Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5 Royal, Part 35

 

And so we finish our coverage of Persona 5 Royal, with the final boss -- Takuto Maruki and his Personas -- as well the third-tier Personas of the party members I haven't covered yet. It's been a wild, wild ride! I actually kind of lost interest in Maruki as a character around halfway through this final semester, though they did a great job at trying to make him basically the antithesis of literally every other antagonist we've faced before in being a well-meaning man who's just utterly deluded. The third semester is... interesting? Part of my playthrough of it is basically trying to make sure I get all my confidants to rank 10, and to finish as much of the game as possible... and that did sour my enjoyment of the part of the game between the cutscenes that heralded the start of Royal and the end. The fact that there really wasn't much to do in the night segment is almost a mockery of the sheer amount of stuff piling up waiting for me to do in the day, too. 

But overall? Overall, I do think that Persona 5 Royal will go down as one of my all-time favourite games. And perhaps that was why I was a bit iffy about Royal, because the 'altered reality' stuff that's been extending since the end of the Shido plot really was kind of divorced from the 'secretly fighting the society's evil people that is untouchable by regular civilians' setup with all the villains from Kamoshida all the way to Shido. Maruki was at least a fair bit more grounded compared to Yaldabaoth, and I do think it's a brilliant idea to tie him into Sumire's story. 

Not the biggest fan of how the story awkwardly does a weird cosmic retcon to keep both the original Persona 5 ending events from going on, and if they were going to do that anyway I honestly would've rather the original prison stuff from vanilla Persona 5 was kept and this Royal semester happened afterwards. Eh. 

Still... it's been a really fun ride. I could go on and on about things I wish the game could improve (lesser confidants having something to do/say after their rank 10's, for example, or more enemy variety in dungeons), but considering that it's been out for a while and provided me with so much content to talk about in terms of monster design, I'd say that this is a successful game all around. 

What next? I know Persona 5 Strikers exists, but I'm not that too keen on playing a musou game so quickly. I think there's only a couple of extra new Personas and bosses there anyway, too. Meanwhile, Persona 3 and 4 would be such a gigantic time-sink, and I am planning on doing a different game. Next up, I think I'll play a couple of shorter games first before jumping into something huge like Final Fantasy XII or the entire Metroid Prime trilogy or maybe the Persona 3 remaster?

Either way... it's been a blast playing through this game, a massive experience with a great soundtrack and a stylish UI. It really did 'take my heart', so to speak. 

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Ella

"I want to show him that I found a way to face reality. 

• Arcana: Faith

Sumire/Kasumi's story is modelled a lot around Cinderella, except a Cinderella that didn't realize that she was adopting a different identity. It's overall a pretty interesting storyline. I do also like that the Persona is actually just called 'Ella'. Unlike what Disney's extremely well-known adaptation indicates, Cinderella -- or rather, Cinder Ella -- is actually a derisive nickname in the original story, where her evil stepmother and stepsisters mocked her for being always dusty and sooty from all the work she did, and how she's forced to sleep next to a fireplace, hence Ella is always covered in cinders. 

Again, Sumire's story isn't exactly a one-to-one with that of the Cinderella myth (I do really like her initial awakening's line of comparing her 'false glory' to 'living in ashes'), but the idea of Sumire finally deciding to accept her true self and move forwards as Sumire instead of emulating her dead sister all the time -- despite the severe grief, depression and impostor's syndrome -- is pretty nice. The real Cinder Ella also ends up marrying the prince without the enchantment of the gown and the glass slippers, but rather as her true self. 

Design-wise, it's basically a 'wedding dress' remix of Cendrillon. I very much think this one is a bit more of a boring design compared to either Vanadis and especially Cendrillon, but I can get what they were going for. I think what gets me to not like Ella quite as much is her attack animation, which is entirely just her throwing that bouquet of flowers behind her like a bride... which I felt is kind of a step-down from her previous animations. 

Gorokichi

"I've found my teacher. And with him, the path to truly grasping my mother's art. I will not lose my way again."

• Arcana: Emperor

Gorokichi is the birth name of Ishikawa Goemon. The historical Gorokichi is mentioned in two sources, though the accuracy of these sources are rather questionable. Again, it's more or less the same story as Goemon that I covered so many months ago. 

And... Yusuke's third-tier Persona here is... certainly a look. He's my least favourite out of the final Personas, but he's at least flashy and I actually do really respect what they are going for here. For the most part, the designs of Celestine, Lucy, William, Diego and even Ella go for a 'what would these characters look with a modern-themed design', and Gorokichi takes Goemon's traditional Japanese samurai look and... goes in hard with the pompadour. Gorokichi looks like a flamboyant gang leader, with a big-ass pimpin' pink and Dalmatian skin cloak, fancy pointy shoes, skin-tight leather pants, a bright blue pompadour, golden chains and he's swapped his traditional pipe with a big-ass cigar. I'm not sure how it fits with Yusuke, who is the epitome of being the most traditional character of the cast... but Yusuke is also easily the kookiest member of the main cast, so maybe him adapting the modern world does fit with this look? Again, I respect what they were going for here. 

Also... Gorokichi here is not to be confused with Goro Akechi! 

Al Azif

"Let's go take back our own reality. The reality where we can beat anything the world throws at us, as long as we have each other."

