Death (Persona 3)


 * For the class of spells, see Dark Spells. For the Arcana, see Death Arcana.



Death is the anthropomorphic personification of destruction and the end revolving the Persona series. While JOKER of the Persona 2 duology is characterized as a portent of doom and despair, Death makes his true appearance in Persona 3, and plays a much larger role.

Appearances

 * Persona 3
 * Persona 3: FES

Persona 3
Death plays an important role in the Persona 3 universe. In ancient times, Nyx bestowed Night and Death to the world, as well as the prophecy of The Fall. Should humanity lose the will to survive, Death would summon Nyx, who would descend to the earth to cleanse the world, destroying humanity.

Prior to the events of Persona 3, the Kirijo Group founded an experiment on Port Island, to study the nature of Shadows. During the experiment, the lead scientists learned about the prophecy of The Fall, and subsequently, the arcana that was never meant to be, the Death Arcana.

Accepting death as a deliverance, many of the lead scientists began mass collecting Shadows, hoping to rejuvenate Death. Under the experiment, Death was eventually awakened. However during the last stages of the experiment, Eiichiro Takeba, objecting to the scientists' beliefs, interrupted the experiment. As a result, Death was forcefully separated into thirteen distinct Shadows, each bearing their respective arcana. The thirteenth shadow bears the Death arcana, as well as it's main body.

The remaining Shadows later became outraged, destroying the lab facility and creating the phenomena of the Dark Hour and Tartarus. Death, in his incomplete state, later escapes from the facility. However, the Anti-Shadow weapon, Aegis, intervened at the Moonlit Bridge. Hoping to destroy Death so The Fall could be averted, Aegis engages Death in battle. During the battle, a nearby family in Dark Hour hibernation is killed, leaving only their child as a survivor.

In the heated battle between Aegis and Death, even Death's incomplete state possessed more power than Aegis anticipated. In an act of desperation, Aegis sealed Death in the surviving young child witnessing the events. The young child is the Protagonist. Death eventually finds a way to manipulate the Protagonist' psyche on the subconscious level, leading him back to the very place the Shadows were harvested: Port Island.

With Death sensing his separated Shadows, he began to reawaken. Due to his incomplete state, Death suffers from amnesia, and assumes the form of a human child named Pharos. During the following Full Moon, the Arcana Magician attacks, forcing the Protagonist to fire an Evoker for the first time. As the Protagonist attempts to do so, Death (as Pharos) encourages him, telling him not to hesitate. Calling to the sea of his soul, the Protagonist manages to summon Orpheus. However, the summoning was halted when Death forcefully makes his entrance by emerging from Orpheus' head, tearing Orpheus apart. Death would then lunge toward the shadows, and decapitate them mercilessly.

Later, Pharos would occasionally wake up the Protagonist during the Dark Hour and tell the Protagonist about strange, prophetic dreams he has been encountering lately. Eventually, Pharos would request the Protagonist to be his friend, creating the Death Social Link. With every full moon's appearance, the separated Shadows of Death would begin reawakening, hoping to reconcile with their original body.

Shuji Ikutsuki, chairman of SEES, eventually deducted that should the separated Shadows of Death be destroyed, the Dark Hour would cease to exist. SEES begins to more actively fight Shadows, as well as seeking out and destroying the separated Shadows of Death during their Full Moon reawakenings. In truth, by destroying the separated Shadows, Death began to rejuvenate. With the twelfth Shadow defeated, Pharos' memories are finally restored. Pharos bids farewell to the Protagonist, thanking him for great memories, and saying he will cherish their conversations forever.

Believing that the Dark Hour has ceased to exist, SEES celebrate their victory. Their joy fell short when the Dark Hour became active again, with Shuji Ikutsuki nowhere to be found. Worried, SEES decides to check upon Tartarus. There, they witness Shuji Ikutsuki ringing the bells of Tartarus, along with Aegis. Shuji Ikutsuki thanks SEES for destroying the separated Shadows, and reveals that he was in fact one of the scientists embracing the prophecy of The Fall. Shuji Ikutsuki even reprogrammed Aegis to follow his orders. Aegis subdues SEES, whom all end up crucified on the roof of Tartarus.

