Persona (video game)/Fridge

A reminder of the rules of Fridge Brilliance:

This is a personal moment for the viewer, so every example is signed by the contributor. If you start off with "This Troper", really, you have no excuse. We're going to hit you on the head.

This revelation can come from anywhere, even from this very page.

Also, this page is of a generally positive nature, and a Fridge Brilliance does not have to be Word Of God. In fact, it usually isn't, and the viewer might be putting more thought into it than the creator ever did. This is not a place for personal commentary on another's remark or arguing without adding a Fridge Brilliance comment of your own.

In Persona 3, the main character is of the Fool arcana, meaning he can fuse and summon pretty much any Persona. Keeping in mind that a Persona is a reflection of one's psyche, this ability leads to mountains of crazy WMG about the main character's sanity, the status of reality ("is it all a dream?"), etc. This Troper just realized that the constant changing of Personas reflects the fact that the player can effectively paint whatever personality they want for the main character because they control his responses in various situations. Even moreso, the culmination of all of the main character's Personas into a single, ultimate Persona in the fight with Nyx shows that no matter how the player decided to have him act throughout the game, his decision in the end was the same.
- This troper had a similar moment. You beat the final boss but unleashing the universe arcanum. When I learned the game of Tarot later, I found that the universe- the 21st trump card-was the highest card in the game and therefore couldn't be beat.
  - It goes even further than that. The Arcanum of The World represents fulfillment, oneness, self-realization. Meanwhile, the Arcanum of Death isn't "death" but changes and cycles (hence why the New Game+ after the Protagonist has died is called "New Cycle"). Now take Apathy Syndrome: it's the total loss of self. You're nothing but a moaning body, devoid of personality. And Nyx's effect on Earth would have been to inflict this on everyone --rather than outright "killing" all life on Earth, Nyx ONLY takes your self away.^[1] And of course, the Persona series is ALL about expressing various facets of your personality. The Arcana represent states of consciousness, some benign, some negative, but a consciousness nonetheless. By establishing Social Links, you can amass all your experiences with these Arcana (yes, even Death) and become a fully-realized human being --The World. The World that is beyond Death, The World that overcomes fear of change, The World that is above (lowercase) death because death is no longer fearsome. The World that has seen The Judgement. The World that embraces change. The World is the absolute opposite to Apathy Syndrome, i.e. nothingness; that is, it is opposite to Nyx itself. And Nyx, summoned by those who fear life and reject themselves, has no power over one who has achieved The World. In turn, the Protagonist has completed his/her (and The Fool's) Journey, he/she has found The Answer to his/her own existence, and he/she willingly accepts his/her own death in order to surpass the nothingness of Nyx. And that is why he/she becomes the Great Seal between Nyx and Erebus: it is NOT And I Must Scream or a Fate Worse Than Death: for the Protagonist, becoming the invincible (Erebus can't touch him) barrier between death and despair is the ultimate expression of personal realization. He/She is basically saying, "Yes, death exists, but it is only an end that gives way to a new beginning. You don't need to fear it, because I will take away the darkness and despair from you forever." Now, depending on your interpretation, it might be that he/she doesn't have to be the Great Seal, but maybe he/she wants to. The Protagonist always strove to help others and to protect them. He/She was also deeply at peace in his/her last day on Earth, having helped a multitude of people become better persons. What better reward for his/her ultimate sacrifice than to allow him/her to become the last, greatest guardian of humanity (of course, you're free to disagree with this last bit, but I feel it makes the Bittersweet Ending a lot less Bitter)?
    - So basically, the Protagonist is literally his/her ultimate Persona Messiah, if you didn't catch that with the much more obvious symbolism found throughout the game.
    - You could take the interpretation even further by intercultural studies. Tarot arcanas (traditionally western) are developing inside the main character (the Self) through the relationships he has with others: as a matter of fact, most Eastern cultures (especially Japan) are known as more "collectivist", causing the self to be "interdependant", meaning that the self isn't described through internal characteristics, but rather through his relations to others. As such, the main character develop his own potential through his own training (gaining levels, western/individualist thinking) and through the building of social bonds to his community (Social Links and the associated Arcanas, eastern/collectivist thinking). As it is common (correct me if I'm wrong) in both Western and Eastern philosophies, balance is key to developing the self: the main character finally reaches his full potential by fully developing his Social Links (eastern part) which manifest in his Arcanas (western part), reaching wholeness (the World arcana), which is often described as the highest state of mind, in all cultures.
