An ancestor Persona (先祖ペルソナ, Senzo Perusona)? is a special type of Persona in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
History[]
They are based on a (bogus) in-universe ancestor of a party member. They do not exist in the actual history of Persona and are merely fabricated characters created from the fake history of Gozen and spread by Nyarlathotep.
According to the legend, the three existed in the Feudal era and were vassals to the tyrannical lord Kiyotada Sumaru (himself also fabricated by Nyarlathotep). Disgusted by Sumaru's tyranny, the three set out to assassinate Sumaru, only for the operation to end in failure when the warlord killed Maihime Amano by spear. As a dying wish, Tatsunoshin Suou ordered his loyal retainer Junnosuke Kuroda to burn Sumaru castle and run for his life, as the samurai vows revenge someday.
The legend resembles the failed attempt to stop Nyarlathotep from destroying the world through the Oracle of Maia, where Tatsuya, Maya and Jun team up with Eikichi Mishina and Lisa Silverman to defeat him, only for the evil entity to win anyways when he summoned Maya Okamura to kill Maya through the Spear of Longinus, fulfilling the bogus prophecy and causing earth to be destroyed by a Grand Cross as he desired, rendering him victorious. However, Jun, Eikichi and Lisa sacrificed their memories to allow Philemon to recreate the world and deny Nyarlathotep his win. This is loosely paralleled by the final section of the legend where Suou and Amano ordered Kuroda to burn their body alongside Sumaru Castle, while the retainer fled from the castle sacrificing them. Similar to Kuroda in the fabricated legend, Jun left his memories behind on the other side to allow Tatsuya and Maya to exact their counter-attack against Nyarlathotep in the recreated world. This is likely intentional on Nyarlathotep's part to taunt Tatsuya Suou about the Other Side.
The fact that Amano and Suou died by fire in the legend might also be a jab on the Alaya Shrine incident by Nyarlathotep that allowed him to use many people as pawns for his wicked gambit with Philemon, which involved the burning of a shrine and Maya trapped within.
Appearances[]
Profile[]
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment[]
There are three ancestor Personas in the game, all from different Arcanas. They only learn three spells through natural means, at rank 1, rank 8 and mutation respectively. The spells learned at rank 8 are used to perform the Tenchu-Satsu Fusion Spell, which deals an instant kill against Kiyotada Sumaru.
Name | Arcana | Descendant |
---|---|---|
Tatsunoshin Suou | Sun | Tatsuya & Katsuya Suou |
Maihime Amano | Moon | Maya Amano |
Junnosuke Kuroda | Fool | Jun Kurosu |
Obtaining them involves a subquest that spans much of the length of the game, with steps that are very easy to miss. The player must do all the steps in order to unlock all three ancestors, but it's possible to get Suou and Amano if one misses Step 1, and Suou and Kuroda if Step 4 is missed.
- Donate 10,000 Yen to the Kuroda shrine on the Mt. Mifune trail before finishing the Sanitarium. This step is necessary only to get Kuroda.
- After getting either Nate or Ellen in your party, visit Kismet Publishing and talk to Mizuno in her office. When she asks you a question, tell her "No."
- After completing the Torifune dungeon, go back to Mizuno's office and talk to Jun's father Kashihara. He'll tell you a rumor about the origins of the New World Order in feudal Japan. Spread the rumor.
- Find Setsu Nishitani, the old woman at Araya Shrine, for the Shiraishi lady. After getting your reward, talk to Setsu again, and she'll tell you a rumor about the lover of the samurai in Kashihara's rumor. Spread the rumor. This step is necessary only to get Amano.
- In Sumaru Castle, Amano's mummy is in the Room of Princess on the 3rd floor. Talk to her and she'll be summonable in the Velvet Room.
- Suou's mummy is in the Room of Warrior on the 7th floor. Talk to him and he'll be summonable in the Velvet Room. If the player did Step 1, Kuroda will answer Suou's call and also become summonable.
Trivia[]
- Unlike the other Personas who are unlocked by performing certain actions and can be summoned over and over afterwards like Michael, Pallas Athena and Lugh, the ancestor Personas need to be unlocked again in a New Game Plus.
- Save for the party's defeat against Nyarlathotep in Innocent Sin, the legend could also be based on the Honnoji Incident, where Akechi Mitsuhide, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, betrayed him and killed him by setting fire to a temple. Unlike Mitsuhide, however, Tatsunoshin Suou is seen as one that fought for the freedom of his people and killed Kiyotada because he saw him as a tyrant. Meanwhile, the reasons for Mitsuhide's betrayal are unknown, but it could have happened because Mitsuhide wanted to usurp Nobunaga.