Shuji Ikutsuki then tells SEES that they are intended to be sacrifices to summon Death, and orders Aegis to kill them. However, Aegis cannot bear to kill the Protagonist and begins to fight Ikutsuki's reprogramming. As Aegis is fighting for her conflicted programmings, Takeharu Kirijo intervenes and a gun-fight ensues, resulting in both Shuji Ikutsuki and Takeharu Kirijo's deaths. Though Shuji Ikutsuki's plans of summoning Death failed, it merely delayed Death's arrival, not averting it.

Death later assumes a distinct human form, Ryoji Mochizuki. Unlike Pharos, he can be seen and interacted with by others beyond than the Protagonist. Ryoji shows up as a transfer student in Gekkoukan High School, with him not realizing himself as Death nor having memories of Death nor Pharos. Ryoji's flirtatious personality immediately gains the school's attention, where he first attempts to flirt with Aegis. However, as he approaches Aegis, she became hostile to him, and repeatedly warns the Protagonist not to get close to Ryoji.

Regardless, the Protagonist later befriends Ryoji, with Aegis becoming confused why is she hostile towards Ryoji. With another full moon's appearance, Ryoji ends up on the Moonlit Bridge, confused by his familiarity and serenity in the Dark Hour. Aegis would later meet up with Ryoji, questioning whether he remembers his past, and their battle. Upon Aegis' explanation, Ryoji finally realizes his true purpose and identity as Death. Acknowledging the disaster Ryoji beheld, Aegis begins attacking Ryoji, who easily halts her attacks and heavily damages her.

Ryoji later explains his true identity and purpose to SEES; his very existence marks the definite prophecy of the Fall, and Nyx' arrival would destroy humanity. However, with the humanity given by the Protagonist, Ryoji offers SEES an option: they could kill him instead of facing Nyx. Killing Ryoji would wipe out their memories of the Dark Hour, and allow SEES to live their lives as normal students until the arrival of Nyx. Ryoji then tells SEES not to make hasty decisions, and that he will return on December 31st, awaiting their answer. Ryoji is later reported as transferring to another school the next day, and is not seen again until December 31st.

On December 31st, Ryoji visits SEES once more, to hear their answer. He pleads with SEES to kill him, as he could not bear to face them in battle. Ryoji later goes to the Protagonist' room, where he awaits SEES' final answer. In the end, the Protagonist must choose whether to kill Ryoji or not. Choosing the latter would force Ryoji to turn into Death, his true form, which greatly resembles Thanatos to persuade the Protagonist to kill him. Should the Protagonist repeatedly choose not to, Death will return to Ryoji's form, and inform SEES about the nature and the arrival of Nyx. After telling SEES the information, Death becomes intangible, and begins summoning Nyx.

Upon Nyx' arrival on January 31st, Death reveals to have become one with Nyx, becoming Nyx Avatar. Death questions SEES on whether they regret their decisions. Upon knowing their strong determination, Nyx Avatar calmly accept their beliefs, and starts attacking SEES. Throughout the battle, Nyx Avatar explains the nature of the Arcana while shifting from one another. After going through thirteen forms, Nyx Avatar finally reveals his true Arcana: Death. Arming for an attack, he tells the Protagonist not to regret, as this is the Protagonist's "path of his choosing".

SEES eventually manages to fend off the Avatar of Nyx, but the Avatar shrugs the damage away, and proceeds to connect to Nyx's true body, the Moon. As she descends to earth, S.E.E.S is rendered immobilize, leaving only the Protagonist immune to her effect, and ascends to the Moon. Through the cheering of S.E.E.S and others' will to live, the Protagonist reaches his full potential, and creates The Universe Arcana. Using his very life essence and body, the Protagonist uses the powers of The Universe to perform the Great Seal, sealing Nyx away from humanity. Death later tells SEES that they have attained the miracle they have longed for, the legacy of life will continue and he will hibernate once more, until humanity wishes for Nyx' arrival.