Line #69 Literature/DigitalDevilStory


1	[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DDSMegaTen_716.JPG]]
2	The original source material for the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' video game series and all of its many derivatives, ''Digital Devil Story'' is a trilogy of novels written by Aya Nishitani. Written in the late 1980s, there are three books in the series: ''Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei'' (Reincarnation of the Goddess), ''Digital Devil Story 2: Mazu no Senshi'' (Warrior of the Demon City), and ''Digital Devil Story 3: Tensei no Shūen'' (Demise of the Reincarnation). The first novel was adapted into an OVA as well as given a video game sequel (same title as the first book, but with "story" written with the kanji for "monogatari", and "story" in furigana). There was also a sequel series of six novels also by Nishitani, titled ''New Digital Devil Story'', that deals with the aftermath of the original trilogy.
3
4	In Jusho High School, the student body is divided into two groups: the gifted class and the normal class. One day, Akemi Nakajima, one of the gifted and something of a maverick within the school, has the bad luck of being targeted by the semi-delinquent normal Kondo Hiroyuki. The reason? Nakajima had rejected Kyoko Takamizawa's advances, and in a fit of petty vengeance, she manipulated Kondo's crush on her to deliver Nakajima a vicious beating by proxy.
5
6	Humiliated and infuriated by the injustice, Nakajima goes about getting his revenge. Everyone knows that Nakajima is an ace programmer, but there's one thing no one knows: he's also an amateur magician. He had previously stumbled into the revelation that magic and programming were more or less the same, and had been building a Demon Summoning Program in his spare time. He'd never intended to use it... until Kyoko and Kondo provoked his rage. What follows is a disaster that can only gets worse before one can even hope that it will get better...
7
8	As you might expect from the original source material for the [=MegaTen=] franchise, ''Digital Devil Story'' sets the basic foundation for the games that followed. That means it's happy to explore arcane lore even as it jumps into places that will make the average reader wish for some TropeCo/TropeCo BrainBleach.
9
10	The novels were never released in the West. However, a dedicated English translation of the first two novels can be found [[http://ddstranslation.blogspot.com/2006/08/introduction_16.html here]], along with a reedited version found [[http://menasepublications.blogspot.com/2010/09/reincarnation-of-goddess.html here]] and [[http://menasepublications.blogspot.com/2010/12/warrior-of-demon-city.html here]]. A French translation is also being [[http://ddsfrtrad.blogspot.com/ worked on]]. While the third novel hasn't been translated, [[http://complete.electrolit.net/2010/09/24/megami-tensei-novel-turned-game-turned-novel/ certain websites]] have a rather quick summary of the plot, and the [=YouTuber=] Marsh has made a [[https://youtu.be/MJNAI7uOR9E summary of all nine books]]. As of April 2022, an English translation for the first book of the ''New Digital Devil Story" novels is being worked on.
11	----
12	!!Tropes! '''Come forth!''':
13	* AllMythsAreTrue: Japanese deities, Norse gods and Christian figures (up to and including God Himself) are hanging around, and the BigBadTriumvirate consists of [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]], [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Set]] and [[Myth/NorseMythology Hel]].
14	* AssholeVictim: Both of Nakajima's initial targets, Kyoko and Kondo, are portrayed as rather terrible people. Kondo is a ruthless bully who's violently driven out many students of Jusho High, while Kyoko is a ManipulativeBitch who orchestrates the violent beatdown that sets Nakajima off because he rejected her advances. Averted with Nakajima's third sacrifice, a high school teacher who was simply killed off as part of the DealWithTheDevil, and possibly because HeKnowsTooMuch.
15	* TheAtoner: Nakajima, by the end of the first book.
16	* AttemptedRape: Poor Yumiko has to endure this. As does [[spoiler:Izanami]].
17	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Lucifer wins at the end of ''Demise of the Reincarnation''. The ''New Digital Devil Story'' sextology deals the aftermath of this.]]
18	* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Yumiko.
19	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Yumiko's sweet, mischievous, and feisty. [[spoiler:She's also the reincarnation of Izanami, and has taught many characters a thing or two about the efficacy of fire.]]
20	* BigBad: Nakajima seems like he's heading this way at first. [[spoiler: Loki takes that role from him. Set assumes this role after Loki's death, and holds on to it for the second book, while also entering an equal partnership with the warlock Isma Feed as a BigBadDuumvirate. [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] himself takes the role in the third.]]
21	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Kyoko. She doesn't get to enjoy it for very long.
22	* CainAndAbel: Charles Feed, Nakajima's mentor, is the Abel to Isma Feed, a warlock who [[spoiler:becomes Set's summoner and part of the BigBadDuumvirate]].
23	* ClingyJealousGirl: Ohara. [[spoiler:She snaps Yumiko's neck out of jealousy, right before Loki would have raped Yumiko.]]
