Alice



Alice (アリス, Arisu) is a minor character appearing in Shin Megami Tensei. A young girl possessing formidable magic powers, she is taken care of by her 'uncles', the Count in Red and the Baron in Black, of which both care for her deeply. In the Persona series, Alice appears as a high-level Persona, capable only to summon once players reached a sufficient level. Alice has gained notoriety in Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE for being one of the more elusive demons, which requires special means to obtain. (Although she is rarest in IMAGINE, she is usually a hidden demon elsewhere.)

History
Alice is said to be based off of Lewis Carroll's character from his famous story Alice In Wonderland. The Shin Megami Tensei Alice shares many physical similarities with the character, most notably the blue dress and the blond hair. Also, her signature move "Die For Me!" seems to draw inspiration from the book. Furthermore, her Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE attack, "Mad Tea Party", takes further inspiration from the book as it references the chapter in which the protagonist met the Mad Hatter and March Hare.

However, some say that she is also based off of a myth of an Aryan girl who died at a young age. When Alice died and became a spirit, she gained extreme magical power that drove her insane. Alice was used to scare Scandinavian children into behaving, or else Alice would visit them at night and kill them so that she may become "friends" with them. Due to the overwhelming support of both theories, it is easy to assume both are valid. That both are valid seems to be the cause thought, since Strange Journey Compendium hints at both.

Appearances

 * Shin Megami Tensei: Support cast
 * Shin Megami Tensei II: Boss
 * Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE: Fiend Class
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army: Pagan Class
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon: Fiend Class
 * Megami Ibunroku Persona: DM Class
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment: Lovers Arcana
 * Persona 3: Death Arcana
 * Persona 3: FES: Death Arcana
 * Persona 4: Death Arcana
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: Fiend Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children White Book

Shin Megami Tensei
Alice was a girl that died, but was resurrected as a ghost by Belial, the Count In Red, and Nebiros, the Baron In Black, both of whom Alice identifies as her 'uncles'. Belial and Nebiros, the rulers of Roppongi after the destruction of Tokyo and created a barrier around the city to prevent demons from attacking, but at the same time, murdered all the citizens so that they could control their spirits and prevent them from leaving Alice. One of these unfortunate citizens was the Protagonist's former neighbor, who shared her name with the game's heroine.

Upon the Protagonist's interaction with Alice, Alice requests the Protagonist play with her, requesting the Protagonist buy her a Hiranya. When the Protagonist confronts Alice, she questions if the Protagonist would "die for her" and join the citizens of Roppongi. Should the Protagonist decline, he is forced to fight both Belial and Nebiros in separate battles. Alternatively, even should the Protagonist agree, he will not die, bemusing Alice and forcing them to fight both Belial and Nebiros. In either event, the Protagonist defeats Belial and Nebiros, resulting in the power that binds Alice to this world fading away, as well as Alice herself vanishing.

Shin Megami Tensei II
Alice can be fought should Aleph manage to find a distinct gold chest in the factory near Betelguese's lair. Upon reaching the Gold Chest, Alice appears and asks Aleph whether she can keep the treasure. Should Aleph answer no, Alice attacks Aleph. Defeating her awards players with one of the five strongest weapons of the game. As a subtle nod to Shin Megami Tensei, Alice in Shin Megami Tensei II is shown holding two dolls resembling the Red Count and the Black Baron, two important characters from Shin Megami Tensei.

Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha XIV vs. The Soulless Army
Alice appears as a secret demon in Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army. In order to summon her, Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV must first hear a rumor from the blond girl in the Shin-Sekai Soda Joint describing telephone booths around the capital. He then must check the public phone in Tsukudo-Cho near the shrine with a Belial in the party. Next, he must check the phone in Harumi-Cho with a Nebiros in the party. Finally, with both demons in party, Raidou must answer the phone in Ginza-Cho, which will call Alice up from Hell. If Raidou defeats her, he can then summon her by fusing Raja Naga and Jack Frost.

Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha XIV vs. King Abaddon
Alice appears as a Case File boss for the Chaos-Alignment exclusive "One Girl's Happiness" case. First, Raidou must complete the two "My Wish" cases. Later, a request from "Uncle Red and Uncle Black" will appear in the Case Files section. They have lost Alice and come to Raidou for help finding her. Raidou must then speak to two girls by the Tamoten Shrine in Tsukudo-Cho. According to them, there's a rumor that a blue-eyed foreign girl lingers in the back stall of a bathroom in their school. The girl will ask a person if they will be her friend, and if somebody agrees then she will kill them. The girl who explains the rumor reveals that she said no and that the girl is still haunting her. Alice will then appear and pose the same question to Raidou. Regardless of the answer, a battle will initiate. Upon victory, Belial and Nebiros will appear and trap Alice's soul in a Staff of Death. They then give Raidou the Staff of Death asking him to revive Alice through fusion. Fusion of Alice is then enabled.

