Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5, Part 4

Part four of my Persona 5 monster reviews! It took me a while to get through the post-Kamoshida stuff, but that's mostly because I was trying a bit too hard to try and save-scum and get the maximum music notes from all the confidant interactions. I have been really enjoying the 'daily life' segments of the game and both trying to figure out what best to do and to look at Yongen-Jaya and Shibuya at different times of the day and different days of the week. 

But I finally unlocked Mementos, which is the 'infinite dungeon' of this game. There's some kind of plot tied to Mementos, and this is where our heroes go to do battle against the Shadows of minor targets... something that I do believe that I'll be doing quite a lot and will slow my actual playthrough of the game even more because I do love me some sidequests. So far most of Mementos just has the same monsters we've met in Kamoshida's Palace, but there are several new ones -- including several I met via the Velvet Room like Obariyon and Jack Frost being available "in the wild", so to speak. 

And... and after reaching Madarame's Palace, a vast majority of the early monsters I met are ones I already covered in part 3 thanks to the Velvet Room battle -- Mokoi, Apsaras, Koropokguru and so on. 
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Kodama

• Monster Name: Wavering Tree Spirit
• Arcana: Star

We have our first Star arcana Persona, and it's not what I expected! It's a Kodama, which is basically a wood spirit or a tree spirit from Japanese folklore. Trees that have lived for 100 years will birth a Kodama, and these trees are marked with shimenawa ropes -- which anyone who watches anime would find familiar -- and cutting down one of these trees would bring terrible misfortune; a practice still done now. It's a very common recurring thing in various different cultures all over the world, that older trees often have some sort of spirit that inhabits or guards it. Trees that are inhabited with Kodama will sometimes make noises, though in modern times these noises have been dismissed as delayed echoes caused by mountainous terrain. 

The legends are not particularly specific on what kind of form the Kodama would take, with descriptions of them appearing as ghostly lights, beasts or even human beings, which means that the Persona team had some fun designing the Kodama and depicting it as something more similar to the pop culture/anime depiction of shikigami, which tend to be depicted as paper gods. The Kodama's head and body has nothing but swirling patterns, and they just flutter around like little paper men flying in the wind. They're able to summon Bicorns for some reason. Pretty interesting little bugger, I actually like this as an enemy design a fair bit. 

Hua Po

• Monster Name: Girl of the Hanging Tree
• Arcana: Hanged Man

Visually, Hua Po is just another 'Pixie' type monster that has red skin and a more butterfly-looking set of wings. She also has Chinese clothing. Not the most interesting design out there, and I can't really find anything beyond Megami Tensei wikis on the proper legends about this spirit. Just basic ones -- the Hua Po is a tree spirit formed from a tree where people are hung, with some records stating that you need at least three or more people hanging from the tree for it to 'spawn' a Hua Po. Hua Pos make sounds similar to birds, and they can dry up if not given enough water. 

I really don't have much to say here, other than the fact that I find it hilarious that whoever assigned Arcanas for this game's monster picked the 'fairy born from a hangman's tree' and gave it the Hanged Man Arcana. Good job!

Shiisa

• Monster Name: Rooftop Lion
• Arcana: Chariot

Oh, this one I can talk a bit about! The Shiisa (sometimes parsed as Shiisaa, Shisa, etc) are a lion-dog Okinawan version of the Chinese Guardian Lions (Shishi), and the beliefs about the Shiisa is similar between the Chinese Shishi -- they are placed on either side of a house's gate or rooftops. Traditionally the two Shiisa have slightly different looks. The right male Shiisa has an open mouth to ward off evil spirits, while the left female Shiisa has a closed mouth to keep good spirits in. These statues have appeared in so many Chinese and Japanese based material, so obviously they're a shoo-in to appear in this franchise.

