I am pleased to note that I've actually reached rank 10 on all confidants! Which I didn't think I was going to be able to do. I can't actually get all the third-tier evolution for all of the playable characters, but that's okay. I did look at what the third-tier Personas look like by save-scumming, but I basically forewent Yusuke and Futaba's third-tiers. Won't cover every single one in this article, though!
Our eyecatcher this time is one of the Confidants I am the most indifferent to, Oda Shinya. And I think he's most people's least favourite Confidant? He's one of the characters that appeared relatively late in the story, and you have to go through a whole sidequest to even unlock his rank one. And his story... isn't the most interesting. A lot of these non-party Confidants do have standalone stories that are mostly divorced from the main storyline, but Shinya's is probably the one that feels the most... off? There's some theme about not being a jackass rebel, about how winning isn't everything and whatnot. It's not a bad story, it just feels a bit weirdly different. I think looking back, I don't mind it as much as I was rolling my eyes when I played through Shinya's story, but I feel like he's also missing a lot of the 'foreshadowing' of him appearing outside of his Confidant the way that other characters like Ohya, Chihaya and Iwai have.
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Vanadis
- Arcana: Faith
Sumire/Kasumi's second-tier Persona, the 'mythological trickster' one, is Vanadis -- which is the alternate name of Freyja (the spelling of the name can vary from Freya, Freja, etc), one of the chief deities in Norse mythology. It really is always nice to see people refer to more of the Nordic pantheon beyond just Odin, Thor and Loki! Freya is the twin sister of her similarly-named brother Freyr. Freya is described as the most beautiful goddess, being in charge of love, beauty, sex and fertility... but interestingly enough, also over war, gold and seidr, a type of magic involving seeing the future. As mentioned in the profile, Vanadis is 'Dis of the Vanir', with 'dis' being a goddess, and the Vanir being a race of gods that are separate from the Aesir (where Odin and Thor hail from). After the Aesir/Vanir war, the Vanir were incorporated into the Aesir, including Freyja and Freyr.
Freya owns the necklace called Brisingamen, her chariot is pulled by two cats, has a cloak of falcon feathers and has a boar companion Hildisvini. She rules over the heavenly field of Folkvangr, where she receives the honourable dead that do not go to Valhalla. It's kind of interesting because Freya/Vanadis has never really been portrayed as being a thief or rebel... but I guess Sumire herself never quite joined in the battle against society the way the other Phantom Thieves were? The closest thing I could think of is the feud regarding the scandalous way she obtained her necklace, where she slept with four dwarves and committed adultery against her husband, and Loki was tasked by Odin to bring back the necklace to punish her?
Anyway, Vanadis's design in this game is... it's basically a cross between Sumire's original Cendrillon with the colours and feathery wings of Joker's Arsene. Sumire's Phantom Thief outfit is already aping Joker's, though whether by design or coincidence, Vanadis also has the 'cloak of falcon feathers' from the legends interpreted as a massive skirt.
Ishtar
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Lovers
Ishtar here is the ultimate Persona unlocked with the 'Lovers' Persona, and her design is... I don't really have much to say about her.. She's a blonde lady with asymmetrical demon horns, and a sexy skirt-and-top combo. Not too much to say here.
From a mythological standpoint, Ishtar is the Babylonian/Assyrian equivalent of the Sumerian goddess Inanna, and is a goddess of love, war and fertility. Alongside Astarte (which some note is based on Inanna as well), she's another one that's often thought to be the identity of the pagan 'Queen of Heaven' mentioned in several parts of the Bible. Ishtar also represents the morning star (which we now call Venus), and she forms a trinity of celestial objects with her brother Shamash (the sun god) and her father Sin (the moon god). Though it's been debated by modern researchers, older material associated Ishtar's cult with temple prostitution. Her symbols include an eight-pointed star (representing the morning star), the lion, the dove, and the horned helmets that most Mesopotamian gods are depicted with.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar is stated to have many lovers, but all of her lovers were fated to be killed or meet a terrible fate. For example, depending on the legend, her husband Tammuz was either trapped in the underworld or be turned into a bird with a broken wing. The hero Gilgamesh rejected Ishtar's advances, enraging Ishtar and causing her to send the Bull of Heaven to combat him. However, Gilgamesh and his ally Enkidu managed to kill the bull.
Shiva
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Judgement
In Hinduism, Shiva is one of the three principal deities of the Trimurti, representing Destruction to contrast Brahma the Creator and Vishnu the Preserver. Again, just like Vishnu before, trying to list every single part of Shiva's legends and how it differs between different branches of Hinduism would be too much and be beyond the scope of this article. Despite being known as the Destroyer, Shiva is not a malicious deity. He's benevolent and beneficial, and represents the cycle of destruction and recreation, for without first having destruction, creation could not take place. As the Persona model shows, Shiva is normally depicted with four arms, a third eye, carries a trident and a drum, and is accompanied by a serpent. Shiva is noted to be against premature destruction, however, and only does so when it is time.
He's basically what you'd expect from a depiction of Shiva. In Persona 5, Shiva is one of the few Personas who isn't listed in the Persona compendium, leaving you to figure him out via a secret fusion -- in Shiva's case, he's formed by fusing Rangda and Barong, the two eternal rivals. I also do like that he's got a bit more snakes than you'd expect from a first glance coiled all around his body.
Ardha
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Temperance
Ardha, or rather Ardhanarishvara, is the form taken from the fusion of Shiva and his wife Parvati. The term 'Ardhanarisvhara' literally means 'Lord Who is Half Woman', since the right half of Ardhanarishvara is the male Shiva and the left half is the female Parvati. It is one of the more common forms of the divine in Indian art, and depending on the myths, Ardhanarishvara is either an androgynous incarnation of just Shiva, or the form of Shiva and Parvati who loved each other so deeply that they joined together as a single being instead of being apart. Again, I don't really think it's super-responsible for me to explain too much about a mythology and belief system that's very complex and variable with just a cursory Wikipedia and Google search, so I'll leave it to you readers to learn more if you want to.
