“ | Who dares attempt to pass this place! He who does not state his name shall not pass! Identify thyself! Thou sayest that thou art Kazuya? The one named Kazuya has dormant power. Kazuya... Beyond this door, both those chosen by God that follow the path of Law and Order, and those that rely on their own power that follow the path of competition and Chaos await you. Take care not to tip the balance between the two as you proceed... | „ |
~ YHVH reaching out to The Hero in a dream sequence |
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The Hero (Shin Megami Tensei): Difference between revisions
GiverBot (talk | contribs) (→[[Hax|Powers and Abilities]]: clean up, replaced: Information Manipulation & Matter Manipulation (As demons can make pocket realms and higher level demons can make universes, they are by extension [https://youtu.be/Xl2ZXAZeN3Q?t=24 they are creating areas entirely made of data and information down to their sub-atomic level]), → Information Manipulation & Matter Manipulation ([https://youtu.be/sQ6MRn14w1M?list=PLYtggmS_d2CgniWl4RQwuyv48CzAYbdit&t=583 Can absorb and consume...) m |
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{{Quote|Who dares attempt to pass this place! He who does not state his name shall not pass! Identify thyself! Thou sayest that thou art Kazuya? The one named Kazuya has dormant power. Kazuya... Beyond this door, both those chosen by God that follow the path of Law and Order, and those that rely on their own power that follow the path of competition and Chaos await you. Take care not to tip the balance between the two as you proceed...|YHVH reaching out to The Hero in a dream sequence}} | {{Quote|Who dares attempt to pass this place! He who does not state his name shall not pass! Identify thyself! Thou sayest that thou art Kazuya? The one named Kazuya has dormant power. Kazuya... Beyond this door, both those chosen by God that follow the path of Law and Order, and those that rely on their own power that follow the path of competition and Chaos await you. Take care not to tip the balance between the two as you proceed...|YHVH reaching out to The Hero in a dream sequence}} | ||
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{{Quote|...That's right. I still have much to do. This is no time for a rest. Thank you, child. Because of you, I am whole again.|The Hero thanking Nanashi for reviving him}} | {{Quote|...That's right. I still have much to do. This is no time for a rest. Thank you, child. Because of you, I am whole again.|The Hero thanking Nanashi for reviving him}} | ||
{{Quote|I can't lose--there's still something I need to do!}} | {{Quote|I can't lose--there's still something I need to do!}} |
Revision as of 20:36, 29 June 2022
“ | ...That's right. I still have much to do. This is no time for a rest. Thank you, child. Because of you, I am whole again. | „ |
~ The Hero thanking Nanashi for reviving him |
“ | I can't lose--there's still something I need to do! | „ |
“ | Yes, Stephen has restored us. All that's left is to find a way back to our respective universes. | „ |
“ | I must return to my own universe as well. I'm concerned about Tokyo, now that the ICBM fell... I still don't know which is the right path. Law, Chaos, or perhaps... Maybe there isn't a right path. But I need to learn what the people desire most. I don't know how long that will take, but I won't rest until I find the answer. Let's meet again. | „ |
~ The Hero to Nanashi before returning to his own world |
“ | Try not to feel too bad. | „ |
~ The Law Hero to The Hero after witnessing his mother's death |
Background
The Hero, also given the name of Kazuya or Futsuo in supplementary materials, is the main protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei I, and, like the others before and after him, is a silent character, whose personality within the game is determined strictly by the actions and decisions of the player themselves. Having started out as seemingly an ordinary high schooler living alone with his mother and dog, with no previous contact with the supernatural, his idyllic life was soon shattered after a meeting with a demon in a shopping mall, and a series of strange dreams and meetings, all of which prophesized that he would one day attain a power beyond his wildest imagination, and shape the entire world through his actions, causing him to discover about the ongoing infestation of demons occurring in Tokyo, and a chain of events that ultimately culminated in the destruction of the city by a barrage of nuclear missiles.
Unlike most of the series' main characters, however, the Hero is distinguished by the fact that he took a canonical stance within the conflict between Law and Chaos at the end of the game, ultimately choosing to reject both the order of God and the visceral freedom of Lucifer and carving his own path, in which both extremes would side in harmony, and humanity at large would hopefully live safe from the meddling of either side.
Statistics
Tier: 8-C physically. 2-C via Observation & Summoning, Higher via Willpower | 2-C, Far Higher via Observation & Willpower | 2-A, Far Higher via Observation & Willpower
Name: "Hero," Kazuya, Futsuo, Sho.
Origin: Shin Megami Tensei
Sex: Male
Age: Unknown, though presumably in his late teens.
Classification: Devil Summoner, Messiah, Reincarnation of Adam.
Status: Deceased (No matter the ending, The Hero unfortunately perishes at the hands of the Archangels through means of petrification before the events of SMT II, which was covered up as a cave-in accident. Interestingly enough, SMT IV Apocalypse seems to imply that he met his demise when the ICBM hit Tokyo, an ending shown in the Sega CD port of Shin Megami Tensei). Alive as of SMT If... and IV Apocalypse (In an alternate timeline, Thorman had suffered a heart attack thanks to the intervention of Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV retconning the event, thus the ICBM did not go off and The Hero is seen wandering in SMT If. In Apocalypse, Stephen had brought back The Hero thanks to Nanashi's Observation)
Alignment: Neutral Good (Canonically took the Neutral path in his adventure, in which he seeks to balance the forces of Law and Chaos to achieve a peaceful result so that both sides are equally satisfied and can decide their own fate. Helped in rebuilding society after the destruction of Tokyo)
Dimensionality: 3-D
Attack Potency: Building level (Can easily defeat normal thugs found in the streets, even at the earliest of levels, displaying a clear superiority in strength in comparison to regular humans. Able to destroy robots, such as mobile infantry units. Can harm fodder demons who wield bufu skills, which can completely freeze opponents, and Agi skills, which can vaporize humans). Universe level via Observation & Summoning (Defeated Thor early on in his adventure, who is described as the mightiest of the Norse gods and is superior to Loki, who can create and sustain his own universe[1] Should be superior to Morax, who created and rules over his own realm and controlled the sector, being noted to be the energy source they were looking for, said energy source is noted to control the entire sector, and be linked to the sector like a magnet. Each sector is a space-time plane layered atop each other, being planes outside of the human worlds local space-time existing in a quantum tunnel, along with being noted as parallel universes and other dimensions overlapping being isolated in time and space by enormous power being connected by quantum tunnels), higher via Willpower (A characters willpower in SMT allows them to increase greatly in strength allowing them to harm enemies they couldn't even scratch before and survive attacks that would have originally kill them, the will of one's friends and allies around them can invigorate one to become far more powerful then before) | Universe level (Trained within the Diamond Realm in a test of worthiness to determine if he can return back to the real world, allowing him to achieve the enormous strength that he has now. Capable of fighting and summoning demons much stronger than Thor. Can do battle with demons comparable in strength to that of Alice and Black Frost), Far Higher with Observation & Willpower | Hyper Multiverse level (Wields the sword and armor of Masakado. Defeated Micahel and Asura, both of which are the leaders of YHVH’s and Lucifer’s armies respectively. Lucifer himself was worried about the hero’s increasing strength and took preparations to try to destroy him or get him to join his side. Killed Vishnu, the God of Hinduism. Defeated Beelzebub, who is one of the most powerful chaos demons and serves as Lucifer’s second in command. Which should put them above the likes of Ideo Hazama, who is in full control of The Expanse, with his power splitting The Expanse into different domains, and can control areas in The Expanse into different locations. Even while defeated, his mental world sustains The Expanse. The Expanse, is a realm that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse, of which there are infinite universes), Far Higher with Observation & Willpower (Observation can be used to massively amplify one's stats, such as when the early game Shin Megami Tensei 1 protagonist was amplified to be able to fight with all the other end game protagonists and fight Stephen. With it's power being noted by Stephen to give humans the potential to exceed the Axiom) & Willpower (A characters willpower in SMT allows them to increase greatly in strength allowing them to harm enemies they couldn't even scratch before and survive attacks that would have originally kill them, the will of one's friends and allies around them can invigorate one to become far more powerful then before)
Durability: Building level (Able to survive hits from low tier Demons that have access to Bufu and Agi skills), Universe level via Observation (Fought and survived hits from Thor), Higher via Willpower | Universe level (Much more durable than before), Far Higher with Observation & Willpower | Hyper Multiverse level (Can survive hits from the Archangels and Beelzebub), far higher with Observation & Willpower | Complex Multiverse level, likely High Complex Multiverse level. Far higher with Observation & Willpower
Striking Strength: Building Class (Can physically strike down demons with no issues), Far Higher with Observation & Willpower | Complex Universe Class, Far Higher with Observation & Willpower | Hyper Multiverse Class (Can wield the sword and armor of Masakados), Far Higher with Observation & Willpower
Lifting Strength: Superhuman (Can utilize weapons wielded by mythical gods and demons that vastly tower over the average person) | Superhuman | Superhuman | Superhuman
Travel Speed: Superhuman (Able to traverse through towns and entire cities within a short time frame) | Superhuman | Superhuman | Superhuman
Combat Speed: Inapplicable (Able to do battle with demons, who are natural residents of The Expanse, a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse) | Inapplicable | Inapplicable (Comparable to Demi-fiend, who can move in a void without time or space) | Inapplicable
