don't have as strict characterization as one might think. Gabriel for example, is a typical KnightTemplar and a male angel in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', but after being defeated and coming BackFromTheDead becomes [[OnlySaneMan the Only Sane Archangel]] and [[GenderBender a female angel]] in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', despite being explicitly set in the same world.
185* {{Ambadassador}}: Most characters become this once they get the hang of demonic contracts and negotiation.
186* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: The first SMT game to come to the US, ''Jack Bros.'' for the Virtual Boy, had realistic versions of the titular characters on the cover, rather then the cartoon ones seen in-game and on the Japanese cover.
187* AnAesop:
188** Being mindlessly extremist, especially when it means ignoring your own humanity, will almost certainly end in disaster. You cannot blindly follow someone, even your greatest hero, without thinking for yourself and questioning their actions when you don't feel comfortable with what they've done.
189** Law/Order and Chaos must exist in a careful balance, as each becomes corrupt in the absence of the other, leading to the above situation involving extremists.
190* AntiDebuff: Dekunda, a spell that removes all debuffs currently active on the user's party. Both players and enemies can use it.
191* AntiGrinding: The TropeCodifier for getting less EXP from a given enemy as your level gets higher. This "diminishing returns" system has become a mainstay in modern {{Eastern RPG}}s.
192* ApocalypseHow: As a franchise based around TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, it's covered many different levels of the Apocalypse, including a Planetary Societal Collapse in ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI SMT I]]'', near Planetary Total Extinction in ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII SMT II]]'', Universal Physical Annihilation in one ending of ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne Nocturne]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV SMT IV]]''. Many games also add EndOfTheWorldSpecial flavours to it.
193* [[ArchangelUriel Archangels Uriel]], [[ArchangelRaphael Raphael]], [[ArchangelGabriel Gabriel]] and [[ArchangelMichael Michael]]: Loyal, devout followers of YHVH; the Four Archangels tend to be CoDragons during the early games, with Michael serving as the FinalBoss of ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI SMT I]]'' and three out of four them being TheHeavy for ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII II]]''. Interestingly, their roles have been reduced in the recent games, with all four of them turning out to be [[spoiler:pieces of Satan]] in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse Apocalypse]]''. They also appear to serve [[spoiler:Yaldabaoth]] in ''VideoGame/Persona5''.
194* AreYouSureYouWantToDoThat: The franchise often asks this of you when confronting [[DifficultySpike Fiends]]. The warnings are entirely justified.
195* ArmlessBiped: A number of demons, such as the reoccurring demon Take-Minakata (reportedly, Kazuma Kaneko's favorite) and [[VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga Hayagriva]].
196* ArmorPiercingAttack: The element Almighty is rarely ever completely defended against. Certain games have Pierce skills, which turn certain attack types into this. The "Hunt" skills in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' also ignore all sorts of immunities.
197* TheArtifact: The SMT version of Cerberus, excepting the ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'', ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' incarnations, looks nothing like the Greek myth it's supposedly based on, looking more like a lion-maned wolf with a segmented, serpentine tail, and often with shell-like armor. This is because the [[Literature/DigitalDevilStory original novel, and the anime based upon it]], gave him this appearance, which was then followed by the Famicom ''Megami Tensei'' games. The first Super Famicom SMT game then paid homage to this design by [[CrutchCharacter allowing you to fuse Pascal, the protagonist's loyal Husky, with any demon in your stock]], resulting in a "Cerberus" very similar to the above. Many other games in the franchise continued in this vein, with minor differences between one another.
198** Likewise Loki, whose early appearance as a blue (or purple) scaly giant with fangs and a massive head of hair harks back to the OVA adaptation of the original novel. More recent games merely smoothed him out to purple skin instead of scales.
199* ArtifactTitle: Only a few games in the "Goddess Reincarnation" series actually involve a reincarnated goddess: [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Izanami]] in ''Megami Tensei'', [[UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}} Sophia]] in ''Shin Megami Tensei: NINE'', [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Isis]] in ''Shin Megami Tensei Imagine'', [[MotherNature Mem Aleph]] in ''Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey'', maybe [[AdamAndOrEve Eve]] in ''Shin Megami Tensei I'', and ''Shin Megami Tensei IV'' has [[spoiler:Lady Danu through Nozomi in ''Rebirth of the Lady'', Amaterasu in ''Resurrection of the Koushoushin'', Ishtar in ''Ishtar, Goddess of Harvest'', and the "goddess of Tokyo" being resurrected on the Neutral path.]]
200* ArtificialBrilliance: Something which contributes to the franchise's NintendoHard status. Using conventional tactics (IE attacking certain enemies' weaknesses) or certain game-breaking ones (such as reflecting everything) will cause enemies to [[ArtificialBrilliance respond in kind]].
201* ArtificialHuman: Many characters in the ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' were genetically engineered in test tubes, and the ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' games feature biological "digital clones".
202* AsianLionDogs: The Shiisa has been a recurring monster that the party can recruit. They resemble both dogs and lions and are described as holy beings said to protect against ill-luck and evil spirits.
203* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: Many antagonists can never be truly destroyed as long as certain negative aspects of humans remain.
204** [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII YHVH]]: As long as even one person believes in the need for order and rules to be obeyed, ''or'' as long as one person believes in or desires a Supreme Being.
205** [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV Lucifer]]: As long as humans long for freedom.
206** [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Shinado]]: As long as despair exists.
207** [[VideoGame/Persona2 Nyarlathotep]], [[VideoGame/Persona3 Erebus]], [[VideoGame/Persona4 Izanami]], [[VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax Kagutsuchi]], and [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/Persona5 Yaldabaoth]]]]: As long as humans are self-destructive, want to die, ignore the truth, or desire absolute order.
208** [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney The Schwartzwelt]]: As long as humans carelessly abuse nature.
209** [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV The White]]: As long as humans despair about being prisoners of some predetermined "fate".
210* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: The various Chaos factions generally strive to build a world where strength leads to freedom and being in charge. Opponents of Chaos argue that this unfairly makes the weak victims.
211* AttackAttackAttack: Most games have an "auto-battle" mode that has everyone in the party automatically use the basic "attack" command until either side achieves victory or auto-battle is canceled by the player. Rarely is this a good idea except against sufficiently weak enemies that you just want to speed through; the targets might take minimal damage and slowly whittle your party down to nothing, or worse, your attacks will get [[AttackReflector repelled]] and everyone will end up [[HoistByHisOwnPetard killing themselves]]. Some games let you customize auto-battle to a degree; for example, ''IV'' and ''IV: Apocalypse'' has the Auto-Pinpoint app that has party members use attacks that are confirmed to exploit enemy weaknesses, but you'll need to keep an eye on your members' MP to make sure they don't use it wastefully. Other games allow you to repeat the actions of your previous turn or battle.
212* AttackReflector: The Reflect attribute. Tetrakarn and Makarakarn work like this for physical and magical attacks, respectively. Almighty damage, however, doesn't trigger them.
213* AudienceShift: The ''Demi-Kids'' and ''Persona'' subseries' were specifically made to appeal to a different audience than the mainline ''Shin Megami Tensei''. While the mainline games are made for an older audience, the ''Demi-Kids'' series was effectively Atlus' take on ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and was specifically made to appeal to kids. ''Persona'' meanwhile was meant to have a wider appeal and was designed to feel more familiar and relatable to the audience as opposed to the more fantastical and philosophical aspects of the mainline series.
214* AutobotsRockOut: Many ''[=MegaTen=]'' games since ''Nocturne'' have a FinalBoss fight scored to an electric guitar ''rocking as hard as it can''.
215* AwakeningTheSleepingGiant: Every time Law and Chaos screw with Humanity, they risk a harsh lesson. In settings where GodsNeedPrayerBadly, gods learn exactly why antagonizing the species available for their existence is ''not'' a good idea. In settings where it is downplayed or averted, humans find a way to strike back in a way which ''hurts''.
216* AwesomeButImpractical: Almighty spells bypass the usual ElementalRockPaperScissors system, and as such will deal damage without fear of being resisted or blocked. However, they also cannot hit weaknesses. To top it all off, Almighty attacks usually cost a lot of MP, so it's more efficient to just wail on the enemy with their weaknesses or even just elements they're neutral to.
217* BadassNormal: Certain protagonists, notably ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII II]]'', couldn't even cast Magic, yet they end up dominating angels, demons and legends with nothing but swords and guns.
218* {{Baphomet}}: A recurring demon in the franchise, being a member of the Vile race or [[Franchise/{{Persona}} the Devil Arcana]]. Baphomet typically are early-to-mid-games demons and learn [[PlayingWithFire Fire]], [[CastingAShadow Dark]], and [[StatusInflictionAttack ailments]] skills.
219* BarrierChangeBoss: A staple of the series since ''Nocturne'' is that at least one boss in each game will be one of these. Examples in the main series include Noah in ''Nocturne'', [[spoiler:Jimenez, Demiurge, and Empty Mem Aleph]] in ''Strange Journey'', Seraph in ''IV'', and [[spoiler:Inanna]] in ''Apocalypse''.
220* BasiliskAndCockatrice: Both Cockatrice and Basilisk are among the many [[{{Mon}} demons]] in the franchise. Both are separate monsters, but when it appears, the Cockatrice's in-game description often mentions that it is related to the Basilisk.
221* {{Beelzebub}}: Beelzebub is a recurring demon/persona in the series. Design-wise, he had two designs: one is [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/7/7c/KazumaKaneko-Beelzebub.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090219082929 an anthropomorphic fly based on the image of the demon in the Dictionnaire Infernal]] while another is [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/0/03/Baal_Zabul.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20190328184406 a blue man with veins and a tigerskin]]. He is the powerful Tyrant demon that serves as the second-in-command of Lucifer. In the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series, he is usually a high-ranked or the ultimate Persona of The Devil [[TarotMotifs Arcana]].
222* BefriendingTheEnemy: A mechanic in the main games. The player character can befriend demons and make them his allies to summon. Demon's are very fickle though. What works to befriend one demon won't work the same way each time, and if they aren't loyal enough to you they won't do what you say. The games follow GreyAndGrayMorality so while a demon's alignment might technically be considered "good"... it's really in a KnightTemplar [[LawfulNeutral sort of]] [[LawfulEvil way]]. Demons are always initially antagonistic towards you before they join you, and after you befriend a species of demon the rest of that species will go out of their way to give you gifts and avoid fights with you while telling you to "take care of their friend".
223* BigBad:
224** In the main ''SMT'' series and some spinoffs: YHVH, a {{Jerkass|God}} representation of {{God}} created out of the human desire for order and control [[GoneHorriblyRight no matter the cost]]. Besides being leader of the [[OrderVsChaos Law]] faction, YHVH is a LightIsNotGood KnightTemplar usually responsible for whatever CrapsackWorld you find yourself in.
225** In the ''Persona'' continuity: [[TheHeartless the collective weakness]] in mankind's hearts, which inevitably forms into a GodOfEvil who's usually the ManBehindTheMan of the latest [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt world ending]] plot. Nyarlathotep, in particular, stands out due to being TheAntiGod to [[BigGood Philemon]]'s God, at least as far as the personifications-of-the-unconscious folks go, but he has been dormant since ''VideoGame/Persona2'' (as is Philemon, although the butterflies seen in the later games suggest that he's still around, just opts to be passive).
226** The Tyrant race of obtainable demons is occupied largely by the {{Big Bad}}s of various divine pantheons. Recurrent members include [[Myth/NorseMythology Surt and Loki]], [[Myth/ChineseMythology Chi You]], [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Nergal]], [[Myth/HinduMythology the Asuras]], [[Myth/AztecMythology the Tzitzimime]], and of course [[Literature/TheBible Lucifer himself]]. With enough Tyrants, you'll have your own personal BigBadEnsemble at your beck and call.
227* {{Biodata}}: A key element of the franchise. Many games imply or outright state all matter, energy and phenomenons in the universe boil down to data-like existence, which are often compared to information or human thought in nature. This is main reason why spells, summoning, and other RealityWarper effects can be inserted into computers.
228* BerserkButton: In games where you can negotiate with enemy demons, some demons come with possible answers for them that will instantly set off free turns for their party. For example, calling yourself a "Hee-Ho" in front of Jack Frost or Pyro Jack in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''.
229* BittersweetEnding: Even though most ''[=MegaTen=]'' games end with you defeating the BigBad, you've usually been forced to sacrifice yourself or kill your friends after they suffered an EvilMakeover. Going for Law and Chaos generally goes towards the bitter side, while Neutral goes towards the middle.
230* BlackBox: Analyzing the Demon Summoning Program is not an easy task due to the dozens of black boxes littered in its code, as [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney the crew of the Red Sprite]] learned. Aside from [[Literature/DigitalDevilStory Akemi Nakajima]] and [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI Stephen]], most of the people distributing the program are otherworldly entities (the Three Wise Men, the Anguished One, Naoya) with their own goals in mind. And even Nakajima and Stephen eventually AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.
231* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Almost every powerful entity in the series operates under this; to the point where there are basically only one that is actually good (Philemon) and one that's actually evil (Nyarlathotep) by our understanding (and even Phil has severe issues with his chosen champions). All the others have mindsets so alien that trying to call them good or evil is a waste of time, as they don't think anything like humans. Yes, even YHVH. Bear note that the alignment system isn't good-evil, law-chaos, but law-chaos, light-dark, with the latter being a vague mishmash of how selfish you are, and how positively you are seen by real religions. Note that for chaos, since its ideal is everyone having the right to be selfish, its main characters being dark is a given, whereas, for law, this depicts a failed system. This alignment system is not consistent, however.
232** This is even something of a mechanic when it comes to negotiating with demons, who sometimes can be won over with pretty "human" means by being kind, flattering, sucking up to, or outright bribing them, but other times some demons respond positively to being threatened, obviously lied to, or praising bloodshed and destruction.
233** The blue and orange morality of demons is also a plot point in ''Strange Journey'', where the demons apparently believe they're doing captured humans a favor with their "experiments", which invariably involve killing people by removing their vital organs. According to notes, the demons are convinced they're just freeing the humans from their worldly cares and needs. This contrasts against what one faction of humans do later in the game, capturing and mutilating or killing demons, but just out of greed.
234* BlueMeansCold: All ice spells have blue motifs. Whenever someone is frozen, they turn blue. Jack Frost, an ice demon, also wears blue.
235* BoringButPractical:
236** Life Stones. Unlike most other healing items, they always restore a fraction of HP rather than a fixed quantity, so while they're not the biggest healing items, they'll always be effective no matter the max HP of whoever you're healing. On top of that, in games involving demon negotiation, Life Stones are very common negotiation tokens, so it's never a bad idea to hoard them in case you need to bribe a demon into joining you; having one can make the difference between a demon joining you and "The demon suddenly attacked!"
237** Stat buff spells in most games, particularly Rakukaja (raises party defense), Tarunda (lowers enemy party offense), and the Suku- (hit/evasion) spells (especially in games with the [[ExtraTurn Press Turn]] system). Get used to spamming them at the beginnings of boss fights, unless you want bosses like [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Matador]] to [[WakeUpCallBoss make you learn the hard way]].
238** Dekaja just wipes away any buffs an enemy has. And yet it's one of the most important skills out there, especially against bosses who boost themselves up. While bosses may react by re-applying the buffs, a turn spent doing so is also a turn not spent attacking you.
239** The series uses ElementalRockPaperScissors quite a bit. Every element, including basic physical attacks, has at least a few targets that are weak to it, resist it, nullify it, absorb it as health, or reflect it back at the attacker, and recklessly hitting an elemental immunity can sometimes result in a turn penalty. The exception to this is the Almighty element; nothing across the entire series resists Almighty damage (barring a few superbosses), and it can't be reflected by AttackReflector spells. However, nothing is weak to Almighty damage, the skills cost a lot of resources to cast, and you can't get {{critical hit}}s with most forms of Almighty attack (some games do have Almighty physical attacks). The result of all this is an element that provides unremarkable but consistent damage and effects, and is good for bypassing resistances, if you can keep up with its high cost.
240** Physical skills tend to be this in games that employ MagicIsRareHealthIsCheap. In most games, these skills deduct [[CastFromHitpoints HP]] instead of SP to use, and it's easier to recover HP with items or healing spells than it is to recover SP since items that restore SP are scarce. This means that, against foes that don't resist physical, it becomes more efficient to use these skills plus healing items and save SP for buffs/debuffs (see above) and healing.
241* BossBanter: Nearly all ''[=MegaTen=]'' bosses will talk to you during battle to drop new plot points, or explain their motivations, or illustrate how they're completely nuts. Starting with ''IV'', answering certain ways will have effects on the boss, either making them stronger or weaker.
242* BossBonanza: The games are fond of pulling out multiple bosses in large, climactic dungeons.
243* BossWarningSiren:
244** Later games will give you a warning if you approach a door with a boss behind it, though earlier games tend to not grant this mercy.
245** Traditionally, encounters with Fiends will be heralded by the game asking you if you "want to stay here". If you answer "yes", the game asks if you ''really'' want to stay. Say "yes" again and the battle will begin.
246* BothOrderAndChaosAreDangerous: While both Law and Chaos have their good points, their representatives never have morally acceptable ways of achieving their goals, and will gladly use methods that have massive repercussions on the world, up to and including the mass murder of those who oppose them and brainwashing humanity into fitting their ideal mold. Players not fond of either side can [[OmnicidalNeutral kick both sides' asses]] to [[TakeAThirdOption establish a world of balance]]; sometimes this is treated as the GoldenEnding and others it is not so different from the other two options. In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', Krishna points out that Law and Chaos aren't ''inherently'' bad so much as their representatives, [[spoiler:both of which work for YHVH to create the illusion of conflict, with Lucifer set up as a [[FalseFlagOperation straw villain]] to make the Law side look better]].
247* BottomlessBladder: The games rarely address everyday needs like eating, sleeping or using the bathroom while you're fighting gods and demons. ''VideoGame/Persona3'', ''VideoGame/Persona4'' and ''VideoGame/Persona5'' are notable exceptions however, with "typical day" gameplay like sleeping, eating meals with friends and taking an extra bathroom break. Those activities can even affect the characters' stats.
248* BottomlessMagazines: In games featuring firearms, you can equip yourself with different kinds of ammo, but that ammo will never run out no matter how much you use it. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'', ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' and ''VideoGame/Persona5'' (but not ''Persona 5 Royal'') avert this trope, however.
249* BraggingRightsReward: Beating the toughest enemy in a ''[=MegaTen=]'' game will often net you abilities / equipment / party members you're already too powerful to need.
250** Beating the OptionalBoss in ''Persona 3'' and beyond will net you a NighInvulnerability accessory, even though you most likely already have at least one nigh-invulnerable Persona.
251** Beating OptionalBoss Lucifer on NewGamePlus in ''Devil Survivor'' and ''Raidou vs King Abaddon'' will add him as an OptionalPartyMember, but you'll already have a party powerful enough to beat the game.
252* BrainMonster: The demon [[http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Omoikane Omoikane]] isn't evil, but is a floating brain with tentacles nevertheless.
253* BreakoutCharacter: Of all the demons, there are three who have become popular enough with the fans to earn numerous notable appearances: [[AliceAllusion Alice]], [[GagPenis Mara]], and [[WakeUpCallBoss Matador]].
254* BribingYourWayToVictory: Starting with ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', most games have DLC that allows you to quickly grind for power and resources.
255* BrutalBonusLevel: Most ''[=MegaTen=]'' games have a BonusDungeon with tougher enemies than anywhere else in the game.
256* ButtMonkey: Slimes. They're usually the by-product of failed summonings/fusions, and are generally among the first demons fought. It gets worse in the fourth game, where they're weak to ''physical attacks''.
257* CastFromHitPoints: Physical attacks cost HP to use, except in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'', ''VideoGame/Persona1'', and ''VideoGame/Persona2''. This is why physical attackers go hand in hand with tanks.
258* CatsAreMagic: Magical cats or cat-like creatures appear in many games.
259** The standard demon Nekomata. If a game has demons, she is in it.
260** ''VideoGame/Persona2'' provides plenty of examples. The Shikigami disguised as a cat, Katsuya's Persona, the lucky cat statue that takes all your money (a Nekomata uses it as a front) and Lieutenant-General Zula, who is a talking cat.
261** Schroendiger in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' is a magical sentient cat who knows more about the world than any other character and is implied to [[spoiler:be a future incarnation of Serph and Sera]].
262** Gotou in the ''[[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou]] [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Kuzunoha]]'' games is the protagonist's talking cat companion and [[spoiler:ghost of the first Kuzunoha]].
263** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' brings this trope back to the series with party-member Morgana, who looks like a cartoon cat while in the Metaverse and a house cat out of it. [[spoiler:He is a Velvet Room attendant.]]
264* CelestialParagonsAndArchangels: The highest-ranking angels under YHVH are members of the Herald and Seraph races, like the Four Archangels, Metatron the Voice of God, Satan the Accuser and Mastema the Flatterer.
265* CityOfAdventure: A staple of the series! TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse, sometimes literally, but there's enough magic for everyone!
266* ChangingOfTheGuard:
267** While the demons generally remain the same, the mainline ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games always features a new main cast with each sequel.
268** Similarly, each new numbered entry in the ''Persona'' series puts you in control of a new group of protagonists, with SpiritAdvisor Igor the only constant.
269* CharacterAlignment: [[invoked]] This plays a huge role in the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' series. Each monster is classed on the [[OrderVersusChaos Law-Neutral-Chaos]] axis and the Light-Neutral-Dark axis. The former is the important one: monsters that are Chaotic will refuse to join you if the main character is Lawful and vice-versa. The alignment of the main character is determined by the type of monsters he summons (e.g. Lawful creatures will move your alignment towards Law), by his responses to philosophical questions asked at key points of the game and by whose dirty work (The Messians or the Gaians) he carries out. The ending of the game is determined by the final alignment of the main character.
270** ''Megami Tensei I & II'' for the Famicom feature alignments along the axis of Good-Neutral-Evil.
271** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' features an alignment system along the axis of both Light-Neutral-Dark and Law-Neutral-Chaos. It is the earliest known videogame to have an alignment system that directly affects the direction of the storyline and which of the MultipleEndings the player is given, through the choices and actions the player makes that alter the player character's alignment. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' uses the same kind of alignment system.
272** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' the previous system of alignment is discarded in favor of three specific philosophies: Shijima (which is closest to Law but without the KnightTemplar tendencies), Musubi (Neutral, focusing on individuality and freedom of choice) and Yosuga (Chaos with a heavy dose of the elitism that Law was previously known for). However, Light-Neutral-Dark axis still exists in the form of Magatamas. The main character's title/family is defined by how many Magatamas of each alignment you have learned all skills from. Although it's mostly just a cosmetic change, there are three doors (one for each alignment) in the Labyrinth of Amala that will only open if you are on a specific alignment.
273** This works a bit differently in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''. You can recruit demons of other alignments regardless of your character's alignment, but you'll have a harder time recruiting demons of the opposite alignment as yours (for instance, trying to recruit a Law-aligned demon when you're Chaos-aligned). However, the Light-Neutral-Dark axis plays a part in which demons you encounter and which you can recruit; Light-aligned demons are never encountered on the field, except through enemy searches and boss battles, and they cannot be recruited; Dark-aligned demons will refuse to talk to you at all times, regardless of your Law-Neutral-Chaos alignment, unless you have an App that lets you talk to demons during a Full Moon, and even then it's a coin flip (whether they like the answer you give them--the correct answer being different every time--and after that, whether they give you items, Macca, or--even rarer--join you).
274* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
275** The SocialDarwinist Chaos Ending from [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI SMTI]] is originally seen as a valid enough choice, given the BlackAndGreyMorality of the series, but as the world, in general, becomes slightly less [[CrapsackWorld crapsack]], it gets called out as evil far more explicitly; the supporter of its expy in ''Nocturne'' (though Reasons aren't based on alignments and actually follow [[GodIsEvil God's plan]]) is the only person explicitly called evil in that game. In other games like ''Devil Survivor'', it's virtually an ItsAWonderfulFailure montage.
276** The original Neutral ending was a pro-human path that led to the destruction of both God and Lucifer (or their chief agents) and most of humanity in exchange for freeing the survivors from the meddling of higher powers (at least for a while). Later games, however, have softpedaled the omnicidal aspects and played up the humanist part, so "neutral" endings sometimes involve the restoration of the pre-apocalyptic state (so far as that's possible). In such cases, Chaos often adopts the omnicidal role, replacing "freedom from higher powers" with "freedom from God's order."
277** Law has bounced back and forth between meaning "a world subjugated to God's will" and a straight-up WorldOfSilence that doesn't carry such theological implications. YHVH is now just as likely to be seen as separate from Law as he is the source of it, or else function as a GreaterScopeVillain who's above and beyond Law; only a couple of games actually present "submitting to God's will" as a valid choice. And then there's ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', where God is doing the best He can to ''avoid'' subjugating humanity (who are not making it easy for Him).
278* CharacterMagneticTeam: Many demons may approach you and outright offer to join you with no more than a few questions asked.
279* CharacterPortrait: More clearly seen in conversations in Persona games, but it's also featured in several other titles. Each character tends to have multiple portraits to match their mood.
280* ChargedAttack: Of a sort -- many games have a skill called Charge or Focus that multiplies the power of the user's next physical attack by 200% or 250%, and a similar skill called Mind Charge or Concentrate that does the same for the next magic attack. These skills are often used in conjunction with high-power, high-MP/[[CastFromHitPoints HP]] attack skills to inflict massive damage with more efficient use of resources. These temporary buffs cannot be dispelled, not even with Dekunda, for the most part, so the only real defense is to guard if the game allows it or bring in party members who can resist or block the incoming attack, unless the attack pierces resistances.
281* ClimaxBoss: As a general rule of thumb, any boss that you fight immediately before an [[PointOfNoReturn alignment lock]] or as a consequence of locking in your alignment.
282* ColonCancer: A number of titles have more than one subtitle in their [[DolledUpInstallment Western releases]], such as the various "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner X: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. _____" installments. An instance of Atlus' newsletter even provides the page quote.
283* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Law is blue and white; Chaos is red and black.
284** PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'': strike team has red on their uniforms (except the protagonist) and science has blue. Zelenin is science, Jimenez is strike team. Take a wild guess what factions they each support in the end. Oddly enough, the protagonist wears white (but won't necessarily be law): and no one else does.
285*** Which actually makes sense, because, in this particular game, white corresponds to Neutral.
286*** Extending on that, they also color-code Joint Project vs. Jack's Squad: your the Joint Project use the standard gold-ish Demonicas, and Jack's Squad use black ones. See above for what black tends to support. [[spoiler:Also played with in that the Demons of Chaos ''hate'' the Squad for the way they treated them]].
287* CombatPragmatist: It's not uncommon to come across random enemies or bosses that either gang up on you, spam completely unblockable attacks, or just won't ever encounter anywhere else. Thankfully, you can turn this around and become one yourself with items, skills, and sometimes demons that net you abilities on that level as well. Hey, demons don't play fair, so why should you?
288* CombinationAttack:
289** In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', you can trigger special attacks when the right combination of characters have the right combination of skills.
290** In ''VideoGame/Persona2'' and ''VideoGame/Persona3'' you can unleash special attacks if you have the right combination of Personas among your party or in your main character's stock.
291** ''VideoGame/Persona4 Golden'', ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', and ''VideoGame/Persona5 Royal'' allow the player to perform unique attacks based on which characters are currently in the party.
292** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', but in a very different way. If you hit a weakness, all the demons of your same alignment gang up on the opponent for extra damage.
293* {{Combos}}: The Press Turn system the series is famous for giving you extra turns to attack the enemy if you strike its AchillesHeel. This allows you to chain surprisingly high combos in certain games (particularly in 4).
294* CompositeCharacter: Alice has two separate Alices as a reference for her character: [[Literature/AliceInWonderland Lewis Carroll's version]], and an obscure Scandinavian myth about a girl who died young and now [[ScareEmStraight kills children who misbehave]] so she can [[{{Yandere}} make them into her friends]]. Whether she is one or the other or both or even ''neither'' is generally left up to interpretation.
295* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: And ''how!'' Generally shows up in two ways:
296** The [[TurnsRed Beast Eye and Dragon Eye]] moves, which gives all enemies extra turns, [[UnusableEnemyEquipment and demons you control never have the chance to learn it]]. A variant called Guardian's Eye finally becomes learnable in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', but as the single most expensive spell in the game, at a whopping ''255'' MP, and on top of that, unlocking the spell requires acquiring a demon only available through beating the hardest DLC boss in the game.
297** And physical skills, which are CastFromHitPoints when you use them, but enemies can use them willy-nilly.
298** It's worth noting that these are not universal; it depends on the game. And, significantly, the computer does ''not'' cheat dice rolls, significant because almost every spell has a chance of inflicting a status effect.
299* ConsummateLiar: A vital skill for any would-be demon summoners: learn to lie well, when, where and how.
300* ContinuityNod:
301** Occasionally a major character in one game will show up as an OptionalBoss or OptionalPartyMember in a later title. Alice for instance, who served as an antagonist who wanted to kill you in ''Shin Megami Tensei'', still regularly shows up complete with a skill called "Die For Me!" in newer games.
302** A character from the Tokyo Revelation manga/OVA appears in a cameo as an older character in Giten Megami Tensei, suggesting that the two are related (and the world sadly still fell to demons).
303* ContinuitySnarl: The ''Persona/Devil Summoner'' timeline is supposed to be an AlternateContinuity where the nuclear war of ''SMTI'' didn't happen. However there are several differences that cannot be accounted for as result of averting the apocalypse:
304** The biggest one is that in the ''Persona'' timeline, Philemon and Nyarlathotep are the top dogs of the supernatural world, YHWH is nowhere to be seen, and the ruler of the Expanse is Zurvan instead of Lucifer (who only appears as a recruitable demon/Persona). The only hint for this is how Lucifer mentions in ''Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon'' about how Raidou could potentially create a world free from God.
305** ''SMT If...'' shows that Stephen is responsible for creating the Demon Summoning Program in this continuity as well. However, in this continuity he didn't create the Tokyo terminals which lead to him being attacked by a demon, so it's not known under what circumstances he was left paraplegic and developed the program.
306** ''SMTI, SMTII, Devil Summoner'', and ''Soul Hackers'' all claim that it's impossible to communicate with demons without the use of the Demon Summoning Program. This doesn't stop Raidou and all Persona characters from doing just that.
307** ''Raidou Kuzunoha'' games also has demons being InvisibleToNormals, which is not the case in any other game in the same continuity. This could be seen as a [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay excuse]] to have Raidou's demons out in broad daylight for investigations, but it becomes plot-relevant in ''King Abaddon'', where Geirin discovered Nagi had potential to be a Summoner because she could see demons.
308** ''Persona 3, 4'' and ''5'' have several differences in lore not only with the previous ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games but with each other as well. See the series page for further details.
309* ContractualBossImmunity: Bosses are immune to OneHitKill spells, and they also can't be recruited in-battle or bribed into going away.
310* CoolVsAwesome: Angels versus Demons is an understatement for the series. Since AllMythsAreTrue, think of the possibilities.
311* CouncilOfAngels:
312** Played straight in SMT 1, where [[spoiler:they become quite powerful allies if you're on the Law path, and attempt to stop you if you're on any other path; Seraph Michael serves as the game's final (or, on Neutral, possible final), hardest boss in that case]]. Also played perfectly straight in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', [[spoiler: where Remiel who serves Metatron and the Big Man himself are far less assholish than franchise standard and will help you out unless you're on on the blatantly chaotic routes]].
313** Notably, from SMT 2 onward, [[spoiler:they practically become the ''[[ButtMonkey cosmic Butt Monkeys]]'' of the franchise; in SMT 2 they're basically abandoned by God and are running Tokyo Millennium in a hilariously inept fashion and orchestrated the creation of the Messiah and crew in the first place, which blew up in their faces when Aleph ''caved their shit in''; then, in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'', they show up as bonus bosses; talking about the events of SMT 2, no less: except now they've reincarnated as humans in a different universe and hunger for the blood and flesh of man just like any other demon. You'd think they'd give the Big Man the finger after all that, but they are planning to do ''everything they did before again''.]]
314** In ''IV'', they are [[spoiler:the mysterious new rulers of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, who as the Law authorities of the game, plan to throw Tokyo into a black hole so it can never taint their shiny paradise. Eventually, they fuse with Jonathan to summon Merkabah, an embodiment of God's will]].
315* CrapsackWorld: ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' starts out a mild version of this, and gets a lot worse. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' has this as the default state since it follows the Neutral Path of the first game, though it can either get worse or better. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' starts out as this, which can be reversed or made even worse. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' has the potential to become this, which can be averted, although the gameplay setting is still basically this. The ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games are set in a CrapsaccharineWorld setting that can be made a CrapsackWorld, in the first half of the second game duology this actually does happen [[spoiler:in the ending, and despite efforts, it continues to be its own timeline]] though the second half averts it. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has another case of CrapsaccharineWorld, and all endings see to it that illusion of being saccharine is broken. ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' can turn into this or be averted, depending on your choices.
316* CreatorCameo: Both Cozy Okada and Kazuma Kaneko make cameo appearances in the first episode of the Devil Summoner live-action TV series.
317** Several of the games' artists appear as shopkeepers in ''Persona 2''.
318* CreatureBreedingMechanic: Demons can be fused with one another, or in some games simply sacrificed, to create new demons. As, after a while, the leveling requirements increase far too sharply for demons to remain useful, unlike the human characters, this is the only alternative to negotiating with more powerful creatures.
319* CreepyChild: LouisCypher in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', Pharos in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', Alice in every game she appears in.
320-->"Won't you please die for me?"
321* {{Crossover}}:
322** [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]] shows up in ''Nocturne''... and promptly attempts to kick your ass. Later on, though, you can talk him into signing on with you. In the second UpdatedRerelease of ''Nocturne'', Raidou Kuzunoha appears instead, for all kinds of continuity wackiness.
323** And in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiLiberationDx2'', a slew of characters from other franchises have been added as summonable demons: VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} and her friend Jeanne, [[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts]] (both in original flavor and Berserker Armor), Griffith, the Skull Knight, Schierke, Mozgus, and Zodd, [[Manga/GhostInTheShell Major Motoko Kusanagi]] and a Tachikoma, and [[Manga/{{TheSevenDeadlySins}} Meliodas]], Elizabeth, and Ban. Dante returns with V and Nero.
324** Characters from ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' appear in both ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiImagine'' and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' (the latter of which was only included in the Japanese release).
325* CrossoverCosmology:
326** Sure, you can summon Joan of Arc, Kali, Amaterasu, and Quetzalcoatl to beat the crap out of Lucifer, Loki, a Vampire, and Ra.
327** In ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'', bring an Asura into battle against a Mahakala. They'll have an interesting discussion about the fact that they're the ''same god'', just from two different eras, then agree to fight it out to determine which is more deserving.
328* CurbStompBattle: Typical after Nocturne, the press turn system makes almost every battle this for both sides, either you crush the enemies without even allowing them to attack you once, or they kill half your characters in a single turn.
329* CuteAndPsycho: Many demons, like Pixie, Jack Frost or Alice, look extremely cute, but are also somewhat mentally unstable.
330* CuteMonsterGirl: Majority of the female demons (aka the Succubi). Not all of them, though.
331[[/folder]]
332[[folder: D-F]]
333* DarkIsEvil: ZigZagged: The Light-Dark alignment axis refers to a given demon's typical ''depiction'' in its originating myths, not necessarily how they actually ''are''.
334* DarkIsNotEvil: A major offender of this trope. To counter the CrapsackWorld, you have the option to ally with TheDarkSide in order to produce a peaceful world. ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' stands out for one of its endings running on this trope.
335* DeconstructorFleet: A very odd case, in that they [[{{Deconstruction}} tear apart]] every trope related to {{Mon}}s... [[UnbuiltTrope while still being]] the TropeMaker.
336** One of the core deconstructions of the series is presenting the God of the Old Testament ''without'' any kind of OmniscientMoralityLicense. The usual result is unambiguously [[GodIsEvil maltheistic]], though a couple of games leave that conclusion up to the player.
337** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' also stands out, showing what would really happen in your typical {{Mons}} series when random bystanders (including children) suddenly gain the ability to command powerful demons. The answer: '''very bad things'''.
338* DefeatMeansFriendship: Well, not exactly "friendship", since most of the time you're making contracts with demons, not befriending them, but in most games in the series, defeating a boss demon gives you the ability to fuse them, once your level is high enough.
339* DegradedBoss: Former bosses may return as EliteMooks. This may cost them their best moves, but occasionally they also wind up being recruitable. This is occasionally [[InvertedTrope inverted]], with buffed-up versions of normal enemies showing up as sub-bosses.
340* DeityOfHumanOrigin: Or DemonOfHumanOrigin, as "demon" is usually a term to refer to all supernatural entities. In many games, humans can transform into demons or gods through various circumstances (with certain games sometimes distinguishing gods from demons).
341** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'', [[BigBad Kandori]]'s goal is to become one of these. [[spoiler:He gets it, but it turns out to be nothing of worth to him.]]
342** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', the Demi-Fiend transforms into a demon due to the Magatama, parasitic entities which transform the human body into a demon while retaining the human heart. Humans can also become demons via absorbing Magatsuhi, a spiritual substance created as a byproduct from the flow of emotions and souls, [[spoiler:which Isamu and Chiaki undergo after their FaceHeelTurn]].
343** In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', the Atma virus infects human beings down to their very souls, allowing them to metaphysically transform into their "demonic" selves known as Atma Avatars, at the cost of suffering from HorrorHunger for Magnetites (which are similar to Magatsuhi mentioned above, and abundant within complex living beings like humans and demons).
344** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', humans can also become demons when merged with the formless essence which demons are composed of. This process can happen in a variety of different ways: a human can be ''[[BodyHorror physically merged]]'' with a demon; a human can be slowly exposed and filled with the essence so they can gradually adjust both body and mind into a demon; [[spoiler:and in ''[[UpdatedReRelease Redux]]'', the essence can be refined into a mystical fruit which can transform a human into an immortal, demon-like but not quite demonic entity]].
345** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse Apocalypse]]'', it is clarified the Magnetite which exists in all things react to will and emotion, which can also trigger a demonic transformation in the right circumstances. In the latter, [[spoiler:the protagonist also manages to be the Creator God of a new universe devoid of demons and gods (except himself) in one ending]].
346** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'' ''[[UpdatedReRelease Royal]]'', [[spoiler:Maruki ''almost'' manages to be a DeityOfHumanOrigin by gaining the focal point of all cognitive powers in Mementos, and permitting his Persona Azathoth/Adam Kadmon to incarnate through himself. He's not finished his ascension yet, and is defeated by the Phantom Thieves before he could complete it.]]
347** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'', a god and a demon has a crucial difference. [[spoiler:Gods were the original entities who rose from humanity, and capable of interacting with the laws of the universe which centered on the Throne of Creation as part of the Mandala system placed by the Great Will. When the One God of Law took the seat of Creator, he took out the Knowledge in all other gods, the essence which allowed gods to interact with the laws of the universe and potentially take the Throne, turning them into demons. Lucifer's act of stealing the Fruits of Knowledge and distributing them to humanity made it so demons would need to fuse with the human carrying their corresponding Knowledge to once again become a god as they originally were, which is now known as Nahobino.]] The central conflict of the latter half of the game [[spoiler:is about replacing the God of Law, who [[GodIsDead was killed by Lucifer sometime before the story begins]]. Several characters either want to attain the same power or actually achieve it in pursuit of the Throne. Three of the game's endings see the protagonist become the world's new creator deity]].
348* DeityOfMortalCreation: A recurring theme in the franchise.
349** Early games often mention how demons and gods can be brought down and transformed into different identities due to shifting beliefs, notably ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' (and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII II]]'' by extension). Lucifer even explains at the end of the game how he will return exactly when humans need him again. ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'' in particular, which is a prequel to ''SMT I'', has the main antagonist manipulate the Japanese army to ''create'' a god via DeusEstMachina (and a lot of questionable methods).
350** In number of continuities (notably ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', the former being in the same continuity as the aforementioned ''Raidou Kuzunoha'') it is made explicit demons and gods are born, given shape, and powered by human belief and concepts, due to humanity's supernatural ability to change reality. ''Apocalypse'' in particular has "gods" as originally shapeless natural phenomenon (like wind and lightning) which were given form and identity by human religions. As a consequence, in these continuities it's generally impossible to permanently kill a god as long as humans still practice, or are aware of, or still affected by the thoughts which birthed those gods, with many defeated gods declaring they'll be back AsLongAsThereIsEvil.
351** This trope is also inverted for specific entities and worlds. ''VideoGame/LastBible'', ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'', ''Persona'', ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Strange Journey]]'', ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' all state (sometimes in [[AllThereInTheManual side materials]]) there are gods or precursor-like beings who preceded or even responsible for human existence. Many games such as ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' also has various characters, even ''enemies of God'', claim God created humanity, though it is often unclear if they refer to [[DemiurgeArchetype YHVH]] or [[AboveTheGods the Great Will]].
352* DemonicPossession:
353** The Heroine in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' is possessed by a whole lot of demons at one point, as you have to enter her psyche and clear out the ringleader (the spider Arachne) in order to save her. Naturally, you burst in on Arachne just as she's about to take full control of the girl.
354** Aradia takes over Yuko's body in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''. Only, she's a goddess. A fake goddess. [[FantasyKitchenSink It's kinda complicated]].
355** Nemissa possesses Hitomi in ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'', giving a makeover and PowersViaPossession. Subverted in that Nemissa leaves when she realizes it's necessary and Hitomi still has pretty much control over herself. Later, [[spoiler:Spooky]] is taken over by Satanael, who later decides to take on the party... by ''blowing his way out of the victim's body''. '''''And he doesn't make it all the way out.''''' Near the end, [[spoiler:Kadokura is also possessed and transformed by Manitou.]]
356** In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', this is what happens to people who can't control their Atma Avatars, they lose their human identity and believe they truly are the mythological figures they represent, making it a horrific combo between Type 1 and 2. The first cases were the [[LightIsNotGood Four Seraphs]], [[KnightTemplar Metatron]] and [[Myth/HinduMythology Meganada]].
357** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'', Toro is possessed by his Persona. Which looks like a demonic penis, by the way. [[spoiler:Kandori suffers a similar fate, being transformed by Nyarlathotep into a giant Buddha head.]]
358** In ''VideoGame/Persona2'', there is the "Possessed" status effect, in which certain demons blow themselves up to possess a party member, replacing their moveset with the demon's. Those afflicted by Joker Curse also qualify (as the curse gives them Joker as a Persona). The UpdatedReRelease of ''Eternal Punishment'' clarifies how a human possessed by a Persona forcefully given to them would typically transform and become a demonic incarnation of said Persona.
359** In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', Amane is possessed by [[spoiler: not only Remiel, an angel, but Jezebel, a demon]].
360** In ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', [[spoiler:Elizabeth tries to use Zeus as a Persona, but she ends up being possessed instead]].
361** In ''VIdeoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'', [[spoiler:the Malevolent Entity Hi-no-Kagutsuchi plans to possess Sho as a vessel, as gods from the collective consciousness are reliant on humanity's existence without one, so he can enact his OmnicidalManiac goals]].
362* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Most of the less than nice guys from mythology (Lucifer, Beelzebub, Surt, Loki, Mara, Arioch, etc) are classified as Maou (lit. Demon King), which is localized as Tyrant.
363* {{Determinator}}: You ain't gonna last long without some ''serious'' spine.
364* DevelopersForesight: What makes the {{Superboss}}es so difficult is this. OptionalBoss generally has some kind of anti-cheese feature built in so you ''have'' to fight them in a "fair" fight. Otherwise, expect them to either give unavoidable 9999 damage to you or, in some battle systems such as the Press Turn system, spam powerful (and by powerful, we mean Megidolaon is the weakest possible) Almighty moves each turn.
365* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: As most games are {{Fantasy Kitchen Sink}}s with {{Dialogue Tree}}s and negotiation systems, you'll usually have a lot of chances to taunt or insult monsters, demons and gods to their faces. Some games have it as PracticalTaunt moves so you can do it ''on command''.
366* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Many [=MegaTen=] games end with mere humans beating supposedly [[TheOmnipotent omnipotent]] gods. Cthulhu itself also appears in ''SMT II'', ''SMT if...'', and ''Persona 2'', so you can also punch out an EldritchAbomination ''repeatedly''!
367* DimensionalTraveller: There are notably different levels of this trope applicable across the franchise.
368** In most continuities, demons are a mass of energy and information which generally reside in AnotherDimension before being summoned to the physical world through magic rituals. In other words, any demon crafty or powerful enough to force an independent manifestation in the physical world without relying on being summoned first is this trope by default. A recurring example is Lucifer, [[LouisCypher who often shows up in a human form]] without being prompted or summoned.
369** In certain continuities, notably ''Nocturne'', ''Soul Hackers''/''Raidou Kuzunoha'', and ''IV'' duology, demons can freely traverse between universes through the [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds Amala Network]] (Nocturne), [[PlaceBeyondTime Akarana Corridor]] (Raidou) or Makai/Expanse (IV and Apocalypse). This also applies to any human who has learned the means to access and move across them safely.
370** The "Messiahs in the Diamond Realm" DLC and side materials of ''Apocalypse'' confirm there are a ''scant few'' individuals who transcend so far beyond dimensions and laws, they can travel between continuities and thus are the same persons across the entire franchise. Stephen implies that, while moving between a single set of connected universes is doable for demons and humans given the means [[note]]IV and Apocalypse main game repeatedly have the protagonists move between parallel universes through Yamato Reactor, with and without Stephen's assistance[[/note]], movement between distinct continuities (universes with no intrinsic connection, differing laws and origins) is normally impossible for most beings, as Stephen mentions he had to bend "the Reason" in the natural order (translated to "immutable rules" in English) to allow the protagonists of mainline games to meet in the Diamond Realm [[note]]while Stephen has no need to do so when transporting Flynn or Nanashi across the Expanse to a parallel universe[[/note]].
371* DisasterDominoes: In Press Turn games, this can happen: Get ambushed by a random encounter, even one 10 levels below your party. Enemy party, with as many turns as they have members, starts spamming spells that are weak, but someone in your party is also weak to, allowing them to farm extra turns. Most or [[TotalPartyKill all]] of your party is now dead.
372* DiscOneNuke: Exploiting [[RandomDrop random demon or skill mutations]] or even just knowing which demon to level up to cover certain weaknesses in many of the games' fusion and level-up systems can net you high-level skills or fairly powerful demons extremely early in a playthrough.
373* DivineConflict: In the main series, the protagonists get involved in conflicts between either gods and demons, or they versus the human race. This is usually due to HumansAreBastards, JerkassGods, GodIsEvil, and less commonly GaiasVengeance.
374* DolledUpInstallment: Minor example in the US releases: the ''Persona'' / ''Devil Survivor'' / ''Digital Devil Saga'' / ''Devil Summoner'' / etc games, while technically not part of the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' series proper, were all released overseas under that title anyway starting in 2004, presumably because the series needs whatever name recognition it can get on this side of the pond. However, after Atlus made enough of a name for itself, the practice was completely starting with ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'', ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', and ''Persona 4: Golden'' in 2012.
375* {{Doppelganger}}: A [[CharacterAlignment Dark-Chaos]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demon]] that can be fused in ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''. It appears as a shadowy, [[SlasherSmile grinning]] version of TheProtagonist. The Kageboushi in ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'' fills a similar roll, though he cannot be recruited.
376* DoppelgangerSpin:
377** Used in both ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' ([[spoiler:where you can use the shadow cast by a full moon to suss out the real one]] and ''Digital Devil Saga'' (which you can suss out the real one with the help of your WaifProphet).
378** In ''Persona 2'', you can do this by attempting to run. The camera will then FOCUS ON THE REAL ONE as she taunts you. Oops...
379* DoubleEdgedBuff:
380** Several games have the skill "Taunt", which can lower the enemies' defense but in return increases their attack.
381** The Sleep ailment more often than not restores the HP and SP of those afflicted by it.
382* DoubleEntendre: [[GagPenis Mara]] ''lives'' to make subtle and not-so-subtle dick jokes. Even his ''stats'' are a double entendre in some games (''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' Mara, for example, belongs to the Tower arcana, is weak to ice, and has the strongest pierce-type attack in the game.)
383* DoubleUnlock: Defeating certain bosses grants you the privilege of fusing them, if you can find the specific component demons that make them up. It's possible for a player to beat a given game without ever fusing a boss demon, due to the extra deliberate effort required to get the demons needed.
384* DragonInChief: YHVH loves having these. God might be the (at least nominal) leader of the forces of Law, but he generally only shows up in person on very few occasions.
385** ''Megami Tensei II'': Satan/[[spoiler:Mr. Suzuki.]]
386** ''Shin Megami Tensei'': Michael.
387** ''Shin Megami Tensei II'': Satan/[[spoiler:Zayin]] again. [[spoiler:Michael thinks he's remained this, but not this time.]]
388** ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne'': Kagutsuchi for the main game, [[spoiler:Metatron]] for the Labyrinth of Amala.
389** ''Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey'': The Three Wise Men. [[spoiler:Maybe.]]
390** ''Shin Megami Tensei IV'': [[spoiler:Either Gabriel, who later becomes a part of Merkabah, or Mastema, though if it is the latter, then YHVH is actually good this time around, and Gabriel is the BigBad for Law. In Blasted Tokyo, it's Pluto, followed by the Ancient of Days after the former's defeat.]]
391** ''Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse'': [[spoiler:Merkabah gets the role until it's revealed that both Merkabah and Lucifer, through their fused form Satan, are both this until the fusion]].
392* DragonsAreDivine: The main ''SMT'' games and numerous spinoffs count draconic deities among its number, including Otohime and Huang Long. In IV, you are offered a side quest where you can directly say a dragon is divine for Chaos points.
393* DuelingMessiahs: You are always free to choose which faction you wish to support.
394* DungeonCrawler: The early games are classic examples of dungeon crawlers from the first-person perspective. Later games have elements that would be used in the third-person perspective.
395* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
396** In the SNES games, you need to pay Macca just to ''summon your demons from your COMP'', and they continuously use up Magnetite in order to survive outside of the COMP. This was dropped in later games, where you can summon your demons without any charge and keep them out as long as their HP doesn't hit 0.
397** Older games in the series are in first person perspective. This was dropped during the PSX era, but started making a resurgence in some recent games.
398** Some of the earlier localizations in the series, namely those of ''VideoGame/Persona1'' and VideoGame/LastBible, were given the title "Revelations" ("Revelations: Persona" and "Revelations: The Demon Slayer" respectively), perhaps suggesting that this was originally intended to be the localized MarketBasedTitle for the franchise as a whole. This was eventually dropped in favor of simply using "Shin Megami Tensei".
399* EarnYourHappyEnding: The good endings with no alien effects on humanity and life itself are generally presented as [[GuideDangIt the hardest to get]]. In many ways this is nominal only, since while they may involve additional bosses, they are not generally much harder. Obviously this also depends on whether you really interpret them as the best endings.
400* EarthWindJuxtaposition:
401** ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'': Argilla naturally resists Earth attacks while she is weak to Wind attacks (called Force in-game). Likewise, Gale resists Force but is weak to Earth. This pattern also holds true for many, ''many'' enemies; if something resembles a bird, there's a good chance it resists Force and is weak to Earth.
402** ''VideoGame/Persona2'': The above pattern holds true in this game as well, as Personas with Earth-element attacks and resistances tend to be weak to Wind-element and vice-versa. Interestingly, Ulala's first Persona Callisto is Earth-element, while her Ultimate Persona Astraea is Wind-element; and their resistances switch accordingly.
403* EatTheSummoner: Usually, this trope is not a concern... but there have been a handful of cases that highlight that EvilIsNotAToy. Summoners unable to defeat the demons they summon were killed in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and Harada's idiotic attempt to create an altar to supply him with demon servants ended in his death in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII''.
404* EldritchAbomination: Demons as a whole. Though the franchise uses it as an umbrella term for all supernatural entities, it is emphasized ever since the earliest works and games that demons are supernatural because ''they are violations to reality as humans comprehend it''. As a whole, demons (and indeed, other supernatural entities not classified as one) in the franchise come in 3 different categories, each hitting points of this trope in different ways:
405** [[DeityOfMortalCreation Entities created as a side effect of humankind's ability to change and warp reality]]. This is the most prominent type of demon category in the series: these demons are usually lifeforms composed of Magnetite (sometimes called Aether), the substance which permeates reality itself and exist in all of its phenomenons, which are normally undetectable to normal lifeforms but react to their psyche: will, thought, perception, instinct, emotion. What these demons have in common is how they are given identity and form by humans as living clusters of Magnetites, which are supposed to be formless as part of the fabric of reality, though the specifics vary [[note]]in some games like ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' humans don't innately affect the formless essence of reality and gained the ability through specific circumstances -- which can vary in scale such as to humans as a species, or only to specific individuals such as [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI Stephen]]; in others like ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse Apocalypse]]'' humans possess it as an inherent trait[[/note]]. In other words, they are literally ''sentient droplets of reality itself'', to varying degrees of power and scale, with the capacity to twist and warp natural phenomenons in accordance to their natures and how much aspect of reality they embody. Thus, as long as humans continue to exist and shape reality in such a way which permits the existence of demons, they will never be truly gone; conversely, if humans ''are'' gone, then [[NoOntologicalInertia they would also go poof]].
406** Similar yet distinct from the above is the reverse: [[NatureSpirit naturally formed living phenomenons]]. In some games humans don't seem to shape the essence of reality into demons (at least not actively), yet the processes which give rise to demons ''still happen anyway'' [[note]]usually because there are forces ''other'' than humanity which had dictated reality first; games like ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'' have [[GodIsEvil God]], other games have [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute counterparts]] like [[VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga Brahman]], ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Strange Journey]]'' has [[spoiler:previous generations of advanced civilization which were wiped by the Schwarzwelt, and also [[GaiasVengeance the Earth itself]]]], ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' has alien {{Reality Warper}}s; ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV V]]'' also implies there are worlds which are ''inherently structured'' to give rise to demons, no matter what[[/note]]. These demons are a fair bit different from the above type in a number of ways. While they have similar traits and can harness power from humans, they are closer to being true lifeforms: though the ''genesis'' of these demons [[NiceJobBreakingItHero could be affected or catalyzed by humans]], their ''continued existence'' [[OntologicalInertia are not]]. Thus, these demons are ''very'' prone to KillAllHumans. On the other hand, individual demons of this type can be killed and won't come back naturally -- though new demons of similar natures might still spawn. It is also possible for demons of the above category to become this one. In ''Persona'', demons and gods who possess and incarnate within a human would not disappear even if humans are no more to create cognition; [[spoiler:Hi-no-Kagutsuchi tries to do exactly that]]. ''IV'' and ''Apocalypse'' also have the Divine Powers planning to use human souls to essentially become an axiom in reality, while [[spoiler:Vishnu-Flynn]] and [[spoiler:Satan]] use FusionDance with powerful humans to ''wield'' Observation to their advantage.
407** Distinguished from the above two: [[OutsideContextProblem entities who are neither humans who can affect the essence of reality, nor demons who are formed from said essence,]] but [[RealityWarper warp reality nonetheless]]. A lot less prominent category, entities of this type are usually [[StarfishAlien aliens]] (''Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. The Lone Marebito'', ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}: [[UpdatedReRelease Full Body]]'') or primordial [[CosmicEntity cosmic entities]] (''VideoGame/LastBible'', ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'', ''VideoGame/Persona3'', ''[[UpdatedReRelease Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker]]''). Some games seem to imply certain incarnations of YHVH are also this type of being (particularly those stated to have created humans, like ''Nocturne'' and ''Strange Journey''), assuming it is indeed YHVH and not [[AboveTheGods the Great Will]] (which exists as PowersThatBe on a YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm levels, even for the most powerful entities in the franchise).
408* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Played straight and averted. Usually, basic elemental types (i.e., ones that specialize in only one element) usually have a weakness to the opposing element (ice vs. fire, electricity vs. wind, light vs. dark). However, at higher levels, demons usually have a variety of weaknesses and strengths (ex. Black Frost, despite being a Jack Frost, has strengths against both ice AND fire). This results in bosses having a bit of trial-and-error as you have to test out each type to see what works and what doesn't.
409** Some games (''Devil Survivor'' in particular) outright show you how the enemies are affected by every element, usually as if to say "This is my hand, ''[[NintendoHard try and beat it]]''." And every game shows you how your ''own'' demons' element tables, which are the same for every demon of that type.
410* ElementalTiers: Sometimes there are the [[ElementalEmbodiment 'Element' race]]. They always have [[DishingOutDirt Erthys]] as the weakest, then [[BlowYouAway Aeros]], then [[MakingASplash Aquans]], and [[PlayingWithFire Flaemis]] with the highest level. Sometimes they are followed by Paracelsus' elementals, but the element order stays the same, with Gnome as the weakest, followed by Syplh, Undine, and Salamander. Not that their levels matter much, since they're usually fusion fodder.
411* ElementNumberFive: Almighty. It's an unavoidable, ultimate element that ignores defensive measures. Final bosses, late-game allies, bonus bosses, and the like all use this. Violating rules with bonus bosses results in the game giving you 9999 damage or a nonstop barrage of attacks with this element.
412* EliteTweak: No demon is perfect. But every demon can be perfected. Ditto for Persona.
413* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: If the world hasn't already ended before the game started, then it's about to. ''Nocturne'' starts off with '''everyone''' being destroyed. There are only five humans left alive (not including yourself!) after the first 30 minutes of the game.
414* EndOfTheWorldSpecial: Power and how you choose to use it is one of the big themes of the series. Up to and including what kind of world you wish to create AfterTheEnd.
415* EnemyWithin: See DemonicPossession above. In worlds where DeityOfMortalCreation applies, you can technically consider ''every'' demon and god as this trope for humanity.
416* EnergyEconomy: Macca is usually understood as edible to demons, and justifies why it is necessary to summon them from the Compendium.
417* EveryManHasHisPrice: Mostly. Most demons will very willingly sell themselves with some crafty negotiation. Some races, though, will never see this as an option. In some situations such as IV this is averted with Law demons (i.e. angels) who are so dedicated to their cause you cannot recruit them, though they may join you when on the verge of death.
418* EverythingTryingToKillYou: ''Everything''. This is no joke: when your ''very intrusive thoughts'' could manifest somehow and kill you, you know everything else will.
419* EvilerThanThou: All five "main" ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games have everyone trying to one-up each other.
420* EvilIsEasy: More often than not, it's the reason people side with the Law and Chaos factions. On one hand, the angels are backed by The Almighty, thus their will is God's Will, and God's Will is absolute regardless of how deplorable it may seem. If they believe humanity needs to follow one single God to prosper for the sake of humanity's peace and happiness at the cost of their free will, so be it. On the other, those that claim to be providing leaders might not have the strength to provide what they promised, and if they do, there's no guarantee that you'll receive it. Sometimes, the only way to get what you want and need is by force. After all, the strong consuming the weak is the natural order of the world, so why go against it? By following either of these philosophies, you'll be able to skip certain bosses or even get them to join you on the spot. [[WeUsedToBeFriends Just don't expect your friends to follow them as well.]]
421* EvilIsNotAToy: Learn the lesson or ''suffer''. It's perfectly possible to gain immense power at little or no effort. On the other hand, [[FateWorseThanDeath the price]] makes it an iffy choice ''at best''.
422* EvilMakeover: Word of advice: don't get too attached to ''anyone''.
423* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Standard Law justification for their side of things.
424* EvilVersusEvil: OrderVersusChaos. Messians versus Gaians. YHVH versus Lucifer. The big question is who, if any, will you side with? Whether they are evil, or merely reflect the reality of a dark grey universe, is up to you however.
425* {{Expy}}: The Djinn enemy is a carbon copy of [[{{WesternAnimation/Aladdin}} a certain wacky blue guy]].
426* ExtraTurn: A staple of the series beginning with ''Nocturne'':
427** ''Nocturne'', ''Digital Devil Saga'', ''IV'', ''IV: Apocalypse'' and ''V'' use the Press Turn system, where each side gets a number of turns equal to the number of members in the party, maybe more depending on the player completing a NewGamePlus sidequest or the party in question consisting of a boss who gets two or more turns for themselves. Exploiting an enemy's weakness or scoring a CriticalHit will turn an existing "full-turn" icon, if any, into a "half-turn" instead of using up any turns, though if only half-turns remain then one will be used up. \
428\
429Some bosses can use skills that turn an existing full turn into multiple half-turns, such as Dragon Eye, Beast Eye, and Psycho Rage, [[SecretAIMoves none of which can ever be obtained by the player]]. ''IV'' does allow the player to get Guardian's Eye, but it requires beating the ultimate DLC boss and Guardian's Eye costs a whopping ''255 MP'' to cast!
430** ''Devil Survivor'' and its sequel allow either party during a skirmish to obtain up to one extra turn per member also through weaknesses and crits, but can also gain extra turns simply by nullifying (or better) opponents' attacks. During the Extra Turn phase, parties cannot gain Extra Turns again, except in ''Devil Survivor 2'' where the Omega race of demons allows parties to obtain "Double Extra" turns.
431** ''Persona 3'' and onward allow an attacker to gain "1 More" turn through weakness exploits and crits. Doing either knocks down the target, and simply hitting a knocked-down target will not cause another 1 More; the attacker needs to keep hitting standing opponents to gain more turns.
432* TheExtremistWasRight: Depending on your interpretation of events. If you consider Law, Chaos, or Neutral correct, this will be a staple for a large amount of the plots.
433* TheFairFolk: Many demons have their designs based on these, as well as their personalities. ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games like to remind you every so often that you are definitely ''not'' dealing with human beings.
434* FairySexy: Pixie, Titania, Hua Po, Sylph.
435* FallenAngel: ''Many''. Lucifer, the entire Literature/ArsGoetia, Grigori, Mithras and others are this to a greater or lesser degree. Kazfiel is unique in that he still is Law and part of the Herald/Divine races while Samael switches between Law and Chaos since [[RiddleForTheAges his true alignment is a mystery]].
436* FalseUtopia: A very real risk. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this franchise.
437* FantasyKitchenSink: More notably explored in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', with the various factions and alliances everyone pulls in the road to ultimate power, though ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' is also a very good example with the Mothers and the demon lords.
438* FateWorseThanDeath: These are not happy games. The suffering is not restricted to the bad guys, or bad endings. Neither is pain expected to end with mere ''death''.
439* FightingYourFriend: Unfortunately, with the fate of the world in the line, ideological and philosophical differences will destroy the tightest friendships.
440* FinalBoss: The main series is well known for its multiple routes having different Final Bosses. Just to list numbered ones:
441** ''Shin Megami Tensei I'': [[spoiler:Asura]] on Law, [[spoiler:Michael]] on Chaos. On Neutral, you get to choose who to fight first and second.
442** ''Shin Megami Tensei II'': [[spoiler:YHVH]]. In a grand subversion of preceding and succeeding formula, all routes, no matter what you do, have you fight him.
443** ''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne'': [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]], with the game using NoFinalBossForYou on one route and TrueFinalBoss ([[spoiler:Lucifer]]) on another.
444** ''Shin Megami Tensei IV'': [[spoiler:Kenji and the Yamato Perpetual Reactor]] on NonStandardGameOver, [[spoiler:Merkabah]] on Chaos, and [[spoiler:Lucifer]] on Law and Neutral.
445** ''Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse'': [[spoiler:Merkabah]] on Chaos, [[spoiler:Lucifer]] on Law, and [[spoiler:YHVH]] on the other routes.
446** ''Shin Megami Tensei V'': [[spoiler:Lucifer]] in all endings, though [[spoiler:he gets powered up on the secret fourth ending]].
447* FromNobodyToNightmare: Even the greatest warriors and demons came from ''somewhere''. When GodsNeedPrayerBadly is in effect, this applies to ''gods'' too, up to and including YHVH himself.
448* FullCircleRevolution: A series staple. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' in particular emphasize how it really doesn't matter whether you choose Law, Chaos, or Neutral; eventually, a new guy who longs for whatever it is you gave up will turn up, dethrone you or wait until you are gone, then kick back everything you made back into nothing. It's pretty much the reason OrderVersusChaos can never end.
449* FunctionalMagic: Comes in various flavors, depending on each game's mechanics and the demon involved.
450* FusionDance: Demons/Personas as a rule either level exceedingly slowly or simply do not have the necessary gumption to last for long given the brutal form of SortingAlgorithmOfEvil the games tend to favor. So the series has, as noted above, a fusion system in which two or more participant demons are merged into a single one, allowing the resulting demon to inherit better stats and moves they would not have otherwise learned from their "parents". Most of the time, these take place in specialized places (the Cathedral of Shadows (a classic mainstay of the series), [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy the]] [[VideoGame/DevilSummoner Gouma-Den]], or [[Franchise/{{Persona}} the Velvet Room]]). However, there are a number of occasions in which a Demon Fusion Program has been used with compatible portable technology to fuse demons in the field (with the [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Demonica battlesuit]], [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 as a cellphone app]], [[VideoGame/SoulHackers and with]] [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV the COMP]]).
451** ''Persona'' games before ''3'' have a Fusion System based on collecting base Persona cards from random battles and using those to create stronger Personas. Of note, too; both demons in the main series and Personas occasionally demonstrate an interest borne out of curiosity or powerlust in fusion. The imagery used in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiImagine'' suggests the fused demons are outright killed in fusion, but in other media, it looks more like they unravel and the pieces fuse together.
452** Mitama Fusions are used solely to power up a demon by increasing its stats or to impart specific moves to it, and do not change the demon.