- This troper has known the remake of Persona 3 to be criticized as shameless fanservice for fangirls. Lo and behold, however, the Social Links exclusive to the female route are still true the arcana, and better yet, deconstruct their original characterizations.
  - The single minded and even mildly selfish side of Akihiko's determination along with his oblivion towards normal friendships/romance as a result are explored through the Star. Optimism is wonderful, but at the same has its deceit.
  - Ken's relationship with the female protagonist is criticized by the blind assumptions of society under Justice. The fact the Slink can split like a romantic commu (Squick out and you're Completely Missing the Point, it's not meant to be Shotacon) prove that initial judgment (unlike true judgment in its own arcana) of what we perceived is not absolute.
    - Continuing off of that, Ken himself is surprised that the protagonist likes action shows and reads manga, judging her to be a stronger leader who wouldn't have "childish" side. Through that, he learns it's okay to have some childish sides (and becomes the main focus of the Friendship ranks). It gets better as he gains his Precocious Crush as he wouldn't believe she would ever return it. Go romantic, and prove his judgement wrong again.
  - Moon is tragic. It's not the arcana of the snobs (Ai and Nozomi may give off this impression), it's the one of contradictions, illusions, and fear of dark desires. Shinjiro would love a normal life, even if he fears the after-effects of the short-lived normalcy he is given. His genuine kindness and modesty definitely contrasts the toughened up image he is seen as initially, like an illusion. The fears also manifest in his repressed feelings/lust for the main.
  - When Erebus was revealed to be the real reason that Nyx was coming to Earth, some people took it as a cheesy, poorly-explained Giant Space Flea From Nowhere. However, I followed a link on Wikipedia and found out that, in mythology, he was Nyx's brother (and husband); suddenly, the fact that the emotions forming Erebus 'called out' for Nyx made a lot more sense.
    - Then the above led to even more brilliance, when I read that two of their children were Thanatos and Hypnos: the protagonist's and Takaya's Personae, respectively, which is why they both end up so closely tied to Nyx's arrival (although Takaya's wasn't in a good way). And this one's more of a funny note, but Hypnos was usually associated with poppies; Takaya's Fan Nickname of Druggie Jesus now fits even more. -Ms Devin 92
- Yukari's Persona Io transforms into Isis. On a surface level, this seems strange because most of the party characters' Personas in Persona 3 are Greek and they transform to other Greek personas [with the exception of Ken]. After doing some more research lately, it turns out that in some versions of Io's myth, she flees to Egypt and is renamed Isis by the natives.
- This Troper's friend just realized: Minato is Jesus, SEES are the 12 Apostles (counting Metis, Igor and Elizabeth/Theo), Takaya is the Antichrist, and Social Links are people whose life Jesus touched.
Maybe it's just me thinking that way, but I was playing again through the game, and one particular sentence said by Fuuka striked me as particularly fridge brilliant: after Shinjiro's death, she laments that all the tragedy could have been avoided if only she had trusted her intuition... Fuuka's arcana is The Priestess. What is one of the meanings of The Priestess arcana? That you should trust your intuition. brilliant!
The fact that Shinjiro and Akihiko's personas make up the gemini twins is pretty obvious in the game, but where Ken ties in is very clever: in some versions of the myth, the Gemini were the sons of *Nemesis* , neatly tying Ken to their story. If that's not clever enough? Castor was killed by a spear to the heart. Now, what's Ken's weapon again...?
This troper found some Fridge Brilliance within the main theme of Persona 3. After going to the page for Early Installment Weirdness, I remembered one small tidbit: it was made around six years after the previous one. Then I remembered that Persona 3's main tarot card was Death, and the meaning behind it: Change. Death and rebirth. Out with the old, in with the new. In other words, the theme worked on a somewhat meta level, as they were reinventing the entire series as we knew it. And for the better.
The evokers. The protagonist summons their Persona by shooting him/herself in the head. Apart from evoking images of suicide, it's excellent foreshadowing. Remember what happens to the Protagonist at the end?
