History Franchise / ShinMegamiTenseiPersona

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[[redirect:Franchise/{{Persona}}]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persona_33.png]]

->''"I am thou... And thou art I."''
-->--ArcWords for the entire series.

''Persona'', or ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona'' [[MarketBasedTitle as it was formerly known in the West]], is a [[VideoGameLongRunners long-running]] SpinOff series of Creator/{{Atlus}}'s ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise, consisting of multiple video games, animated works, comic books, light novels, etc.

Unlike the [[AfterTheEnd Post-Apocalyptic]] CyberPunk worlds of the main ''SMT'' series, ''Persona'' takes place in a contemporary UrbanFantasy [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent high school]] setting that utilizes {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of UsefulNotes/CarlJung's persona and shadow concepts as its central {{motif}}: Characters in the series use the eponymous Persona, manifestations of their own personalities, to combat Shadows and various other [[TheHeartless representations of the collective darkness in the heart of humanity]]. The games also employ TarotMotifs, with Personas, Shadows and most characters divided into the 22 Major Arcana of the standard deck. Despite these differences from mainline ''SMT'', the series still employs numerous elements from its forebear: Personas take the form of [[FantasyKitchenSink various mythological figures from numerous cultures]], the games use the main series's FusionDance and {{Elemental Power|s}} systems, and entries from ''Persona 3'' onward have variations of the Press Turn battle system from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''.

Most of the games are {{Dungeon Crawler}}s where players obtain various Personas to [[{{Mon}} fight on their behalf]]. ''Persona 3'' also introduced numerous social/life simulator aspects to the franchise, mostly notably the "Social Links" system, which added VisualNovel-esque vignettes that [[LevelUpAtIntimacy5 enhance combat abilities as the protagonist gets to know other characters better]].

''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' began with the tale of a [[HelloInsertNameHere nameless high school student]] and his friends trapped in their demon-infested hometown. This was followed by the ''VideoGame/Persona2'' duology, ''Innocent Sin'' and ''Eternal Punishment'', which expanded the universe with the story of an ongoing war between two manifestations of the collective unconscious, [[AllPowerfulBystander Philemon]] and [[GodOfEvil Nyarlathotep]].

Next came the radically different ''VideoGame/Persona3,'' starring an orphaned teenager trying to [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld juggle school and friends]] with exploring a giant tower of Shadows looming over the town every night. ''VideoGame/Persona4'' followed with a supernatural murder mystery where a transfer student and his friends try to stop a SerialKiller who can use TV screens as portals to another world. ''VideoGame/Persona5'' moves onto the adventures of a teenager framed for assault and put on parole who stumbles into a world made of cognitive thought where he and his friends become [[PhantomThief Phantom Thieves]] to steal the "hearts" of the corrupt adults sowing discord in reality and the world of thoughts.
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!!Games in the Series:
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'' (1994; [[UsefulNotes/SuperNES Super Famicom]])[[note]]While it doesn't carry the ''Persona'' name, it served as the inspiration and prototype for the franchise and many of its mechanics, its main character makes sizable cameos in the first two ''Persona'' titles, and ''If''[='s=] school outfit is included with the main series's school outfits in ''Persona 5''[='s=] DLC, so some fans consider it a part of the franchise and essentially "Persona Zero".[[/note]] (Japan only)[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}''[[/index]]
** ''Revelations: Persona'' (1996; UsefulNotes/PlayStation): In the city of Mikage-cho, a group of high school students find themselves assailed by mysterious forces. With the power of Persona on their side, they must investigate the spate of demonic threats and the connection between them and a company researching fantastical technology.
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Shin Megami Tensei: Persona]]'' (2009; UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable)[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona2''[[/index]]
** ''Persona 2: Innocent Sin'' (1999; UsefulNotes/PlayStation) (Japan only): A supernatural menace known as Joker is blurring the line between perception and reality, and it is up to a new generation of high school students, led by the aloof Tatsuya Suou, to end Joker's threat.
** ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment'' (2000; UsefulNotes/PlayStation): Reporter Maya Amano's investigation into the Joker phenomenon leads to a new threat emerging in the city of Sumaru, and confronting it will force her to contend with the nature of the world she lives in.
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin]]'' (2011; UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable)
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 2: Eternal Punishment]]'' (2012; UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable) (Japan only)[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona3''[[/index]]
** ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3'' (2006; UsefulNotes/PlayStation2): A new transfer student attending Gekkokan High School is recruited into a clandestine organization investigating the mysterious tower of Tartarus and confronting the Shadows, monsters that emerge during the hidden 25th hour of the day that threaten humanity.
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES]]'' (2007; UsefulNotes/PlayStation2)
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable]]'' (2009; UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable)[[index]]
** ''Persona Mobile Online'' (2009; mobile phones, Japan only)
** ''VideoGame/Persona3DancingInMoonlight'' (2018; UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita)
* ''VideoGame/Persona4''[[/index]]
** ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4'' (2008; UsefulNotes/PlayStation2): In the rural town of Inaba, a group of high school students takes it upon them themselves to investigate a harrowing series of kidnappings and serial murders related to an alternate reality hidden within the world of televisions.
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 4 Golden]]'' (2012; UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita, 2020; Windows)[[index]]
** ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' (2012; UsefulNotes/{{Arcade|Game}}, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/XBox360/UsefulNotes/XboxOne)
** ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' (2014; UsefulNotes/{{Arcade|Game}}, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/Xbox360) (Xbox 360 release only outside of Japan)
** ''VideoGame/Persona4DancingAllNight'' (2015; UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita)
* ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'' (2014; UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS)
** ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'' (2018; UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS)
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' (2016; UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4): A juvenile delinquent and transfer to a Tokyo rehabilitation school discovers another world linked to the distorted minds of the corrupt powers that be, and within it, a means to exact justice against those who would abuse their power.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5DancingInStarlight'' (2018; UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita)
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 5 Royal]]'' (2019; UsefulNotes/Playstation4)
** ''VideoGame/Persona5ScrambleThePhantomStrikers'' (2020; UsefulNotes/Playstation4, UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch)
[[/index]]

!!Other Works bearing the ''Persona'' name
* ''[[Manga/{{Persona1}} Megami Ibunroku Persona]]'' (1996)
* ''Megami Ibunroku Persona: Shadow Maze'' (1997)
* ''Anime/PersonaTrinitySoul'' (2008)[[index]]
* ''Persona 2: Innocent Sin Novel'' (2011) (Japan only)
** ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Novel'' (Japan only)
* ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation'' (2011-2012)
** ''Anime/Persona4GoldenTheAnimation'' (2014)
* ''LightNovel/PersonaXDetectiveNaoto'' (2012) (Japan only)
* ''Anime/Persona3TheMovie''
** ''Movie 1: Spring of Birth'' (2013)
** ''Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream'' (2014)
** ''Movie 3: Falling Down'' (2015)
** ''Movie 4: Winter of Rebirth'' (2016)
* ''Theatre/Persona3TheWeirdMasquerade'' (2014-2017) (Japan only)
* ''Anime/Persona5TheDayBreakers'' (2016)
* ''Anime/Persona5TheAnimation'' (2018)
[[/index]]

!!Crossovers
* ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle'' (2018; UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, UsefulNotes/Playstation4, PC): A FightingGame {{Crossover}} with ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', ''Franchise/BlazBlue'', ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'', ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' and more.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' (2018; UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch): Joker from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' appears as a [[DownloadableContent DLC]] GuestFighter, alongside Mementos as a stage, music from the ''Persona'' series plus new remixes, and various cameos by the Phantom Thieves.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Catherine}} Catherine: Full Body]]'' (2019; UsefulNotes/PlayStation4): The Phantom Thieves have their own storyline in the game's Babel mode, with Joker as a playable character.
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%%Please only add tropes that appear in multiple games.