453** Elemental Fusions move a demon up or down the ranks of its race. Stronger Elements can move a demon up to two ranks above.
454** Sacrificial Fusions in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' involve two demons and a sacrifice. The resulting demons inherit even better stats than if fused normally and can receive moves from all three participants. There are also some demons that can only be created this way.
455** Special Fusions in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' always involve three or more demons. The recipes are fixed and cannot accept similar substitutes.
456** Triangle, Cross, Pentacle and Hexagram Spread Fusions are also present in the latter ''Persona'' games. ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' even has an example of [[SerialEscalation Dodecagon Fusion]].
457** Aside from inter-demon fusion, the trope can also be applied in certain games when demons can be fused into various forms of weaponry, such as the first two games of the main franchise. ''Persona 3'' has the Weapon Fusion system, in which new armaments can be created by fusing Personas into Nihil weapons. Both Raidou games feature demon forging, though only the first involves actually fusing the demon with the blade.
458** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' explores this trope's dark, dark places: the EvilCounterpart of the Investigation Project, Jack's Squad, never got the transmission to get the series signature fusion program or demon summoning program. So they just made do with what they had: instead of keeping their demons in their Demonicas, they just locked and trussed them in cells, and for fusion, they tore them to pieces and started checking what clicked with what. It's little surprise their results mostly involve BodyHorror abominations.
459* FusionDissonance: Every game that has fusion mechanics usually have resultant demons that don't resemble their components except for some inherited skills. You can fuse a goddess, TheDevil, and a dragon then end up with a penis monster among other possibilities. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZEq6DG9ZP4 Seriously]].
460[[/folder]]
461[[folder: G-I]]
462* GagPenis:
463** Used frequently in many of the demons. Witness the [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080707022822/megamitensei/images/0/09/MaraSMT.jpg Mara]], [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090618224005/megamitensei/images/4/43/PENDRAGON.png Pendragon]], [[http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Mishaguji Mishaguji]], [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/0/0d/Yamm.jpg Ym]], and of all things, [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080806040827/megamitensei/images/0/0e/Cthulhu2.jpg Cthulhu]].
464** Then there is [[http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/SMTNocturne/Update%2021/76-night_incubus.jpg Incubus]], who seems to find every woman and female demon in the game sexy. It's his job, after all.
465* GaidenGame: ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' for the main series. ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and the original ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' also started as gaiden games under the ''Megami Ibunroku'' / ''Alternate Tales of the Goddess'' moniker, before developing into full fledged spinoff series of their own.
466* GameOverMan: Several games, such as ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' have Charon, the ferryman to the afterlife, greeting you upon death. In some games, he will offer to bring you back to life if you have the Macca or [[Platform/Nintendo3DS Play Coins]] to pay his offer.
467* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Numerous cases across the franchise, but the most persistent example is how the gameplay elements of player characters, party members and demons don't necessarily represent their abilities or traits in the story itself. An obvious example would be how demons tend to have strict caps on how many skills they can carry in gameplay, whereas in the story they have a myriad number of abilities ''far'' beyond what its gameplay statistics suggest, such as being lifeforms made out of energy and information (in most continuities), or abilities reflecting their mythical roots (i.e Nebiros being an expert necromancer).
468* GatelessGhetto: Each game has a different justification for it. Police blockades, magical barriers, the city being the last place standing or simply not having any reason to leave have all been used in different capacities.
469* GlobalCurrency: Macca in most of them, usually games not set in modern-day Japan.
470* GlobalCurrencyException: Gemstones. Special traders pop every now and then and sell rare items in exchange for gems you may be given as gifts or as battle spoils, and there is no way to just pay regular money for it. ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has the antique shop owner, who offers Persona-boosting items and Social Links-related paraphernalia, and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' has the Gem Trader, who sells a wide selection of items and even stat-boosting demons. ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'' has Case Files requesting gems, and they can be used in fusion to power up the resulting demon. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' has Saint Germain's shop, which sells some of the most overpowered consumables in the game - if you're willing and able to pay him with your precious gemstones.
471* {{God}}:
472** Generally implied to be present in the games, but rarely shows up in person. YHVH shows up as ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'' [[spoiler:as the TrueFinalBoss]], ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' [[spoiler:as the FinalBoss]], (arguably) again in ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'' [[spoiler:as the FinalBoss]], ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV IV]]'' [[spoiler:as a DLC boss]], and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse Apocalypse]]'' [[spoiler:as the FinalBoss]].
473** Various forms of Hoshigami (Starhair in English) are the creators of their respective universes in the ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' series, filling the role of God. [[spoiler:Brahman]] has that role in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', [[spoiler:Polaris and the administrators who come before or after him]] fulfil a somewhat similar funcion in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''.
474* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks:
475** God is a vain tyrant who only cares about humans if they're worshipping Him and loves to hand out [[FateWorseThanDeath Fates Worse Than Death]]. Lucifer is a ManipulativeBastard who's a big fan of SocialDarwinism and anarchy. Some portrayals of them are less extreme or more sympathetic than others, but those are few and far between.
476** [[Franchise/{{Persona}} Philemon and Nyarlathotep]] aren't much better. Nyarlathotep is a classical villain who wants to see humanity destroy itself, but even Philemon, who gives humans their Personas to fight back, does little more than observe. [[SarcasmMode He wouldn't want to lose a bet over something small like helping an entire species, after all]].
477* GodIsEvil: To the point YHVH's form in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' used to be that trope's ''page image''. Note that YHVH is considered so corrupt in some games, even his loyal followers tend to want to get rid of him, seeing him as a detriment to a peaceful world. The creators have stated God is not the ultimate source of evil, but him being this trope is a sign of a greater error going in the fabric of reality. Still, with him showing up as the FinalBoss in more than one game, one can't help but think the impression is being reinforced. That said, this trope is subject to DependingOnTheWriter across the games: see [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiYHVH his character page]] for more in-depth details.
478** The Great Will blurs this. While the various [[AlternateSelf alternate selves]] of God appearing across continuities are all aspects of the Great Will and tend to lean on this, the fact some of them are decidedly ''not'' this trope (''VideoGame/LastBible'', ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' ''[[UpdatedReRelease Redux]]'') makes it hard to tell if the Great Will is anything like any of its avatars.
479* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: A main staple, to justify DeityOfMortalCreation being so prevalent in the games.
480** In at least ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' continuity (''II'', ''Devil Summoner'', ''Soul Hackers'', ''Raidou Kuzunoha'' and ''Persona'' -- all of which are either in the same timeline or {{Alternate Timeline}}s), ''IV'' and ''Apocalypse'' continuity, and perhaps more: demons, angels, monsters, and spirits only exist because people remember and believe in them. Oddly, at least in ''II'', if the supernatural creatures believe hard enough, they create duplicates of other supernatural entities: with the Archangels believing in a False YHVH.
481** This has some interesting bearing in the game. In general, the more people in RealLife that believe in a particular god/demon/angel/etc., the stronger they are in any given game. God, Lucifer, and the Archangels [[ArchangelMichael Michael]], [[ArchangelGabriel Gabriel]], Raphael and Uriel are obvious examples, but Shiva and Vishnu, both primary gods in Hindu (which remains one of the oldest active religions in the world) are also among the strongest. Exceptions do exist, like Metatron (less than one-quarter of one percent of the world's population are Jewish) being among the strongest.
482** This trope is typically averted in spinoff series (''VideoGame/LastBible'', ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'', ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'') where demons and gods have distinct origins than in main series. ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Strange Journey]]'' downplays this as gods and demons instead emerge from "the will of the Earth", and thus don't require humans to exist (though they can still benefit from human worship), [[spoiler:and averts it entirely with an incarnation of God who predates humankind]]. ''VideoGame/Persona3'' averts this with Nyx, a CosmicEntity predating complex life on Earth.
483* GoldenMeanFallacy: A constant staple of the games tends to be that while Law and Chaos are based on real philosophies, they tend to get strawmanned into oblivion. And while Neutral endings hint at the various flaws that remain from trying to forge a middle path, such as the God-vs-Lucifer conflict only being ''[[ForeverWar temporarily]]'' [[ViciousCycle stopped]], this tends to get shown in-game only indirectly, whereas the flaws of Law and Chaos are placed front and center. And it will often have a strangely light grey tone relative to the dark grey tones of Law and Chaos.
484* TheGoomba: The lowest level members of the Fairy and Jirae races tend to be the first recruitable demons encountered in the mainline games, with the exception of the ''IV'' duology. These two tend to be Pixie and Knocker, but ''II'' uses High Pixie for the former and ''Nocturne'' uses Kodama for the latter.
485* GrandfatherClause: The games are based around the idea that you are the only person who ultimately decide [[OrderVsChaos what is right and wrong]]. To convey this, there is almost always a SilentProtagonist as the MC. Where this trope comes in is the fact that even in games where they are ''fully voiced'' only the MC is silent. The adaptations are the only ones to avert this, [[{{Justified}} since it would be extremely awkward to watch an action anime where only grunts are given and no conversation elsewhere]].
486* GreatWhiteFeline: Byakko/Bai Hu is a demon and Persona in the series, based on the White Tiger of the West from the Chinese Constellations.
487* GreyAndGrayMorality: One of the biggest draws of the franchise is its ''incredibly'' grey conflict. All three alignments - Law, Neutral and Chaos - all have their positive and negative representatives, alongside their good and bad aspects. Law and Chaos at its worst tend to be ''very'' forceful [[WithUsOrAgainstUs in regards to their ideology]], but [[VillainHasAPoint they consistently raise good points in regards to their ideals]], especially when you consider the normally-optimistic Neutral endings to prolong the conflict until either Law or Chaos wins. There are ''very'' few exception to this rule, notably ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' since that game takes place in a unique universe where [[spoiler:Law and Chaos are puppets of YHVH - and even then, it ''also'' definitively proves Neutral can be just as extreme as Law and Chaos]]. At the end of the day, the game encourages you to choose the path you agree with the most, above all else.
488* GreaterScopeVillain: Varies by continuity, but in general many problems within each game can be chalked up to YHVH -- or rather, agents of the Great Will in general. They are often the ones responsible for any given world being the way they are, including the conflict between Law and Chaos plaguing everything. This is especially so in ''Nocturne'' and in ''Apocalypse''.
489* GuardianEntity: Many, but one of the most prominent one is Masakado for various incarnatons of Tokyo across the series.
490* GuideDangIt:
491** If you want to get certain skills on certain demons, you WILL need to consult several fusion charts and skill charts (doing it the old-fashioned way of chart-making is practically a SelfImposedChallenge).
492** Getting the best ending of any given game by yourself is a SelfImposedChallenge. Well, unless said game does ''not'' have MultipleEndings, which is a rarity.
493* HalfHumanHybrid: There a fair number of examples across the games, with varying levels of nature, practicality, and risks.
494* HarderThanHard: Maniac mode in the modern games. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck It's the subtitle]] of the UpdatedRerelease of Nocturne.
495* HappinessInSlavery: ''No.'' You can order demons whatever you want, but they ''will'' hate you if you cross certain lines. Loyalty in ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' works alongside the same lines; demons have an affinity for certain attacks; allowing them to use it will increase their loyalty, telling them to use moves they hate will reduce it. The National Defense Divinities ''loathe'' both the Ashura-Kai and the Ring of Gaea, and are overjoyed at their own destruction, so the damn fools won't get to use them anymore as their mooks.
496* HeadlessHorseman: Appear irregularly as a headless knight sans horse. A noteworthy example is a female Dullahan that shows up as a mid boss in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' during a Challenger Quest.
497* HealerSignsOnEarly: Expect one of your first party members, be it human, demon, or otherwise, to have some healing capacity. Pixie is a common example between many games.
498* HealingBoss: The more NintendoHard games tend to have bosses who use healing.
499** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'':
500*** Mara is a puzzle boss who can cast Diarahan (which fully restores a single target's HP) whenever he pleases. It's not really much of a puzzle though: if you made it this far into the game you ''know'' what the answer is. Because it's the same way you beat ''every'' boss in this game: buff your offense and debuff his defense to the degree that you can kill him before he has a chance to use it.
501*** Daisoujou has the ability to steal life and mana from the party through its Meditation spell.
502*** Clotho of the Moirae sisters is able to cast Dia, Diarama and Mediarama on herself and her sisters.
503** During the fight with the Angel trio, Uriel and Raphael both have the single-target full-health Diarahan spell.
504*** The Trumpeter's Holy Melody restores the target to full HP. It will always aim it at the character with the lowest percentage of HP, so the fight can become a PuzzleBoss where you want to avoid it casting on itself and force it to cast it on one of your party instead.
505*** Baal Avatar is able to summon minions who will happily heal her fully if you inflict a certain amount of damage on her without killing her outright.
506*** Lucifer in the Maniax Chronicles Edition starts with well over 60,000 HP. On hard mode, he will cast Diarahan when he gets below 20,000, fully restoring his HP. On normal mode though, he will only cast Diarama, which at this point in the game is tantamount to wasting a turn. You should be dealing the amount of damage he just healed many times over with one attack.
507** ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'': The superboss of the first game ([[spoiler:Demi-Fiend]]) will have one of his demons cast Mediarahan to fully heal their entire party the first time he gets below half HP. And since all of them are immune to status effects, you can't prevent it. The second game's superboss ([[spoiler:Satan]]) will also use Diarahan when his HP gets close to death, to punish you ''hard'' if you can't finish him off.
508** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'': The DLC superboss Demi-fiend will cast Mediarahan when he gets below half HP, fully healing his entire party. You can skip him doing this if you manage to inflict the charm status on him before putting him beneath that threshold, though.
509* HelloInsertNameHere: Most of the protagonists in the series are nameless until you name them. However, there are many notable instances of playing with this trope. For instance, [[VideoGame/Persona2 Tatsuya]] and [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV Flynn]] have default names that can be changed, while Maya and [[VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga Serph]] are stuck with those. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' names the protagonist "Hawk" and doesn't let you change his name until certain plot points are revealed, and lets you use default names for every main character, which actually shifts your alignment towards Law.
510* HellOnEarth: ''Nocturne'', ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney''.
511* HeroicMime: The main protagonists are almost always one of these. Which made ''Persona 2'' quite entertaining considering that the protagonists of ''Innocent Sin'' and ''Eternal Punishment'' only have dialogue in the game they're not starring in.
512** Some games work skillfully around this. In ''Digital Devil Saga'', Serph is a HeroicMime because [[spoiler:he's based on the understanding Sera had on the real Serph. That is to say, she knew nothing about the real Serph]]. In ''Persona 3'' and ''4'', the protagonists' arcanas are TheFool. One aspect of TheFool is chaos and creativity; in short, this means they are free to choose any personality they want.
513* HobbesWasRight: The neutral path essentially states this in the ending.
514* HolyHandGrenade: "Hama" type spells; typically OneHitKill type spells.
515* HotterAndSexier: ''Giten Megami Tensei'' is a bit of an odd duck in the series in that it's a mid-90s PC exclusive and as such has [[{{Hgame}} has more freedom to show rather risque imagery.]] It has explicit sexual content, very intense gore, and [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs some highly unsettling combinations thereof]]. Particularly infamous is the scene where [[spoiler: Yuuka]], semi-nude, is ''very'' graphically dismembered, decapitated and devoured by demons [[note]]She gets better after [[TitleDrop reincarnating as a goddess]][[/note]].
516* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: The Biblical four (White Rider, Red Rider, Black Rider, and [[GrimReaper Pale Rider]]) are a fixture throughout the series along with a couple other figures from the Literature/BookOfRevelation, serving as {{Superboss}}es and potentially allied demons, if you can beat them. They're often hard to find and ''always'' hard to beat. Strangely for an apocalyptic series, they tend to never be directly involved in the plots, instead showing up as optional side bosses.
517* TheHorseshoeEffect: Law and Chaos aren't as different as they'd like to think. ''Especially'' where their methods are concerned.
518* HumanityOnTrial: ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''. Sometimes we ''deserve'' to be tried.
519* HumanResources: Magnetite/Magatsuhi/Red is an incredibly useful substance for dealing with demons, as it tastes great to them, even better than human flesh. [[spoiler:However, no matter how you call it, ''it's actually refined from human brains/souls''. Certain protagonists like Raidou mostly generate and use his own to offer to his demonic contracts, but other uses have demons either farming it from humans/humanoid facsimiles, or [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans using captured POWs, captured civilians/slaves and children to use their conditioned neurological tissue to harvest it]]. In the last case, they also used an enslaved demon to help produce them better. Said demon being none other than a Magatsuhi from Japanese lore.]]
520* HumansAreFlawed: A very important aspect of the OrderVersusChaos conflict. After all, both sides are only trying to help... each in their own way. Even when humans choose a balance they will likely crave the extremism of Law or Chaos eventually, resetting the conflict to begin anew.
521* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: While the demons are ObviouslyEvil, sometimes humans commit horrible atrocities that [[EvenEvilHasStandards even the most bloodthirsty of demons get squicked out by]]. Two examples include [[spoiler:Captain Jack]] from ''Strange Journey'', who dabbles in experimenting on unwilling demons ''en masse'' as well as [[spoiler:kidnapping a human and trying to fuse them with a demon]], and [[spoiler:Tayama the Ashura-kai ringleader]] in ''Shin Megami Tensei IV'', who [[spoiler:has his henchmen kidnap Tokyo dwellers (especially critics of the Ashura-kai) and extract neurotransmitters from them to make demon-quelling Red Pills]].
522* HuMons:
523** Several of the demons you can fuse or recruit are based on humans or demigods from various mythologies. They, therefore, resemble humans with clothing and weapons symbolic of their role in mythology.
524** Exaggerated in the [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI first]] [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII two]] SNES games; [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the heroes could recruit]] humans, who can be ordered around in battle like any other demon [[note]]Not to be mistaken with the human party members, who join and leave at plot-relevant intervals[[/note]]. These humans are special because fusing them with a demon gives a random demon within a certain level range ([[AntiFrustrationFeatures the player can see the result of the fusion before ordering and can cancel, so they can try again and again until finding the desired demon]]).
525* HurricaneOfPuns: ''Everything'' about Mara. Mara is a demon from Buddhism that used various temptations on the Buddha to prevent him from achieving enlightenment. However, ''mara'' is also a slang term for "penis" in Japanese, which is fitting because it is generally shaped like one. It's common for Mara's attacks to have the ''Pierce'' trait, or the fire attribute, and the demon being weak to ice cold. In the Persona games its arcana will inevitably be Tower. And in Shin Megami Tensei ''IV'', ''Apocalypse'', and ''V'', most of the dialogue surrounding it will involve penis puns. His base skill set in ''V'' includes Hell Thrust, Toxic Spray and Slumber Vortex.
526* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Law's standard justification for several genocides. Note that when not committing genocide, Law points tend to be awarded by saving lives and helping people, and they tend to speak out against harms or selfishness. They simply think that at certain times you can help far more people in long term by killing selectively chosen ones.
527* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: But you will wind up going there anyway. Even if it's the stuff of your darkest nightmares.
528* IncapableOfDisobeying: As a general rule, demons that were contracted, summoned, or fused through the Demon Summoning Program are incapable of disobeying their summoner.
529** The original ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner'' and ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'' are an exception; demons will rarely follow your orders if told to do something they don't want to do.
530* InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Though some games at least have the decency to at least put some color variations.
531* InfallibleBabble: In all the games, talking to the random [=NPCs=] scattered around will reveal quite a bit about the plot and future events of each game, usually long before the game actually brings them up. In some occasions, talking with everyone is the only way to progress.
532* InfernalParadise: Utopia has that name for a ''reason''.
533* InherentInTheSystem: Try as you might, whatever you do is, at best, creating sandcastles, because there will always be people who disagree with whatever ending you pick and who will overthrow whatever order (or chaos) you create, and even restoring the old, un-destroyed world doesn't protect it from destruction in the future. The only other option anyone's come up with is [[spoiler: destroying ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt everything]]'']].
534* InfinityPlusOneSword: Many ultimate GameBreaker abilities and equipment require a lot of work to get. Examples from [[Franchise/{{Persona}}]] are in their own page.
535** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'': Hinokagutsuchi, the best sword in the game, obtainable through fusion only. Requires a total of sixty-seven demons and several fusable swords to walk through each step. As the sword can also be fused with various demons to produce the best gun and the best armor for Hiroko, you need EIGHT of them for a full equipment list.
536** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''
537*** Masakados Magatama: Find all 24 Magatama, beat an extra BrutalBonusLevel (Bandou Shrine) and ''four'' {{Optional Boss}}es.
538*** [[ArmorPiercingAttack Pierce]] skill: beat the massive BrutalBonusLevel (Labyrinth of Amala) ''before'' entering TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
539*** Extra Press Turn: beat the ''even harder'' Grave Run (ending all Grave Battles in the Labyrinth with a qualifying Press Turn count).
540** ''Digital Devil Saga'': Amala Ring: beat one of the hardest {{Superboss}}es in RPG history.
541** ''Digital Devil Saga 2'': Magatama Ammo: complete a series of PopQuiz RandomEncounters, then beat a boss in the TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
542** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'': The best swords and guns for each alignment (though Neutral doesn't have its own specific gun) are obtained from alignment-exclusive EX Missions. ''Redux'' does this one better by having even stronger equipment be found from its own superbosses in its unique BonusDungeon.
543** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'': [[spoiler:Masakado's Shadow]], obtained by beating the boss of the final DLC quest. He boasts, among other things, "Curse Thy Enemy", which inflicts Almighty damage to all enemies and ''counts as a weakness'', and "Guardian's Eye", a 255-MP (!!) spell which grants three blinking Press Turns.
544** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'': The Fiends of [[BonusDungeon Twisted Tokyo]] drop incredibly powerful weaponry and accessories... [[RandomlyDrops if you're lucky]].
545** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'':
546*** Shiva and his absurdly strong skills can be yours to use if you manage to defeat him... but he's a level 96 {{Superboss}} when you can beat the game at around level 85.
547*** The Demi-Fiend's Essence (from his own DLC) is earned by beating him, giving the Nahobino immunity to everything except Almighty, or access several unique absurdly strong skills. He's also the toughest fight in the game.
