Ardha

Ardha
Japanese Name	アルダー
Rōmaji	Arudaa
Also known as	Ardhanari Alder Ardhanarishvara
Origin	Hindu Mythology
First Appearance	Shin Megami Tensei II
Race(s)	Deity
Arcana(s)	Judgement (Persona 4. Persona 4 Golden, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth) Temperance (Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal) Fool (Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth)
Persona User(s)	Margaret (P4) Caroline & Justine (P5)
Atma User	Seraph Shin Minase

Ardha, also known as Ardhanari, Alder or Ardhanarishvara, is a demon in the series.

History

The term "Ardhanarishvara" is a combination of three words- "ardha," "nari" and "ishvara," meaning respectively, "half," "woman" and "lord" or "god," that is, Ardhanarishvara is the Lord Who is Half Woman. The god is male on one side and female on the other, depicted with the male half bearing aspects of Shiva and the female half bearing aspects of Parvati. It is one of the most common forms of the divine in Indian art and the figure itself is likely older than the many stories and myths that have formed around it. In some texts, Ardhanarishvara is an androgynous incarnation of Shiva, in others it is the form of Shiva and Parvati, who loved each other so deeply that they joined as one being rather than stay apart.

Appearances

• Shin Megami Tensei II: Deity Race
• Shin Megami Tensei: if...: Deity Race
• Persona 3 / FES / Portable: Fusion spell
• Persona 4 / Golden: Judgement Arcana
• Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
• Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Judgement Arcana
• Persona 5 / Royal: Temperance Arcana
• Persona O.A.
• Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth: Fool Arcana
• Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2: Atma Avatar (of Seraph)
• Quantum Devil Saga: Atma Avatar (of Shin Minase)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2: Deity Race

Profile

Shin Megami Tensei II

Ardhanarishvara can be created through a special fusion of Shiva and Parvati.

Persona 3

Main article: Ardhanari

Ardha is not personally in the game, but is represented instead as a fusion spell of the same name (as Ardhanari) using Shiva and Parvati. Upon execution, the Ardha fusion spell inflicts severe Fire damage upon all enemies.

Persona 4

Ardha appears as a Persona of the Judgement Arcana. They can be summoned once the protagonist reaches Lv. 90 or above. Furthermore, the protagonist must complete the Tower Arcana Social Link, as Ardha's fusion prerequisites requires the special fusion of Shiva and Parvati, with the former being the ultimate Persona of the Tower Arcana.

This game marks the first appearance of a 3D model for Ardha based on their Shin Megami Tensei II design.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Ardha is one of the Personas used by Margaret.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

"A dual-gendered god whose appearance is half that of the destroyer Shiva and half his wife, Parvati. Ardha is the ideal figure of Shaktism, the perfect god."

—Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth compendium

Ardha can only be created through special fusion, by combining Shiva and Parvati.

Persona 5

"A god of dual gender whose appearance is half that of the destroyer, Shiva, and half his wife, Parvati. Ardha is the ideal figure of Shaktism, the perfect god."

—Persona 5 background

Ardha is the ultimate Persona of the Temperance Arcana and can only be obtained through fusion in the Velvet Room once the Temperance Confidant with Sadayo Kawakami has been completed. Ardha is summoned through a special fusion combination of Shiva and Parvati. Ardha is one of four Personas to learn God's Hand and the first of two to learn the Cosmic Flare skill. Ardha is also one of the three Personas to learn the Invigorate 3 skill and is also a source of the Agneyastra skill, as well as the Auto-Masuku passive skill. They are one of the four Personas to learn Fortified Moxy and Salvation. When itemized through Electric Chair execution, Ardha yields an Agneyastra skill card.

When fighting Caroline and Justine, failing to do enough damage to them will cause them to summon Ardha for a special attack that will activate their All Out Attack.

Royal

Ardha is can be itemized into Sahasrara, the strongest firearm available for Sumire Yoshizawa, which provides a +5 bonus to all stats. During a fusion alarm, Ardha instead becomes Sahasrara II, with a slightly higher damage value and 1 extra point to all stats.

Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2

Ardha is the Atma Avatar of Seraph. Just as Seraph is a being composed of the combined data of Serph and Sera, Ardha holds the perfect balance of masculine and feminine energies. It has no elemental weaknesses or resistances. The manifestation of Seraph is likely another reference to Ardha, as Seraph is created when Sera and Serph are immolated in their attempt to reach the Sun, similar to how the god Ardhanarishvara was created after the rebirth of Parvati, who in her previous life died of self-immolation and joined with Shiva when reincarnated.

Ardha inherits the Mantra boards of both Serph and Sera, along with their mastered skills. While Seraph's personality is similar to Sera's, Ardha's stats can be freely customized, leading to a well-balanced character. Depending on Serph's decisions towards Margot Cuvier's plans of creating a world of Tuners earlier, Ardha may also inherit Hari-Hara's special skill from Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Reincarnation, which deals massive Almighty damage to all enemies and costs 99 MP.

In a second cycle save, Serph will inherit the Mantra board and the mastered skills of Ardha, but none of Ardha's elemental affinities, nor Reincarnation, which must be acquired the same way in every playthrough.

In Quantum Devil Saga- Avatar Tuner, Ardha is instead the Atma form of Shin Minase, while Seraph (the character) does not exist, replaced by Serph eating both Heat and Sera. It's shown to have the power to inhibit the AIs, completely shrug off their magic attacks and create tendrils of light which crystallize enemies.

Stats

Shin Megami Tensei II

• SNES
• PSX/GBA

Race Alignment Level HP MP Deity Light-Neutral 67 999 393 CP NOA ATK ACC DEF EVA M.ATK M.EFC 121 2 186 129 160 126 23 20 St 25 In 15 Ma 10 Vi 13 Ag 18 Lu 20 Swd Gun Fir Ice Elc For Nrv Exp Crs Mgc Bnd Rsh Hnd Leg Fly Alm 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 Nu 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Maragion 9 MP Medium fire damage to a group of foes. Megidolaon 30 MP Heavy Almighty damage to all foes. Mudoon 9 MP Chance to inflict instant Darkness death, 3-5 foes. Sexy Dance 6 MP Inflicts Charm ailment to all foes. (Magic-type) Berserk 15% HP Light Rush damage to all foes.

Race Alignment Level HP MP Deity Light-Neutral 75 999 393 CP NOA ATK ACC DEF EVA M.ATK M.EFC 150 2 206 144 180 141 24 22 St 28 In 17 Ma 20 Vi 15 Ag 20 Lu 22 Swd Gun Fir Ice Elc For Nrv Exp Crs Mgc Bnd Rsh Hnd Leg Fly Alm 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 Nu 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Mudoon 9 MP Chance to inflict instant Darkness death, 3-5 foes. Megidolaon 30 MP Heavy Almighty damage to all foes. Maragion 9 MP Medium fire damage to a group of foes. Sexy Dance 6 MP Inflicts Charm ailment to all foes. (Magic-type) Berserk 15% HP Light Rush damage to all foes.

Shin Megami Tensei: if...

Race Alignment Level HP MP Deity Light-Neutral 85 999 542 CP NOA ATK ACC DEF EVA M.ATK M.EFC 121 2 230 157 200 154 24 22 St 30 In 17 Ma 20 Vi 15 Ag 18 Lu 20 Resistances Nulls Light. Resists everything else but Almighty. Swd Gun Fir Ice Elc For Nrv Exp Crs Mgc Bnd Rsh Hnd Leg Fly Alm 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 Nu 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 6／8 - List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Mudoon 9 MP Chance of inflicting instant death, 3-5 foes. Megidola 30 MP Heavy Almighty damage to all foes. Maragidyne 20 MP Heavy Fire damage to all foes. Sexy Dance 6 MP Inflicts Charm ailment to all foes. (Mind-type) Berserk 15% HP Light Rush damage to all foes.