!! This series contains examples of:
* AbstractApotheosis:
** In ''Persona 3'', [[spoiler:the Main Character sacrifices his/her life to become the Great Seal, the final barrier between Nyx, Death itself, and Erebus, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of humanity's self-destructive unconscious desires, thus becoming the ultimate representation of hope in the ''Persona'' universe, and visualized as a massive golden gate with the protagonist's soul keeping it closed. Ryoji is the literal embodiment of death, and serves as the game's final boss and the first person you meet in game.]]
** ''Persona 4'' has a metaphorical example: [[spoiler:Goddess Izanami wants to test mankind's potential, so she gives three people power and names them embodiments of a concept - Hope, Despair, and Emptiness - with the intention of acting based on which representative has the most success.]]
** ''Persona 5'' has the heroes attempting to invoke the trope, by making their Phantom Thieves group a symbol of hope and encouragement for anyone trampled upon by societal corruption, rather than a couple of high school kids. [[spoiler:In the FinalBattle, the heroes transform this belief into a massive GuardianEntity, that in turn destroys the EldritchAbomination BigBad attempting to "free" humanity of TheEvilsOfFreeWill.]]
* AcademyOfAdventure: There's always something supernatural going on with high schools in this series.
** St. Hermelin High in ''VideoGame/Persona1'' has a traditional play which involves an evil mask that eventually kills everyone who wears it, with an avatar of a deity trapped inside that can possess people. And then the school gets caught up in a zombie/demon apocalypse.
** Seven Sisters High in ''VideoGame/Persona2'' hosts a magical stone that opens the door to a magic river that leads to the flying disk of the AncientAstronauts. And from the same game, the Bomb Shelter underneath Kasugayama High is infested with demons. {{Subverted|Trope}} in that all this is the result of [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve rumor curse]] and there's nothing truly special with the schools themselves.
** Gekkougan High in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', when the clock strikes midnight, transforms into an EvilTowerOfOminousness and EldritchLocation rolled into one. There's even a school club dedicated to defeating any abomination that may crawl out of it.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/Persona4''. The only special thing in Yasogami High are the quirky teachers.
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/Persona5''; the school may be the site of a Palace - a plane in the [[MentalWorld Metaverse]] warped by cognition and distorted desires - but the building has nothing to do with it. Nothing metaphysical manifests in the real world, and the moment the person responsible leaves, the distortion goes with him.
* ActuallyFourMooks: From ''Persona 3'' onwards, you have to collide with an on-map feature-less shadow to initiate battle with it. And yes, it's perfectly possible to end up fighting four mooks without warning.
* AllThereInTheManual:
** From ''Persona 3'' onwards, on many occasions you are asked to answer questions at school to check your knowledge. The problem is, the games assume that you ''actually learned the answers at school'' and thus do not really provide hints or an explanation. Made even worse for international releases, as these questions remain unchanged, and there's no way for a western player to know the answers even if they are acing school. In those cases, a guide is very much needed.
** All the personal information - such as character birthdays - of the party members are usually in manuals or side material. This is especially prominent for ''Persona 1'' and ''2''.
* AlternativeContinuity: Of the main ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games. This continuity includes ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIf'', and some version of the events of the ''Devil Summoner'' games.
* ApocalypseCult: ''Persona 2'' (both games) and ''3'' have several groups either trying to bring the Apocalypse, or preach that the end is nigh.
* ApocalypseHow: Once per game, though the heroes manage to prevent it. [[spoiler:Usually.]]
** ''Persona 1'' has planetary total extinction of the human race via mass brainwashing.
** ''Persona 2 Innocent Sin'' has planetary physical annihilation and almost total extinction of human and animal life ''at least''. [[spoiler:And there is nothing you can do about it.]]
** ''Persona 2 Eternal Punishment'' has universal metaphysical annihilation to worry about. [[spoiler:Justified because the ''EP'' reality is whatever the heroes managed to salvage from ''IS''.]]
** ''Persona 3'' has societal collapse at least in the surrounding area, and you narrowly avoid [[spoiler:the total extinction of humanity.]]
** ''Persona 4'' also has societal collapse - or at least disruption - as an effect of [[spoiler:the mist coming from the Midnight Channel.]]
** ''Persona 5'' starts with societal disruption due to the psychotic breakdowns, and it reaches nothing short of [[spoiler:metaphysical annihilation of the human mind.]]
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: In each game.
** In ''Persona 1'', you could only have 5 party members (including the protagonist) at the time even though there are 9 playable characters. In addition, certain party members are available only in specific routes; Mark, Maki and Reiji can only be used in the SEBEC route, while Yukino only joins as a permanent party member in the Snow Queen Quest. The only time you can have more than five party members is if you go with the SEBEC route but not recruit Reiji; in that case, he joins you for a boss fight, bringing the party up to six.
** ''Persona 2'' ensures that there are only five party members available at the time. When a sixth party member is introduced, a previous one leaves the party for the rest of the game.
** From ''Persona 3'' onwards, you can have up to four members including the protagonist in the party at the time, even though there are a lot more playable characters available. The games allow to switch around party members between fights.
* ArcWords: "I am thou, thou art I" (I am you, you are me), which is the entire concept of what a Persona is in a nutshell. Many Personas say this upon awakening, and in ''P5'', you'll be hearing it ''a lot''.
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: Several deities in the franchise threaten that they'll make their return as long as humans have self-destructive tendencies or even powerful desires.
* AxesAtSchool: And each game has a different justification for it.
** ''Persona 1'': Masao Inaba literally brought an axe at school, and Yukino has razors. Justified in her case as she is a former delinquent, but the only conceivable reason why Masao would need an axe was to break into buildings for his graffiti art. The rest of the party members contend either with [[BroomstickQuarterstaff brooms]] or school club equipment. Afterwards, they have to rely on random encounter drops for the rest of the melee weapons. As for the guns, they're only sold in the Alternative Mikage-cho specifically for defeating demons.
** In ''Persona 2 Innocent Sin'', you have to spread rumours to even be able to get the weapons in the first place. They do go to school carrying them, but they go there to fight rather than to attend class.
** Averted in ''Persona 3'' where they only need their weapons during the Dark Hour, so there's no reason for them to carry them to school.
** Played straight in ''Persona 4'' where they all hide their weapons under their uniforms so they can go to the TV world after school.
** Subverted in ''Persona 5'' as the "weapons" are actually models.
* BagOfSpilling: If any characters return in sequels or spinoffs, they can expect to have their power levels reset and their Ultimate Personas discarded in favor of their Initial Personas. That said...
** ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment'' justifies this with Maya, who [[spoiler:is effectively a different individual than ''Innocent Sin'''s Maya due to the timeline reset at the end of that game]], and outright averts this with Tatsuya, who joins you at a very high level with his Ultimate Persona Apollo equipped (he can even pick up right where he left off in ''Innocent Sin'' with an OldSaveBonus).
** ''Persona 4 Arena'' and ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'' avert this with the former members of S.E.E.S., who have formed a government organization called the Shadow Operatives and retain their Ultimate Personas throughout the events of the games.
* {{Beelzebub}}: The most powerful Persona of the Devil Arcana.
* BefriendingTheEnemy: In the {{Updated Rerelease}}s of ''P4'' and ''P5'', you can form Social Links / Confidants with the antagonists.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Nyarlathotep]] for ''Persona 1'' and ''2'', as he orchestrated everything that happens in these games. After his defeat, he shifts to a GreaterScopeVillain and lets other Big Bads take his place.
