Lucifer

Lucifer (ルシファー, Rushifaa), is a recurring important figure in the Shin Megami Tensei series. He is often seen as a noble, charismatic demon, and represents the 'Chaos' alignment. In the Persona franchise, Lucifer appears as a high-level Persona, capable only to summon once players reached a high level.

History
Lucifer (Hebrew — הילל, Helel) is a prominent figure in the various Religions, with his most infamous act being rebelling against God and subsequently falling from grace. The name Lucifer is derived from earlier Latin proses and poetry; lux, lucis, "light", and ferre, "to bear, bring", symbolizing his role as the "Morning Star" and a high-ranking angel serving God prior his fall from grace.

The reason for Lucifer's rebellion differs from interpretations to interpretations, however, two most known reasons fall in a refusal to bow down to mankind on the occasion of the Creation of Mankind, disagreement about God's plan of salvation, or sinful pride in aspiring to overthrow his creator and become ruler of Heaven himself.

Curiously, while many interpretations depict Lucifer taking the name of Satan after his fall from grace, Lucifer and Satan are portrayed as two distinct characters, and Lucifer himself is never addressed as Satan throughout the Shin Megami Tensei series; Instead, he is only addressed by his name Lucifer, or to some extent, the Great Demon or King of Dark (魔王 - Maoh lit. Demon King in the Japanese Version).

While many depicts him as an evil figure, demon designer of Shin Megami Tensei series Kazuma Kaneko has gone on record as saying that Lucifer is not inherently evil, but rather, a figure that tempts and tests the Protagonists throughout the game, and depending on the player's decisions, he can either be a great ally or a sinister demon. In Lucifer's design, Kazuma Kaneko also mentioned that, according to one theory, Lucifer depicted as a beautiful angel with 12 wings, but in-game he assumes the form of a demon with 6 wings. In the first two games, he appears as an angel with 6 wings, so combining them represents the 12 wings. Furthermore, through the many forms he can assume (an Old man, a Gentleman, a child, an angel, a demon) is to show that Lucifer is omnipotent. Kazuma Kaneko had also expressed that there will be a time when he will reveal his true form, a combination of all his other forms, to the player.

Appearances

 * Megami Tensei: Final Boss (as Maoh)
 * Megami Tensei II: Short game end boss and Majin
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Louis Cyphre, Majin Lucifer
 * Shin Megami Tensei II: Boss (as Dai Maoh)
 * Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: Key player / Ultimate Boss
 * Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: MT1 Lucifer gets a complete makeover
 * Devil Children: Book of Dark
 * Devil Children: Book of Light
 * Megami Ibunroku Persona: Devil
 * Persona 2: Devil
 * Persona 3: Star
 * Persona 3: FES: Judgment Lucifer, Star "Lucifel" (Helel)
 * Persona 4: Judgment Lucifer, Star "Lucifel" (Helel)
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Ultimate Boss

Shin Megami Tensei
Lucifer is the Chaos alignment, which associates with freedom and war. The protagonist can choose the Chaos alignment for freedom of choice, thoughts and actions. However, this freedom can lead to a vast amount of suffering and anarchy, leading the world into a primal state of unsuppressed vice and survival of the fittest.

Lucifer later took the name of Louis Cyphre (a pseudonym of 'Lucifer'). The protagonist finds him after the Great Destruction, where Louis Cyphre observes the protagonist's actions. He hints at a much greater knowledge of what is happening, and seems to befriend many demons quite easily.

At the end of the Chaos alignment path Lucifer appears in his true form to offer his congratulations to the protagonist for defeating the God of Law and resurrecting the olden gods, but warns that the "true enemy" still exists.

Shin Megami Tensei II
In Shin Megami Tensei II, Lucifer is a well-respected figure amongst Demons. He is detested by YHVH and angels and he hates them in return. Lucifer represents the Chaos Path, where emotions are over cold logic, in 'purpose justifies the means'.

Throughout the game, Lucifer is aware that Aleph is part of the Messiah project, and thus, many demons under his commands would assault Aleph. As the game progresses, Lucifer became intrigued by Aleph's ability to defy God, and wonders if he is the incarnation of Satan, the one who would Judge them all. However, Lucifer was later disappointed to learn that Aleph isn't Satan, though Lucifer himself could sense the imminent signs of Satan's coming.

Since Satan was sent by YHVH to cleanse the demon world, Lucifer, as the lord of the demonic world could not bear to see it's destruction. He offers Aleph an alliance, and decides to face Satan and finish their battle once and for all. Should Aleph chooses the Chaos Alignment path, Lucifer will join him in order to help protect the denizens of the world from Satan's judgment upon the world.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Lucifer plays an important role in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, where he takes the form of a blond child and an old man. They are accompanied by an Old Nurse, and a young woman dressed in black mourner's garb respectively. Assuming the form of a child, Lucifer is first seen in Shinjuku Hospital, where he was intrigued in the protagonist, however, he disappears after the protagonist approaches him. After the Conception, to allow the protagonist to survive in a now demon-ridden world, he dropped the Magatama into the protagonist's forehead, allowing the insect to merge with the protagonist and transforms him into the legendary Hito-Shura. As the story unveils, Lucifer would assume the form of either an old man or the child, giving hints about the nature of Conception, and God himself.