24	* ChekhovsGunman: Charles Feed is mentioned in passing in the first book. He becomes a major supporting character in the second.
25	* CombatTentacles: One of Loki's powers, he uses them to crush people and absorb their blood.
26	* CrossoverCosmology:
27	** In the first book alone, we have Loki, [[spoiler:Izanagi, Izanami, Yomotsu-Shikome, and Set]].
28	** The Franchise/CthulhuMythos also makes an appearance, though none of the creatures from it appear in person. Nakajima's collection of occult books includes the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Necronomicon and the Pnakotic Manuscripts]] and the occult organization ISG's headquarters is located in [[LovecraftCountry Arkham, Massachusetts]].
29	* DarkIsNotEvil: Kerberos is more like a loyal oversized puppy to Nakajima.
30	* DealWithTheDevil: What sets everything in motion.
31	* {{Determinator}}: The main protagonists can be very stubborn about not giving up.
32	* DidntThinkThisThrough:
33	** Nakajima. He summoned a deity-class demon with his program, sure, but he also neglected to include little details like the duration of the summoning, compensation, and conditions...
34	** [[spoiler:Ohara]] has this as well. When [[spoiler:Loki]] is defeated, she freaks out, and fiddles with the Demon Summoning Program, something she doesn't understand and can barely operate. She ends up summoning [[spoiler:Set]] and inadvertently making things ''much'' worse for Japan.
35	* DisproportionateRetribution: Kyoko has Kondo beat the crap out of Nakajima because he rejected her. Nakajima summons Loki and has the demon consume Kyoko and Kondo's souls.
36	* DownerEnding: The books have a tendency for depressing endings or cliffhangers.
37	** In the third book, [[spoiler: Nakajima is arrested for killing several members of Lucifer's cult and ends up being sentenced to death for his summoning of Loki in the first book, only to lash out again after Lucifer [[KickTheDog murders his father right in front of him]] and gets killed in self-defense by an Izanami-possessed Yumiko. When she regains consciousness she nearly takes her own life in despair when she can't contact Izanami for answers, only being stopped by Izanami possessing her yet again to bury Nakajima's corpse.]]
38	** The ninth and final book has [[spoiler:[[NukeEm nuclear bombs dropping on several locations around the world]] culminating in a God-sent meteor annihilating the east coast of America, and while Asuka, Reiko and the other crusaders survive the meteor's initial impact, their ultimate fate is left uncertain, Charles Reed outright saying after the TimeSkip that most of North America has died as a result of fallout from either the nuke on Washington or the meteor that hit the east coast. Really the only good thing is that Nakajima and Yumiko are together again thanks to Nakajima reincarnating as Angel, but that doesn't fix the fact that two of the largest cultural and economic forces on the planet are now dying wastelands overrun by demons (and that's assuming no particularly ambitious demons tried to invade the neighbouring countries).]]
39	* TheDragon: Loki enters as Nakajima's dragon, albeit [[DragonWithAnAgenda with his own designs]]. [[spoiler:Ohara]] gets promoted to [[spoiler:Loki's]] Dragon soon after.
40	* DragonAscendant: Loki goes on to become the BigBad of the first book following Nakajima's HeelFaceTurn.
41	* DudeLooksLikeALady: Nakajima. The narration specifically mentions he takes after his mother. Used by Kyoko as a taunt.
42	* EarnYourHappyEnding: For the first book, and the final book of the New Digital Devil Story series.
43	* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: The paragraph that introduces Ohara notes that she's "attractive even to the eyes of other women."
44	* EvilIsNotAToy: Loki teaches Nakajima this lesson. Painfully.
45	* EvilerThanThou: Loki quickly disabuses Nakajima on who runs who.
46	* FanDisservice: The loving care with which Loki's... ''activities'' are described can result in {{Squick}}.
47	* FunctionalMagic: Thaumaturgy and other real world magicks.
48	* GenderBlenderName: Akemi is usually a woman's name.
49	* GoneHorriblyRight: Using you ace progamming skills and amateur wizard talents to create demon-summoning software? WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong
50	* TheHeavy: In the second book, [[spoiler:both members of the BigBadDuumvirate take turns as the central villain, with Isma being focus for the first two-thirds and Set taking charge after Isma's death]].
51	* HeelFaceTurn:: Nakajima.
52	* HeroicSacrifice:
53	** [[spoiler: Yomotsu-Shikome]] dies facing [[spoiler:Loki]] in order to buy Nakajima enough time to [[spoiler:revive Yumiko.]]
54	** In the second novel, [[spoiler:Narukawa dies killing Isma and Typhon while fighting Set to buy time for Nakajima and Charles Feed to escape.]]