548* InstakillMook: The series has several spells - and thus {{Mook}}s - of this type.
549** [[LightEmUp Hama]], [[CastingAShadow Mudo]] and their variants. Any mook can have them as soon as you start the game, and yes, they are very effective. Hama is usually owned by Divine (read "Angel") type enemies, while Mudo belongs to ghosts, hell-themed demons, etc. However, Hama gets [[{{Nerf}} Nerfed]] in a few games.
550** Any enemy that can deal the "Stone" [[StatusEffects status ailment]], which [[TakenForGranite petrifies an opponent.]] If anyone inflicted with it is hit by a physical, [[DishingOutDirt Earth]] or [[BlowYouAway Force]] attack, they die.
551** Many - usually late-game - enemies have the following pattern: a skill that inflicts a status effect, and a second skill that kills anyone who has it.
552* IntercontinuityCrossover: A few games have overtly featured characters from a different continuity in a major role.
553* InterfaceSpoiler: Many across the franchise, but one stands out. If you encounter [[DiscOneFinalDungeon what appears to be the final dungeon]] or [[DiscOneFinalBoss what appears to be the final boss]], go look through some possible fusions, especially special fusions. If you see resultant demons can still have tens of levels higher than you, what you think is the final challenge most likely ''isn't''. Rarely does a game in this series end with you and your demons/Personas below level 70-80.
554* ItIsBeyondSaving: You will be presented arguments to convince you any given faction is responsible for this. Who you believe, of course, is your business and no one else's.
555* ItsAllUpstairsFromHere: In almost every single game you'll end up ascending a tall tower, or at least a very long multi-floor dungeon.
556* ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure: The Law faction, more often than not, decides to nuke the hell out of those that disagree with it. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' is particularly famous for this.
557[[/folder]]
558[[folder: J-M]]
559* JesusTaboo: For its use of nearly every mythological character, Jesus is almost never mentioned or relevant. Admittedly [[GodIsEvil YHVH]] and [[{{Satan}} his dragon]] lean closer to the view Judaism has on the two (except for the "evil" bit) and Judaism doesn't have the same conception of Messiah, though they employ Catholic arch-angels.
560** Aleph from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' was made to be the {{expy}} of Jesus, and they even made sure he had a virgin mother.
561** Lyrics in ''Nocturne'''s boss theme mention a sacrificing of the son of God.
562** The closest the series gets to Jesus is in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', the Persona Messiah, who is a representation of the MessianicArchetype as a whole.
563** The demon [[http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Agony Agony]] represents a long-haired, visibly wounded man bound by barbed wire to a large wooden cross. However, comprehensively, it only appeared in the first ''Devil Summoner'' game, which has never been translated or even gotten out of Japan.
564* KarmaMeter: The mainline ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games have an alignment stat that changes based on the decisions you make, and determines which path the story will take near the end. They are modified or removed entirely for spin-offs.
565* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The mechanics of each game tend to give out various bonuses for hitting enemy weaknesses or landing Critical Hits, such as Extra Press Turns or a free Almighty attack.
566* KillTheOnesYouLove: Many games with alignment routes have you killing off friends who don't align with you.
567* KnightTemplar: Pretty much everyone aligned with Law, [[spoiler:Remiel and Amane]] from ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' being some of the few exceptions. Sometimes it gets so bad that the Law ending doesn't even involve siding directly with the force of Law in game proper.
568* LawyerFriendlyCameo:
569** Jack Frost in other series. In ''Shin Megami Tensei II'', "Mr. Thriller" aka Music/MichaelJackson can be met dancing in a disco and talking about how much he loves toys and children. You can also fight and recruit CaptainErsatz versions of Film/{{Beetlejuice}} (Betelgeuse) and Literature/{{Christine}} (Chris The Car).
570** In the first 2 ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games, you're given the Demon Summoning Program by a wheelchair-bound man with glasses and gray hair. He calls himself "Stephen". Any resemblance to a famous scientist is surely coincidental.
571** In many games, the Jinn looks a lot like Genie from Disney's version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''.
572* TheLegionsOfHell: Due to the Law faction's tendency to keep other demons away from the real world, Chaos factions generally lie in wait for their chance to rise again. Almost every game depicts them successfully doing so.
573* LightIsGood: ZigZagged: The Light-Dark alignment axis refers to a given demon's typical ''depiction'' in its originating myths, not necessarily how they actually ''are''.
574* LighterAndSofter: As mainline ''Shin Megami Tensei'' is pretty dark, it's not too hard for its spin-offs to achieve this trope.
575** The ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' series, where the demons, gods and spirits are redesigned as more kid-friendly [[RuleOfCute cute]] versions. For instance, [[ScyllaAndCharybdis Scylla]] goes from a dog-headed sea monster to a cute little girl walking a bunch of puppies.
576** The ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner'' series overall has the look and feel of a Saturday Morning Cartoon where cool and suave protagonists manage to thwart the plans of equally charismatic villains with (usually) no major betrayals and the world saved at the end of the day. While, obviously, the content is darker than said cartoons, the characters such as Nemissa and Raidou Kuzunoha are not out of place in a Shonen Manga or western comic book, with the former humorously failing at being the NinetiesAntiHero prevalent at her time, while Raidou tends to maintain his sense of justice. Driving the point are the openings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gez-DOsC3Ko of Soul Hackers]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtaqROGDOY Raidou Kuzunoha]] which would fit right in with shows on something like ''Toonami'' and let you know you're in for a DenserAndWackier, action-packed and lighter ''SMT'' adventure this time around.
577** The ''Persona'' series, as you're usually SavingTheWorld with ThePowerOfFriendship, instead of [[TheFellowshipHasEnded watching your friends turn on you]] [[AfterTheEnd after the world's already been destroyed]]. Certain games, however, do avert this.
578** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' has multiple good endings and focuses on the more positive aspects of the series' theme of choice. It's like facing a ''Shin Megami Tensei'' situation with ''Persona'' protagonists. It's still fairly grim though, especially when compared to ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', which in itself is a LighterAndSofter successor to the first game.
579** ''Jack Bros'', the Virtual Boy SpinOff, is probably the lightest and softest of the bunch, as it focuses on Pyro Jack, Jack Frost and Jack Skeleton trying to return to the fairy world before time runs out.
580* LimitedMoveArsenal: Most ''[=MegaTen=]'' games give your party members a limited number of skill slots, and force them to permanently forget old skills to make room for new ones. ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' and humans in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' do have the option to re-equip old abilities from a skill pool though.
581* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Inverted in most ''SMT'' games since the Platform/PlayStation2 era. Magic is far more useful at lower levels than physical attacks, as it can be used to exploit enemies' [[ElementalRockPaperScissors elemental weaknesses]]. However, higher-level physical skills that give you {{Armor Piercing Attack}}s, more {{Critical Hit}}s and CounterAttack abilities can make a late game physical build much deadlier than a magic one, especially once you begin encountering tougher enemies with [[NoSell few or no elemental weaknesses]].
582* LivingStructureMonster: In ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Strange Journey]]'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' the demon [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110601200238/megamitensei/images/e/e6/Orcus.JPG Orcus]] appears as a brick [[HellGate gateway]] to {{Hell}} (if you look closely, a plaque reading "GO TO HELL" is attached to it) with part of a horned head visible at the top.
583* LostInTranslation: To the point it might be impossible to list all of the examples without its own page.
584** Many, ''many'' concepts in the original Japanese language don't or can't be conveyed after translation, which potentially results in misconceptions:
585*** 宇宙 is commonly translated as "the universe", which is accurate in most cases but misleading in a few notable cases: the entity known as 宇宙の大いなる意志 (localized as "great will of the universe") exists as PowersThatBe in ''multiple'' universes and across different continuities; it would have been more appropriately translated as "cosmos".
586*** 龍脈 is commonly translated as "Dragon Stream" which is again generally accurate, but can't convey the original Taoist conception that it is tied to the flow of life energy in Earth itself, and that it is possible for said life energy to flow out of their ordinary paths like a ruptured blood vessel. In fact, its literal translation "Dragon Veins" would be more accurate in most cases, as it connects to related concepts (龍穴 or Dragon Wounds, which is instead translated as "Leyline Fount") more easily.
587** Interestingly, this trope is also ''inverted'' in one case. In Japanese, Makai or 魔界 (lit. Demon World) is always used to refer to an AlternateDimension where demons are born, no matter the game. This is despite the fact they aren't connected, and might have significant differences from game to game. For example, Makai of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' can be safely entered by a human (though requires special means), whereas Makai of ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' instantly kills any human who enters it. Similarly, in most games Makai is explicitly linked to the physical world of a single universe, whereas in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', Makai is ''also'' the space between universes. Notably, the non-Japanese releases make an effort to correct this, in that games with a Makai being fairly distinct from the norm have specific names rather than simply "Makai" or "Demon World": ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner'' calls it "Alien Dimension", ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' calls it "Expanse", ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' calls it "Netherworld" or "Da'at". In short, instead of losing meaning upon translation, they instead ''gain'' proper distinctions.
588** There are also a number of regular {{Pun}}s which don't make it through translation:
589*** "Luster Candy" is the ultimate buff skill in some games. In Japanese, this is a play on the three individual buffs -- ''Ra''kukaja (defense), ''Su''kukaja (accuracy/evasion), and ''Ta''rukaja (attack) -- but the joke falls apart with a direct translation.
590*** In Japanese, allied demons have been historically referred to as 仲魔, which is a made-up pun based on the word 仲間, meaning "ally". Both words are pronounced the same ("nakama"), but the former replaces one of the kanji with the kanji for "demon". English translations generally refer to them simply as "demon partners" or even just "demons", foregoing the pun.
591* LouisCypher: Shows up in all the mainline ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games, and ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon''. Loki takes the schtick and runs with it in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor''. Satan has his own example with Zayin.
592* {{Lunacy}}: The waxing and waning of the moon is a key gameplay feature in every game. The fuller the moon is, the more damage your attacks do, the more likely an accident is to occur during fusion, and the crazier the monsters act. During a full moon, they're practically drunk off those moonbeams, which makes for entertaining conversation. There are also some abilities that are more or less effective depending on the phase of the moon. Certain games have their own quirks:
593** ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has important storyline events [[spoiler:(the attack of the Greater Shadows)]] occur during a full moon.
594** There's a period of time in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' where the main character would take damage during a full moon. This is because [[spoiler:of his psychic link to the Heroine, whose reincarnated self is currently undergoing torture from a demon that has invaded her mind. The full moon makes him feel her pain]]. This is solved [[spoiler:by rescuing her]].
595** In ''Digital Devil Saga'', there's a 50% chance during every new moon- [[CallARabbitASmeerp excuse us,]] MIN Solar Noise that your characters will be cured of any ailments that they are suffering from. Also, the selling price of Cells is at its highest during MAX Solar Noise. In the sequel, ''Digital Devil Saga 2'', there is a chance during 7/8 or MAX Solar Noise- sorry, ''Solar Data'' that you will enter battle in Berserk Form.
596** You can guarantee that you get the best items from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'''s Mystical Chests by opening them during a full Kagutsuchi phase. The drop rate of Gems is also highest at this point. The moon does not appear in Nocturne because, along with the rest of the world, [[AfterTheEnd it has been destroyed.]] What the game tracks, instead, is the brightening and darkening of Kagutsuchi. Hence, Nocturne is one of the few games with a good reason for why the "moon"'s phase changes every few steps you take, as opposed to taking days to change phase.
597** One Sub App in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' lets you speak to demons during the Full Moon (something otherwise impossible). Because they're drunk on the moonlight, they don't really know what they're saying, and will ask bizarre questions. You have a 50/50 chance of impressing them or pissing them off; impressing them can earn you rewards up to and including instantly recruiting them: this is the ''only'' way to recruit Dark demons.
598* MadScientist: [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI Ste]][[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII phen]], [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII Dr. Harada]] and [[VideoGame/SoulHackers Dr.]] [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Vic]][[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon tor]] all qualify.
599* MadScientistLaboratory: Every single incarnation of the Gouma-Den.
600* MagicallyBindingContract: A staple in the franchise. Generally, when a demon decides to join a summoner as an ally during negotiations, a contract between the demon and the summoner is formed that can usually be broken upon the summoner's death. Note that the contract is ''binding'' on the fact that a contracted demon is IncapableOfDisobeying the summoner. Demons summoned though fusion are also placed under a similar contract.
601* MagicallyIneptFighter: Every game has at least one, but the protagonists of the first two SMT games deserve mention because they can't use any form of Magic.
602* TheMagicComesBack: Many games in the franchise has this in some capacity. Explained in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' by Mother Echidna as a result of the demons returning from the banishment imposed by YHVH. [[DoNotGoGentle They're not leaving again without a fight]].
603* MagicFromTechnology: The premise of the original ''Digital Devil Story'' was that computer code could replicate a summoning ritual, and the concept has been core to the series ever since. Demon summoners throughout the franchise usually carry around [[MagiTek a device]] -- arm-mounted [=COMPs=] in the original games, pistol-mounted [=GUMPs=] in the ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner'' subseries, Platform/NintendoDS-shaped [=COMPs=] in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', the [[PoweredArmor Demonica]] in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' and a cellphone application in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse''-- that runs the Demon Summoning Program and allows the user to summon and control their {{Mons}}. And in certain games like ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and the aforementioned IV duology, it outright gives the user access to magic spells of their own.
604* MagicIsRareHealthIsCheap: As an extension of this, there are skills that cast from MP and those that CastFromHitPoints. The latter can put you in danger, but are more economical since HP is easier to recover than PP. Some games downplay this by having Chakra Drops {{Randomly Drop|s}} from even low-level demons, so you'll always have a steady supply, although HP restoration will always be more available.
605* {{Makara}}: Makaras are fish with the head and hind legs of a deer. They're usually classified as dragons, but on occasion are grouped with snakes. Its alignment is Light-Chaos and it usually makes use of ice-related moves.
606* MarketBasedTitle: In the West, from ''Nocturne'' to around ''Persona 4 Arena'', the games were all branded under the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' label. In Japan, though every game is considered a [=MegaTen=] title, they aren't marketed as such.
607* MarkOfTheBeast: Tatsuya's brand and [[spoiler:Kandori's black eyeballs]] in ''Persona 2'', the Demi-Fiend's tattoos in ''Nocturne'', everyone who uses Atma Avatar in ''Digital Devil Saga'', Nanashi's own tattoos ''Apocalypse''.
608* MascotMook: Jack Frost. He's even the official mascot of Atlus itself, making this a literal example of the trope.
609* MasterOfNone: Demons/Personas with perfectly balanced stats are fairly common and are typically not a good thing, as they tend to be weak at both physical and magic attacks; it's often better to have a collection of demons who specialize in either.
610* MechanicalLifeforms: The hardiest and most powerful Angels tend to be shown as entirely robotic. Being obsessive creatures of Law, this makes it a case of FridgeBrilliance.
611* MercyRewarded: In some games, if you have almost wiped out an enemy team, with only one enemy remaining, he can throw in the towel and beg for mercy. Grant it, and he can either leave with no more fuss, demonstrate his thanks with some trinket or cash, decide you're cool enough to sign up with, or invoke ISurrenderSuckers and go for a last stab.
612* MergingMachine: The Cathedral of Shadows/The Velvet Room/The Gomou-Den.
613* MergingMistake: It is possible for a fusion to end in a "fusion accident". While the specific results vary, it usually results in you getting a completely different demon than what it really should have been. In some cases, you can only get access to certain demons through a fusion accident like Zealot demons or Fool Personas in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}''.
614* MetalSlime: Very often.
615** The Fiends in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''.
616** Alice in the first Persona.
617** The Omoikane in ''Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2''.
618** The Kudan in ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy''. Kageboushi in [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy the sequel]].
619** The Golden Shadows in ''Personas 3 and 4.''
620** Mitamas in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' serve the same purpose as they did in IV (Each drop useful items depending on which one of the four you're facing: Saki Mitama drops sellable items, Nigi Mitama gives you Glory, Ara Mitama gives you demon exp items and Kusi Mitama gives you Nahobino exp items) but unlike IV, appear in the game proper as rare encounters as opposed to only appearing in DLC exclusive areas specifically sold to make the game easier. They block every element except for one random element and ''resist Almighty'' just to make sure you can't cheese them without playing on their terms.
621* MetaphoricallyTrue: What most villains believe and try to achieve in this series aren't inherently wrong. Generally however, they twist it into radical variations which obviously bring nothing but suffering to others.
622* {{Mons}}: This series is the [[TropeMaker Trope]] ''[[TropeMaker Maker]]'', as ''[[VideoGame/MegamiTensei Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei]]'' was the first video game to involve the player taming monsters and using them for combat. Nearly every game serves as a DarkerAndEdgier occult {{Deconstruction}} of {{Mons}}, even though the franchise predates TropeCodifier ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' [[http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Digital_Devil_Story:_Megami_Tensei by ten years]]. This also makes {{Mon}}s itself an UnbuiltTrope.
623* MonsterCompendium: The Demonic Compendium is a very important part in almost every game since ''Nocturne'', allowing you not only to view the stats of all the demons you've ever registered in it, but also serves as a repository of information, with tons of lore for each demon (all of it perfectly valid and backed by a lot of literature in the artbooks) and the ability to resummon those you've fused away for a fee. The Persona Compendium from ''Persona 3'' and beyond serves the same purpose.
624* MonsterLord: The ''Maoh'', or the translated [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Tyrant]], demon race.
625* MouthOfSauron: Metatron for YHVH, Beelzebub for Lucifer. Igor and Kandori Takahisa fill the role to a degree for Philemon and Nyarlathotep.
626* MultiBoobage: Mostly played for demon designs invoking FanDisservice, like Satan, Diana, or Tiamat.
627* MultipleEndings: Many of the games change the ending based on factors such as your alignment or other choices you made in the plot.
628* TheMultiverse: Initially mentioned sparsely over the course of the franchise, before eventually becoming a series staple.
629** One of the earliest titles in the franchise, ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'' has the FinalBoss claim it is but one part of a greater entity which controls countless universes. Likewise, ''VideoGame/LastBible'' has the TrueFinalBoss mention the same, and further elaborates many worlds are being born and destroyed out there unrelated to its own will. ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' similarly has different incarnations of Hoshigami creating different universes.
630** ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'' finally explores the concept: the UpdatedRerelease goes in detail to explain the game's world is just one universe out of billions of others in a vast river known as the Amala. These other universes may or may not be the previous games or even subsequent games, including sub-series of the franchise; given there are a number of hints and references which imply connections across different continuities (such as events of ''II'' being referenced in ''Digital Devil Saga'') it naturally leads to ''lots'' of {{Fanon}} about just how the different universes fit together.
631** However, as prior games like ''Last Bible'' and ''Devil Children'' explicitly have distinct continuities with multiple universes each, this suggests Amala is simply another continuity with its set of universes and not ''Shin Megami Tensei'' franchise as a whole. Later games (such as ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and subsequently ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse Apocalypse]]'') reinforce this, more or less confirming the franchise consists of multiple groups of multiverses, generally distinguished by different forms of PlaceBeyondTime or VoidBetweenTheWorlds binding the universes together (''Nocturne'' has Amala, ''VideoGame/SoulHackers''/''Raidou Kuzunoha'' has Akarana Corridor, ''IV'' duology has the Expanse); or different supreme entities governing reality (''Devil Children'' has the Hoshigami, ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' has Brahman, ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' has Canopus).
632* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: No matter which game it is: if an enemy uses physical attacks which normally would cost it HP, he won't have to pay the price.
633** Not true in the ''Devil Survivor'' series, since enemy stats are displayed "face-up" to the player.
634** Also not true in ''IMAGINE'', where only demons with a specific feature null HP costs (some of which, such as Hecatoncheires, can be used by players). Most, if not all, bosses have this feature, though. This also turns some boss-like enemies such as Hell Biker (from the 39th floor of the ''Denshi Kairo'' special dungeon) rather funny to fight when it starts spending more HP than the player is actually causing him.
635** Nor is it true in the ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' games, where you will see their HP Bars actually drop when they use HP Costing attacks, and occasionally they will actually suicide with it.
636** The only way to deny enemy demons the ability to abuse this is getting their HP lower than the cost of the attack: even though they don't pay the cost, ''they still have to have enough to pay it for it to work''.
637* MythologyGag: Cerberus is usually portrayed in the series with one head because that's how he was described in the original ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'' novel. Boomerangs back to accuracy in ''Digital Devil Saga'', doubling as a series in-joke.
638[[/folder]]
639[[folder: N-R]]
640* NamedWeapons: Very often you will have the chance to collect some legendary weaponry.
641** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} [[UpdatedRerelease FES]]'' takes it further with Weapon Fusion. You can find "Void," "Nihil," or "Origin" weapons which you can slap a Persona on to in order to create swords or spears with very good stats and additional effects. But if you use a Persona whose weapon is well-known by itself, then whatever base weapon you use, regardless of type (knives, bows, whatever) will become this legendary weapon. For instance, fusing Odin and obtaining Gungnir, Thor and Mjolnir, Shiva and Pinaka, Cú Chulainn and Gae Bolg, Siegfried and Balmung... though there are exceptions: Lucifer is not known to wield a grail or a blade in traditional depictions, yet it results in Lucifer Grail ([[LostInTranslation changed to Lucifer Blade in English]]), and Metatron most certainly never has a gun called Metatronius in any religious literature.
642* TheNeedsOfTheMany: As odd as it sounds, the reason Law tends to kill large amounts of people in many of the games is because they want to prevent as many deaths as possible. It just so happens that the best way to do this is to create a utopia that the process of creation involves clearing out anyone who can threaten it.
643* NeutralityBacklash: Neither Law nor Chaos likes it when you decide to go for Neutral. Averted somewhat in that they will often be nicer to you than if you chose the other side.
644* NeutralNoLonger: Very often, events will conspire to try and force you to take a side, giving alignment points. Neutrality is a luxury you can't always afford.
