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Megami Tensei

From The Codex
(Redirected from Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE)
"Mature Content"
This character or verse has mature themes and concepts, thus those of young age are ill-advised to look through these.

Some of the information indexed are thanks in part to the Megami Tensei wiki.

This story takes place eighteen years ago, when most people did not even know of the existence of the Internet, and personal computers were normally thought of as standalone devices. In a town called Kuniritsu, a suburb of Tokyo, there was a school known as Jusho High. Everything began in this school one day when a tall student impatiently burst into a room at the end of class. He stormed across the classroom to stop at the seat of a handsome young man who stood out from the rest of his class and ominously slammed the top of the desk.
~ Opening passage to Digital Devil Story
Call it what you will - a revelation from God, or a curse of the demon king. The fact remains that our world came to an end. A heretic called upon an unearthly light, and devastation ensued. Chaos crawled out of the depths of the ocean, from the black abyss. Death upon death… Nothing but death in this barren land. Who can we pray to? There are only demons and fiends here. A voice in the dark beguiles me, “Truth is a mystery, unraveled by the candles` flames.”
~ from the Journal of a Man who wandered into another world
Another thing that bothered me was the trend of the main character always being portrayed as someone special -- a legendary warrior, for example. It was the equivalent of saying you can't succeed unless you're from a wealthy family, and I just couldn't stand that. I wasn't born with special genes, and I'm sure most other players weren't either. No matter who you are, if you're given a chance and have the guts to try your best, you can become a hero... That became the concept of Megami Tensei.
~ Kazuma Kaneko

Background

The Megami Tensei franchise refers to the entire franchise of Megami Tensei games and spin-offs, primarily developed by Atlus and currently owned by Sega. The series began with a series of novels written by Aya Nishitani, the first of which is Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei. The franchise has crossed many consoles genres, and forms of media, and is the one of the most popular Japanese RPG franchises. Although less popular, Megami Tensei or simply called "Megaten" by fans, contains more games and spin-offs than almost any other franchise.

Ever since Shin Megami Tensei was released as a spinoff of the original Megami Tensei series of video games, the Megami Tensei franchise has made multiple spinoff series. Although they might deviate game-play wise, various recurring elements will show up, such as names of Elemental Spells, the various Demons that appear, the Moon Cycle system, and so on.

Currently, the two active series are the Shin Megami Tensei Series, considered to be the "main" series, and the Persona series, which has outsold the Shin Megami Tensei series. Recently however the the Soul Hackers series has been revived with a second game, implying more franchises from Megami Tensei could come back.

The following plots for the Megami Tensei games are as follows:

Click for the plots for the Megami Tensei games.

Akemi Nakajima, a programming genius, invented a Devil Summoning Program. But after gaining physical bodies, the demons Loki and Set attacked the summoner. He was saved by a mysterious transfer student, Yumiko Shirasagi. Nakajima and the magic-wielding Yumiko joined forces and repelled the demons... However... The demons have not surrendered. Lucifer, a once beautiful angel who was cast into Hell, is planning to conquer the human world! A demonic palace has appeared in Asuka... where the tomb of the goddess Izanami rests under Shirasagi Mound. The powerful Izanami has been captured by Lucifer, and her chamber sealed within the palace. To save Izanami... defeat the resurrected Loki and Set, and Lucifer himself, Nakajima and Yumiko walk through the palace's entrance... But will they ever be able to return to the surface...?

Multiverse

The Megami Tensei Multiverse collectively refers to the multiple worlds and universes included in the Megami Tensei series. Nearly all Megami Tensei games heavily feature connections to other worlds and universes which suggests that the games may not occur in the same "universe" but that they still take place in the same over-arching multiverse.

A basic rundown of the multiverses' size at the moment shows us there are infinite universes, then the Expanse, a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse, then we have Akarana Corridor a void that transcends time and space, with it requiring a special ritual to enter, where even the Herald of Yatagarasu cannot put Raidou into this place[1], putting it beyond even The Expanse. Then there is YHVH's Universe, a place that is more vague and more infinite then anything prior. Finally, there is The Axiom's realm, so far beyond everything that it even transcends the infinite Cycle of Transmigration[2], where one can catch a mere glimpse of The Axiom[3].

