This page is for tropes relating to the antagonists of Persona 3. For tropes relating to these characters in the Arena spinoffs, see Persona 4: Arena.

Due to wiki policy, this page contains numerous unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned.

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Human Antagonists

Strega

In General

A group of Persona-users opposing S.E.E.S, consisting of Takaya Sakaki, a Straw Nihilist, Psycho Supporter Jin Shirato, and Elegant Gothic Lolita Chidori Yoshino. They host an online assassination service which takes advantage of the Dark Hour, and as such they see S.E.E.S' efforts to stop the Dark Hour as wasting the "gifts" given to them.

Adaptational Badass:
- In the original games, they aren't really much of a threat, usually being a warm-up for the real fights ahead. In the movies and manga? They are strong enough to keep up with SEES despite being outnumbered and have even overwhelmed them at times. Even Chidori, arguably the weakest of the trio, was capable of holding her own by herself.
- Reload buffs up all three to be much tougher than they were in the original games.
  - In their first fight, Takaya and Jin can Shift to each other after getting One Mores, and Jin in particular has Heat Riser and several different grenades beyond just his fire ones.
  - Before fighting Nyx, Jin will start chucking Almighty element flash bang grenades if you cover all of your weaknesses. When he reaches low health, he'll inject himself with a drug that greatly boosts his attack power (at the cost of rapidly eroding his own HP).
  - In Takaya's Pre-Final Boss fight, after reaching below half health, he pulls out the prototype Evoker he found when he and the protagonist fought alongside each other on the Moonlight Bridge in August and performs a Theurgy attack that inflicts Fear, deals heavy Almighty damage, and reduces everyone's MP to 1. He also has enough HP to avoid being knocked out by Armageddon, preventing you from just skipping his final fight entirely that way.
  - Chidori hits much harder and isn't at risk of being annihilated in one turn, restoring her health back to full if she reaches below 50% HP.
Adaptational Intelligence: At the end of the game, Jin and Takaya split up to fight the party on their own, leading to both of them being defeated relatively easily. In the movies, they fight together.
Adaptational Nice Guy: In the Shadow Cry novel, where Jin is the protagonist, the members of Strega are all shown in a better light than in the game. Takaya shows concern for his teammates and is able to joke with them, Jin is shown sympathizing with an old friend Izumi (a character created for the novel), and has a friendlier relationship with Shinjiro. Chidori is also more playful with her teammates than in the game.
Adaptation Expansion: While a prominent enemy for S.E.E.S. once introduced, the group itself receives little in the way of screentime, especially toward the end of the game. The group's motivations are also obscure beyond that they don't want the Dark Hour to disappear and later want to bring about the end of the world. Reload gives them significantly more screentime and fleshes out their motivations, with Takaya getting the most out of the three.
Apocalypse Cult: Near the end of the game, Strega starts a cult worshipping Nyx and embracing Death as a deliverance.
Battle Theme Music: "Unavoidable Battle", a drum-heavy, hard rock song that plays for each battle against them. Also downplayed, because it is shared with fighting Igor's assistants Elizabeth and Theodore, and later Metis, and the Shadow Protagonist, giving the impression that this battle theme is reserved for any human/humanoid opponent.
Beta Test Baddie: They're the survivors of the Kirijo Group's first attempts to create Persona-users. The experiments killed all the other children they were attempted on and left Strega with barely-controllable powers, drastically reduced lifespans, and a lot of justified issues.
Big Bad Ensemble: Initially, with the Arcana Shadows. They are trying to prevent S.E.E.S from stopping the Dark Hour, while Ikutsuki wants S.E.E.S to try and stop the Dark Hour to locate and destroy all of the Arcana Shadows, only for Ikutsuki to betray the group and reveal himself as the one manipulating the raids so Nyx can fully manifest. Later on, they style themselves as Co-Dragons for Nyx, trying to herald the Fall.
Big Bad Wannabe: For as much as they claim to want to stop S.E.E.S, they are largely ineffective in doing so, as at no point in the game are they powerful enough to defeat SEES in a direct fight, and unlike most antagonists, they don't even directly interact with the protagonist (with the exception of Reload giving Takaya some extra scenes with the male protagonist). Even in their attempts to become heralds for Nyx and the Fall, their schemes have almost nothing to do with the actual cause of Nyx's return.
Blessed with Suck: They have Personas, but because they were forced to acquire them artificially, not only are they weaker than natural users, their Personas are unstable and difficult to control. They require the same life-shortening drugs Shinjiro takes just to avoid having their own Personas trying to kill them. This is the main cause of their nihilistic rage.
The Chain of Harm: The three of them were experimented on as children by the Kirijo Group under Mitsuru's grandfather, Koutetsu Kirijo, after the latter went mad due to researching Shadows, and started trying to bring around the end of the world, and had their lifespans cut short as a result. And - well, the final confrontation you have with Jin and Takaya is after they decide to help bring around the armageddon that Koutetsu tried and failed to begin.
Dark and Troubled Past: The three of them, along with several other children, were orphans picked off the streets by the Kirijo Group and experimented on, in order to awaken their Personas artificially.
Disney Death: Chidori, but only in the Updated Re-release contents. And it's a Guide Dang It! to do it. Takaya and Jin have a more straightforward, villainous examples of this after the Hanged Man Battle.
Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Unlike the Killer or Black Mask, both being Evil Counterparts of their game's protagonists in Persona 4 and 5, they have no personal connection with the protagonist, even ignoring them in the original release before Reload expanded on their screentime, and were not actively enforcing for the in-game apocalyptic Big Bad, as the resident Eldritch Abomination will try to kill everyone anyways with or without their intervention. This is in contrast to the greater villains of 4 and 5, where Izanami and Yaldabaoth needed the Killer and Black Mask respectively to use as pawns.
- Knowing what we know about Personas in 4 and 5 makes their artificial Personas stand out. The original release's language implies that Hypnos, Moros, and Medea were somehow implanted into their hosts. This clashes with the knowledge of a Persona being its user's tamed Shadow. The same goes for Chidori, where her Persona Medea fuses with Junpei's Hermes before dying. If she lives afterwards, she now lacks a Persona, but she should still have a Shadow.
Enemy Within: Because their Personas were awakened by force rather than with a contract or realization, they constantly rage against their hosts for being effectively enslaved. Without the suppression pills, Strega's Personas would summon themselves and kill their owners the moment they get the opportunity. It is theoretically possible to tame the Personas, but that would require Strega to all reach drastic psychological breakthroughs; the likes of which are very unlikely to happen in the short time they have left.
Evil Counterpart: To S.E.E.S. While S.E.E.S tries to end the Dark Hour, Strega wants to make sure it stays. Furthermore, S.E.E.S. members unlock their Personas naturally while Strega unlocked theirs artificially.
First-Name Basis: S.E.E.S. generally refers to Strega by their first names without honorifics (although Fuuka does use "-san" on Chidori in some cases), simply because their last names are never spoken aloud during the story.
Flawed Prototype: Near the endgame, they are revealed to be former guinea pigs for the Kirijo Group and had their Personas forced onto them, and the drugs they take to keep said Personas suppressed are slowly killing them. Jin even notes after their battle with S.E.E.S. on the Moonlight Bridge, their power pales in comparison to that of their enemies.
Freudian Excuse: It's heavily indicated that they adopted their insane, nihilistic agenda because they were experimented on during their childhood and didn't have too long to live.
The Heavy: Due to the Full Moon Shadows being mindless beasts and The Man Behind the Man not showing their true colors until late in the game, Strega serves as the most prominent antagonists to S.E.E.S. throughout the game.
Kidnapped for Experimentation: All three of them were forcibly taken in by the Kirijo Group in order to give them Personas against their will. These three would be the only ones remaining after said experimentation, as the other children had all died in the process.
Locked Out of the Loop: Takaya seems to think their Personas will disappear if the Dark Hour ends. Because Strega's Personas are artificially implanted, and not a part of their psyches the way S.E.E.S.' are, this might be the case, but he isn't aware all Personas aren't like that.
Loners Are Freaks: Technically all three of them are this, but this is especially apparent with Chidori. That is until she meets Junpei.
Morton's Fork: The three of them were experimented on as children, and while they awakened their Personas, they have to take suppressants that will kill them at a young age so their Personas won't kill them sooner.
Not Afraid to Die: One reason they are so bold is because they are not long for this world. Thanks to the side effects of the suppression pills they take to control their Personas, their lifespans have been drastically shortened. As such, they are more than willing to fight to the death and are never willing to surrender when fought, basically having to be beaten until their bodies give out. A major part of Chidori's Character Development is her becoming afraid to die because of her growing love for Junpei. In Reload, Takaya spells out he has nothing to fear about death and has already lived long enough.
Obviously Evil: All three Strega members stand out as being unhinged people just from their designs, let alone their Straw Nihilist behavior and ominous voices.
Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Strega accomplishes very little beyond being a personal nuisance to SEES and killing/incapacitating Shinjiro, and unlike most Persona antagonists, completely ignore the protagonist to target other characters. The endgame plot, which is The End of the World as We Know It, happens completely outside of their sphere of influence. All they really do in the final months is start a doomsday cult that amounts to nothing more than background flavor. Outside of them fighting S.E.E.S. on the last day, they have no impact on events of the endgame whatsoever.
Power Incontinence: As their Personas were artificially awakened, Strega cannot control them properly. They need to take a special suppressant to keep them safe to use. In a particularly memorable display of this, Chidori's Persona summoned itself during the daytime and tried to choke its owner to death.
Professional Killer: For a while, they are simply contract hitmen who commit assassinations by pulling their targets out of their coffins during the Dark Hour.
Sole Survivor: They were the only survivors of the experiment that awakened their Personas.
Straw Nihilist: All of them see life as meaningless, letting them justify killing others for their own amusement and benefit with no remorse.
Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: This is most blatant with Takaya, but as the Fall draws near, it's made apparent this is all they are doing. Their childhoods were taken, their futures stolen, and their lives were ruined for the greed and arrogance of a powerful few. With nothing left to live for, they decided to dedicate what remains of their lives to calling down Nyx so they can watch her wipe away the world that ruined them before their own end.
Taking You with Me:
- Takaya's philosophy in a practical sense. His time is limited/up, he knows it, and he wants to take out as many he can with him.
- Upon being defeated near the top of Tartarus, a wounded Jin stays behind to blow up the Shadows climbing up from lower floors.
Turned Against Their Masters: As a side effect of artificially awakening to their Personas, Strega must take suppressants regularly to prevent their Personas from killing them.
Two Guys and a Girl: Chidori is the sole female member of this three-man team.
Unwitting Pawn: Strega was deliberately given supplies and support by Ikutsuki so they could act as controlled opposition to SEES so they would remain motivated to stopping the Dark Hour.
Unwitting Test Subject: They were previously orphans abducted and experimented on by the Kirijo Group.
The Usual Adversaries: For S.E.E.S., showing up numerous times throughout the storyline to oppose them.
Villain Decay: After spending a majority of the game antagonizing S.E.E.S., Strega falls out of relevance in the story when The Fall becomes the main focus. The party treats them more as an annoyance than a threat at that point.
Villainous Friendship: Takaya and Jin truly see each other as friends and the former is genuinely saddened when he realizes the latter won't be by his side when the Fall arrives.
Villainous Underdog: They are at a severe disadvantage against S.E.E.S., being outnumbered at all times, and having weaker Personas due to being artificially awakened, which are also liable to turn on them. They also operate with much less resources, while S.E.E.S. has all of the influence of the Kirijo Group to support them. Strega's only real advantage seems to be that Chidori has superior Psychic Powers to Fuuka.
Villain with Good Publicity: Akihiko and Fuuka mention how Jin is quite popular on the internet. As the Fall draws nearer, Strega is also able to form a cult worshipping Nyx thanks to Takaya's charisma and Jin's smarts.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: A trio of this, all of them being artificially implanted with the powers of Persona by the Kirijo Group and forced to take drugs that shorten their lifespan in order to control their powers. The leader, Takaya, later embraces Nyx coming to destroy life, proclaiming his fight against S.E.E.S. is him fighting for his way of life.
Your Days Are Numbered: The Persona suppressants they take will eventually kill them. Stopping isn't an option as their uncontrollable Personas would turn on them and kill them much sooner without the pills. It's not stated exactly how long any of them have left to live, but it's clearly short enough time that Strega doesn't consider themselves to have any future prospects.
You're Nothing Without Your Phlebotinum: They revere their Personas and their ability to operate in the Dark Hour as almost divine gifts. With them, they're capable of doing whatever they want with impunity. Without them, they're just a handful of orphans with nothing to live for or justify the cruel experiments they survived. Their enmity with SEES stems directly from the fear losing the Dark Hour will leave them with nothing to live their remaining lives for.

Takaya Sakaki

https://mediaproxy.tvtropes.org/width/1000/https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_5616.png

^{Click here to see Hypnos}

"Just as death is eternal, a truth that has been lost can never be found again."

Arcana: Wheel of Fortune
Persona: Hypnos
Weapons: Revolver
Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna (Japanese), Derek Stephen Prince (English; original), Daman Mills (English; Reload)
Live actor: Takeya Nishiyama

Takaya is the leader of Strega. The most blatantly nihilistic out of the trio, he lacks empathy, sees little value in life, and has no qualm in killing anybody. Unlike most Persona users, Takaya doesn't need an Evoker to summon his Persona, though the process is quite painful.

Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In the movies, Akihiko treats Takaya as more of an Arch-Enemy, especially for killing Shinji. Takaya's last battle is with a group led by Akihiko and Akihiko deals the knockout blow to him.
- In contrast to the original game where they have little to no personal interaction with each other, Takaya develops an interest in the protagonist during the former's Linked Episodes in Reload.
The Antichrist: Takaya grows into this by the end of the game, leading a cult of followers awaiting the apocalypse. Obviously part of his Evil Counterpart nature to the messianic protagonist.
Armor-Piercing Question: In the second film, Takaya asks the SEES group if they really want to go back to their ordinary lives after the Dark Hour ends. This bothers Makoto for some time afterwards.
Big Bad Wannabe: Takaya talks a big game and is legitimately dangerous with his charisma and killing two main characters, but he's unimportant in the grand scheme of things:
- As Shinjiro himself states to Ken beforehand, killing him is pointless as he only a few months left to live anyway. Takaya doesn't mind speeding it up, however.
- All the major events regarding Nyx and the end of the world were set into motion without any input or knowledge on his part. He even becomes a Dragon wannabe for the finale, fancying himself as a herald for Nyx and building a doomsday cult to her, but neither Ryoji nor Nyx acknowledge his existence. In the end, his attempts to oppose SEES don't amount to more than slight delays, though he is the cause of some heavy emotional turmoil thanks to his Hero Killer actions.
- Unlike most human antagonists, neither he or his teammate's actions directly interfere with the protagonist or Ryoji. He does try to stop the former from approaching Nyx Avatar, but that's it.
Blatant Lies: While blocking the way to the top of Tartarus (where the Nyx Avatar is), he tells S.E.E.S "I am not standing in your way", when his intention was clearly to stop them. It may be a case of Exact Words because he is sitting out of the way when he says it.
Cain and Abel: In Greek Mythology, Hypnos is the brother of Thanatos, the Protagonist's second Persona. Here, Thanatos helps the protagonist save the world from Nyx, while Hypnos is aiding Takaya in destroying everything.
Character Catchphrase: "Now, *Heavy sigh* allow me to [insert action here]." This was dropped in Reload.
Chekhov's Gun: A practically literal example in Reload. After he and the protagonist defeat a Shadow on 8/14, he picks up what appears to be an Evoker, which is notable because Takaya does not use an Evoker to summon his Persona. When he's encountered in Tartarus on 1/31, he finally uses said Evoker to use his Theurgy, which causes massive damage, inflicts fear, and reduces the party's SP to 1.
Climax Boss: He is the last boss before Nyx Avatar, and the last human antagonist — defeating him means all the other obstacles before the Final Boss are out of the picture.
The Corrupter: In Reload, his role is expanded as he recognizes how he's similar to the protagonist and makes an effort to sway him to his way of thinking, while in the original game he didn't bother. He does this mainly by pontificating on what a devastating loss the Dark Hour would be since the ability to wield Personas would go with it and deconstructing the altruistic justifications of the S.E.E.S by claiming that people will always die regardless of what the Shadows do, and so their efforts at fighting are little more than a power fantasy. While you do have the option of conceding to a few of his points, the protagonist won't switch sides entirely, which eventually frustrates him and drives him to doing the same villainous actions he committed in the original story.
Crucified Hero Shot: His Reload Key Art has him do the classic crucified Jesus pose, with his arms outstretched in a Y position and with one foot in front of the other — of course, he's anything but heroic. He also does this when he's defeated and when he welcomes Nyx's arrival atop of Tartarus.
Cutscene Power to the Max: Each time he murders someone in the story, he just shoots them in a vital area and it plays out pretty realistically, even though in gameplay his gun attack is just a normal physical attack which has virtually no chance of one-shotting anyone. Justified, since Personas only protect the users when they are focused, and Persona users without their Persona protection is no different than a normal person.
Dark Messiah: By the end, Takaya fashions himself as one, becoming the cult leader trying to herald the end of the world. It further highlights him as the Evil Counterpart to the messianic Main Character.
Disease Bleach: He's unnaturally pale in skin and hair color thanks to the damage done to his body by the experiments he's undergone and the suppressant drugs he takes to keep his Persona under control.
Dueling Messiahs: To the protagonist. While one brings out the good in humanity and gives them a reason to live, another influences them into believing that life is meaningless and to accept Death.
Enemy Mine: In Reload, he briefly teams up with the male protagonist in taking down an exceptionally powerful Shadow at the Moonlight Bridge, which is when Takaya starts taking an interest in him. Prior to the fight, Takaya may even quote and describe "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" as a sound reasoning if the player simply agrees to help him.
Establishing Character Moment: His first appearance has him pulling a gun on Strega's assassination target. The target begs for his life, which he dismisses with "that's not relevant to me" and "people believe what they choose to believe", and only becomes impressed when the target runs away. This establishes him as The Sociopath and a Straw Nihilist.
Takaya: You squeal magnificently! Such raw emotion!
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Seems to genuinely care for Jin.
Even Evil Has Standards: To an extent. In his new Reload events where he talks alone with the protagonist, he never tries to kill him, possibly because the latter agreed to talk rather than fight. Even after the protagonist fully rejects his attempts to turn him, he doesn't attack. He makes a gesture for his gun in their third and final meeting but ultimately just walks away with a warning that they're full enemies now.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
- Takaya is incapable of seeing the point in anything that isn't for one's own self-indulgence. He doesn't understand why Shinjiro and later Chidori would sacrifice themselves for someone else, since they don't gain anything out of doing so. He goes as far as to mock Chidori's death as "meaningless" simply because he doesn't understand her love for Junpei.
- In Reload, during his final fight, he will ask the protagonist about "what he sees in front of him," with two options saying that the protagonist either sees "hope" or "a promise." If any of those two choices are picked, he'll dismiss the protagonist's answer as meaningless and proceeds to act more aggressively by using party-wide instakill attacks and spells that target weaknesses more frequently.
Evil Counterpart: Takaya towards the Protagonist. His Persona, Hypnos, is even the twin brother of Thanatos, the protagonist's second Persona. The protagonist is a Messianic Archetype whereas Takaya is The Antichrist, in that the Protagonist fights to prevent the Fall while Takaya's actively trying to aid and hasten it. He represents the apathy the Protagonist had at the beginning of the plot taken to dark extremes. In the original release, he never directly interacted with the protagonist at all despite this, but Reload introduces new scenes where he catches on to the parallels and tries to sway the protagonist to his way of thinking, and in an interaction with Jin he admits he's baffled at how he managed to develop an attachment to the protagonist despite being steeped in nihilism for years.
Fan Disservice: He walks around without a shirt, but, as stated by some NPCs in-game, his unnaturally pale, emaciated form and unnerving mannerisms makes it anything but appealing.
Flawed Prototype: Midway through the game, Takaya and the protagonist kill a Shadow that leaves behind a strange Evoker. When discussing it with Jin, Takaya reveals it's a prototype for the finished product used by S.E.E.S. Like Strega themselves, the proto-Evoker caused any Persona summoned by it to go berserk, with Takaya himself implying it actually caused the Personas to regress back into Shadows and kill the summoner. Although Takaya has no need for it initially, as he can summon a Persona just fine without an Evoker, he later uses it during his final confrontation with S.E.E.S. to use his own Theurgy.
Guest-Star Party Member: In Reload, on 8/14, you fight one Shadow with Takaya acting as a computer-controlled ally.
Hannibal Lecture: Takaya tells S.E.E.S. that trying to erase the Dark Hour is pointless as people will die every day anyways no matter what, then claims that they actually desire the Fall when he and Jin confront them on the Moonlit bridge. In the original release, this is one of the few instances where the protagonist is given an opportunity to speak to him, and all of his available responses sum up as a blunt "and?".
Hero Killer: He murders Shinjiro and Junpei, though the latter is revived by Chidori. He was also planning to kill Fuuka (the navigator he was hunting down) or Ken (who was attempting Suicide by Cop using him) and it's only because of Ken lying to him about being the navigator, followed by Shinjiro's Heroic Sacrifice, that both survive.
It's All About Me: Takaya seemingly doesn't care about anyone or anything else beyond taking everyone down with him to sate his insecurities and depression and the need to leave a mark on the world before he dies, but given he does cheer for Nyx's arrival and wishes for Jin to be alive and see the annihilation with him, he likely doesn't actually care about himself, either. In Reload, when confronted by Aigis if he has a fear of death, he says that he doesn't and that he's lived long enough already.
Kick the Dog: Takaya does this many times through the game, but two times stand out.
- Before he kills Shinjiro, he first shoots him in the knee and then kicks him down.
- Casually mocks Chidori's Heroic Sacrifice by calling it a "meaningless death".
Kubrick Stare: Takaya's default expression is a menacing stare to convey his unhinged and judgmental personality.
Lack of Empathy: Takaya has zero empathy for anyone and cruelly uses them for his own ends. Jin is a somewhat example as well, but not to the same degree as Takaya as he risks his own life to protect him, even though it would be clear that Takaya would not return the favor. However, during the final moments of the game, he does.
Large Ham: Takaya's voice pretty much dominates any scene he appears in.
Last Chance to Quit: In his final Linked Episode in Reload, which you can access by talking to the cultists at Club Escapade, he flat-out tells the protagonist that he'll be standing guard at the top floor of Tartarus, and gives them one last warning to walk away. Once you make it to his boss fight, he'll refer to his earlier warning if you'd triggered the scene.
Laughing Mad: Takaya lets out some amazing maniacal laughter in his final showdown against S.E.E.S.
Lean and Mean: Skinny to the point of emaciation, and is a very sinister human antagonist.
Limit Break: In Reload, during his final battle, he is capable of performing a Theurgy, just the same way the party can. It deals heavy Almighty damage, inflicts Fear, and reduces your SP down to 1. While not named in regular gameplay, hacking the attack onto the protagonist reveals that it's called "Paradise of Quietus".
Looks Like Jesus: His overall look resembles some depictions of Christ. Later on, he spreads his arms wide apart after he is defeated, a reference to Christ's crucifixion. This was done deliberately, given his self-proclaimed status as The Antichrist and it would make him look utterly insane.
Mercy Kill: He seems to view killing Shinjiro and Ken as this, as Shinjiro is months away from dying and Ken wants to commit suicide after killing Shinjiro (the boy also tries to get Takaya to kill him by tricking him into thinking that he's the navigator the former is looking for). In his eyes, he's only giving them a quick and painless death instead of the painful deaths they would experience if they were left alone.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: He can be a bit difficult to take seriously because of his ridiculous Jesus cosplay and he's unimportant to the grand scheme of things as opposed to the traitor of S.E.E.S. Ikutsuki and Greater-Scope Villain grandfather Kouetsu Kirijo, but he still manages to kill Shinjiro and Junpei, although Chidori gives her life in order to revive the latter.
Obviously Evil: His golden eyes, extremely pale complexion, and unkempt appearance all suggest he is an insane and delusional villain at first glance. His Establishing Character Moment also clearly sets him up as The Sociopath and a Straw Nihilist.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Unlike his comrades, he doesn't use an evoker because he thinks of it as a crutch that hinders his potential. During his second boss fight in Reload, once he loses more than half of his health, he discards his "trivial pride" and use the Evoker he took from the rampaging shadow in August to use his own theurgy.
Pants-Positive Safety: Keeps a revolver tucked into the belt on his jeans.
Pet the Dog: In his final moments, Takaya wishes Jin is still with him so they can witness the Fall together.
Pre-Final Boss: He guards the last floor before the top of Tartarus, as the boss just before Nyx Avatar.
Revolvers Are Just Better: Not just any revolver either, but a Smith and Wesson Model .500. Naturally, since his Arcana is the Wheel of Fortune.
Shadow Archetype: To the protagonist. This is even more pronounced in the movie adaptations which gave Makoto a defined personality: Takaya is basically what Makoto could have been had he let apathy and nihilism take over his heart. Instead of trying to protect and bond with people to make the most of his limited time, Takaya chose to embrace his misery and spread it as far as he could. Reload also ups the ante by giving the two more scenes together where their ideologies come to blows.
The Sociopath: Takaya has all the signs of it. He's manipulative, lacks empathy and willing to kill just for fun and profit.
Straw Nihilist: Takaya fashions himself an Übermensch, with the Protagonist acting as his Last Man (or Woman in the case of the PSP release), but the reality is quite the opposite.
Turns Red: In Reload, when Takaya has less than half his health left, he starts breaking down at the idea of him losing, saying he'll discard his "trivial pride" in order to bring S.E.E.S. down. He then proceeds to brandish the Evoker he took from the Moonlight Bridge battle in August, and uses it to cast his own Theurgy.
Uncertain Doom: Takaya's final fate is never shown. But given he was at the top of Tartarus before it collapses, it's likely he died from this. Even if it's assumed he didn't die at Tartarus, he's probably dead by the time of Persona 4 since his lifespan is cut short from his circumstances.
Villain Has a Point: A few times.
- Shortly after meeting S.E.E.S. for the first time, he asks them if they really want to get rid of the Dark Hour and if they really want to return to their "pathetic, ordinary lives". This visibly causes Junpei and Akihiko to react because they had been struggling with the implications of the end of the Dark Hour for a while. In the movie, Makoto is also quite troubled by it.
- His critique of Ken's plan on October 4th was basically correct. Shinjiro was going to die soon anyway and Ken was planning to kill himself afterwards, so if Takaya kills them both the outcome would be the same. This point cut so deep Ken undergoes a Heroic BSoD and outright goads Takaya into shooting him until Shinjiro snaps him out of it during his Heroic Sacrifice.
- Before the final fight with Takaya, he points out many people wish for Nyx to come, and even S.E.E.S. had unwittingly brought about the Fall by killing the Full Moon Shadows. Aigis admits there is some truth to what he is saying, which echoes well until The Answer when it is revealed Nyx's purge of the Earth is something all of humanity desires through Erebus, the incarnation of humanity's death wish in the collective unconscious.
- In Reload he takes an interest in the protagonist and makes multiple attempts to sway him to his way of thinking. While this obviously doesn't come to pass, you can actually agree with some of his points depending on the dialogue options.
- Before his final fight in Reload, Mitsuru tries to give him "The Reason You Suck" Speech for being a loner who chose to reject bonds in favour of wallowing in his own existential angst. Takaya shoots back that she has no moral ground to stand on, given that it was the Kirijo Group who ruined his life in the first place and deemed him a failure. Mitsuru has no retort to this.
Villainous Breakdown: In the fourth movie, Takaya loses it after S.E.E.S. awakens their Ultimate Personas and Jin's defeat.
Villain Takes an Interest: Develops one with the protagonist in Reload. When he sees them wield multiple Personas, Takaya becomes intrigued with him and tries to sway him toward his line of thinking. At one point, he even says the protagonist may have been "chosen" by the Dark Hour because of their unique ability. To his disappointment, however, the protagonist remains steadfast in his beliefs and the two ultimately remain at odds.
Walking Shirtless Scene: It would be a waste of his "gifts" to get Takaya into a shirt. In Reload the player will have the option of questioning why he's not wearing a shirt at one point, and he'll sarcastically claim it's invisible to fools.
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: His third and final talk with the protagonist in Reload takes place in a deserted alleyway with no witnesses and during the daytime, meaning no Persona protection. Despite this, he just walks away after the protagonist rejects his nihilistic logic. He does make a gesture for his gun, but he ultimately doesn’t draw it.
Worthy Opponent: Treats the Protagonist as such in Reload. During his final battle, the player can answer Takaya's question about "what he sees in front of him" by stating "the opponent in front of me", wherein Takaya praises the Protagonist for focusing on their battle. This tangibly affects his boss fight, as he will be less aggressive than if the other choices were picked.
Would Hurt a Child: He would have killed Ken if it wasn't for Shinjiro's sacrifice, although his real target is actually Fuuka, only for Ken to try using him to commit Suicide by Cop.

Jin Shirato

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_5617_3.png

^{Click here to see Moros}

"I excel at data analysis. I don't need no Persona to find your weaknesses."

Arcana: The Hermit
Persona: Moros
Weapons: Hand Grenades
Voiced by: Masaya Onosaka (Japanese), Grant George (English; original), Chris Hackney (English; Reload)
Live actor: Yuuichi Matsumoto

Jin is Takaya Sakaki's faithful right-hand man, and a member of Strega, acting as the team's tactical advisor and the webmaster of "Revenge Request". He is eager to take down S.E.E.S, seeing them as hypocrites who don't appreciate their powers.

Adaptational Villainy: In the movies, his Alas, Poor Villain scene which explains his motivations for following Takaya is Adapted Out due to how his death differs in the movie. As such, in the movies he's more of a straight Psycho Supporter who does not have any readily apparent redeeming qualities.
Alas, Poor Villain: How Jin's death plays out from the perspective of S.E.E.S: after they defeat him, he explains why he is loyal to Takaya, claiming Takaya saved him from the despair of his past by focusing him on the present. Then a group of Shadows start to swarm to their location and Jin tells the team to leave him by refusing their sympathy (particularly, the female protagonist has the option to bring up that they can't just leave him in Portable). After he blows himself up to hold off the Shadows, the team has a solemn moment before continuing on.
Artificial Brilliance: In his second fight, he will scan the player's party for elemental weaknesses and will deliberately target them (and if you've covered them up, he either throws a fit or Almighty-element flash bang grenades to get around that in Reload).
Bad Influencer: Jin is said to be "popular on the Internet" which Strega takes advantage of to spread the cult of Nyx.
Better to Die than Be Killed: After being defeated, he is surrounded by a horde of Shadows and blows himself up before they can get him.
Clipped-Wing Angel: In Reload, when he first goes to low health, he injects a large dose of stimulant which fully heals himself and increases the damage he does, and he also begins unleashing some of his strongest attacks in this state. However, it inflicts a deadly poison on him that rapidly drains his HP; surviving his attacks for five turns will leave him in a state where he can be finished off quickly.
Developer's Foresight: In Reload, if you managed to cover your party's elemental weaknesses, he throws Almighty-element flash bang grenades to get around it.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the game, he blows himself up to kill the Shadows that are swarming him after S.E.E.S defeats him. In the movie Winter of Rebirth, Jin is killed by Aigis indirectly when she shoots a grenade out of his hand that he was about to throw at her, Akihiko, and Junpei and it explodes near him.
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Unless you are Takaya, Chidori, or Shinjiro, Jin will sneer at your sympathies. He refuses S.E.E.S's sympathy after his boss fight even when they are surrounded by Shadows.
The Dragon: To Takaya, being his right-hand man.
Even Evil Has Standards: Jin is disgusted to talk about Ikutsuki, and is shocked when he learns the mad man is the head of S.E.E.S, since Ikutsuki was one of the scientists who experimented on Strega. Jin even calls him a "real nutjob".
Evil Genius: He is the one who setup Strega's Revenge Request website.
Gory Discretion Shot: Near the end, Jin pulls a grenade as he's surrounded by Shadows. The camera cuts away before any results can be seen.
Half the Man He Used to Be: In Falling Down, Moros is cut in half by Junpei's newly evolved Trismegistus. Being a Persona however, it cannot truly die.
Hidden Depths: Surprisingly enough for Jin, thanks to the official novel Shadow Cry which shows him in a more sympathetic light than the Psycho Supporter he is in the game.
Hoist by His Own Petard: In the fourth movie, he's killed by his own grenade after Aigis shoots it from his hand.
I Will Only Slow You Down: A harsh version of this is a possible interpretation of his refusal of S.E.E.S party's sympathy when Shadows start to swarm where they were fighting. Viewing it generously, Jin stops them (more so the female protagonist in Portable, who is the only one who actually considers it) from doing something stupid for the sake of being good. If not, he likely saw it as an opportunity to die on his own terms rather than being in the humiliating position of being a prisoner.
Jerkass: Unlike his boss, who at least puts on a veneer of politeness, Jin is blunt and rude towards everyone not named Takaya.
Only Sane Man: Jin is considerably more sane and pragmatic than the extremely emotionally detached Chidori or the more impulsive Takaya (who he regularly advises to stay focused on their goals). He is also the one that runs the operations of Strega through their website.
Pin-Pulling Teeth: Jin pulls the pin out using his teeth every time he throws his grenades.
Psycho Supporter: Though he is the Only Sane Man, Jin also loses his temper often and is easily the most emotional of the group.
A Sinister Clue: Jin is left-handed, and his Persona, Moros, only has a left hand.
Small Role, Big Impact: Despite him only being the second-in-command of Strega, Jin proves to cause the most damage out of all of them by using his status as an e-celebrity to rally up an Apocalypse Cult loyal to Takaya, causing the overall wish for death to skyrocket and give Nyx even more power, as well as turning all of the death-seeking followers into Shadows on the night of the Fall and wreaking mass havoc.
Smoke Out: Has a smoke grenade to make his getaways from S.E.E.S.
Suicide Attack: Aside from blowing himself up as listed below, in Reload Jin attempts one last-ditch tactic to take SEES down in his second fight: once he's low on health, he injects himself with a Potent Stim drug that fully heals him and permanently and drastically improves his attack power, but it inflicts him with Poison that starts taking huge chunks of HP away each turn, including the first turn he uses them.
Taking You with Me: After being surrounded by Shadows following his boss fight, Jin sets off a grenade, killing himself along with the Shadows.
Throw Down the Bomblet: His weapon of choice are hand grenades.
Turns Red: In Reload, once Jin reaches low health during his solo fight, he'll inject himself with a Potent Stim that greatly increases his attacking power and restores him back to full health, but he becomes poisoned.
Undying Loyalty: Jin supports Takaya's goal and never questions the latter because the former helped him let go of his horrific past from being a victim of the Kirijo Group and just to focus on the moment.
The Un-Reveal: We never learn what exactly is in Jin's briefcase and why he always carries it. Most likely, it's storage for more grenades.
Villain with Good Publicity: Jin happens to be an e-celebrity, with nobody besides S.E.E.S. knowing that he's a villainous backer of Strega. It's his online fame that allows him to easily rally up Takaya's Apocalypse Cult.