• Arcana: Hermit

Futaba getting a brand-new Persona is kind of interesting, even if, again, she's not a fully-playable character. Al Azif goes back to a UFO, but where the original Necronomicon was a cartoonish, dome-shaped UFO, Al Azif looks far more like a UFO that a modern-day sci-fi setting would imagine. Sleek, angular, and... it still has a whole lot of random equations and symbols at the bottom. That's neat! It's really kind of a shame that Futaba's Persona wasn't allowed to really do much beyond brief cameos whenever her all-out attack triggers, though. I couldn't even tell if Al Azif has the same tentacles that Necronomicon has!

The name 'Al Azif' is, in the Cthulhu Mythos stories, the original Arabic name for the Necronomicon, so it's even another 'true identity' or 'original identity' of a first-tier Persona. 

Hereward

"Do you think I'll be happy with this? Being shown mercy now, of all times? I don't want to be pitied -- this isn't something I'm debating with you!"

• Arcana: Justice

I didn't manage to get this Persona, because apparently you needed to answer certain questions specifically to trigger Akechi's meeting with Joker prior to the final battle. Anyway, Hereward is based on Hereward the Wake, an Anglo-Saxon nobleman living in the 10th century in England, who opposed the Normans and led a rebellion against them. Hereward roamed the Fens, which covers the modern-day Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. 

All the third-tier Personas emulate the original, but Hereward, delightfully, only really does so by being based on a superhero and wielding a big-ass bow. I absolutely love this design from a thematic standpoint, by the way. Akechi was always hiding his true, bloodthirsty and manic self under a veneer of being a gentlemanly detective prince. And as such, his 'original' Persona was Robin Hood, which had a very Superman-themed build and a lot of heroic wings and feathers -- like you'd find in superheroes like Thor, Flash or Captain America. 

Hereward, on the other hand, goes to being a bow-themed superhero... but a darker vigilante superhero in the vein of Batman, Daredevil, Vigilante or Punisher. Blacks and reds, a somewhat more 'realistic' and 'modern' set of armour. It's got devil bat wings for ears, an almost robotic or mechanical faceplate, and even the giant, impractical bow is a more realistic compound bow instead of the fantastical one that Robin Hood had. A fair amount of the third-tier Personas just modernize the original one without really having much of a thematic cohesion with the character development of the character, and I'm glad that Akechi did! 

Azathoth

• Arcana: Councillor

Now, the final villain of the Royal story is Azathoth! Keeping up with Byakhee and Hastur, it is nice that a reality-warping plot ends up being one of the elder gods in the Cthulhu Mythos. I am somewhat disappointed that we didn't get more Cthulhu Mythos characters as minibosses in Maruki's Palace, however, especially since we've already had some Cthulhu characters appear in previous entries! But no, the miniboss in this dungeon is... Siegfried? Eh. 

Azathoth is Maruki's Persona, and we fight him alongside Maruki himself (though I don't think he has any offensive attacks) dressed up in a rather ridiculous-looking golden outfit topped with a cape. In typical Cthulhu Mythos monster fashion, Azathoth also continually summons three tentacles with claws -- each claw having a different effect. One tentacle attacks, one shields, and one heals. They also have completely different resistances, forcing you to not just spam area attacks. 

(Though since this is the final battle, any sufficiently powerful Persona with an AoE Almighty attack can just rampage through this fight. I could've done it with the Izanagi-no-Okami Picaro I have, but that would ruin the spirit of a boss fight)

Not really going to talk too much about the boss fight, which really just feels like a drawn-out boss sink. I do think Maruki's taunting to our heroes is far more personal compared to Yaldabaoth. The design of Azathoth is... an interesting one? We really only see the central golden segment of the Persona whenever it manifests next to Maruki, but the tentacles ending in jagged, spindly fingers appear all throughout the dungeon itself. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a bit more of a tree/vine motif since that seemed to be what the dungeon was initially going for, though. 

The shadowy black tentacles are kind of obvious, and I do like how they coil around Azathoth's central form, but I also really do like the golden shape of Azathoth itself. A golden cross with spiky edges, as well as a carving of a nervous system? It's just the brains, the spinal cord and two creepy eyes, connected to the glorping black tentacles. It's not the most elaborate design compared to designs like Yaldabaoth or Satan, but I do feel like it's a pretty interesting take on an eldritch being. 

In the Cthulhu Mythos, Azathoth is the most powerful god in the mythos, residing at the exact center of the universe. Also known as the Nuclear Chaos, the Daemon Sultan, the Deep Dark... and most importantly, the 'Blind Idiot God'. Azathoth is the ancestor of most of the other deities, such as Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth and Nyarlathotep. Azathoth, while being the creator god of the universe, is a 'blind idiot' who created the universe from an accident. Reality itself is caused by Azathoth dreaming and manifesting it into reality, which fits with how Maruki is using his brand-new Persona powers to position himself as the locus of the altered reality... but it's ultimately just a flawed dream. 

Adam Kadmon

• Arcana: Councillor

I am rather disappointed, however, that there were only two fights to the Azathoth/Adam Kadmon sequence. With there being pointedly three degrees of Persona for all of our playable characters, I really thought that there was going to be three phases to this fight... and they even modeled in a half-formed, skeletal version of Adam Kadmon in the cutscene, so I thought it was a bit weird. (Instead, Adam's glowing parts just glow blue and red differently in the sub-phases of this fight) Adam Kadmon is formed when Azathoth consumes Maruki and fuses with him, a process that's actually voluntary on Maruki's part. Due to the sheer size of Adam Kadmon, it's shown that Maruki's basically controlling this gigantic being Attack on Titan style, where he's nestled safely in the head wrapped by Azathoth's tendrils.