* BigGood: Philemon, the incarnation of humanity's strong will and potential. After he is DemotedToExtra (as in, only implied to be there), the position of the Big Good goes to Igor, while he shifts to GreaterScopeParagon.
* CastOfSnowflakes: Every single character in all the games are unique, with distinct designs and personality traits, and easily recognizable, not only within their own games but in the whole series. Even nameless [=NPCs=] are given unique quirks to make them easily recognizable.
* CatsAreMagic:
** The Lucky Cat statue in the Kuzunoha detective agency of ''Persona 2'' is actually a means for the Nekomata who hides in the bathroom to take your money.
** Katsuya's initial Persona Helios is an anthropomorphic cat.
** Wang Long Chizuru's pet cat in ''Eternal Punishment'' turns out to be a Shikigami in disguise.
** Lieutenant-General Zula in ''Tatsuya's Scenario'' is a talking cat, and it guides the heroes through Kadasu Mandala.
** Morgana, one of your party members in ''Persona 5'', looks like a regular cat out of the Metaverse, and like a cartoon cat while in it.
* CelestialParagonsAndArchangels: The Justice and Judgment Arcanas are full of such entities.
* ChangingOfTheGuard: Each game puts you in control of a new set of characters, though ''Persona 2'' had the occasional GuestStarPartyMember from a previous game.
* CharacterPortrait: In every single game. Each character has a few portraits to match their current mood.
* CombinationAttack:
** Fusion spells in ''2'' require at least two party members.
** From ''3'' onwards, when an enemy gets knocked down, your entire party can unleash an All Out Attack against it. The power of the attack depends on the number of party members.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist:
** ''Persona 1'':
*** Takahisa Kandori is an [[TheAce incredibly rich, talented and intelligent scientist and businessman]] who believes that the existence of humanity is a blemish to the world and must be wiped out, and he tries to achieve godhood to achieve this. In fact, he ''does'' achieve it. However, he has no hard feelings towards his illegitimate relative (who is trying to kill him), shows a surprising ability to grow fond of other people, realizes that it's LonelyAtTheTop, and goes out via SuicideByCop. When he returns in ''Persona 2 Eternal Punishment'', he's some sort of AntiVillain who gives cryptic hints to the heroes and encourages them to stop the chaos they are in, only to still stand in the way because "it's too late for him to change".
*** Pandora is the EnemyWithout of party-member Maki, and she wishes to create a paradise made of nothingness to ease her own pain, even if it means DeathOfPersonality.
** ''Persona 2'':
*** Tatsuya Sudou is an [[AxCrazy insane serial killer and arsonist]] who has personal beef with the protagonists, and his ultimate goal is to eliminate his father, and he makes no secret out of it. He also has the need to follow somebody's orders, as in ''Innocent Sin'', he is a minion, and in ''Eternal Punishment'' he tries to get his old leader back. Both times he dies long before the end of the game, killed by the protagonists.
*** Unlike all other antagonists here, Joker was BrainwashedAndCrazy by the BigBad, who took advantage of his childhood trauma. He is also very elegant, unlike all other villains here, and is a WellIntentionedExtremist who genuinely wants to help people.
*** Tatsuzou Sudou is a corrupt minister who's running for Prime Minister, and has several other groups like the Mafia, the police and the media under his thumb. His goal is to eliminate the world of the original sin, though he respects the heroes for trying to stop him. He also tries to get rid of his son by all means possible and keep him far away, is perfectly capable of holding his own in a fight, and eventually is transformed into a monster and killed.
*** The BigBad Nyarlathotep is an EldritchAbomination, the incarnation of humanity's tendency towards chaos and destruction, and he's a MagnificentBastard of epic proportions, as he manipulated all the heroes and villains in both ''P1'' and ''P2'', and [[ForTheEvulz had a blast doing it]]. And in ''Innocent Sin'', [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins he wins]]]], which is more than what other villains can claim.
** ''Persona 3'':
*** [[spoiler:Ikutsuki]] is an AxCrazy maniac with a DevilComplex who wishes to destroy and rule over humanity - much like the other villains here - and has no issue using other people to advance his goals, but he's also the epitome of AffablyEvil and a NonActionGuy.
*** Nyx is the only deity in the series who doesn't draw her power from human belief, as she is older than our species. In fact, she doesn't really care about humanity at all.
** ''Persona 4'':
*** [[spoiler:Adachi]] is a sociopath whose only motivation was that his life was boring, unlike the grand motivations of the other villains, and gets his hands quite dirty. In addition, he has no large group following his orders, unlike the rest. He is also able to form personal connections with people, and comes off as quite the awkward dork from day to day.
*** The other suspects are also quite different. One is an AttentionWhore, and the other was a good man tricked into thinking that he's saving people.
*** [[spoiler:Izanami]] seriously thinks that her experiment is for the benefit of humanity, but she operates more on a BlueAndOrangeMorality, and is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter (she based her assessment of humans on the spoilered guy above), and is a GracefulLoser.
** ''Persona 5'':
*** Shido is a corrupt politician who's running for Prime Minister, and has several groups like the Yakuza, the police and the media under his thumb. He has an illegitimate son and he's using the Metaverse to advance his agenda, with no care for how many people die. Sounds familiar? Well, unlike Kandori and Tatsuzou above, this guy has zero respect for the heroes, and instead of remaking this world into a pure one, his goal is to remake it so that he is on top. He also works together with that relative, has no idea that there are people out for his blood, and he does not knowingly obey any higher power. Also, he has never put any real effort in his scheme as all the research he's using is stolen and he always acts by proxies.
*** The illegitimate relative in question is [[spoiler:Goro Akechi]], who is also a villain. Unlike Tatsuya Sudou, he is perfectly sane, and his revenge towards his father involves a rather complicated plan to ruin his father's reputation which even requires [[spoiler:him cooperating with the protagonists]]; and it ''works''.
*** Unlike the chaos and destruction-inclined deities before, [[spoiler:Yaldabaoth]] is the ''Persona'' answer to YHVH; a deity born by people's desire for absolute order, who wishes to rule humanity instead of destroying it.
*** ''Royal'' has [[spoiler:Maruki]]. While like ''P2'' Joker he is a WellIntentionedExtremist with the best interest of the people in mind and a DarkAndTroubledPast, he is not manipulated by ''anyone'' and instead acts entirely by his own free will.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: It'd be pretty boring if we played with the same person each time, right?
** The Protagonist of ''Persona 1'' is a blank slate without a name, personality, exhibited characteristics, preferences or a past. There are a few hints of his personality here and there - like how he's a good singer - but those come mostly from comments by the other characters. He's supposedly a surprisingly good leader who keeps his head cool, somewhat underperforming at school, and if you make the right choices to get the good ending, an AllLovingHero. The manga, which is by far the most popular adaptation of ''[=P1=]'', gives him the name Naoya Todou, portrays him as an easy-going guy who's [[AngstySurvivingTwin hiding his pain over the death of his twin]] and a bit of TheGamblingAddict.
** Tatsuya Suou from ''Persona 2: Innocent Sin'' is a {{Deconstruct|ed Trope}}ion of the NinetiesAntiHero. He's given a CanonName from the get-go (though you can change it), he's a third-year student instead of a second year, has noticeable {{Character Tic}}s, has a well-established and complicated past that's affecting the plot, is playable post his first game, and he's the only canonically LGBTQ protagonist ([[BadassBisexual Bisexual]]). He's an aloof loner with [[DarkAndTroubledPast deep childhood trauma]] who has no future prospects, has a very strained relationship with his family and school - to the point he's been branded a delinquent - and is emotionally dependent on his friends. In ''Eternal Punishment'', where he's actually seen speaking, he's angsting even more, has UnstoppableRage issues, and an IWorkAlone attitude. There's also a lot of side material describing his life in deep detail, like what food he likes.
