Messiah (Persona)

Messiah (メサイア, Mesaia), not to be confused with the Order of Messiah, is the Ultimate Persona of the Protagonist in Persona 3.

History
The term Messiah is prominent within the world's religions, especially in the Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam. A Messiah is regarded as the savior of mankind and would bring them salvation near to the end of days, although opinions between who the messiah refers to differs between religions. The most often-heard opinion in the West is the Christian one, which holds that the Messiah is Jesus. In fact, one could argue that the large object situated behind the Messiah Persona's back is a reference to Jesus's cross, as well as the mechanized body, which would be a reference to his original body being so heavily damaged.

Pre-Christian savior figures similar to Jesus have also been suggested, including Attis, Krishna, Dionysus, Mithra and, most notably, Horus. In fact, an early Christian apologist, Justin Martyr, wrote that he was very similar to the god Perseus or the sons of Jupiter. He tried eliminating any similarities by claiming that the Devil created the similarities between Jesus and the Pre-Christian saviors.

Fusing Messiah requires fusing Orpheus and Thanatos. It may represent the man facing death to be reborn as a savior.

Appearances

 * Persona 3: Judgement Arcana
 * Persona 3: FES: Judgement Arcana
 * Persona 3 Portable : Judgement Arcana

The Journey
Messiah is, upon fusion, the highest-leveled Persona in Persona 3. He is also the final persona of the Judgement Arcana, which can only be accessed by venturing to the final level of Tartarus. Messiah can also only be obtained by fusing Orpheus and Thanatos in the Velvet Room once the Protagonist reaches Lv. 90 or above.

During the ending credits, Messiah can also be seen inside the protagonist's silhouette, indicating that Messiah is his "true" ultimate Persona (which is also an allusion to the protagonists' role to the story).

Unlike other Personas, Messiah is capable of producing various equipment and armor instead of fixed equipment, below are the list of items he is capable of producing. These items are the strongest armor equipment items in the game.
 * Armor of Light
 * Shoes of Light
 * Soul of Athena
 * Aura Dog Suit
 * Aigis' Armor v.0 (Soul of Athena in FES)
 * Aigis' Legs v.0 (Swan Legs in FES)
 * Omnipotent Orb (1% chance).

The Answer
Aigis can summon Messiah once she has reached Lv. 90 or above in the playable epilogue of Persona 3: FES, titled The Answer. As The Answer cancels the Social Link system, Messiah can be summoned by Aigis once she has reached Lv 90 or above. Messiah's fusion prerequisite still requires the fusion of Orpheus and Thanatos, in which both Personas are accessable to Aigis.

Trivia

 * Messiah's face strongly resembles the face of the protagonist's initial Persona, Orpheus, and is holding several coffin lids on a chain, which resembles the coffin cape of Thanatos. Orpheus and Thanatos are required for Messiah's fusion, and these resemblances likely reference that.
 * In his official artwork, Messiah also bears an uncanny resemblance to Akinari Kamiki (face turned upward, mouth agape, right hand clasped over heart), though there is no substantial evidence to suggest that the two are truly related (besides the fact that both Akinari and the Messiah suffered deaths that were not of their own volition).
 * While Messiah is the Ultimate Persona of the Protagonist, it doesn't have any "special" skills, like Odin's Thunder Reign or Daisoujou's Samsara. To make up for this, Persona 3 Portable introduced a special skill unique to Messiah called "Magic Skill Up". This skill (unable to be inherited by other Personas) enhances all Spell-based attacks by 50%, making Messiah the strongest Spell-user in the game. It also makes his Megidolaon stronger than the standard Morning Star, though Morning Star may be fused onto Messiah for the strongest Almighty attack in the game. Additionally, with proper inheritance, you can stack Boost + Amp + Magic Skill Up to have the ultimate single-target Elemental Spell.
 * The only anti-physical skill Messiah learns is Absorb Pierce, instead of Slash or Strike. This might refer to Jesus in western religion: as after Jesus died on the cross, a soldier named Longinus pierced his body with a spear (as spear weapons are categorized into piercing attacks in Persona 3).