We jump from Cthulhu Mythos to the Kabbalah. Adam Kadmon, meaning 'Primordial Man', is the original, perfect prototype man, created directly from God's Infinite Light. Thus, Adam Kadmon is paradoxically both 'Adam' (man) and 'Kadmon' (divine). In the teachings of the Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon stands in contrast to Adam Ha-Rishon ('First Man'), or the Adam of Eden, made from earthly clay. Adam Kadmon is symbolized by the Sephiroth, the Ten Circles of Creation. 

The design of Adam Kadmon is... interesting. The most important thing to note about this thing is that it's a big boy, towering over skyscrapers. I don't think it's quite as big as Yaldabaoth, but I do think that there's a special degree of creepiness with Adam Kadmon being so humanoid. Sure, he's robotic and he's got a creepy human skull (we get to see the 'nervous system' of Azathoth get layers of robotic 'flesh' form around it) but the end result does remind me of the giant human Reaper from Mass Effect 2 or the Titans from Attack on Titan. There is a lot of contrast between the creepy, writhing black-and-blue innards of Adam Kadmon and the similarly-coloured tentacles of Azathoth, with the very bright and prominent golden plating. Maruki also wears a full suit of golden armour, but he's lacking the black-and-blue creepiness, which I think is meant to represent Maruki himself, who is so driven by his own grief and personal demons that he's projecting the toxic, unhealthy escapism to everyone in the form of the golden sheen of 'salvation'. Or something along thsoe lines. 

...again, I honestly would've rather the final boss actually be the Sefirot tree or the Garden of Eden tree that the dungeon and honestly even Azathoth's design itself has been hinting, but as far as giant humanoids go, Adam Kadmon here isn't the worst thing out there. 

Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5 Royal, Part 34

Well, I originally intended for all of this to be in a single article with the final boss, but then the original versions of 'part 33' ended up being so bloated with so many different late-game Personas that I decided to split this final segment into two pages. Maruki was always going to be the eyecatcher for the final part of this series, and I thought I could get there without having to use Ohya and Shinya... but I guess there are a lot of Personas when you count all the second-tiers that I've never unlocked, and all the new third-tiers! I swear I wasn't trying to stretch this series out longer than it should, but there are just a lot of designs in this game!

And Ohya... I just don't really like her. I'm not sure why, since on paper her story isn't bad -- it's a typical one that you find a lot in superhero stories, I guess, of an intrepid reporter going against the power of propaganda and whatnot in order to uncover the truth. But I just find Ohya as the straight-up Confidant that I don't like at all, and I really did feel very uninvested in her story. Doesn't help that even with Royal reworking a lot of the Confidants' effects, Ohya's affecting the security level seems very underwhelming. 

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Lucy

• Arcana: Empress

We'll start off with Haru's third-tier Persona, Lucy, which like most third-tier Personas is tied to the original one. Lucy Hay, the Countess of Carlisle, is a real-life person who was active during the Second Civil War, and is notable for aiding both sides at different points of the conflict. Prior to the Civil War, she was an ally of the Parliamentarians, and during the war itself, she switched sides and helped the Royalists, leading to her arrest and imprisonment. Her duplicitous actions inspired the creation of the character of Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers. 

And her design is... not the most interesting? Most of the third-tier Personas are 'modernized' versions of their first-tier Persona, but while Lucy does have a lot more modern features like the hairdo, the suitcase and the manner of her dress looking more like a lady with a longcoat instead of a lady in a ball... she's just not different enough from the original, I feel? I really did think they could've given her a bit more of an oomph. Especially when you compare designs like Celestine to Carmen, or William to Kidd. It's all right, I guess, but I honestly did feel like this is a bit of a downgrade from Astarte. 

Prometheus

• Arcana: Hermit

Oh! It is kind of a shame that Futaba's Persona really is out of focus most of the time. I don't think she ever says out 'Necronomicon' at all even when her effects trigger on the battlefield! But she does have an upgraded Persona, and this one is Prometheus. Where Necronomicon is a weird UFO, Prometheus is a giant pulsating ball with alien circuitry running all over it, with parts of it resembling a grinning face. Of course, the light pulsates in and out, though the markings don't actually change.  This fits with the whole mysterious ancient-alien technology and circuitry vibe that Futaba's dungeon has, actually. 

And Prometheus, of course, is a famous figure in Greek mythology. He's a Titan that sided with the Olympians. Prometheus sympathized with the mortal humans, and he would steal fire from Mount Olympus. Prometheus would bring fire to man, and taught mankind how to use the previously-unknown power of fire. This enraged Zeus, because Prometheus taught mankind a way to defy and trick the gods. As punishment, Prometheus was chained to a rock for eternity, where a great buzzard would come and eat his liver every single day, and at the end of each day his liver would regrow. This lasted until the hero Heracles freed Prometheus during his adventures. 