** Maya Amano from ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment'' is a standout in all of [=MegaTen=]. She is the only canon female protagonist, and the only adult at 23 years old. She's using GunsAkimbo, unlike the close-combat protagonists of the other games, and she's a party member in ''Innocent Sin'' before becoming the protagonist of her game. Like Tatsuya, she has a deeply rooted personal history and deep trauma that affects the plot, but ''unlike'' him, she is a GenkiGirl and a team player who always wants to see the best in everyone and everything. She's also a bit of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, and there's a lot of side material covering her life as well.
** The ''Persona 3'' male protagonist more of a blank slate than his predecessors - nowhere close to ''[=P1=]'' level though - but he's acting always cold and emotionally detached. This is especially prominent in the [[Anime/Persona3TheMovie anime]] and [[ComicBookAdaptation manga]] adaptations. He's rather feminine in terms of appearance, likes music a lot if his ever-present headphones are any indication, and a MessianicArchetype. Different adaptations give him different names, but the most well-known ones are Makoto Yuki and Minato Arisato.
** The female protagonist from the portable version of ''Persona 3'' is the exact opposite of her male counterpart. She comes off as a GenkiGirl - and ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'' depicts her exactly as such - who gets along with everyone, and is more capable of forming relationships than her male counterpart. Not only she can form Social Links with people that he couldn't, SEES seems to get along better in her version of the game. Finally, her weapon of choice is a {{Naginata|s Are Feminine}}, setting her apart from any other playable character in the series. This whole contrast is lampshaded by the color themes of the two protagonists. The male one is blue-themed, while the female one is red-themed.
** The protagonist of ''Persona 4'' is noticeably manlier than the ''[=P3=]'' one, has an excellent relationship with his family and friends, genuinely enjoys school and life in general, and in adaptations he's depicted as a ComicallySerious {{Cloudcuckoolander}} (and you can play him exactly as this in the game itself). Unlike the protagonists of the previous two games, his personal history never affects the game in any way. He also has a few names from various adaptations, but the canon one is Yu Narukami.
** "Joker", the protagonist of ''Persona 5'', shows the most personality out of everyone save for Tatsuya and Maya. He's been branded a criminal by society and cuts deals with other outcasts to the point of becoming TheFixer. He only goes to school out of obligation, and tries to draw as little attention as possible. But when he's in the Metaverse, he's a GentlemanThief and a very suave, cocky LargeHam, outright ''artistic'' with a [[KnifeNut knife]], and generally a show-off. His dialogue options also indicate that he's a {{Troll}}.
* CosmicChessGame: Philemon vs. Nyarlathotep in a nutshell. Their respective domains even have floors that resemble chess boards. And unfortunately for everyone, Nyarly is a cheater.
* CosmicHorrorReveal:
** In every game, the heroes think that they're dealing with corrupt people only to suddenly face whichever deity is truly pulling the strings.
** Downplayed in ''Persona 3'' where it's obvious that you're dealing with something completely unnatural from the get-go, though not the sheer scale behind it.
* CosmicHorrorStory: The deities in the series are entities incomprehensible by humanity who usually gain their power ''from'' humanity and cannot truly be eliminated no matter what the heroes do.
** The ''Persona 2'' duology - and by extension, ''Persona 1'' - takes several enemies and villains directly from the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, with Nyarlathotep himself as the BigBad. ''Innocent Sin'' even ends with ends with [[spoiler:the bad guy winning and the party having to push the ResetButton to get another shot at saving the world.]] Even worse, even that is not enough to take him down, and he promises that he'll return with a AsLongAsThereIsEvil speech. ''The human race itself guarantees his existence.'' Better yet, in the PSP remake of ''Eternal Punishment'' (the last of the three games), he throws an army of entities straight out of the Mythos at Tatsuya, and sure enough, it is acknowledged that their forms would drive anyone mad. Tatsuya tries his best to describe them but he makes no sense, and Ulala just gives up and calls them impossibly ugly. And that's before the Dreamlands and the Cult of Cthulhu are mentioned by Igor.
** The events of ''Persona 3'' ultimately lead to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, complete with a doomsday cult and brain-dead people uttering prophetic warnings. This is all due to the subtle influence of the reawakened Nyx, a vast and an ancient entity being called down to the earth. Her presence causes people to explode into puddles of black ooze and random organs. In all likelihood, she doesn't care in the slightest. Oh and she's mainly summoned by the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the malice and despair in the hearts of humanity. Despite your best efforts, [[spoiler:the best action taken was a reverse seal; the protagonist makes a HeroicSacrifice to keep said personification of malice and despair away from Nyx. ]]
* DatingSim: From ''Persona 3'' onwards, part of the game is to manage your potential romantic relationships with the female party members / Social Links / Confidants.
* DemonicPossession: The fate of everyone who loses control of their Persona.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The TrueFinalBoss of every game can qualify as this, as they're definitely eldritch, and you most certainly give them a good beating. Tatsuya in particular gets to ''literally'' punch out Cthulhu during ''Tatsuya's Scenario'', and at the end of ''Innocent Sin'' he actually has the option to punch Philemon.
* DirtyCop:
** ''Persona 2 Eternal Punishment'' and ''Persona 5'' have almost the entire upper echelon of the police being paid off by and working for a corrupt politician.
** In ''Persona 4'', [[spoiler:the killer is a police officer.]]
* DungeonCrawler: All the games, though in ''P1'' and ''P2'' most "dungeons" are real life places (like a mall), and ''P3'' only has one dungeon.
* DysfunctionJunction: Given that Personas are "a mask to protect your real self while in daily situations", this trope is in full force with each and every playable character. Most of them come from a DarkAndTroubledPast and/or are heavily pressured/disappointed by the society around them. The power of the Persona usually activates in a life-or-death situation, which results in several {{Traumatic Superpower Awakening}}s in all games. ''Persona 3'' puts it the best.
-->'''Junpei:''' I mean, you gotta be a little nutty to point a gun at your head and pull the trigger, ya know?
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The games before and after ''Persona 3'' are nearly unrecognizable as part of the same series, apart from the Jungian and tarot themes.
** The original games were fairly straightforward dungeon-crawling [=JRPGs=]. ''Persona 3'' introduced the series' iconic social sim aspects, including a WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld plot structure and Social Links/Confidants.
** In the original games, the Judgement and World arcanas were just regular old arcanas, while the Fool was near impossible to get (either Fusion accident or getting insanely lucky in negotiations). From ''Persona 3'' onward, the Fool is invariably associated with TheHero, Judgement always represents a plot-critical ally whose advancement is required to reach the true ending, and the World is the InfinityPlusOneSword.
** In the original games, everyone could wield multiple Personas pretty much at will, though how effectively they could use them was restricted by affinities. From ''Persona 3'' onward, the protagonists can use anything in the game with equal ease and are known as the Wild Card, while the party members are restricted to one Persona only.
** The "One More!" and "All Out Attack" system was only introduced from ''Persona 3'' onwards, though it should be noted that similar overhauls of the battle system happened in the main series around the same time.
** ''Persona 1'' and ''2'' boast far more elements and damage types than their successors.
** In ''Persona 1'' and ''2'', all users could summon their Personas in the real world without any help. In later games, they either need an Evoker to summon, or can only do it in mental realms.
** In ''Persona 1'' and ''2'', the characters had various shadow selves (with the most prominent being Maki, who had four versions of herself running around), and they could wield Personas on their own, often fought as late-game bosses. After being absent in ''Persona 3'', ''Persona 4'' and ''5'' made it so that the characters ''obtain'' their Persona by accepting their shadow, and that Persona users don't have Shadows at all.
** In ''P1'' and ''P2'', all skills had a set SP cost depending on the Persona. From ''Persona 3'' onwards, physical skills are paid in HP, and each magic skill has its own cost regardless of which Persona has it.
* EldritchLocation: Each game has at least one; [[spoiler:Maki's mental world]], Xibalba / Ameno Torifune, Tartarus (which is the page image), the backside of the TV, Mementos... What they all have in common is that they're [[spoiler:locations connected with the Collective Unconsciousness where even thoughts can become reality.]]