Megami Ibunroku Persona
Alice is a DM class demon and a rare encounter in Deva Yuga, Avidea World, or the very last level of the Ruins. She drops the "Pagan King" material item upon defeat, which will allow the summoning of Beelzebub for Reiji Kido's exclusive use.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Alice appears as a Persona of the Lovers Arcana in Persona 2: Innocent Sin. An 'ordinary' Alice Persona can be encountered and gained as a summonable level 80 Lovers Arcanum Persona, but requires the "Carma Ring" accessory to in unlock (In the Japanese version, this can be done by either importing data from Innocent Sin to Eternal Punishment or returning a Rank 8 Junnosuke Kuroda. In the NA version, the latter method is the only option).

Her more powerful form appears as a mysterious, punk rocker girl who hangs around in the Kasu High Bomb Shelter, aptly named 'Dark Alice' who can be challenged.

Persona 3
Alice appears as a Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3, she can be summoned once the Protagonist reaches Lv. 56 or above. Furthermore, Alice's fusion prerequisite requires the Protagonist to perform a cross-spread fusion in the Velvet Room using Pixie, Lilim, Narcissus, and Nata Taishi.

Alice is also the only Persona that can learn the most powerful Dark Elemental skill throughout the whole game, aptly named "Die For Me!" (a reference to Alice's question towards the Protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei). Upon execution, soldiers of the Queen Of Hearts will appear from the sky with spears drawn and pointed to the ground, skewering every single target. Despite seemingly trying to deviate from the Lewis Carroll reference using the in-game descriptions, this attack proves that Alice was undoubtedly based off of none other than the main character in the story "Alice In Wonderland".

One of Elizabeth's requests entails the Protagonist to show her an Alice with the Skill Megido.

Persona 3: FES
Alice returns as a Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3: FES, retaining all of her attributes. In the playable epilogue of FES, Aigis can also summon Alice in the Velvet Room by fusing the appropriate Personae.

Persona 4
Alice returns as a high level Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 4. She can be summoned once the Protagonist reaches Lv. 72 or above. In reference towards her role in Shin Megami Tensei, Alice's summoning requires the Protagonist to perform a special fusion using Belial and Nebiros in the Velvet Room. Alice still learns her ultimate skill "Die For Me!", but it is no longer passable to other Personae.

In the Yasogami High Culture Festival, during the "Miss" Yasogami High Beauty Pageant Teddie dresses up as Alice, winning the competition.

Strange Journey
Alice returns as a middle level demon of the Fiend Race. She can be summoned after the MC Finishes the Ex-Mission "Catch that Rabbit" in Sector Fornax and after reaching Level 39 with the Fiend Converter. Originally, she posts the mission herself to ensure the capture of the "rabbit", upon which, in a reference to Carroll's Alice, the MC pursues the rabbit across several holes until cornered. Once this happens, Alice, if allowed, will begin brutalizing the rabbit until stopped by the protagonist and confronted. Upon defeat, she will fade.

She is the only demon with the Die For Me! spell, and using her D-Source is the only way to pass this skill down. The Hare of Inaba, the "rabbit" she was pursuing, (and tries to skin, dump in saltwater, and later eat, in a reference to his own mythology) upon her defeat, sadly says she was once a human girl beloved by demons who was unexpectedly driven insane by the magics she inherited from them, sympathizing with her despite her immense sadism. He also notes both he and Alice were nothing but memories doomed to forever wander, repeating the cycle of pain and death endlessly, until the Protagonist defeated Alice and allowed both the Hare and Alice to move on.

As she lays in defeat, she complains of feeling sleepy as she fades, and upon being summoned through fusion, reacts as if she were being jolted awake from a dream, sleepily asking for her Uncles Black and Red.

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version of Persona 3 and Persona 4, "Die For Me!" is written in an interrogative ("死んでくれる？" shindekureru?) rather than an exclamatory form. This possibly makes a reference to her question, "Could you please die for me?" instead of a direct command.