Chidori Yoshino

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_5619.png

^{Click here to see Medea}

"I hate hospitals... But, I don't mind that much this time... since you come to see me so often."

Arcana: The Hanged Man
Persona: Medea
Weapons: Chained Hatchet
Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Merit Leighton (English; Reload)
Live actress: Haneyuri

Chidori is the only female member of Strega and serves as the team's scanner, akin to S.E.E.S.' Fuuka. Quiet and stoic, she doesn't fight S.E.E.S alongside her teammates for Strega's first few appearances.

On her free time, Chidori sketches at the Port Island Station, where she eventually meets Junpei. After several more meetings with him, Chidori develops feelings for him, but finds herself unable to understand it. In one meeting, she takes Junpei's bragging about being the leader of S.E.E.S at face value, and tries to kidnap him. With S.E.E.S's assistance, Chidori is defeated and she ends up getting captured herself. She then spends the next few months at the hospital with Junpei regularly meeting her.

Always Someone Better: She is an even better scanner than Fuuka is, being able to conceal her presence from her during the Hermit Shadow operation, not to mention Medea being a combat-oriented Persona.
Ambiguous Situation: It is unknown whether or not Chidori's revival in the Updated Re-release FES and Portable is considered canon. Even the manga and movie adaptations have contrasting interpretations as well, with the latter having her dying like in the original game while the former has her survive. In Persona 4: Arena Ultimax, Junpei daydreams of proposing to her and he says he promised Chidori he wouldn't make her worry about him. Not to mentio the cross necklace Junpei wears in Ultimax is confirmed by Word of God to have been a gift from her, opening the possibility that she's still around. When her storyline is revisited in Reload, it's once again possible to save her, with lower requirements to boot, but it's unclear how this will carry forward in future releases.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Chidori towards Junpei, as he was the only one who was interested with her on a personal and eventually romantic level. She considers Junpei so important, she gives her life away so he wouldn't die.
Broken Bird: Her traumatic experiences under the Kirijo Group and the effects of the suppressant she's been taking have reduced her to an emotionally detached Death Seeker.
Brought Down to Normal: Should the conditions for her coming back to life be fulfilled, she eventually makes a full recovery but at the price of losing her Persona and becoming unable to experience the Dark Hour. It's arguably for the best, however, given that she also loses her traumatic memories and can start anew without the side effects of the suppressants weakening her health, plus the fact that said Persona would have killed her without said suppressants.
Death Seeker: Unlike Takaya and Jin, Chidori almost actively seeks death rather than simply being a Straw Nihilist. She regularly harms herself, and while she does make an effort to defend herself from S.E.E.S, she makes it clear she doesn't care if they kill her either — and in fact would prefer that.
Defrosting Ice Queen: As she gets to know Junpei, she slowly warms up to him and smiles more often.
Disc-One Final Boss: Her boss fight is the final mandatory fight in the game prior to New Year's Eve, making her the final boss of the game if you choose to kill Ryoji, prematurely ending the story.
Dying Declaration of Love: Her final words to Junpei are a simple "I love you."
Earn Your Happy Ending: In the Updated Re-release onwards, if the player follows the right steps, she can be brought back to life. Although she loses her Persona as well as memories of the Dark Hour, it's arguably for the best given all that she's been through given the traumatic experiments she underwent, not to mention that she would no longer need to take the suppressants that were slowly killing her. While she no longer remembers Junpei, she vaguely recognises him, leaving a ray of hope that they can still reconnect.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: Chidori wears a long, frilly dress that's reminiscent of lolita fashion.
Empathic Healing: She can heal injuries on others and even restore a withered plant back to life by touching it, but doing so earns her wounds proportional to the healing. This ability also allows her to revive Junpei, which costs her own life.
Epic Flail: She has an an axe connected to a chain, which she will throw out like a whip as her Slash attack.
Females Are More Innocent: The only female member of Strega, and the only one to pull a Heel–Face Turn.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed, but between Chidori's aloofness in their presence, Takaya's more manipulative conversations with her, his unmoved reaction to her death when compared to Jin's and general lack of interaction as a whole, it's implied that he and Jin are not as close to her as they are to each other, a sentiment that ends up being shared when she eventually chooses Junpei over them.
Fusion Dance: After her death, Chidori's Persona Medea fuses with Junpei's Hermes to create Trismegistus, his ultimate Persona.
Good Thing You Can Heal: Chidori has a nasty habit of cutting herself; fortunately, she has a Healing Factor.
Goth Girls Know Magic: Chidori is dressed in Elegant Gothic Lolita fashion, is lonely and icy, and has one of the more versatile Persona abilities among Strega.
Guide Dang It!:
- In FES and Portable, it is possible to revive Chidori. However, this requires the player to speak with Junpei on four separate evenings in November: the 6th, the 11th, the 14th and the 22nd, encouraging him to see Chidori each time. These are all purely optional, while the game gives you barely any indication your dialogue choices will affect anything.
- In Reload, the prerequisites for saving Chidori are relaxed considerably, but still require some reading between the lines. This time, you only have to progress Junpei's Linked Episodes until he considers buying a bouquet of white flowers for Chidori before deciding against it. You can then buy the flowers yourself and give them to Junpei before Chidori's escape, which will cause him to visit Chidori and trigger the flag for her survival. However, the game still doesn't spell it out, though are some contextual hints you can stumble upon.
Healing Factor: Thanks to her Persona, her wounds — even mystical ones from her Empathic Healing — heal at an alarming rate. After Medea fuses with Hermes, this healing factor is passed down to Junpei.
Heroic Sacrifice: After Junpei is shot by Takaya, Chidori resurrects him at the cost of her own life.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Her feelings for Junpei and her token loyalty with Takaya and Jin basically make her switch back and forth until she decides dying for Junpei's life is worth more.
In Love with the Mark: Although she initially gets closer to Junpei in order to capture him for her teammates, she eventually starts falling in love with him.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: After being revived in the Updated Re-release, she loses all memories related to the Persona and Dark Hour due to losing Medea. It is mostly fortunate, given how much those memories damaged her personality, but it does mean she doesn't remember anything which happened during the time she had a Persona, including her meetings with Junpei. She only vaguely recognizes him by the end, but Junpei accepts that's for the best.
Love Hurts: Chidori states she isn't afraid of much, even dying, and her behavior throughout the game supports her claims. The one thing she admits to being afraid of is attachment. When she grows attached to people or things, she fears that she will lose them. When she ultimately looks set to lose the one person she's grown attached to, Chidori unflinchingly sacrifices her life to stop it from happening.
Love Redeems: Falling in love with Junpei prompts her to sacrifice her life to save him.
Only Friend: She considers her Persona Medea to be this, being visibly distressed whenever her evoker is taken away from her. However, this is portrayed as an extremely unhealthy relationship as her Persona will actively attempt to kill her whenever she loses control.
Playing with Fire: Medea specializes in casting fire spells.
Psychic Powers: Chidori has psychic powers to sense surroundings, scan enemies, and is even able to psychically overpower Fuuka without much effort. She seems to be the only Strega member with these powers.
Redemption Equals Death: After realizing her love for Junpei, she voluntarily sacrifices herself to revive him.
Sacrificial Revival Spell: After Junpei is shot by Takaya, Chidori resurrects him by using her power, which ends up costing her own life to do so. If the player manages to convince Junpei to bring her flowers, her power of imbuing her own energy into living beings ends up saving her life, as the flowers she imbued her power with return to her body and transmogrify her into a normal person.
Self-Harm: She regularly cuts herself. Fortunately, her wounds heal easily.
Sensor Character: Chidori's sensory powers and telepathy are repeatedly shown to overpower Fuuka's.
Sole Survivor: It's possible to save her life in FES, Portable, and Reload making her the only member of Strega to live, with a relatively normal lifespan to boot.
Spared by the Adaptation: In the vanilla release, she dies no matter what, but all subsequent re-releases, including FES, Portable and Reload allow her to survive provided certain conditions are met. Persona 4: Arena Ultimax implies her survival is canonical.
Token Good Teammate: She's the only one of the trio to make a proper Heel–Face Turn, courtesy of her affection towards Junpei.
Tsundere: Towards Junpei — she initially cannot admit to herself she has grown to care about him. This is more apparent in the audio dramas, where she gets a lot more focus.
Villains Out Shopping: She likes to draw in her spare time. Outside of novel adaptations, she's the only member of Strega whose life outside of villainy is explored.
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Because of her upbringing, she finds it hard to understand her feelings for Junpei, most notably she stops drawing what she normally draws and fills her sketchbook with portraits of him.
Zero-Effort Boss: Compared to the other members of Strega, her boss fight outside the entrance of Tartarus is pitifully easy. Even after being buffed in Reload, she is still far from a powerful opponent, with the fight ending automatically after a few turns. This ultimately serves as an indicator of how much pain she's in as a result of gaining her Persona.

The Traitor

The Traitor (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Shuji Ikutsuki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shji_ikutsuki_portrait_47_0.png

"The man who tried it ten years ago failed. But I will not; I shall succeed!"

Voiced by: Hideyuki Hori (Japanese), Dan Woren (English; original), JB Blanc (English; Persona 4: Arena Ultimax) Jake Green (English; Reload)
Live actor: Shoichi Honda (The Blue Awakening and Persona 4 Arena), Mitsuru Karahashi (The Ultramarine Labyrinth and The Bismuth Crystals)

The Chief Director of Gekkoukan High and the Chairman of SEES. Though he presents himself as a friendly, quirky adviser to the members of SEES, briefing them on the Dark Hour and offering them guidance on stopping it, this is but a front for his true nature. In actuality, Ituksuki intends to bring forth The Fall in order to eradicate humanity, manipulating SEES into carrying out his plan.

