Line #27 Fridge/Persona3


1	'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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3	!! Fridge Logic
4	* After defeating the Hierophant full moon Shadow, Yukari takes a shower. During the dark hour, water is blood. What was Yukari showered with?
5	** FridgeBrilliance time: the cutscene could be seen from either Yukari or the MC's perspective; since they're under the spell of the Lovers Shadow and see everything as an illusion, they might perceive the blood as actual water. [[FridgeHorror shudders]]
6	** It could actually still be just water and water just turns a bloody red in the dark hour.
7	* Unless specially modified or controlled by shadows, electronic devices do not function during the Dark Hour. So, aircraft and hospital equipment…
8	** ...are only frozen. More fridge logic when you realise "time freezes" for the world outside, and only shadows, Personae, and those with potential experience any passing of time.
9	** Which leads to FridgeHorror if, say, a person with the Potential gets put on life support.
10	*** Like Shinjiro in the [=FeMC=]'s route if you chose to save him?. Anyway, it's been stated that machines would function normally in the Dark hour if there's a piece of a Plume of Dusk installed in. That explains why Mitsuru could use her motorbike.
11	* Look at Orpheus, then look at the protagonist. Now, look at the Persona's lyre, and then the chair you sit on, in the Velvet Room.
12	* In The Answer, if Team Aigis and Team Junpei were both unsure of what to do next, shouldn't they have avoided fighting each other? Granted, Junpei seemed to learn towards Team Akihiko, but still he seemed more unsure than anything, like Team Aigis.
13	** Remember, they ''had'' to fight just for the key to form. They both figure that whoever would win would figure out what to do, even if they did not want to fight. Team Ken did, and Team Yukari also did, so the other two had no choice but to fight.
14	* Why is Mr Edogawa still in a job? As school nurse, he gives the students homemade remedies rather than legitimate medicine, and as a substitute teacher he routinely throws the teacher's intended lesson plan out of the window to teach the class about magic.
15	** Persona 4 does show that he is knowledgeable about the myth of Izanami and Izanagi, so maybe it's more of a BunnyEarsLawyer sort of thing.
16	** The magic classes that aren't him substituting could just be an elective subject that the protagonist signed up for. Maybe they're doubling up on a teacher and a nurse for one salary.
17	* Everyone forgets everything about the Dark Hour and stuff, and so the members of SEES forget that they're friends. Did they uh... also suddenly forget about going to Yakushima? Or Kyoto (which had absolutely nothing to do with the Dark Hour).
18	** They lost their memories of the Dark Hour and anything involving it. While they still probably remember going to those places, their memories probably became fuzzy. Yakushima was where they met Aigis, an anti-shadow weapon, and found out the truth behind the creation of Tartarus. In Kyoto, they were with Ryoji (who is directly connected to the Dark Hour) and it was also where Mitsuru and Yukari became better friends because they bonded over the death of Mitsuru's father, which also became muddled because it happened in the Dark Hour.
19	* If you take the time to look up the specs on Takaya's trademark revolver, a Smith & Wesson Model .500, you're likely to wonder not only how he got his grubby hands on that in Japan (known for strict gun control laws), but A. how he fires it one-handed without hurting himself and B. How Shinjiro is not missing a good portion of his torso after getting shot by it because that gun is used to hunt '''''freaking rhinos in Africa''''', to say nothing of the pathetic damage it does in the Boss Fights with Takaya.
20	** Having a Persona gives some form of physical protection (even if the Persona does not inherently resist physical), though in Shinji's case it still wasn't enough to make the wound non-fatal and he died.
21	* If there's only been one person on the Innocent Sin Online servers for who knows how long, why are they even still active?
22	** Contractual obligations, maybe. Sometimes it's simply cheaper for the provider to keep a now-unpopular service running for a while than terminating it and getting sued for breach of contract, either by the clients, the support crew, advertising space's buyers or what-have-you.
23
24	!! Fridge Brilliance
25	* The Protagonists have the Fool arcanum, which symbolises limitless potential. The protagonists can also can summon almost any Persona.
26	** Keeping in mind that a Persona is a reflection of one's psyche, this ability leads to mountains of crazy WMG about the main character's sanity, the status of reality ("is it all a dream?"), etc. The constant changing of Personas reflects the fact that the player can effectively paint whatever personality they want for MC because they control his responses in various situations.
27	** The Protagonists are [[SilentProtagonist silent]]. WordOfGod explained this as the potential for change and to put the player into the story, respectively, but there's an English proverb that fits this too: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."
28	** A minor case of Fridge Brilliance related to this: The female protagonist's design includes hairpins that form the shape XXII. The Fool, in tarot readings, is alternately numbered 0 (the first of the major arcana) or XXII (the last).
29	* The Dark Hour is the hidden hour right after 12 o' clock, or a thirteenth hour that shouldn't exist. Death is described as the thirteenth Arcana that was never meant to be. Death is directly related to the Dark Hour, being the harbinger of Nyx.