- The bad ending, where the main character kills Ryoji has the main character executing his evoker at a much slower pace. Perhaps he knows the consequence of this which is that everyone will die, including him and thinks of this as ACTUAL SUICIDE, thus taking a logical approach to the hesitant evoker pose.
Out of the New Game+ Endings, Ken's was much more bittersweet and less romantic than everyone else's. The endings follow an upright meaning of each character's arcana. Justice is an arcana does not have an interpretation pertaining directly to love; the opposite actually, with ones such as distance and logic. Those would make sense, as space and rationality are what would keep them together without a stigma from society. The most significant of the meanings, however, is "clear vision". Ken expresses his worry that the main character will "go somewhere", hinting he knows her fate to die. Whether the others know and are lying for her sake, or Ken is the only one to know this is both poignant, and absolutely heart-breaking.
Aigis' Persona transformation from Ares to Athena gives her one of the best healing spells in the game. Previously, she only had buffs as support techniques. This is most likely due to her finally getting human emotions and caring for her comrades.
In Persona 4, Nanako Dojima is of the Justice Arcana. Later on in the game, should you get the bad ending, Namatame, the man accused of killing her basically gets away with it. It is said that the 'law can't touch' him. Law... Justice... get it? This troper and her friend found it very amusing.
- At first, during the bathhouse dungeon, I thought that Shadow Kanji was behaving... extremely, even for a Shadow. Even if he was afraid of being Mistaken for Gay, his image of gay looked really overdone. It wasn't until later, when we learned that the Midnight Channel reflected humanity's thoughts as well that it made sense. Of course, his Shadow was so over-the-top Hard Gay, people were making crazy assumptions his sexuality! - Ms Devin 92
  - Oh hell! I think you just hit another bit of Fridge Brilliance. This explains why Yosuke and Chie's shadows were more reserved compared to the others. No-one was watching the Midnight Channel while they were there, so their Shadws were only shaped by their assumptions about themselves. If someone had been observing, Shadow Yosuke and Shadow Chie would have likely been as over-the-top as the others.
  - Once more! Students mention the notion of dating Yukiko is referred to as the Amagi Challenge. That would explain her shadow's bout on the Midnight Channel sounding like a clichéd reality TV show. As a Bilingual Bonus, in the regard of trying to date her, the students mockingly add "-hime" or "princess" to her name, in relation to its loftiness of a challenge in the original dubbing. If the localisation had preserved that particular suffix, the true name would actually be the "Amagi-hime Challenge" or... the "Princess Amagi Challenge".
In Persona 4, there is an incredibly unintuitive moment where you have to make the exactly right choices in a series of ambiguous dialogue; that moment determines your ending. It's very easy to fail; in fact, you more or less need to have figured (most) of the Truth out so you can answer. That is because reaching out to the Truth is hard. From the severity of the battles to the hard labyrinth of dialogue, every facet of reaching out to the Truth, whether personal or general, is hard.
- This may be on the facetious side, but it still fits. There's a certain theme of going out and seeking the truth, rather than simply declaring your own opinion to be the only belief that matters. Thus, when you're at the point of making a decision that dictates whether a man lives or dies, and whether or not it will truly solve anything, is it not a wise decision to take the time to do research, figure out the facts and make a more educated decision? GameFAQs is a good start... -Falcon Pain
- The ending becomes an immensely bittersweet moment in all endings, as the main character stil has to leave all his friends behind. Then it hit me... this is the player having to say goodbye to the journey he's been on with these characters, and the major emotional attachment they've felt for each and every one of them. This is the player saying goodbye to the game... I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world, but sadly our time has come to an end.
Yukiko's name means snow. Snow White, perhaps? Like how her Shadow sat around waiting for a prince? How did I miss this? - Ms Devin 92
Okay, so let's be honest. Even if you don't already know in advance, it's possible to work out that Naoto is female long before the game reveals it. The voice acting makes it obvious enough as is... however, some folks have mentioned that you can still tell if you play with the voices off. Only recently did this troper discover one way you can tell, and it's due to a particular quirk of the art style. Specifically, how the characters' lips are drawn. Notice how the guys' lips look different to the girls' lips? If you pay attention to that particular detail, it becomes screamingly obvious whenever Naoto's portrait pops up. Niiiice.