Abusive Parents: Ultimax reveals that he treated Sho Minazuki, who saw Ikutsuki as the closest thing to a father figure, as nothing more than a lab rat and only kept him alive so he could be useful one day.
Adaptational Jerkass: In the films, he doesn't bother trying to sway the S.E.E.S to his cause and openly mocks them during his moment of Evil Gloating.
All for Nothing: His scheming for power was pointless from the beginning. He was just a normal human being with no powers whatsoever, other than functioning inside the Dark Hour. Nyx can't be controlled or reasoned with and the Fall would hit all living beings without distinction. Had he succeeded in his plots, instead of becoming the godlike ruler of a new world, the only reward waiting for him would be the same shallow grave he wished to give everyone else.
Ambiguous Situation: While it's later revealed that he's the one supplying Strega their suppressants and was part of the research team that experimented on them, the extent of his affiliation with them is never revealed. Jin expresses surprise upon hearing that he's the one in charge of S.E.E.S. and calls him a "real nutjob", indicating that they are at least aware of his true colors though not his motivations.
Ax-Crazy: He wishes to bring the Fall to wipe out most of humanity so that he can rule its remnants afterward.
Bad Samaritan: He acts nice and friendly, and to an extent he really is, but he's also pretty crazy beneath that.
Bastardly Speech: When Yukari first confronts Mitsuru and Akihiko about the Kirijo Group's shady past and calls them out for hiding things from everyone else, Ikutsuki defuses the situation by pointing out that none of them were responsible for the disaster 10 years ago, and they're all equal in being the victims of the Kirijo Group's past misdeeds. It's an astute point that applies to everyone in the S.E.E.S except Ikutsuki himself, as he's later revealed to be tricking everyone into finishing what Kouetsu and his cronies started, making his once heartwarming speech come across as chillingly manipulative in hindsight.
Beware the Silly Ones: This man with a strange sense of humor and lame puns turns out to be a nihilist who has the same ideology as Nyarlathotep.
Big Bad Ensemble: With Nyx and Strega. He's pulling the strings behind S.E.E.S. to willingly bring about the Fall. He could be considered the main antagonist, except that he dies soon after The Reveal.
Big Bad Wannabe: Moments after revealing that he has been playing S.E.E.S. for months, Ikutsuki dies. It wouldn't have mattered if he had survived, as he would have been destroyed by Nyx's coming in any case.
Big Good: Subverted. The Founder of S.E.E.S. and their trusted ally throughout the story turns out to be the Twist Villain who was deceiving them all along.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He puts on the façade of a friendly old chairman with a penchant for puns, but in reality he's a megalomaniacal lunatic. The only part of his surface personality that turns out not to have been faked is his love of bad puns.
"Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: A variation of it. When Yukari calls him out on using her and her father, he comments that "used" is such an ugly word.
Blood from the Mouth: In Reload, he coughs out a wad of blood after getting shot by Takeharu, showing that his wound was fatal.
Broken Pedestal: While they don't exactly respect him due to his propensity to make awful jokes, the members of S.E.E.S. do place a lot of trust in him. That faith comes crashing down once he reveals his true colors and betrays them, after which they all view him with scorn and with the exception of Fuuka, aren't sorry to see him bite it.
Dark Messiah: How he sees himself, and once his plot of finishing what Kouetsu started succeeds, he lets it get to his head and openly gloats about being the real prophesized Prince who would bring about the Fall and rule over the "new world" as their King. He continues raving about being the chosen one even as he's bleeding to death. Kouetsu's memoirs in Reload indicate that this was a theory Ikutsuki himself came up with.
Die Laughing: Ikutsuki bleeds out while he is still laughing and falls off Tartarus.
Disc-One Final Boss: His plans to bring the Fall take up about 2/3-3/4 of the game, but he's killed off with a few months of gameplay remaining and the rest of the story focuses on trying to stop Nyx from carrying out said Fall.
Disney Villain Death: He gets shot and falls off a tall roof to his death. It's even lampshaded by a guy who hangs out around the movie theater, saying that that's how all the villains die, though he dismisses that idea.
Entertainingly Wrong: When he reveals himself as a traitor and orders Aigis subdue S.E.E.S. to prepare them as sacrifices, Ikutsuki speaks of a prophecy regarding a "prince" who will reign in the new world as king, thinking he is the prince in question. He's way off the mark; the "prince" is Ryoji Mochizuki, the complete form of the Death Arcana Shadow, and has no interest in the Fall. In fact, Ryoji would prefer the Fall not happen at all, but he himself has no choice but to go along with it as he's the Nyx Avatar.
Evil All Along: Turns out he's been playing S.E.E.S like a cheap kazoo in order to bring about the end of the world. Who knew?
Evil Counterpart:
- Can be considered one to Igor. Both play a supporting role in cultivating the Protagonist's abilities. Both even refer to the protagonist as a guest. Furthermore, their appearances contrast with their true natures. Additionally, both are voiced by the same actor in the original English dub. However, Ikutsuki ultimately saw the Protagonist as a means to an end, while Igor viewed the Protagonist as a valuable acquaintance. More so, while Igor is satisfied with his position, Ikutsuki strives to gain even more power. Furthermore, while Igor never loses his faith in humanity, Ikutsuki strives to doom it to oblivion. In the same vein as Igor entrusting children the Power of the Wild Card, Ikutsuki was involved with experiments on children that resulted in the creation of Strega and Sho Minazuki.
- To Takeharu Kirijo as well, the actual Big Good of S.E.E.S. Takeharu spends his life as The Atoner for his father's mistakes that led to the creation of The Dark Hour and Strega, as well as the death of Yukari's father. Ikutsuki remains loyal to Kouetsu Kirijo's vision about bringing the Fall, with the added insanity of wanting to rule over the remnants of the "new world". Before killing Takeharu, Ikutsuki mocks Takeharu for not following his father, and then even mocks Kouetsu for not being devoted enough to the cause.
  Ikutsuki: I'm not like your father... I won't make any exceptions!
Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: An odd example in that his jokes aren't extremely morbid or tone-deaf; they're just puns the cast find bad and unfunny.
Evil Plan: He's responsible for releasing Death, and manipulated SEES into destroying the twelve Full Moon Shadows in order to create Nyx Avatar. He does all this to bring about The Fall because of a prophecy he read.
Exact Words: When asked whether destroying the 12 Shadows will end the Dark Hour, he says "there's evidence to support it." That "evidence" is Eiichiro Takeba's doctored final video, and it's also true from a certain point of view- destroying the Shadows will cause Death to return, resulting in the Fall and the end of the world.
Failed a Spot Check: In the original games and Reload, he captured the members of S.E.E.S. to be sacrificed, only to forget about Koromaru, who snatches the remote to shut down Aigis from his hands and crushes it. In the films, he at least ties Koromaru to Akihiko's cross.
Faux Affably Evil:
- He remains polite even when describing his ambitions to end the world and offers a We Can Rule Together to the team, but was already prepared to capture and sacrifice them, which suggests he already knew they would say no.
- In the game, while preparing to execute Takeharu, Ikutsuki bluntly says that Kouetsu's love for his son is a weakness he does not share. In the films, he instead mockingly states that he's going to "honor" Kouetsu's love for his family by having Takeharu join him in death.
Foreshadowing:
- When he describes how destroying the 12 Shadows will end the Dark Hour, he simply says that "there's evidence to support it." Nowhere does he give any specifics. This is your first hint that he's actually lying through his teeth and using you.
- When he alerts the girls to Aigis being loose on Yakushima, the dehumanizing language he uses misleads Yukari into thinking they're dealing with a tank rather than a Robot Girl, and he never corrects her. This hints towards a lack of regard for Aigis' personhood that very much becomes apparent when he no longer has to pretend to be the Big Good.
- As S.E.E.S. makes more and more progress in eliminating the 12 shadows, victims of Apathy Syndrome are mentioned to have stopped recovering in contrast to how they usually did whenever a Full Moon Shadow is killed. This already hints that killing the 12 shadows won't stop the Dark Hour as Ikutsuki had claimed.
- He was also designed to look slightly unnerving, and some of his expressions incorporate Scary Shiny Glasses. For example, when he mentions that he's started researching the 12 Shadows, his character portrait has a gleeful expression that won't appear again until he reveals his true colors. While this is removed from Reload, Junpei instead lampshades how Ikutsuki seems so zealously interested in researching the Shadows.
- During Pharos's Rank 5 social link, he warns the protagonist about there being poisonous flowers, one of which is in their own garden (referring to S.E.E.S.), suggesting that there is a traitor among them.
- In Reload, when S.E.E.S. watch Eiichiro Takeba's final recording at Yakushima, the new cutscene shows the recording glitching out at certain points and makes it sound like the whole thing was patched together. This is a major hint that Ikutsuki had already doctored the recording the party was seeing at that point.
- In Reload, the Shadow of the Abyss, which is implied to be the result of a Persona going berserk, drops an Evoker with a red glowing cartridge similar to those used to activate a Theurgy; indeed, Takaya later uses it to activate his own Theurgy. This suggests that Ikutsuki's new trump card had the potential to turn out to be a Dangerous Forbidden Technique, showing a lack of regard for S.E.E.S.' wellbeing that nobody picked up on because, by sheer dumb luck, it actually proved stable this time.
- In Reload, if you talk to Ikutsuki on the night of the final Full Moon operation, he can be heard chuckling ominously before commenting that a "new age" shall soon arrive.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears glasses and is one of the most despicable characters in the entire franchise.
From Nobody to Nightmare: According to the manga, Ikutsuki was nothing more than a low-ranking scientist around the time of the accident, which likely spared him the same fate that befell the rest of them. But ten years later, he manages to accomplish what his fellow researchers had failed to do - bringing forth Nyx and the Fall.
A God Am I: Ikutsuki appears to see himself as a Dark Messiah who wishes to bring Death upon the world and to rebuild it in his own image as a God.
Go-Karting with Bowser: Choosing to spend time with him at the movies in the female protagonist's route in Portable retroactively becomes this. Reload also add a scene where he helps S.E.E.S. study for their mid-terms, all the while entertaining them with his awful puns.
Greater-Scope Villain: Of the Arena duology, as his adopted son/discarded lab rat Sho Minazuki seeks to destroy the world out of misanthropic rage at how Ikutsuki treated him.
Hate Sink: He was specifically designed as an adult who "your instincts tell you not to trust". Sure enough, once the player learns the truth about him, he turns out to be a nihilistic madman who manipulated the party into causing the end of the world, with no redeeming features to speak of. Him smugly revealing that he edited Eiichiro's video for his own ends, therefore spitting on the man's life and legacy, makes him all the more despicable.
Hero Killer: He kills Takeharu Kirijo, which deprives S.E.E.S. of their remaining Big Good (which was previously Takeharu and Ikutsuki himself) and sends Mitsuru into a depression. It forces S.E.E.S. to confront the final challenges on their own.
Humans Are the Real Monsters: One of the most pronounced examples in the franchise. While the Shadows are mindless monsters driven by pure instinct, Nyx is more of a force of nature, and Ryoji is an Anti-Anti-Christ with no control over his role in the Fall, Ikutsuki has full agency over his actions and is driven by nothing more than nihilism and lust for power.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Ikutsuki is the one who suggested Koromaru join S.E.E.S., who ruined his attempt at having Aigis kill SEES to bring about the Fall by the dog snatching the remote. In Portable, though, he fails due to a Dying Moment of Awesome from Takeharu Kirijo.
Insistent Terminology: In the original releases, he says he didn't "doctor" Yukari's father's video — he "corrected" it. In Reload, he doesn't bother with this pretense and openly admits to tampering with the video for his own ends.
Interface Spoiler: In the original releases, Ikutsuki's sprites use his Slasher Smile portrait a few times before The Reveal, though the expression itself is ambiguous enough to be considered The Unsmile.
It Is Beyond Saving: His true agenda regarding starting the end of the world. In Reload, he believes there isn't a point in living in their current world, and the only salvation is to start over.
Jerkass: Not only does he wish to bring about The Fall so he can enslave humanity (a plan of which would've failed regardless) and manipulated S.E.E.S. to aid his cause, but after his reveal, he is openly antagonistic towards them and immediately tries to kill them off alongside anyone who disagrees with him using Aigis as a pawn as well. This is more pronounced in the film adaptation where he doesn't even bother trying to recruit the S.E.E.S to his side and is far more condescending in his Evil Gloating.
Knight of Cerebus: While Persona 3 is already a dark game, Ikutsuki's betrayal and the revelation of what's to come marks the point where things take an even gloomier turn for S.E.E.S.. His killing of Takeharu Kirijo also causes Mitsuru to temporarily spiral into depression.
Mad Scientist: He was among the scientists working for Mitsuru's grandfather ten years ago. Among those he experimented on were Strega and Sho Minazuki.
The Man Behind the Man: He is the one who supplies Strega with their Persona suppressing drugs.
Manipulative Bastard: He pulls off being a fatherly nice guy with freakish ease, so when he finally drops the act, the difference between the bad pun-spewing professor figure he played as, and the Ax-Crazy lunatic he really is is quite a shock to everyone.
Manipulative Editing: As he puts it in the original releases, he "corrected" the video that Eiichiro Takeba made in order to make S.E.E.S. believe that defeating the Full Moon Shadows will end the Dark Hour, when in reality, it actually hastens the Fall.
Mask of Sanity: Underneath the appearance of an eccentric advisor is an utterly insane madman consumed by nihilism.
Meaningful Name: As noted under his pre-Reveal section, his last name is written with characters meaning "Moon", which arguably fits even more after his treachery is unmasked because he wants to cause the Fall, which involves the Moon crashing down to Earth and killing everyone.
Meet the New Boss: Ikutsuki repeats Nyarlathotep's rhetoric almost word-for-word at certain points on his rant. The entire concept of The Fall — cleansing an unclean world as a means to eventually bring about "paradise" — is virtually identical to the long-term goals of The Masquerade, which was a doomsday cult founded and manipulated by Nyarlathotep in Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
Misanthrope Supreme: Like Kouetsu Kirijo, Ikutsuki sees humanity as worthless since they turn the world they live into a void and plans to summons Death as their salvation, with him ruling over the survivors as a God.
Mole in Charge: Despite founding S.E.E.S., his ultimate goal is something that none of the other members want. Jin briefly mentions being surprised by the fact that Ikutsuki was the heroes' boss.
Mutual Kill: He fatally shoots Takeharu, who shoots him as well. Although Ikutsuki survives the gunshot, he loses a lot of blood and falls off the ledge to his death.
Non-Action Big Bad: He's just as little of a fighter as an open villain as he was as an "ally". He is only able to overpower S.E.E.S. with the aid of a Brainwashed and Crazy Aigis, and he's ultimately defeated by simply being shot.
Not So Similar: Ikutsuki looks eerily similar to Takaya Sakaki, and ends up having roughly the same ideas and goals as him. A player would be forgiven for thinking they were related. They aren't and Ikutsuki's only relation to Strega is being one of the scientists that worked on their creation and being the provider of their Persona suppressing drugs.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: For all his rhetoric of how Nyx and The Fall will bring humanity towards salvation, Ikutsuki doesn't really believe in it like his fellow scientists or Takaya did, but rather falls into the delusion that he will rule over the new world once The Fall happens. Kouetsu himself dismisses Ikutsuki's theories as nonsense in his personal memoirs.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Subverted, in the fact that he actually does find his jokes funny, enough to incorporate an entire folder of puns into Aigis according to Persona Q. However, he's not as goofy as he acts.
Obviously Evil: Not in his behavior, which is pretty convincing, but character designer Shigenori Soejima wrote in the art book that Ikutsuki was designed to look like the adult "your instincts tell you not to trust". The main visual hints before The Reveal is his similarity in features to Takaya (thin and long haired), and a few expressions which show him with Scary Shiny Glasses.
Pragmatic Villainy: In Ultimax. While he is the cause of Sho Minazuki's coma, and he overall didn't care much for him, he still put him up in a hospital and left him enough money that he could be taken care of, both before and after he left the hospital. As opposed to say, throwing him in a ditch and calling it a day. That said, he likely did it less out of sentiment, but rather it was so that Sho could be used for another day should he recover.
The Quisling: He manipulated S.E.E.S. into summoning The Fall (Nyx) as part of a plan to rule over humanity, seeing himself as a savior, and he explicitly shows admiration towards the Shadows and their power.
Slasher Smile: Sports a nasty smile when he drops the "good guy" act and fully descends into megalomania.
Smug Snake: His plan may have worked, but his personal downfall comes pretty quickly after he drops his act. He's also toying with powers he has no hope of controlling in the delusion that he will be the one standing on top of the ashes.
The Sociopath: He's able to put on a good act of a friendly and helpful leader, but is actually a crazed nihilist who desires The End of the World as We Know It.
Soft-Spoken Sadist: While the original English dub and the anime adaptation have him go full ham following the reveal, he never breaks his soft-spoken demeanor in Reload even as he indulges in his delusions of power, only breaking down once his plans go awry.
Straw Nihilist:
- Subverted. He claims that he believes that humanity desires the Fall and hastens to bring it about, although this was all a cover and he actually wanted to rule over the world's remains as a God.
- Played straight in Reload, where it's much clearer in his dying words that underneath his insanity, he is genuinely a nihilist and has completely lost faith in the future of the world and humanity, believing that it is pointless to keep finding a reason to live in the current world and that the only way for humanity to be saved is to start over.
  "You don't get it, do you? Why do you waste time searching for a reason to live in this broken world? There's no point to it at all! The only way to fix this is to start over!"
Too Clever by Half: His plan to bring about the Fall, then reprogram Aigis to capture and sacrifice S.E.E.S. was pretty impressive given that he has no Persona to try to subdue them with. Unfortunately, he did not count on Aigis fighting back against his reprogramming, Koromaru's interference, and he doesn't realize that Death has already manifested before he arranged the sacrifices.
Treacherous Advisor: He has been misleading SEES the entire time.
The Unfought: After it is revealed that he has been manipulating everyone from behind the scenes, Ikutsuki is killed by Takeharu during the same cutscene he reveals his treachery. The closest players get to fight him is in Q2 in the form of the Overseer/The Mother Computer, who takes the appearance of Ikutsuki.
Villainous Legacy: Even after his death, SEES has to continue cleaning up his mess, from ending the Dark Hour to confronting Sho Minazuki years later.
Villain Respect: He has a degree of admiration for Eiichiro Takeba and his work, even lamenting that Eiichiro did not share the rest of his fellow scientists' ideals.
Villains Out Shopping: In light of revelations about his true nature, the film festival event with him in the female protagonist's route in Portable becomes a case of Ikutsuki taking some time off from plotting the complete annihilation of humanity to go visit the movies with one of his acquaintances. He's also knowledgeable enough about said movies to talk about them in-depth after the fact, suggesting he might genuinely be something of a film buff.
Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about him in-depth without giving away the twist that he was Evil All Along.
We Can Rule Together: When his true colors are revealed, he offers the members of SEES a chance to follow him into the new world after the Fall. Naturally, they refuse.
Wicked Pretentious: Ikutsuki is the founder of S.E.E.S. who has an air of sophistication to his speech and always speaks formally and uses a polite tone of voice, though he acts openly aggressive following his reveal. All of this is actually to hide that he's a deranged psychopath willing to bring upon the end of the world as part of an Evil Plan to enslave humanity.
Would Hurt a Child: He attempts to sacrifice Ken alongside everyone else to Nyx and was also involved with unethical experiments on children.
You Have Failed Me: Tries to shut down Aigis when she betrays him and frees the members of S.E.E.S. instead of sacrificing them.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After the last Full Moon Shadow is defeated, Ikutsuki induces a Death of Personality on Aigis and reduces her to a puppet. When the S.E.E.S. refuse his offer to bring about the Fall with him, he sics her on them and tries to sacrifice them to Nyx.

Shadows

The main enemies of the game. They are mysterious entities who dwell in the Dark Hour, appearing as blobs of darkness which spit out their true forms when confronted. When a human ends up in the Dark Hour, Shadows will hunt them and if caught by one, the blob seemingly consumes the victim's psyche, turning them into "the Lost" who is completely and utterly unresponsive to anything, a condition known to the public as Apathy Syndrome.

The goal of S.E.E.S is to stop the Dark Hour as there is no way to tell which person will end up in the Dark Hour every night. Ikutsuki, a leading figure in the research of Shadows, believe the Dark Hour is enacted by Arcana Shadows, special Shadows who appear during the full moon, and destroying them would stop the Dark Hour from happening anymore.

The true nature and capabilities of Shadows are only explored late in the game and in side materials which expect readers who have finished the game. To prevent walls of white, see Persona: Recurring for the tropes applying to Shadows as a whole.

Arcana Shadows

In General

The main storyline bosses. They are identified as Greater Shadows, Shadows which appear to possess greater intelligence and power than the others. They show up in Dark Hours during a Full Moon, either on their own or in pairs, hence their nickname — "Full Moon Shadows". According to Ikutsuki's study, eliminating all of them will cause Tartarus and the Dark Hour to disappear.

Battle Theme Music: Master of Shadow.
Dark Is Evil: Strictly speaking, they are barely even sentient. However, like all Shadows, they are predominantly dark and are hostile to all life.
Demonic Possession: Several of them display the ability to possess objects to manipulate them or to be used as vessels to channel their strengths. High Priestess hijacks a train, Chariot and Justice possess a battle tank, and Hermit possesses a mall's power room.
Dual Boss: Three times, they attack in pairs — Empress and Emperor, Chariot and Justice, Strength and Fortune.
Eldritch Abomination: Like lesser Shadows, they are logic-defying sentient beings who sneer at laws of physics. More so, the Arcana Shadows are responsible for twisting space-time continuum into the Dark Hour. And this is before they merge back into Death...
Evil Is Bigger: Most of the Arcana Shadows dwarf the human characters, with the Magician alone being larger than a typical Japanese classroom.
Hope Spot: After the 12th Arcana Shadow, Hanged Man, is destroyed, the Dark Hour briefly stops happening for a while... until it shows up again.
King Mook: Each of them usually incorporate the design of lesser Shadows who share their Arcanas.
It Can Think: While they may seem like mindless monsters at first, as the game goes on, the surprisingly creative tactics they display in their attacks reveal that they are intelligent entities.
Lunacy: All Arcana Shadows show up during the full moon, which earns them the name Full Moon Shadows. Later, it's revealed this is because the Moon actually influences them, as it is where Nyx's body resides.
Mask Power: Much like other Shadows, many Arcana Shadows have white masks of various expressions as body parts.
Monster of the Week: They show up every full moon, which takes place once a month.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By killing all 12 Arcana Shadows, all S.E.E.S. manages to accomplish is allowing them to reunite with Death, who resides inside the Protagonist.
Perpetual-Motion Monster: Unlike ordinary Shadows, the Arcana Shadows seem to act without any need of rest or sustenance, and it is evident they can maintain the Dark Hour everyday forever if they are let be. Destroying them is equally pointless, as their essence — if not absorbed by Death — will just reform again, as they did after being fractured the first time.
Pieces of God: Each is a fragment of Death, who in turn is a divine vessel for Nyx's will.
Reality Warper: On top of a Shadow's usual imperviousness to mundane physics, the Arcana Shadows can further twist space-time into a dimension where regular laws of space-time don't apply — the Dark Hour.
Rule of Symbolism: Each Arcana Shadow has their appearance, behavior, and powers fashioned after a psychological complex resulting from a reversed interpretation of the Arcanas they stand for.
Signature Move: Some of the Arcana Shadows have unique skills that only they can use. Reload gives most of the Arcana Shadow boss fights their own unique move that are later inherited by Death during the final battle.
The Speechless: In contrast to the very vocal Shadows or Shadow Selves from either Persona 2, 4 and 5, Arcana Shadows do not speak despite being capable of vocalization.
Tarot Motifs: Just like Personas and Shadows. Each represents the reversed meanings of their respective Arcana.