30	** Tartarus taking shape of a clock tower (albeit grotesque one) seems to refer to the inevitability of death: you'll die eventually. Spend your time well.
31	* The arcanum of The World (The Universe in some decks) represents fulfillment, oneness, self-realization. Meanwhile, the Arcanum of Death isn't "death" but changes and cycles (hence why the NewGamePlus after the Protagonist has died is called "New Cycle.") Now take Apathy Syndrome: it's the total loss of ''self''. You're nothing but a moaning body, devoid of personality. And Nyx's effect on Earth would have been to inflict this on everyone --rather than outright "killing" all life on Earth, Nyx ONLY takes your ''self'' away [[note]]yes, your mindless body would've died eventually, but that's beside the point[[/note]]. The ''Persona'' series is about expressing various facets of your personality. The Arcana represent states of consciousness, some benign, some negative, but a consciousness nonetheless. By establishing Social Links, you can amass all your experiences with these Arcana (yes, even Death) and become a fully-realized human being --The World. The World that is beyond Death, The World that overcomes fear of change, The World that is above (lowercase) death because death is no longer fearsome. The World that has seen The Judgement. The World that ''embraces'' change. ''The World is the absolute opposite to Apathy Syndrome, nothingness; that is, it is opposite to Nyx itself.'' And Nyx, summoned by those who fear life and reject themselves, has no power over one who has achieved The World. In turn, the Protagonist has completed their (and The Fool's) Journey, they have found The Answer to their own existence, and they willingly accepts their own death in order to surpass the nothingness of Nyx. And that is why they become the Great Seal between Nyx and Erebus: it is NOT AndIMustScream or a FateWorseThanDeath: for the Protagonist, becoming the invincible (Erebus can't touch him) barrier between death and despair is the ultimate expression of personal realization. They are basically saying, "Yes, death exists, but it is only an end that gives way to a new beginning. You don't need to fear it, because I will take away the darkness and despair from you forever." Now, depending on your interpretation, it might be that they don't ''have'' to be the Great Seal, but maybe they ''want'' to. The Protagonist always strove to help others and to protect them. They were also deeply at peace in their last day on Earth, having helped a multitude of people improve their lives. What better reward for their ultimate sacrifice than to allow them to become the last, greatest guardian of humanity? Of course, one is free to disagree with this last bit, but it could also make the BittersweetEnding a lot less Bitter.
32	** You could take the interpretation even further by intercultural studies. Tarot arcanas (traditionally western) are developing inside the main character (the Self) through the relationships he has with others: as a matter of fact, most Eastern cultures (especially Japan) are known as more "collectivist", causing the self to be "interdependant", meaning that the self isn't described through internal characteristics, but rather through his relations to others. As such, the MC develop his own potential through his own training (gaining levels, western/individualist thinking) and through the building of social bonds to his community (Social Links and the associated Arcanas, eastern/collectivist thinking). As it is commonin both western and eastern philosophies, balance is key to developing the self: the MC finally reaches his full potential by fully developing his Social Links (eastern part) which manifest in his Arcanas (western part), reaching wholeness (the World arcana), which is often described as the highest state of mind, in all cultures.
33	* In The Answer, there are timeskips preventing SEES from going from March 31st to April 1st. As we all know, April Fools day comes on that day and the Fool tarot card represents the start of a new journey. What is SEES going to do after leaving the dorm?
34	* Pharos is wearing prisoner-esque clothing because he's technically a prisoner inside the MC's psyche.
35	** This also explains his physical appearance. He looks like a ten-year-old boy because he's been inside the MC for ten years.
36	** You go through nine months before completing his Social Links. What also is nine months? Pregnancy. The MC is essentially ''pregnant'' with Nyx's Avatar, with Ryoji "born" afterwards once all other pieces of its existence has been gathered.
37	* Ken's arcanum is Justice, which symbolises the knowledge of what is right or wrong. He hesitates bonding with the female protagonist because of their relationship's [[NoYay implications]].
38	* Shinjiro's arcanum is The Moon. It doesn't symbolise snobbery, but contradictions, illusions, emotional turmoil, and fear of dark desires. Shinjiro is the game's premiere TroubledButCute JerkWithAHeartOfGold. He would love a normal life, even if he fears the after-effects of the short-lived normalcy he is given. His genuine kindness and modesty definitely contrasts the toughened up image he is seen as initially, like an illusion. The fears also manifest in his repressed desires for the protagonist.
39	* Fuuka's arcanum is The Priestess. It symbolises looking into oneself for answers. After Shinjiro's death, she laments that the tragedy could have been avoided if only she had trusted her intuition.
40	* The fact that Shinjiro and Akihiko's Personae are Gemini is pretty obvious, but how Ken is tied in may not be so immediately obvious — in some myths, the Gemini were the sons of Nemesis. If that's not clever enough? Castor was killed by a spear to the heart. Now, what's Ken's weapon again?