As the multiverse is infinite in size, that of course means there are timelines that deviate to the point that a lot of the universal concepts don't apply, such as Observation & Willpower, these apply to Persona, Last Bible, Maken X, and potentially others as these works are such deviations that even the likes of Persona is viewed as fiction by Ishtar, showing how far off from the standard Megaten universe it is.

To have any form of scaling to the Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei titles (along with having abilities like Observation & Willpower), a series requires demons and magnetite/magtushi, as these are both energy sources the demons feed off of.

Terms

  • Observation: Observation is a concept in the main Megami Tensei multiverse, it was a power given to humans by The Axiom. Characters from the Persona multiverse, have a similar ability known as Cognition. As described by Stephen, "observation" (sometimes described as "understanding") is the ability humans possess to give structure to the formless. In this instance, "observation" has nothing to do with sight, but rather human perception. It is an extension of the philosophical concept of "qualia," or individual, subjective experiences. For example, the sensation of seeing color is not easily communicated, yet something humanity possess a shared understanding of. Likewise, YHVH only exists because of this shared observation.
  • Cognition: Cognition refers to the concept of humans perceiving the world and viewing what they see as reality. When enough humans collectively perceive something that concept becomes "real," influencing both the world and themselves. This concept is strongly hinted to be related to previous situations seen in Persona games. It also refers to when a person is interpreted by other people or society, given form based on those perceptions. The apparent appearance may be identical, but the personality or the physical capabilities can be vastly different than the original. A cognition is not to be confused with a Shadow Self, though one's Shadow Self can also take on properties based on other people's interpretation of the person, and some cognitions such as Sphinx Wakaba and Doe take traits similar to their host's Shadow Selves. Furthermore, some cognitions can also be fused with Shadow Selves or are sometimes even Shadows themselves, such as the nobles in Shido's Palace or the carnivorous dinosaurs in Junessic Land.
  • Gods: Gods, also known as Deity, is a classification of races in the Megami Tensei series. It encompasses all races that are associated with other gods and deities, exclusively the most important. Megami Tensei is a composite pantheon due to all Gods being created from the observation of humanity thus every religion exists inShin Megami Tensei.
  • Demons: In the Megami Tensei franchise, "demon" refers to any supernatural entity that can bring harm to human beings or interfere with their lives in one way or another. This includes more conventional malevolent demons, folktale creatures, deities, urban legends, and Judeo-Christian angels. Although classified as demons, angels tend to differentiate themselves from demons, and likewise the demons view them as separate. Angels also includes demons that have submitted to God and have become His servants.
  • Shadows: Shadows are the monsters in the Persona series and share most of the enemy demons common in the Megami Tensei franchise. They are born from humans, and carry with them human emotions, which are mostly negative. Strong-willed Shadows attract lesser Shadows, which later create stronger Shadows.

Status Effects

Status effects are conditions that affects a character or demon during battle. Some skills, such as Eternal Rest, will cause instant death to targets under a specific ailment. Also exact effects may vary slightly between games.