* ElementalPowers: A staple of the franchise. Each playable character is associated with an element in their game, though in the early titles some characters have massive elemental shifts.
** The ever-present ones are:
*** AnIcePerson: Bufu.
*** BlowYouAway: Garu. ''P1'' also had Zan, which was referred as Blast magic.
*** CastingAShadow: Mudo and Eiha, which are referred as Dark or Curse skills. ''Persona 1'' breaks them down to Death and Curse skills.
*** LightEmUp: The Hama and Kouga spells, called Light, Holy or Bless skills. ''Persona 1'' breaks them down to Expel and Miracle skills.
*** PlayingWithFire: Agi.
*** ShockAndAwe: Zio, which is called either Lightning or Electricity.
*** NonElemental: Almighty, the unblockable type of magic. Typically, that's the Megido line, though in ''P1'' they are Nuclear spells and treated like all other types, and in ''P2'' "Almighty" and "Non-Elemental" are treated as two different types, with the former being a normal element, and includes Zan and Gry in them.
** As for the rest of the elements...
*** DishingOutDirt: The Magna spells in ''P1'' and ''P2''.
*** ILoveNuclearPower: The Frei line, which is unique in the ''Persona'' series (the Almighty [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Freikugel]] not withstanding). It's featured in ''P1'', ''P2'' and ''P5''. In ''P1'', the Megido spells are also Nuclear.
*** GravityMaster: The Gry line in ''P1''. They were shifted to Almighty in ''P2''.
*** MakingASplash: The Aqua line. ''Persona 2'' is the only game in the entire franchise to feature it.
*** PsychicPowers: The Psy line in ''P5'', though [[OlderThanTheyThink they actually made their return]] from the Japan-only ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner''.
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Combat in the series is done by using your elemental skills to target the enemies' elemental weaknesses, though the exact strength-weakness chart varies by game and Persona.
* EnemyWithin:
** The Shadow Selves, who want to kill the real ones.
** STREGA has ''their own Personas'' to deal with. Ditto [[spoiler:Shinjiro]], who actually killed an innocent bystander when he lost control of it.
* ExtraTurn: The "One More" system allows a character who hits a weakness and/or knocks down an enemy to act again.
* FantasyKitchenSink: The demons and Personas out there can be from just about any mythology possible. From most of the ''Literature/ArsGoetia'' to obscure African and Mayan deities, to Europian folk tales, there's no limit to what you can summon to fight alongside you.
* FightingSpirit: How the Personas function.
* FusionDance: With the exception of ''Persona 2'', you can fuse different personas to create new ones, usually with the extra benefit of passing down skills and gaining EXP for doing it.
* GenreMashup: The Persona series are UrbanFantasy {{Role Playing Game}}s with a few ScienceFiction elements and {{Big Bad}}s of the CosmicHorror Genre - as they are incomprehensible entities that obtain their power from humanity and cannot truly be defeated - and simultaneously they are high school simulators with an extra DatingSim function.
* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: Philemon and Nyarlathotep. 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. He wouldn't want to lose a bet over something small like helping an entire species, after all. You can punch him for his attitude.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly:
** The various deities in the series all gain their power from the secret desires of the people as a whole. They only seek to destroy the world because humanity secretly wants them to. The only exception is [[spoiler:Nyx from ''Persona 3'']].
** A very interesting variant of this happens in ''Persona 5''. The people's faith switched from [[spoiler:Yaldabaoth]] to the Phantom Thieves, enabling Joker to unleash his Ultimate Persona and defeat the deity once and for all... And then ''Royal'' has the Phantom Thieves put their faith in [[spoiler:Maruki, giving ''him'' god-like power.]] The Thieves are quite stunned to hear that the entire reason for [[spoiler:Maruki being this powerful]] is that they ''trusted'' [[spoiler:him]].
* GoodColorsEvilColors: From ''Persona 3'' onwards, your party members generate blue {{Battle Aura}}s when summoning their Personas, while hostile Persona users such as Strega, the Killer, and Black Mask generate red ones.
* HarderThanHard: ''Persona 3 Portable'' was the game that introduced the "Maniac" difficulty to the franchise as a whole. Keep in mind, that's the subtitle of ''Nocturne'''s UpdatedRerelease, so [[ThisIsGonnaSuck prepare to be punished]].
* HelloInsertNameHere: With the exception of Maya Amano, who was introduced in an earlier game, you can choose the name of every protagonist.
* HeroesPreferSwords: All the protagonists of this series with the exception of [[GunsAkimbo Maya Amano]], [[NaginatasAreFeminine P3’s Female Protagonist]], and [[KnifeNut P5's Joker]] use swords. There are also some other party members who use them, like Nanjo, Junpei and Yusuke.
* HeroicMime: While this trope is a [=MegaTen=] staple, the ''Persona'' series plays it in interesting ways.
** First, all the protagonists have as many voiced lines for combat and negotiation as the other party members.
** Second, in the games where they appear but are ''not'' the protagonist, they'll talk like normal. A standout example are the ''Persona 2'' games, where in ''Innocent Sin'' protagonist Tatsuya was silent and party member Maya was talkative, while in ''Eternal Punishment'' their roles are reversed, and now Tatsuya is the one who talks and Maya is the silent protagonist.
** Third, the characters' InnerMonologue is perfectly visible to the player.
** If the protagonist has a Shadow self, then that self can also talk just fine.
** Subverted in ''Persona 5'' where Joker talks during animated cut-scenes, though not very much.
* HumanityOnTrial: The ''real'' plot of ''P2'' and ''P4''. In fact, in ''P2'' the resident deities made [[CosmicChessGame a bet]] out of the result.
* InfinityPlusOneSword:
** The Fusion Spell Armageddon in ''P2'' and ''P3'' is essentially an [[OneHitKill "I win"]] button. It kills everything [[spoiler:but Philemon]].
** Each playable character in the series has a more conventional ultimate weapon, but actually obtaining them requires a lot of time, money, investment in Fusion, sidequests, or a combination of all the above.
** There are also a few uber-powerful Personas that are only available on NewGamePlus, but by the point you get them they're more BraggingRightsReward than anything.
* ItIsBeyondSaving: Like in the main series, most villains believe that humanity is irredeemable.
* JustifiedSavePoint: The one enabling you to save the game is Philemon. That's why he serves as the GameOverMan in ''P1'' and ''P2'', and why the save points in later games are blue butterflies.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: All Out Attacks are the games' method to get in free damage while the enemies are knocked down.
* LegacyBossBattle:
** [[spoiler:Kandori]], a boss in ''Persona 1'' makes his return in ''Eternal Punishment''.
** Tatsuya Sudou, Ginji Sasaki, and Shadow Maya are fought both in ''Innocent Sin'' and ''Eternal Punishment''.
** The BigBad Nyarlathotep is fought as a FinalBoss in both ''Persona 2'' games, but another form of his is also fought in ''Persona 1''.
** The Sleeping Table from ''Persona 3'' makes its return in ''Persona 4'' as a late-game boss.
* LevelUpAtIntimacy5: How the Social Links / Confidants work. Interacting with each character allows you to unlock more Personas of their respective Arcana, as well as gain EXP and additional abilities (the party members may also gain extra abilities). Generally, the series downplayes the "intimacy" part of the trope as most of these relationships are platonic, but ''Persona 3 forces'' you to enter romantic relationships with the opposite sex and juggle them all together.
* LighterAndSofter: In comparison to its parent series. Here, the heroes fight along with their loyal friends and succeed in defeating their enemies, and the world is restored to peaceful normality before the damage becomes too excessive. That said...