The Magician

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magician11037.png

The first Shadow, appearing on April 9th. He's a crawling mass of arms, with multiple swords and a blue mask he carries around.

Adaptational Badass: In the movie, the Magician is able to put up with Orpheus briefly until Thanatos shows up.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Thanatos savagely and messily rips it to pieces.
Curb-Stomp Battle: On the receiving end of one against Thanatos.
Cutscene Boss: Only appears as one, in which he's torn apart by Thanatos.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: It takes the form of tangle of disembodied black arms holding knives and a mask as a "head". However, which it does manage to injure Akihiko, it is quickly killed by Thanatos in a cutscene and never gets to fight on-screen. The first movie gives it a bit more to do, where it is capable of resisting Orpheus' fire spells and use its multiple arms to fight, but is just as quickly torn apart by Thanatos.
Starter Villain: The first Shadow the Protagonist encounters in the game, and is enough of a threat in-story to be a boss, but ends up as a Cutscene Boss who is torn apart by Thanatos.
Tarot Motifs: The reversed Magician. The shadow lacks a face or a head, an arm holds its mask in place of a head, symbolizing its lack of concentration or thought to guide its actions.
The Unfought: It's the only Full Moon Shadow that doesn't get its own boss battle.
The Worf Effect: Manages to defeat Akihiko despite his experience. In turn, it is on the receiving end against the protagonist's Thanatos, which tears it apart with little effort.

The High Priestess

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/priestess11037.png

The second Shadow, appearing on May 9th inside a monorail at Iwatodai Station. She's a large humanoid shadow whose body is split between white and black, with a pink butterfly mask, long waving hair, and the latters B and J tattooed on her breasts.

Flunky Boss: Summons two Muttering Tiaras to aid her in battle. Ironically, they are weak to Ice, but make up for it by their ability to heal with Dia. In the rematch, these have Diarahan, and it is required that the player lets one do so for the optional but hidden victory condition.
I Call Him "Mr. Happy": A female variant. The B and J on the Priestess' breasts stand for Boaz and Jachin, two pillars in the temple of Solomon. However, the two are reversed here.
An Ice Person: Repels Ice and uses the Bufu line of skills. Reload gives her a unique skill, Ice Storm.
Ojou Ringlets: She has some on the side of her head that are not part of her Prehensile Hair.
Prehensile Hair: The Priestess' seems to be made of scrolls.
Signature Move: In Reload, she has two.
- Invitation to Chaos: A move that speeds up the train, reducing the time limit during her boss fight in half, which can result in a Non-Standard Game Over when time runs out.
- Ice Storm: An attack that deals medium ice damage to all foes, with a chance of inflicting freeze.
Slouch of Villainy: She remains seated for the entirety of her encounter.
Starter Villain: The first Full Moon Shadow to be fought as an actual boss fight, and the first that you fight as a team, as the Magician was taken care of in a cutscene.
Suspicious Video-Game Generosity: Reload extends the time limit from 8 minutes to 30. Except her new "Invitation to Chaos" attack speeds up the train and greatly reduces the timer, so in practice you have far less than 30 minutes.
Tarot Motifs: Reversed Priestess. Its slouched posture shows its lack of initiative or willingness to use its knowledge, best seen when it was willing to let the train that it was on crash. The Priestess also summons two shadows to aid it.
Time-Limit Boss:
- In the original releases, you have eight minutes to get through the train and beat it. The time limit is waived in the rematch Margaret offers in Portable.
- In Reload, the timer doesn't appear until the actual fight starts, and the player is initially given 30 minutes, a very generous amount. That is, until it casts "Invitation to Chaos," which speeds up the train and cuts the current time limit in half with each time it's used.

The Empress and the Emperor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emper0rempress11037.png

The third and fourth shadows, and the first fought as a pair. They appear on June 8th inside Tartarus, where they attack Mitsuru and Yukari. The Empress is a bloated, vaguely female creature, while the Emperor is a stiff, ineffectual weakling.

Attack Its Weak Point: In the manga, which doesn't include elemental weaknesses, Fuuka identifies the weaknesses as the left side of the Emperor's torso and the base of the Empress' neck, allowing Akihiko and Mitsuru to finish them off.
Barrier Change Boss:
- Thanks to their unique skill, Paradigm Shift, which allows them to change their elemental weaknesses and strengths. Initially, the Empress is weak to physical attacks while the Emperor is weak to magic. Having them use the move exactly once in the rematch is required to obtain Last Judge as a reward.
- Reload changes this to them only using Paradigm Shift twice, along with having a set order of weaknesses.
  - Emperor: The affinities it is weak to is always Elec, Ice, then Fire.
  - Empress: The affinities it is weak to is always Pierce, Strike, then Slash.
Cool Sword: The Emperor has one.
Creepily Long Arms: The Emperor's reach down to his tiny knees. His movements also seem very stiff and forced.
Dual Boss: The two shadows are fought together.
Fat Bastard: They're both pretty big.
Of Corsets Sexy: Averted. While the Empress does wear some sort of corset thing, it's far from appealing.
Signature Move: Both of them have the unique skill Paradigm Shift, which allows them to change their resistances and weaknesses on a whim.
Staff of Authority: The Empress carries one.
Tarot Motifs:
- Reversed Emperor for the Arcana Emperor. Its rigid movements, disproportionate body structure and having to constantly change its affinities display weakness and rigidity.
- Reversed Empress. Its obesity reflects selfishness and hedonism, the opposite of the motherly love displayed by those who possessed the Empress Arcana.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In the movie, the Empress has its arm sliced off by Hermes before being stabbed in the abdomen by Polydeuces.
Tiny-Headed Behemoth: The Empress is short and fat, while the Emperor is tall, but both have small heads compared to their bodies.
Top-Heavy Guy: The Emperor has a massive torso and arms, with a disproportionately small waist and legs. The Empress has a huge body with miniscule limbs.
Warm-Up Boss: Their boss fight is mainly to introduce Fuuka's scanning ability and how to effectively use it to hit their weaknesses. In the movie, S.E.E.S. are on the verge of defeat before Fuuka learns how to identify their weaknesses and starts calling out which attacks to use.

The Hierophant

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hierophant11037.jpg

The fifth shadow, appearing on July 7th in a love hotel on Shirakawa Boulevard, Iwatodai's infamous red-light district. He is an extremely obese man in a small throne, with a beige woman-like being stroking his face and two cross-shaped creatures on either side.

Adaptational Superpower Change: In the original releases, the Hierophant uses Zio skills, which best target Yukari's elemental weakness, and the Vision Quest rematch in Portable adds the Mamudoon spell to its move set. Reload rescinds both of these elemental affinities, and gets access to Makouga instead.
Adaptational Wimp:
- In the movie, the Hierophant is easily defeated by S.E.E.S. without Makoto's help.
- In Reload, he loses many of his status ailment abilities, its ability to Repel Elec skills, and can't target Yukari's weakness, making him a far more straightforward battle. Instead, it's Reload's iteration of the Lovers shadow that becomes the true Wake-Up Call Boss.
Casting a Shadow: In the Vision Quest rematch from Portable, it has the ability to use Mamudoon.
Creepy Blue Eyes: They glow brightly in contrast against the mostly pink background of the love hotel.
Cruelty Is the Only Option: To fulfill the special condition in his rematch, the player has to let an ally knocked out by his Ghastly Wail.
Evil Laugh: Before every attack, he and the beige woman laugh in synch.
Fat Bastard: The main shadow is rather obese.
Light 'em Up: In Reload, instead of Zio or Mudo skills, it has Makouga, which deals medium bless damage to all foes.
One-Hit Kill: Has Mamudoon and Ghastly Wail in the rematch, the latter of which combos with Prophecy of Ruin/Doomsday Doctrine, which inflicts the Fear status required for Ghastly Wail to work.
Orcus on His Throne: All the Hierophant does is sit on a throne and laugh, having the beige woman and cross monsters fight for him.
Shock and Awe: Repels Elec and uses the Zio line of skills in the original releases.
Signature Move: Prophecy of Ruin (Doomsday Doctrine in Reload), a skill that can inflict Fear on the entire party. In the rematch, this goes with Ghastly Wail to instantly kill anyone with Fear, if Mamudoon is not good enough.
Status-Buff Dispel: Has Dekaja to remove all buffs from the player's side.
Tarot Motifs: Reversed Hierophant. Its usage of cross-shaped monsters to fight for it reflects an abuse of spiritual/religious authority to do its bidding.
Wake-Up Call Boss: In the original releases, The Hierophant is often considered the first challenging Full Moon Shadow. He has a larger skillset than the Emperor and Empress, including having the Fear debuff and some stat manipulation capabilities. Also because Yukari is forced into the party he will hit her with Zio spells for more turns which can sometimes snowball into a Game Over.

The Lovers

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lovers11037.jpg

The sixth shadow, as well as the second one fought in the Shirakawa love hotel. It's a pink gelatinous creature held together by a heart-shaped metallic frame, with a small head on top and two large gel-like wings. Inside its body are a rotating pair of Mars and Venus symbols.

Blob Monster: Its body is viscous and jellylike, to the point where long strands hang loosely from the gaps in the frame.
Boom, Headshot!: In the movie adaption, Yukari finishes it off by shooting an arrow into the Lovers' head.
Charm Person: Uses Marin Karin and other charm attacks, not to mention its hypnosis on the members of S.E.E.S. The Charm status is a clue for its rematch's special victory condition.
Combat Tentacles: Which also form parts of its wings.
Life Drain: Has the skill with this namesake to drain a target's HP for itself.
Mana Drain: Has Spirit Drain to drain a target's SP.
Mass Hypnosis: It releases S.E.E.S.'s "desires" to try and distract them. The Protagonist will find themselves in a hotel room with one of the active party members in the shower - Junpei or Akihiko for the Female Protagonist, and Yukari for the Male Protagonist - and it's implied that the other party members have the same experience. It tries to convince them to give in, but the Protagonist is able to overcome it. No matter what the player wants.
Playing with Fire: Uses the multi-target Fire spells Maragion (Maragidyne in the rematch) as its magic skill. It did not resist Fire originally, but Reload made Lovers immune to it.
Signature Move: Heartbreaker, an Almighty attack that inflicts more damage on Charmed targets.
Spikes of Villainy: The metal cage that holds it together is covered in spikes.
Tarot Motifs: Reversed Lovers.
- The shadow's hypnotic powers empower feelings of lust in its victims as opposed to genuine feelings and intimacy that are often associated with the Lovers arcana. It makes sense considering that it's based in a lovers' hotel.
- Given how it is also able to induce the Charm status on the party, it can also represent the lack of agency. This is due to the Lovers card being originally being about decision making one can make in their life.
Wake-Up Call Boss: In Reload, Lovers takes this role instead of Hierophant. It's the first of the Arcana Shadows to gain new resistances (resists Pierce and Electric, and immune to Fire), and is a much harder fight overall than in the original releases, setting the bar for the remaining full moon boss fights.

The Chariot and Justice

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chariotjustice11037.jpg

The seventh and eighth shadows, and the second fought as a pair. They appear on August 6th in a secret underground military base. They're first encountered as a single tank-like entity, but later separate into the hull of a tank and a small flying creature with a large gun.

Back from the Dead: They both need to be killed when separate and at the same time. If not, one will use Samarecarm to bring the other back with full HP on its next turn. This has to be done at least once in their rematch to fulfill its special condition.
Combining Mecha: They combine into a tank with Justice serving as the turret and Chariot as the body.
Dual Boss: They're fought together and come with the classic gimmick of reviving each other when they die.
Gemini Destruction Law: Both must be destroyed on the same turn or else the survivor will revive the other. Don't try to kill them while fused, because they'll just pull the same trick.
My Name Is ???: When first encountered, and whenever they combine they're designated as "???".
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Justice is the smallest of the Full Moon Shadows, but no less powerful.
Spectacular Spinning: They both spin when using spells.
Tanks, but No Tanks: The two Shadows fuse with a tank during their boss fight; the Chariot being the body and the Justice being the turret.
Tarot Motifs:
- Reversed Chariot. The shadow Chariot acts as the body of the tank when both Shadows fuse, symbolizing brute strength without a purpose.
- Reversed Justice. The Justice Shadow functions as the head of the combined mecha, to guide the Shadow Chariot's actions when they fuse, symbolizing the misuse of leadership.
Time-Limit Boss: In the second movie, Strega releases poisonous gas into the room where the tank is, further putting S.E.E.S. in a tight spot until Shinjiro arrives.
The Turret Master: The Justice Shadow, which functions as the turret to be combined with the Chariot's body.

The Hermit

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hermy11037.png

The ninth shadow, appearing on September 5th inside Club Escapade at Paulownia mall. The Hermit is a quadrapedal cyborg creature with a large mane, a skull-like head, six giant vacuum tubes on its back, and wires connecting its limbs to the mall's power supply.

Attack! Attack! Attack!: All it is capable of are either attacks, damaging status effects, or charges.
Continuity Nod: During the class trip to Tatsumi Port Island in Persona 4, Rise mentions she was supposed to hold a secret concert at Club Escapade, but had to cancel because of a power outage. The power outage was caused by the Hermit Arcana Shadow, but none of the people outside S.E.E.S. knew about why.
Crippling Overspecialization: Its moveset is only consisted of Zio spells and physical attacks, so bring any Persona that isn't affected by Zio-type spells, and the worst it can do is use physical attacks, unless said Persona ignores those too. Its Vision Quest counterpart does use Mamudoon for coverage, however.
Cyber Cyclops: It has one eye, and resembles a cyborg.
Non-Mammalian Hair: It has a strange floating mane, probably held up by static.
One-Hit Kill: Its rematch has it pack Mamudoon to knock off any player expecting it to still spam Elec skills and nothing else.
Shock and Awe: Uses Zio spells and will eat any Elec spell aimed at it. Its ultimate attack, Giga Spark, also has a chance to shock all enemies. Its rematch's special condition requires this attack to be performed. Reload gives Hermit a quick charge version of the skill, Tera Spark, along with High-Volt Current.
Signature Move:
- In the original releases, it will use Charge, followed by Giga Spark after three turns.
- Reload gives it a stronger variant of this strategy and attack once its health is reduced by a certain amount: Accelerated Charge and Tera Spark. It takes one turn to charge and deals heavy Elec damage to all foes. It also knows High-Volt Current, which also deals medium Elec damage and can inflict Shock.
Tarot Motifs: Reversed Hermit. As opposed to the Hermit's reclusiveness, the shadow Hermit brings about problems to society through its draining of the mall's electricity supply to increase its powers. Leaving itself open when charging its Giga Spark reflects a lack of forethought of its actions.
Too Dumb to Live: Purposefully invoked. Since it lacks the knowledge of its upright counterpart, the Hermit doesn't make any effort to protect itself.
Turns Red: In Reload, after its HP is reduced to a certain amount, it start using Accelerated Charging to unleash Tera Spark, a faster version of the strategy when it uses Giga Spark, taking one turn instead of three to charge, its body glowing a whitish blue when telegraphing this move.

Fortune and Strength

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/strengthfortune11037.png

The tenth and eleventh shadows, and the final pair. The appear on October 4th at the plaza of Iwatodai Station. Fortune is a golden mechanical lifeform, while Strength is a woman surrounded by flowers.

Adaptational Wimp: Zig-zagged with Fortune in Reload. Unlike in previous versions of the game, it now has two weaknesses, one of which is Strike attacks. However, to compensate for this, it now absorbs all magic attacks besides Dark and Electric (its other weakness).
Developer's Foresight: Strength's entire arsenal is based around physical attacks, so bringing Tetrakarn (which protects the entire party in this game) would seem to be a great idea. True, Strength will have no choice but to target someone with an attack... but then they will target that one weakness in the attack wall, for the rest of the fight.
Five-Second Foreshadowing: In Reload, Fortune will cast one last Wheel of Fortune roulette spin, with a small section with a Reaper on it, making Fuuka nervous. When it lands on the segment, Fuuka is nervous, but is then surprised when there's no effect, S.E.E.S. defeat it without further any issues. The result was foretelling Shinjiro Aragaki's death, who dies the same night after the Fortune and Strength Full Moon Shadow operation is completed.
Mechanical Lifeform: Fortune appears to be a flat, metal sphinx-like creature.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Fortune's only attack for most of the fight is summoning a roulette wheel, which inflicts stat changes, status effects, or damage on either S.E.E.S. or Strength and itself. Timing it correctly, with the right personas, can make them surprisingly easy to beat.
No-Sell: Strength cannot be knocked down by a critical hit.
Petal Power: Strength is surrounded by floating petals.
Signature Move:
- Fortune: Wheel of Fortune, which is a randomized roulette that either damages, heals, buffs or debuffs all on-screen targets. In the original games, the results can be rigged by the player depending on a variety of factors, but Reload makes it more random and takes the player input out of the equation.
- Strength: Reload gives it a new exclusive skill, Mobius Rondo, which hits all targets with light strike damage six times.
Something about a Rose: Strength sits atop a mass of multicolored roses and carries one its hand.
Tarot Motifs:
- Reversed Fortune. The shadow Fortune deliberately rigs the roulette game in its favor.
- Reversed Strength. Strength is easily susceptible to the Fear ailment, showing its lack of fortitude. By granting the Fortune invincibility, it's also enabling the "beast" instead of taming it, representing no control over one's impulses.