Reaction Speed: Inapplicable (Can react to demons and evade their attacks) | Inapplicable | Inapplicable | Inapplicable
Stamina: Very High (Capable of fighting demons and traveling throughout Tokyo without requiring rest)
Range: Standard Melee, Extended Melee with swords, Hundreds of Meters with guns, Hyper Multiversal with the Demon Summoning Program (Able to summon demons from the Expanse, a metaphysical realm that transcends time and can be used to travel throughout the multiverse). High Complex Multiversal with Observation (Can affect beings such as YHVH through their observation. YHVH is the progenitor of all gods and all religions from all around the world, existing as the one true original god. Turned all other gods in the pantheon into demons. He is viewed as an omnipotent existence that created everything[2] A single manifestation head is so far beyond all of creation that not even his creations blades can harm him[3]. YHVH is a being who created infinite universes, and exists beyond the very boundaries of time within the multiverse. Which would include planes such as 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[4], putting it beyond even The Expanse a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse. The true form views the multiverse and his manifestation head are infinitesimal in size compared to him, and he exists as an incomprehensible transcendent being overseeing everything in his creation. His universe is a place beyond reality that is more vague and more infinite then anything the cast has seen before which includes areas such as the expanse and Akrana Corridor, and his single manifestation head. Along with this, humans observation has the potential to exceed The Axiom, who exists in a realm beyond every other realm prior[5])
Intelligence: Extraordinary Genius (Although he acts as the silent protagonist with not a lot of detail surrounding his character, he is shown to be an expert in the ways of combat and strategy as a means to fend off powerful demons and gods of myth who wield mystical and supernatural abilities with some having exceptional skills in battle such as Thor. His mastery over swordsmanship and firearms more than makes up for the fact that he cannot wield Magic. Thwarted Gotou, a military general and succeeded in toppling high-ranking members of both the Messian and Gaian cults. Shown to be a competent leader as he is able to negotiate and lead groups of demons to join his cause, along with coordinating their attacks when locked in combat. Capable of utilizing the COMP to its fullest capabilities of which Stephen noted how difficult it was for regular people to figure out. Founded the Valhalla district of Tokyo Millennium and worked to help it expand alongside Pascal-Cerberus and Madam. Assisted in reconstructing civilization after it was wiped out after the events of SMT. Helped out the other messiahs in defeating Stephen, whilst displaying his true potential throughout the entire fight, with Stephen noting how they have the potential to exceed the Axiom)
Name: "Hero," Kazuya, Futsuo, Sho.
Origin: Shin Megami Tensei
Sex: Male
Age: Unknown, though presumably in his late teens.
Classification: Devil Summoner, Messiah, Reincarnation of Adam.
Status: Deceased (No matter the ending, The Hero unfortunately perishes at the hands of the Archangels through means of petrification before the events of SMT II, which was covered up as a cave-in accident. Interestingly enough, SMT IV Apocalypse seems to imply that he met his demise when the ICBM hit Tokyo, an ending shown in the Sega CD port of Shin Megami Tensei). Alive as of SMT If... and IV Apocalypse (In an alternate timeline, Thorman had suffered a heart attack thanks to the intervention of Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV retconning the event, thus the ICBM did not go off and The Hero is seen wandering in SMT If. In Apocalypse, Stephen had brought back The Hero thanks to Nanashi's Observation)
Alignment: Neutral Good (Canonically took the Neutral path in his adventure, in which he seeks to balance the forces of Law and Chaos to achieve a peaceful result so that both sides are equally satisfied and can decide their own fate. Helped in rebuilding society after the destruction of Tokyo)
Dimensionality: 3-D
Attack Potency: Complex Multiverse level+, likely High Complex Multiverse level (Empowered by Nanashi's observation, reforming him back to his original self. Nanashi during this period has his powers lended to him by Stephen. Fought against a fully powered Stephen alongside the other Messiahs and managed to satisfy him after a long battle, proving to him that they had the potential to exceed The Axiom. Stephen gained a small glimpse of[6] The Axiom through transcending the infinite Cycle of Transmigration[7], which would make him comparable to Matter Lucifer who transcended into a higher plane of existence beyond even YHVH). Far Higher with Observation & Willpower
Durability: Complex Multiverse level+, likely High Complex Multiverse level. Far higher with Observation & Willpower
Striking Strength: Complex Multiverse Class+, likely High Complex Multiverse Class. Far Higher with Observation & Willpower
Lifting Strength: Superhuman
Travel Speed: Superhuman
Combat Speed: Inapplicable (Could tag Stephen, gained a small glimpse of[8] The Axiom through transcending the infinite Cycle of Transmigration[9] The Axiom through transcending the infinite Cycle of Transmigration[10]. The Axiom exists in a plane beyond everything before, which is beyond even all of the concepts made by humanity's observation, which includes the Gods that embody said concepts)
Reaction Speed: Inapplicable (Could react to attacks from Stephen)
Stamina: Very High
Range: Standard Melee, Extended Melee with swords, Hundreds of Meters with guns, Hyper Multiversal with the Demon Summoning Program (Able to summon demons from the Expanse, a metaphysical realm that transcends time and can be used to travel throughout the multiverse). High Complex Multiversal with Observation (Can affect beings such as YHVH through their observation. YHVH is the progenitor of all gods and all religions from all around the world, existing as the one true original god. Turned all other gods in the pantheon into demons. He is viewed as an omnipotent existence that created everything[11] A single manifestation head is so far beyond all of creation that not even his creations blades can harm him[12]. YHVH is a being who created infinite universes, and exists beyond the very boundaries of time within the multiverse. Which would include planes such as 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[13], putting it beyond even The Expanse a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse. The true form views the multiverse and his manifestation head are infinitesimal in size compared to him, and he exists as an incomprehensible transcendent being overseeing everything in his creation. His universe is a place beyond reality that is more vague and more infinite then anything the cast has seen before which includes areas such as the expanse and Akrana Corridor, and his single manifestation head. Along with this, humans observation has the potential to exceed The Axiom, who exists in a realm beyond every other realm prior[14])
Intelligence: Extraordinary Genius (Although he acts as the silent protagonist with not a lot of detail surrounding his character, he is shown to be an expert in the ways of combat and strategy as a means to fend off powerful demons and gods of myth who wield mystical and supernatural abilities with some having exceptional skills in battle such as Thor. His mastery over swordsmanship and firearms more than makes up for the fact that he cannot wield Magic. Thwarted Gotou, a military general and succeeded in toppling high-ranking members of both the Messian and Gaian cults. Shown to be a competent leader as he is able to negotiate and lead groups of demons to join his cause, along with coordinating their attacks when locked in combat. Capable of utilizing the COMP to its fullest capabilities of which Stephen noted how difficult it was for regular people to figure out. Founded the Valhalla district of Tokyo Millennium and worked to help it expand alongside Pascal-Cerberus and Madam. Assisted in reconstructing civilization after it was wiped out after the events of SMT. Helped out the other messiahs in defeating Stephen, whilst displaying his true potential throughout the entire fight, with Stephen noting how they have the potential to exceed the Axiom)
Powers and Abilities
As a Messiah, he is a user of Type 3 Observation, granting him the following: Observation (Varies between Types 2 & 3. Observation users consciously and unconsciously change truths around them creating Gods and demons from myths and rumors), Negation (The power of observation, has the ability to make something without form, be certain and stable, The Axiom, tasked humans with observing the universe, allowing humans to assign an answer to phenomena without an answer. Dagda mentions humanity's "understanding" (observation) is what's locked him and Danu in physical forms. Nanashi and his party's denial of YHVH cast him into a demonic form. Gods and demons exist within a human's observation. Demons that also exist beyond death can be killed by observation users), Negation of Null Existence (Type 3. Can kill The White and demons, who naturally exist within the expanse, which the Monochrome Forest exists within the expanse, a place that is eerily still, having no sound or smell, where even the ground itself feels unusual, which demons naturally exist in. The Forest also holds the White’s realm, which is a vast, white space), Negation of Incorporeality (Can harm and kill demons, who are beings made of data, that exist in a virtual world, along with being pure information. With even the most basic of objects in the verse existing as data), Negation of Abstract Existence (Type 1. Demons embody the phenomena and beliefs of humans, with their physical forms only being created due to humanity's observation locking them into these forms, and their true forms existing as the phenomena and beliefs they reside in), Negation of Acausality (Type 5. Can harm and kill demons, who are natural residents of The Expanse, a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse, demons such as Ishtar are capable of going into separate multiverses, along into the "real world", demons such as Demi-Fiend, can exist in different universes asides from the original SMT 3 universe, demons can exist even when the flow of time itself collapses and there is nothing left but a void), Negation of Invulnerability (Type 2. Observation users such as Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV, can harm demons with regular guns and swords, even though demons when brought into corporeal forms cannot be harmed by conventional weaponry, along with military grade weaponry[15]), Negation