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1[[quoteright:347:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/587_seraph.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:347:Just one of ''SMT''[='=]s many [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]];[[note]]Which is, incidentally, not far off from ''biblical'' angels.[[/note]] physical proof that "holy" doesn't mean "easy on the eyes".]]
3''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' features [[ThatOneBoss/{{Atlus}} brutal bosses]], God-versus-Lucifer conflicts, horrible, horrible people, and, last but not least, good ol' [[NightmareFuel demonic horror]].
4----
5[[index]]
6* NightmareFuel/{{Catherine}}
7* NightmareFuel/{{Devil Summoner}}
8* NightmareFuel/{{Devil Survivor}}
9* NightmareFuel/{{Devil Survivor 2}}
10* NightmareFuel/{{Digital Devil Saga}}
11* NightmareFuel/GitenMegamiTensei
12* NightmareFuel/{{Persona|1}}
13* NightmareFuel/{{Persona 2}}
14* NightmareFuel/{{Persona 3}}
15* NightmareFuel/{{Persona 4}}
16** NightmareFuel/Persona4Arena
17** NightmareFuel/Persona4DancingAllNight
18** NightmareFuel/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth
19* NightmareFuel/{{Persona 5}}
20** NightmareFuel/Persona5Strikers
21** NightmareFuel/Persona5Tactica
22** NightmareFuel/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth
23* NightmareFuel/{{Raidou Kuzunoha Vs The Soulless Army}}
24* NightmareFuel/{{Raidou Kuzunoha Vs King Abaddon}}
25* NightmareFuel/{{Shin Megami Tensei I}}
26* NightmareFuel/{{Shin Megami Tensei II}}
27* NightmareFuel/{{Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne}}
28* NightmareFuel/{{Shin Megami Tensei IV}}
29* NightmareFuel/{{Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse}}
30* NightmareFuel/ShinMegamiTenseiV
31* NightmareFuel/ShinMegamiTenseiNINE
32* NightmareFuel/{{Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey}}
33[[/index]]
34
35[[foldercontrol]]
36
37[[folder:General]]
38* Several games feature the [[https://youtu.be/8Yhh5Ol7AZ8 Law Theme]], typically sung by a chilling EtherealChoir.
39* While all of these vague references to other games is really cool, it has a horrifying implication that all of these games take place in a loosely-connected multiverse where ''[[CrapsackWorld any of these apocalyptic scenarios are possible]]''. Even ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'' has an obscure reference to earlier SMT games, so while it lacks any apocalyptic themes, it still has particularly evil and meddlesome examples of AllMythsAreTrue.
40* The implication, asserted in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIMAGINE'', that demonic contracts [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential offer virtual absolute control over the demon]], to the degree the machine summoning them can be used to ''literally'' use them as PeoplePuppets. Couple HumansAreBastards with this gem. Whaddya get? Demon Slaves.
41** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' plays around with the idea of controlling demons. The demons in your party are loyal, but they occasionally show discontent when you don't let them change skills; on the other hand, they'll happily rejoin the party if they get lost. It also goes into UndyingLoyalty territory, with demons like Ares and the Minotaur showing loyalty toward their masters, even years after they died, and your own demons continuing to fight for you even if you perish in battle. However, the game also ramps up the horrifying implications of this further, by having the Ashura-kai thugs summon demons to stop you, who are usually not pleased by their position, but are [[ReforgedIntoAMinion forced to fight.]] Later on in the game, the once proud demon Koga Saburo is forced by a thug who works for Tayama to fight you against his will, turned into a mindless attack dog, and thanks you when you kill him. This also in general counts as a TearJerker for him and the other National Defense Divinities as none of them are evil and want to ''protect'' mankind from demons and those who seek to harm humanity, whether actively, like the Ashura-kai, or whose methods would hurt humanity passively, like the Ring of Gaea.
42* In a standard fusion, the involved demons get merged into a single larger one, and it's implied the result has parts of each's accumulated experience/bits of each's souls. ''How large could the mass of memories/souls of a top-tier demon could be?''
43* The revelation of what Magnetite/Magatsuhi/Red is made of. Human minds and souls, for the curious.