645* NewGamePlus: Most of the recent games include extra content only available on a second run. You can also carry over a varying amount of content from your previous run, such as your money, Demon/Persona Compendium, and even your experience level, although some games like ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' give you the option of wiping most of your content for a challenge.
646* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Happens with some regularity, though probably the most nightmarish instance comes from a single quote in the Akarana Corridor: "''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI The Ambassador]] [[NukeEm has launched]] [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII the ICBMs!]]''"
647* NintendoHard: Even modern ''[=MegaTen=]'' games use classic RPG tropes that can make a player want to cry.
648** High {{Random Encounter|s}} rates.
649** [[BackStab Surprise attacks]] causing [[OneHitKill one turn kills]].
650** Enemies with OneHitKill spells.
651** Enemy weaknesses requiring TrialAndErrorGameplay to discover.
652* NonElemental: Almighty. One of the reasons why it's generally impossible to defend oneself against any attacks of this attribute.
653* NonIndicativeName: The {{Mons}} in the series are generally collectively known as "demons" for convenience despite many of them being, mythologically, the precise opposite of demons (i.e angels, Gods, and sometimes even humans). English text in the Japanese versions tends to call them "devils" instead, which is even less descriptive of some of the creatures' natures. Justified, since the series use [[ShownTheirWork the original meaning of the word "daemon", which simply means spiritual being]].
654* NoPointsForNeutrality: Averted. Neutral is one of the three alignment factions; while Law represents YHVH and angels, and Chaos represents Lucifer and demons, Neutral generally represents Humanity, a force not inherently bound by Law's rules or Chaos's machinations. This is one of the reasons (other than GodsNeedPrayerBadly) why humans are so important to both sides.
655* NoSell: In many ways. Null means this, Absorb means this ''plus'' recovery, Reflect means this plus your opponent taking damage you should suffer.
656** Many enemies will have these stacked up to truly ridiculous levels. Save up enough money, experience, fuse and grind up for the right demons/personas, and you can EliteTweak your own -- sometimes, it is possible to fuse demons or personas which no-sell everything but Almighty effects. Still, though the games permit enough skill customization so enough effort can effectively render any glaring weakness moot, the NintendoHard difficulty usually means that, of course, [[NintendoHard some bosses]] will still make your life hell unless you completely and utterly overpower them, [[SerialEscalation and sometimes even that is not enough]].
657*** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' has the Masakados Magatama, an accessory for the PlayerCharacter which not only gives a ''massive'' bonus to all stats except Luck, it comes with immunities to NoSell ''everything'' except for Almighty. This gets carried over to ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', in which he appears as an excruciatingly difficult superboss: [[OhCrap he still has the same immunities]] [[note]]However, it does not block Gun or Earth damage, as ''Nocturne'' [[MythologyGag doesn't have those elements]]. Again, [[ExactWords "the same immunities"]][[/note]].
658*** And in ''Digital Devil Saga'' you can have the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Null Attack]] passive skill, which has the same effect as the Masakados minus the stat boosts. [[DevelopersForesight Not like it's gonna help you]] against most of the optional bosses, as they all have some variations of Almighty moves as their main forms of attack, and the protagonist of ''Nocturne'' will actually ''insta-kill you before your first turn'' if you have ''any'' no-sell whatsoever.
659*** In ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' sub-series, every game since ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has the Omnipotent Orb, an accessory which has the same effect as Null Attack. However, equipping it against the Velvet Room Attendants serving as the ultimate optional bosses will just result in them punishing you with repeated 9999 damage Megidolaons for an instant game over.
660** It's been a tradition since ''Nocturne'' to have a boss who no-sells or at least highly resists everything except Almighty, which they occasionally ''also resist''. This boss is usually a strong optional boss, such as Lucifer in ''Nocturne'', Masakado's Shadow in ''IV'', [[spoiler:YHVH and Stephen]] in ''Apocalypse''. The ''Persona'' sub-series also follows the tradition: while the Velvet Room Attendants are always BarrierChangeBoss, they also always have a phase where they null absolutely everything except Almighty.
661*** A notable example is the final boss of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', who has an action which will completely NoSell ''everything'' ('''Almighty''' included) you can throw at it. And since it's random, it is perfectly possible for the guy to spam it.
662*** Even worse with this, however, is [[NighInvulnerable Beldr]] from ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor''. Even on a NewGamePlus, ''everything'' you throw at him will fail, all the time, except his ''lone'' WeaksauceWeakness, getting punched in the face with a ''cellphone strap''. This essentially makes every single spell and every single ''character'' in your entire team useless, '''except''' for the "Devil's Fuge" attack which replaces the main character's normal attack. [[NintendoHard Good luck.]]
663*** And ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' gives us Benetnasch who {{No Sell}}s EVERYTHING your main characters can do and is only attackable by your demons. [[SarcasmMode Yay, fun]]. The UpdatedReRelease also adds Arcturus, who is essentially Beldr 2.0 and is only harmable by a certain character's normal attack -- [[spoiler:Yamato with Dragon Stream]].
664** Fittingly, the games since ''Nocturne'' also begin to provide ways of overcoming {{No Sell}}s. In ''Nocturne'' itself, it's the passive skill Pierce: it allows physical attacks to slice past defenses, hitting them full on instead of being lessened, nulled, or absorbed (''not'' reflections, however). ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' also has this skill, though it's much easier to get.
665** ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV IV]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse IV: Apocalypse]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV V]]'' all add Pierce passives for elemental spells as well, and the latter two makes them even more powerful as Repel no longer stops Pierce cold. The ''Persona'' sub-series doesn't have Pierce skills, but they instead have "Element Break" spells, which completely removes the resistances of enemy party to a specific element.
666** ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Strange Journey]]'', ''IV'' and ''Apocalypse'' all have humans, the PlayerCharacter included, be naturally immune to Light-elemental attacks. The immunity can be removed (often becoming a ''weakness'') by certain armor, however.
667* {{Nue}}: The Nue is a recurring Wilder Race demon that has appeared in the series since the first game. Its appearance has varied in-between installments, but they are universally seen as having a tiger-like pelt, a serpent's tale and some simian characteristics, whether it is a baboon face or a gorilla-esque posture.
668* NukeEm:
669** Almighty, again. In the cases where it is not shown as an essence of pure light, the symbol for it is the standard Nuke symbol. This is [[OhCrap not inaccurate]].
670** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', Thor's Hammer is a ''huge'' cluster of nukes. Pointed in your general direction. The Megiddo Arc in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' also counts.
671** In the early ''Persona'' games, Nuclear was another element, separate from Almighty, albeit more powerful than FireIceLightning. This returns in ''VideoGame/Persona5''.
672* NumberedSequels: With the ''Devil Summoner'' spin-off series being the only exception.
673* OddOrganUpTop: Though Creator/{{Atlus}} wouldn't admit it's intentional, it has several [[GagPenis phallic]] examples in [[https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Mara Mara]], [[https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Ym Ym]], and, [[https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Mishaguji Mishaguji]] (who is depicted to be either {{snake|sAreSinister}}-like or humanoid depending on the specific work). ''[[TooMuchinformation Do not]]'' spare a thought if these function as intended but the designs are justified for these demons/deities associated with either temptation, fertility, or both in their original myths. Ym is also a deity of agriculture so his head must be meant to represent root crops (''yam'', geddit?)... but [[VisualPun who are we kidding]]?
674* OddlyNamedSequel: Though usually they explain what it's all about.
675* OlympusMons: Several extremely powerful demons are able to be recruited or fused throughout the series, including top members of the [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse]], [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian]], [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Japanese]] pantheons and [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Outer Gods]]. And then there's the case of recruiting [[{{Pun}} the Olympians themselves]].
676* OnceAnEpisode:
677** The main series has each numbered game has Beelzebub as a {{Superboss}}.
678** With the exception of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', the mainline games also like to have you [[WeUsedToBeFriends fight former allies at the end of the games]], [[FallenHero mostly because they've fallen so far]], [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie they've turned into monsters]]. Both [[HeWhoFightsMonsters figuratively]] and [[TranshumanAbomination literally]].
679** ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' has its own examples in its page.
680* OneGameForThePriceOfTwo:
681** The ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' (''[[MarketBasedTitle Demi Kids]]'' for the two that came to the US) games. Also, ''Digital Devil Saga'' comes in two parts. Same with ''Persona 2''.
682** ''Persona 2'' initially averted this (somewhat) in the U.S. in that the only one that originally came westside was [[SequelFirst the second one]], Eternal Punishment. While Innocent Sin has now been released in the U.S. via the PSP port, Atlus still has yet to announce Eternal Punishment's PSP port for U.S. release. So the trope is both straight and averted, since you need two systems that are of different generations to play both games. And that's only if you can ''find'' Eternal Punishment.[[note]]As of 25 Feb. 2013, Eternal Punishment is available as a "PS One Classic" through Platform/PlayStationNetwork, compatible with the PSP.[[/note]]
683* OneHitKO:
684** Light and Darkness spells. They come in two orders each, one more likely to connect than the other. It is possible to find variations of them all that are capable of hitting all enemy targets, setting up for a TotalPartyKill on either side.
685** Downplayed in ''IV: Apocalypse'', where Light and Dark skills now do damage like other elemental spells, with only their instant-kill properties triggering if the user casts one of these spells while under Smirk status. In fact, some ''bosses'' have Light or Dark as a weakness; [[ContractualBossImmunity they just won't die instantly even if the spell they're weak to is Smirk-cast]].
686** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'', Light and Dark spells follow the same general rule as IV Apocalypse, where they deal damage, but as smirk isn't a feature, they can instead only instant kill on weakness strikes. Additionally, a proper third tier (severe level) was added to these spells: Hamabarion and Mudobarion.
687** The ''Persona'' games (except 3 and 4) give the Bless/Light and Curse/Dark elements both normal damage spells and instant-kill spells.
688* OneManArmy: The franchise has several instances of this trope, both played straight and deconstructed:
689** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', the Demi-Fiend kills absolutely everyone and everything, without any allies other than a handful of demons he recruits.
690** Lupa and Varin in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' can - and have - taken down each other's tribes by themselves.
691--->'''Lupa:''' I will buy you some time.\
692'''Cielo:''' Against all dose guys!? Now I know you crazy!\
693'''Lupa:''' You do not understand. I was the leader of my tribe. You are the ones in danger.\
694'''Gale:''' What do you mean?\
695'''Lupa:''' The Wolves fell to Varin alone.
696** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' has the protagonist doing the work of an entire military squad. While it is routinely mentionied that there are other soldiers out on the field, they often turn out to be {{Red Shirt}}s while you make most of the big breakthroughs, like defeating every end-of-sector boss.
697** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', the OmnicidalNeutral ending turns Nanashi into exactly that. By the end [[spoiler:he is the only one left alive]].
698** ''VideoGame/Persona1'': Reiji Kido (Chris in the Revelations localization) begins the game by storming SEBEC headquarters by himself. He spends the first part of the game fighting by himself the same enemies that give your four-or-five man band so much trouble, and you find him no worse for the wear. What happens to him depends on what choices you make; if you follow the GuideDangIt steps to recruit him, he's still in tip-top shape when he joins the party, but if you don't recruit him, you'll find him again a few dungeons later collapsed on the floor because it got too much for him to handle (or he ran out of medicine).
699** ''VideoGame/Persona2: Eternal Punishment'':
700*** Tatsuya Suou spends two thirds of the game wrecking the Tenchu army (including their mechs, at least two Bosses and a gigantic military vessel) all by himself. The whole thing is further elaborated in his scenario in the PSP remake, where the player finds out exactly what he's been fighting. Lampshaded by the main cast several times:
701---->'''Baofu:''' He has way more experience than you guys, and some guts... Heck, we'd be in his way.
702*** Baofu himself killed 25 mafia hitmen prior to the events of the game, and halfway through he successfully storms their main headquarters all by himself. Right up until he runs to the MiniMecha, that is.
703*** Deconstructed by Katsuya, who attempts to do this against the {{Corrupt Cop}}s, up until he comes face to face with the special units. The party reaches him in time to help him, but after the fight he admits that this was reckless of him and he wouldn't have been able to win by himself.
704* OneSteveLimit: Generally, you cannot have more than one of any given demon in your team. In certain games like ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' series this only applies to certain demons, generally unique individuals over species e.g. [[Myth/NorseMythology Thor and Odin]].
705* OptionalBoss: Most of the games have at least one insanely difficult optional boss. The most notable is Beelzebub, who appears in all four numbered games as one of the strongest bosses, and the entire Fiend race, who generally put up a much greater fight than another enemy or boss in the area.
706* OrderIsNotGood: This franchise is one of the main users of the trope, to the point it makes people think the Law side may even be worse than Chaos because suppressing freedom and the genocides are usually done for the sole purpose of satisfying a tyrant.
707* OrderVersusChaos: A CentralTheme to the main games, recurring still in spin-offs. Law tends to be [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]] but very KnightTemplar about the whole thing. Chaos strongly emphasises freedom but in the form of a brutal MightMakesRight anarchy. Neutrality focuses on [[{{Ubermensch}} self-empowerment]] and the [[HumansAreSpecial potential of humanity]], as opposed to reliance on a greater force for guidance.
708** Of course, [[HumansAreBastards Neutrality isn't completely good]]. [[spoiler:The fact that [[ViciousCycle most of the time the Neutral Ending brings back the world as it used to be doesn't help either]].]]
709** The classic Chaos has more or less split into two belief systems in later games. As mentioned under CharacterizationMarchesOn, the SocialDarwinist aspects are seen as more or less outright evil, while the RageAgainstTheHeavens aspect is usually shown in a more [[AntiHero antiheroic]] light.
710* OriginalGeneration: There are a handful of demons not directly taken from mythology. The most prominent examples are the [[MascotMook Jack Frost]] variants, [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Black Frost]], [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVSTheSoullessArmy Raiho]], [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Frost Ace and Demonee-Ho]]. Other examples include Hell Biker (based on the Hells Angels) and the titular Soulless Army of ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVSTheSoullessArmy'' (which reappear in the sequel).
711* OrganDrops: In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', this is an excellent way to grind for macca. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has certain demons drop edible meats, though the trope is very much lessened from ''Strange Journey''. ''Persona 3'' has certain items you can take from Shadows remains.
712* {{Orochi}}: Usually a major boss in games where he appears, and possible to fuse after defeat. They refer to him by the full mythological version of his name "Yamata-No-Orochi".
713* OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous: Many of the top level demons of the sides will be this, often having genitals of a sex they are never referred to as, among other sexual ambiguity, such as changing sex in the process of transformation.
714* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[ShownTheirWork True to the original definition of the word 'daemon']], the definition is as broad as possible: basically, legendary monsters, mythical deities, and even certain historical humans of ''all'' kinds -- good, evil, ''whatever'' -- they're all called demons here, even the angels and the God they serve.
715* OurHippocampsAreDifferent: Kelpies have been depicted as hippocamps in a few games, notably ''VideoGame/LastBible III'' and ''VideoGame/LastBible Special''. The former is a heraldic interpretation, while the latter is close to the Classical creature, looping tail included. The ''Last Bible'' versions of the kelpie are preceded by the one in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'', which looks like the interpretation of the hippocamp from ''Manga/SaintSeiya'': four-legged but with a finned tail. The last instance of a hippocamp-like kelpie in the series is in ''[[VideoGame/DevilChildren DemiKids]]'', where if allied it gets the name Mermount.
716* OurMonstersAreWeird: Where can we even start with this one?
717* PawprintStamping: One of the summonable personas in-game is a little black cat named Neko Shogun. It dresses as a samurai, and its outfit includes a red flag with a black pawprint on it.
718* PercentBasedValues: Multiple:
719** From the very first game, Life Stones recover 30% of the user's total health.
720** In most games, physical skills require a percentage of HP as their cost. This can be a double-edged sword; on the one hand, the more your health increases the more the cost increases. On the other hand, you can use extremely powerful skills right from the beginning of the game (on NewGamePlus).
721* PinballSpinoff: Oddly enough, as a cell phone game only released in Japan.
722* PointOfNoReturn: Annoyingly done in the first few games; more modern games tend to be more forgiving.
723* PostModernMagik: Ancient summoning rituals and spells? Who needs 'em when you can program them into a handy app for your cell?
724* ThePowerOfFriendship: Especially prevalent in the later ''Persona'' games, and present to some degree in ''Apocalypse''
725* PowersAsPrograms: Fused demons or Personas inherit at least some of the skills the "parent" demons had. Learning to exploit this can lead to {{Disc One Nuke}}s and {{Game Breaker}}s. This is also a vital part in fusing for its ability to impart priceless immunities and strengths to new demons. ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' games amp this by literally allowing you to slap any powers you want on anyone, only restricting you with the spell's stat point requirement.
726* PowerUpgradingDeformation: Whenever you choose to blend demon and human in any way, expect this to be a likely result, with only a few exceptions.
727* {{Pun}}: These might be gritty games, but lame jokes persist nonetheless. The most recurring one being Ja-aku Frost (Woolseyed but LostInTranslation as Black Frost), the SuperpoweredEvilSide of resident MascotMook Jack Frost. "Ja-aku" (邪悪) means "evil" and also a transliteration of Jack.
728* PracticalTaunt: Most of the games have a "Taunt" spell, which increases enemy attack power while significantly lowering their defense.
729* PragmaticPansexuality: Practically a requirement. To successfully recruit demons, you have to resort in anything and everything, and that includes seducing them. Keep in mind that most of them are beast-like or creepy, or both.
730* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: ''A lot''.
731** In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', you can fight [[spoiler:the [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Demi-Fiend]]]]. Possibly the hardest {{Superboss}} in the history of Japanese RPG.
732** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' has an appearance from [[spoiler:Black Frost]] from the first ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor''. To drive home the fact that it's not just any [[spoiler:Black Frost]], you get this exchange:
733--->[[spoiler:Black Frost: [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor The messenger of love and justice is here! Time for some magical punishment! ]]★]]\
734[[spoiler:MC: *choosing the first dialogue option* Frosty!]]\
735[[spoiler:Black Frost: ... Ho? What're you saying, ho? You've got me confused with somebody else!]]
736** The Platform/PlayStation port of ''[[VideoGame/SoulHackers Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers]]'' includes a battle against the protagonist from the very first ''Devil Summoner'' game. The enhanced 3DS port also includes Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV, Raido Kuzunoha the XIV, and the freaking ''[[TransformingMecha Soulless God]]'' from the Platform/PlayStation2 ''[[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Devil]]'' ''[[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Summoner]]'' games.
737** All but two of the playable characters in the original ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' make at least a brief appearance in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'', and several party members from both games show up in the "Who's Who" TV show in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''.
738** The FightingGame Sequel for ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', features Aigis, Akihiko, and Mitsuru from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' as a few of the combatants. Its direct sequel, ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' adds Yukari, Junpei, and Ken as well.
739** The female protagonist of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'' appears in the first two ''Persona'' games as "Tamaki Uchida". Additionally, Kyouji Kuzunoha from the original ''Devil Summoner'' is implied to be the one possessing Daisuke Todoroki in ''Persona 2''.
740** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', [[spoiler:''all'' of the previous mainline games protagonists show up as GuestPartyMember in the Messiahs of the Diamond Realm DLC]].
741** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'', [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Demi-Fiend]] is the ultimate DLC boss. The DLC is even named "Return of the True Demon".
742* PrinciplesZealot: When taking into account that Law endings are identified as creating utopias that last indefinitely into the future, Neutral is often interpreted as this by them. Due to being unwilling to kill people to get there, even though doing so would result in less suffering in the long run.
743* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Frequent. Lucifer is usually the one who spearheads this movement, but not always; it depends on the game. In ''Nocturne'' [[spoiler:the Demi-fiend is now the one who leads it, if the True Demon ending is canon]]. In Apocalypse, [[spoiler:it happens twice over where you face Satan, who was in control of YHVH's armies, only for him to turn and aid you in doing it to YHVH himself]].
744* {{Raiju}}: Raijus appear frequently as beast-like creatures made of lightning.
745* RainbowSpeak: Chronologically, ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' was the first game in this franchise to use Rainbow Speak, only using it for rumors. All subsequent games after that use variations of it, even UpdatedReRelease of older games where they were not strictly necessary.
746* RareCandy: Incenses. They come for all stats, though, befitting the NintendoHard nature of the games, they are quite rare.
747** In both ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' games, you can get All Incenses from Fenrirs, which increase all stats.
748** In ''Nocturne'' you can [[SaveScumming save-scum]] them by getting nine Lucky Tickets at the shop by buying stuff at 1000 macca intervals, save, and then buy at a tenth interval at the store. The owner will give you three boxes to choose from; sometimes they may have an incense inside, depending if you open it on a certain Kagutsuchi phase. You can also get Incenses from golden chests, also depending on Kagutsuchi phase.
749* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The first hint that certain human characters isn't quite human after all is this. For ''one'' example: how hasn't Stephen aged in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', set ''decades'' after the previous game?
750* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Extremely common, seeing as this series is about choosing and enforcing a path you believe in, expect the ones who don't agree with you to belittle you. Same goes for everyone.
751* RecurringElement: To an utterly '''absurd''' degree. Part of what makes the franchise so expansive (and often confusing) is that there are a huge amount of recurring elements from game to game, and they aren't ''always consistent'', with some elements being changed slightly or significantly between works, or some being more prominent than others in specific games, while only a few remain the same.
752** Elements which remain consistent include:
753*** The vast majority of the Demon Compendium is generally transplanted wholesale between games, but the only demons who appear in ''all'' games, and always with the exact same appearance, are Creator/{{Atlus}} mascots [[MascotMook Jack Frost]] and its close relatives.
754*** The Demon Summoning Program, the concept of inserting the ritual to summon demons into technology to shorten the process, is the very basis of the franchise itself. It appears in not just all the mainline SMT games barring ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'', but also in ''VideoGame/MegamiTensei'' and ''VideoGame/MegamiTenseiII'', both ''Majin Tensei'' games, the [[VideoGame/DevilSummoner first]] [[VideoGame/SoulHackers two]] ''Devil Summoner'' games, and both ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''.
