WARNING: Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies to Fridge pages. All spoilers will be unmarked!
These are for moments introduced in Reload. For moments from the original game, see here.
Fridge Brilliance
- Notice how the clocks' hands move when you use the standard Clock and the Great Clock in Tartarus.
- Activating the standard clock using Twilight Fragments causes its hands to rapidly move counter-clockwise as if it's "turning back time". Everyone's HP and SP are refilled, as if the clock "reverts" everyone to their previously-healthy state whenever you begin a Tartarus expedition.
- Interacting with the Greak Clock causes its hands to rapidly move clockwise as if it's "speeding up time". In-game, it provides a massive Experience Booster to some party members, as if the Great Clock allows them to catch up with the protagonist's level by "speeding up" their leveling process.
- The Gauge Condition mechanic allows a party member's Theurgy gauge to fill up faster if they perform in-battle actions that fit their personality, likewise enforcing the Personality Powers trope through gameplay aspects such as their Personas' skills and/or their own Combat Characteristics.
- Protagonist - "After summoning a Persona, power within gradually enhances." - He is the Wild Card who can have more than one Persona, so his Theurgy gauge condition enforces you to show it off by constantly summoning or switching Personas. Unlike the other members, the Protagonist's Combat Characteristic requires the player to have enough Personas registered in the Compendium to unlock and also increases the damage he deals when striking a weakness, further enforcing the need to constantly fuse and switch Personas around.
- Yukari - "After healing someone's wounds, she becomes motivated by her desire not to let anyone die." - This is likewise the easiest to explain as it's outright discussed in-game; a scene on June 13 has Fuuka and Yukari speculate that the healing powers of the latter's Persona stem from her desire of not wanting to see anyone get hurt. In-game, Yukari's Theurgy gauge fills up faster the more she heals, her Persona can learn plenty of healing skills, and her Combat Characteristics cut her healing skills' SP costs so she can use them more often.
- Junpei - "After landing a critical hit, he becomes motivated by his own potential." - Junpei is more suited for physical attacks and critical hits as his Combat Characteristic and Persona's stat distribution are focused more on them than magic. After all, Junpei prefers physical activities; not only does his critical hit animation prove that he likes baseball, he also brags about scoring high on a Physical Education exam. "Own potential" may also allude to him wanting to prove himself (as he constantly has inferiority complex after the Protagonist proved to be better at the things he does, mostly fighting Shadows).
- Mitsuru - "After weakening enemies or inflicting an ailment, her will burns brighter. " - Mitsuru is a woman in a position of power who is used to having the upper hand, and debuffs and ailments being her specialty reflects on her tactical mindset. Her Combat Characteristic reinforces this by increasing the party's Critical Hit rate against enemies suffering from a status ailment when she's in the party, allowing everyone to exploit the weaknesses she uncovers.
- Akihiko - "After strengthening himself, his fighting spirit rises." - As a gameplay tip, "strengthening himself" simply means Akihiko needs to have a Status Buff active. His Combat Characteristic further increases the potency of his own buffs. Hilariously, "strengthening himself" could also be alluding to his habit of training to become stronger or the Running Gag of him wanting protein.
- Fuuka - "After analyzing an enemy, her yearning for her friends' trust grows." - Fuuka's Persona cannot fight directly and it's repeatedly stated that it specializes more on information gathering, so she has to rely on others for combat. It's likewise implying that the rest of S.E.E.S. trust her to do what she and her Persona are suited for; analyzing the enemy. Her characteristic reduces the damage party members take from attacks they're weak to, alluding to her abilities helping her protect her friends even if she can't fight herself.
- Aigis - "After using physical skills, her drive to complete her mission intensifies." - Aigis' Persona specializes on physical attacks for offense, implying that she has to be constantly attacking in-game for a Theurgy boost. Her Combat Characteristic simply strengthens her physical skills. After all, she is built to exterminate Shadows in the first place.
- Ken - "Once his SP is less than half, his competitiveness is incited." - Because of his young age, Ken is determined to prove his worth to the rest of S.E.E.S. and hates being treated like a kid; his Theurgy charging more as he has less SP can be likened to a child being determined to stay awake despite becoming increasingly tired. On the other hand, his Characteristic allows him to gain a bit of SP every turn, signifying he's found a way to stay standing.
- Shinjiro - "Once his HP is less than half, his determination ignites." - Aside from manually using his Persona's physical skills, likely following Bloody Charge, letting Shinjiro take hits to lower his HP down to half triggers his Theurgy gauge boost. His Combat Characteristics include a defense boost to help him survive even when taking a hit. Tragically in the story, Taking the Bullet for Ken cost Shinjiro's own life.
- Koromaru stands out among the party members as the only one to start out with two Theurgy abilities rather than one and unlocking the second after their second awakening. While it may be partially due to game balance since Koromaru is the only party member to not get a second awakening within the story, party dialogue from Aigis indicates that Koromaru had actually found his resolve even before he joined the party. In other words, Cerberus is Koromaru's second awakening, with his first one unknown due to the lack of an Evoker that he could use to exploit its powers.