As tied to Futaba's own hacker themes and the whole 'forbidden knowledge' being a stand-in for both repressed memories and conspiracies in her storyline, the idea that Prometheus as a figure that gave mankind forbidden and potentially destructive knowledge definitely fits!

Maria

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Faith

The ultimate Persona of the Faith arcana is Maria, mother of Jesus Christ in the Bible. In the Bible, after being visited by the angel Gabriel, Maria (translated as 'Mary' in English) goes through a virgin pregnancy and gives birth to Jesus Christ. Because of this, she is honoured as the mother of God, particularly among Catholics, who honour Mother Mary as a great saint.  

I don't really have much to say here, though I am pleased to see that Maria isn't 'just a woman', but rather a moving block of marble with... animals around her for some reason? Which I originally thought might be a reference to the cherubim, but then one of the animals is a T-rex, and I can tell you that a T-rex isn't in the Bible. We also have three trilobites on the back part of the statue. So... eh? There are a bunch of golden discs around her and stuff, and a golden ring that I think is meant to be a halo? It's neat. 

Mada

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Tower

Mada, the ultimate Tower Persona, is a monstrous deity in Hinduism. It was summoned by the sage Chyavana to battle the deity Indra during a conflict on whether the twin deities Asvin was allowed to enter a feast of the gods hosted by Indra. Chyavana summoned Mada, who was described as being so enormous that it could use its jaws to swallow the earth and the heavens at the same time. At the sight of Mada's arrival, Indra surrendered and allowed the Asvin twins to enter the feast. 

In Hindu mythology, Mada is considered as one of the Arishadvargas, the six enemies of the mind, symbolizing negative attributes such as arrogance, pride, obstinacy and stubbornness, and an obstacle to attaining salvation. 

Mada's design is a fun one here, being a four-armed giant demon with a very angry mouth and a ring behind him. I love how he's just stomping in place, and how its waist kind of flares up to something akin to a bowl of fire. Mada's head is also a literal tower that rises up to another torch. I can't find any descriptions of Mada's appearance online beyond identifying him as a giant 'Rakshasa'. I am actually surprised that we get a somewhat humanoid figure -- as cool as Persona's Mada looks -- instead of a giant set of jaws or something!

Odin

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Emperor

Huh? Huh! Emperor's ultimate Persona is the Nordic chief god, Odin the All-Father (also Odinn, Wodan, Bileygr, Drottinn, Fengr, Fjolnir and many other alternate names). And the design is... a purple-skinned man only wearing a cloth around his waist, a cape and a golden horned helmet? He's at least got the iconic eyepatch and the spear Gungir, but it's definitely not what I expected from an 'Odin', particularly compared to how the game has depicted other Nordic mythology figures like Thor, Loki, Surtr and Freyr. While I do like that they didn't go for the obvious 'just a Viking with some features' look that so many depictions of Odin and Thor do, it's a bit weird that he kinda looks like a wacky cartoon elf or something. It is admittedly an interesting look, but not one that I personally like. It does look like something from Devilman, which I appreciate, but I'm looking at the different Odin designs throughout SMT's history, and I definitely think this is the least-interesting one out of them. 

As the All-Father of the Aesir gods, Odin is associated with wisdom, war, knowledge, battle, magic, sorcery, poetry, healing, royalty, prophecy, victory and the hunt. In particular, his other most common name, Wodan, translates to 'Lord of the Frenzy', associating Odin with the fury and frenzy of battle. Odin is the son of Borr and Bestla; has two brothers Vili and Ve; is married to Frigg and has multiple famous children, like Thor and Baldr. Odin has sacrificed one of his eyes in order to drink from the well of Mimir to obtain wisdom, and would later hang himself from the world tree Yggdrasil also to obtain wisdom. In some later folklore, Odin is associated with the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession of the dead that ride through the winter sky. 

Odin wields the mighty spear called Gungnir, and has many animal familiars. He has two wolves, Geri and Freki; two ravens Huginn and Muninn who bring information from Midgard to him; and rides the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. In some myths, Odin slew the primordial ice giant Ymir, and gave life to the first two humans of Midgard, Ask and Embla. He provides mankind knowledge of runes, writing and poetry. Odin is a central character of many Nordic myths, and throughout all of it he has shown many different magical and warlike abilities. Odin is also associated with the hall of Valhalla, where those that die in battle are taken there by the valkyries, where he prepares for the final battle Ragnarok with his Einherjar. In Ragnarok, Odin is prophesied to be killed by the great wolf Fenrir. 

Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5 Royal, Part 33

And before we finish off Persona 5 Royal with a bang and the final fight against Dr. Maruki, here's a bunch of ersatz 'secret' Personas and locked-by-tier-10-confidant Personas. I really don't have much to say here for the opening. though I really do say that there absolutely being no indication about how to fuse Alice, Shiva and Ardha is both extremely frustrating but honestly also pretty much in-line with these JRPGs. 

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?

Satan's appearance is never described in the Bible other than the draconic form he takes in the Book of Revelations, but in the Middle Ages, he is normally shown in the typical red humanoid with cloven hooves, horns, a tail and holding a pitchfork. Over the years, Satan has also been linked with various 'evil' entities from completely different mythologies. Satan has also been depicted in various works of literature, most famously Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost. Certain denominations of Christianity associate Satan with the sin of wrath among the Seven Deadly Sins. 