41	** Shinjiro was killed by a gunshot after being threatened with a spear. In the game, both attacks deal the same type of damage: Pierce.
42	*** This relationship is even reflected in Ken's admittedly lackluster skillset. Ken learns light spells, which are associated with Justice, his arcana, which is also the idea his Persona Nemesis represents. Ken learns no boosts or multitargets for this skill, lessening his usefulness in it, but think about it--Ken only joined SEES because of his sense of justice being aimed at one person, and one person only: Shinjiro. Two of his physical attacks, Cruel Attack and Vile Assault, do bonus damage to foes who are already downed, and reference his tirade at and attempt to kill Shinjiro, who was already suffering extreme guilt over the matter... kicking him while he's down.
43	*** This even shows after Shinjiro dies and Ken gets his ultimate Persona, Kala-Nemi. He swiftly learns the best healing spells, such as Diarahan, Mediarahan, and even Samarecarm, which revives a teammate with full health. It's as if after this tragedy, Ken resolves to make sure no one dies like that ever again.
44	* The evokers. The protagonist summons their Persona by shooting him/herself in the head. Apart from, ahem, evoking images of suicide, it's excellent foreshadowing. Remember [[HeroicSacrifice what happens]] to the Protagonist at the end?
45	** The bad ending, where the MC kills Ryoji has the MC executing his evoker at a much slower pace. Perhaps he knows the consequence of this which is that everyone will die, including him, and thinks of this as ''actual'' suicide, thus taking a logical approach to the hesitant evoker pose.
46	* The two major nonhuman members of the group continue the trend of "fight or die" response mechanisms without having gun-shaped evokers. Koromaru's Evoker is a device attached to his collar, which would make it more like a wireless shock collar or a choke chain. Aigis's Evoker is built into her body, which given the theme of everyone else, would make it more like an internal killswitch.
47	* Out of the NewGamePlus Endings, Ken's was much more bittersweet and less romantic than everyone else's. The endings follow an upright meaning of each character's arcana. Justice is an arcana that does not have an interpretation pertaining directly to love; the opposite actually, with ones such as distance and logic. Those would make sense, as space and rationality are what would keep them together without a stigma from society. The most significant of the meanings, however, is "clear vision". Ken expresses his worry that the main character will "go somewhere", hinting he knows her fate to die. Whether the others know and are lying for her sake, or Ken is the only one to know this is both poignant, and absolutely [[TearJerker heart-breaking]]
48	** It's worth noting Ken is the only one with a theory that seems to be true about the male MC in ''The Answer''. He states twice that he believes the protagonist died because he used up all of his life energy during his one-on-one with Nyx and there's nothing disproving that fact, after all the MC was noted to look sick and feel very tired at the end of the game. Clear vision indeed.
49	* Aigis's persona transformation from Palladion to Athena gives her one of the best healing spells in the game. This coincides with her gaining human emotions and caring for her comrades.
50	* On December 31, the protagonist has to decide whether to forget everything that happened by killing Ryoji. In other words: "Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne?"
51	* [[GagPenis Mara's]] stats are basically one long string of dick jokes. His arcana is the Tower, he has the strongest Pierce-type attack in the game, and he's weak to ice.
52	* For a while, [[Tropers/{{Grade0}} this troper]] wondered why it is that the Death link progresses on its own. There is an in-game justification for The Fool and Judgment, but not so for Death. Then, it became clear: Death is Makoto/Minako's own Arcana, representing their own development. Every other S.Link shows CharacterDevelopment in increased amounts as you power up that Arcana, so this only makes sense. Given how s/he brings out said development in others, this even reflects Death's symbolic meaning.
53	* Death represents transition, which is noted several times in the game. The night of the "last" mission, the Death social link completes, while Fool does not, despite the fact that [=SEES=] is about to be disbanded. Given what happens next, it's a brilliant bit of foreshadowing. If you had already deduced that the game was far from over, the completion of the Death link is arguably confirmation.
54	** Additionally, the Death card marks a transition in the Tarot deck, symbolizing the end of the old and the start of the new. Fittingly, the Death Social Link maxes out right before the biggest PlotTwist of the game, where NothingIsTheSameAnymore.
55	* When Aigis frees the party from Ikutsuki, she is acting out a deus ex machina in the literary sense. This is also the exact moment when we first see that she is forming a soul, or an aspect of god, inside of her. Not only is she being a literary deus ex machina, but also literally a life or soul (god) born from a machine, further symbolized by her Persona's transformation from Palladion (a statue of Athena) to the goddess Pallas Athena herself. In other words, Aigis is three "dei ex machinae" at the same time.
56	* The Protagonist having the name "Makoto Yuki" in the movies. Some have pointed that the name is rather feminine, but remember - The Protagonist can undergo a GenderFlip is ''Persona 3 Portable''. The Protagonist has been given a name that works regardless of the gender chosen by the player.
