Evolution

Evolution, mutation (変異, hen'i) or transfiguration is the process by which one demon or persona changes form into another, often the more powerful one that typically cannot be obtained via conventional means.

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Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Certain demons can change into other demons by evolving. Some of these are unique in that they cannot be obtained through fusion in the Cathedral of Shadows, but all neutral demons in the list can appear in random encounters and be recruited normally. For a demon to evolve into a new form, it must learn all of its hidden skills from leveling up, and the protagonist's level must at least be 4 less than the resultant demon's. If the result appears as a boss battle, that battle must be fought first (or, if the battle is avoidable due to the player's Reason, pass the point of the story in which the fight normally occurs). When all requirements are met, an eligible demon will ask player's permission to evolve into its new form when it gains a level, even if player has declined it previously.


 * * Story boss
 * Neutral demon

The very first Pixie who joins player, or the High Pixie or Queen Mab which are evolved from this specific Pixie, will evolve at the Fifth Kalpa into lvl 80 Fairy Pixie with completely revamped stats and skills.

The item "Divine Water," which can be purchased normally in shops, can be used to test if a demon can evolve, though this item is not cost-effective, as there are only 24 demons out of over 100 that can evolve. To ease the cost of checking whether or not his demons can evolve, the player can save before using it and reload after learning the result.

Shin Megami Tensei IV
Flynn's level is not a determining factor in whether or not a demon can evolve - a demon needs only to reach its own required level to trigger the event.
 * Demons that form an evolution chain are highlighted in the same background color and can be sorted by the "Chain" column header in the table.

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
In the 3DS remake, the special demon Nemechi can evolve by consuming 300 D-Souls (once per day), which unlocks additional demons that can be obtained through it. The list of forms and purchasable demons is available here.

Persona 2
Many personas have a small chance of mutating into another persona of the minor Arcana of closest level after reaching rank 8 and finishing a battle by performing a fusion spell. When a persona shows signs of transformation, the player must take it to the Velvet Room and return it to the reserve stock.

Aside from personas of the minor Arcana, there are few other personas of major Arcana can only be mutated from specific personas if certain requirements are met:
 * Persona 2: Innocent Sin
 * Lvl 57 Fortune Chronos from lvl 42 Fortune Hermes
 * See also Prime Persona for PSP version only mutation.


 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
 * Lvl 31 Moon Maia Custom from lvl 3 Moon Maia (triggered by correct dialogue choice.)


 * The following personas have a rather low chance to obtain via mutation and require any teammate's level high enough to summon them in Velvet Room (persona's level minus 5) in order to trigger the mutation:


 * Lvl 72 Emperor Lugh from lvl 46 Sun Il-Dana (requires rumor from Manannan.)
 * Lvl 74 Justice Pallas Athena from lvl 64 Priestess Scathach
 * Lvl 74 Death Mot from lvl 68 Tower Seth
 * Lvl 83 Judgement Michael from lvl 68 Judgement Amurdad (2nd cycle)
 * Lvl 88 World Shokuin from lvl 68 Strength Wong Long (2nd cycle)

Regardless of evolving into personas of minor or major Arcana, there is a small chance for the evolved form to be lvl 2 Devil Poltergeist, which is considered a failed mutation. This, however, can be prevented by reserving Poltergeist in either stocks of the player or Velvet Room before allowing a persona to mutate (because the game does not allow player to possess multiple copies of any one persona).

Persona 3 and Persona 4
All Ultimate Personas of the teammates besides protagonists are transfigured from their previous personas. The process is triggered automatically in Persona 3 as the story progresses to a specific event. In Persona 4, it is achieved by reaching max rank of individual teammate's Social Link.

Devil Children Black Book & Red Book
At certain points in the story Cool, Veil, and Nagahisa Kai's demon parnter will evolve into stronger forms.

Devil Children White Book
Clay and Rei will evolve as the story progresses.

DemiKids: Light & Dark
Akira and Jin's demon partners Gale and Rand evolve as the story progresses. The choices made when the two are overflowing with power will determine the evolution path they follow. Rank Up fusion has several demons evolve into new demons by ranking up.

Devil Children Fire/Ice Book
Like in DemiKids: Light & Dark, Rand and Gale will once again evolve as the story progresses.