Messiah (Persona)

Messiah (メサイア, Mesaia) 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 common 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, as is his mechanized body, which would be a reference to a Messiah's body being so heavily mutilated during his Crucifixion.

Other Messiah figures have appeared in both history and myth, and people have placed their hopes in them for salvation. Buddha is a notable one.

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
 * Lord of Vermillion Re: 2: Cameo

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 items he is capable of producing: These items are the strongest armor equipment items in the game.
 * Armor of Light
 * Shoes of Light
 * 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, maximizing the Judgement Arcana is not necessary for fusion. However Messiah's fusion still requires the fusion of Orpheus and Thanatos, as was the case for the protagonist.

Lord of Vermillion Re: 2
Messiah appears alongside Izanagi, Thanatos and Pallas Athena as one of the Personas featured in Lord of Vermillion Re: 2. Messiah appears as Aigis EXO's persona and enabniggerses Aigis to use Orgia Mode EX, which greatly enhances her stats and enables her to use Megido Fire EX as her normal ability.

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.
 * While Messiah is the Ultimate Persona of the Protagonist, he doesn't have any "special" skills, like Odin's Thunder Reign, Alice's Die For Me!, 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 or through the use of skill cards, 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 (spear weapons are categorized into piercing attacks in Persona 3). Messiah's Passive Ability Enduring Soul may also refer to when Jesus resurrected himself three days after his death.