It Just Bugs Some People that "traditional" shadows weren't in Persona 3. However, when you think about this...
- Minato uses Death.
- Junpei uses Magician.
- Akihiko uses Emperor.
- Mitsuru uses Emperess.
- Yukari uses Lovers.
- Fuuka uses Priestess.
- Ken uses Justice.
- Shinjiro uses Hierophant.
- Koromaru uses Strength.
- Aigis uses Chariot.
- Takaya uses Fortune.
- Jin uses Hermit.
- Chidori uses Hanged Man.
  - So the 13 Full Moon Shadows represent those thirteen (Pharos/Ryoji/Nyx Avatar=Death, obviously).
  - What do you mean by "traditional" shadows? Like demons from Persona 2?
  - No, they aren't Shadows. I mean the other selves from Persona 2 and Persona 4 who taunt people about their insecurities. In terms of the story, the Full Moon Shadows are much closer to the other selves than the demon, and no-one misses those in the same way they miss the shadows.
At first, the setup between Philemon and Nyarlathotep seems pretty damn depressing if you think about it: Philemon can only give out Personas and has to wipe your memories to save the world, but Nyarlathotep personally screws up the playing field without any apparent restraints. However, when you remember that they are both manifestations of human's souls and technically the same being, it not only makes sense, but becomes uplifting. Philemon (the good in the main characters) can't do much because they're already capable of overcoming their issues and being better people deep inside. Nyarlathotep's victory hinged on making rumors into truth and a ton of Deals with the Devil because humans aren't capable of such horrible things on their own. - Ms Devin 92
- Except that if humans were really incapable of doing all that without outside prompting, Nyarlathotep could not exist. He's the shadow of all of humanity, and fundamentally, if humanity were not a bunch of bastards deep down, he either couldn't exist at all or would be much nicer.
  - He may be humanity's shadow, but that doesn't mean humans are pure evil, which is why he's such a blatant cheater. For instance, the whole debacle with Maya and the shrine was horrible, but it's far from the fake memory Jun was given of the other kids literally burning her alive.
    - Not my point. I think we can both agree that Philemon is generally a trustworthy source here, yes? He introduces Persona by saying that humans have both the kindness of a god, and the cruelty of a devil inside them. At the end of Innocent Sin, Philemon says that he and Nyarlathotep are both half of the collective unconsciousness. In other words, they're the anthropomorphic personifications of humanity itself. One of the things they repeatedly point out in Eternal Punishment is that Nyarlathotep is fundamentally part of humanity. It doesn't mean humans are fundamentally evil, but simply that deep down, they have that capacity. Which they do. They also have the capacity to achieve enlightenment. That's kind of the entire point. You seem to be saying that humanity wouldn't be able to do what Nyar goads them to without an outside force, but that's wrong. Nyar isn't an outside force at all. He's humanity at its very very worst, to a point where no real person would be, but that's a consequence of combining and distilling every hidden and suppressed urge of the entire human race into one being. If humans tended to repress their urge to eat cake and ice cream all the time, he'd look like Toro. Since humans tend to repress their desire to win at all costs, violence and anger, we get the Nyar we see in Persona 2.
I always wondered why Master Joker had that odd chin piece. Then I remembered that, in one of the Lovecraft stories, its stated that Nyarlathotep came out of Egypt and was said to look like a pharaoh; it's a postiche, one of those fake beards you see on sarcophagi. - Ms Devin 92
When playing Innocent Sin, I realized something: when you ask Katsuya about the Masked Circle at the beginning of the game, he chews Tatsuya out for bothering him with childish nonsense. Just him being a Jerkass right? Not quite. Later, it's revealed that "Masked Circle" was a game that Tatsuya and his friends played when they were kids. Katsuya presumably remembers this, and when Tatsuya brings it up again with most of those same kids grown up with him, he assumes that Tatsuya is trying to play a prank on him.
Fridge Horror: Avidya World. It looks like your typical final boss dungeon, with creepy music and dark, distorted halls. But if you look at the doors closely enough, you'll notice that Avidya World is basically a twisted version of your school. And nearly all the doors of the "normal" school refuse to budge now...

↑ Yes, your mindless body would've died eventually, but that's beside the point.

[1] Yes, your mindless body would've died eventually, but that's beside the point.

[1]