55	* HotTeacher: Ohara. [[spoiler:Pity that being raped by Loki drove her insane.]]
56	* InfinityPlusOneSword: The [[spoiler: Japanese god of fire Hi-no-Kagutsuchi]] is turned into one of these.
57	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Nakajima.
58	* {{Jerkass}}: They're abound in this world. Kondo, Kyoko, Nakajima for most of the first book...and this is ''before'' things go apocalyptic.
59	* JerkJock: Kondo. Like Kyoko, he doesn't get to enjoy it for very long.
60	* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Yumiko.]] ''Twice.''
61	* LoveHurts: Yumiko knows this quite well. Ouch.
62	* MagicFromTechnology: By realizing the similarity between structured summoning rituals and programming algorithms, Nakajima wrote the Demon Summoning Program. And was [[GoneHorriblyRight horribly successful]]. This concept would pave the way for demon-summoning arm terminals and smartphones in ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''.
63	* NewTransferStudent: Yumiko. Too bad it had to be into Jusho High...
64	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
65	** Nakajima. Sure, he successfully develops the Demon Summoning Program. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, he failed to build in proper safeguards that would impose a contract on a summoned demon. Loki turns on him very quickly, resulting in the deaths of at least half his classmates, as well as many innocent bystanders.]] To top it all off, [[spoiler: after Nakajima defeats Loki, Ohara ends up summoning Set, the most powerful evil god of ancient Egypt.]] As icing on the breaking cake, [[spoiler:many demons have sensed the pathway Nakajima opened to their world, kindling their ambition to conquer the human world. More than just a handful of those demons want to ally themselves with Nakajima.]]
66	** The ending of the second book isn't any better. Sure, he beats Set and saves the world, [[spoiler:but he also unwittingly allows several demons to escape from Atziluth by insisting that he has to save Yumiko.]]
67	** The third book ends with [[spoiler:Nakajima being possessed by Lucifer to kill Yumiko, with Izanami taking over and slaying Nakajima in self-defense.]]
68	* OrphanedSeries: Or more like orphaned translation project. The third story of the original trilogy has gone untranslated for years, and nobody even touched the ''New Digital Devil Story'' novels until a resurgence of interest prompted a translation group to start work on the first novel in April 2022.
69	* PowersAsPrograms: Nakajima successfully builds a Demon Summoning Program, and also develops a Demon Transfer Theory which gives demons virtually free range.
70	* PrettyBoy: Nakajima. To quote the book:
71	--> With his slender frame and delicate looks, if Nakajima swapped his uniform for a girl's sailor suit, he might very well be able to pass for a beautiful teenage girl.
72	* ProtagonistTitle: Well, {{Deuteragonist}} Title, but in this novel, which has part of its name translate to "Goddess' Reincarnation", Yumiko is the reincarnation of the goddess Izanami.
73	* {{Pun}}: Yumiko is a transfer student (転校生, tenkousei). Remove the middle character and you get reincarnation (転生, tensei).
74	* {{Reincarnation}}:
75	** The main characters [[spoiler:are the reincarnations of Izanagi and Izanami.]]
76	** In the second book, [[spoiler:Special Forces agent Narukawa is the reincarnation of Tsukuyomi.]]
77	** Asuka, the protagonist of ''New Digital Devil Saga'', is a reincarnation of [[spoiler:Izanagi and Izanami's son Susanno.]]
78	* RedShirt: A segment in the first book and several segments in the second book go into absurd detail about the lives of minor characters. The segments usually end with them being slaughtered.
79	* SexFaceTurn: An inverted (and ''very'' [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil non-consensual]]) version happens to [[spoiler:Ohara]], courtesy of Loki.
80	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Gets more and more cynical with each installment, with both the original trilogy and its sequel series having some major {{Downer Ending}}s.
81	* SpontaneousHumanCombustion: Izanami really likes making people who cross her, Yumiko or Nakajima burst into flames, the most notable victims being Isma Feed and Nakajima's possessed mother.
82	* StarCrossedLovers: The main protagonists have this in spades.
83	* StealthPun: The ISG's main server contains an [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseRomanization A]][[LoveTropes I]] program named Craft. Sadly the text does not mention if it was manufactured by Hewlett Packard.
84	* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Pretty much the gist of the story. It's why [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the devils are, in fact, digital]].
85	* SummonMagic: The Demon Summoning Program.
86	* TeacherStudentRomance: This is what Yumiko originally thought was happening between Ohara and Nakajima. It's far worse than that...
87	* UrbanFantasy: Set in Tokyo, there are demons running around, Solomon Crests, thaumaturgy... yup, it qualifies.
88	* VillainProtagonist: Nakajima, at first.
89	* VillainousBSOD: Nakajima suffers this after [[spoiler: Loki betrays him.]]

Context Literature / DigitalDevilStory