Persona/SMT's design is basically a design that's... basically half-Shiva (though he uses the blue-skin colouring that later SMT/Persona games turned to purple) and half-Parvati. Like Shiva, Ardha isn't listed and is considered a special fusion.
Satan
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Judgement
And the ultimate Persona for Judgement is Satan. Like, ol' Scratch! Satan, or Ha-Satan (Hebrew Bible) or Shaitan (Islamic Quran), means 'the accuser' in Hebrew and is a prominent figure in Abrahamic religions. In Christianity, Satan is equated as the Devil (and sometimes conflated or considered the same being with Lucifer), as the ultimate agent of evil that seduces human into falsehood and sin. In both Christianity and Islam, Satan is typically seen as either a fallen angel or a jinn that has rebelled against God, who nonetheless allows Satan to have temporary power over the fallen world. In Christianity, Satan would have a much larger role as a tempter and the ultimate evil in the New Testament. In Judaism, Satan is seen as an entity subservient to God, representing the 'evil inclination', a role that is also seen in the Biblical Book of Job where Satan is an agent of temptation that tests Job's faith. Is that why he's assigned to the 'Judgement' arcana?
And Satan's appearance in this franchise has changed over the years, but the specific one in Persona 5 is a recurring design. It's... it's a very monstrous design! I'm trying to describe it as best as I can, but Satan here is a giant... insect-snake thing. It's got a central body that's serpentine, but two bone-coloured 'tails' growing out of where the humanoid 'torso' connects to the main tail. Its head is a giant, elaborate xenomorph-looking thing, with a hideous face and an elongated skull. It's a bit hard to tell on the model, but the art shows that it's got wacky sharp fin-like protrusions coming out of either side of that skull. It's got three pairs of beetle wings -- which translates to three translucent wings and three thicker shell-like carapaces. It's got three pairs of hands, though two of them also double as 'feet' that prop up the humanoid torso. And, lastly and bizarrely, Satan's got six breasts running down his chest.
This is a rather over-the-top design, but I actually like it for its originality. From all the myths of Satan, you'd think that the obvious design would be a serpent (from Genesis) or a multi-headed dragon (from Revelations) or even the three-headed frozen entity described by Dante in Inferno. The fact that Satan in this game learns primarily ice skills might be a reference to how in Dante's Inferno, Satan is encased in ice in the deepest darkest part of hell. Making him a giant bug-dragon monster is unexpected but definitely rather welcome, and there's just enough detail to make Satan look elaborate while still somehow retaining a somewhat thematic design -- it's the 6 repeated 3 times, since Satan has six of each arms, wings and breasts.
Lucifer
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Star
I don't usually talk about the other Shin Megami Tensei games, but worth noting that Lucifer's design here is from Shin Megami Tensei 2... which depicts Lucifer in both an 'angelic' form and a 'demonic' form. The white robes that coil itself around Lucifer's body is the remnants of that angel form. Persona 3 and Persona 4 adapts Lucifer's angelic form as 'Helel' (the original Hebrew term later translated into Lucifer), but he was left out of Persona 5.
Lucifer (originally 'Helel' in Hebrew) is noted as a fallen angel, often noted to be one of (if not the) strongest archangel or seraph before the sin of pride caused him to rebel against God alongside an army of angels. For this sin, Lucifer is cast out of Heaven and fell from grace, eventually becoming a demon. Most Christianity sects conflate the myth of this fallen angel called Lucifer with Satan, the great tempter and evil. This is likely to be conflated with other religions that personify the Morning Star (which is the planet Venus). In the earliest Christian writings, there is debate on whether 'Helel' is a metaphorical entity or a fallen angel.
However, when the book of Isaiah was translated into Latin, a specific passage refers to 'Helel' that has fallen from heaven, a reference to a Canaanite myth about the morning star, which was translated with Lucifer (light-bringer) and was interpreted as an allegory about Lucifer's fall from Heaven; though some note that 'Helel/Lucifer' in this book refers to a Babylonian king. Subsequent Christian writings would pick up on this, and various writings would either consider Lucifer and Satan as the same or different entity, though most popular media have often taken this 'fallen angel' origin story as the definitive origin story for Christianity's greatest villain.
Mother Harlot
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Empress
Mother Harlot, more commonly known as 'the Whore of Babylon' or by her full title, 'Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth', is an allegorical figure of evil from the Book of Revelations in the Bible, one of many incarnations of evil that will plague the world during the end of days as described in the Book of Revelations. She is said to be dressed in purple and scarlet, holding a golden cup full of the blood of martyrs, and riding on a seven-headed scarlet beast with ten horns. There have been many discussions about what the Whore of Babylon is meant to represent, with many agreeing that the Whore of Babylon was meant to be associated with the Roman Empire -- or powerful empires in general. The heads of the beast she rides are explicitly noted to be great kings. Ultimately, the Whore would be destroyed by the Beast of the Sea, which is often interpreted to be either the Antichrist or Satan.
Regardless of what the Whore is supposed to represent, Persona's Mother Harlot is an interesting design where it takes all of the descriptors of her in the Bible and translates it to a skull-headed woman riding a seven-headed draconic creature... and I particularly like the blank eyes of the dragon's heads coupled with the goofiness of the crowns on their heads. It's a bit easier to tell in the artwork, but I do like the mythology-accurate fact that the dragon heads have a total of ten horns, with some heads having two horns instead of one.
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