44* The simple fact that God, the single most powerful entity in existence, is a [[GodIsEvil psychotic, iron-fisted fascist]] obsessed with the idea of a WorldOfSilence in which everyone mindlessly worships Him for all eternity, obliterating any hope for change or movement, no matter how small. All just to stroke His unfathomably huge ego. That much power coupled with that much crazy - or ''worse'', a benevolent entity warped into ''this'' by human belief, as has been heavily implied across the series.
45** [[http://artemis-maia.tumblr.com/post/89693779363/why-i-think-that-smt-and-smtii-are-not-hostile-towards This helpful article]] dwells on the links between Christianity, Gnosticism and God's darker portrayals in ''SMTI'' and ''SMTII''. KnightTemplar + MadGod + TheEvilsOfFreeWill = [[PhysicalGod The Demiurge]]. Still, the CouncilOfAngels and Amaterasu's rant against the Hebrew gods who imprisoned much of the Shinto pantheon in ''SMTII'' harkens back to the worst parts of Christian imagery.
46** [[CosmicHorrorStory The SMT universe is broken. God's insanity is just a symptom of a fundamental horror in the fabric of the universe.]] ''And it might not always have been that way''.
47* [[BothOrderAndChaosAreDangerous Both the Law and Chaos sides have pretty shady ways of changing the world]], especially for humanity, and the alternatives are generally not much better:
48** Law's goals are often either iron-fist theocratic dictatorship or brainwashing everyone into submission.
49** Chaos's goals range from MightMakesRight anarchy to [[MindRape purging out any and all civilized thought from humanity]].
50** The Neutral paths of many games [[GoldenMeanFallacy aren't much better]] since they just regress back into the [[ViciousCycle never-ending war]] between Law and Chaos as the introduction of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' sadly illustrates, being a HappyEndingOverride of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI''[='=] where its protaognist attempts to establish a world of balance only for ''SMT II''[='=]s intro to point out that that plan went ''horribly'' wrong. Yet they're popular choices for many players simply because Neutral is often presented as a reasonable balance and its endings are generally considered [[ALighterShadeOfBlack less immediately-terrifying than those of the Law and Chaos factions]].
51** The White from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' introduce a [[TakeAThirdOption fourth option]] that may or may not be better than any of those three: Because they just don't care anymore, they come up with the idea of using a black hole generator to return the entire universe to nothing, which they believe is the only way to end the eternal, bitter struggle once and for all.
52** And then there's the Divine Powers' ''fifth'' option in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', which consists of harvesting human souls ''en masse'' whether humanity wants it or not to create a new universe free of YHVH's rule, which most of the humans in Tokyo agree isn't much better than what Lucifer and Merkabah are doing. And then if you reject the Law and Chaos paths, it turns out that both Merkabah ''and'' Lucifer are creations of YHVH whose jobs are to uphold a massive farce disguised as a genuine OrderVersusChaos conflict just to make the Almighty look better. Krishna and his Divine Powers cronies may certainly be malevolent, but he's ''right'' about how YHVH has twisted Law and Chaos for His own benefit.
53* Sure, being able to summon demons with technology that automates the summoning process sounds cool, and it sure as hell is easier than having to perform a complex ritual with your own two hands and some [[BlackSpeech otherworldly chants]] (and Akemi Nakajima in the original ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'' is able to use his coding chops to ''make'' demon summoning programs). But what happens when this technology is mass-produced (e.g. as a portable device or a smartphone app) so that ''anyone'', or close to it, can summon demons? ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' shows humans in a lockdown turning on one another and creating what's practically a war zone, while ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' features an organized crime group establishing a monopoly on the smartphone market so that they can control the supply and easily kill anyone who wrongs them with their favorite level 99 demons.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Demons in General]]
57* Some of the demons of the series are downright terrifying.
58* Pisaca. Skin that looks like it's melting, long eyestalks and a mouth that takes up its entire torso. [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101122173628/megamitensei/images/7/71/Pisaca2.jpg Sweet dreams!]] And ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'''s Compendium description for them says that ''they crawl into people's mouths''. And these things are about 7 feet tall. ''And other Compendiums imply they become {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s.''
