Alice



Alice (アリス, Arisu) is a minor character appearing in Shin Megami Tensei. A young girl possessing formidable magic powers, she is taken care of by her 'uncles', the Count in Red and the Baron in Black, of which both care for her deeply.

History
Alice is said to be based off of Lewis Carroll's (Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) character from his famous story Alice In Wonderland. Since Disney adopted it, her full name has been said to be Alice Pleasance Liddell or Alice Kingsley. The Shin Megami Tensei Alice shares many physical similarities with the character, most notably the blue dress and the blond hair. Also, her signature move "Die For Me!" seems to draw inspiration from the book, as it features spear-wielding cards. Furthermore, her Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE attack, "Mad Tea Party", takes further inspiration from the book as it references the chapter in which the protagonist met the Mad Hatter and March Hare.

However, some say that she is also based off of a myth of an Aryan girl who died at a young age. When Alice died and became a spirit, she gained extreme magical power that drove her insane. Alice was used to scare Scandinavian children into behaving, or else Alice would visit them at night and kill them so that she may become "friends" with them. Due to the overwhelming support of both theories, it is easy to assume both are valid and that she is a hybrid of both figures. That both are valid seems to be the case though, since the Strange Journey Compendium hints at both.

Appearances

 * Shin Megami Tensei: NPC
 * Shin Megami Tensei II: Majin (Fiend), Boss
 * Shin Megami Tensei IV
 * Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE: Fiend Class
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: Fiend Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei: If...: Manin (Fiend) (Guardian Only)
 * Giten Megami Tensei: Demonoid Class
 * Megami Ibunroku Persona: DM Class
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment: Lovers Arcana
 * Persona 3: Death Arcana
 * Persona 3: FES: Death Arcana
 * Persona 4: Death Arcana
 * Persona 3 Portable: Death Arcana
 * Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army: Pagan Order
 * Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon: Fiend Order
 * Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Lone Marebito
 * Devil Children White Book
 * Devil Survivor 2: Fiend Race / Ultimate Boss

Shin Megami Tensei
Alice was a girl that died, but was resurrected as a ghost by Belial, the Count In Red, and Nebiros, the Baron In Black, both of whom Alice identifies as her 'uncles'. Belial and Nebiros, the rulers of Roppongi after the destruction of Tokyo and created a barrier around the city to prevent demons from attacking, but at the same time, murdered all the citizens so that they could control their spirits and prevent them from leaving Alice. One of these unfortunate citizens was the Protagonist's former neighbor, who shared her name with the game's heroine.

Upon the Protagonist's interaction with Alice, Alice requests the Protagonist play with her and get her a Hiranya. When the Protagonist confronts Alice, she asks whether the Protagonist would "die for her" and join the citizens of Roppongi. Should the Protagonist decline, he is forced to fight both Belial and Nebiros in separate battles. Alternatively, even should the Protagonist agree, he will not die, bemusing Alice and forcing them to fight both Belial and Nebiros. In either event, the Protagonist defeats Belial and Nebiros, resulting in the power that binds Alice to this world fading away, as well as Alice herself vanishing.

Shin Megami Tensei II
Alice can be fought should Aleph manage to find a distinct gold chest in the factory near Betelgeuse's lair. Upon reaching the Gold Chest, Alice appears and asks Aleph whether she can keep the treasure. Should Aleph answer no, Alice attacks Aleph. Defeating her awards players with one of the five strongest weapons of the game. As a subtle nod to Shin Megami Tensei, Alice in Shin Megami Tensei II is shown holding two dolls resembling the Red Count and the Black Baron, two important characters from Shin Megami Tensei.

Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army
Alice appears as a secret demon in Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army. In order to summon her, Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV must first hear a rumor from the blond girl in the Shin-Sekai Soda Joint describing telephone booths around the capital. He then must check the public phone in Tsukudo-Cho near the shrine with a Belial in the party. Next, he must check the phone in Harumi-Cho with a Nebiros in the party. Finally, with both demons in party, Raidou must answer the phone in Ginza-Cho, which will call Alice up from Hell. If Raidou defeats her, he can then summon her by fusing Raja Naga and Jack Frost.

Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon
Alice appears as a Case File boss for the Chaos-Alignment exclusive "One Girl's Happiness" case. First, Raidou must complete the two "My Wish" cases. Later, a request from "Uncle Red and Uncle Black" will appear in the Case Files section. They have lost Alice and come to Raidou for help finding her. Raidou must then speak to two girls by the Tamonten Shrine in Tsukudo-Cho. According to them, there's a rumor that a blue-eyed foreign girl lingers in the back stall of a bathroom in their school. The girl will ask a person if they will be her friend, and if somebody agrees then she will kill them. The girl who explains the rumor reveals that she said no and that the girl is still haunting her. Alice will then appear and pose the same question to Raidou. Regardless of the answer, a battle will initiate. Upon victory, Belial and Nebiros will appear and trap Alice's soul in a Staff of Death. They then give Raidou the Staff of Death asking him to revive Alice through fusion. Fusion of Alice is then enabled.

Megami Ibunroku Persona
Alice is a DM class demon and a rare encounter in Deva Yuga, Avidea World, or the very last level of the Ruins. She drops the "Pagan King" material item upon defeat, which will allow the summoning of Beelzebub for Reiji Kido's exclusive use.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Alice appears as a Persona of the Lovers Arcana in Persona 2: Innocent Sin. An 'ordinary' Alice Persona can be encountered and gained as a summonable level 80 Lovers Arcanum Persona, but requires the "Carma Ring" accessory to in unlock (In the Japanese version, this can be done by either importing data from Innocent Sin to Eternal Punishment or returning a Rank 8 Junnosuke Kuroda. In the NA version, the latter method is the only option).

Her more powerful form appears as a mysterious, punk rocker girl who hangs around in the Kasu High Bomb Shelter, aptly named 'Dark Alice' who can be challenged.

Persona 3
Alice appears as a Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3, she can be summoned once the Protagonist reaches Lv. 56 or above. Furthermore, Alice's fusion prerequisite requires the Protagonist to perform a cross-spread fusion in the Velvet Room using Pixie, Lilim, Narcissus, and Nata Taishi.

Alice is also the only Persona that can learn the most powerful Dark Elemental skill throughout the whole game, aptly named "Die For Me!" (a reference to Alice's question towards the Protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei). Upon execution, soldiers of the Queen Of Hearts will appear from the sky with spears drawn and pointed to the ground, skewering every single target. Despite seemingly trying to deviate from the Lewis Carroll reference using the in-game descriptions, this attack proves that Alice was undoubtedly based off of none other than the main character in the story "Alice In Wonderland".

Due to her unique ability to learn Die For Me! and her very high Magic stat, Thanatos, the strongest Persona of the Death Arcana, usually does not cause Alice to become obsolete upon access, and both are often used side-by-side by many players despite being of the same Arcana, because unlike Alice, who is Magic oriented, Thanatos excels more in Physical attacks. Though Thanatos also has a respectable Magic stat, Alice will easily surpass it at a lower level. Also, another advantage of Alice from Thanatos is that she is more magically versatile, for she can inherit Ma-dyne spells easily, with no particular advantage between elements, as well as Spell Master and Mind Charge. She is also capable of learning Dia spells, but not as easily as the latter.

One of Elizabeth's requests entails the Protagonist to show her an Alice with the Skill Megido.

Persona 3: FES
Alice returns as a Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3: FES, retaining all of her attributes. In the playable epilogue of FES, Aigis can also summon Alice in the Velvet Room by fusing the appropriate Personae.

Persona 4
Alice returns as a high level Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 4. In reference towards her role in Shin Megami Tensei, Alice's summoning requires the protagonist to perform a special fusion using Belial and Nebiros in the Velvet Room. Alice still learns her ultimate skill "Die For Me!", but it is no longer passable to other Personae.