of Immortality & Regeneration (Types 1, 3, 5 & 8; True-Godly. It is noted by Lucifer that only a human can kill gods and demons, that when gods and demons try to fight each other the most they can do is seal each other. Permanently killed YHVH. All demons are reliant on the observation of humans to keep them existing, including even nonexistent demons such as The White, allowing them to come back even if they’re erased from existence and nonexistence. Along with this, all demons that die return to The Axiom and reincarnate. This allows demons to die and come back in a short timeframe due to their continuous existence from The Axiom and the observation of humans. This means even if all of reality were to cease existing, The Axiom would still exist within it, allowing demons to regenerate back.), Negation of Dimensionless Existence (Type 2. Demons only have "forms" due to the observation of humanity with even some demons being in the lowest form of humanity's observation making them unseeable without help, the "true forms" of demons are in truth without the concept of form, without observation they are not certain nor stable, are a phenomena without an answer and are unbound by concepts such as truth completely unshaped by reality. Demons under their observation forms embody concepts such as infinity which they are free from in their true forms), Negation of Omnipresence (Observation can reduce one into a singular being, when the being was originally one that was everywhere within reality), Negation of Omniscience (Humanity's observation of YHVH defies his words and truths, YHVH is an all-knowing being that sets the fate of the entire world), Irreversible Damage (Nyarlathotep used a spear conjured by humanity's observation of a wound that can never heal to inflict a blow that could not be healed even by the strongest healing magic), Existence Grounding (Observation users can bring a demon or god's existence down to their level, such as when Flynn and his party's denial of YHVH as the one true god brought him to the level of a demon, massively weakening him. Dagda mentions humanity's "understanding" (observation) is what's locked him and Danu in physical forms), Power Bestowal (Gods & demons are granted by humans observations of them. To the point that a gods power is based off if humans still remember them. Observation has the ability to resurrect someone and give them strength to the point where they can fight Stephen with The Axioms powers), Power Nullification (Observation allows one to remove one's defenses and strengths along with some of their innate abilities), Reality Warping (Stephen stated that humans have the power to shape the world. Philemon states people have tremendous power in their souls over the flow of reality, with their strong wills being able to change reality), Conceptual Manipulation, Subjective Reality, & Creation (The power of observation, has the ability to make something without form, be certain and stable, The Axiom, tasked humans with observing the universe, allowing humans to assign an answer to phenomena without an answer), Truth Manipulation (Humans have the ability to change the answer they've found into faith, and eventually into truth. Observation debased YHVH's truths, removing him from everyone's mind, killing him), Memory Manipulation (Through the power of observation, the Persona 2 Innocent Sin cast were able to erase their meeting during a summer evening, creating an alternate timeline), Perspective Manipulation (The power of observation allowed humans to change the very design of the Abyss [the Expanse] to what they perceive it as[16]), Statistics Amplification & Resurrection (Observation has the ability to resurrect someone and give them strength to the point where they can fight Stephen with The Axioms powers. Isamu was able to survive a hit from Thor despite being a regular human), Statistics Reduction (Flynn and his party's denial of YHVH as the one true god brought him to the level of a demon, massively weakening him. One's will and beliefs can lower even a nonexistent entity's (such as The White) stats. Gods powers can be greatly reduced if they're forgotten. Observation allowed Aleph and his party to harm YHVH who stated as they were his creations, there blades cannot harm him, yet they were able to), Resistance to Memory Manipulation (Through the power of observation, the Persona 2 Innocent Sin cast were able to erase their meeting during a summer evening, creating an alternate timeline)
With their Willpower, they get: Sheer Will (Naturally users of willpower tend to have some of the strongest willpower in their respective universes), Statistics Amplification (A characters willpower in SMT allows them to increase greatly in strength allowing them to harm enemies they couldn't even scratch before and survive attacks that would have originally kill them, the will of one's friends and allies around them can invigorate one to become far more powerful then before), Regeneration (True-Godly. Characters that get completely erased by demons to the point that everything returns to nothing (otherwise known as returning to The Axiom) but with enough willpower one can regenerate back to life), Resurrection (Everyone praying for Raidou bolstered his willpower up, allowing him to ressurect and regenerate part of his body), Resistance to Pain (Users with high willpower can fight through pain that's so unbearable that it makes one unable to move, constantly take damage and being unable to control their demons well), Memory Manipulation (Noted by Polaris that all of the memories and relationships of the Devil Survivor 2 cast will be completely erased if they choose to restore the world, requiring a strong willpower to retain them), Empathic Manipulation (Humanity's willpower allows them to ignore the voice of God, with Zelenin needing to sing a stronger sword to wipe their willpower away), Truth Manipulation (Users with huge willpower can ignore the truths created by YHVH due to the bonds with their friends)
All of his summons have Demon Physiology, granting them:
Standard Demon Abilities: Superhuman Physical Characteristics (Demons can casually rip out a man's throat. They can also casually eat fully grown humans), Sheer Will (Demons are able to survive and withstand attacks that should kill them), Immortality (Types 1, 3, 7, & 8. Demons are the descendants of the gods of old. Who are able to do battle for an eternity. Many demons tend to be undead beings and humans that die and become ghost become demons. All demons are reliant on the observation of humans to keep them existing, including even nonexistent demons such as The White, allowing them to come back even if they’re erased from existence and nonexistence. Along with this, all demons that die return to The Axiom and reincarnate. Ouroboros the embodiment of infinity notes that unlike humans who are finite, demons have infinite and endless powers, allowing them to resurrect back infinitely no matter when due to not being made of finite matter), Abstract Existence (Type 1. Demons embody the phenomena and beliefs of humans, with their physical forms only being created due to humanity's observation locking them into these forms, and their true forms existing as the phenomena and beliefs they reside in), Dimensionless Existence (Type 2. Demons only have "forms" due to the observation of humanity with even some demons being in the lowest form of humanity's observation making them unseeable without help, the "true forms" of demons are in truth without the concept of form, without observation they are not certain nor stable, are a phenomena without an answer and are unbound by concepts such as truth completely unshaped by reality. Demons under their observation forms embody concepts such as infinity which they are free from in their true forms), Null Existence (Type 4. The home of the demons is the expanse, which the Monochrome Forest exists within the expanse, a place that is eerily still, having no sound or smell, where even the ground itself feels unusual, which demons naturally exist in. The Forest also holds the White’s realm, which is a vast, white space), Incorporeality (Demons are beings made of data, that exist in a virtual world, along with being pure information. With even the most basic of objects in the verse existing as data. Even if a demon's physical form is lost, their residual MAG can still remain, allowing one to infuse them within one's weapons or objects), Nondualism (Everything within Megami Tensei is one, with one simple word binding all togehter, oneness), Regeneration (True-Godly. All demons are reliant on the observation of humans to keep them existing, including even nonexistent demons such as The White, allowing them to come back even if they’re erased from existence and nonexistence. Along with this, all demons that die return to The Axiom and reincarnate. This allows demons to die and come back in a short timeframe due to their continuous existence from The Axiom and the observation of humans. This means even if all of reality were to cease existing, The Axiom would still exist within it, allowing demons to regenerate back), Acausality (Type 5. Demons are natural residents of The Expanse, a place that transcends the past, present, and future of the multiverse, demons such as Ishtar are capable of going into separate multiverses, along into the "real world", demons such as Demi-Fiend, can exist in different universes asides from the original SMT 3 universe, demons can exist even when the flow of time itself collapses and there is nothing left but a void), Paradox Existence (Type 3. Demons are a race of entities and are at the same time the same entity sharing all one collective hive mind of memories, species will note if they've been captured before even if they're being fought in an area one's never been to or were fused prior, demons such as Forneus and Decarabia talk about an event that happened in Nocturne where Forneus was late to a meeting due to his death from Demi-Fiend), Self-Sustenance (Types 1, 2, & 3. Demons can naturally exist and breathe within the vacuum of space without any adverse effects done to them.[17] Due to their innate physiologies, demons naturally do not need to breathe, eat, or sleep.[18]), Accelerated Development (Level;Physical Stats and Abilities. Demons and Humans are able to grow from battles, allowing them to enhance their level of strength, magic, agility, luck, etcetera. Additionally, they can learn new skills and abilities from battles and further increase their HP and Magic capacity, and get strong enough to the point that they can fight end game tier demons), Reactive Adaptation (Demons as they grow in battle form changes around their body until they transform into a higher level with newer stats and newer abilities to learn), Berserk Mode (Demons enter a state of pure rage and berserk mode during the full moon, being completely irrational and unable to be negotiated with), Precognition (Types 3. Demons have the ability to see into the future, with the likes of Eligor being able to see things to come), Extrasensory Perception (Demons are able to tell who is actually a demon in disguise and who is an actual human. Demons can sense the power of an opponent and compare it to the power they sensed of others.