59** The gameplay is not safe from this. They have an attack that inflicts "Bomb" status, in which the victim--which can be anyone from one of your demons to ''you''--becomes MadeOfExplodium. One hit with your guard down and you ''explode violently'', dealing your HP in damage to the rest of your team. Easily the most terrifying status ailment besides Stone.
60** [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/3/35/10A.jpg Another Pisaca artwork]], even more deformed and horrible, for your viewing pleasure.
61* [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/d/de/LegionSMT.jpg Legion]], a mass of fleshy heads welded together. Some may notice that its design is a tad similar to ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''[='=]s take on Legion.
62* Arioch. Cu Chulainn from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games has ''nothing'' on '''''[[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/8/83/AriochSMT.jpg this]]'''''.
63* Tiamat. [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080806193860/megamitensei/images/8/8c/TiamatSMT2.jpg There's so many things wrong with this picture.]] Her [[http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/File:Tiamat_%28Strange_Journey%29.jpg makeover]] for Soul Hackers is just as bad.
64* Belberith. What happens when you blend 4 demons together? [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120409021835/megamitensei/images/4/49/2136693-belberithb.png This.]]
65* Kraken. [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/c/c3/KrakenSMT.jpg Because we all so love octopi]].
66* Bael. [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/a/aa/BaelSMT.jpg Is it any wonder it was the prototype for Belberith above?]]
67** [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/8/8a/377.jpg Case in point]]. Frogs really aren't ''meant'' to be '''''that''''' size.
68* Mara. [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/0/09/MaraSMT.jpg To start with, it was pretty disgusting and horrific.]] [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101119233027/megamitensei/images/a/ae/376.jpg And then they went and made]] him/[[GenderBender her]] even more horrific. And as the main page points out - Mara is a demon of temptations. Which means that deep down, ''we all have the potential to be as ugly as that thing''.
69* Mishaguji. Same as Mara - [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/2/23/MishagujiSMT.jpg ugly to start with]], [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/0/07/Mishaguji_%28Strange_Journey%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190330034830 made even worse in the redesign]]. Doesn't help it looks like a goddamn parasite to start with.
70* Many, many monsters of the first games were essentially an animal body with a human head. It only made it worse that these looked like rejects cast into the UncannyValley.
71* Abaddon. [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/1/10/AbaddonSMT.jpg See that gaping mouth?]] ''It's capable of swallowing cities''.
72* Tzitzimitl, [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100514003413/megamitensei/images/0/02/Tzitzimitl.png where did your eyes go?]]. And that belly she's caressing so lovingly? She's not pregnant with the cosmos within her robe --that's a ''[[BalloonBelly distended stomach]]'', bulging with the stars she has EATEN, snatched from the sky with her million arms.
73* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' even throws lovable MascotMook Jack Frost in here. How? By revealing it's an abominable snowman [[AdaptiveAbility who changed his form]] in order to better freeze prey.
74** As a side note, he is blissfully innocent if not particularly benevolent. If he remembers he's supposed to be a demon after all, he either becomes Black Frost, an insane SuperpoweredEvilSide now able of {{No Sell}}ing Fire, commonly the best way to deal with Frosts, or perhaps worse, ''he could evolve into freaking Wendigo.''
75* Beelzebub. [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/7/7c/KazumaKaneko-Beelzebub.jpg A fly. Nothing but a fly.]] Oh, yes, ''that''. A fly the size of a tank [[TheWormThatWalks made out of hundreds of thousands of smaller flies]]. And in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', his minions can inflict the "Egg" status on you and your allies. What does it do? It turns its target into [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong an incubator for more flies]], which hatch after a few turns, resulting in more enemies. '''And the host taking severe damage.'''
76* Cherubs. Angels are supposed to be nice, aren't they? [[EvilLaugh HA]]! [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/f/fe/Cherub.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160717163625 Tell that to yourself when this thing comes after you]].[[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/d/d8/253.jpg Have a gander and make your own choice, folks!]]
77* In most games that Dominion appears in, it takes the form of a blue-haired angel with a scale and a book. In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', however, it became [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101208221320/megamitensei/images/f/f5/1540636-dominion.jpg this abomination.]]
