Shadow Self

A Shadow Self is a unique type of Shadow that appears in the Persona series.

Appearances

 * Persona 2: Innocent Sin
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
 * Persona 4 / Golden
 * Persona 4 (Manga)
 * Persona 4 The Animation
 * Persona 4 Arena
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
 * Persona 4: Dancing All Night
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Profile
Unlike the lesser Shadows, they appear as twisted mirror images of the person they represent, often with red or golden eyes. Despite embodying the repressed negative qualities of their human counterparts, Shadow Selves wish to kill their originals and take their place in the world. Shadow Selves fight either with a "Reverse" version of their counterpart's initial or ultimate Persona, or they transform into a large twisted version of the Persona they will become once accepted.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Following the defeat of King Leo, Maya Amano has the children saved from the Sky Museum spread a rumor counter to the rumor spread by the Masked Circle blaming them for the bombings. Due to the two rumors circulating, the party was spared conversion to the Masked Circle, though five Shadow Selves were created from their subconscious.

Shadow Maya infiltrates the party after they regroup at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, and attacks them at Mt. Iwato, but is blocked by the real Maya and is killed in battle. Shadow Yukino is confronted at the Caracol and, depending on the player's earlier choices, is either defeated by Yukino Mayuzumi and Anna Yoshizaka, or commits suicide alongside Anna. The remaining 3 Shadows spread to three of the four Zodiac Temples, guarding the Crystal Skulls within, but are defeated by Tatsuya's party.


 * Shadow Maya
 * Shadow Yukino
 * Shadow Tatsuya
 * Shadow Lisa
 * Shadow Eikichi

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
The Shadow Selves in Eternal Punishment are directly created by Nyarlathotep to kill Maya Amano's party as they journey through the Monado Mandala. Unlike the Innocent Sin Shadow Selves, they are fought two at a time, and their strength varies depending on the decisions Maya's party made in the scene prior to fighting them.


 * Shadow Ulala
 * Shadow Katsuya
 * Shadow Baofu
 * Shadow Maya

In the special scenario included in the PSP rerelease of Eternal Punishment, the Shadow Self of Shiori Miyashiro appears in the form of a masked version of herself.

Persona 4 / Golden / Manga / Animation
Shadow Selves appear before people thrown into the Midnight Channel, and kill them if the fog over the TV World lifts before the person accepts them or before they are rescued. Unlike Shadow Selves in the Persona 2 duology, these Shadows transform into larger, more monstrous forms to fight and transform into Personas when accepted. In the Animation, despite their desire to kill their originals and take their place in the world, some of the Shadow Selves seem to show happiness upon being accepted; while others maintain a neutral expression.


 * Shadow Yosuke
 * Shadow Chie
 * Shadow Yukiko
 * Shadow Kanji
 * Shadow Rise
 * Shadow Teddie
 * Shadow Mitsuo
 * Shadow Naoto
 * Shadow Yu (Anime Only)

Persona 4 Arena
Shadow Labrys, the Shadow Self of Labrys, is the final boss of the game. The Shadow Selves of several of the other fighters appear, including those who never faced their own, namely Shadow Mitsuru, Shadow Akihiko, Shadow Aigis and Shadow Yu, but they are later revealed not to be Shadows, but the Malevolent Entity taking their form. However, Teddie and Elizabeth do not face their "shadows" in their story modes.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
The Shadow Selves of all characters will also be playable as alternate forms of their other selves known as "Shadow-Types", with a new ability called "Shadow Rampage" which replaces the "Burst" ability. Elizabeth, Margaret, Adachi, Marie, Shadow Labrys, and the two versions of Sho do not have Shadow-Types. Labrys also has a Shadow-Type that is distinct from Shadow Labrys, which notably uses Ariadne instead of Asterius.

