Sea of Souls

The Sea of Souls is a recurring location in the Persona series, linked to the collective unconscious. It is said that all souls come from the sea, and all souls will return to it when the person it belongs to dies.

Appearances

 * Megami Ibunroku Persona: Location
 * Revelations: Persona: Location
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Persona: Location
 * Persona 2: Innocent Sin: Location
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment: Location
 * Persona 4 Arena: Mentioned

Design
The Sea of Souls appears at first glance to resemble outer space, though on closer inspection, the "stars" are actually human souls.

Persona
After the hero and his allies returned to Maki Sonomura's dream world after Takahisa Kandori's defeat and freed the "Ideal Maki" from her despair, they contacted Philemon, who told them that the real Maki's soul was returning to the Sea of Souls prematurely, and was calling out for the hero and her Ideal self. The two journey through the Alaya Cavern and reach the Sea, where they find Maki waiting for them. The two attempt to convince the real Maki to abandon her nihilism, and she in turn leaves the compact that would allow them to face Pandora.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Credited as the Heart of Xibalba, the Sea is where Tatsuya Suou's party catches up to the Fuhrer, actually a guise of Nyarlathotep. Nyarlathotep explains the nature of the Sea though he twists the meaning, instead saying that all souls come from and return to him. Although the party defeats him in both his Fuhrer and Great Father forms, he has the last laugh: using Maya Okamura and the Spear of Longinus to kill Maya Amano, fulfilling the Oracle of Maia. However, Philemon informs the party that in the Sea of Souls, they can use the power of Xibalba and the collective unconscious to undo Maya's death and recreate the world, at the cost of their memories. The party does so, though Tatsuya rebels against the thought of losing his memories at the last second.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Tatsuya vaguely mentions the Sea of Souls at the end of the game when he tells Maya, Ulala, Katsuya, and Baofu that "We are connected by this ocean. We can... meet again...".

Persona 4 Arena
The Malevolent Entity claims to have come from the sea of human souls.