[19]), Corrosion Inducement (Demons can shapeshift into a blob, allowing them to melt areas, completely dissolve objects such as steel chairs, and completely crush humans.[20][21][22]), Duplication (Demons can make duplicates of themselves. With them being completely disconnected from the demons, thus killing or defeating the clones in no way affects the original and they can endlessly spawn more), Invisibility & Perception Manipulation (Demons are naturally invisible to humans, and can do actions such as make noises and fight without humans noticing), Quantum Manipulation & Intangibility (Spatial. Demons passively create adecoherence field, that is essentially a special dimension of quantum fluctuation that they exist in, where humans cannot see them), Non-Physical Interaction (Demons can interact with each other and Gods, despite their physiologies and existences), Hell Manipulation (Demons naturally use evil powers from hell), Sealing (Gods and Demons cannot kill each other, thus resulting in them needing to seal each other), Soul Manipulation (Noted by a soul that demons can eat souls), Empathic Manipulation (Women cannot resist the allure of demons, even if they despised a demon normally, they'd fall mdaly in love with them if they had sex with a demon even once[23]), Size Manipulation & Statistics Amplification (Demons can grow in size to grow strong enough to fight Messiahs), Technology Manipulation (Demons can stop technology from working with their evil powers), Shapeshifting (Demons can shapeshift into humans to trick others), Hacking (Demons can hack into various servers and set up firewalls and "digital traps"), Necromancy (Demons can raise people from the dead and turn them into zombies), Personal Domain & BFR (Demons can pull one into alternate dimensions where coordinates and direction are different. Along with pull entire areas such as mansions into pocket dimensions. High level demons such as fiends can create personal realms to battle people in. Alice created her own personal domain that she could freely control. Demons can also freely teleport people to other locations), Pocket Reality Manipulation (Demons can warp areas into alternate dimensions such as the inside of a school. Once one is in said dimension the demon will keep it's hold into the dimension until it's defeated), Subjective Reality (Demons are able to take the thoughts of people and materialize them into something real), Information Manipulation & Matter Manipulation (Can absorb and consume mangetite, which is an information construct. As demons can make pocket realms and higher level demons can make universes, they are by extension they are creating areas entirely made of data and information down to their sub-atomic level. As demons can make pocket realms and higher level demons can make universes, they are by extension they are creating areas entirely made of data and information down to their sub-atomic level), Illusion Creation & Perception Manipulation (Type 3. Demons can create mirage realms, that shroud an entire area in mist, with them being able to attack from inside said illusion without being capable of being attacked back, requiring the user to go inside of their illusion to fight them), Velocity Manipulation (When attacks are nullified or avoided, the enemy will forcibly forfeit their turn to move, allowing one to attack sooner, this extends further with absorbing attacks completely ending an opponents turn regardless of how fast they are), Teleportation (Demons are capable of teleporting around usually through manipulating their own Magutushi or Magnetite), Telepathy (Demons are able to speak telepathically to others.[24][25] Demons such as Aogami speaks telepathically with Nahobino), Power Bestowal (The memories of a demon's techniques can be passed down into weapons), Absorption (Demons can absorb lifeforce and Magutushi out of another. Demons can feed off the lifeforce of people to manifest themselves into the real world. Demons have the innate ability to absorb the air and earth into their bodies[26]), Healing Negation (Demons can inflict wounds that only spiritual magic can heal), Power Absorption (Demons can absorb the remains of other demons to gain their abilities), Consumption (Demons can consume and devour their enemies to gain power in battle), Dimensional Travel (Demons can feed off the lifeforce of people to manifest themselves into the real world), Healing (Demons naturally have healing properties, allowing them to heal other people. Demons have shown to heal wounds they create and "seal them away"[27]), Telekinesis (Higher level demons can telekinetically affect the entire environment to cause the Earth to shake, cause fissures, and affect mountains[28]), Existence Erasure (Type 4. Demons can kill humans, which in the process erases said beings from memory and existence), Invulnerability (Type 2. Demons even when brought into corporeal forms cannot be harmed by conventional weaponry, along with military grade weaponry.[29]), Invulnerability Negation (Demons are capable of harming each other, and are viewed as valuable tools to get past other demons invulnerability), Possession (Demons can possess one’s body), Creation (Demons can create Shikimi no Kage's that are unable to be put down for good and will regenerate even from observation users who can negate regeneration and immortality), Resistance Negation (Shikimi no Kage have specific weaknesses that cannot be exploited by Raidou's gun or other things to do with their specific elemental weakness, requiring Raidou to get a demon's elemental magic to affect it), Regeneration Negation (Unknown. Demons can create Shikimi no Kage's that are unable to be put down for good and will regenerate even from observation users who can negate regeneration and immortality. Which they themselves can negate the regeneration of), Forcefield Negation (Demons can destroy barriers made to block out humans from entry), Limited Resistance to Observation (Demons to an extent can resist some humans abilities of observation as shown with them being immune to conventional weaponry[30] and higher-dimensional demons not being able to be percieved by some observation users), Resistance to Extreme Colds (Demons are unaffected by cold temperatures, even while harboring the body of a human), Cosmic Radiations, Biological Manipulation, & Gravity Manipulation (Demons can naturally exist and breathe within the vacuum of space without any adverse effects done to them.[31]), Death Manipulation (Demons can naturally exist within the vortex world which kills all humans who enter), Disease Manipulation, Corruption, Data Manipulation, & Petrification (All demons are unaffected by the Cuvier Syndrome, a state where corruptive data came out of the black sun, irreversible petrification), Sealing (Demons naturally have a resistance to sealing if they’re stronger then their target, and their sealing resistance gets amplified during the full moon), Forcefield Creation (Demons can pass through tainted barriers that humans cannot pass through), Elemental Manipulation (Shikimi no Kage have specific weaknesses that cannot be exploited by Raidou's gun or other things to do with their specific elemental weakness, requiring Raidou to get a demon's elemental magic to affect it), Resistance Negation (Demons can create Shikimi no Kage's that are unable to be put down for good and will regenerate even from observation users who can negate regeneration and immortality) Powerful Demon Abilities: Power Bestowal (Demons can grant others their powers and strength), Reality Warping, Space-Time Manipulation & Creation (All powerful and god level demons sustain a colloidal conglomeration of countless mini-universes, each centered around a powerful demon that is sustained by said demon and destroyed upon their death.[32] Demons such as Morax have created and ruled over their own realms within the Schwarzwelt, and controlled their own sectors, being noted to be the energy source the Strange Journey team were looking for, said energy source is noted to control the entire sector, and be linked to the sector like a magnet. Each sector is a space-time plane layered atop each other, being planes outside of the human worlds local space-time existing in a quantum tunnel, along with being noted as parallel universes and other dimensions overlapping being isolated in time and space by enormous power being connected by quantum tunnels. Demons such as Set with enough Magnetite gathered can merge entire worlds.[33]), Immortality (Type 5. Higher tiered demons exist beyond death itself), Sheer Will, Resurrection, & Transformation (Some fiends are born from men that die in competitive sports), Curse Manipulation (Gods such as Anahita can remove curses), Resistance to Physics Manipulation (A god's divine energy isn’t bound by the laws of physics)
God Level Demon Abilities: Higher-Dimensional Existence (God Tier demons are higher dimensional beings that cannot be perceived by lower one's Burroughs, requiring them to come down into the lower dimensions for the character to perceive them), Madness Manipulation (Type 3. God Tier Demons such as Kagutsuchi's light can cause demons to grow more hostile towards others, making it impossible for negotiation and to escape from them. They'll also calm down once a New Phase passes), Resistance to Existence Erasure (Type 4. The strongest and highest level demons can survive Kagutsuchi's light, which can wipe one from existence)Standard Equipment
- COMP: A COMP is a portable computer which many characters have used in order to communicate with, transport, and summon demonic entities using the Demon Summoning Program. It comes with a list of other features such as automapping and auto-recovery.
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* Incense can only be used on humans.
* Used in the "A-Mode DDS" Option of the GBA and iOS versions to view extra scenes.
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*Cursed weapons are noted with †
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Gems are used to trade for items or Element Race demons.
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Notable Techniques
Shin Megami Tensei: if
- if...
- Hazama's Chapter
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Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse
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Other
Standard Tactics: The Hero will focus on Physical/Gun attacks in combination with his summonable demons to make for a deadly team as they have access to magic that can either buff his stats while debuffing the opponents, and access to a large array of elemental/status effects magic. If he can, The Hero will also try to talk down his opponent to join his cause.