755*** The Sanskrit and Japanese-based spell naming convention as well as the tiered scale system: [[FireIceLightning Agi, Bufu, Zio]] (weak), Agilao, Bufula, Zionga (medium), and Agidyne, Bufudyne, Ziodyne (heavy) for the three indispensable elementals; [[HolyHandGrenade Hama]] and [[{{Curse}} Mudo]] for Expel and Curse (or Light and Dark) {{One Hit Kill}}s; [=Raku/Taru/Suku=]-[=nda/kaja=] for buffs and debuffs; and the prefix "Ma" for multi-target vs. single-target spells (Mazionga, Masukukaja, etc.).
756*** Demon (or Persona) fusion to improve your forces has been the core and purpose of every single game in the franchise since the very first one. Related to this, certain fusion recipes always remain the same among games, such as Shiva being a result of fusing Rangda and Barong.
757** Meanwhile, elements which are subject to changes include:
758*** Demon origin and physiology. In most games, demons are lifeforms made out of Magnetite or Aether (sometimes called Magatsuhi in specific games), a normally unobservable substance within all things which react to human thoughts and gather in human bodies. How much humans influence the nature of demons vary: [[DeityOfMortalCreation sometimes demons are entirely sustained by human thought]], other times humans merely influenced demons but is not strictly needed for continued existence. Other games like ''VideoGame/LastBible'' and ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' forego this concept entirely, with demons being depicted as supernatural entities independent from humanity.
759*** Makai or Demon World is a plane of existence comprising of data or information and Magnetite where demons reside, a form of AnotherDimension linked to the physical world. The nature of this "information plane" often vary between continuities, which result in different phenomena occurring across the games; for example, in ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney Strange Journey]]'', the information realm was formed as a result of development of sentient life on Earth, whereas in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', the information plane exists prior to and governs the physical universe. In most games Makai is usually implied or stated to be linked to a single universe (notably as late as ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV''), whereas in ''IV'' and ''Apocalypse'', Makai is also a form of VoidBetweenTheWorlds which connect universes born from splits in timeline. Perhaps not coincidentally, some games localise Makai with names other than Demon World, as the Makai depicted in those continuities are too distinct from the norm despite the shared Japanese name.
760*** Characterizations of major figures like YHVH, Lucifer, and many others often change DependingOnTheWriter to suit whatever themes to be explored in any particular game, and in fact it's not until ''Nocturne'' that demons begin to adopt a general characterization for each and every demon. Even then, that ''will'' change if a game's story demands it; for example, ''Apocalypse'' makes use of an interpretation of Vishnu as supreme god in Hindu, rather than a part of Trimurti with Brahma and Shiva like he usually is depicted. Likewise, alignments and factions of demons often fluctuate in many aspects from game to game.
761*** The collective consciousness is often implied if not outright stated to exist in many games as the origin of gods, demons, and the information plane where they reside. However, how exactly it came into being and how much influence it has on the physical universe it was formed in vary between continuities. In games such as ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' and ''Apocalypse'', the collective unconscious can subvert reality itself; in contrast for games such as ''Nocturne'', it is stated to exist but incapable of influencing reality to a significant degree, to the point only the ''idea'' of Personas and Shadows exist as minor demons.
762*** Given the franchise runs on AlternateContinuity and TheMultiverse, how the principles of Kabbalah can be applied to understanding the world also vary across the games. What is considered Ein Sof (the ultimate underlying origin so far removed from all of creation to the point it can be considered non-existent from the perspective of the created), or the 10 Sefirot (the structure of how the divine creative energy is expressed to form and sustain creation) in one world might not necessarily apply to another, even if both are within the same continuity; there is no single interpretation applicable to all of them.
763*** The cycle of death and reincarnation is implied to be present in many games, but its nature and rules might change from game to game. In some games, it applies to individual human souls and demons. In others, it applies to entire ''universes''. Whether or not the cycle exists as a fundamental process of reality in and of itself, or simply artificially set in place by powerful beings also vary; in certain games, the cycle of transmigration is considered so intrinsic to reality, [[spoiler:escaping it turns you into a godlike being who can transcend dimensions]], with entities as powerful as YHVH even forced to go the extra mile if he wants to kill souls of problematic individuals permanently.
764* RecurringExtra: Numerous examples: from OriginalGeneration demons like Jack Frost [[LongList and his relatives]] or [[AliceAllusion Alice]], to background characters like the master of the Cathedral of Shadows, the owner of Rag's Shop, Charon, and to an extent, Stephen.
765* RedOniBlueOni:
766** Chaos and law tend to be this for red and blue respectively. They even have the appropriate color pallets.
767** Meta example: To contrast ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'''s demonic red palette, ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' uses angelic blue. Even the storylines are slightly different from each other, but their {{Golden Ending}}s are on opposite sides.
768* ReforgedIntoAMinion: Almost every boss and miniboss can be subject to this. Once you've killed them once, you have the right to summon them at an adequate level.
769* RefusingParadise: It is possible to reject Law's paradise in lieu of working towards creating one.
770* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Machines that develop human thoughts and feelings are often featured in [=MegaTen=] games. This includes Aigis and Labrys in the ''Persona'' series, [[spoiler:Rasputin]] from the ''Devil Summoner'' games, and the Innocents in ''IMAGINE''.
771* RocBirds: Roc (sometimes Rukh) is frequently a demon in the series and its spinoffs. It is usually a member of the Avian or Flight race, and is usually portrayed as a giant bird with a rocky skin texture to emphasize its size, making it look like a flying mountain.
772* RomanticFusion:
773** You can have Hindu god Shiva and his wife Parvati as {{Mon}}s in your party. In many games, fusing both of them will result in the demon Ardha, who is basically Shiva and Parvati combined together. This is also usually the only way to get Ardha in your party.
774** Near the end of ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', [[spoiler: Serph and Sera]] died but their souls fused, forming the intersex [[spoiler: Seraph]]. Futhermore, his/her Atma Avatar is Ardha.
775* RouteBoss: Long story short: If you're Law-aligned, you kill all the Chaotic leaders. If you're Chaos-aligned, you kill all the lawful leaders. If you're Neutral, you kill ''everyone''.
776* RuleOfSymbolism: If a demon looks extremely weird, chances are that oddity is actually an obscure reference to its mythical origins.
777* RunningGag:
778** Belphegor and toilets. It started in ''VideoGame/Persona2'' where Belphegor (along with cosplay girl Ixquic and a bunch of mooks) were all hiding in a bathroom stall, and the poor demon hasn't escaped toilet seats since. He is ALWAYS depicted sitting on a toilet seat.
779** The Jack demons {{Leaning On|The Fourth Wall}} or outright BreakingTheFourthWall to lampshade their mascot status. Or the protagonist's protagonist status. Or the fact that you're playing a video game. Hell, sometimes their mere existence is treated as a gag.
780** [[StarterMon Pixie]] inexplicably knowing the Megido spells. It started with ''Persona 2 Eternal Punishment'' (where Megido replaced the Media spell of the ''Innocent Sin'' version), but it truly became famous with the Super Pixie in ''Nocturne'' and all her subsequent appearances.
781[[/folder]]
782[[folder: S-T]]
783* TheSacredDarkness: The Lady race features Black Maria, who is based off an interpretation of the Virgin Mary with black skin, and is stated to be a holy mother of the dark. Likewise, the demon Alciel, the "Black Sun", or "King of Gehenna" has added commentary in the Compendium saying darkness is a part of rebirth.
784* SacrificialRevivalSpell: In some entries in the series, the Recarmdra spell will revive all fallen party members at the cost of killing the caster.
785* SadlyMythcharacterized: Some demon designs tend to be more symbolic. Instead of reflecting what the mythological character physically appeared as in their myths, the demon designs incorporates aspects of the myths themselves into them. While often [[ShownTheirWork showing their work]], the results are still at odds with usual physical depictions:
786** [[MascotMook Cerberus]] is a DoubleSubversion. They are depicted as some sort of lion-wolf with only one head, instead of the three headed canine, in all but three games, due to their portrayal in the original ''Literature/{{Digital Devil Story}}'' novels and anime [[AdaptationDisplacement from which the video games took off]]. But the version with one head is actually the original portrayal. Later portrayals emphasized multiple heads, while varying on the actual number. The idea that they has 3 heads specifically did not sink in until the Renaissance. Therefore, while the 3 headed version is iconic, the one headed version is more accurate but thus unusual.
787** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' featured several unusual demon and boss designs. Of note is Lucifer. In IV he looks like a bald man with white skin (actually being a leather bodysuit) and a red outfit. In ''Apocalypse'', he resembles a man with very dark grey skin dressed in shining gold and residing on a golden sun throne. His wings are actually the twelve rays of light from his sun throne. He also lacks the empathy for Humanity and most of his ability to manipulate people. [[spoiler:The duology's incarnation is actually a part of Satan. In previous games and Judaic tradition, the two were considered separate beings, and in Christian tradition, Lucifer is believed to have taken the identity of Satan after his fall.]]
788** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' also has Odin, who is depicted as a Gold and Blue Ultraman-like humanoid without the beard (although [=MegaTen's=] other incarnations of Odin usually don't have facial hair to begin with, and would still fall under AmazingTechnicolorPopulation with his purple skin).
789** Some of the angels also play with the trope. While several of them go for the WingedHumanoid depiction, and others subvert it by using Talmudic depictions, Metatron and his twin Sandalphon are depicted as more machine than man. Symbolic of YHVH's desires for absolute control over humanity. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' extends the mechanical aspect to the four Archangels, but goes for a more [[EldritchAbomination eldritch aesthetic]], with faces not on their heads but on other parts of the body. All of them angelic demons are usually fanatical followers of YHVH and his [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill ideology]].
790* TheSandman: A recurring demon in the series and its spin-offs. His flavour text usually identifies him as a faerie from German folklore who puts humans to sleep with his magic sand and sits on the eyelids of anyone who resists.
791* {{Satan}}: Different forms of the Devil regularly show up over the series:
792** Lucifer works in direct opposition to God, typically as leader of Chaos factions in the OrderVersusChaos games, and as two different Personas in ''Persona'' games (Lucifer his FallenAngel self, and Helel from before his fall from grace).
793** The entirely separate Satan takes after his Old Testament (more specifically Literature/BookOfJob) depiction, who serves as God's [[TheDragon Dragon]] in OrderVersusChaos games, and as a Judgement-class Persona in ''Persona'' games.
794* SatanIsGood: Zigzagged. Lucifer is one of the franchise's most recurring characters and has been subject to DependingOnTheWriter more than any other character, while Satan is less recurring but has likewise gone through CharacterizationMarchesOn from his earliest appearances. See [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiLucifer Lucifer]] and [[Characters/ShinMegamiTenseiForcesOfLaw Satan]]'s folders in their respective pages for details.
795* SaveGameLimits: You typically can only save at set points, such as Terminals. ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' breaks tradition by letting you save ''anywhere''.
796* SaveScumming: Considering that ''IV'' [[RocketTagGameplay has no defense stat and as such enemies can and will rapidly eat you for breakfast]], you'll be thankful you can.
797* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: A number of the protagonists are high school students and occasionally get caught up in events while still in their school uniforms.
798* SchmuckBait: Atlus likes to bait you into taking silly risks. A notable example is before the Daisoujou fight in ''Nocturne''. The boss uses powerful light and dark type (OneHitKill) attacks, but directly before the fight, the player has access to a magatama that boosts strength by 10, while making the player weak to light and dark attacks. With a stat cap of 40, naturally it seems like a good idea, but then [[OhCrap you're promptly punished]].
799* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: One possible response you can get from a demon when you do something for them or answer one of their questions is that the demon becomes angry and leaves. Irritating if you were trying to get something from the demon or get them to join you, but much better than [[BerserkButton eliciting a free round for their party]].
800* SecretAIMoves: One of the most notable comes in ''Nocturne'' and ''Digital Devil Saga'' in the form of two moves (''Beast Eye'' and ''Dragon Eye'') that gives the enemy free actions for a puny mana cost. For the most part, only bosses have it, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard and you can't learn it]]. ''Videogame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' lets you FINALLY learn a special version called Guardian's Eye...but [[BraggingRightsReward it requires a demon only obtainable from the last and most difficult DLC boss battle]], can only be inherited through an extremely limited form of fusion, and [[AwesomeButImpractical costs an absurd 255 MP]].
801* SeekingUltimateStrength: The Chaos alignment in all games can be summarized as MightMakesRight. The motives of faction leaders typically involve ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil, but Chaos-aligned heroes (Dahn, Jimenez, Walter, Nikaido, Keita) seek to become ever stronger specifically so they would never feel oppression or threat.
802* SelfDestructiveCharge: Some enemies, if pushed, will try to invoke TakingYouWithMe through a massive explosion, sometimes even hurting their own allies in the process.
803* SequelNumberSnarl: There is a notable difference between the mainline series and the numbered series. While the numbered series only includes ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'', the mainline series also includes ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse''. The Famicom games and ''NINE'' are occasionally added to the mainline list, but are less consistent than the others.
804* SexSells: Aeria started advertising the MMORPG with this using demons. To be fair, a few of the demons are attractive, but [[FanDisservice others...]]
805* ShoutOut: The games reference to a huge amount of other creators' work and general culture from around the world.
806** UsefulNotes/CarlJung: His psychological research is a major thematic influence for the franchise, particularly in the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series.
807** ''Megami Tensei II'' has a chainsaw-wielding maniac called [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Friday]]. A PaletteSwap of the same monster is named [[Literature/TheShining Redrum]]. Other enemies (which also appear in ''Giten Megami Tensei'') are named [[Music/DeepPurple Highway Star]] and [[Music/{{Impellitteri}} Interipelli]]
808** ''SMT II'' features monsters based on [[Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors Audrey]], [[Film/{{Beetlejuice}} Betelgeuse]], [[Literature/{{Christine}} Chris the Car]], and several Creator/HPLovecraft gods. There's also a fighter named [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Thomas the Tank]]. Another enemy is called Franchise/{{Terminator}}. While he's not a robot, he wields the same weapons as the T-800 (an AR-18 and a SPAS-12).
809** ''Devil Summoner'' features a brainless zombie called [[Literature/TheWizardOfOz Scarecrow]]. The Aerophant demon is based on a obscure book of doctored photos called ''Fauna'', in addition to the obvious ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'' reference with the feather on its nose.
810** ''Persona 1'' has a demon named [[Literature/{{Carrie}} Carrie]].
811** The Cosmo Zombie from ''Soul Hackers'' is based on the famous "Alien Autopsy" video, as well as the Series/{{TheXFiles}} episode that referenced it.
812** ''Persona 2'' has even more references to Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, particularly in Tatsuya's scenario.
813* ShownTheirWork: The Demonic Compendium for every single game in the series, including spinoffs, contains an accurate overview of each demon's background and origin, and the sources pulled from are ''diverse'' to say the least. If you don't have a degree in mythological studies, playing through a bunch of the games and reading the entire Compendium for each would give you one hell of a head start.
814** Additionally, many of the demon designs (at least those by Kazuma Kaneko) are profusely illustrated and almost always have tiny details that reveal a lot about the demons. For instance, examining Incubus' artwork reveals a small bolt chained to his ankle. Succubus, on the other hand, has a similar chain, with a matching nut...
815* SignatureMove: ''Many''. Notable in that they are only very rarely passable to other monsters / Personas through fusion inheritance, limiting you to using that specific demon if you really want to use the move.
816** [[AliceAllusion Alice]] has the destructive "Die For Me!" attack: the deadliest Curse/Mudo-type OneHitKill move.
817** The equivalent Hama move ("Die For Me!" counts as Mudo) is "Samsara", traditionally possessed by Daisoujou.
818** Metatron has Fire of Sinai, a rain of [[LightIsNotGood Almighty-type holy fire]].
819** Beelzebub has Death Flies, a swarm of, again, Almighty-type monstrous black flies that either fully devour you in one go or leave you half-eaten with very little hope to survive.
820** Huang Long has ''Celestial Ray''. Huge Almighty damage and random StatusEffects.
821** Surt, the fire giant from Myth/NorseMythology has his signature Fire spell Ragnarok. Sometimes, Loki, Thor and Odin join in the fun with Niflheim, Thunder Reign and Panta Rhei.
822** Mara and "Maralagidyne". [[GagPenis Oh, yuck.]]
823** From ''VideoGame/Persona2'', we have everyone and their dog. The entry for this trope in that page has ''thirty two names in it''.
824** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has at least one for every boss, but special mention goes to the protagonist's ''[[spoiler:Sinful Shell]]''.
825** Every Fiend has a signature move in ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]'': Matador has [[SuperSpeed Red Capote]] and [[SliceAndDiceSwordsmanship Andalucia]], Daisojou has Preach and [[LifeDrain Meditation]], Hell Biker has [[WeaponizedExhaust Hell Exhaust and Hell Burner]], White Rider has [[BoomHeadshot God's Bow]], Red Rider has [[AxCrazy Terrorblade]], Black Rider has [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Soul Divide]], Pale Rider has [[PlagueMaster Pestilence]], the Harlot has [[MightyRoar Beast Roar]] and Trumpeter has [[OneHitKO Evil Melody]] and [[HealThyself Holy Melody]]. Others examples are Skadi ([[DishingOutDirt Earthquake]]), Amaterasu ([[LightIsNotGood Godly Light]]), Dante (his entire moveset), Pazuzu ([[BlowYouAway Wet Wind]]) Kurama Tengu ([[LightEmUp Starlight]]), Mada ([[TheAlcoholic Intoxicate]]), Valkyrie ([[DareToBeBadass Soul Recruit]]), Mithra ([[WithUsOrAgainstUs Death Pact]]) and Dionysius ([[AlcoholHic Wine Party]]). Each of the Conception gods has at least one: Ahriman has Hell's Call and Apocalypse, Noah has Domination and Baal Avatar has Bael's Bane.
826** In ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse Apocalypse]]'', the Fiends all get a renamed Meditation and at least one of their skills from ''Nocturne'' in addition to new ones for David and the DLC Fiend: Haunting Rhapsody for David, Andalusia for Matador, God's Bow for White Rider, Blade of Terror for Red Rider, Soul Divide for Black Rider, Pestilence for Pale Rider, Evil Melody for Trumpeter, Death Lust and Babylon Goblet for Mother Harlot, and Zenki's Axe, Goki's Water Wall, and Peacock's Incantation for En no Ozuno.
827** On a different angle, many of the Demi-fiend exclusive attacks can be seen like this. Highlights include Freikugel, Magma Axis, Gaea Rage, and Deadly Fury.
828** Many bosses have signature moves that are pretty relevant to the mythology behind them. Harihara has Chaturbuja, Vaikunta and Three Worlds (changed to Reincarnate in English), Brahman has Brahma Sutra and Izanami has Thousand Curses. For the Law and Chaos heroes, [[spoiler: Jimenez]] and [[spoiler: Zelenin]] have Left Hand and Right Hand respectively. Belial has Sodom's Fire/Fire of Gomorrah, and Nebiros has Necromancy, while Lilith has Temptation.
829** The ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' bosses have some of these. For instance, Hayagriva has Fire Storm and Skewer, Camazotz has the Guard ability and later on, Zotzilaha Bane, Usas has Seraph Lore, Rahu has Dragon Quake and Dragon Thrash, Cerberus has Pyriphlegethon, Varin Omega has Hunger Wave.
830* SimplifiedSpellcasting: Sure, really, you could actually use the lengthy, difficult and tedious ritual to summon demons and bind them into your service and/or use magic... but really, once you have the whole thing into a handy smartphone app, why bother?
831* SinisterStingrays: Forneus, which is designed to resemble a manta ray. The artist states this is because manta rays on occasion are referred to as "devil fish".
832* SlainInTheirSleep: Some games have Sleep status, in which the victim is unable to act for a random number of turns. Some of those games also have a skill, usually named Eternal Rest, which delivers OneHitKill to any sleeping targets.
833* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Mostly set on the further ends of Cynical. {{God}} is usually an [[GodIsEvil evil bastard]], everyone sane is trying to use you to further their personal goals ([[UnwittingPawn which you will inevitably fall for]], [[ButThouMust whether you like it or not]]) and [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou everything else is trying to kill you]]. The more idealistic settings (like ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games) are usually AWorldHalfFull, however. The series has gradually gotten more and more idealistic as time has gone by; in newer games, you really can EarnYourHappyEnding if you don't lose hope. Even before that, most of the endings which continue to the sequels the relatively uplifting (by the franchise's standards) neutrality endings.
834* {{Soaperizing}}: ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and its sequel games ''VideoGame/Persona4'' and ''VideoGame/Persona5'', while still [=RPGs=], add DatingSim [[LevelUpAtIntimacy5 elements]]. These games are [[CashCowFranchise INSANELY]] popular, and Persona 3 was the mainstream English market introduction to the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' franchise.
835* SoundtrackDissonance: Averted as far as genre goes. Whereas most RPG's use orchestral and symphonic music for their soundtracks, [=MegaTen=] uses rock and more modern sounds for its. Turns out to work pretty well considering [=MegaTen=] is usually in a modern setting or, at its worst, {{Cyberpunk}}.
836* SpellLevels: The series uses a basic form of suffixes and prefixes, but early games do not have an in-game manual for these. ''Learning to use them correctly is critical''.
837** The main attack spells in the series are a slew of elements, commonly Ice (Bufu), Fire (Agi), Electricity (Zio) and, depending on the game, either Wind (Garu) or Force (Zan). There's also Psychological (Psy), Nuclear (Frei), Earth (Magna/Tera), Gravity (Gry) and Water (Aqua). These basic elements have three tiers, basic (no suffix), medium (a variety of suffixes), and powerful (-dyne). ''V'' adds in a fourth tier with a suffix (-barion). Most of these can also have the Ma- prefix, which denotes that it hits the entire enemy party. Depending on the game's mechanics and the enemies at hand, this may or may not be desirable.
838** The basic OneHitKill spells, Hama (Light/Expel) and Mudo (Darkness/Death) can also have the Ma- prefix, with or without the -on suffix, which denotes a better chance of hitting the enemy. There is a third tier, but they're generally exclusive to certain demons and thus do not follow the naming convention (Samsara or Judgment Light for Light, Die for Me! for Darkness). ''V'' introduces third tier spells for those elements (-barion), but those inflict damage in addition to having a chance of instantly killing enemies weak to those elements.