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

And if you prefer your demons to be of the 'fallen angel' kind instead of the 'monstrous abomination' kind, SMT/Persona has you covered with Lucifer, who's a six-winged demon-angel man. His body is all ridged and he's got two giant horns and devil bat-wings, but otherwise Lucifer here does fulfill most of the tropes associated with a fallen angel. Lucifer here is the ultimate Persona of the 'Star' Arcana, probably a joke on how Lucifer's name literally means 'Morning Star'. I do appreciate Lucifer's existence and design, but this game also has Satanael, so you're not really hurting for six-winged, black-and-red fallen angel designs. 

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. 

Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5 Royal, Part 32

I've made my bed in that I'm not going to unlock all of the third-tier Personas. I'm close! I'm very close! I'm like two or three daytime encounters away from getting everyone. But I did at least get Yusuke to his Confidant Rank 10, and unlocked his original game's second-tier Persona. I don't really think I care enough to restart the game from Futaba's palace (where I see the most mismanagement and wastage of time) just so I can get all the third-tier Personas. 

Via save-scumming, I'll be able to see the cutscenes leading to all my teammates awakening the third-tier Personas, and we'll review them. It's just that my main concern is to get all my characters to rank 10 -- particularly Yusuke and Sumire -- which is definitely doable. 

This is going to mainly just be a 'fusions and teammate Persona' page, as I basically try to complete the Persona-pedia. Other than anything new in the final dungeon, I think all I have to do is to fuse everyone in the Advanced Fusion, as well as a couple of 'hidden' ones like Alice that don't show up on the full inmate registry before you unlock them. 

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Kamu Susano'o

• Arcana: Emperor

The rank ten 'second-tier' Persona of Yusuke, Kamu Susano'o is the evolved form of his original Goemon. And visually... he's all right? He's got a fun little sword that's got two intertwined blades, and I do like the metal war-skirt and pants, and that's a pretty cool explosive set of hair. Very much what you'd think a Japanese war-god would look like, but otherwise... he's just kind of there, I guess? He's called Kamu Susano'o here to differentiate from a different playable Persona from Persona 4, which is just 'Susano'o'.

Romanized into English as Susano'o, Susano-o, Susanoo or Susanowo, Susano'o-no-Mikoto is the Shinto god of the storms, the sea and Summer, and the brother to Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. The three siblings were born when Izanagi purified himself from the filth of the underworld, which we covered when we talked about Izanagi. Susano'o, particularly, was born from Izanagi's nose. 

There are various legends of Susano'o, and some focused on his rivalry with his sister Amaterasu, which can sometimes get a bit too far due to Susano'o's wild and impetuous nature, at one point causing Amaterasu to seal herself in a cave and plunge the world into darkness. Presumably, the whole 'cause chaos among the gods' thing is why Susano'o is considered a mythological trickster? However, he is also a heroic figure, as Susano'o also slew the multi-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi, rescuing the princess Kushinada-hime and marrying her. 

Astarte

• Arcana: Empress

Haru's second-tier Persona is Astarte, the Greek name of the Canaanite goddess Athtart/Ashtart. She's an equivalent of Ishtar, and is the goddess of war, hunting, love, sex and horses. Her symbols are the lion, the panther and the eight-pointed star. In the Baal cycle, she is one of the staunchest allies of Baal, and she participated in some of the conflicts against the sea god Yam. Some myths consider Astarte to be the consort of Baal, and other sources conflate Astarte with another goddess, Asherah. 

Most famously and referenced in the description in this game, Astarte is often thought to be the 'Queen of Heaven' denounced by the prophet Jeremiah in the Bible as a false goddess. The name of Astarte is corrupted into 'Astaroth', which would eventually be turned into a separate demon in Christian mythology. 

And the design for Astarte is a huge departure from the design of Milady, her giant skirt and the copious amounts of steampunk gatling guns underneath the skirt. The imagery of a slender female figure atop a giant structure is still there, and the main colours you see is still pink... but it's a whole different ball-game for Astarte! The humanoid part is relatively simple for these 'Stand'-esque Personas, with a woman with a gigantic golden moon growing out of her head. Her giant 'skirt', however, is a multi-layered skull that rotates around, and the skull has a childish, bizarrely-contrasting painting of pink and purple flowers and eyes that look like they're plucked from a doll. There's also some rings at the bottom?

I'm still processing this one, to be honest, and it's such a departure from the already weird Milady. See what I mean about Personas being able to look more than just a 'humanoid'? Sorry, Kamu Susano'o, you're just kind of boring compared to the madness going on with Astarte here. 

Agnes

"It's strange. All it took to make myself stronger is to put myself first?"

• Arcana: Priestess

Makoto's third-tier Persona is Agnes, and like all the other Royal-exclusive third-tier Personas, it's an alternate or the 'real' name of her original Persona, Pope Joan/Johanna given by some tellings of her story. We've talked about Pope Joan before, so basically everything that applied there also applies here. 

I did express a bit of a disappointment that the uniqueness of Makoto's sentient bike Persona was kind of lost when she evolved it to Anat. The idea that it's a Transformer is cool for sure, but it's not like Anat transforms into a bike in animations or anything. And so just like how William, Diego and Celestine resemble their original counterparts but remixed, Agnes returns into being a vehicle... specifically a badass dragster. The sleeping pope face is now the figure of an angelic woman, and I really do like the quasi-steampunk-looking vents and the giant armoured spikes on the front end of the vehicle. Without the gold and the angelic statue, you could really pass this off as a Batman vehicle or something!