Weaknesses: Was gullible enough to pick up a knife that was already used as a murder weapon, which lead to his unfortunate arrest. Lacks real magic attacks. Demons will turn back on their master if they lack the strength to control them. His demons are weak to mercuric sulfide[35][36][37][38].
Trivia
- In Shin Megami Tensei if..., he is mentioned once by Yahata who was inspired by his COMP and decided to make one himself.
- In Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, in the Akarana Corridor, one of the hourglasses' visions says that "There's a ruined city with three young warriors fighting for survival." Those three warriors could be the protagonist, Law Hero and Chaos Hero.
- The Lost Soul found in the 2030s area of the Corridor alludes to the events of Shin Megami Tensei, as well as the protagonist saying "We owe a lot to the schoolboy with the gadget on his arm, who defeated all the gods and demons..."
- He is the only Shin Megami Tensei protagonist to have followed a canonical route in a game with multiple paths and endings.
- One of his names, "Futsuo," means both "ordinary man" and "Contact of Buddha."
Appearances
- Shin Megami Tensei: Protagonist
- Shin Megami Tensei Comic Anthology (Kobunsha)
- Shin Megami Tensei 4-frame gag battle
- Shin Megami Tensei II: Statue
- Shin Megami Tensei: if...: Guardian, Fiend Race (Rare encounter; also indirectly mentioned)
- Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE: Opening Cinematic
- Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse: DLC Party Member, Human Race
- Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: Cameo, costume
Explanations
The following is an explanation of the various status effects of Megami Tensei
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Gallery
References
- ↑ 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."
- ↑ Profile: The actual One God of monotheism. The One God praised by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He is the omnipotent existence that created heaven and earth and made man in his own image, but this also means that together with the angels, his bunrei [subparts], he also gave birth to demons. By giving humans bodies of flesh and bone, their lives and fears were repeated in the endless cycle of death and rebirth, restricting their range of observation.
- ↑ The reason YHVH is harmed during this fight is due to humanity's observation weakening him, as there's no reason for YHVH to be lying
- ↑ 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 themselves otherwise they are threatened with being unstuck from time
- ↑ Shioda: Is it correct to think that humanity was created by the Great Reason rather than by the gods?
Yamai: In the beginning, I believe, pure humans were made as observers of the universe. Then, as time passed, gods and polytheism appeared as the result of their perception of the surrounding world.
Miyata: Nozomi says at some point that it’s all right for people to be unsure, but in the underground it is believed that the gods are one of the answers hypothesised by humans. From her point of view, the gods are a symbol of the ideal imagined by humans and the perfect form envisioned by them as their target, their final point. Monotheism, on the other hand, only has one final target, but there are many ideals to pursue. This is tied to Nozomi’s lines above. It’s all right if there are bad guys and if there are good people, there will also be fickle ones. Nozomi’s credo is that everyone should choose their own destination.
Yamai: Even when talking about the creation of the universe, I think the birth of the Great Reason is beyond our ideals. The universe we can observe stretches over 130 billion light years, but we don’t know how it managed to appear from nothing. Gods like Izanagi, who birthed out of his eyes and nose, were perhaps a symbol of a farming culture, but they had a power that surpassed the humans’ power of understanding and I dare say that in the case of the Great Reason too, if emotions were to arise, those emotions themselves would become gods. I’m talking about that kind of creation. For example, the wish to be worshipped gave birth to YHVH, or seeing the fights between humans signified the appearance of Lucifer. I think this is similar to the trends and movements born out of people’s shared consciousness nowadays. Let’s look at Japan’s concept of cuteness: if it spread throughout the whole world, maybe it would lead to the birth of a new god. I had this vague thought that the backbone of the Great Reason would begin like a pure baby who would pick up various emotions through touch, gradually learning about its surroundings.
Shioda: So it’s something along the lines of a god born out of the collective unconscious which came from shared awareness?
Yamai: That’s right, don’t you all just love it? (laughs)
Miyata: I certainly think there is some sort of huge collective unconscious, but I never really thought it might be connected to the Great Reason. And speaking of shared awareness, the scale would be quite small depending on the surroundings; the Japanese would have their shared awareness, but it would be different from that of foreigners. For example, even if the Japanese saw themselves as without religion, they’d look Buddhist to foreigners. This kind of thing leads me to think that the Great Reason is not at the surface of shared awareness, but belongs instead to an extremely deep part of the origin.
Shioda: I personally think that the term ‘bunrei’ [spirit divisions] often used to name gods in the story is extremely important in this game. The Great Reason is the origin. Does that make YHVH and all the other gods ‘bunrei’?
Yamai: Yes, it does. I think we can explain the existence of ‘bunrei’ through polytheism resulted from human perception. In the Celtic world, the druids saw Dagda as the forefather of sorcerers, but this was different for the Norse people or the Germanic culture. The people of each civilisation would see things as it fit them, so we got Odin instead. ‘Bunrei’ are born like this, but then again, treating Dagda and Odin as identical is wrong. Their powers and responsibilities are different, so it’s better for them to be thought of as different entities. Let’s have a look at YHVH: when he was born, humans perhaps observed YHVH himself, but once the scriptures were written, Uriel would be the one to be noticed and maybe that’s why he made so many appearances in their pages. Uriel frequently appearing as YHVH’s messenger also kind of feels like an accessory that comes to the front in order to preserve YHVH’s solemnity. But that is the result of the perception of later people, so we can also say that Uriel is a part [bunrei] of YHVH. - ↑ 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. - ↑ 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. - ↑ 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. - ↑ 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. - ↑ 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. - ↑ Profile: The actual One God of monotheism. The One God praised by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He is the omnipotent existence that created heaven and earth and made man in his own image, but this also means that together with the angels, his bunrei [subparts], he also gave birth to demons. By giving humans bodies of flesh and bone, their lives and fears were repeated in the endless cycle of death and rebirth, restricting their range of observation.
- ↑ The reason YHVH is harmed during this fight is due to humanity's observation weakening him, as there's no reason for YHVH to be lying
- ↑ 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 themselves otherwise they are threatened with being unstuck from time
- ↑ Shioda: Is it correct to think that humanity was created by the Great Reason rather than by the gods?
Yamai: In the beginning, I believe, pure humans were made as observers of the universe. Then, as time passed, gods and polytheism appeared as the result of their perception of the surrounding world.
Miyata: Nozomi says at some point that it’s all right for people to be unsure, but in the underground it is believed that the gods are one of the answers hypothesised by humans. From her point of view, the gods are a symbol of the ideal imagined by humans and the perfect form envisioned by them as their target, their final point. Monotheism, on the other hand, only has one final target, but there are many ideals to pursue. This is tied to Nozomi’s lines above. It’s all right if there are bad guys and if there are good people, there will also be fickle ones. Nozomi’s credo is that everyone should choose their own destination.
Yamai: Even when talking about the creation of the universe, I think the birth of the Great Reason is beyond our ideals. The universe we can observe stretches over 130 billion light years, but we don’t know how it managed to appear from nothing. Gods like Izanagi, who birthed out of his eyes and nose, were perhaps a symbol of a farming culture, but they had a power that surpassed the humans’ power of understanding and I dare say that in the case of the Great Reason too, if emotions were to arise, those emotions themselves would become gods. I’m talking about that kind of creation. For example, the wish to be worshipped gave birth to YHVH, or seeing the fights between humans signified the appearance of Lucifer. I think this is similar to the trends and movements born out of people’s shared consciousness nowadays. Let’s look at Japan’s concept of cuteness: if it spread throughout the whole world, maybe it would lead to the birth of a new god. I had this vague thought that the backbone of the Great Reason would begin like a pure baby who would pick up various emotions through touch, gradually learning about its surroundings.
Shioda: So it’s something along the lines of a god born out of the collective unconscious which came from shared awareness?
Yamai: That’s right, don’t you all just love it? (laughs)
Miyata: I certainly think there is some sort of huge collective unconscious, but I never really thought it might be connected to the Great Reason. And speaking of shared awareness, the scale would be quite small depending on the surroundings; the Japanese would have their shared awareness, but it would be different from that of foreigners. For example, even if the Japanese saw themselves as without religion, they’d look Buddhist to foreigners. This kind of thing leads me to think that the Great Reason is not at the surface of shared awareness, but belongs instead to an extremely deep part of the origin.
Shioda: I personally think that the term ‘bunrei’ [spirit divisions] often used to name gods in the story is extremely important in this game. The Great Reason is the origin. Does that make YHVH and all the other gods ‘bunrei’?
