Big Bad / Shin Megami Tensei

With such a long-running series, it is natural that the SMT series has many Big Bads, whether it be YHVH and Lucifer, one of their servants, or an unrelated enemy.

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General

• YHVH/the Great Will and Lucifer are the overall villains of the franchise, as the respective embodiments of Law and Chaos who are opposed to one another as well as the protagonists. YHVH wants to create a world of total order where everyone worships him 24/7, while Lucifer wants to create a world of total chaos where it's every man, woman, and child for themselves. How evil each is varies depending on the game, though Lucifer is at least usually (but not always) the more honourable of the two, or at least presents himself that way.

Main Series

• Shin Megami Tensei I: Archangel Michael and the Asura Lord are the respective leaders of the Law and Chaos factions, the former of whom want to establish an oppressive order under YHVH and the latter wishing to bring anarchy and chaos under Lucifer and his demons.
• Shin Megami Tensei II: Initially, the Archangels Michael, Raphael, and Uriel are the dictators in charge of Millenium who want Aleph to bring about the Thousand Year Kingdom. After they are taken care of, YHVH and Lucifer become the villains, YHVH wanting to bring about the Thousand Year Kingdom and Lucifer leading the demons who ravage the world, with the former being the final boss of all paths.
• Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: Hikawa, the Chief Technical Director of Cybers and a high-ranking officer of the Gaea cult, wants to create a World of Silence. Until Gozu-Tennoh and Isamu Nitta make their moves to reshape the world to their liking; meanwhile, Lucifer manipulates events to make the Demi-fiend the commander of his demon army, and Kagutsuchi, the current avatar of the Great Will and final boss, oversees the destruction and aims to create a world subservient to the Great Will.
• Shin Megami Tensei IV: Another ensemble with the Four Archangels attempting to create the Millenium Kingdom, Lucifer is trying to stop them, and newcomer villains The White are out to destroy everything.
• Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse: Lucifer and Merkabah, who represent Chaos and Law respectively, are working together as the leader of the Monotheists to oppose Krishna, leader of the Divine Powers who wants to free the world from their tyranny by assimilating humanity, with YHVH as the Greater-Scope Villain.
• Shin Megami Tensei V: Lucifer is the Chaos leader and the main instigator of the game's plot, having killed God and left Da'at a blasted wasteland to realize his latest plans, to allow humanity to surpass the Great Will and the Vicious Cycle of death and rebirth, while Prime Minister Hayao Koshimizu/Tsukuyomi leads the Law faction, Bethel, and works to bring about a diverse world where all gods and people can coexist. Meanwhile, Abdiel, who wants to restore the old order of the God of Law and destroy free will, and Nuwa, who wants to destroy the Throne of Creation and free people from demons even if this will bring an age of strife, also become major rivals to Lucifer and Tsukuyomi.

Persona

• Persona:
  • On the SEBEC route, Takahisa Kandori is the head of SEBEC who wants to become a god. After his death, Pandora, Maki's Shadow Archetype, is revealed as the True Final Boss.
  • The Snow Queen quest introduces the Night Queen, who seeks to freeze the world solid.

• Persona 2:
  • Innocent Sin: Joker/Jun Kurosu, leader of the Masked Circle who intends to destroy and remake the world, fights with The Fuhrer, leader of the Last Battalion who wants to Take Over the World, before it's revealed that Nyarlathotep was posing as both Hitler and Jun's father and orchestrated the events of the first game.
  • Eternal Punishment: Japanese Foreign Minister Tatsuzou Sudou is the leader of the New World Order, a cult that plans to reach the world of the Gods while purging the rest of the world of original sin. Except he too is a pawn of Nyarlathotep.

• Persona 3:
  • The Full Moon Shadows are the main bosses of the game, but the main human antagonist is Takaya Sakaki, leader of the Persona-using Strega who oppose SEES and keep the Dark Hour going. Until Shuji Ikutsuki reveals that he was manipulating you to bring about Nyx and The Fall. He's killed immediately and Nyx herself takes over for the rest of the game, trying to bring about the Fall.
  • The Answer: Erebus, humanity's desire for death, is the being responsible for calling Nyx down to Earth and is the final opponent SEES must eradicate to get closure for the protagonist's death.

• Persona 4 and spinoffs:
  • In the original game and Golden, the Serial Killer dragging people into the TV world. Tracking down and exposing this criminal is the goal of the game. Their identity is Tohru Adachi, who influences people like Namatame to do the actual dirty work after the first two murders. In typical Persona fashion, the True Ending reveals that Izanami has been behind everything from the beginning of the game, including Ameno-Sagiri, the thing enveloping Inaba in a poisonous fog.
  • Persona 4: Arena: A Big Bad Duumvirate between the Eerie Voice/Sho Minazuki and the Malevolent Entity, even though they're operating on Teeth-Clenched Teamwork. Persona 4: Arena Ultimax reveals that the Malevolent Entity is A) The one truly pulling the strings, and B) Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, the personification of selfishness, who is a Suspiciously Similar Substitute of Nyarlathotep (which implies that Nyarlathotep is still the Greater-Scope Villain).
  • Persona 4: Dancing All Night: The Eerie Voice that wishes to connect people in an eternal, painless bond, even if it has to Mind Rape them. The voice is revealed to be Mikuratana-no-Kami, a deity formed from humanity's collective desires for painless relationships.