The Hanged Man

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hangedman11037.png

The twelfth and final shadow, appearing on November 3rd at the Moonlight Bridge. It's a large humanoid connected to a metallic structure suspended by two rings of rotating wings.

Action Bomb: In the original releases, it can turn its summoned Mayas into this via Armed & Ready. Once the sacrificed Maya's turn comes up, it explodes to inflict Almighty damage. This must be done at least once in the rematch to fulfill its special condition.
Body Horror: Its head and neck are positioned upside-down, while its body hangs from a cross by long strands of flesh.
Dirty Coward: Prefers to let Mooks do the fighting, while it safely hovers over the party away from the battle.
Disc-One Final Boss: Appears to be the Final Boss at first, until you discover that the Dark Hour still exists the next night.
Fire, Ice, Lightning: Its three statue minions look identical but each is specialized in and thus immune to Fire, Ice, and Elec in that order.
Five-Second Foreshadowing: Its Summon animation differs between summoning Devious Mayas and summoning statues (and thus taking off into the sky again). If it bounces in place followed by creating a Shadow with its hands, a Maya is summoned. If it slams its fist, the statues are restored and it flies up.
Flunky Boss: Tends to leave shadow Mooks to fight for it.
Giant Flyer: Hovers over the battle until its Mooks are taken down.
Marathon Boss: The version you face in the rematch has 18,000 HP, which is nearly as much as the Final Boss. The statues also have 999 HP each, meaning that this fight will take a long time.
Signature Move:
- In the original releases, it's Armed & Ready, which sacrifices one of the Devious Mayas it summons to inflict heavy Almighty damage to the player's party.
- In Reload, it's Grim Transcendence, which grants it three extra turns.
Tarot Motifs: Reversed Hanged Man. In contrast to the Hanged Man arcana's altruism and self-sacrifice, the shadow Hanged Man prefers to leave the fighting to its shadow minions while it hovers safely over the battle. Its Armed and Ready attack would also sacrifice one of its minions.
Winged Humanoid: A weird example, as the wings aren't directly connected to its body. Instead, its suspended form is connected to two giant rings covered in rotating wings.

Death (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Nyx

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images_3_39.jpg

^{Click here to see Nyx’s moon shell}

^{Click here to see Nyx’s core}

"It matters not who you are... One thing is always certain: death awaits all."

Voiced By: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Yuri Lowenthal (English; original), Aleks Le (English; Reload)

A "maternal" entity known and worshipped by past civilizations as Nyx, the goddess who bestowed Night and Death upon the world. As a herald of Nyx, Death serves as humanity's Appriser to determine when it would summon its "mother" for the end of the world, an event prophesied as the Fall.

The Kirijo Group learned of Nyx and the prophecy of the Fall when they researched about Plumes of Dusk and Shadows, embracing it as salvation. They eventually gathered enough to awaken Death and give it a physical form. However, one of the researchers defied the group's beliefs and his actions fractured Death into thirteen pieces about a decade before the story proper.

Twelve pieces became Arcana Shadows fought during the Full Moon of each month, while the thirteenth piece is Death in incomplete state. Aigis sealed it into the protagonist as a last ditch effort to stop Death, which results in it becoming a ghost-like entity in their mind as Pharos. When the Arcana Shadows are defeated, Pharos reabsorbs their essence and he leaves the protagonist to take a human form as Ryoji Mochizuki. Not long after his incarnation, Ryoji regains memories of his true nature, ready to call his creator and become Nyx Avatar.

See Ryoji Mochizuki for tropes applying to the vessel of her will.

