Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5, Part 14

Well, the actual monster from Okumura's Palace to be featured in this article is just the Mothman (which is a clever thing to put into a space colony themed area) but I basically went through a huge fusion spree over the course of my couple of trips to Okumura's Palace, leading to a whole lot of new Personas that I think I should have discovered earlier, but are either locked behind the level gate or just never got the ingredients until I ran around in Okumura's Palace.

At this point of writing I also have max-ranked a couple more of the older confidants. I think I've mentioned Takemi, Ryuji and Yoshida before? I also max-ranked Mishima and Ann at this point. It really is kind of interesting seeing how some of these confidant stories play out, considering how... standalone some of them actually are compared to the rest of the 'main' story!

Also, yeah, I use 'Persona's adaptation of X' and 'Shin Megami Tensei's adaptation of X' interchangeably. I know Persona is technically a spinoff of SMT, and most of the monsters here had their designs originate in one of the big SMT games, but I've never touched a SMT game yet and it's hard to remember that most of the time!

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Mothman

• Monster Name: Vampire Moth
• Arcana: Moon

Oh! OHHHH! I've always loved the Mothman. What a weird cryptid! This is kind of a more modern-day Loch Ness Monster or something! The Mothman is particularly popular in the 60s to 80s in West Virginia, where it's described as a mysterious dark figure looking like a strange, cloaked or winged figure that resembles a moth and is able to fly. Interpretations have taken liberties from portraying it as drawing the iconic silhouette that looked like a scrunched-up owl to just going full-on demonic Killer Moth with it. As with many cryptid sightings, the Mothman has gone from just a creepy glowing-eyed creature people happened to see at night to some kind of calamity-bringer that people associated with the collapse of the Silver Bridge. In reality, it's just likely some people got spooked by particularly large owls, and typical exaggeration and association of events and tales ended up sensationalizing the events. But it's still fun!

But I've always loved the idea that the Mothman wasn't just some dude with a demonic head and moth wings, though. I barely know anything about Fallout, but they had a pretty fun interpretation that just takes the silhouette and turn that into a creepier-looking moth monster. Pokemon Quarantine Crystal also had a pretty cool Mothman fanmade Pokemon, too!

Persona's Mothman, however, is probably my favourite in that it emphasizes just how goofy and adorable he looks. The glowing eyes and the strange 'owl-like' silhouette are kept, but I love the adorable little tippy-tap feet that it has, and the :0 expression the Mothman has. They also went along and made it a real moth monster, too, with a fuzzy body and a set of wings that look pretty colourful, as well as two antennae.

And the result... well, this is probably one of my favourite monsters just due to how cute it looks! Look at the adorable little Mothman! Probably one of my favourite designs from this game so far in terms of absurdity and adorableness!

Hell Biker

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Death

That's just Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider from Marvel comics! I'm sure the details aren't exactly the same (his head isn't on fire), but he's an undead skull guy with a leather outfit and a badass bike with wheels on fire. Sure, he's got a Kamen Rider scarf going on, too, but... uh... yeah. Hell Biker (or Hell's Angels in Japanese, referencing the biker gang) is sure a Ghost Rider. 

This is one of the few unique entities to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, and the backstory is that he's a human motorcyclist whose violence caused him to return as a demon (remember that in Shin Megami Tensei, all these monsters represent actual demons and stuff) as the 'Angel of Hell', driven by self-loathing and anger to lash out at everything in the world. Sounds like your typical 80's-90's anti-hero. 

He's one of the 'special fusion' Personas, being created by Principality (if he's Ghost Rider, the angel connotation makes sense), Matador (another SMT-original undead guy) and... Decarabia? The star alien-demon guy? Uh... okay? I mean, I like the Ghost Rider and the hilarious novelty of using him in a Persona game, so I like this one! Bit unexpected, though!

White Rider

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Chariot

Huh! Unexpected. The White Rider is the first of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse described in the Bible's Book of Revelations. The Biblical text only specifies that the White Rider is associated with 'Conquest', but in popular culture, and taking another passage slightly later in Revelations, have associated the White Rider with 'Pestilence'. Others, who take the riders and horsemen as something more symbolic, sometimes associate the 'conquest' as the spreading of Christianity over the world. As is stated in the Bible and the many artwork done about the Horseman of Pestilence/Conquest, the White Rider is depicted with a crown and bow. 

Nowhere in the Bible does it state that the White Rider's horse is pockmarked with eyeballs all over his body, but it does strike a very imposing and terrifying figure. This simple change in detail really does elevate Persona's take on the White Rider beyond just a generic skeleton king on a horse. 

Power

• Monster Name: Divine Warrior
• Arcana: Justice

Continuing with the biblical theme, we continue with Persona's adaptation of the nine hierarchies of angels from  De Coelesti Hierarchia. We've done all the lower orders, and now we enter the middle order, starting with the angels known as the "Powers". Also known as "Authorities", they are noted to be angels who have power over evil forces. Again, not a whole ton to say here. 

I do really enjoy the Power's design compared to the Archangel or Principality, but that's probably because of how war-like he looks with that badass red helmet and cuirass, and... an octopus on the shield for some reason? Pretty neat. I'm not sure if it's a reference to a specific depiction of angels or not, but I do like the overall design. 

Hariti

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Empress

Hariti, also known as 鬼子母神, or Guǐ zǐ mǔ shén/Kishimojin, has a name that literally translates to 'demon child/mother god', Hariti has had many different interpretations over the years. Originally, Hariti was a demoness that slew human children to feed her own children. However, when Buddhism arrived, a new legend was created. Gautama Buddha hid away one of Hariti's sons under a rice bowl. After Hariti desperately sought all throughout the universe for her missing child, this made Hariti realize that the suffering and pain of losing one of her hundreds of children was a fraction of the human mothers whose few children she stole. Hariti, remorseful, converted to Buddhism and became a protector of human children and childbirth. She and her children would then feed on pomegranates, which substituted for human flesh. Eventually, Hariti would be counted among the Twenty-Four Protective Deities, a group that includes the Four Heavenly Kings we covered before. 

Design wise... she sure is a woman in a cloak holding a baby? I do like the subtle horns beneath the coverings around her head, and the red glowing eyes that she has, hinting at her original malevolent nature. I can't actually get a proper look at the baby's face, but it looks like it's just a regular baby there. 

Kikuri-Hime

• Monster Name: Mountain Girl
• Arcana: Priestess

Kukiri-Hime-no-Mikoto, literally 'Priestess Chrysanthemum', is a goddess that was briefly mentioned in the story of Izanagi that we covered when we covered the DLC Personas a while back. Kukiri-hime mediated on behalf of Izanami, in order for Izanagi and Izanami could engage in a debate over their confrontation in Yomi. Whatever the results of the debate is, Kikuri-hime is noted to establish the duties of the Miko, or Japanese priestesses, in being a mediator between the netherworld and the living world. Kikuri-Hime ended up being merged with other Japanese deities, eventually. 

And... again, I tend to not really have a whole ton to say about these humanoid designs. She sure has a fancy dress, and I do like the magatama that are attached to her hips and hairpins. Her fancier-looking outfit also makes her a bit more interesting looking than Hariti up above, and she has... ashen gray skin for some reason? 

Not too much to say here, tbh!