Anyway, I like this one. Always really enjoyed Makoto's Personas, and turning from a motorbike to a robot and now to a badass dragster is unexpected but most certainly welcome. 

Vishnu

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Fool

The 'ultimate' Fool Persona unlocked by maxing out Igor's confidant is Vishnu, who's portrayed relatively faithfully to his religious counterpart. He's a man with four hands, holding a conch, a lotus, a chakra ring and a club -- the traditional things associated with him. Not much to say here, though Vishnu is traditionally depicted as blue-skinned. He's still wearing blue clothing here, but I guess they have to alter the look a bit.

He's one of the chief deities in Hinduism -- I can't really possibly summarize Vishnu's lore within two paragraphs, so I'm not even going to try. Vishnu is the Preserver and one of the three principle deities of the Trimurti alongside Brahma the Creator and Shiva the Destroyer. This leads to the three cycles of life -- creation, preservation and ultimately destruction. Vishnu maintains balance within the world, and at the end of our current age, he will appear in the form of his avatar Kalki, and judge whether mortals have been good or evil. Afterwards, the universe will end and creation will start anew. 

Vishnu's avatars has prominently appeared in many incarnations in Hindu myths, both as humans and animals. His first prominent appearance in Hindu mythology was as the fish avatar, Matsya, who warned the first human Manu about a great flood, telling him to build a ship to take animals and plants to a higher level. Other notable avatars includes Rama and Krishna. In addition, Vishnu is depicted to be the husband of the goddess Lakshmi. 

Chi You

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Chariot

Chi You (蚩尤) here is the ultimate Persona of the Chariot arcana, and he's the half-bull war deity of war that helped the Hmong and Li tribes fight against Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, that's said to be the emperor of all Chinese. Chi You managed to rout much of Emperor Huang Di's troops with trickery, but Huang Di would win the final battle with the invention of a compass that allowed him to navigate through the fog. Chi You would be defeated and beheaded by Ying Long, one of the Emperor's generals. Chi You is revered in China as the god of war and weaponry.

According to the legends, Chi You has a bronze bull head with a distinct metal forehead, with four eyes, six arms and wielding weapons in every hand. His hindquarters were sometimes described to be that of a bear. Persona's interpretation is... a fun one! We've had a lot of multi-armed, fancily-coloured deities before, and if we're being honest giving Chi You a minotaur head isn't exactly the most exciting thing... but giving him legs that splay out like a spider's is probably what made him stand out compared to the many other multi-armed deities. Pretty cool set of weapons, I particularly like that shield with a face on it. 

Metatron

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Justice

And we close this off with our last angel, Megatron. I mean, Metatron. He kinda looks a bit more robotic, huh? Design-wise, Metatron is basically a silver version of Sandalphon, honestly, being a more artificial and mechanical-looking angel compared to the funny-skinned but still humanoid four archangels. 

Metatron isn't considered to be an official angel anymore by most Christian sects, but is one of the most famous one from Judaism. Some myths take him as the ascended version of the prophet Enoch, and he is characterized as the 'voice of God'. According to the myths, Metatron acts as the vessel that God speaks to mankind with, and is covered by one million eyes and mouths. Metatron is considered to be the angel that's nearest to god, and is the largest body among all the angels. In Judaism, his status is higher than even the archangel Michael. He's the twin brother of Sandalphon. 

There's a lot of myths about Metatron that make for fascinating reading, though the lack of consistency across different materials does make it a bit hard to follow. Worth noting that it really does seem that before they settled on the gnostic themes for the game's original main villain Yaldabaoth, Metatron seemed to be the basis of the original boss, being a giant metallic angel that has taken over a higher being and 'speaks' for him. 

Reviewing Monsters: Persona 5 Royal, Part 31

Anyway, yeah, after going through the opening batch of cutscenes and non-combat/non-hangout sequences in the beginning of the Royal semester, I realize I'm going to have to budget my time very carefully, because... well, every confidant I have yet to complete are in the daytime, and suddenly this game throws a bit of a monkey-wrench because the daytime is also where the 'unlock your teammates' third-tier Personas events happen, which also take time. And also Mementos and Palace missions happen in the daytime. I think I'll try my best to at least get the outstanding ones (mostly Yusuke, Sumire and a couple of ranks in Futaba) to Rank 10, but I think I'll have to skip some of the final Personas. Oh well. 

Still enjoying the little twist they did for Royal, which I thought was a much more interesting 'ultimate rebellion' as they rebel against a false reality -- the fact that they're rebelling against a nice, sugary treat in front of them feels so much more awesome than the apathy that Yaldabaoth did. Not to say I didn't enjoy Persona 5's climax, but I really felt like the Royal story with Sumire, Maruki and the rest of the Phantom Thieves -- as cliched as some parts of it are, ends up feeling a fair bit better. 

Anyway, I'm trying to rush all of my social stuff first, which is why this 'episode' is going to be filled mostly with fusion Personas and some third-tier ones. 