I could really go on and on on the 'evolution' of the Chinese Shishi as they get imported to other cultures, but let's just talk about Persona's Shiisa for now. Pretty neat interpretation of the lion-dog, with the curly mane and hair looking like how the being tends to be portrayed in media. I do like the absolutely manic smiles that the Shiisa have. Presumably, in the source Shin Megami Tensei games most if not all of these deities are hostile to some degree, which is why there is a sense of aggression coming from this design. 

Shiki-Ouji

• Monster Name: Bringer of Misfortune
• Arcana: Chariot

Oh yeah, this guy was pretty terrifying the first time I found him. The form of the elite, red enemies within Madarame's Palace, the Shiki-Ouji was much more of a threat than the Eligors and Archangels in the first palace. The Shiki-Ouji (literally Ceremonial Prince) is a type of a Shikigami -- a 'paper god' -- and could only be summoned by particularly skilled onmyodo practitioners, and are associated with the izanagi-ryu folk religion. The Shikigami are essentially what the English-speaking word might describe as 'familiars', but that's kind of an oversimplification, I think. 

Shikigami in legends are made out of a complex conjuring ceremony, which binds the paper spirit to its master... and if the ritualist is careless, the Shikigami could get out of control, gaining its own consciousness and might even attack their own master. While originally the Shikigami could take the form of animals or paper, in most Japanese pop culture they've been associated with paper mannequins (where the spirit are 'sealed' into), which give them a distinct feel compared to other spirits. 

And the Shiki-Ouji does look very, very menacing. It's a giant, tall man made out of paper, and the segments of its body will sometimes rotate independently when it attacks. The long arms ending in claws, the lumpy legs, the suit and skirt, the giant moon-horn on its head... it all really combines to form a design that looked genuinely terrifying, but I think the coolest (and creepiest) part of this design is its face. I actually like the Shiki-Ouji a lot, and it really does feel pretty threatening compared to the rest of the common monsters in this dungeon. 

Regent

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Emperor

So our heroes get a diamond and this rainbow-textured ghost-thing pour out of it. And it's apparently a type of a 'Treasure Demon', which are basically rare encounters to be used in fusion because they have some rather desirable skills. The designs of the Regent is pretty neat, as far as these specters go, with two giant almost alien-looking eyes that have multiple circles (a 'Rinnegan' for you Naruto fans) and I do appreciate the little 'ponytail' and the crystal-looking texture. Not a whole ton to say about the design here. 

The name, unlike other Personas and Shadows, do not refer to a specific literary or religious figure, but rather to a specific jewel -- the Le Regent Diamond, a 141-carat diamond considered to be the most beautiful and purest diamond in the world, and later found its hands to multiple European royalty and is currently in the French Royal Treasury at the Louvre. There is a superstition that those who held possession of the stone are often afflicted with misfortune. 

Koppa Tengu

• Monster Name: Foolish Monk
• Arcana: Temperance

So we're closing this off with, again, a bunch of Personas that I made through fusion, though I've been told that the next two here also will show up later on in Madarame's Palace. We first up start with Koppa Tengu, or "leaflet tengu". Is that why the Pokemon Nuzleaf and Shifry are based on Tengu, then?  Presumably, we'll get to meet more superior tengu as stronger enemies. Anyway, the legends around these yokai usually tend to depict them as a cross between human and bird, with some depictions also throwing monkey traits in there as well. A long nose has been associated with tengu as well. Some legends say that those that lead a life consumed with pride will be reborn as tengu, which would definitely fit with the theme of this Palace! Not all tengu are equal, and among the kotengu (small tengu) are the Koppa-Tengu, translating into 'leaflet' or 'foliage' tengu. 

Anyway, the design for the Koppa Tengu is basically what you'd expect, being a humanoid with crow horns. Do really like how their masks look, though, being basically just a giant, long nose pointing forwards with only markings that vaguely resemble eyes, with no eye-holes or a mouth-hole. It's an interesting adaptation of both the 'bird-headed' and 'long-nosed monk'. There's a scroll it wears as a necklace, which I assume contains the source of the arts it uses. Pretty neat tengu monster!