57	* At the beginning of the game, Pharos asks you to sign a contract. If you advance the cutscene, you do so, and are granted access to the Velvet Room, among other things. How do you refuse to sign the contract instead? By exiting out of the game or turning the console off, preventing you from carrying on with the game's primary missions. Pharos isn't just asking your player character, i.e. the in-game representation of you, to sign the contract, he's asking ''you, the player.''
58	* Why does Ryoji act like such a ladykiller? The game encourages you to be a ladykiller yourself in order to advance your social links, and Ryoji was a part of you during that time.
59	** Similarly, when you're playing the female protagonist, Ryoji's charm with women can be explained by him living inside of a girl's psyche for ten years. By (subconsciously) knowing what they like to hear and do thanks to being inside one for so long, it's no wonder he became a ladies' man so quickly.
60	* Ryoji gives you many opportunities to kill him and let everyone die in blissful ignorance. He keeps stressing over and over that fighting death is is doomed to failure, and facing it head-on is going to be nothing but painful. Keep in mind that ''he's still death.'' This is the most attractive, seductive form that death can take: the idea that it frees you from suffering if you submit to it. No wonder he's such a ladykiller...
61	* In order for the Female Protagonist to pursue a romantic relationship with Ken or Akihiko, she has to hit certain flags during the link. With Shinjiro, however, she has to pursue him ''after'' maxing the link out. Why? Because even if he develops feelings for her (and it's implied that he does even if you don't start a relationship), he never intends to pursue those feelings because he knows that he's going to die soon.
62	* As mentioned above, it's obvious the MC is a MessianicArchetype. Following the story of the Christian Messiah, the MC sacrifices himself for humanity, then is "resurrected" and comes back for a brief time before ascending to an eternal form to protect humanity. It is also possible that, following Elizabeth's future quest lines, that he will be resurrected or at least released from his burden one day, maybe even resulting in a Second Coming of sorts. Future games will tell.
63	** An obvious one if you've played the games/read the Bible a lot: Messiah absorbs pierce attacks - a reference to the soldier who pierced Jesus' side after His death with a spear.
64	* When playing The Answer, your party fights Erebus in the past, right after the protagonist raises his finger to banish Nyx and become the Great Seal. As we then see, Erebus attacks the Great Seal and then the party, leading them to subdue it. It could be possible that subduing Erebus earned the MC's soul a brief respite, enabling the protagonist to return to his still living body for a short time until either his body gave out or his soul was called away to act as the Great Seal again.
65	* Thanks to the GenderFlip in the PSP portable, Theo was born. Many think this is in order for the female MC to romance the Velvet Room attendant. But looking back at Jung's psychology, from which the ''Persona'' games take a lot of inspiration, there's something called Anima/Animus (being Anima the female unconscious of a male, and the Animus the male unconscious of a female), that's meant to be a guide in order to achieve invidualization. The Velvet Room attendants, Margaret, Elizabeth and Theo are "the ones who represent power itself" and are constantly asking you for rare, difficult Persona Fusions in order to guide your soul in the right direction; because, be honest, how many of us would be creating those fusions if it weren't necessary to max their Social Links?
66	* ''The Answer'' fridge: Metis' persona is Psyche. Psyche was a mortal girl who, after enraging her lover Eros by seeing him and realizing he's a god, has to go through many difficult ordeals, trials and hardships in order to prove her love and regret. Metis swallows her distrust for the party, goes through the doors and then the fights for the keys just to prove her devotion to her sister, so she doesn't leave her alone.
67	** Speaking of Metis, when Aigis first wakes up after awakening to the Wild Card, Metis is ''also'' asleep, claiming to be over-tired from going into Orgia Mode... however, in hindsight, it makes a ''lot'' of sense that she fell asleep at the exact same time as Aigis, considering she's Aigis' Shadow.
68	* The battle menu spins around for the chosen option... and looks surprisingly like a revolver's chambers!
69	* The game has an excellent bit of foreshadowing in the form of its ArcWords: "''Memento mori''", which means, "remember your death," or, "remember you will die." Now. Which character dies and is always referred to as, '''you'''? That's right, the game gives away the ENTIRE ENDING with its Arc Words!
70	* The more cynical might wonder why ThePowerOfFriendship is able to awaken the power to defeat Nyx. However, this goes hand-in-hand not only with the game's themes, but with the old quote about dying twice. As it goes, there are two times when a person dies: when they stop breathing and when their name is said for the last time. While everyone is destined to stop breathing someday, they're never truly gone as long as someone remembers them. Love, in [[TheFourLoves all forms]], [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments is the one thing that can overcome death]].
71	** [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan "He's not really dead, as long as we remember him."]]