Our eyecatcher is Munehisa Iwai of the Hanged Man Persona. I really do like his story, even if it does hilariously read like it came out of a Yakuza game. It's pretty heartwarming, if somewhat basic, and it's also one of the few Confidant storylines that truly felt like a 'loyalty mission', if you pardon me borrowing a Mass Effect term. Again, there were parts where I really did feel like perhaps Iwai's storyline could've bled into either the criminal conspiracies associated with either Shido or Kaneshiro, but it makes a bit more sense this time around since what Joker sees is just a small part of Iwai's yakuza connections. 

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Célestine

"I'm never going to lose my way again. From now on, I'm going to face reality. For me, for Shiho... and for you."

• Arcana: Lovers

Ann's two Personas, Carmen and Hecate, merge together into Célestine, named after Célestine Galli-Marié, the opera actress that popularized the role of Carmen in opera. Despite originally being a mere third choice, Célestine's performance was so powerful that the composers and show-writers actually changed part of the script and argued with management that the play not be toned down because of Célestine's powerful performance. Persona's Célestine also has a reference to the lyric from the opera, the words "C'est toi? C'est moi?", spoken by Carmen in the climax scene, translating roughly to 'free she was born; free she will die', as Carmen refuses to be bound to any man even at the pain of death. 

Célestine's design is... it's all right? I do like that there's a bit more deviation than Raoul or Diego had compared to Arsene and Zorro respectively. There's still the silhouette of Carmen 'punishing' two slaves, though this time those two little gremlins look a bit less lovestruck. Célestine herself has two gigantic tentacle-whip Medusa hair arranged in a giant heart, which... is okay, I guess, but I do find it interesting that the rest of her design is basically a modern-day punk, or a punk rockstar of some sort. That's a rather cool design, though, with the bubblegum and the asymmetry in her jacket sleeves and stockings. Again, while I don't have much to say about these humanoid Personas, I do appreciate the uniqueness and the 'update' on the classic Carmen. 

William

"I'll stick with the reality we fought for. The one where we went through all our shit together. That's where I belong."

• Arcana: Chariot

My boy Ryuji's Persona, meanwhile, continues the silhouette that both Captain Kidd and Seiten Taisei has, of a humanoid figure riding a gigantic vehicle like a surfboard. 'William' here is just the first name of Captain William Kidd, so it's pretty simple.

But despite this originally looking like just a modernization of Captain Kidd, it really struck me how this is basically a brand-new design; as different from Kidd as Célestine was from Carmen! Captain Kidd's boat is changed to a gigantic modern (and even futuristic-looking) cruise ship. Kidd's cannon arm is some kind of a railgun, and the general vibe of William has him looking like he could be a punk, hanging out with Célestine in the skateboard park and looking cool. The hoodie, the flowing cloak, the lanky proportions, the gigantic headphones... really, the only thing that marks William as being a Persona instead of a dude is that he still has Captain Kidd's skeleton face!

(William's hoodie has the writing 'Hanged 1701', a morbid but historically accurate joke about how the real-life William Kidd was hanged in the year 1701.)

Surt

• Monster Name: Blazing Giant
• Arcana: Magician

This guy's been visible for a while on my Persona fusion lists, but I just didn't have the level to summon him! Surt is the English translation of Surtr, a figure from Norse mythology. Though thanks to things like Marvel's Thor and God of War, 'Surtr' or 'Surtur' is how the giant seems to be spelled in pop culture nowadays. Surtr is the mightiest fire giant that rules over Muspelheim, the land of fire. 

Persona's version of Surtr actually eschews the version that I always tend to see in these adaptations of Norse mythology, of a giant wreathed in fire. Instead, Surt here is a blackened titan with some lava-like markings and a fiery sword instead... which actually fits Surtr's actual name better -- Surtr means 'black' or 'the swarthy one'. Surtr guards Muspelheim with a sword of fire, and 'at the end of the world, he will go and wage war, and defeat all the gods and burn the whole world with fire'. 

In Nordic mythology, Surtr's biggest role is at the end of the world, in Ragnarok, where Surtr will finally walk out of Muspelheim alongside other monsters, giants and evil gods to fight against the Aesir -- the gods that guard humanity. Surtr will battle and slay the god Freyr, and the flames that he brings forth would engulf all of Midgard (Earth) and wipe the slate of the world clean for the few survivors of Ragnarok to continue the next cycle. 

Futsunushi

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Magician

The ultimate Persona of the Magician Arcana is Futsunushi-no-Kami, one of the deities in Shinto myth. Pretty cool design, I really do like the idea of a meditating skeletal-faced warrior with a bunch of swords floating around him like the petals of a flower. Futsunushi, of course, manipulates this to fight. A pretty simple design, but the floating swords really do set him apart from the many, many other traditional East Asian deities in this franchise. 

Futsunushi-no-Kami is a legendary warrior god, and he is regarded as the ancestor of the Mononobe clan, and is one of the patron teacher-deities of the Fujiwara clan alongside Take-Mikazuchi. As the Persona description notes, the 'futsu' in his name, is the onomatopoeia for a sword swinging and cutting something, while 'nushi' means master. Depending on the version of the myth, Futsunushi was born from the blood spilled when Izanagi killed the fire god Hi-no-Kagutsuchi; some other myths note that Futsunushi is descended from the gods born from this spilled blood. Futsunushi accompanied Takemikazuchi when they went down and demanded the earthly deity Okuninushi (who we covered before) to relinquish his authority. While previous messengers have failed, Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi's arrival did cause Okuninushi to submit, and the two would wipe out any of the other rebelling gods.  