Status Effects
Name Effect Apperances
Freeze Prevents any action in battle. Usually caused by Ice skills and generally only lasts for one turn. In later games, attacking a frozen enemy is guaranteed to cause a critical hit. Most Megami Tensei Games
Shock Prevents any action in battle. Usually caused by Electricity skills and generally only lasts for one turn. In later games, attacking a shocked enemy is guaranteed to cause a critical hit. Most Megami Tensei Games
Poison Depletes health at the end of each turn, often persisting on the field. Most Megami Tensei Games
Paralyze Paralyzed characters are unable to move. Unlike Shock, this often persists for more than one turn. Most Megami Tensei Games
Stun Stunned characters have lowered agility and defense. Most Megami Tensei Games
Confused Confused characters become indecisive and may either attack a random enemy, do nothing or flee in a panic. Most Megami Tensei Games
Charm Character begins attacking their own allies or cast healing spells on the enemies. Most Megami Tensei Games
Stone Prevents the target from moving. This persists even on the field and is treated as similar to being dead. In most games, if the protagonist is petrified, it triggers a game over. In some games, Force spells will shatter a petrified opponent. Most Megami Tensei Games
Sleep Prevents any action in battle. Character loses a turn. In some games, sleeping characters restore some of their HP and MP. Most Megami Tensei Games
KO Can no longer participate in battle. In most games, if the protagonist dies, it is game over. Can only be recovered with Recarm spells. Most Megami Tensei Games
Bind Prevents any action from a unit. In Persona Q and Persona Q2, Binds are spilt into three different subsets that stop specific actions. Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis
Megami Ibunroku Persona
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Persona Q
Persona Q2
Bomb Bomb is implanted in party member. When those inflicted with this status are hit, they explode, dealing damage to the entire party. Defending will prevent damage. In the Devil Children series, only the character inflicted with Bomb is hurt when hit by Fire attacks. Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Devil Children series
Happy Overjoyed and may not attack. Shin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
Megami Ibunroku Persona
Devil Children series
Rage Attack is increased, but the afflicted will attack anyone other than themselves as if they were Charmed. In the Persona series, Rage lowers the afflicted's defense and agility. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Persona 3
Persona 4
Persona 5
Down Character may get their turn skipped and they take more damage. Overlaps with other ailments. Persona 3
Persona 4
Persona 5
Hungry Hungry characters will become indecisive. On their turn, they will either not take action and receive a small amount of Almighty damage or attack an ally. DDS: Avatar Tuner
Persona 5
Sick Capacity (how much the character can carry) is doubled. Shin Megami Tensei NINE
Fly Renders the target 200% vulnerable to all affinities and reduces all their stats except Ag to 1. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Sick Reduces affected character's outgoing damage by 25%, its evasion to 0 and increases damage taken by 25%. At the end of a turn with a party holding this character, there's a 5% chance that another character will be infected. Shin Megami Tensei IV
Lost Flynn cannot summon or fuse the affected demon and is forced to reunite with said demon through an encounter. Shin Megami Tensei IV
Brand DLC only. Reduces HP and MP recovery to 1 point. Can't be cured. Shin Megami Tensei IV
Sick Reduces affected character's outgoing damage by 25%, its evasion to 0 and increases damage taken by 25%. At the end of the party's turn or an individual party member's turn, if a party member is afflicted, there is a 5% chance that another party member will be infected. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalpyse
Lost Nanashi cannot summon or fuse the affected demon and is forced to reunite with said demon through an encounter. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalpyse
Brand Reduces HP and MP recovery to 1 point. Can't be cured, but wears off randomly or automatically after battle. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalpyse
Close Prevents a unit from using their magic. Represented by kissing and hearts when inflicted by skills. Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis
Mirror Affected character cannot move, takes increased damage from physical attacks but reflects all magic. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Card Affected character cannot move, takes increased damage from Fire attacks, and decreased damage from physical attacks. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Bat Affected character steals HP from allies outside of battle. Can spread to allies. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Plague Stronger version of Poison that deals more damage. Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
Dance Affected character cannot move. Evasion is increased. Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
Tipsy Affected character may take a random action Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
Drunk Affected character performs random actions Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
High Provides bonuses to all actions, but they also become random. Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
Guilt Randomly-selected actions cannot be performed. Megami Ibunroku Persona
Blind Hit rate and evasion dropped. Megami Ibunroku Persona
Sick Loses HP at the end of the turn and when walking around.
Works like Poison, but Sick is considered a different ailment in-game.
Megami Ibunroku Persona
Cloak Cannot be directly targeted by single-target attacks.
Defense lowered and cannot summon Persona.
Megami Ibunroku Persona
Puppet Allows controlling a K.O-ed ally.
Puppet can attack and use items, but cannot summon Persona.
Megami Ibunroku Persona
Beast Buffs all stats. Amount varies depending on the current moon phase. Megami Ibunroku Persona
Illusion When a character is in the illusion status effect, his/her hit rate will decrease significantly. Persona 2
Possession Possession occurs when the demon inhibits the characters body. When a possessed character summons a persona, there's a high chance that the possessed character will attack instead. Persona 2
Despair Drains SP every turn, cannot move.
Dies/Faints after 3 turns have passed.
Persona 5 / Royal
Rattled Cannot move, damage taken increased. Persona 5 / Royal
Artist's Grace Inflict weaknesses to all affinities. Persona 5 / Royal
Lust Affected targets may lose a turn. Persona 5 / Royal
Wrath Affected targets have their attack raised sharply, but their defense decreased sharply for a turn. Allows free action. Persona 5 / Royal
Envy Affected Targets may attack random party members with weapons when a support skill is used on anyone but the envied target for a turn. Persona 5 / Royal
Ache After a successful hunt, the character that just ate might get affected by a stomach ache. Occasionally inflicted as a side effect from eating a Moldy Roll. This prevents the character from gaining any AP after the battle. Allies also won't get any AP from the consumed monster, if AP sharing skills are set. Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner
Bat Reduces all stats and makes the affected character weak to Force. Wears off over time or when battle ends. Does not override passive skills that affect Force resistance. Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner
Egg When the team holding the affected character has their next turn, the affected character takes a large amount of Almighty damage and a Maggot is summoned next to them. Devil Survivor