72	* [[DoesThisRemindYouofAnything Strega's artificially implanted Personas have a few parallels to organ transplants.]] In the early days of organ transplants (not sure if it's still true), if you weren't a twin of the person giving the organ, you had to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of your life. And that might not be that long; the first person who received a heart transplant only lived for 18 days. Strega got artificially implanted Personas and had to take drugs to stop rejection.
73	** Going further with this, Chidori giving Junpei her Persona, Medea is analogous to giving compatible organs. The receiver was about to die, but the donor gave up their Persona to let the receiver live. Both of them loved each other, so they were linked in a sense.
74	* The Answer (and ''Persona 4'')'s reveal that Personas and Shadows are the same explains how Strega got their Personas in the first place and where the Kirijo Group managed to find Personas to insert. The Kirijo Group used Shadows and somehow made Personas from them.
75	** Looking deeper into it, Strega's Personas being artificial could mean they aren't their 'true' Persona, seeing how they go beserk without special lifespan-reducing medication. It could be what happens when someone without the Wild Card gets an additional Persona. for all we know they might not even be the same Arcana as their 'true' Persona.
76	* Nyx's true form is a brightly glowing egg-shaped mass. She's the light you see when you die.
77	* You'd think that SEES would use modified guns against the Shadows instead of medieval holdovers, since the Kirijo group has that kind of influence... but then they'd confuse them with their Evokers, confusion would lead to an accident, and an accident would lead to someone having to wash [[ButtMonkey Junpei's]] brains out of their nice clean shirt.
78	* The reason behind the MC's personas: Orpheus attempted to cheat death and failed; Thanatos is death personified, and Messiah surpassed death.
79	** Similarly, the Messiah being a fusion of Orpheus and Thanatos also makes a large amount of sense. Orpheus represents love as his love for Eurydice was so great that he would brave the underworld to get her back and he would allow himself to die when he failed similar to how Jesus loved his followers and was willing to die for their sins. Thanatos represents sacrifice as he is the personification of death and Jesus sacrificed himself for a greater purpose but, Thanatos being a powerful persona also represents death as form of ascension as Jesus [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended]] after his death. Thus Messiah is literally the fusion of Orpheus's love and Thanatos's death to represent the Messiah, a greater power as a result of both.
80	* Junpei's initial Persona is Hermes. In the previous game, Jun's initial Persona is Hermes. Coincidence? Maybe.
81	* Take a look at Akihiko's bandage. Now look at his room and pay attention to the trophies above his bed. Now remember the fact that the dorm was hit by an earthquake at one point. ''Ouch.''
82	* Akihiko is terrified of Mitsuru's executions because his Persona is weak to ice, which is the element of Mitsuru's.
83	** Of course he is terrified. He knows he is going to get frozen and there is nothing he can do about it since Mitsuru was already on the move.
84	* Ever wonder why Mara is a giant phallus? Well, since most Tower Arcana people tend to be jerks it makes them [[DontExplainTheJoke sort of a big...ya know]].
85	* By the time you can fuse Thanatos, you'll have met every SEES member in the game. Thanatos is synonymous with the Protagonist, as they carry him inside of them in more than one way. He wears 8 coffins chained around his shoulders--that's one for each human member of SEES other than you. Each of the members' lives are literally on your shoulders, as your decisions decide whether they live or die. One member is fatally wounded before you can fuse him, filling one coffin, and the others could be on the way.
86	* Every time you fast-travel between Port Island and the mainland, you use the monorail, even if the closest apparent pedestrian route is over the Moonlight Bridge. Probably because that's where the MC's parents died...
87	* The revelation that a distorted desire spread among multiple people can create a single Shadow in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' sheds new light on ???'s existence in ''The Answer''. The damn thing isn't the Protagonist's Shadow. It's ''Shadow SEES'', physically manifesting as the desire to see the Protagonist again.
88	* Even if you take into account Yukari's grief at not being able to stay by the Protagonist's side when he died, you may still find yourself annoyed at her antagonistic behavior throughout ''The Answer''. Taking a deeper look into her actions, though, signifies she's really just going through the five stages of grief throughout the story--and her mourning the Protagonist takes on a whole new meaning when you consider that she might be subconsciously blaming herself for his death, in some way. She was the first person he interacted with in SEES, she was the first person to demonstrate the use of an Evoker to him, and her failure to act quickly in the face of the first Full Moon Shadow is what compelled the Protagonist to protect her by summoning Orpheus. As such it is entirely possible that she, to some degree, believes herself responsible for bringing the Protagonist into the world of Personas and Shadows--and in turn, having him make his HeroicSacrifice at the very end of their journey.
89	* When the Protagonist first summons Orpheus, only to have him later transform into Death, it's a ''beyond'' awesome scene that perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the game. And then you find out that the scene pretty much gave away the whole ending. When the Protagonist puts the Evoker to his head, he's not only summoning his Persona for the very first time--taking into account his HeroicSacrifice against Nyx at the end of the game, he's essentially writing his own death sentence. When he summons Orpheus, he unveils his true self for the first time, all to defend somebody else--and in Death's arrival right from Orpheus' body, the game's cheekily spelling out to you that the Protagonist's actions to protect others from the Shadows will eventually lead to his own death.