78* [[Creator/HPLovecraft Old Ones]]. [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/3/37/OldOne.jpg No need to explain this one, is there]]...
79* Even though he only appears in a single game, and only as a boss, Satanael deserves mention. [[BodyHorror He bursts out of your friend's body]], and forces you to fight him. Not good enough? [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/b/b9/Satanael.jpg He didn't quite make it out.]]
80* [[CreepyChild Alice.]] ''[[SignatureMove Die For Me!]]'' is bad enough, but when you learn her story... which is also a TearJerker all on its own... well. The Hare of Inaba explains it rather well in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'': Alice was a normal, happy girl who at once point came to the attention of some demons who immediately got smitten with her. So what did the demons do? Something to ''help'' Alice, of course! They gave her a portion of their magic. Alice died soon after, driven to insanity by the power she had been granted. And the power revived her. ''[[CameBackWrong Sorta]]''. What rose from Alice's grave was a true demon, formed by the massive magical power Alice had been granted, and gifted with her innocent mindset... Now, what could go wrong with a girl who desperately wants a friend, but who tends to liberally throw around deadly [[OneHitKO instant-death magic]] and cannot understand ''[[OhCrap the very concept of death itself, or what is she, or what is she doing?]]'' She also likes to summon [[NightOfTheLivingMooks wave after wave of undead]], to ensure you ''never'' leave her...
81** ''What'' she is brought back as is even worse. She went from being an innocent little girl with weird friends, to being a Fiend (an embodiment of the end of the world) in nearly all the games. She both TookALevelInBadass and several levels in NightmareFuel.
82** In the aforementioned mission with the Hare of Inaba, Alice eventually catches up to you and the Hare, and then ''skins the Hare, boils him alive, and '''eats him'''''. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential If you let her]]. It doesn't help that said Hare of Inaba mentions that he always revives, and so she does that to him over and over again.
83** Atlus seems bent into making her the worst possible monster possible. As of ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', she's now a monstruous VampiricDrainer.
84** When Joker summons her in the ''Persona 5 Animation'', she evades Shadow Shido's fists, twists her head 180 degrees and makes a SlasherSmile with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red, glowing eyes]] while behind Shido, then fires a Megidolaon that instantly damages him enough to turn him into his next form.
85* [[EldritchAbomination Satan]], [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Accuser]]. A KnightTemplar EldritchAbomination whose {{Signature Move}}s are called God's Breath, Vanity and Futility? [[http://images.wikia.com/megamitensei/images/f/f6/SatanSMT2.jpg Really, what's not to fear?]]
86* The [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/0/01/Gnome2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190401160842 Gnome]] got [[UncannyValley pretty unsettling]] in Strange Journey too.
87* [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/1212d6035afc03c87c410b9b697685b8/tumblr_mnoz30KnoX1s9drmpo1_1280.png Diana]] boasts ''[[FanDisservice sixteen breasts]]''. Seven alone are on her ''head''.
88* [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120417043541/megamitensei/images/2/2a/Garrote.jpg Garrote]] is a choking man in a ''garrote vil'', an excruciating execution device. When Ixtab summons a Horde of them in ''IV'', they are ''squirming''.
89** [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120506053043/megamitensei/images/f/fd/Rasta.jpg Rastaman]], An overweight zombie Rastafarian with a bloody saw and a shopping bag filled with severed heads.
90** There's some FridgeHorror about all of the demons of the Undead Race - many are sexually fetishistic, like Facebind, Drag Queen, or Padlock. Rastaman and Garrote are, essentially, criminals and assorted lowlife scum. Others are occupations that often come under heavy judgment like Patriot, Zombie Cop, Agony or Zombie Priest. This, on the whole, implies Undead ''are actually humans demonized by the stigmas they faced in life''.
91* Lilith. Special mention to her VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/9/96/SMTIV_Lilith.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151013125623 incarnation]], but even her [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080705001656/megamitensei/images/a/a0/NLilith.jpg design]] before that was unsettling in its own right. She's pretty, right? Look at her hands and feet. ''Carefully.'' [[HumanoidAbomination Bleeurgh...]] The fact it's so easy to overlook only makes it MORE unsettling.

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