It is revealed that they are fakes created from regular shadows by the Malevolent Entity, as they state that they are perfect copies based of the Investigation Teams and Shadow Operatives personal data, and are able to perfectly mimic their fighting styles and shadow personalities. Due to this they are extremely hostile even to those who aren't the person they were transformed into the Shadow of. They are only able to exist within the Red Fog and even then their existence will only last for a certain amount of time. Upon defeat they dissolve into black goo, while Persona Fragments appear and flow into the sky to Yasogami High School. Certain Shadows like Shadow Ken and Koromaru are able to survive a fight until hit with a lethal attack. They can also hide their yellow eyes until they reveal their true nature. However, they take no effort in trying to hide the fact that they are fakes in order to draw their originals into fighting them.

Despite being fakes, they are very similar to the original and in some cases even have humanizing points. One example is that Yu Narukami realized Shadow Aigis sought to recruit Labrys in order for her to bond with her master Sho Minazuki, who is also a lonely being hurt by the Kirijo Group's experiments. Another is that when defeated in the P4 story line, Shadow Ken states that they never originally wanted to fight, with the notable exception of the highly aggressive Shadow Aigis, and was only forced by the Malevolent Entity.

Although not including with the rest, fake Shuji Ikutsuki's are also made, but have no fighting capability and are mostly used by Sho to vent his anger towards his adoptive father. In Adachi's chapter Sho reveals he intended on taking Magatsu-Izanagi and forcing it to become a shadow via some unknown method, but his plans were foiled before he could show how to achieve this.

The full cast of Shadows, listed by Arcana, is as follows:
 * 0 - Fool - Shadow Aigis, Shadow Yu
 * I - Magician: Shadow Junpei, Shadow Yosuke
 * II - Priestess: Shadow Yukiko
 * III - Empress: Shadow Mitsuru
 * IV - Emperor: Shadow Akihiko, Shadow Kanji
 * VI - Lovers: Shadow Rise, Shadow Yukari
 * VII - Chariot: Shadow Chie
 * VIII - Justice: Shadow Ken
 * X - Fortune: Shadow Labrys, Shadow Naoto
 * XI - Strength: Shadow Koromaru
 * XVII - Star: Shadow Teddie

Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Bizarrely, the Midnight Stage acts as the Shadow Selves of the characters, with each member of Kanamin Kitchen having their own stage that embodies them. When they reject the stage, it captures them in the ribbons used by the antagonist and the Investigation Team must dance in order to free them.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
The Shadow Self of Rei, also known as Best Friend, appears as the guardian of the Inaba Pride Exhibit.

Music
Persona 2 duology and Persona 4 have dedicated musical themes played during the appearance of the shadow selves.

Trivia

 * In the Persona 2 duology, Shadow Selves' portraits have red glowing eyes. Originally in the first Japanese trailer of Persona 4, Shadow Yosuke also featured red eyes, but this was changed to golden eyes in the final version.
 * Apart from the red glowing eyes, all Shadow Selves portraits of Persona 2 features another red glow between the eyebrow and top eyelid.
 * In the arcade and story mode of Persona 4 Arena, various characters say that a Shadow Self and a Persona cannot coexist because they are one and the same. This contradicts the Persona 2 duology in which the cast fights their Shadow Selves with their own Personas, with Yukino Mayuzumi even having her self dragged into the abyss should her Shadow commit suicide. Hades also declares that Shadow Eikichi and Reverse Hades are only a part of Hades.
 * This contradiction was also shown in Persona 4: The Animation (Episode 26/True Ending) when Yu was fighting Margaret with a Persona representing his bond with Ryotaro Dojima (Kohryu) while his Shadow was present.
 * Shadow Selves also appear briefly outside of the Persona series in Devil Survivor 2. Shadow Selves of the Demon Tamers are summoned by Polaris in the final battle if the player has chosen Daichi's Restorer route. They will taunt the player about that choice and they must be defeated to proceed.
 * Shadow Marie is included on the disc, but no such Shadow appears in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.
 * Unlike most characters who are confronted to them, Maya Amano, Mitsuo Kubo and Rei never admitted their shadow to be a part of them.