90	** There's also the fact that the Protagonist's arcana is Fool. According to the useful notes page on tarot, when used in games, the Fool card always lost, but it's incredibly useful strategically. The Protagonist died, but the world was saved.
91	* Akihiko's Persona evolves even if Shinjiro survives in the Female Protagonist's route. Why? It ties into Akihiko's Arcana, the Emperor (which focuses on having control), and specifically Akihiko's confronting his feelings of helplessness. Even if Shinjiro makes it to the hospital, the game says that doctors say he'll never wake up, making him dead for all intents and purposes. Now, as long as Shinjiro is alive, there's a chance that he'll wake up, but it doesn't change the fact that there's still nothing Akihiko can do. The situation is just as out of his hands as it is if Shinjiro dies, it's just that now he has to deal with not knowing if [[HopeIsScary his best friend is ever going to wake up]]... which also ties into his Social Link arcana, the Star, which is connected to optimism and hope.
92	* Speaking of survival, Chidori’s also fits in with this. You could argue that it cheapens her sacrifice, but it doesn’t come without a cost. Her memories are gone, with only nostalgia still tying her to Junpei. The girl who Junpei met on the bench is gone, similar to [[VideoGame/Persona4 Hisano Kuroda’s husband]]. Even so, that gives Junpei and Chidori a chance to start anew, which ties into one of the meanings of the Death arcana.
93	* Yukari's birthday is October 19 1992, which makes her a Libra in the WesternZodiac. Libra is one of the associated astrology signs for the Lovers Arcana, Yukari's social link.
94	* All of the full moon bosses and the final boss as well run the gamut of the first 12 Arcana and as a whole the 13th Arcana Death, without taking into account The Fool. But they aren't the only ones who follow this trend. Look at the Personae tarot class your party members: Junpei is the Magician, Fuuka is the Priestess, Mitsuru is the Empress, Akihiko is the Emperor, Shinjiro is the Hierophant, Yukari is the Lovers, Aigis is the Chariot, Ken is Justice, Koromaru is Strength and the Protagonist is Death! It may look like the other three are missing, but look at the other Persona users in the game, Strega. Jin is the Hermit, Takaya is the Wheel of Fortune and Chidori is the Hanged Man. Including Strega, Persona users of the first 13 Arcana are present as are the Shadows of the same arcana!
95	** The manga references this. As the Nyx Avatar cycles through the first 12 phases of the battle, each phase shows the character associated with the Arcana. The only exceptions are Jin(who, being dead, is represented by a bloodstain just before Takaya shows up in the next panel), and Chidori (instead, it shows Thanatos attempting to go in for the kill, only for Nyx Avatar to parry the attack and go into the Death phase).
96	* SP is way harder to recover in the field than HP. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Mitsuru offhandedly implies in the combat tutorial that SP is essentially a stress gauge.]] Incorporating mental health into the combat system makes a ''heartbreaking'' amount of sense when you're playing as a group of teenagers fighting for their lives on a dangerous mission no one else is capable of. Now, consider that you'll mostly be spending SP on Persona skills, aka ''tricking your brain into having a near-death experience while you're already in combat and therefore under a lot of stress.'' No wonder burning through SP too fast is so easy--you're putting teenagers in life-or-death situations, and they get stressed out.
97	* Throughout the game, starting from a few days after the start, you see various stories about the exchange rate of the yen to the dollar. This has a twofold effect- showing how much Apathy Syndrome is affecting Japan's economy, and helping American players understand how much the various things in the game cost.
98	* Ryoji looks nothing like the Female Protagonist, yet he still has the same origins with the Male Protagonist, being Pharos inside of [=FeMC=] as a piece of the Nyx avatar. While he doesn't ''look'' like her, he did inherit something very important that he didn't get from the regular MC: ''her personality''. [=FeMC=] in canon is very bubbly and energetic, ready to make friends, but hides her insecurities and sadness that becomes more visible when things get tense. Ryoji came into the world a happy-go-lucky social butterfly who enjoys flirting with girls, but once he learns of his origins he becomes more somber and depressed that he can longer be himself. His own romance with [=FeMC=] reflects this tone, as he suddenly becomes more serious and raw with his feelings once they go further down the Social Link.
99	* In "Burn My Dread -Last Battle-", one of the lyrics is "justice to the man with no life." The protagonist uses all his life energy on sealing Nyx, so it's literal!
100	** Or it could be referring to [[TakeThatAudience the player, who just spent 80-100+ hours beating this game.]]