** ''Innocent Sin'' is an infamous aversion, as it's considered dark even by ''[=MegaTen=]'' standards. The game's ''only'' ending essentially ''forces'' the heroes to reenact the plot of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''. Even worse, it is revealed that all their efforts to prevent the disaster [[spoiler: were AllAccordingToPlan, and that they were the pawns in a CosmicChessGame, and that they have been manipulated ever since they were little kids.]] In that ending, [[spoiler:Maya, one of your party members, is murdered, TheBadGuyWins, and there's no choice but to push the ResetButton]].
** ''Persona 3'' is not at ''Innocent Sin'' level of dark, but with its theme being the inevitability of death and [[spoiler:the hero dying to stop TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]], it's a pretty good contestant.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Let's put it this way: there's a Social Link / Confidant for every major arcana in each game, and there are ''even more characters''.
* LongRunner:
** The series started in 1996 (1995 if you include ''If...'') with no signs of stopping.
** An InUniverse example is the ShowWithinAShow ''Phoenix Ranger Featherman R'', which is shown to have already been popular in 1989, and even in 2016 (''Persona 5'') it's still extremely famous.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The human villain(s) of each game almost always turn out to be manipulated one way or another by a higher force. Not that this excuses most of them. The only exception is the third semester antagonist of ''Persona 5 Royal'', [[spoiler:Takuto Maruki]], who actually is acting of their own free will.
* MergingMistake: Fusion Accidents; when the result it NOT what you want or should reasonably expect.
* MonsterCompendium: The Persona Compendium.
* MultipleEndings: With the exception of ''Persona 2'', each game has many different endings, all depending on player choices.
** ''Persona 1'' has four endings total. Two for the main quest (the bad and the good ending), and two for the Snow Queen Quest. The endings depend on choices made throughout the whole game.
** In ''Persona 3'', at a specific moment a character basically tells you what is to come and gives you a choice. Depending on what you choose, you get either the bad ending right there and then, or the game progresses further to the BittersweetEnding.
** ''Persona 4'' is complicated. During an extremely tense part of the game, the player must identify the correct murderer depending on what hints the game provides. Not getting the right guy can lead to three different bad (but very similar) endings, getting the guy leads to the regular ending, and sticking around long enough afterwards to learn the truth behind the Midnight Channel leads to the golden ending. ''Golden'' adds the "Accomplice" ending; you get the right guy, but choose to ''cooperate'' with them. It also adds an extension on the golden ending.
** ''Persona 5'' also has multiple endings. First, there are several "false" endings in case you fail to meet some deadlines (though since the game is told InMediasRes, those don't fool anyone). Then there's the bad ending you get if you sell out your friends to the person you're telling the story to. If you make it past this part, there's another "Accomplice" ending, and a true ending. ''Royal'' adds a few more endings post the true ending of the vanilla version: a ''third'' accomplice ending [[spoiler:that's actually surprisingly happy]] and a new true ending.
* MythicalMotifs: Present in every game.
** ''Persona 1'' is the most diverse game in terms of mythology motifs, as the main Personas of the cast come from every corner of the world. However, there's an ever-present Hindu theme in the environment, with several locations having Hindu mythology names like the Mana Castle, Deva Yuga or Avidia world.
** ''Persona 2'' has several.
*** The Personas of the cast are all taken from Greco-Roman mythology, with the ''IS'' cast focusing on the Olympian pantheon, and the ''EP'' cast focusing on the Titans.
*** ''Innocent Sin'' has a zodiac motif, with the Masked Circle taking their names from the Zodiac signs, as well as their elemental affinities, and even some dungeons.
*** In the same game, there's a Mayan mythology theme, as that's what they base their conspiracy theories on. Several late-game enemies are taken from that mythology, and then there are stuff like Ixquic, Xibalba and Nahui-Olin.
*** ''Eternal Punishment'' replaces the Mayan theme with Feng Sui. Concepts such as Kegare start playing a vital role.
** ''Persona 3'' goes back to the Greeks. The Personas are minor deities or demigods, and the whole game is one big recreation of the legend of Orpheus. However, it mixes this with some ''christian'' themes, like [[spoiler:Messiah]].
** ''Persona 4'' is purely Japanese. All the Personas, and the deities are Japanese.
** ''Persona 5'' is almost as varied as ''P1'' in terms of origins, from Zoroastrian to Greek to Japanese, though all the Personas are rebels or outsiders in some fashion. The ''initial'' Personas are taken from stories, legends and folk tales from various corners of the world. The enemies on the other hand follow a Gnostic - Abrahamic theme, evoking demons like Asmodeus, Bael and [[spoiler:Satanael]].
* NewTransferStudent: The protagonists of ''3'', ''4'' and ''5'' are transfer students from other towns.
* NintendoHard: Make no mistake; just because they're easier and LighterAndSofter than its parent series, that doesn't mean the games won't pummel you to submission if you make a mistake.
* NonHumanSidekick: The later games feature plenty of non-human party members.
** ''Persona 3'' has Koromaru (a dog) and Aigis (a robot). ''The Answer'' adds another robot named Metis.
** ''Persona 4'' has Teddie, who is a sentient shadow.
** ''Persona 5'' has Morgana, who looks like a housecat but [[spoiler:is a Velvet Room attendant.]]
** ''P5 Scramble'', the sequel of the above, not only has Morgana, but it also adds Sophia, an AI.
* OlympusMons: All Personas are gods and demons from various mythologies. In fact, the actual Olympic pantheon is featured among them.
* PowerGlows: Summoning one's Persona is accompanied by blue light.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Every single game emphasizes heavily the importance of friends in your life and their mutual contribution to help everyone in their group go through the hard times in their lives and develop as people. From ''Persona 3'' onwards, it turns into a gameplay element through the Social Links / Confidants function.
* RainbowSpeak: Important terms or information tend to be highlighted.
* RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude: Roughly 90% of the heroes Philemon/Igor/whoever recruits to save the world are high school students. The only real exception is in ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment'', where the party consists of working adults and the one teenager among them has a significant personal stake in the game's conflict and has far more Persona-related experience than his companions.
* RecurringCharacter:
** Igor is the Master of the Velvet Room in nearly every single game in the series. The only exceptions are [[spoiler:''VideoGame/Persona5'' where he appears only at the end of the game]], and the ''Persona Q'' duology and ''VideoGame/Persona5ScrambleThePhantomStrikers'', where he's completely absent. Igor is responsible for helping the protagonist - or the whole party, in earlier games - unlock new Personas and master their powers, as well as give cryptic hints.
** Philemon, Igor's master, made semi-frequent appearances in ''VideoGame/Persona1'' and ''VideoGame/Persona2'', while in later titles he takes the form of a blue butterfly to watch over the protagonist ([[JustifiedSavePoint and help you save the game]]). [[spoiler:He is also completely absent in ''Persona 5''.]]
* RecurringRiff: The Velvet Room theme "Aria of the Soul", also known as "the Poem of Everyone's Souls", has appeared in every single game in the series, and is often remixed into other themes like th FinalBoss in ''Persona 3''.
* RefusingParadise: Though it's usually paradise in name only and entails the enslavement/destruction of humanity, so the protagonists refuse it by default. That said, [[spoiler:''Persona 5 '' and ''Royal'' have endings that allow you to avert this trope.]]
* ResetButton: [[spoiler:The ending of ''Innocent Sin'']]. All the following games take place after that.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: [[VideoGame/Persona3 Aigis, Metis]], [[VideoGame/Persona4Arena Labrys]] and [[VideoGame/Persona5ScrambleThePhantomStrikers Sophia]] are all robots (or an AI, in Sophia's case) that develop human emotions.
* RuleOfSymbolism: If a character is associated with an Arcana and/or a Persona, a quick google search should tell you all you need to know about their character, or at least give you a pretty good idea.
* SavePoint: With the exception of ''Persona 2'' where you can save anywhere, the rest of the games utilize this. Fortunately, they are frequent and easily approachable (except for ''[[NintendoHard Persona 1]]'', that is).
* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack:
** ''Persona 1'' and ''Innocent Sin'' justify it, as the characters were just leaving school when they got caught up in the events.
** Averted in ''Eternal Punishment'' as the party is all adults, and the only school-aged party member has ditched school and is wearing casual clothes.
** Played straight in ''Persona 3'' even though the exploration of Tartarus happens well after school hours. The justification is that they are technically a school club doing school club activities, so they fight in uniform.
** Justified in ''Persona 4'' as the party explores the TV world right after school. On Sundays they wear casual clothes.
** Averted in ''Persona 5'' as the Phantom Thieves only wear uniforms during and right after school. On non-school days or the evenings, they wear casual clothes.
* ScienceFiction: While subtle compared to the other elements, there are several pieces of technology that are far too advanced for the year they're set in, or even decades after their release. [=AIs=] and robots of Aigis's caliber are hardly present in 2020 (the game was released in 2006), and we certainly don't have ''teleportation machines'' like Kandori's "Petit Deva".
* SecondYearProtagonist: With the exception of the ''Persona 2'' protagonists ([=3rd=]-year Tatsuya Suou and 23-year-old Maya Amano), all other protagonists are in the second year of high school. There are also several second-year party members.
* ShadowArchetype: The Shadow Selves, which are the incarnation of every part of yourself that you want to keep hidden and refuse to admit exists.
* ShoutOut:
** The series is one huge shout-out to UsefulNotes/CarlJung. The term "Persona" as it's used in the game comes from him.
** ''Persona 1'' and ''2'' borrow heavily from the ''Literature/CthulhuMythos''. [[spoiler:And so does the third semester in ''Royal''.]]
** The attendants of the Velvet Room are all named after ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' characters.
* ShowWithinAShow: From ''Persona 2'' onwards, there's a {{Sentai}} tv show called ''Phoenix Ranger Featherman R''. It even comes with ExcitedTitleTwoPartEpisodeName.
* {{Soaperizing}}: From ''Persona 3'' onwards, more than half the game is focused on the personalities and development on the characters in the games, as well as the potential romance the character has with them.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: The Shadow Selves have the glowing version, and so does Nyarlathotep. Averted with the ''Persona 2'' Shadow Selves, who instead have RedEyesTakeWarning.
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: A good chunk of the soundtrack from the later games is made up of songs with English lyrics, and they are perfectly understandable. The PSP soundtrack of ''Persona 1'' averts it, as it's GratuitousEnglish instead.
* TarotMotifs: Predominant. Every single Persona and enemy in the game are associated with one of the twenty-two major arcana. This also holds true for the Social Links / Confidants. The arcana of each character is symbolic of their personality and character arcs. As ''VideoGame/Persona3'' puts it...
-->'''[[spoiler:Nyx Avatar]]:''' The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed.
* TimedMission:
** The Snow Queen Quest in ''P1'' (yes, the ''whole game'' turns into a timed mission), the Aerospace Museum in ''P2'', the Priestess full moon shadow in ''P3'', and [[spoiler:the Shadow Okumura fight]] in ''P5''.
** ''Persona 4'' and ''5'' force you to complete each dungeon before specific deadlines.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: A much-forgotten lesson: ''you need to be broken to have a Persona in the first place''. It's not a random superpower you can get, it's a shield to protect you. This is nearly literally what UsefulNotes/CarlJung writes about. Essentially, a mask to protect oneself is a "persona", and it is used to hide one's true nature. The most common type of people who do these psychological actions and the ones that have the most visible Personas are also the ones who are the most messed-up or out-of-place in the world or the society around them.
** It's more clearly seen in the ''Persona 2'' duology, where two Personas are forcefully awoken by the Alaya Shrine incident, which involved the attempted murder of the characters.
** It comes back with a vengeance in ''Persona 3'' - as Junpei notes, you'd have to be a little messed up to fire a gun-like object at your own head. ''Repeatedly.''
** Even "bright and bubbly" ''Persona 4'' has it as a major element; it's just less obvious than in some other titles (fitting with the game's theme). Everyone appears fine on the surface, but underneath the veneer they're all in crisis by the time the protagonist gets involved.
* TrueCompanions: Taken to its logical conclusion in the later games, as your party members will take death blows for you and give you actual power.
* UpdatedRerelease: All the games have received this.
** ''Persona 1'' was remade for the PSP, with somewhat upgraded graphics (especially the menu), reworked game balance, remade [=3D=] and a new soundtrack. The English port took it a step further by including the Snow Queen Quest (which was absent from the original release), retranslating the game from scratch, and adding new voice acting.
** ''Persona 2 Innocent Sin'' also received a PSP port, with upgraded graphics (mostly the menus), remixed soundtrack (and the option to switch between the original and the new version), reworked negotiations, and the Climax Theatre, which includes new sidequests. This was also the first official version of the game outside Japan.
** The ''Persona 2 Eternal Punishment'' PSP port, on top of the graphics and soundtrack work that was also done in ''IS'', added ''[[AnotherSideAnotherStory Tatsuya's Scenario]]'', which tells the events of the game from Tatsuya's POV, heavily expands on the lore and plot of the game, introduces new characters, and includes a BonusDungeon and several new bosses. That version was never released out of Japan.
** ''Persona 3'' received two updated versions.
*** ''FES'', unlike most other examples here, is on the same console as the original. It adds an extended playable epilogue called ''The Answer'', with new Tartarus blocks, additional plot, and new bosses.
*** ''Portable'' (the PSP port), receives a significant graphics downgrade due to the limitations of the hardware and removes ''The Answer'', but enables you to control your party members (the most criticized aspect of the original), and adds a female protagonist option, with new Social Links and a new soundtrack to go with her.
** ''Persona 4'' received ''Golden'' for the Vita. It adds a new character, new Social Links, a BonusDungeon, and two new endings, along with an epilogue.
** ''Persona 5'' has ''Royal'', for the same console. Once again, it introduces new characters, dungeons, new and reworked Confidants, a third semester to the story and two new endings.
* UrbanFantasy: All the games feature normal people in normal places that have suddenly been laced with the supernatural. The WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld aspect only enforces this.
* UrbanLegend:
** Several rumour demons in ''Persona 2'' are based on real-life Japanese urban legends.
** The [[VideoGame/Persona4 Midnight Channel]] is an InUniverse one.
* WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld: ''3'', ''4'' and ''5'' happen over the course of a year, and most of the playable characters are students. They balance school and daily life with their supernatural activities.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: From ''Persona 3'' onwards, if the protagonist dies, game over.
* WhatIf: How the entire series started, combined with ForWantOfANail. Long story short, the events of the [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Raidou]] [[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon Kuzunoha]] games prevented the events of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' from ever happening.
* WindIsGreen: Wind spells usually are colored green. Best seen in ''Persona 2 Innocent Sin'' where the wind-themed Aquarius Shrine, the Crystal Skull of Wind, the wind-using Aquarius Mask enemies ''and'' Queen Aquarius are all green.
* WithThisHerring: You start off your adventure to save the world with nothing but the clothes on your back and maybe a cheap weapon if you're lucky. It's justified in ''Persona 1'' and ''Persona 2'' by the fact that the party is suddenly thrust into their adventure with no time to prepare, and in ''Persona 4'' and ''Persona 5'' where you're just a bunch of high school students who have to fund their activities out of their own pockets.
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* ''[[Manga/{{Persona}} Megami Ibunroku Persona]]'' (1996)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persona.png]]