Power of the Verse

Megami Tensei as a series, including its own spin-offs, is widely regarded by their potency and versatility of their abilities with it having plethora of thanks to the power of Observation and the existences of mythological, demonic entities. This makes even the regular characters that are normal humans such as Vincent Brooks, powerful in his own right. Even the weakest demons possess superhuman strength, speed, and durability, being able to completely vaporize characters with their agi spells. Along with this there are demons that can cause entire storms and even have the ability to freeze the entire earth. Demons are also able to sustain their own mini-universes[4]. Along with beings containing cosmic powers such as Ideo Hazama, who is in complete control of The Expanse, beings who can merg the Demon World and the Divine World into the remnants of the human realm to create the Vortex World. Along with this, many protagonists can be characters such as YHVH or entities affiliated with him. YHVH is a being who created infinite universes that are infinitesimal in size compared to him, and exists as an incomprehensible transcendent being overseeing everything in his creation. There also exists "Metahumans", such as Stephen a being that is so powerful the protagonist of the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games up to IV Apocalypse could only satisfy him in battle. Matter Lucifer who transcended into a higher plane of existence beyond even YHVH. Demons also essentially do not abide by standard speed as they exist in the Expanse, a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse. Specifically this hax is Observation and it is the core catalyst to humans abilities in Shin Megami Tensei, it is what grants humans the ability to fight demons and even gods, allowing them to negate their physiologies, regeneration, immortalities, and even kill them, which even demons such as Lucifer notes only humans can truly kill a demon. It also allows humans normally of a far lower tier to be capable of fighting superhuman to cosmic tier threats such as the protagonists of Shin Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei: IF.

Maken X is considerably powerful in its own right, with characters reaching all the way to being able to fight cosmic tier threats like Pan-Gu, who created the universe. It possesses abilities such as Soul Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Possession, Regeneration, etcetera.

Knowledgeable Members

  • GiverOfThePeace (Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha series, SMT I, SMT II, SMT III: Nocturne, IV, IV A, & V, SMT if..., Strange Journey, Devil Summoner, Soul Hackers, Soul Hackers 2, Digital Devil Story, Devil Survivor, Megami Tensei I & II, Maken X, Catherine, Digital Devil Saga)

Characters

Supreme Being

Recurring Demons

Locations

Concepts/Physiologies

Special Items

Devil Summoner Series

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner

Soul Hackers

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha

Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army

Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon

Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Lone Marebito

Soul Hackers 2

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei

Megami Tensei

Megami Tensei II

Shin Megami Tensei

Shin Megami Tensei I

Shin Megami Tensei II

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

Shin Megami Tensei IV

Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse

Shin Megami Tensei V

Shin Megami Tensei: if...

Game

Manga

Shin Megami Tensei NINE

Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey

Digital Devil Saga Series

Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner

Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2

Devil Survivor Series

Devil Survivor

Devil Survivor 2

Persona

Persona

Persona 2

Persona 2: Innocent Sin

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Persona 3

Persona 4

Persona 5

Catherine

Maken X

Trivia

  • Atlus and Bbmf ported the NES version of Megami Tensei to cell phones in 2004. Bbmf later localized the cell phone port in J2ME phones in China in 2006, but simplified the game mechanics and reduced the number of demons and dungeons.

