Shadow Maya

Shadow Maya is the Shadow Self of Maya Amano that appears in the Persona 2 duology. She uses the Personas Reverse Maia and Reverse Artemis in battle.

Appearances

 * Persona 2: Innocent Sin: Temporary Playable Character, Boss
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment: Boss

Persona 2: Innocent Sin
After the incident with King Leo, Maya suggested that the party should split up because a rumor spread about a group of five people roaming around Sumaru City suspected to be terrorists, which was most likely to be Tatsuya and the rest, and decided to regroup at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. After Tatsuya and Lisa arrived together, they found Eikichi and Yukino already there and "Maya" arrived shortly after.

When the party decided to go to Mt. Iwato at Lisa's request, "Maya" began to act strangely by saying things that didn't match her personality when they saw past events on each Mirror Spring. Yukino was the first one to notice this, but ignored it. When everyone reached the last Mirror Spring they saw how "Big Sis" was locked up by the kids in the Alaya Shrine. When Lisa interrupts the event, "Maya" attacks the party, telling them that she was Big Sis and how she hated them because of the hell she went through and that they will suffer the same terror that she had to. When she is about to strike and kill Tatsuya and the others, another Maya blocks the attack. The other Maya tells them that the Maya that attacked them was an impostor. Said impostor revealed herself as Maya's Shadow. Joker appears saying that the plan of killing them failed. Maya tries to talk to Joker, revealed that he was actually Jun Kurosu. She tried to convince Jun that she didn't die in the fire caused by Tatsuya Sudou so he doesn't have to suffer anymore on believing that she did. Jun yelled that that wasn't possible because Tatsuya killed her, Maya then says that Tatsuya and Jun shouldn't fight anymore and tried to remind him of the promise the two of them made of protecting Maya no matter what. Jun fell to his knees clutching his head in pain and ordered the Shadow to kill her.

After the battle ends, the Shadow didn't understand how Maya can be so strong if she was so eager to die, but Maya denies this last statement by telling that the Shadow is wrong and says goodbye to it.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Unlike Innocent Sin, Shadow Maya wasn't created by rumors but by Nyarlathotep to taunt Maya and the others. She first appears in Monado Mandala with the other Shadow Selves created by Nyarlathotep taunting their real selves.

When the party arrives at the World of Conviction they see Lisa. Tatsuya tries to set her free but Shadow Maya and Shadow Baofu prevents him from doing so and attacks the party. The difficulty of this boss battle depends on the decisions the player makes in the Room of Knowledge and the Room of Emotion.

After the battle ends the Shadows disappear and Lisa is set free, Tatsuya then begs Philemon to take Lisa back to the real world which Philemon does instantly.

Unlike Katsuya, Ulala and Baofu, Maya's darker side (either the Shadow Self or the reverse Persona) is not present in the scene. Nyarlathotep will ask Maya first if she feels angry. Choosing "at you" will instantly end the conversation, increase the level of Shadow Maya later and bring up the flag for awakening Lisa. If Maya says she is sad, Nyarlathotep will make fun of Maya's feelings for Tatsuya saying that she can never have Tatsuya and continue to urge Maya to pull the trigger and shoot him. Shooting Nyarlathotep is the "wrong" choice as well and instead, the bullet will hit Tatsuya (his HP after this event will drop to 1).

Strategy
In both games it is always a good choice to use Fusion Spells against her, physical are a good choice. In Innocent Sin, it is recommended to be at level 36 or higher. Have Maya be the main healer with any Media spell. Eikichi and any other character needs to do the fusion spell Earth Slice EX or any other physical based fusion spell that deals two strikes, the former needs an Earth Spell and Straight Slash. The attack will deal a good amount of damage and an extra hit. Physical attacks do more damage to Shadow Maya and Eikichi is by default the character that has a higher strength stat in the game so the player needs to make him attack Shadow Maya either with a physical fusion spell or with a normal attack. Her unique spell Dark Dimension deals an instant kill to a character if it hits, unlike Maya's Omni Dimension, this spell has a 75% chance to hit a character, so it's good to have a character with a Persona that has a reviving spell or to have numerous reviving items. Mahama, the Holy-elemental fatal attack against the whole party can be negated by Tetraja and item of the same effect, it should be re-applied after Mahama is negated or any ally is killed and revived. Note that one should heal at the beginning since all the other characters except for Maya will have lowered HP.

In Eternal Punishment, Shadow Maya, due to using Reverse Artemis, is weak against physical attacks and reflects magic attacks. Tatsuya and Ulala are a good choice to attack her with either a strong physical attack like Apollo's Gigantic Fist or with a regular attack unless she uses the spell Tetrakarn that makes the wearer reflect one physical attack. Shadow Maya will use Eclipse Mirror, it may deal a great amount of damage but it can be healed with one Medirama if Maya is still active. She also has Medirama to heal herself and Shadow Baofu but she doesn't cast this spell often.

In the case of Shadow Baofu, he is strong in physical attacks but weak to lightning attacks, his most dangerous attack is Level Trap which consists of damaging all characters based on level, the character with the highest level is killed instantly so be sure to have a Persona with a reviving skill or numerous reviving items. Again, a regular lightning attack or a fusion spell is required for him.

If all characters have their Ultimate Personas with the necessary skills, they can use the Fusion Spell Dragon Cross that can cause over 2000 HP of damage to both Shadows but it may not damage Maya due to her reflection of magic spells.

Innocent Sin quotes

 * Things aren't going to plan, but all I have to do is kill everyone along with you, Maya Amano. Shame to waste the boy's life, though... (Entering battle. The "boy" is referring to Tatsuya Suou.)
 * Mmhmhm, nice try, but no. (When the player tries to contact her in her boss battle)
 * What a fool! (When doing normal attack)
 * Die, fool! (When doing normal attack)
 * Persona! (When summoning Reverse Maia)
 * Come to me! (When summoning Reverse Maia)
 * Dark Dimension! (When she uses the spell Dark Dimension)

Eternal Punishment quotes

 * [Sniker] You make me laugh. (Entering battle)
 * Let's have some fun... (When the player tries to contact her in Eternal Punishment)
 * Here! (When doing normal attack)
 * Persona! (When summoning Reverse Artemis)
 * Come here! (When summoning Reverse Artemis)
 * I'll cure your pain! (When using Medirama to heal)

Innocent Sin

 * The way Maya faces her shadow in Innocent Sin is the most special one among the rest of the playable characters (including those from Persona 4) in that Maya has never admitted her Shadow is a part of her, but is always denying it even after her Shadow's defeat because she does not want to admit that she hated the kids for the incident ten years ago.
 * When Shadow Maya disguises herself to be the real one, apart from her out-of-character dialogues, there are few more things that hint the inconsistency.
 * When she enters Kuzunoha Detective Agency, Tatsuya Suou stands back a little from her instantly, probably out of surprise or fear.
 * When the group is teleported into Philemon's realm, she instantly does her defending poses against Philemon. Philemon also does not speak or face to her during the conversation.
 * Her sprite and portrait are slightly different with more shadows around her now red eyes. The PSP version of Innocent Sin also alternates her new portraits in her status section and cut-in used for Fusion Spells in the similar ways.
 * In the PSP version only, when inflicted with an ailment, she actually reveals her hideous expression instead of the usual pained portrait.
 * She will refuse to participate in any contact with demon during the battle.
 * Instead of the original Maia, Maia Prime is the direct palette swap of Reverse Maia, or vice versa.