Old Man

Appearances

 * Shin Megami Tensei: Key representative of the Neutral path

In Shin Megami Tensei
After demons begin to appear in the streets of Tokyo, the player can go to Inogashira Park and meet an old man who speaks cryptically of the hero gaining great power and of a choice between Law and Chaos. He then conjures up a vision in which the hero, Law Hero and Chaos Hero fight against the devil summoner Douman and get their asses kicked. The vision ends and the old man tells the hero that he is too weak to fight Douman, but that they will likely fight again and that he must be careful.

After arriving in the post-apocalyptic world, the player can find the same old man in Ginza, where he will tell the player to return if no path forward seems possible. If the player then says both Echidna and Haniel, the old man will reveal a secret path to the otherwise inaccessible Cathedral.

Near the end of the game, as the player prepares to battle Archangel Michael or the Asura Lord/Ahura Mazda, the old man reveals himself to be 太上老君 - shortened in the AGTP translation to Taijorokun (it should be Taijo-rokun, or Tai Shang Lao Jun, or whatever). After both are defeated (at the end of the Neutral path), he appears in the ending to comment on the risks that the plans of Law and Chaos posed to the future of humankind, and urges the player to help shape that future free of the influence of outside forces.

Historical Information
Tai Shang Lao Jun is one of several ways of referring to the deity that the philosopher Laozi (also widely known as Lao Tzu) was supposedly the incarnation of in Taoist belief. Honestly, you're best off reading the Wikipedia article linked below.

External references

 * Japanese reference
 * Wikipedia entry for Laozi