Gallery

References

  1. The Herald of Yatagarsu is capable of teleporting Raidou into The Expanse, a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse but cannot even reach this realm, along with this she exists a plane not apart of the human world, further showing how out of reach this plane is, it requires one normally to discard their human form and transcribe themself otherwise they are threatened with being unstuck from time
  2. Yamai: When you reach the battle with VISHNUFLYNN, there is a reference point of the soul, where it either enters or departs from the circle of transmigration. Nanashi is in the middle of that circle, he is a human just like us. That is the reference. Beings like Stephen, Mido, or the Count of Saint Germain left the circle of transmigration, and I think that is why they could get in contact with the Great Reason.
    Shioda: In Buddhism, leaving the circle of transmigration equals reaching Nirvana and becoming a buddha.
    Yamai: That’s right. This time, in order for the Divine Powers to succeed, various currents of thought from all kinds of countries and religions come into play. The Buddhist view on reincarnation is one of them and our setting is not biased towards it, but the soul itself is something important for the gods. Shin Megami Tensei IV adopts a quantum theory approach according to which gods exist thanks to human perception, and religious beliefs are one part of that.
  3. Shioda: Professor Matsuda didn’t even have a character design in the preliminary stages.
    Miyata: It’s shocking that so few people realised professor Matsuda was actually Stephen.
    Shioda: That was shocking indeed, and they even had the same voice actor (laughs). What kind of device is the Shesha radar in Hibiya?
    Miyata: I saw news the other day about the success of the detection of gravitational waves and this radar works on the same principle. There is a huge empty lot underneath Hibiya named ‘multi-purpose underground utility conduit’ and it is presumed that that is where Stephen built his detector.
    Yamai: Because the device related to the elementary particles is extremely big.
    Miyata: He also needed a secure place, and the underground was much safer than the streets dominated by demons. It is explained in the beginning of SMT4A that the multi-purpose underground utility conduit has been abandoned because of the battle of gods and the underground empty space remained as it is. I figured it was just right, since the new headquarters of the Hunter Association in Kasumigaseki is close enough, but I didn’t think gravitational waves would be discovered so fast when I was writing the setting.
    Yamai: Stephen travels through various parallel worlds, so I believe it is possible for him to discover gravitational waves, since he makes contact with all kinds of technological developments.
    Miyata: Gravitational waves appear anywhere in the universe when stars reach the end of their lives and explode, but every time Shesha warped to a different universe and a different dimension, there were weak gravitational waves released possible to detect.
    Shioda: Since Stephen is also the creator of the terminals and the Demon Summoning Program, related to the Yamato Perpetual Reactor, it’s easy to say he is the biggest mystery of the Megaten series.
    Yamai: What is clear is that Stephen is the same person across the series. Shin Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei II are related, while Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Shin Megami Tensei IV are each in their own universes, but we can argue that he is the only one to cross space and time and visit each universe. I think the beginning was the universe created in Shin Megami Tensei, but we have no intention to give a clear answer on such a personal matter. As for the details of his arrival in the Shin Megami Tensei IV world, when he was researching the Demon Summoning Program and the Matter Transfer System he got connected by coincidence to the Expanse, demons showed up and hurt him badly, which led to him being now dependent on a wheelchair.
    Shioda: This time he talks about the aim of the Great Reason in the end. Do you think he has met the Great Reason?
    *From Dijeh (Basically just a translators note): The term used here is NOT the Great Will. The Japanese for Great Will [of the Universe] is either “宇宙の大いなる意志” or just “大いなる意志” in previous games in the series, while in SMT4F and this interview, the term is 大いなる理; the kanji used are easily distinguishable: 意志 vs. 理. For more about the distinction, see Will and Li.
    Yamai: From the perspective of Shin Megami Tensei, the Stephen of Shin Megami Tensei IV is one of the possibilities, but we can say it was possible for him to have met the Great Reason. Of course, from the perspective of Shin Megami Tensei IV’s Stephen, I think we can say Shin Megami Tensei is also a possibility.
    Miyata: Stephen’s position allows him to catch a glimpse of a small part of the Great Reason’s movement. When he passed through time and space and made contact with the Great Reason, he interpreted things in his own way.
  4. Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Part 2, Chapter 4 "The last demon to appear called himself Set, correct?" "Yes, that's right." "While it's too dangerous to try and conjecture the state of affairs in the demon world based on our own knowledge of this one, my theory is that the demon world is like a colloidal conglomeration of countless mini-universes, each centered around a powerful demon. Most likely, with Loki's death, the mini-universe in contact with Japan or Tokyo vanished, and Set's mini-universe entered to take its place. Demon summoning is just opening a contact point between the two worlds at the same time."