Yamai: Yes, it does. I think we can explain the existence of ‘bunrei’ through polytheism resulted from human perception. In the Celtic world, the druids saw Dagda as the forefather of sorcerers, but this was different for the Norse people or the Germanic culture. The people of each civilisation would see things as it fit them, so we got Odin instead. ‘Bunrei’ are born like this, but then again, treating Dagda and Odin as identical is wrong. Their powers and responsibilities are different, so it’s better for them to be thought of as different entities. Let’s have a look at YHVH: when he was born, humans perhaps observed YHVH himself, but once the scriptures were written, Uriel would be the one to be noticed and maybe that’s why he made so many appearances in their pages. Uriel frequently appearing as YHVH’s messenger also kind of feels like an accessory that comes to the front in order to preserve YHVH’s solemnity. But that is the result of the perception of later people, so we can also say that Uriel is a part [bunrei] of YHVH. - ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Part 7, Chapter 2 "A deafening explosion broke Nakajima's concentration. A star-mark-adorned F-14 jet divebombed, slicing through the clouds. Nakajima all of a sudden found himself hovering over a battlefield. Below him was a hair-raising sight. An unbelieveably large lump of flesh, a hideous tower of raw meat, was slowly writhing. Its pale green, transparent gelatinous membrane was greedily expanding at its base. Several long black rivers flowed into it. No, what looked like black rivers were actually the hair of the people heading toward the tower. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people tore off their clothes and proceeded forward completely naked. Rapid explosions echoed through the air. The SDF's F14 jets scrambled from the 7th fleet were attacking, targeting the top of the tower so as to minimize injury to the humans below. A rain of bullets from an attack helicopter's machine guns sprayed through the air. Though that ammunition was capable of penetrating tank armor, it was absorbed without any resistance into the body of the ever-expanding otherworldly creature, as if it was laughing at the pathetic attack. It was almost as if it was trying to prove that any attacks against it would be futile."
- ↑ Narisawa: Now, let’s change the subject. I’d like to talk about the Abyss or the demon areas. This time the Abyss is designed like the Sephiroth Tree. We need to read the strategy guide in order to understand that, but is this how you originally envisioned it?
Okada: I said earlier that Tokyo Millenium and the Underworld are in contrast but generally speaking, their opposite is the Abyss. It’s like saying Lucifer is Satan’s opposite.
Narisawa: Kabbalah is a secret formula that belongs to humans, so how do you explain Lucifer using it to design the Abyss?
Itou: That is why we have opposites. We can consider the possibility of humans being the ones who were influenced. We don’t know whether they saw the Abyss’s design after a near-death experience or were telepathically struck by some waves, but if pushed to say, the Kabbalah that’s transmitted through the world right now could be a representation of what they “saw”.
Narisawa: It’s a reversal. - ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 6 "To Space", The glitter of the stars and the unending void surrounded Nakajima. Below his feet, the endlessly spinning blue globe shone up at him. It took him a few moments to realize that he was floating in outer space. Nakajima unfolded his arms. The Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi he held emitted a strand of light in the inkwell of space. Its blade twinkled and throbbed, responding to the tens of thousands of stars.
It seemed that Izanami's robe had given him the power to survive and move in the vacuum of outer space. Suddenly, a sinister psychic wave hit Nakajima from behind. Swinging his sword, Nakajima slowly turned around, and found his field of vision dominated by an open, gaping red maw.
An incomprehensibly enormous serpent; though the demon had only owned a temporary form on the surface of the earth, the powerful magnetic field that had forced him into space had given Set a complete body.
Star Scorpion's 60-foot-long solar cells spread out like wings. Set's pale green scales glimmered as he coiled around the beautiful, practical satellite lying in medium Earth orbit.
It looks like the insignificant humans had enough knowledge to summon me into this empty space.
The voice echoed in Nakajima's mind.
But the humans will soon know their folly in thinking that they have banished me. Pulling this machine down with me is an easy task. And that is not all. Have a look at all the demons that were summoned here!
Several pale glowing things that looked like hoods aimlessly floated beside Nakajima.
Soon, they will take on bodies and seek safe haven on Earth. The end of foolish humanity’s dominion over the earth will not be long. Nakajima, whether or not you intended, you have become the knight that blows the trumpet signaling the beginning of the apocalypse. The only path remaining for you is to cast aside your humanity and work for me. It would be a shame to kill you. Think on it.
Ignoring Set's call, Nakajima focused all of his anger onto the sword he held directly in front of him. The environment that had given Set a body had also removed all restrictions on the divine power Nakajima had been granted. The Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, now an immensely long coil of light, drew a whip-like arc that emitted red light, and came down onto the body of the enormous serpent." - ↑ Note: Demons normally showing these contradictions is due to the observation of humanity affecting them.
- ↑ Digital Devil Story Chapter 4, "Sword of Flame", Page 55 "RAUIERE!" Yomotsu-Shikome tried to tell him something in a foreign tongue. She could sense that this intruder possessed a power much different and far greater than the human tomb robbers that had foolishly wandered in before. If possible, she wanted to repel him without having to fight. Caught off guard, Loki stood still and narrowed his jet-black eyes, as if sizing up the power of this new arrival. Then, he started to walk forward calmly, an arrogant smirk on his face.
- ↑ Digital Devil Story Transfer, Chapter 1, Page 28 "Hashiguchi abruptly noticed that the display looked like it was damp, as if it was covered in a layer of condensation. As he tried to wipe the screen off with his hand, he felt something stick to his fingertips, and jumped back in surprise. Something slimy was stuck to his fingers; as he shook them violently, a heavy, disgusting jelly-like substance fell to the floor with a splat.
"Ugh! What the hell is this!?"
Inoue turned around at Hashiguchi's cry and froze in shock. Beneath the skin of the pink protoplasm, a mesh of green-colored veins spread out as the whole blob pulsated like an organ torn out of its host. The repulsive lump of flesh made a squishing sound as it started to approach the two men. Backing up, Inoue stumbled over a chair and sprayed the contents of his stomach all over the floor.
"Inoue! Get a hold of yourself!" Grabbing his coworker's arm to keep him standing, Hashiguchi started to run toward the door. As he turned, the gelatinous blob lashed out; tentacles covered in a viscous sticky fluid like red jam grabbed onto the legs of both men in an instant.
"Shit!" Hashiguchi cursed as he grabbed files and the phone off his desk--any object within reach--and began throwing them at his attacker. When it showed no fear, he grabbed a chair, lifted it over his head, and brought it crashing down on top of the thing. However, the skin of the gelatinous blob simply pulled the steel chair into its body, where it was quickly dissolved right before Hashiguchi's eyes." - ↑ Digital Devil Story Possession, Chapter 2, Pages 36 "However, just as Yumiko tried to stagger away and flee, a strange sound came from Loki's arms. For a moment they looked like they were beginning to melt, and then they changed into giant, jiggling, pink-colored blobs of protoplasm. From their tips, multiple tentacles lashed out and wrapped around Yumiko's limbs.
"No, stop!" The tentacles gripping the crying Yumiko's limbs pulled her up into the air, toward the body of the blob. A new pink tentacle sprouted and wrapped around Yumiko's body, and the liquid leaking from its membrane melted her clothes, latched onto her now-exposed skin and started writhing along her slender body." - ↑ Digital Devil Story Chatper 2, Sword of Flame, Page 53 "At that time, Loki swiftly entered Shirasagi Mound, and was standing before the passageway that Nakajima had passed through earlier. "Just you wait, Nakajima. Soon, I will defile your precious woman before your very eyes before devouring you whole." With a twisted smile on his face, Loki transformed himself into an amorphous blob and oozed into the tunnel. Loki descended the passageway that took Nakajima hours to traverse in mere minutes. Soon the blob of flesh made a squishing sound as it dropped to the stone floor of the plaza before the burial pathway. At that instant, its outer membrane hissed and gave off smoke as it started to melt. "Damn you!" Loki quickly transformed back into his bronze body, and kneeling on the ground, let loose a terrible howl. Most likely, he could not stand the chemical reaction that took place when his protoplasmic body came into contact with the mercuric sulfide. Even now, the one gelatinous place of his body between his eyes throbbed and pulsated. Gritting his teeth and standing, Loki stared solemnly at the crimson burial road."
- ↑ Digital Devil Story Possession, Chapter 2, Pages 37 "Leaving his handsome face intact, Loki started to change into a cylindrical lump of flesh that sprouted countless small tentacles. The pink protoplasm started to glow and the movement of the tentacle fondling Yumiko's body became faster and rougher.
Yumiko lost all will to resist, and her head fell to the side limply as she passed out. Loki started to pull her doll-like body into his own; he failed to notice that Ohara was glaring furiously at Yumiko even as she was enveloped within the protoplasm.