** ''Persona 2 Eternal Punishment'' and ''Persona 5'' have almost the entire upper echelon of the police being payed and working for a corrupt politician.

** ''Persona 3'' has Koromaru (a dog) and Aegis (a robot). ''The Answer'' adds another robot named Metis.

* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: [[VideoGame/Persona3 Aegis, Metis]], [[VideoGame/Persona4Arena Labrys]] and [[VideoGame/Persona5ScrambleThePhantomStrikers Sophia]] are all robots (or an AI, in Sophia's case) that develop human emotions.

* ScienceFiction: While subtle compared to the other elements, there are several pieces of technology that are far too advanced for the year they're set in, or even decades after their release. [=AIs=] and robots of Aegis' caliber are hardly present in 2020 (the game was released in 2006), and we certainly don't have ''teleportation machines'' like Kandori's "Petit Deva".

* HarderThanHard: ''Persona 3 Portable'' was the game that introduced the "Maniac" difficulty to the franchise as a whole. Keep in mind, that's the subtitle of ''Nocturne'''s UpdatedRerelease, so [[ThisIsGonnaSuck prepared to be punished]].

** The Snow Queen Quest in ''P1'' (yes, the ''whole game'' turns into a timed mission), the Aerospace Museum in ''P2'', the Priestess full moon shadow in ''P3'', and [[spoiler:the Shadow Okumura fight in ''P5'']].
** ''Persona 4'' and ''5'' force you to complete each dungeons before specific deadlines.

** It's more clearly seen in the ''Persona 2'' duology, where two Personas are forcefully awoken by the Araya Shrine incident, which involved the attempted murder of the characters.

** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 4 Golden]]'' (2012; UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita)[[index]]

** An InUniverse example is the ShowWithinAShow ''Phenix Ranger Featherman R'', which is shown to have been already popular in 1989, and even in 2016 (''Persona 5'') it's still extremely famous.