Thanatos

Thanatos (タナトス, Tanatosu) is personification of death and mortality in Greek Mythology. He is commonly known as a harbinger of peaceful death, bringing the eternal sleep of death to the world while more violent gods were responsible for harsher death. In Persona 3, Thanatos is heavily associated with Death, the anthropomorphic personification of destruction and the end of life.

History
In the Greek Poem, Theogony, Thanatos (Greek: θάνατος — Death) is one of the sons of Nyx and is the elder twin brother of Hypnos. In the earliest mythological accounts, Thanatos is the harbinger of peaceful death, bringing eternal sleep to the world. Characterized as indiscriminate and merciless, Thanatos is detested by all and he hates them in return, all too happy to bring mortals to their fated end. Thanatos is perceived by Greek poets as a fearsome, sword-wielding, shaggy bearded specter and fierce of countenance. He is a harbinger of suffering and grief, and his coming was marked by pain.

In later eras, Thanatos is portrayed again as an angel of Death, associated more with a gentle passing than a woeful demise, guiding mortals after their death. Many Roman sarcophagi depict him as a winged boy, very much akin to Cupid. The depiction of Thanatos in Persona 3 seems to be derived more from the earliest mythological accounts, being characterized as a grim warrior surrounded by a mantle of metal coffins. He also resembles a more intact version of The Reaper, an overpowered Shadow that can be encountered in Tartarus.

Appearances

 * Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
 * Megami Ibunroku Persona: Snow Queen Quest Boss
 * Persona 3: Death Arcana
 * Persona 3: FES: Death Arcana
 * Persona 3 Portable: Death Arcana
 * Persona 4 Arena: Death Arcana

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
Thanatos appears as the boss of the Thanatos Tower in the Snow Queen Quest arc, as the Persona of Yuriko Yamamoto. Yuriko takes Thanatos' form when the party refuses her offer to give them eternal youth by killing them.

Persona 3
Thanatos is the ultimate Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3. It first appears during the protagonist's attempt of summoning Orpheus, where Thanatos emerges from Orpheus' head. Ripping Orpheus apart, Thanatos then lunges towards the looming Shadows, mercilessly decapitating them. However, it can later be inferred that the entity that emerged out of Orpheus is not Thanatos, which is a Persona, but rather Death, which looks identical to Thanatos. Later, the Protagonist can gain accessibility to Thanatos after the Social Link with Pharos completed.

Thanatos' fusion prerequisite requires all the Personas of the Death Arcana, namely Loa, Pale Rider, Samael, Mot and Alice to perform a pentagon-spread fusion in the Velvet Room. Thanatos also grants the equipment Dark Ring, which repels Dark-based attacks, as his Heart Item.

Ryoji Mochizuki's true form as Death looks identical to Thanatos, seeing that Thanatos can be the manifestation of Ryoji's friendship with the Protagonist during his form as Pharos.

Persona 3: FES
Thanatos' role and attribute remains relatively the same from the original game. However, the fusion prerequisite now requires an additional Persona, namely Ghoul, an exclusive Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3: FES to perform a hexagon-spread fusion in the Velvet Room.

In the playable epilogue of Persona 3: FES, titled the Answer, Thanatos can also be summoned in the Velvet Room by Aigis.

Persona 4 Arena
Thanatos now serves as Elizabeth's Persona. He is the only Persona in the game that is capable of using all the Elemental Spells.