In the Yasogami High Culture Festival, during the "Miss" Yasogami High Beauty Pageant, Teddie dresses up as Alice - specifically, using a dress in a lighter shade of blue not unlike the Party Dress that Alice has worn in the Disney adaptation of Alice In Wonderland and also at Disney parks, winning the competition.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Alice returns as a middle level demon of the Fiend Race. She can be summoned after the MC Finishes the Ex-Mission "Catch that Rabbit" in Sector Fornax and after reaching Level 39 with the Fiend Converter. Originally, she posts the mission herself to ensure the capture of the "rabbit", upon which, in a reference to Carroll's Alice, the MC pursues the rabbit across several holes until cornered. Once this happens, Alice, if allowed, will begin brutalizing the rabbit until stopped by the protagonist and confronted. Upon defeat, she will fade.

She is the only demon with the Die For Me! spell, and using her D-Source is the only way to pass this skill down. The Hare of Inaba, the "rabbit" she was pursuing, (and tries to skin, dump in saltwater, and later eat, in a reference to his own mythology) upon her defeat, sadly says she was once a human girl beloved by demons who was unexpectedly driven insane by the magics she inherited from them, sympathizing with her despite her immense sadism. He also notes both he and Alice were nothing but memories doomed to forever wander, repeating the cycle of pain and death endlessly, until the Protagonist defeated Alice and allowed both the Hare and Alice to move on.

As she lays in defeat, she complains of feeling sleepy as she fades, and upon being summoned through fusion, reacts as if she were being jolted awake from a dream, sleepily asking for her Uncles Red and Black.

Devil Survivor 2
Alice appears as the ultimate bonus boss on the 7th Day at 12:30, provided the player has already defeated Belial and Nebiros earlier on during the playthrough.

During the fight, Alice comes accompanied with both Belial and Nebiros, along with several powered-up teams from the fights with the previous 2 bosses. Belial will constantly use Gomorrah Fire to damage one of the player's teams, while Nebiros will revive fallen demon teams and even switch bodies with any living ones if he is defeated. The player only needs to defeat Alice to end the battle, but if Belial and Nebiros are both defeated before Alice, they will be revived after a few turns.

Alice herself sports a few dangerous attacks. Outside battle, she will use Vitality Drain, inflicting Almighty damage to all enemy teams within 6 squares of her, and healing her for the same amount. Her signature in-battle skill, Die for Me, will also inflict Almighty damage equal to 100% of each target's HP and MP, effectively killing them unless they have Anti-Almighty or Endure. From time to time, Alice will also use her Unearthly Form to allow Belial or Nebiros to move again right after her.

As Alice herself lacks any form of Physical resistance, Physical attacks are the most efficient way of defeating her. Utilize Asura Destiny and Critical-boosting effects to easily earn Double Extras in order to deal more damage to Alice. Combining Winged Flight with Evil Flow allows any team to easily reach her on their first turn, thus making it entirely possible to defeat Alice before any enemy team has a chance to even move. Passive Skills that restore HP and/or MP are also valuable as it allows the team to have a chance to heal should they manage to endure a casting of Die for Me.

Defeating Alice will earn the player the Alice Vanquisher title, along with unlocking her, Belial, and Nebiros for fusion in the Cathedral of Shadows. Alice can only be fused using Belial and Nebiros, as a reference to their roles. She appears as the strongest member of the Fiend race. She is also the only Fiend in the game to naturally possess the Unearthly Form Racial Skill.

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version of Persona 3 and Persona 4, "Die For Me!" is written in an interrogative ("死んでくれる？" shindekureru?) rather than an exclamatory form. This possibly makes a reference to her question, "Could you please die for me?" instead of a direct command.
 * In Persona 4, when taking part in the "Miss" Yasogami High Beauty Pagent, Teddie cosplayed as her while in his human form and won.
 * In Devil Survivor 2, she briefly quotes the Lewis Carroll poem Jabberwocky.
 * In Persona 4 Arena, for console versions, there is a Trophy/Achievement that can be unlocked if the player performs 30 Fatal Counters in either Arcade Mode or Online mode. The Trophy/Achievement is named after her signature move "Die For Me!"