Crystal Skull

• Monster Name: N/A
• Arcana: Fool

I thought I talked about this one, but apparently I didn't? Our one last Treasure Demon is the Crystal Skull, which is very infamously the subject of the terrible Indiana Jones movie no one really wants to talk about. The Crystal Skull are a legendary 'OOParts', or out-of-place artifacts, where they show up in places that, archaeologically speaking, they shouldn't be in. This often leads to conspiracies about aliens, the occult, time-travelers or what-have-you. 

The Crystal Skulls were allegedly pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts, and there were supposed to be 13 of them. When they are all gathered, they would reveal the mysteries of the universe. It's all utter nonsense, however, because not a single Crystal Skull has ever been found in an archaeological dig, and nowadays it's accepted that the skulls found in the 1800's are likely manufactured in Europe to capitalize and cash in on the boom of artifacts from the New World. 

Siegfried

• Monster Name: Dragon-Slaying Genius
• Arcana: Faith

The brave hero Siegfried (originally Sigurd) is the protagonist of the Germanic epic Das Nibelungenlied, which is widely known when Richard Wagner adapted it into a series of operas. Sigurd is also featured in the Prose Edda, one of the most complete remaining sources of Nordic mythology. The stories around Sigurd/Siegfried are numerous, and I do encourage reading up on a summary or a synopsis of the Nibelungenlied epic -- which would go on to inspire things like Lord of the Rings. 

One of the most epic things that Sigurd did in these myths is slaying a dragon, Fafnir, with the blade Gram. He would then claim the hoard of the dragon. This story was the inspiration behind many Western stories (including The Hobbit) of a hero going into a dragon's hoard with gigantic piles of gold. Sigurd's foster father, Regin, tasked him to slay Fafnir. On the way to slay the dragon, Sigurd happened to meet the chief god Odin, though he did not know his identity. Odin gave Sigurd some advice, telling him to dig trenches to drain the dragon's blood, which gave him invulnerability. Sigurd would bathe in his blood, and gain hardened skin himself -- though a leaf that fell on his shoulder gave him a weak spot. This blood also told Sigurd that the curse of greed attached to the gold hoard has also corrupted his foster father Regin, who planned to kill him after the fact to keep the gold to himself. Thus, Sigurd was also forced to kill Regin. 

Depending on the specific myth, Sigurd's adventures afterwards vary, though there is normally some kind of conflict with the powerful woman (either a valkyrie or a queen) Brynhild/Brunhild. In the Nibelungenlied, conflict arose when Siegfried used an artifact he has, a magical cloak that grants him invisibility, to help his friend Gunther woo the queen Brunhild and help Gunther pass through the trials she puts. In the deception, they claim that Siegfried is Gunther's vassal. However, Brunhild came into conflict against Siegfried's wife Kriemhild. Brunhild accuses Kriemhild of being the wife of a mere vassal, while Kriemhild accuses Brunhild of having her virginity taken by Siegfried (thanks to Siegfried taking Brunhild's belt and ring when he helped Gunther). Brunhild would conspire with Gunther, and another vassal, Hagen, to murder Siegfried. They find out about Siegfried's weakness, and during a hunting party, Siegfried was stabbed by Hagen with a spear. 

Anyway, that's mostly the German version of the story, highly condensed and eliminating some characters. Siegfried himself is... he sure is a guy in armour with red skin (from the blood?) and, while it's a bit hard to see, three's a tattoo of a leaf on his shoulder, alluding to his weak spot in the story. Nice!

Fafnir

• Monster Name: Evil Voracious Dragon
• Arcana: Hermit

The dragon that Sigurd slew was the mighty Fafnir. In the Nordic myths, Fafnir is the son of the dwarf-king Hreidmarr, and the brother of Regin and Otr. The Norse god Loki accidentally killed Otr when he mistook Otr for an otter, and the gods gave Hreidmarr a pile of cursed gold (originally belonging to the dwarf Andvari) as compensation. Out of greed, Fafnir slew his father, taking the hoard and riches of his father and being transformed into a dragon (or a wyrm/worm) in the process. Fafnir's brother Regin would send Sigurd to slay Fafnir -- which we covered in Sigurd's story above.

And... what a cool-ass design. They could've gone with a generic reptilian dragon. They could've gone with a metallic dragon. But no. Fafnir is a humanoid robot with a silhouette that somewhat resembles a dragon, but feels more like some kind of sleek sci-fi robot alien based on the aesthetic of Aliens or something. What a cool design! Look at that very sterile, inhuman-looking face. Look at that creepy skull face, and the halo-like head crest Look at those wings that run down his body like ridges. Look at those kooky, reptile-man hands, and those random sci-fi greebles all over his torso and abdomen. It's such a bizarre take on what's otherwise a 'classic' dragon, and I love it!

This probably works with how Fafnir's description has differed from tellings, and works with how vague 'dragon' or 'wyrm' are. While most artwork of Fafnir tended to draw him like a regular European dragon, man, this Xenomorph-man looks so much cooler as a cursed human than a regular winged reptile would've been! In the Megami Tensei games, Fafnir was just a fat reptile dragon until one game decided to randomly make Fafnir into a robot dragon and that design stuck!