839** The basic healing spell, Dia, comes with two possible suffixes: -rama, more heal, and -rahan, full heal. The Ma- prefix comes back as Me-.
840** The basic buff and debuff spells are ''only'' suffixes and prefixes: Taru- is physical attacks, Maka- is magical attacks, Raku- is defense, Sama- is magical defense, Suku- is speed, and De- removes stat changes. -kaja stands for buffs, -unda or -nda are debuffs. Depending on the mechanics of the game, they may or may not affect the entire party. If the latter is true, however, they also make use of the Ma- prefix.
841** The basic Almighty attack is Megido, and it comes with two suffixes: -la ([[ThisIsGonnaSuck run for your life]]) and -laon ([[NukeEm prepare for complete obliteration]]). Still, there ''are'' even deadlier Almighty spells, such as Black Viper, Morning Star, and Jihad/Antichthon. However, the only one that retains the naming convention, the most obscenely overpowered of them all, is Lucifer's exclusive [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor Megidoladyne]].
842** -karn are one-time Reflect moves, Tetra- being any physical, and Makara- being any magical excluding Almighty and StatusEffects. Whether used as an item or as a move, it may affect only the user or the entire party depending on the game's mechanics. Both the demons with the move and the items are few and far between, and ''very expensive'' all around.
843** Recarm is the basic revival skill, and Samarecarm revives at full life. Recarmdora / Recarmdra / Recarmloss variably fully heals all allies, revives all fallen allies, or heals and clears ailments, at the cost of either killing the caster or invoking HPToOne.
844** Beyond this, there are a number of special attacks with other names. Still, those are the basics.
845** As an addendum, the names of the moves have mythological context. For general spell names origins: "Agi" and "Bufu" comes from Sanskrit "Agni" and "bRhattuhinazarkara", the latter roughly means "great clumps of ice". "Zio" comes from Norse god Tyr, who had the nickname "Tivisco". "Garu" is a shortening of Hindu[=/=]Buddhist Garuda. "Hama" and "Mudo" come from Japanese (or, in the case of the latter, Spanish as well), and are rooted in Shinto exorcism. "Magna", "Tera", and "Aqua" come from Latin "magma", "terra", and "aqua". "Frei" comes from German folklore of the "Freischütz", a "freeshooter" who has a contract with the devil. "Dia" is Greek for "song". "Recarm" is a corruption of "reincarnation". "Megido" is from Biblical "Megiddo" (as in the root of "armageddon"). As you might guess, there are ''even more'' origins after this.
846* SpiritualSuccessor: There's a Konami-made smartphone game in Japan called ''Dragon Collection'' that's immensely popular. Its stable of monster cards is, shall we say suspiciously similar to the ''Shin Megami Tensei'' cast, and the old ''VideoGame/DevilChildren'' spinoffs in particular.
847* StatusEffects: Almost all standard effects are present across numerous games.
848* StatusInflictionAttack: There are normal spells or physical attacks capable of inflicting StatusEffects, and chains of these are possible, leading to easy {{Game Breaker}}s. There's too many individual examples to count, but in general:
849** In most games, any Ice attack has a chance of freezing the enemy. And attacking a frozen enemy is an automatic CriticalHit and ExtraTurn.
850** Ditto for Electricity attacks, which has a chance to shock, which sometimes also guarantees crits.
851** In fewer games, Fire attacks can inflict burn status.
852** Then there are more specific attacks which do this as part of the description. For example, the infamous Terror Fortune from ''VideoGame/Persona2'', on top of its massive damage, can inflict ''every'' status effect in the game.
853* TheStoic: Law characters are often depicted as this. Sometimes to a fault, showing up acting robotic, or occasionally being actual robots.
854* StoppedNumberingSequels: Zigzagged. The mainline series switches between numbered sequels and OddlyNamedSequel (If..., NINE, IMAGINE, Strange Journey).
855* StoryBranchFavoritism: The games makes it a point that only you can decide which path is right, and there are no wrong answers, particularly when it comes to picking between Law, Neutral, or Chaos. However, many games make no attempt to hide the fact that it wants you to go certain routes, usually Neutral: Law often leads to a theocratic dictatorship where the Messians / angels / God / whatever hold all the cards, Chaos often leads to an anarchy of total freedom where the only rule is strength (i.e. "if you happen to be weak, you were not meant for this world"), while Neutral has the message of "look, order and freedom are important, and the angels and demons are both hungry for power so let's tear both down and create a fairly reasonable society". The games sometimes do warn neutrality is only a temporary relief from the Law-Chaos conflict in the grand scheme of things, but even then Neutral is still often presented as the most morally reasonable path. Finally, Neutral tends to be the most complete in terms of content, with more bosses (naturally, since you made enemies of both Law and Chaos, whereas Neutral representatives don't really hold any malice towards you if you side with either of those two), sidequests, items (Masakado items are often Neutral-only and the resident InfinityPlusOneSword), and lore. However, it is important to note this isn't always the case, with some games (notably ''Nocturne'') encouraging or offering most content in other alignments.
856* StoryBranching: A number of ''Shin Megami Tensei'' games have branching paths where you choose between Law, Chaos, or Neutral allegiance. Some, like ''Nocturne'' and the ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' series, have more choices beyond these classic three paths.
857* {{Stripperiffic}}: Many female demons are outright MsFanservice, and many male demons are guilty of providing {{Fanservice}} this way too.
858* SummonMagic: Arguably how [=COMPs=] function in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', the Personas in the ''Persona'' series, Naomi's spells in VideoGame/SoulHackers, the Demon Summoning Program in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', the Nicaea app in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2''...
859* SummoningArtifact: Technology is often treated in this capacity in the games, though certain games add in the need to acquire certain ritualistic items to summon certain demons.
860* SummoningRitual: Shown occasionally. Mekata's ruined ritual in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', Mara's summoning in ''Nocturne'' and the Seraph summoning in ''Strange Journey'' are some examples. Taken into a broader context, the summoning and fusion technology ''is'' this ever since the first ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'', as you are tributing lesser demons in exchange for a more powerful one turning up to serve you. When viewed like this, it's little surprise hexagrams (traditional summoning emblems) have been used as the franchise brand logos.
861* SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious: Again, Red, Magatsuhi, Magnetite. All of them are largely the same. ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' put its own spin on this concerning Magnetite and mentions all things have the substance in them, and that living creatures eat each other to obtain Magnetite and survive. Humans and Demons require the most Magnetite to survive, so they have to eat far more, which is why Demons eat other demons/humans since they have the most Magnetite.
862* SuperpowerMeltdown: One of the ''many'' reasons for which human/demon fusions are considered to be temporary {{Emergency Transformation}}s at best.
863* SuperWristGadget: [=COMPs=] in the series often feature some sort of wrist-mounted device. In earlier games, this takes the form of wrist-mounted keyboards connected to back-mounted computers with head-mounted displays. Later games feature more ergonomic designs, but are still arm-mounted: in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', for instance, the COMP resembles a gauntlet, with functions similar to a smartphone and even the ability to let the wearer cast magic learned from demons.
864* TakenForGranite: A recurring ailment, and a continuous source of NightmareFuel in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', where the vast majority of Humanity is now a huge statuary.
865* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: The standard method of recruitment in [=MegaTen=] games, though bribery, flattery and sometimes even ''dancing'' can play a part.
866* TautologicalTemplar: All three sides (Law, Neutral and Chaos) want to help, want only the best for Mankind. Generally only Neutral more or less realizes it may not be, and may not ''need'' to be, perfect.
867* TeleportationMisfire: The series proper began with a teleportation experiment gone wrong, in which a demon was accidentally dragged to the mortal realm.
868* ThematicSeries: ''Devil Survivor''. The two games are in separate continuities, and ''2'' has no real connection to the main ''SMT'' mythos at all, but they share themes of fighting for survival in a LovecraftLite universe, as well as questions of how other beings react to humanity attaining the power to summon demons. This can be applied to most games in the franchise as direct story sequels are rare, even between games which explicitly share continuity.
869* ThemeNaming: The above-mentioned SpellLevels.
870* ThereAreNoTherapists: One of the main reasons of why ThePowerOfFriendship is so necessary in certain games. ''Finally'' averted in ''VideoGame/Persona5 Royal'' with Takuto Maruki.
871* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: You decide the fate of the world. But other people are still ''not'' gonna let you [[TheRival steal "their" thunder]], without a fight.
872* ThreadsOfFate: The Moirae are all depicted with a single thread; appropriately enough Clotho holds the spool, Lachesis looks like she's measuring it and Atropos holds the scissors.
873* TimedMission: Two of the three Towers in ''VideoGame/Persona1'' 's Snow Queen Quest. The Priestess full moon shadow in ''VideoGame/Persona3''. The final DLC battle against Masakado in ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV IV]]''. The last part of Okumura's Palace in ''VideoGame/Persona5''.
874* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse:
875** All of the mainline games (save ''Strange Journey) must be set in some kind of Tokyo, which is where the battle between God and Lucifer's forces will be fought. Many spinoffs do so, as well.
876** Exaggerated in ''Nocturne'', where due to the Conception reducing the entire universe into a singularity, embryonic state, Tokyo is warped into ''the literal'' universe as the Vortex World.
877* TotalitarianUtilitarian: This is pretty much the main staple of Law's ideology across the entire series. While their final outcome goal is not to have a totalitarian society, but merely a peaceful one where no one suffers greatly because they are [[IgnoranceIsBliss kept ignorant of their suffering]], they can and will restrict freedom at any time they think it has benefits towards reaching this goal. Often cutting to the chase by mass genocide and brainwashing people into acting how they want them to.
878* TranshumanTreachery: The ''vast'' amount of demon-human hybrids created by FusionDance present in the series are so blinded by their new powers they start allowing their ego and fanaticism to taint their judgment ''very'' quickly. There is very little if any mental deterioration, they just get drunk on power and proceed to jump off the slippery slope. After a while, their best answer to any problem is to blast the hell out of it.
879* TraumaInn: Present in most games. But incredibly likely to make you bleed Macca (or Yen, depending on the game) at an accelerated pace, in any form.
880* TropeMaker: The first game series with [[{{Mon}} recruitable monsters]].
881* TrueCompanions:
882** This trope is a major plot point and gameplay element in ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games. Making friends gives you ''actual'' power.
883** The ''Devil Survivor'' games also have a great focus on the bonds between people. Trying to save as many people as you can unlocks as many endings as possible. Bonus points to Atsuro from the first game, who ''will'' accompany the MC no matter what he chooses, even if it goes completely against his own philosophy.
884* UltimateBlacksmith: Certain fusion masters (the Master for Cathedral of Shadows, Dr. Victor) have a good claim to the title due to the sheer quality of the weaponry they provide.
885* UnbuiltTrope: Often referred to as a DarkerAndEdgier Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, but in reality it's more like Franchise/{{Pokemon}} is a LighterAndSofter [=MegaTen=].
886* TheUnfettered: Many antagonists are usually extreme degrees of this trope, whether they are humans or demons.
887[[/folder]]
888[[folder: U-Y]]
889* {{Unicorn}}: Appears as a recruitable demon/Persona.
890* UpdatedRerelease: The ''Devil Survivor'' games get remade for the 3DS, with full voice acting, and in the case of ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 : Record Breaker'', more animated cutscenes. Other games given this treatment include ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', and all of the main Persona games.
891* UrbanRuins: ''Shin Megami Tensei'' uses this trope often. Most of the time it happens because the city is going through HellOnEarth, and in the mainline games, it's Tokyo.
892** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' and [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 its sequel]] actually take place [[FinalBossNewDimension almost]] entirely in Tokyo which has been given this treatment through HellOnEarth.
893* UselessUsefulSpell: Generally averted. Buffs and debuffs are invaluable for surviving boss attacks, ailments are effective in disabling otherwise deadly random encounters (along with some minor bosses!) and instant-kill moves can exploit weaknesses and take a lot of bite out of deadly enemies (barring ContractualBossImmunity). That said, it's not foolproof, and some skills will fall into this trope. How it happens varies depending on game.
894* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The standard assumption of the Law alignment.
895* VerbalTic: A number of demons exhibit distinct speech characteristics: some are intelligent and eloquent, others are thuggish and direct, some [[NoIndoorVoice SPEAK IN ALL CAPS]] and some in [[Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate ToRGo]] [[MemeticMutation sPEeCh]]. And then there's the ver-hee recognizable speech pattern of [[MascotMook Jack Frost]] and his fell-ho Jacks and Frosts, hee-ho!
896* VerbalJudo: A key part of demon negotiation.
897* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: It would be easier to list games which ''doesn't'' use this trope.
898* ViciousCycle: Oh, yes. The rise and fall of gods being the main staple, especially in games where GodsNeedPrayerBadly. Even those which don't entirely run on it still have fun things like [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne the Conception]] or [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney the Schwartzwelt]].
899* VisualPun: Many of the demons and monsters in this series have designs in this manner, the most infamous one is [[GagPenis Mara]].
900* VirtualSidekick:
901** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'': Tico, the face of the website Nicaea, is an AI that acts as an assistant to the user of the website - including the player characters. The users can pick Tico's gender, with the two versions having completely different personalities, and they offer tutorials for how to summon demons, inform you of who is going to die today and how, and [[WhatTheHellHero can call you out on your more questionable decisions]].
902** ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'':
903*** EMMA is an application that's initially presented as a more effective form of Siri and nearly everyone in Japan has it. Not only can it perform internet searches as asked and has highly advanced speech recognition software, but it can actually give the optimal option for any given situation. In fact, some people treat is as the sidekick of their lives and leave ''all'' decisions on it. Originally, the only unusual trait it has is that it can access Jails in the Metaverse via keywords. However, as the game progresses, it's revealed that EMMA is more than just an app; it's a self-aware AI and that [[spoiler:its purpose to essentially remove free will and emotions from the massses by making all their decisions for them, per its creator's orders]].
904*** Sophia is a rather unusual case in that while in the Metaverse, she has a (meta)physical presence and serves as a party member along with the rest of the Phantom Thieves. In the real world, since she has no robotic body, she inhabits Joker's smartphone and can perform any task that EMMA can. Sophia at first [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove cannot understand emotions]], but she wishes to learn, and the Phantom Thieves are more than happy to help her along the way. [[spoiler:Eventually she awakens to a Persona]].
905** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'': Every mystical gauntlet - an artifact that every candidate must activate to become samurai - comes with an AI named Burroughs, whose main job is MissionControl. [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}} when she's eventually revealed to be the goddess of Tokyo]].
906* WasOnceAMan: Certain demons used to be human:
907** [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Spirits are the restless souls of the dead.]]
908** [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Undead are zombies]], corpses animated through either magic, being possessed by a disembodied demon, or simply because the soul refuses to leave.
909** Haunts are humans who reincarnated as demons after dying (according to ''Devil Summoner'', this is the result of spending too much time in Hell). Pretas, [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghouls]], [[OurLichesAreDifferent liches]], and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] are examples of Haunts.
910** Several Raptors and Femmes are stated to be former humans, although this could be simply their mythological background rather than their true origin.
911** Madmen and certain members of the Foul race, are [[DemonicPossession living humans possessed by demons]].
912** Therians, such as [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]], are [[TransformationOfThePossessed possessed humans who transform back and forth]] (most likely according to the phases of the moon since that's what powers demons).
913** Demonoids are artificial demons created by mutating and modifying humans or animals. These last 3 examples share the particularity of being immune to Hama spells, indicating that they are still biological beings rather than true demons.
914** Several Fiends are stated to be former humans in ways similar to Undead and Haunts, and their Japanese name translates to "Demon Human". However, ''Giten Megami Tensei'' is the only game that depicts all of its Fiends as transformed humans, other games just specify them as demons of death and misfortune as well.
915** Aleister Crowley turns into a demon called Mega Therion when you meet him in ''SMTII'', although the transformation method is obscure. He also shows up as a more human-looking demon in ''Persona 1'', along with other famous wizards in the Magician arcanum (Cornelius Agrippa, Faust, Grigori Rasputin, and Wilbur Whateley). Rasputin being a demon is also a bit of a [[ContinuitySnarl]], since the first ''Raidou Kuzunoha'' game which takes place in the same continuity depicts him as a cyborg from a future AlternateTimeline.
916** In a more benevolent way, Heroes and Generals are historical figures who became guardian spirits after death, Taira no Masakado being the most notable as the guardian deity of Tokyo.
917* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: A frustratingly high number of these games will give you a game over if your main character gets knocked out, regardless of whether this should make sense in all of them or not. Mudo and Hama spells are particularly devastating in that respect as some of the games give the player almost no recourse against them early on.
918* WellIntentionedExtremist: Everyone, really. Sadly, it's not easy to change the world and even harder to make sure everyone gets what they want. Given the diametrically opposite beliefs warring in the series and the depths they're willing to plumb, most of the time, your only option is to do what you believe is best for everyone. Of course... so will everybody else.
919* WeirdCurrency: Macca in most games, as it's revealed in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIMAGINE'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', despite looking like slightly odd coins stamped in a metal similar to bronze, it's actually a form of PureEnergy edible to demons. Lucifer's subordinate Lucifuge Rofocale is apparently in charge of the minting process.
920* WeirdMoon:
921** In most games that feature moon phases, the moon goes through sixteen different phases, and advances through each phase every few steps you take.
922** ''Persona 3'' plays the moon phases more realistically, using actual moon phase data for 2009 and 2010 rather than the traditional mechanic of going through the entire cycle in a matter of a few minutes. However, it has its own oddities: [[spoiler:the Moon is where EldritchAbomination Nyx resides in.]]
923** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' brings back the system of having moon phase advance with the story, but due to using eighths for the moon phases, it takes a mere nine days to reach full moon instead of two weeks. [[spoiler:Then it turns into the red "Misoka Moon" for the endgame, which is also a requirement for the Cosmic Egg to hatch a new universe.]]
924* TheWeirdSisters: The Fates - Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos - are separate demons that can be recruited. In some games, the three can be fused together in a special process to produce Norn, which is depicted as three goddesses united around a clock.
925* WeUsedToBeFriends: As a general rule of thumb, most games have a group of friends that falls apart after the alignment lock and ends up fighting each other to the death. ''Persona'' games tend to avert this, but not always -- BigBadFriend is also a possibility.
926* WindIsGreen: The name of the element is Force, but it's typically represented by a green tornado icon and the animations for Force skills will tend to have a green tint to them.
927* WithUsOrAgainstUs: Most of the time, you will be forced against Law or Chaos factions if you choose their opposite, or ''both'' if you go Neutral. Given almost all of these games literally have the fate of the world hinging on choices made, it's logical that they are not going to change their minds without some ''damn'' convincing gab.
928* WhatIf: Literally embodied in a game called ''Shin Megami Tensei If''. Beyond that, ''Devil Summoner'' series is also based around a WhatIf which ties into the aforementioned game, as the branching point which leads to either the ''Devil Summoner/Persona'' continuity or the first ''Shin Megami Tensei'' game. ''If'' presents a what-if question, and ''Devil Summoner'' is the answer to it. On top of all this, ''Raidou Kuzunoha'' exist as prequels to ''Devil Summoner'', which provide a historical WhatIf scenario, hinging, at least in part, on the Taisho period lasting longer than it did in our world.
929* WhatTheHellPlayer: Demons will often call you "the real demon" when you toss them into a fusion.
930* WorldOfBadass: Most games offer you only three options. You start as a Badass. [[TookALevelInBadass You become a Badass]]. [[YetAnotherStupidDeath You die]]. Choose.
931* WorldOfHam: ''Every'' demon tries to out-ham each other. One could almost say power levels in this universe directly correlate to the demon's hamminess.
932* WorldOfJerkass: Pretty much every game has its share of assholes.
933* WorldOfSilence: Law gets accused of wanting this by Chaos in almost every game, though the accuracy varies. For example, in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' Hikawa (who caused the world to get so screwed up and become the Vortex World in the first place) refers to his reason openly as this, though in practice it is not as extreme as it sounds. In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' [[spoiler:this is the kind of world Izanami thinks the apathetic humans want]].
934* YetAnotherStupidDeath: Many a gamer have been humbled after moments of hubris. Common ways of dying: getting back attacked and having your weaknesses exploited endlessly, getting hit by a Hama or Mudo spell, using the wrong skill at a crucial moment because you weren't paying enough attention, being able to always counter with a physical attack for ludicrous damage and then being glanced by a lowly demon that repels physical attacks.
935* YinYangBomb:
936** The entire point of ''VideoGame/DevilChildren: Book of Light'' and ''Book of Dark'' for the GBA.
937** Daisoujou in ''Nocturne'' loves using Mahamaon/Mamudoon for instant game overs if you don't have some kind of protection. He also already starts with both Mahamaon and Mamudoon when you fuse him.
938** ''Persona 3 FES'' gives us Messiah, an explicit reference to, well, UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}. Thanks to the personas required for the fusion and the inheritance rules, Messiah ''will'' inherit Die For Me!, which will actually be ''his most useful skill'', despite an inherent weakness to darkness. Thanatos, the top Death-arcana persona, is weak to light but learns Mahamaon -- presumably so the player can later have Messiah inherit it, but most delete it... and many plot twists later, the irony is delicious.
939** [[{{Bifauxnen}} Naoto]] [[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} Shirogane]] has a Persona which uses both [[LightEmUp Hama]] and [[CastingAShadow Mudo]] skills.
940* {{Youkai}}: Some of the demons in the series come from here.
941* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Certain demons must be defeated for the right of summoning them as minions. In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', you gain several stat points when destroying the Bel demons, as you are essentially consuming the demon and adding its powers to your own. It's also a key Junkyard rule in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'', and its breakdown in favor of ThePowerOfFriendship and simple ambition is a major plot point.
942[[/folder]]
943----
944->Before you stand the paths of Law, Chaos, and every path in-between. [[CallToAdventure Where will]] [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial you head]]?
945

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