• Persona 5 and spinoffs:
  • The original game has Masayoshi Shido, a corrupt and power-hungry politician at the head of The Conspiracy who plans to use the Cognitive World to become the Prime Minister as well as being the person responsible for the protagonist's predicament of being on criminal probation. The true ending reveals that the true villain is Yaldabaoth, who has been disguising himself as Igor and has been secretly guiding the events of the game in an attempt to discern humanity's desires and control them.
  • In the third semester exclusive to Persona 5 Royal, Takuto Maruki takes over as the main antagonist after Yaldabaoth is dealt with, having trapped the world in a Lotus-Eater Machine where humanity would never face any hardships in a misguided attempt to end human suffering.
  • Persona 5 Strikers: The EMMA app (aka the False God Demiurge) itself, created by Kuon Ichinose to figure out and fulfill the desires of humanity. Being sold to and used by Akira Konoe has made it decide that people want escapism from crime itself, so it plans to take away free will to prevent any crimes at all.
  • Persona 5 Tactica:
    • The Phantom Thieves work alongside Erina and Toshiro to fight against the tyrants of the Kingdoms, who are revealed to be based off of people who mistreated Toshiro and are responsible for his personal issues. The mastermind is revealed to Samael, the collective embodiment of humanity's instinct to avoid pain. He targeted Toshiro upon seeing the spark of rebellion within him and trapped him in the Kingdoms and created the tyrants as a means to break him, believing that he will only bring pain to the masses.
    • The "Repaint Your Heart" DLC, which takes place sometime before the events of the main storyline when Joker was working alongside Kasumi Yoshizawa and Goro Akechi, has the three Persona users dragged off into an unknown Kingdom to help Luca change the heart of Guernica an infamous graffiti artist who defaces public buildings. It's revealed that Guernica is brainwashed by Jerri, an entity who is revealed to be in service to a "lord" (implied to be Samael), who seeks to use Jerri's graffiti to incite mass chaos and destroy humanity.
• Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: The Clockwork God, one half of the god of time and death, Chronos. He summoned the party members of both Persona 3 and Persona 4 to help his other half, Zen, regain his memories and reunite with him so they can return to their duties as a psychopomp. Even if that means holding Rei hostage later in the game.
• Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth:
  • The main villain of the actual game is Hikari's caretaker Nagi, who is revealed to be Enlil, an embodiment of the collective unconscious who personifies toxic escapism. She was responsible for curating Theaters that entrap hapless souls that are suffering from the pain of modern society and delusionally "helping" them cope with their depression by forcing them to watch movies made out of pure negativity, which are all records of people suffering the same fate as the theatregoers portrayed in the most unsympathetic way possible, with Hikari just being one of those many hapless souls. This doesn't end well.
  • The movie Labyrinths appear to make its Arc Villain or Greater-Scope Villains their respective Designated Heroes. The only exception is the fourth labyrinth, which is a biopic crossed with a musical and thus has no villain.
    • Kamoshidaman has the titular superhero, based on Kamoshida, who is a tyrant who forces the citizens to conform to his ideas and deems anyone who opposes him evil. It portrays the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, a group of rebel thieves who disrupt the harmony and order of Kamo City, as its Big Bad.
    • Junessic Land at first makes it seem like the carnivorous dinosaurs would be the main threat, but it soon becomes clear over time that the Herbivore Dinosaurs are the true threat to both themselves and the Persona users, as they ostracize anyone who doesn't agree with the majority rule, making them easy prey for the carnivorous dinosaurs and making anyone who disagrees with them miserable, including their friend the Yosukesaurus. The movie itself portrays Yosukesaurus as the main villain for daring to have his own opinion separate from the group.
    • A.I.G.I.S. has the Overseer/Mother Computer, based on Shuji Ikutsuki, who wishes to destroy Ribbon after the latter developed free will. The movie itself portrays Ribbon as the main villain for the aforementioned development of free will.

Other Spin-Offs

• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: Mem Aleph, the primordial Earth goddess out to punish humanity for abusing nature. Lucifer (as usual), the Three Wise Men, and human villain Captain Jack also contribute.

• Shin Megami Tensei NINE has Yaldabaoth/The Demiurge, the Creator of All Things, who wishes to flood the world and wipe out humanity.

• Jack Bros.: Belzoff/Beelzebub is the leader of the forces trying to stop the Jack Bros. from returning home.

• Devil Survivor: Due to the multiple endings, this can vary. The ultimate causes of the lockdown are three people: Belberith, Metatron, and Naoya. You can side with Naoya in his route and Metatron in Amane's route (though he never shows up in that route), but Belberith remains a villain in all routes and becomes the final Big Bad in Yuzu's Eighth Day. Overclocked also adds Okuninushi as the sole Big Bad in Amane's Eighth Day.
• Devil Survivor 2:
  • The original game has Polaris, the Administrator of humanity who seeks to force the human race to undergo a trial to retain the right to exist.
  • Record Breaker adds in Canopus, the universe's error handler who has decided humanity is an aberration for killing Polaris and must be expunged.

• Catherine: Thomas Mutton, a.k.a. Dumuzid, is the one responsible for creating the Nightmares, to weed out men who either cheat on their partners or won't commit themselves to marriage.