Lucifer would play different roles depending on the Hito-Shura's actions and the path he chooses. In the Neutral path, Lucifer himself was reminisced by the protagonist's decisions, as Lucifer himself walks his own path and chooses his own decisions before and after his fall from grace. However, he warns and advices the protagonist to keep his demonic powers, as one day, the "true enemy" will come after him, just as what happened to Lucifer himself.

In the updated release of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, titled Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne III: Maniax, Lucifer takes a more important role, it is revealed that he resides deep inside the Deep World of Amara. He first drags the Hito-Shura to the Labyrinth of Amara, where he gave the Hito-Shura the Candelabrum of Sovereignty. It is later revealed that not only the Hito-Shura was given a Candelabra, but also other fiends and demons. Lucifer would later employ Dante, a demon slayer to kill all the demons having a Candelabra, including the Hito-Shura. His plans is finally revealed when the Hito-Shura ventures into the final Kalpa of the Deep World Amara — Lucifer is planning to create a powerful demon, strong enough to lead legions of Chaos in a final battle against God. By giving each of them a Candelabrum, Lucifer plans to see who would reign supreme amongst demons and fiends.

An extra ending, accessible only by completing the Deep World Amara unlocks the sixth ending and True Demon path. After defeating Kagutsuchi, the two entity appears and tells the Hito-Shura that he succeeded in breaking the cycle of destruction and rebirth, and thus, time itself is dead. The universe has been reverted to it's initial state of primordial chaos, along with all other worlds being finally freed from the grasp of God. However, the blond child and the old man also tells the Hito-Shura that God is furious upon the Hito-Shura's actions, and he is forever cursed. Lucifer comforts the Hito-Shura that he doesn't have to worry, as even if the God would curse him, the demon race and Lucifer himself would bless him. The blond child and the old man proceeds to tell the Hito-Shura that he need to test the Hito-Shura's limits, and the two entity fuses together and assume the form of Lucifer, challenging the Hito-Shura to a battle.

Interestingly, despite not being named in the game, the old man and the child, both resembles Louis Cyphre in the form of a child and an old man, respectively.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Lucifer appears as a Persona of the Devil Arcana in Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Being the ultimate Persona of the Devil Arcana available throughout the game, Lucifer is only available to summon once player has reached Lv. 94. Lucifer, along with Satan, grants the most power fusion raid, Alpha and Omega, which instantly destroys all foes regardless of their affinities, including bosses.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Lucifer returns as the ultimate persona of Devil Arcana in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. His material card can be purchased in the Mu Continent for 50,000 coins, once Nate has left the party. Once again, Lucifer, along with Satan, is one of the most powerful personae in the game, capable only of being summoned once the player reaches Lv. 94.

Persona 3
In Persona 3, Lucifer is the highest level Star Arcana Persona. He is available to be summoned if the player has completed the Rival Athlete Social Link. He appears in his angelic form from before his fall from grace. The strongest Fusion Spell, Armageddon, which requires Lucifer and Satan to execute maybe a reference to Lucifer opposing Satan's Judgement in Shin Megami Tensei II.

Persona 3: FES
Lucifer appears as a persona of Judgment Arcana, where he assumes the form of a fallen angel in the updated re-release of Persona 3, titled Persona 3: FES. Angelic Lucifer, however, is renamed "Lucifel" (ルシフェル, Rushiferu.) For the NTSC (North American) release, Helel, the Hebrew name of Lucifer, was used instead. The strongest 1-handed sword, "Lucifer's Blade" (Holy-Grail Lucifer in the Japanese version) can also only acquired by fusing Lucifer via the Weapon Fusion system. The strongest fusion spell, Armageddon however still requires the angelic Helel and Satan to execute.

Persona 4
Helel returns as the Ultimate Form of the Star Arcana in Persona 4. He can be summoned once the Star Arcana Social Link maxes out itself. However, as the Star Arcana powers up automatically as the story progresses, the Protagonist must first unlock the Normal Ending instead of triggering the Bad Ending. In the Normal Ending events, the Protagonist eventually helps Teddie to find his true self and his identity, in which the Protagonist creates an everlasting bond with him, maxing out the Star Arcana and bestowing the form of Helel ("Lucifel" in the original/Japanese game; see the Persona 3: FES section above)

The demonic Lucifer, on the other hand appears as the Ultimate Form of the Judgment Arcana. Similar to Helel, as the Judgment Arcana powers up as the story progresses, the Protagonist must unlock the Normal Ending to gain access to the Judgment Arcana Social Link. Upon defeating the final boss of the Normal Ending, the Judgment Arcana maxes out, and bestows the Protagonist the form of Lucifer.

Lucifer's fusion prerequisite requires Ananta, Anubis, Trumpeter, Michael, Satan and Metatron to perform a hexagon-spread fusion in the Velvet Room. Lucifer holds the highest fusion prerequisite Level in Persona 4, in which the Protagonist must reach Lv. 93 before summoning Lucifer, ranking above even Izanagi-no-Okami.