Many women could not resist the allure of demons. Even if they despised them normally, they’d fall madly in love with them if they had sex with them even once. For Ohara, who had devoted herself body and soul to Loki, watching him have sex with one of her students in front of her eyes was an unbearable humiliation. Once Yumiko's slender white legs had sunk into the protoplasm and she was inside Loki up to her chest, Ohara went mad with jealousy, grabbed Yumiko’s head, and started to twist it. - ↑ "Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 2, "Conflicts" "Crying out, Typhon whipped and spasmed. Sword and all, Nakajima was thrown aside, but Kerberos leaped into the air and caught him. Right then, Nakajima got the sense that he heard Yumiko's voice from far away. Looking around in confusion, the image of Yumiko, bound to a cross and writhing in agony, appeared in his mind. Most likely, Set had sent him the picture of her current state as the core of his enormous protoplasmic temporary body. Nakjima noticed that one of the eyes in her lovely, terrified face was dripping blood."
- ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 6, "To Space" "However, he could not stop fighting. As minor demons from Set's world continued wriggling while trying to enter the Assiah world, an unmistakably familiar voice echoed in Nakajima's mind. Nakajima! I'm here! Aim for here! Yumiko! Is that you!? The instant Nakajima heard the voice, the Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi regained a shine like a nova as it tore through the air. Stab your sword in the direction of my voice! Nakajima quickly noticed a pale, white, phosphorescent glow on a part of the enormous serpent's scale-encased body. Yes, I'm inside the demon! If we attack from inside him and outside him at the same time, we might be able to defeat Set... Led by Yumiko's voice, Nakajima stabbed his blade toward the phosphorescent glow. But an instant before the tip reached it, the tail of the giant snake forcefully knocked the blade aside and sent Nakajima flying far back. Flipping over and regaining his composure, robe fluttering behind him, Nakajima saw the rolling form of Set uncoiling, as if swimming through the vacuum. Foolish girl! To think you would let me know that you still live! Now I no longer have to depend on this irritating machine!
- ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of Demon City Chapter 2 "Conflicts" "Isma's body appeared to float in the air as he laughed, and two unusual lights appeared by his feet. Covered in jet-black scales, the great black serpent Typhon stared at Nakajima with its golden eyes, Isma riding on its back, as it slowly rose into the air, towering like an enormous tree. With its head nearly extended to the full height of the tower of flesh, the huge serpent shuddered and assaulted Nakajima. The lower half of Isma's body had been fused into Typhon's; perhaps it was another sort of fusion the demon could do in addition to its innate ability to absorb the earth and the air into its own body."
- ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 6 "Quickening" "Matoba was taking a nap on the sofabed in the study next to his office. The heavy black bags under his eyes betrayed his exhaustion from his nonstop efforts to bring his party together and block the National Secrets Protection Act from being passed. Taking advantage of the fact that the world stage was becoming a war of information, the restrictions in the act clearly indicated that the Liberal Party was veering further and further to the right. As the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, that was hard for Matoba to allow.
A quiet breeze blew into the room through the air conditioner that Matoba had left on. Not even disturbing the sound of that breeze, the snake slipped into the room through the slit under the door. It raised its head, fixating on its prey. Its small red eyes looked over the snoring, sleeping form of Matoba. Wiggling its body rapidly, the white snake slithered across the floor, effortlessly climbed up the sofabed and dove into the V-neck of Matoba's exposed undershirt, clearly by his unfastened tie.
Without any hesitation, the pale serpent bit into the exaggeratedly expanding and contracting fat stomach before it. Like a sharp drill, the slender body of the snake tunneled into Matoba's gut. As if he felt no pain whatsoever, Matoba slept on peacefully.
A minute or so later, Matoba suddenly twisted up from the sofabed as if a wave of high-voltage electricity was running through him. His body started to spasm wildly. However, it appeared that the Apep had gained full control of his nervous system; he soon started snoring again and fell into a deep sleep. Strangely enough, the wound on his stomach had sealed, as if cured by some sort of magic. Only moments later, the light sound of a Cedric driving away could be heard from the front of Matoba's manor. - ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Part 2: Chapter 2, ""I made it back to Toyoashihara..." His lips trembled with relief. Opening his arms wide, the youth took a deep breath of the humid air, pursed his lips forcefully, turned around, and sat down. For a while, he stared at the form of the grotesque woman chasing him, then shook his head sadly and closed his eyes. The youth started to meditate. When the woman had gotten within reach of a stone's throw, his body seemed to float slightly in midair for a moment, and then there was a huge undulation in the atmosphere. As if a huge invisible power had been released, the earth shook, and the fissure that appeared directly beneath the youth spread to the surrounding moutains, and countless rocks started to fall on the path. As the woman stopped, a giant boulder rolled in front of the path in front of her eyes, sealing it off. "Izanagi! I will come to you! Even if it takes hundreds or thousands of years!" The sound of the woman's bitter cries rose from beyond the towering pile of earth. "Forgive me, Izanami..." Plugging his ears with his hands, the youth staggered into the wetlands, the tall reeds rising even above his height."
- ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 2 "To Space" "A deafening explosion broke Nakajima's concentration. A star-mark-adorned F-14 jet divebombed, slicing through the clouds. Nakajima all of a sudden found himself hovering over a battlefield. Below him was a hair-raising sight. An unbelieveably large lump of flesh, a hideous tower of raw meat, was slowly writhing. Its pale green, transparent gelatinous membrane was greedily expanding at its base. Several long black rivers flowed into it. No, what looked like black rivers were actually the hair of the people heading toward the tower. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people tore off their clothes and proceeded forward completely naked. Rapid explosions echoed through the air. The SDF's F14 jets scrambled from the 7th fleet were attacking, targeting the top of the tower so as to minimize injury to the humans below. A rain of bullets from an attack helicopter's machine guns sprayed through the air. Though that ammunition was capable of penetrating tank armor, it was absorbed without any resistance into the body of the ever-expanding otherworldly creature, as if it was laughing at the pathetic attack. It was almost as if it was trying to prove that any attacks against it would be futile."
- ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 2 "To Space" "A deafening explosion broke Nakajima's concentration. A star-mark-adorned F-14 jet divebombed, slicing through the clouds. Nakajima all of a sudden found himself hovering over a battlefield. Below him was a hair-raising sight. An unbelieveably large lump of flesh, a hideous tower of raw meat, was slowly writhing. Its pale green, transparent gelatinous membrane was greedily expanding at its base. Several long black rivers flowed into it. No, what looked like black rivers were actually the hair of the people heading toward the tower. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people tore off their clothes and proceeded forward completely naked. Rapid explosions echoed through the air. The SDF's F14 jets scrambled from the 7th fleet were attacking, targeting the top of the tower so as to minimize injury to the humans below. A rain of bullets from an attack helicopter's machine guns sprayed through the air. Though that ammunition was capable of penetrating tank armor, it was absorbed without any resistance into the body of the ever-expanding otherworldly creature, as if it was laughing at the pathetic attack. It was almost as if it was trying to prove that any attacks against it would be futile."
- ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 6, "To Space", "Accompanied by the glittering of the stars, unending empty space surrounded Nakajima. Below his feet, the endlessly spinning shining blue globe looked up at him. It took him a few moments for him to realize that he was floating in outer space. Nakajima unfolded his arms. In them, he held the Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, emitting a strand of light in the blackness of space. Its blade twinkled and throbbed, as if responding to the tens of thousands of stars. Suddenly, a sinister psychic wave hit Nakajima from behind. It appeared as if Izanami's robe had given him the power to survive and move about in the vacuum of outer space. Nakajima slowly turned around, and found his field of vision dominated by an open, gaping red maw. It was that of an incomprehensibly enormous serpent. Though the demon had only possessed a temporary form on the surface of the earth, the natural effect of powerful magnetic field that had forced him into space had given Set a complete body. Star Scorpion's 60-foot-long solar cells spread out like wings. Now a giant snake, Set's pale green scales glimmered as he coiled around the beautiful yet functional satellite lying in dead orbit. It looks like the insignificant humans had enough knowledge to summon me into this empty space. The voice echoed in Nakajima's mind. But the humans will soon know their folly in thinking that they have banished me. Pulling this satellite down with me to the surface is an easy task. And that is not all. Have a look at all the demons that were summoned here into space! Beside Nakajima, several pale glowing things that looked like hoods floated aimlessly. Soon, they will take on bodies and seek safe haven on Earth. The end of the age of the foolish humans' dominion over the earth will not be long now. Nakajima, whether or not you intended, you have become the knight that blows the trumpet signalling the beginning of the apocalypse. The only path remaining for you is to cast aside your humanity and work for me. It would be a shame to kill you. Think it over. Ignoring Set's call, Nakajima focused all of his anger onto the sword he held directly in front of him. The environment of outer space that had given the demon a body had also removed all restrictions on the divine power he had been granted. The Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi, now an immensely long coil of light, drew an arc like that of a whip emitting red light, and came down onto the body of the enormous serpent. Fool, you do not value your life. Set lurched forward. Weaving away from the enormous serpent's attacking fangs, Nakajima was enveloped by a miasma like ice. The Sword of Hi-no-Kagutsuchi had already produced many pale sparks striking the body of the serpent coiled around the satellite. Yet the tough scales showed no sign of injury. Not only that, but the ugly faces and disgusting tentacles of materializing new demons floated like ghosts in the space around him. The noisy voices of the demons amplified like they were advancing down on Nakajima."
- ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 4 "Quickening" "I don't think so. From what I've just seen, there's no mistake that a magnetic field suitable for summoning a demon was set up. It may be that the reason no demon appeared was that it might have arrived in the Assiah world via a different magnetic field."
"There’re still some details about the mechanism for demon summoning that I don't really understand yet."
"Unusual words, coming from the genius that was the first to successfully summon a demon via a computer." Feed grinned broadly, but his expression soon turned grave as he looked directly at Nakajima.
"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."
"So what would happen if two contact points were opened at the same time?"
"The demon would decide where it wanted to appear. However, there are some examples in medieval records of demon summonings that report that when the difference in strength of the two magnetic fields was great enough, the demon would be pulled to the stronger field, regardless of which it wanted to go to..." - ↑ Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City Chapter 5, "He Who Calls" "Isma had realized that the bizarre life form that had torn itself out of Ohara's belly was a temporary body for Set, who had been planning to take form by possessing Loki's child. According to his theory, summoning a demon via a computer would require creating a magnetic field with which to summon the demon and the processing of the demon's data to be materialized, both of which would have to be done at virtually the same time. If the magnetic field was weak, the point of connection between the demon's world and the Assiah world would narrow, constraining the amount of data that could be processed. On the other hand, no matter how powerful the magnetic field was, unless the digital data could be processed quickly and concisely, the demon would never be able to take form. It was quite possible that even a supercomputer would not be able to handle the massive amount of data that would be needed to materialize a high-ranking demon. Despite that fact, the high-ranking demon Set was able to to take form in the Assiah world, even if it was only in a makeshift body. Something must have added a great deal of power in setting up the necessary magnetic field for a summoning; this in turn would ease the restraints on the data processing. Isma was convinced that something was Yumiko. Most likely, the high concentration of biological Magnetite within her body had been a major player in creating the magnetic field for the summoning. The divine constitution that she had inherited from Izanami was nothing but a giant retention of that highly concentrated Magnetite. While meager in comparison to that of Yumiko, ordinary humans also retained some biological Magnetite. If enough of it was collected, it might be able to create a permanent overlap of the Atziluth and Assiah worlds entirely. Therefore, having already formed a contract with Set, Isma borrowed his power to summon many people and attempt to create a tower of human flesh. And everything was proceeding just according to plan. Even know the heavens split with a terrible thundering, and Set's most powerful servant, the great serpent Typhon, reared its head into the air as if slithering from behind a black curtain, knocking over the Soga Forest's trees as it went. "Typhon, welcome. Breathe deeply and take in the air of the Assiah world." Isma looked kindly at the enormous snake. "Take a look, your first victim awaits in the shadow of that tree." As Isma pointed to the copse where Officer Nimura was, Typhon vanished beyond the trees. Meanwhile, Set had transformed into a gigantic, vile pillar of flesh, his sinister, red glowing eyes at its peak darting all around the area. Typhon's presence is proof that the demon world Set rules is starting to meld with the Assiah world. Now all that remains is to gather more biological Magnetite and solidify the connection... Isma's eyes shimmered even brighter with madness."
- ↑ Weapons A. Warhammer is known as Battle Hammer in the newer English Translation version of the game.
- ↑ Digital Devil Story Possession, Chapter 2, Pages 36-37 "Powerless, Nakajima stared at Loki and Ohara.
I should have considered the possibility that this could happen. I'd better find a weakness, and soon!
Nakajima frantically pointed the sensor connected to his computer at the nearly-materialized Loki. Calling up the ISG host computer, he sent the data the sensor had gathered about the demon to Craft. Meanwhile, Loki extended his hand toward Yumiko, rigid with terror. His bronze, naked body was beautifully symmetrical, almost like the Greek Apollo, and his muscular chest was covered in black scales. His black eyes, from which no one could possibly fathom any emotion, paralyzed her.
"Come over here." Pointing his talon at Yumiko, Loki commanded her in a low, cold voice. Yumiko looked to Nakajima for help, but he merely glanced at her and continued talking with the AI.
Nakajima knew he wouldn't have a chance if he tried to fight Loki directly, but Loki probably couldn’t risk doing anything to him so long as Nakajima had control of the computer environment. Nakajima knew that he had to find some sort of weakness to Loki while he still had the chance. He had a hunch that Loki would not be able to leave the magnetic field being generated by the computer.
However, just as Yumiko tried to stagger away and flee, a strange sound came from Loki's arms. For a moment they looked like they were beginning to melt, and then they changed into giant, jiggling, pink-colored blobs of protoplasm. From their tips, multiple tentacles lashed out and wrapped around Yumiko's limbs.
"No, stop!" The tentacles gripping the crying Yumiko's limbs pulled her up into the air, toward the body of the blob. A new pink tentacle sprouted and wrapped around Yumiko's body, and the liquid leaking from its membrane melted her clothes, latched onto her now-exposed skin and started writhing along her slender body.
>CRAFT, HURRY!
Covering his ears so he wouldn't have to hear Yumiko's screams, Nakajima frantically kept hitting the keys. Finally the data transfer LED lit up, and Craft sent a response.
ACCORDING TO THE DATA YOU SENT, THE JELLY SUBSTANCE IS 58% WATER AND 17% ECTOPLASM. THE REMAINING MATTER IS NOT NATIVE TO THE PLANET AND CANNOT BE ANALYZED.
>HAS THERE EVER BEEN A CASE OF SIMILAR MATTER BEING DISCOVERED BEFORE?
YES. THIS CENTURY, SIMILAR MATTER WAS DISCOVERED IN A MAYAN TEMPLE AND IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
> WHAT IS ITS WEAK POINT?
I CANNOT MAKE A HYPOTHESIS DUE TO INSUFFICIENT DATA. HOWEVER, THE MATTER DISCOVERED UNDER A RELIEF IN THE MAYAN TEMPLE WAS REPORTED TO HAVE EVAPORATED WHEN IT CAME IN CONTACT WITH MERCURIC SULFIDE-BASED PAINT.
> MERCURIC SULFIDE? YOU MEAN A MIXTURE OF MERCURY AND SULFUR. BUT I DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO FIND SOMETHING LIKE THAT. TELL ME HOW TO DEAL WITH HIM NOW!
UNFORTUNATELY I DO NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT DATA TO PROVIDE AN ANSWER." - ↑ Digital Devil Story Sword of Flame, Chapter 1, Pages 50-51 "A viscous drop of water fell onto Nakajima's cheek. Listening closely, he could hear the steady sound of water coming from high above. Over the aeons, the lime deposits in this trickle had accumulated here and there along the path to form giant stalagmites. Nakajima touched the rising cliff to feel it. The surface of the cold stone was wet with condensation. When he scratched it, the rock crumbled away easily, revealing a new layer of red stone below. Idly recalling that the ancient red paint used in ancient Japanese tombs was mercuric-sulfide based, Nakajima suddenly remembered Craft's words.
When explorers had discovered material that was apparently part of a demon's body in a Mayan temple, it evaporated when it came into contact with their mercuric-sulfide based paint. In other words, this tomb was designed specifically to keep demons out. His courage buoyed by this realization, Nakajima picked up Yumiko's body and walked toward the depths of the red valley. However, he’d never had that much in the way of stamina in the first place. In less than ten minutes, his legs were exhausted. He would have liked Kerberos' help, but he didn't want to put any more stress on the already terribly-injured demon. Besides, this path with walls literally painted with demon repellent would hardly be the most appropriate place for Kerberos. - ↑ Digital Devil Story Sword of Flame, Chapter 1, Page 51 "Yomotsu-Shikome took a step forward. As Nakajima met her gaze, he carefully laid Yumiko down, wiped the cold sweat on his hands onto his slacks, and picked up his handheld computer.
"Kerberos, please come here."
Before the white haze that emerged from the liquid crystal display could even take on a rough outline of its shape, it vanished with a weak bark. Apparently, the pathway’s crimson paint really did seal off the power of the demon beast. - ↑ Digital Devil Story Sword of Flame, Chapter 2, Page 53 "Loki descended the passageway that took Nakajima hours to traverse in mere minutes. Soon the blob of flesh made a squishing sound as it dropped to the stone floor of the burial chamber plaza. The moment he touched the floor, his outer membrane hissed smoke as it started to melt.
"Damn you!"
Loki quickly transformed back into his bronze body. Kneeling, he let loose a terrible howl. He could not stand the chemical reaction that took place when his protoplasmic body came into contact with the mercuric sulfide. Between his eyes, the one gelatinous place on his body throbbed and pulsated.
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*Crono (Chrono Trigger) - Thread
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