Ippon-Datara

• Monster Name: Embittered Blacksmith
• Arcana: Hermit

Oh, this one is a cool remake. Whereas the Shiisa or the Tengu on this page are relatively faithful adaptations of the source material, this is what the Ippon-Datara normally looks. A fleshy being whose entire body is long leg, with a one-eyed face on the thigh and arms jutting out of it... yeah, creepy and kind of disturbing, but it would get lost in the midst of so many other monsters. So the SMT/Persona team has redesigned it to really adapt its backstory. The Ippon-Datara myth is noted to be involved with blacksmiths who lost an eye and a leg to their smithing. There are other versions of the legends (including a woodcutter criminal, or animals) but the blacksmith one is what the team worked with.

Oh, there's also a legend that while the Ippon-Datara is normally a shy and reclusive yokai, every December 20th, the Ippon-Datara will be violent, and crush underfoot any humans it meets at the day -- and in the areas in Japan where the Ippon-Datara legend hail from, it's bad luck to go into the mountains at that date. 

And what a redesign! I usually am content in just showing the picture from the in-game screenshot, but let me emphasize the creepiness with Ippon-Datara.  They went for something that wouldn't look out of place in a Resident Evil game, taking the 'one-legged, one-eyed blacksmith' and going ham with making him look like a serial killer. That blacksmith's apron could also look like a psychotic backstreet alley doctor trying to dispose of evidence. And of course the number '4' emblazoned on his body is a homonym to 'death' in Japanese. He's holding tools -- a hammer and tongs, and on his right shoulder he's got some tool implements. Like the traditional depiction of the yokai, his hips just terminate into a single leg. But my favourite part of this guy is definitely the head, where it's a robotic head with the number 4 painted over where the right eye should be. Very creepy, and I wouldn't expect the jumping feet ghost to be reimagined as basically a psychotic cyborg mutant blacksmith. 

Kushi Mitama

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Councilor

Another Mitama, and this one is a green one with a more mischievous face. The Kushi Mitama is known as the 'wondrous soul', and is normally a duo with the Saki Mitama. It can cause transformations and cure illnesses. And as the Persona-dex notes, "it uses its power to bring good omens. It is said to aid in one's wisdom, observation, and skill, and can mend fractured paths."

...I really don't have much to say about the Mitamas that I haven't said with Saki Mitama, sorry. This one is also only available through fusion, and with a lot of new monsters from Mementos and the Madarame Palace, I've basically been kind of going overdrive trying to fuse everything I can. 

Ame-no-Uzume

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Lovers

Another one I create through fusion is Ame-no-Uzume, or technically 'Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto'. In Shinto myths, she is is the goddess of dawn, mirth, meditation, revelry and the arts. She's primarily featured in one of the myths of the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu Omikami. During an argument between Amaterasu and her brother Susano'o, Amaterasu sealed herself inside the Heavenly Rock Cave Amano-Iwato. Amatersau's absence caused the sun to go dark. Among the gods, Ame-no-Uzume danced and as she tore off her clothes, the other deities laughed and the commotion drew the attention of Amaterasu, eventually luring her out so that the other deities could seal the cave behind her and persuade her to resume her duties. Apparently, this dance is noted to be the basis of the Kagura dance.

While the legends of Ame-no-Uzume and Amaterasu used a mirror as props, this design for Ame-no-Uzume is clearly based a lot on fans, presumably based on the traditional fan dances of Japan. I can't really find enough information in English sites to explain this to me, but I do really like the upturned fan that covers part of her face, the twin fans on her hands, and the huge fan on the front of the dress. Again, I don't really have too much to say about the rest of her since she's just a lady, but it's neat to learn about new legends.  

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Anyway, that's all we have for today. I have seen Goemon, but I think I'll keep Goemon for the next segment where we'll cover the rest of Madarame's castle.