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* 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 MC because they control his responses in various situations. Even moreso, {{spoiler|the culmination of all of MC'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. {{spoiler|The Arcanum of The World represents fulfillment, oneness, self-realization. Meanwhile, the Arcanum of Death isn't [[Captain Obvious|"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
**** 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 MC 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 MC 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.
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* At first, the setup between [[God's Hands Are Tied|Philemon]] and [[As Long as There Is Evil|Nyarlathotep]] seems pretty damn depressing if you think about it - Philemon can only give out Personas and {{spoiler|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 {{spoiler|victory}} hinged on [[Reality Warper|making rumors into truth]] and a ton of [[Deal with the Devil|Deals with the Devil]] ''because'' [[Rousseau Was Right|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 [[Humans Are
**** 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, {{spoiler|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 EP is that {{spoiler|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. {{spoiler|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 P2.}}
* 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]]
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