Adaptational Badass: In the original game (as well as FES and Portable), Nyx Avatar is at Level 76, their stats are between 45-55, and would sometimes cast lower-tier skills (such as Agi, Holy Arrow, and Fatal End, just to name a few) in earlier phases. This changes in other adaptations:
- In the final movie, they can utilize Full Moon Shadow's powers and even give Makoto a tough time until the latter has Thanatos beat them up to a bloody pulp.
- Their Reload counterpart is now at Level 81, their Strength, Magic, and Endurance increases from 50 to around 80s or 90s whenever they switch Arcanas, their attacks (both physical and magical) hit like a truck thanks to having Boost, Amp, and Driver passives at their disposal, gains a HP to 1 skill, can cast Night Queen even if their Death phase's health isn't low yet, and even took a page from their movie counterpart's book by using beefed up versions of the Full Moon Shadows' Signature Moves. At the same time, their Death Phase no longer halves the damage dealt to them, making their health much easier to whittle down.
Adaptational Ugliness: In the games, the Nyx Avatar is animated in the same style as the characters and looks more like a ghost. And despite looking like a mask, its face is organic, since it smiles in one scene. Meanwhile, its form in Winter of Rebirth is CGI to create an otherworldly look, more like a robot or an inanimate object, and its face seems to be an actual mask since its expression doesn't change and it cracks after Makoto stabs it.
Affably Evil: Neither Death nor Nyx has malice against humans — in fact, Nyx is described as a "maternal" entity. Both are just following their nature as the Grim Reaper, and as shown when they fight you as Nyx Avatar, Death laments having to fight you due to his experiences as Ryoji and their Arcana-themed Boss Banter signifies a deep understanding of human life.
All There in the Manual: As with Shadows in general, much information concerning Nyx as an entity and its role in the greater Persona universe is told in Persona 3 Club Book, an art book containing interviews with the game directors. See Eldritch Abomination below for details.
All Your Powers Combined: Death requires bodies and powers of the 12 Arcana Shadows to complete its purpose as a vessel for Nyx's will. In the fourth P3 movie and the manga, Nyx Avatar uses the powers of each Arcana Shadow whenever its Arcana shifts. Reload gives Nyx Avatar some of the Signature Moves of the Full Moon Shadows whenever Nyx shifts to the corresponding Arcana; almost all of these skills are still used even after shifting to the Death Arcana.
- Priestess: Ice Storm^note
- Hierophant: Doomsday Doctrine
- Lovers: Heartbreaker^noteDeals extra damage to charmed opponents
- Hermit: Tera Spark and High-Volt Current^note
- Strength: Mobius Rondo
- Hanged Man: Grim Transcendence
Almighty Idiot: In the games, the Nyx entity in the Moon has hints suggesting It Can Think^note. Persona 3 Club Book instead has Kirijo researchers state it is this, a living but hollow Empty Shell, a physical body awaiting command from its psyche or spirit to call it down to Earth. Seeing as research about the Moon is limited or nonexistent^note, its true nature and/or state are up in the air.
Ambiguous Situation: In the original release of Persona 3, Nyx as an entity is mostly shrouded in mystery, with the characters speculating it is some sort of divine embodiment of Death. Persona 3 Club Book artbook reveals much of its nature and role, but some details are deliberately left vague: information about Nyx is intentionally presented as details which Kirijo group managed to glean after decades of researching its fragments (Plumes of Dusk and Shadows), so details like its origin of existence, the reason it drifted space in a dormant state, its mindset, or the specifics of its Moon body remain uncertain. The subsequent Updated Re-release Persona 3 FES only emphasizes some information in the artbook (namely, how Nyx predates humanity and the collective conscious, how it isn't hostile to humans, and how it only moves to answer humanity's desire for Death), and doesn't provide new answers in regards to Nyx's ambiguity.
Anti-Villain: Nyx Avatar is not evil at all and is just reluctantly carrying out its job. In fact, as Pharos and then Ryoji, it's actually one of the protagonist's closest associates.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: While the game's size scaling makes Nyx Avatar roughly only the size of a freight train container, other depictions showcase it is one of the largest enemies S.E.E.S. faced. In the movie, its head alone is roughly as large as Makoto. In the manga, it initially fights in roughly the same size as other versions but once it duels Messiah, midway in their clash both of them grow to the size of a Kaiju, standing taller than the suspension towers of the Moonlight Bridge ^note.
Attack Reflector: Nyx Avatar's Moonless Gown spell in the original Persona 3, FES, and Portable. Notable because it reflects absolutely everything for three turns, even Almighty attacks.
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: The true Nyx is the seemingly single most powerful being in the entire Persona universe, as the literal source of all Shadows and a literally moon-sized entity that can bring around the end of the world pretty much at will. However, Nyx is also a (probably) Almighty Idiot that is basically always sleeping, and doesn't bother to do anything whatsoever unless called by Erebus and the Appriser/Ryoji/Pharos together to start the Fall.
Barrier Change Boss: Nyx Avatar has fourteen life bars that correspond with the Major Arcana from the Fool to Death, and each life bar gives the Avatar immunities that are based on the previous Full Moon bosses. In the original releases, the final Death phase makes it resistant to all attack types and immune to Dark and Light magic, while it takes neutral damage against all elements in Reload.
Battle Theme Music: In the battle against Nyx Avatar, "The Battle For Everyone's Souls", a composition involving a lot of guitar and piano along with choir voices. It notably incorporates part of the Velvet Room's theme, "Aria of the Soul", and is later used as Elizabeth's battle theme in Persona 4 Arena. In the movie adaptation, it instead plays when Makoto enters the Moon.
BFS: Similar to Thanatos, Ryoji as Nyx Avatar wields a sword about as long as he is tall, which is quite a bit taller than a freight train.
Big Bad: Of the late game portion of Persona 3. However, she's not inherently malicious, as The Answer epilogue reveals Erebus is the real problem.
Bishōnen Line: While the previous twelve Full Moon Shadows ranged from the monstrous to the only vaguely humanoid, Death, the most powerful of them all, manifests itself initially in the form of Ryoji, who is, for all intents and purposes, perfectly human on the surface. Nyx Avatar, Death's true form, is itself an angelic-looking, grotesque distortion of Ryoji's appearance that retains most of his human features.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: Double subverted and downplayed, but not enough for Nyx's mindset to be something comprehensible to humans.
- In its Boss Banter, Nyx Avatar neatly explains each Major Arcana from the Fool to the Hanged Man, pointing out facts about life which make it worth living for and qualities of humankind which should be strived for. However, it concludes despite all of these, none of it actually matters because no matter who, everyone will die — a human belief and an understandable thought process which seems to subvert this trope.
- The game's artbook explains Shadows which exist within every living being are the reason why lifeforms, humans in particular, can develop psyches complicated enough to allow sapience. Shadows forced out of humans thus contain sets of psychological complexes without the human elements of a personality, each one leaning toward a specific Major Arcana because no single Shadow can properly express Nyx; naturally, Death is a vessel because it has sufficient complexes for Nyx's consciousness to transfer into. This means Death and Nyx can understand human complexes, enough for Nyx Avatar to neatly interpret Tarot Motifs, but they don't necessarily have human responses to said complexes due to their eldritch nature, turning Nyx into a double subversion. Death downplays this as experiences from living with the protagonist allows it to develop a degree of humanlike mindset, which results in Ryoji, but he still has a fairly odd perspective on certain things ^note.
- The artbook and The Answer portion of FES also clarify the incarnation of Death (the catalyst necessary to awaken Nyx's spirit) is normally only possible when mass numbers of people have given up on living first. Given the artbook specifies the Fall is a process for Nyx to revive and properly exist as "Star Eater" once more, the fact Death's incarnation as the Appriser and by extension its own revival are responses to people being suicidal implies Nyx is in some way receptive to desires or thoughts for death. FES further highlights the moment the protagonist asserts humanity as a whole don't wish for the ultimate end by using the Great Seal to prevent Erebus from calling for Death, Nyx seems unconcerned with the Fall being halted midway. In turn, this implies the entity is content to slumber for eternity if there is no Deathwish to answer.
Boss Banter:
- Each time one of its life bars is depleted, Nyx Avatar performs its unique move Arcana Shift from "The Fool" to "The Hanged Man" and follows it up with an appropriate quote referencing what the tarot stands for. As its second to last life bar is depleted, it ends the banter with quoting its true Arcana, "Death":
  Nyx Avatar: The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate... Entrusting his future to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yet, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed... Beyond the journey you have taken lies the absolute end. It matters not who you are... One thing is always certain: death awaits all.
- It also has some general voice lines when casting its attacks:
  Nyx Avatar: The time has come!
  Nyx Avatar: All shall perish.
- In Portable, Nyx will always say "Eternity awaits" when using Arcana Shift.
- Reload gives Nyx a different set of voice clips when attacking compared to the original:
  Nyx Avatar: Fall!
  Nyx Avatar: All shall fall!
  Nyx Avatar: Accept your fate!
  Nyx Avatar: The Arcana has revealed.
Character Catchphrase: Nyx Avatar always says "The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed" whenever it changes Arcana, followed by a relevant detail of the Major Tarot Arcana that it will shift to.
Complete Immortality: Unlike most Persona Eldritch Abominations, Nyx is a Cosmic Entity, and killing it might not even be possible. Its psyche is an almost intangible wave-like thing, awakened only by the Death Arcana Shadow that is meant to act as its vessel. As shown in the Bad End, killing Ryoji the vessel does nothing to the psyche, and merely slows down the process of the Fall by a little over a month.
Cool Mask: Like the Night Queen, Nyx Avatar bears one resembling a comedy mask, which is ironic, as comedy in its roots was the term for a play with a "happy" ending — which Persona 3 doesn't have.
Cosmic Entity: What Nyx basically is, being a Moon-sized entity from somewhere, who can devour all life on celestial bodies as well as destroy them entirely. The mere presence of its disembodied psyche influenced Earth lifeforms into Reality Warpers through its Shadows, which continue to grow within life and the Sea of Souls.
Darkness Equals Death: Just like the Greek goddess this entity is named after. In fact, it was worshipped as a goddess who gifted Night and Death into the world by past civilizations who knew its existence.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Subverted. It appears Nyx is sealed away after the Great Seal is cast, but the game's artbook and Persona 3 FES reveal the truth is a bit more complex: Nyx Avatar containing its psyche is returned to the collective unconscious back to its slumber, and Great Seal bars Erebus from contacting it and facilitating another awakening.
Divided Deity: In the process of gathering enough Shadows to allow the Death Shadow to incarnate, Eiichiro Takeba interfered with the process and caused Death to be split into thirteen pieces. Twelve became the Arcana Shadows, while Death's incomplete main body was sealed by Aigis into the Protagonist as a child, leading him to gain the identity of Pharos. Destroying all of the Arcana Shadows allows Pharos to absorb them back and leave the Protagonist's psyche to properly become Death, but Pharos' bond with the Protagonist gives him a shred of humanity enough to instead incarnate into a human form, Ryoji Mochizuki. On New Year's Eve, Ryoji sheds his human form as Nyx's will starts to inhabit him as a vessel, and exactly one month later, Nyx's consciousness has integrated within him and turns him into the Nyx Avatar, ready to bring about the Fall.
The Dreaded: Almost anytime its name is mentioned it sends chills down anyone's spine.
Duel Boss: At the climax of the game, the protagonist is forced to fight Nyx within the Moon alone. In the fourth movie and the manga, the protagonist has to duel Nyx Avatar first before doing the same.
Eldritch Abomination: So much so to the point the story doesn't properly go into detail about the entity, and even the side material concerning it intentionally leaves ambiguities to emphasize it is beyond human comprehension.
- In the game itself, it is only vaguely described as some sort of abstract maternal entity who will end all life on Earth. It takes masses of Shadows (already living mockeries of physics) fusing to become Death, a god-like being, just to be a vessel for Nyx's will. Nyx itself is described by Death as more akin to a force of nature than a mortal being; after Nyx Avatar shrugs off its defeat in the final battle, it calls forth the main entity which turns out to be the Moon itself. In its descent through the atmosphere, the Moon rips out Shadows from some citizens (and a few have their bodies outright melt into more Shadows), before an "eye" opens on its surface to reveal a portal to its insides. Within it lies a dark realm with pitch-black background, and a core which appears as an incomprehensible massive mass of white-golden energy with hand-like 'wings' connected to it.
- The Persona 3 Club Book expands on this. Nyx, or rather Star Eater predates complex Earth life; a celestial entity who came from space. It collided with Earth when life first formed, after which it separated into a psyche or spirit who went dormant on Earth and a physical body which formed the Moon (whose broken debris became Plumes of Dusk). The psyche's "waves of death" led to a period of evolution; Earth life formed the Collective Unconscious to contain these deadly energies (which became Shadows), kept from reality by the will to live and fear of death. However, the spread of human desire for death (revealed as Erebus in FES) gradually allows gigantic Shadows akin to Arcana Shadows to emerge. If these fuse into Death, it will raise Tartarus to let more Shadows roam the world and serve as an antenna for the Moon to descend; in the meantime Death draws in the dormant psyche to awaken it ^note. Thus the Fall is a rebirth; Nyx's psyche inhabits the Moon so it "exists" once more. But its presence will rip out Shadows within all life (which results in Apathy Syndrome), and since it would happen to all life...
The End of the World as We Know It: What the Fall amounts to. Once Nyx's spirit at the bottom of the Sea of Souls awakens, it will gradually call down its Moon shell to Earth. Once they rejoin, the entity's awakened presence will devour all life alongside their Shadows, and destroy the Earth.
Fantasy Counterpart Myth: Nyx as Star Eater is described very similarly to both the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods of Cthulhu Mythos. Both Nyx and the Old Ones possess immeasurable Psychic Powers and Reality Warper abilities, both have vital role in their respective Earth's prehistory ^note, both are presently dormant in Eldritch Locations associated with "seas" ^note, both wake only when certain conditions are met ^note, and it is in the best interest of everyone to keep them resting to prevent the end of the world. Nyx's Moon body also resembles the Outer God Ghroth, whose physical form is also a living planet with a giant eye on its surface, who heralds death and the end of life to any planet it approaches. The pitch-black realm within the Moon body where its core resides in also resembles the empty void where Outer Gods reside in outside of reality.
Femme Fatalons: Reload's updated graphics show that Nyx Avatar possesses sharp, claw-like fingernails, befitting its androgynous appearance.
Final Boss: Nyx Avatar serves as the last major foe S.E.E.S. faces in the original Persona 3, The Journey in FES, Portable, and Reload. Nyx herself is, ironically, a Post-Final Boss.
Final-Exam Boss: Nyx Avatar's fourteen phases all possess different resistances and skills which resemble the past twelve Full Moon bosses in the original releases. This is taken to its logical conclusion in Reload, where it not only has the same resistances, but it also retains the attack behaviors and even some of the signature moves of the Arcana Shadows based on its Arcana phase. Its final phase contains some of the most powerful skills from the previous Full Moon Shadow bosses in its move set.
Four Is Death: Fitting its theme, Nyx Avatar has four black wings attached to itself.
Gender Bender: Nyx is referred to as "the mother" (despite likely lacking a true gender), but Death (as Pharos and Ryoji) look and act masculine. Once Death becomes Nyx Avatar, it appears somewhere between male and female, resembling Ryoji but with a more feminine and much less human appearance, plus a mask.
Genius Loci: Nyx's original form was a Moon-sized Eldritch Abomination who crashed into Earth billions of years ago, the impact of which separated it into a body which became the Moon, and a psyche which became the origin of Shadows. This corresponds to a real-life hypothesis about how a planet may have created the Moon of Earth in this exact fashion, which is commonly known as Theia, but was once also referred to as Orpheus.
Glass Cannon: In Reload, Nyx Avatar's Fortune phase has half the health of the other phases barring Death, but makes up for it with an arsenal of the highest-level elemental spells such as Diamond Dust and Inferno.
God Save Us from the Queen!: One of Nyx Avatar's more feminine traits is the crown-like attachment sprouting from its head. One of its signature spells is also called Night Queen, as a reference to the Nyx who appeared in the original Persona game.
Greater-Scope Villain: As the source of the Shadows, it serves as one for the entire Persona series beyond Persona 3.
The Grim Reaper: The most prominent among the four beings which could count in Persona 3, as well as the progenitor of the other three. All Shadows originate from Nyx and whenever a certain amount fuse, they become an embodiment of Death whose sole instinct is to bring death to all through the Fall. The existence of Death in the protagonist then leads to the creation of Thanatos as a Persona. And while the Reaper has largely unknown origins, as a Shadow it too is a child of Nyx.
Hidden Depths: As detailed under Blue-and-Orange Morality above, Death can serve as a vessel for Nyx because it has sufficient psychological complexes for Nyx's consciousness to manifest in. This implies Nyx as an entity innately possesses said complexes as its nature, which is reinforced by how it only needs to sense Death to awaken, and carries out the Fall as a response to humanity's deathwish with or without its vessel. Put another way, Nyx's spirit is the reason why its Shadows are the way they are, not the other way around.
Humanoid Abomination: Compared to Nyx's Moon shell and its core, Nyx Avatar appears much more humanoid, with human-like torso and upper body clad in black armour. Justified, as this is essentially Ryoji's transformation after Nyx's psyche incarnates within him.
I Have Many Names: Nyx, 'the mother' or the maternal entity. Sometimes referred simply as Death, a name which also refers to an aspect of itself known as Pharos, Ryoji Mochizuki, and the Appriser. The Persona 3 Club Book additionally refers to Nyx as "Star Eater".
I Let You Win: Nyx Avatar allows itself to be beaten in the final battle of P3, as a courtesy to let the main characters live to the fullest, before continuing to bring upon the Fall.
Invincible Villain: Ryoji wasn't exaggerating or boasting when he said Nyx cannot be defeated, no matter how powerful S.E.E.S is; Ryoji, the Avatar of Nyx, can be harmed, sealed away, or even killed, but all of this does absolutely nothing to either Nyx's spirit in the Avatar or Nyx's main body in the moon. Once the Moon descends on the planet, its presence in the atmosphere alone forces S.E.E.S to their knees and leaves them unable to fight. The end of the world is only prevented by the protagonist awakening the Universe Arcana (described as the power which began and will end everything), and they had to sacrifice their life in what amounts to Sealed Evil in a Duel. Even then, Nyx is not destroyed or defeated in any meaningful way; the Moon and Nyx's spirit both return to dormancy, and the Great Seal doesn't bind Nyx's spirit in the collective unconscious, but rather prevents Erebus from beckoning Nyx to begin the Fall in the first place.
Lunacy: The Moon plays a major role in Persona 3, as it is almost always emphasized in the bleak green night sky of the Dark Hour whenever it is visible. Shadow activities increase the closer it is to Full Moon, with Arcana Shadows whom the S.E.E.S must defeat showing up during Full Moon Operations. It is later revealed this is because the Moon is Nyx, and it constantly influences all Shadows roaming the world.
Master of All: Nyx Avatar sports pretty much every elemental and physical attack in the entire game, while having its own unique moves to boot.
Meaningful Name: Nyx in Greek myth is an Eldritch Abomination who is likened to a woman who gave birth to many, many things, included among them Death and Friendship. It parallels the fact Nyx here also created Death, which in turn caused humanity to evolve, and is referred to as "the mother".
Monster Progenitor: Sometimes referred as "Mother of Shadows". In a way, it can be considered one to humanity itself, as its existence has influenced life on this planet to the point humans derive Reality Warper abilities from its Shadows.
Mythology Gag: One of its attacks is called "Night Queen" in reference to the Snow Queen path from the first Persona, where a different Nyx is the final boss.
Nerf: Very much downplayed. In Reload, Nyx Avatar doesn't move twice per turn, its normal attacks don't inflict Almighty damage, and during its final phase, it doesn't have Moonless Gown, an Attack Reflector which can randomly stop the party's progress for three whole turns whenever the A.I. Roulette feels like it. However, it has potent skills from previous bosses throughout its phases, and its final phases switch out the ability to stall out the fight at will with the ability to gain extra turns at will (Grim Transcendence), a party-wide HP to 1 attack (Apocalypse), and the willingness to use its status inducing attack (Night Queen) way earlier in the phase.
Noble Demon: Despite being an Eldritch Abomination whose role is to bring upon the end of the world, Ryoji, both as himself and as the Nyx Avatar, are a lot more polite and affable than the human antagonists. Nyx's "maternal" nature leads it to respond toward wishes for Death, but given that bringing around the Fall would also restore Nyx into its proper existence, the fact it is willing to let Death appraise the appropriate time for this speaks volumes about its nature.
Non-Malicious Monster: As Metis notices, Nyx could have begun the Fall long ago if it wished it, but Nyx as a whole is a neutral entity who doesn't hold humanity in contempt. It remains idle until Death awakens to decide when it would move and answer humanity's deathwish, and is seemingly content to stay in the moon forever if there's no death wish to answer.
No-Sell: In its boss fight, Nyx Avatar is immune to different things across fourteen phases. And like the Strength Arcana Shadow, Nyx Avatar can't be knocked down with critical hits, regardless of phase. Additionally, its resistance to all damage except Almighty in the final phase cannot be reduced with element Break spells.
One-Steve Limit: Averted; this Nyx and the Persona Nyx appear to be unrelated despite sharing a name, and both of them are also separate from the mythological Nyx, who has a more direct equivalent as a regular recurring demon in Shin Megami Tensei (including in Shin Megami Tensei if..., a direct precursor to the Persona series).
Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: Being a Cosmic Entity, Nyx doesn't have a specific gender, however both of its humanoid incarnations, Pharos and Ryoji, are male, and the primary entity is referred to as a 'mother'. Fittingly, its form as the Nyx Avatar is incredibly androgynous, with its chest and its head slightly resembling Ryoji, but having a female-looking outfit and silhouette.
Outside-Context Problem: The main antagonists in the Persona series tend to be sapient embodiments of various negative human desires, being born from the Collective Unconscious of humanity. Nyx is... not. Whatever it is, it is older than humanity (and complex life on Earth, for that matter) and is in fact the cause for the existence of Shadows to begin with.
Patrick Stewart Speech: Subverted. Nyx Avatar's speech about the Tarot cards highlights many great things about life and humanity, but concludes by saying none of them matter, since everyone and everything is fated to die.
Perpetual Molt: In the original releases, it's hard to spot, but Nyx always is losing feathers as the fight goes on. In Reload, players can see them more clearly as they ascend Tartarus, and the final battle with Nyx constantly has feathers molting from its wings in the background. As the fight goes on in Reload, Fuuka warns the party that they will become more susceptible to Status Effects because of these feathers.
Perpetual-Motion Monster: Nyx as a whole seems to be this.
- The Arcana Shadows, special Shadows which have mutated to become a vessel for Nyx's psyche, are evidently The Needless who can roam around, sustain the Dark Hour, and fight without sustenance or rest. Even if they are destroyed, their essences remain and can reform — ensuring they will reunite as Death and complete their purpose.
- Plumes of Dusk are fragments from when Nyx collided with Earth, and they produce clean energy which can empower machines similar to electricity. Their energy output seems proportional to their size (bigger Plumes produce more) and never run dry; while it is possible to burn fuel faster than a Plume can produce, it will continue to release energy unless shattered to fragments too small for proper usage.
Pieces of God: Fourfold example:
- Shadows are "waves of death" or the energies of Nyx's psyche which spread across Earth, existences composed out of energy and "information" akin to pure thought. They are essentially energy fragments of Nyx itself, suppressed by the will to live and fear of death as binds in the collective unconscious. Portions of Nyx's Shadows are now essential parts to the psyche of every living being, and are the reason why humans possess complex psyches and supernatural cognitive powers.
- Plumes of Dusk are debris broken off Nyx when it collided with Earth. How distinct they are from Shadows isn't fully understood, as they possess the same powers, but with physical forms. They are also described similarly to the Velvet Room, being in a state between matter and information with properties of both. They perpetually produce waves and energy very similar to living beings, can store information not unlike human brains, and facilitate "sentience" to form within it in certain conditions. Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon models like Aigis and Labrys use these Plumes as their power source and "heart".
- Nyx's psyche or spirit, described to exist in a "wave-like" state. After the collision it remained dormant on Earth while its waves spread across the planet, and was sunk into the deepest depths of the collective unconscious as a means to contain its deadly waves (which became Shadows). As desires for Death propagate in the Sea of Souls, gigantic Shadows will emerge to reality in response, whose fusion will wake the dormant psyche and begin the Fall. The Kirijo Group and Igor refer to this special Shadow as Death, Appriser, and a Harbinger of the Fall; once Nyx's psyche incarnates in it, it becomes Nyx Avatar.
- Nyx's body in the Moon. It's not made clear what it actually is and how distinct it is from Shadows and Plumes; all known details include how it was worshipped as the goddess of night Nyx by past civilizations, it influences all Shadows roaming the world, and it has an unchartered Eldritch Location with an equally eldritch core. It's unclear if this entity has a will or not; its psyche being out of its body should mean it is currently mindless, but as it is an Eldritch Abomination beyond human logic with hints that It Can Think, it's not certain.
Planet Eater: As revealed in the game's artbook, the Kirijo group's research refers to Nyx's original incarnation as Star Eater; as the Japanese tends to describe planets (and all celestial bodies in general) as 'stars', its name can be correctly translated as "Planet Eater". In the same artbook Ryoji states it is normally an existence which destroys whole celestial bodies, though he doesn't confirm how it does so.
Post-Final Boss: Nyx is this to her own Avatar, the actual Final Boss of Persona 3; the battle against her is very short, especially in comparison to the far longer and more difficult fight against the latter.
Psychic Powers: It is noted all of its abilities and characteristics are fundamentally psychic in nature. Its spirit releases waves of death which influence all of Earth; Shadows are composed of pure energy and thought; both Shadows and Plumes of Dusk can facilitate complex psyches; and the Moon influences all Shadows apparently with its own waves. It reaches Reality Warper levels as even fragments of Shadows can basically subvert physics and space-time to their favor.
Readings Are Off the Scale: In the Scripted Battle within the Moon, Nyx can only do one attack: Death, which does 9999 damage — the highest damage number possible in the game. The protagonist still manages to shrug it off multiple times.
Reality Warper: It is stated the reason Earth wasn't destroyed when the Star Eater collided with the planet is because it is composed of something which defies laws of physics, including momentum. That's not even getting into the myriad things which Nyx's many Pieces of God do.
The Sacred Darkness: To many past civilizations which learned its existence, Nyx was worshipped for her gifts upon the world, Night and Death. The prophecy of the Fall was in actuality an old documentation recording events in history which brought the world closer to awakening Nyx, which was what allowed Kouetsu and Ikutsuki to figure out the means to kickstart it early without the necessary amount of people giving up on living first (which is what would give birth to gigantic Shadow components of Death in reality).
Scripted Battle: When P3 Hero fights Nyx within the Moon at the game's climax. Nyx will always cast Death, which deals 9999 damage, with the protagonist enduring it every time. However, the player's actions are limited (with Reload making sure the only thing they can do is attack during this phase) as their health steadily increases throughout the battle, eventually blocking the damage received from Nyx. Once the player has recovered all their health, the only action that can be taken is Great Seal, which ends the battle instantly.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Zig-zagged, as Nyx as an entity exists as so many Pieces of God, some of whom are bound, some aren't.
- According to Persona 3 Club Book, the Collective Unconscious exists to seal the deadly energies of Nyx's psyche as Shadows. The will to live and fear of death act as binds to prevent Shadows from emerging into reality, while their psychic source sank to the depths of unconsciousness and became dormant. However, while Shadows are bound to individual lifeforms, they can break out of their hosts if the aforementioned thoughts binding them cease for any reason. And while unchained Shadows within the collective unconscious are still bound by the general thoughts of Earth's populace for the most part, it's noted sometimes they still end up in reality somehow (how Kirijo Group can find them in the first place, gathering them en masse to artificially awaken Death).
- Propagation of people wishing for death over history has also weakened the binds of Shadows in the collective unconscious. This makes it possible for gigantic Shadows to manifest in reality, who would attempt to fuse themselves to become Death. It is stated this has nearly led to the Fall multiple times in human history prior to Persona 3. To counteract the Fall, the protagonist uses the Universe Arcana to sink Nyx's awakened psyche back into collective unconscious to slumber again, while Great Seal prevents Erebus, the collective wish for Death, from facilitating the formation of Death through its calls to Nyx.
Signature Move:
- In the first three releases of P3, Nyx Avatar has three; Arcana Shift, Moonless Gown, and Night Queen.
  - Arcana Shift: Whenever one of the first thirteen life bars is depleted, it will use this move to signify an Arcana change, changing its immunities and resistances to match the Arcana of a previous Full Moon Shadow boss.
  - Moonless Gown: An Attack Reflector that is used during during its last phase, reflecting every attack for three turns, including Almighty element attacks.
  - Night Queen: Deals huge Almighty damage to the whole party and inflicts random status ailments.
- In Reload, starting in the Emperor phase, Nyx Avatar will use Sweep and Sunder, both being attacks that use its BFS.
- Reload drops Moonless Gown from its move set, replacing it with Apocalypse which instantly reduces the party's HP by 99% instead.
- As the Post-Final Boss, Nyx has only one single move: Death, which deals the absolute maximum amount of damage in the game. The protagonist only manages to survive it through sheer willpower before being empowered by the voices of their friends, after which the protagonist manages to avoid, and then outright block it.
Slasher Smile: Nyx Avatar's mask-like face has a constant creepy smile.
That Man Is Dead: When Aigis and Yukari recognise Nyx Avatar as Ryoji, it muses that that had been its name for a time, but now there is no longer a distinction made between Nyx and itself.
That's No Moon: Literally. Nyx Avatar calls forth the Moon visible within the Dark Hour to descend, revealing it to be Nyx itself (its original body, according to the artbook).
The Three Faces of Eve: The Seductress to Elizabeth's Wife and Aigis' Child.
Time Abyss: The Star Eater is at least older than complex life on Earth and the Moon, given its original body became the Moon after drifting across reality for an unknown period of time. Furthermore, Philemon describes the power which created the universe as the same power within the sea of hearts, which is formed by the psyches of all Earth life after integrating Nyx's Shadows within themselves. This implies Nyx, as the origin of said Shadows, could have existed since the creation of the universe, if not older.
The Virus: Not outright stated, but the game shows Shadows sometimes don't simply rip out Shadows from living beings, but also melt or transform the flesh outright into more Shadows, implying Shadows can convert life into more of themselves. After Nyx's Moon descends, its approaching presence causes people who believe in the Cult of Nyx to outright explode into more Shadows.
Vocal Dissonance: Nyx Avatar is a gigantic, terrifying Humanoid Abomination in black, but in the Japanese dub, its voice is the same as Ryoji's but slightly deeper. The Movie version amps it up by having it speak exactly in Ryoji's tone of speech, but with added echo effects. Reload goes this route, where it's softer, has less reverb, and sounds closer to Ryoji's voice in both dubs.
Voice of the Legion: Nyx Avatar speaks with Ryoji's voice, but has an echo to indicate how otherworldly and powerful it is. In Japanese, it's Ryoji's voice but slightly deeper, with a little bit of reverb. The original English dub goes a slightly different route, where Nyx has a reverberating and deep voice (though it has enough shifting tones that the player can still hear Ryoji's voice in there a little), making Nyx sound a bit more malicious and demonic. Reload's English dub is closer to the original Japanese dub, where it is easier to distinguish it being Ryoji's voice within Nyx's, and speaks with a languid, almost remorseful, tone.invoked
Walking Spoiler: Nyx is only mentioned late in the game once the story moves toward the climax, and knowing its existence upends pretty much everything about the story until that point.
Winged Humanoid: Nyx Avatar has four wings around the hips, giving it a distinct 'Angel of Death' impression.
Zero-Effort Boss: While this doesn't apply to Nyx Avatar, when fighting the Nyx core, all you have to do is wait until the game prompts you to use The Great Seal; casting that spell will immediately end the fight.