101	* There may be some deeper symbolism and foreshadowing to the curb stomp battle in the game's beginning when Thanatos defeats the Magician. Isn't it ironic the arcana of ButtMonkey Junpei is the one that is the warm up boss you so easily best? More seriously, this can also be seen as early foreshadowing of Junpei's inferiority complex towards the MC, given that Thanatos is associated with said MC.
102	* Given the revelations about Shadows and Persona later on in the series, Shinjiro losing control of his Persona makes sense. SEES aren't facing their own Shadows in the Dark Hour or accepting what they suppress, so they aren't obtaining their Personas in the "proper" way. What they're doing with the Evokers is artificially forcing their Persona into being and fighting for them. Since their Shadows were never confronted and accepted, these Persona are actually still Shadows and can revert to their base nature so to speak and go out of control of their users. This might be particularly likely for someone like Shinjiro, who puts up a tough guy front to everybody but really is a good person inside, meaning his Shadow would be the suppression of his good qualities rather than negative ones like those who did in Persona 4.
103	* The story began with Aigis "giving" Death to the protagonist, and ends with the protagonist giving her a Wild Card (symbolic of all the potential of life). This explains why Aigis is scared in ''The Answer'' that being a Wild Card will mean her death; she may think she deserves it for being the cause of his/her death, regardless of the circumstances.
104	* Mitsuru's social link cannot be initiated until you've maxed out your Academics...which makes sense, as you're a 2nd year talking to a 3rd year, and she needs to be able to see you as an equal before you can initiate a true friendship/romance with her.
105	* In Yukari's Rank 9 (and in ''Reload'', if you choose to romance her as opposed to friendzoning her), Yukari admits that she gets jealous whenever you talk to Fuuka, much to her distress. This line appears regardless of whether you open Fuuka's Social Link or not. While this seems odd to point out Fuuka specifically, the game does mention that you talk to Fuuka in order to go to Tartarus, something that you have to do on a regular basis and something you do even if you haven't opened her Social Link.
106
107	!! Fridge Horror
108	* How did Officer Kurosawa get your ''swimsuits?!''
109	* The bad ending doesn't seem quite so bad without the proper context. At first glance, it looks pretty peaceful, but since all memories of the Dark Hour have been erased, all of the CharacterDevelopment is null and void. So Junpei still has no purpose in life, Yukari still feels abandoned by her father and mother, Mitsuru is still in a state of HeroicBSOD, Shinjiro is either dead or in a coma and ignored, Ken still has regrets about his mother, Akihiko is still a BloodKnight, and Aigis has been completely forgotten. Oh yeah, and they're all going to die of Apathy Syndrome and they don't know it, and some dialog suggests it may already be happening. [[YouBastard Way to go, bro.]]
110	** The bad ending itself is almost disappointing. Then the "good" ending kicks in and you see the divergences as everyone begins to remember... and the bad ending seems like the good ending.
111	* In path to the good ending, the entire world slips into the Dark Hour, the Fall is just starting to occur, and at least one person (that we see) dissolves into a puddle of shadow-matter. That's horrifying enough, but... after the MC seals Nyx, ''everyone'' loses their memories of the Dark Hour --so it's not just SEES that forgets everything about Personas, Shadows, Tartarus, et al, but the whole world forgot about being drawn into the Dark Hour that last night. So... did the people who fell into Nyx' thrall and dissolved "disappear forever" as far as their friends and family are concerned? Even the victims of Apathy Syndrome had it better than that...
112	** Mitsuru's prologue in Arena establishes that humans who degenerate into shadows can recover once the dark hour ends, even if they're defeated by a persona-user.
113	* Think carefully about Ryoji being "inside you". March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. That's nine months. Congrats, you are the parent of the end of the world! This also puts [[ParentalIncest disturbing consequences]] on a romantic link with the female protagonist.
114	** Does that mean Aigis... [[RapeAsDrama OH GOD!]] And how she [[StalkerWithACrush interacted]] [[UnfortunateImplications with you]]...
115	** Well... that would explain why she's the groom if she's your destined partner in the [[VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth second Stratum]].
116	* Nyx's true form is a vaguely egg-shaped ball of light. Nyx is the "mother of Shadows". Her one and only attack is an attempt to give birth.
117	* In the [[MultipleEndings bad ending]], Aigis is unaffected by the LaserGuidedAmnesia. She is also inorganic. When Nyx descends, she'll witness everyone in the world, including her friends, become shells of themselves and die. Possibly in fiery explosions as pilots suddenly stop controlling their vehicles.
118	** The same could be true for Koromaru. Imagine if [[TearJerker history repeats and he decides to stay at the dorm, waiting for them]].
119	* Akihiko's Social link with the female protagonist involves Akihiko coming to terms with his little sister's death and realizing that his fear of feeling that pain again has prevented him from getting too involved with others. Which is all the more poignant if you go the romance route. The person he finally lets himself love after all that dies shortly thereafter.