- One may wonder why the underground facility (where you fight the Chariot and Justice Arcana Shadows) also contain the odd breakable objects that were initially scattered in Tartarus... But since you venture through said facility during the Dark Hour, it just likely makes sense that the Dark Hour itself is causing these strange objects to appear, regardless of the location. After all, it's established (and outright previously discussed during the Yakushima Beach vacation) that the Dark Hour phenomenon is not exclusive to the vicinity of Tartarus.
- In the dorms, you can see on the mini map that everyone's bedrooms are basically the same size— just a standard, rectangular room. On the third floor though, where the girls bedrooms are, you can see Fuuka, Aigis, and Yukari's rooms on one side of the hall, and Mitsuru's room is the sole room on the other side. Going by the mini map, it is even bigger than everyone else's rooms. As evidenced by one of the command room recordings, Mitsuru has her own private bathroom in there, and given her riches and heiress status, it seems pretty reasonable for her to want (and/or for the company to provide) the means to live more luxuriously. Another reason for this is the Iwatodai Dorm previously being a hotel, so it's likely that Mitsuru's room was formerly the hotel's VIP suite or something similar and was converted into her room for the previously stated reason.
- Reload reveals that each of the armbands used by SEES members each have a number on them, representing when they joined the group. The numbering scheme is notably a bit unusual in that the order starts with the number 0 assigned to Mitsuru rather than the number 1, per traditional ordering. However, remember how the game is heavily based around Tarot Motifs, and that the first card of the Major Arcana is the Fool, associated with the number 0; as a card associated with beginnings, it actually fits Mitsuru pretty well considering that not only is she one of SEES' three founding members, but arguably the one who is in the position to ensure its continued existence as a formal organization given her ties to the Kirijo Group and their resources for battling Shadows with.
- Of note is that funnily enough, the Protagonist has the number 3 assigned to him. Aside from being a clever nod to him being the main character of the third mainline Persona game, his number coincides with that of the Empress in the Major Arcana - the one that Mitsuru is affiliated with. Notably, if SEES actually went with a proper numbering scheme with putting Mitsuru as 1, it would then make the Protagonist number 4, which would be apropos given not only the themes of the game but hinting at his ultimate fate.
- Completing Ryoji's Linked Episode unlocks Saturnus for fusion. Said god is associated with Cronus, the leader of the Titans in Greek Mythology. If you use him in the final boss fight, you're essentially leading the Titans (the rest of the party) up out of Tartarus in order to challenge the gods to a battle which decides the fate of the world. He is also regarded as the god of time, tying into the game's clock motif, as well as a god of agriculture associated with spontaneous bounty from the land in the "golden age," contrasting nicely with the pessimistic public wishing for death at that point in the game.
Fridge Horror
- You fight the Shadow of the Abyss alongside Takaya on August 14th, after which it drops a prototype Evoker. Takaya mentions to Jin how the prototype Evoker can bring out a Persona's latent power, at the cost of being exceedingly difficult to control, and that in those days, you're more likely to be killed by your own Persona than the Shadows. A later conversation between him and Jin also brings up many test subjects were consumed by their Personas turning into Shadows. The Shadow of the Abyss resembles Abaddon, a Persona you can acquire. It's quite likely you were fighting someone who was also experimented on, just like Strega.
- The choice of Abaddon, whose Greek name is Apollyon, as the sole exception to the game's design philosophy for shadows (beings with masks themed after one of the first twelve non-Fool arcana) is not random: Abaddon/Apollyon is both a destroyer, and an angel of the abyss, which is what Tartarus is traditionally described as, as well as symbolizing the Fall. This could be a reflection of the power of the Dark Hour overwhelming artificial Persona-users and turning them into twisted avatars of the abyss, and perhaps even Tartarus itself exerting its will on them.
- Even more frightening is that the narrative implies that this and the Shadow of the Void are the result of early tests of the Theurgy ability going awry, casting a sinister light on Ikutsuki having S.E.E.S. test it out for him: except for possibly the protagonist, the man was perfectly fine with them being overwhelmed by their Personas and turning into monstrosities in case it went wrong again, further cementing how he had been using them from the start to fulfill his twisted plan. It also adds weight to Takaya's decision to use the prototype Evoker to cast his own Theurgy during his final fight, since he knew what would likely happen and waited until he was backed into a corner and about to die anyway before deciding it was Worth It.
- After watching a movie with Ken during one of his hangout events, he dozes off to sleep and mutters "...Ones who should kill... prepared to be...", which at first doesn't sound like much, maybe he was just quoting what he was watching. It was actually a Shout-Out to Code Geass, where the full quote is "The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed", spoken by Lelouch, and is one of his most famous quotes. Lelouch was driven by vengeance after being cast aside and exiled to Japan with his blind and crippled sister. Consider that Ken was also hell bent on getting revenge for his dead mother, planning to kill Shinjiro and then off himself not too long after. He was going to kill, and was prepared to be killed. Not exactly the best influence to look up to, Ken.