The Answer (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

???

Shadow Protagonist

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unknown_shadow_looklike.jpg

Arcana: The Fool, Reversed Arcana
Persona: Pallas Athena, Isis, Trismegistus, Artemisia, Caesar, Cerberus, Kala-Nemi
Weapons: One-handed Sword

As S.E.E.S. traverse the Abyss of Time, they come across a shadowy figure that resembles the Protagonist on several occasions. However, whenever they come into contact, the Shadow flees. Once they reach the deepest area of the Abyss of Time, the figure confronts the team and engage them in battle.

All Your Powers Combined: It is able to utilize the Ultimate Personas of every other member of S.E.E.S., having been formed from their desire to see the protagonist again.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Metis explains the Shadow was formed as a result of S.E.E.S. wanting to see the Protagonist again.
Climax Boss: It serves as this for the first half of The Answer's story, with its confrontation answering the question of why and how the party ended up in the Abyss of Time while simultaneously setting the stage for the rest of the campaign.
Disc-One Final Boss: It is fought at the seemingly last dungeon at the Abyss of Time but even after that, the team is unable to find a way to escape.
Empty Shell: The Shadow has dull, white eyes and is emotionless, as it is created from the negative emotions of his friends.
Enemy Without: It is a physical embodiment of the shared grief and guilt that S.E.E.S. has for the loss of their leader. It copies their Personas in its battle as a literal representation of the team beating themselves up over his death.
Evil Knockoff: Despite its looks and Wild Card abilities, it has no direct connection with the Protagonist. It is merely a shadow created by the collective negative emotions of S.E.E.S. and their desire to have him returned to them combining to form a mindless, malicious duplicate of him.
Foreshadowing: Not the Shadow itself, but how it's formed, as the way that it's formed is similar to the concept of how the Cognitive World and Cognitive Shadows work in Persona 4 and Persona 5, as it's formed by S.E.E.S.' desire to see the Protagonist again.
Literal Metaphor: Its entire existence is one for S.E.E.S. processing their grief over the Protagonist's death. It is a dark, featureless duplicate of their lost leader who attacks them with their own Personas and keeps them trapped in a time loop by guarding the only things which will let them leave the labyrinth. It's a physical representation of the team being unable to move on to their futures until they face the self-destructive guilt they feel from his death dragging them down.
Made of Evil: It's a Shadow embodying the collective grief and regrets of S.E.E.S. It only looks like the Protagonist because being unable to prevent his death is the greatest shared regret of the whole team.
My Name Is ???: Literally.
Mythology Gag: The Shadow resembles the Metal Trio from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, doppelgangers of Tatsuya Suou's friends who manifested as a result of Tatsuya breaking his promise with them. Like the Trio, the Shadow uses Reversed Personas as his arsenal to fight the party.
Prophet Eyes: Unlike most Shadow Selves, this one has pure white eyes. It represents that the Shadow is nothing more than a doppelgänger of a dead person created by the negative emotions of his friends.
Rule of Symbolism: The Shadow's existence is a dark reference to Orpheus' story, with the Shadow being a gender-inversion to Orpheus's wife and the Abyss of Time substituting for the Underworld, since S.E.E.S.'s journey involves going down their dorm in what was supposed to be Tartarus' basement (in Greek Mythology, Tartarus is located at the depths of the Underworld). In the story, Orpheus enters the Underworld to save his wife but broke his promise to Hades and looks at her, causing her to vanish. For S.E.E.S. their inability to move on from the Protagonist's death and accidentally wishing to see him cause a dark manifestation of him to appear and attack them before disappearing.
Shadow Archetype: It can be seen as the Shadow Self of the entire S.E.E.S., with it using Reverse counterparts of the party's Personas (except Psyche, since the Protagonist never knew Metis, and Juno, since Fuuka doesn't take part in actual combat). It also has elements of a cognitive being since it was born from S.E.E.S.'s negative emotions and desire to see the Protagonist again.
Stripped to the Bone: After being defeated, the Shadow slowly disintegrates one layer at a time, revealing its skeleton, blood vessels and nerves.
Tarot Motifs: The Reversed Fool. Unpredictability, recklessness, risk taking, lack of trust and distorted desires. However, the Tarot is directed to S.E.E.S. instead of the Protagonist since their sorrow and despair over the Protagonist's death is what created the Shadow in the first place.
The Voiceless: Being a Shadow replica of a Heroic Mime, it doesn't speak at all.

Primal Darkness

Erebus

Arcana: The Fool

The Final Boss of The Answer, sharing a name with the Greek primordial god of Darkness. A large, two faced monster, Erebus is not a Shadow; it is a manifestation of humanity's thoughts oriented toward a single goal — absolute end, and to that end it is trying to awaken Nyx so she can bring about the Fall. However, its goal is thwarted by the Protagonist as he becomes the Great Seal, preventing it from calling Nyx.

Anthropomorphic Personification: Of humanity's desires for death.
As Long as There Is Evil: No matter how many times it is destroyed, it will never truly die so long as even a single human has a desire for death.
Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: A notable inversion in the series. Most entities born in the collective consciousness are shaped by the human cognitions and thoughts which led to their creation, which usually results in Rule of Symbolism being part of their forms. This is especially true for entities which embody specific thought processes in the Sea of Souls. The fact Erebus is best described as a Body Horror monstrosity consisting of 2 upper torsos conjoined at the hips, which does not at all match any known perception of an entity who embodies human deathwish, makes it stand out. Possibly justified, as the realm Erebus dwells in is located near the bottom of the Sea of Souls, where human cognition does not reach.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Erebus doesn't appear significantly larger than a freight train when fought in The Answer due to size scaling, but both cutscenes and Persona 4 Arena depict Erebus as much bigger than anything else S.E.E.S ever faced; Elizabeth comments she is not significantly bigger than the fingertip of the creature's index finger, and the sword Thanatos wields is only the size of a needle when compared to its finger.
Battle Theme Music: Darkness, a theme which starts off ominously, but turns upbeat and catchy soon after.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Persona 3 Club Book art book contains a Q&A section with the game's developers which explains Nyx is called forth by thoughts oriented towards desiring death; in short, every single emotion and thought which makes a human wish for death feeds Erebus. The art book clarifies this includes people who, due to personal beliefs or religious faiths, believe death is necessary (or even beneficial) for life. In short, as far as Erebus is concerned, it is granting a wish for all who seek death, no matter the reason.
Body Horror: Takes on the appearance of two monstrous upper bodies fused together at the waist. Backwards.
Continuity Cameo: It makes a brief appearance in Persona 4: Arena, in which Elizabeth uses Thanatos to destroy it in a single hit.
Death Seeker: Essentially the living incarnation of this trope's existence in the thoughts of all humanity.
Eldritch Abomination: Like Nyarlathotep, Erebus is a grand manifestation of humanity's collective thoughts, a sentient force of the Sea of Souls itself, not a god or a demon born of specific identities shaped by thoughts and wishes. As long as humanity stirs the collective conscious through their deathwishes, Erebus will never disappear.
Evil Is Bigger: It towers over S.E.E.S. and its blows are described to be strong enough to demolish mountains.
Failure Is the Only Option: Once the Great Seal is erected, Erebus cannot do anything about it. The entity spent an entire month trying to destroy the Seal before SEES gets trapped in a time loop, and it failed to even scratch the golden gate. It seems to recognize its own efforts are futile; after it senses Aigis has a similar power as the one within the Seal (the Wild Card), it stops what it is doing in the hopes of using Aigis as a weapon to destroy the Seal. Whether or not this would have worked is unclear, but given Elizabeth and Margaret comment about how the Great Seal will remain for eons to come, it is unlikely Erebus could ever bypass it, meaning humanity's deathwish will never be granted through Nyx.
Final Boss: Of Persona 3 FES, specifically its extra content The Answer.
Five-Second Foreshadowing: While watching a memory of the Protagonist becoming the Great Seal, Metis questions his reasons for doing so as Nyx is actually not malevolent, and even asks how she was contained before humanity even existed. Then, a giant beast, created from humanity's malice, appears from beyond the memory in an attempt to reach out to Nyx, barred by the Great Seal.
Foil: To Nyarlathotep. Both are manifestations of negative traits in humanity, particularly their destructive tendencies. However, they differ considerably in nature and personality:
- Nyarlathotep embodies humanity's potential to be destructive, all human flaws perceived to be self-destructive, as part of existential contradictions which can weaken a human's sense of self. As such, he is a Manipulative Bastard who is all-too human-like in personality, knows exactly how he is born and embraces the role of a Card-Carrying Villain.
- Erebus embodies the desire for death, all thoughts and feelings which would make a human call for Death. In short, all it is capable of is thinking how to die, and how to die more efficiently. It deduces Aigis's Wild Card ability is similar to the Protagonist's, and hopes to use her as a weapon to destroy the Great Seal, only because by doing so it could call Nyx again to end all life on Earth.
Foreshadowing: There is no mention of Erebus prior to the Five-Second Foreshadowing from Metis in the game itself, but there are a number of hints which point to humans being the true cause of the Fall:
- Takaya when fought one last time just before Nyx Avatar claims the Fall could not have been caused by one man or the Kirijo Group alone, it must be the hidden desires of humanity which permits the Fall to happen. He is right, on a level which he probably could not have imagined.
- Ryoji as Nyx Avatar laments that, if more people were like the SEES, perhaps the Fall could have been prevented. True enough, no matter how hard the SEES tries, Erebus will not cease existing unless humanity as a whole stops desiring Death.
- The Persona 3 Club Book side material mentions how gods and demons are born in the collective unconscious to oppose thoughts lined with desiring Death, the direct causes for why gigantic Shadow components of Death can emerge into reality. True enough, it implies there are also entities in the Sea of Souls which are not opposed, but rather aligned with such suicidal thoughts. The Updated Re-release FES was released a few months later.
Generic Doomsday Villain: Justified. Since it's made entirely of deathwishes, all it can do is think how to bring death to all of humanity. And there is no other method more direct than awaken an even greater Eldritch Abomination: Nyx, who can end all life with its presence.
Greater-Scope Villain: For The Journey, as it is revealed in The Answer to be the root cause for the Fall. It's not actually fought until The Answer.
Herald: Downplayed. Despite its nature, Erebus does not actually interact directly with Nyx, whose spirit slumbers in the deepest darkness in the Sea of Souls. What it does do is continually call and reach for Nyx: the propagation of wish for death will eventually result in the birth of gigantic Shadows similar to Arcana Shadows, who will merge with each other until they become Death, Nyx's actual herald who can wake the maternal entity from its slumber. Thus, Erebus is this trope because it is trying to kickstart the process of Nyx's awakening, and the Great Seal exists to prevent its call from facilitating the births of Arcana Shadows and Death.
Implacable Man: It can be beaten and its body can be destroyed, but unless Humanity as a whole can stop wishing for death, Erebus will inevitably reform.
Invincible Villain: Like Nyarlathotep, Erebus cannot be truly defeated as it is an entity personifying humanity's deathwish. Thus, as long as a single person yearns for death, Erebus will return no matter what. All S.E.E.S. can do after defeating it is to live their life the fullest to respect the Protagonist's sacrifice. Following the Answer, Elizabeth makes sure Erebus is pacified by defeating it every year until she can find a way to rescue the Protagonist.
It Can Think: It can tell Aigis has the same power as the Protagonist, and thinks using her can help it destroy the Great Seal.
Made of Evil: Erebus is the manifestation of humanity's desire for death.
The Man Behind the Man: It is the true cause of the events of Persona 3. Nyx is a neutral entity content to slumber for eternity, but is compelled to bring death to the Earth by Erebus. The Great Seal's true purpose is not to bind Nyx, but to prevent Erebus from ever calling for Nyx again.
Multiple Headcase: Erebus is made of two torsos stuck together at the waist. One head has horns protruding forward, the other has horns projecting backwards.
Non-Malicious Monster: Played with. Despite what Fuuka says about it being an incarnation of malice, malice is only part of this being, and it is composed of every emotion and every thought process which makes humans desire death. Thus, it has all reasons to bring death, both malicious and otherwise. It is still recognized as malice because in a sense, it is malicious against all things still living.
Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: Fitting its nature as an accidental creation of the collective unconsciousness of humanity, Erebus has no gender of its own. Its body is made of two human torsos (one male, one female) joined at the waist facing opposite directions that end with identical, fully inhuman heads.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: One of two visible facial features.
Signature Move: Dark Embrace. Upon cast, Erebus charges up for 3 turns in which it will mainly use ailments and instant kill spells, and also take increased damage. Doing a certain amount of damage will break Erebus out of this charge and stun it for a turn, but if it finishes charging it will attack with Primal Darkness, which deals massive Almighty damage and hits harder each time it is used.
Slasher Smile: Constantly. Erebus's only distinguishable facial feature, aside from glowing red eyes suspended in black mist, is a giant lipless grin.
Stance System: Erebus has two modes: one where it attacks mainly with physical attacks and elemental spells, and Dark Embrace where it uses instant kills and ailment spells, takes more damage and can use Primal Darkness, a massive Almighty attack which gets stronger with each use.
The Voiceless: Unlike Philemon and Nyarlathotep, it doesn't appear to capable of speech, though It Can Think.
Walking Spoiler: It's impossible to talk about without spoiling the Fall, the fact Nyx isn't evil, and that the protagonist died at the end of the main game.
The Worf Effect: Persona 4: Arena reveals that ever since the events of The Answer, Elizabeth has been destroying Erebus once a year with a single hit. Potentially a case of Worf Had the Flu, as the Erebus whom S.E.E.S destroyed had grown from several thousands of years of human deathwish, while Elizabeth destroys Erebus after giving it only a year to regenerate each time.

Characters / Persona 3: Antagonists

Due to wiki policy, this page contains numerous unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned.

Human Antagonists

Strega

Takaya Sakaki

Jin Shirato

Chidori Yoshino

The Traitor

Shuji Ikutsuki

Shadows

Arcana Shadows

The Magician

The High Priestess

The Empress and the Emperor

The Hierophant

The Lovers

The Chariot and Justice

The Hermit

Fortune and Strength

The Hanged Man

Nyx

The Answer (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Shadow Protagonist

Erebus

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Index

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Characters / Persona 3: Antagonists

Edit Locked

Due to wiki policy, this page contains numerous unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned.

Human Antagonists

Strega

Takaya Sakaki

Jin Shirato

Chidori Yoshino

The Traitor

Shuji Ikutsuki

Shadows

Arcana Shadows

The Magician

The High Priestess

The Empress and the Emperor

The Hierophant

The Lovers

The Chariot and Justice

The Hermit

Fortune and Strength

The Hanged Man

Nyx

The Answer (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Shadow Protagonist

Erebus

Previous

Index

Next