120	* The video recordings. Sure, they're funny, but the long and the short of it is that every room in this dorm of teenagers has a video camera, recording constantly. Almost as if to hammer this home, there's Mitsuru's video unlocked around the start of October, which has her wandering around in nothing more than a bath towel & comment that she really needs to stop lounging around in her room without any clothes on.
121	** The first time you get to see the recordings, Mitsuru asks you to do maintenance on the equipment in the observation room. Here it's implied that the cameras aren't supposed to be recording all the time, and that them getting switched on by themselves is the fault Mitsuru wanted you to fix. Assuming there's some sort of password that Ikutsuki (which still might be an unsettling thought) and Mitsuru know that none of the others (Junpei) don't and that the cameras usually have to be switched on manually, it means that you not fixing the equipment is what's responsible for the recordings in the first place. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Good Job]].
122	** Given TheReveal later in the game what if Ikutsuki set the cameras to malfunction ''intentionally'', to keep tabs on everyone. The first recording you see is of himself delivering a silly string of puns. If he knew about the malfunction, he could've left that recording deliberately to make him seem less suspicious.
123	** Also, try not to think too hard about all those instances you "spend a lot of time" with a romanced SEES member in their room late at night at the Rank 10 of those Social Links...
124	* Regretting that you equipped Shinjiro with all that high-level equipment? Go to his room after the funeral: you can retrieve all of it from a box on the desk.
125	** Well, he wasn't planning to come to the battle that night, since he knew the significance of the date, and he wasn't planning to remain in [=SEES=]. You don't have the chance to change his equipment that night, and since none of the characters seem to be wearing or carrying around their equipment outside of Tartarus or missions, SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear is justifiably averted: Shinjiro never equipped for battle that night.
126	*** More to the point, Shinjiro left his gear behind because he was expecting to ''die''.
127	* It's suggested that Ken [[DrivenToSuicide would kill himself]] after offing Shinjiro. Ken said that the female protagonist is the only reason why he continues to live. The protagonist not only dies, but it's possible for Ken to be with her in her last moments. [[DrivenToSuicide Would Ken end up joining her?]]
128	* While its been stated that the protagonist isn't really dead, just in a deep slumber, we don't know if that means they've stopped aging. If Elizabeth is able to rescue him, would he still be a teenager while all his friends have aged? How long could it going to take to find a method to free him anyway?
129	** In that case, the female protagonist waking up in her 17-year-old body and mentality going to look for her friends. Think about her having a boyfriend, say Shinjiro. He may very well have died from the suppressora by then.
130	* One of the ideas of Nyx's arrival is that people wish for death and the end of their pain and suffering... Plenty of party members you have are unwittingly empowering Nyx, namely Ken and Shinjiro.
131	* The entirety of Shinjiro's existence is just [[TheWoobie tragic.]] If he's romanced by a female protagonist, he mentions seeing her crying in his coma. Why was she crying? Was it because of him? Did he dream about her watching him waste away? All this time, he's been distraught by having to leave ''her'' behind. He wakes up just in time to have the exact opposite happen.
132	** He also joins your party and fights despite coughing up blood regularly and having a Persona that could go berserk on your party members at any time. Castor also seems more of a threat to Shinjiro himself than anything, particularly in the movie. What if Castor kills Shinjiro right in front of the other party members? Imagine how mentally scaring that would be even for TheWoobie cast!
133	** Shinjiro was traumatised by Castor going berserk on a stranger. Now imagine the impact if that happened to someone he's close to, like Akihiko or Ken...
134	* One may wonder why the Fall would occur in January 2010, when there have been humans wishing for death for a long time. However, some deeper thinking on this will reveal just how the modern era is so incredibly ''different'' from the rest of recorded history. Many of the world's most persistent problems, such as mass starvation, kingdoms and empires at war for decades at a time, poverty crushing the overwhelming majority of humanity, have been solved. On the other hand, the modern technologically advanced era has brought with it a whole host of other issues: rates of depression and mental illness are at levels never before seen in the past, the rise of nihilism as religion slips among current society has left many people aimless in life, those who have been "left behind" in the rapid pace of globalization have no hope for the future (witness the current opioid epidemic among white Americans in Rust Belt communities), social media has made people far more isolated and lonelier, and suicides are at the highest levels that have ''ever'' been recorded in human history. With all this in mind, it's no wonder Nyx was called to Earth in 2010, and why Elizabeth has to regularly beat Erebus up every year unless conditions significantly change in the 21st century.
135	* At the very beginning of the game, when the protagonist summons Orpheus for the first time: why is it so easy for them to use Yukari's evoker? They have little if any reason to believe it isn't a real gun - even Ryoji's reassurance only amounts to "go on." And instead of trying to shoot the Shadows, they ''immediately'' turn it on themself. Some kind of instinctive understanding? Or are they [[DrivenToSuicide looking for a way out of this madness?]]

Context Fridge / Persona3