Persona 4

Arcana Level Strength 62 Magic 52 Endurance 64 Agility 41 Luck 58 Judgement 90 Inherit Reflects Absorbs Block Resists Weak Almighty - - Electricity, Ice Physical - List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Level Primal Force 20% HP Deals severe Phys damage to 1 foe. Innate God's Hand 22% HP Deals severe Phys damage to 1 foe. Innate Megidolaon 60 SP Deals severe Almighty damage to all foes. 91 Null Dizzy Passive Cannot become Dizzy after being knocked down. 92 Auto-Rakukaja Passive Automatic Rakukaja at the start of battle. 93 Mediarahan 30 SP Fully restores party's HP. 94 Angelic Grace Passive Doubles evasion rate against all attacks but Light/Darkness/Almighty. 95 Null Physical Passive Become immune to Phys attacks. 96

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Arcana Level HP + SP + Inherit Extract Fragment Judgement 89 200 78 - Golden Link - List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Level Gale Link 48 HP A light Cut + Wind attack. (1 enemy) [Link damage with allies' attacks] Innate Megidolaon 82 SP A severe Almighty attack, with medium chance of knockdown. (All enemies) Innate Prana 188 HP A severe Almighty attack. (All enemies) 90 Quadruple Link Passive Raise damage dealt with first hit and number of Links. 91 Golden Link Passive Link damage raises with Link number. [No effect if only 1 Link] 92 Absorb Wind Passive Absorb damage from Wind attacks. 93 Wind Amp Passive Raise Wind attack strength. 94 Absorb Elec Passive Absorb damage from Elec attacks. 95

Persona 5 / Royal

• Persona
• Persona (P5R)

"I am Ardha. Thou hast obtained the might of the entire universe. Let us rejoice together, thou and I." Arcana Level Strength 54 Magic 56 Endurance 55 Agility 54 Luck 40 Temperance 84 Inherit Reflects Absorbs Block Resists Weak Almighty - - Ice, Electricity Physical - Electric chair execution Agneyastra List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Level God's Hand 25% HP Colossal Physical damage to 1 foe. Innate Cosmic Flare 54 SP Severe Nuclear damage to all foes. Technical dmg: Burn/Freeze/Shock. Innate Invigorate 3 Auto Restore 7 SP each turn in battle. Innate Agneyastra 24% HP Medium Physical damage to all foes 1x to 3x. 87 Auto-Masuku Auto Recover 5% HP and 10 SP at the start of preemptive turn. 88 Fortified Moxy Auto Increase critical rate on successful ambush. 89 Salvation 48 SP Fully restore HP of party and cure all non-special ailments. 90

"I am Ardha. Thou hast obtained the might of the entire universe. Let us rejoice together, thou and I." Arcana Level Strength 54 Magic 56 Endurance 55 Agility 54 Luck 40 Temperance 84 Inherit Reflects Absorbs Block Resists Weak Almighty - - Ice, Electricity Physical - Persona Trait Positive Thoughts: Increase buff timers by 2 turns for self. Extends Auto- buffs for the entire party. Electric chair execution Sahasrara (normal); Sarasrara EX (fusion alarm) List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Level God's Hand 25% HP Colossal Physical damage to 1 foe. Innate Cosmic Flare 54 SP Severe Nuke damage to all foes. Innate Invigorate 3 Passive Restore 7 SP each turn in battle. Innate Agneyastra 24% HP Medium Physical damage to all foes 1x to 3x. 87 Auto-Masuku Passive Automatic Masukukaja at the start of battle. 88 Fortified Moxy Passive Increase critical rate in ambush. 89 Salvation 48 SP Fully restore HP of party and cure all non-special ailments. 90

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth

Arcana Level HP + SP + Type Extract Fool 74 121 41 Magic Mafreidyne List of Skills Skill Cost Effect Level Saint's Touch 36 HP Heavy Phys attack, with medium chance of Magic Bind. (1 enemy) Innate Freidyne 32 SP Heavy Nuke attack. (1 enemy) Innate Regenerate 2 Passive Moderately restore HP at the end of the turn. Innate Prana 122 HP Severe Almighty attack. (All enemies) 75 Mafreidyne 52 SP Heavy Nuke attack. (All enemies) 76 Myriad Arrows 85 HP 6-8 heavy Phys attacks. (1 enemy) Stronger in Boost. 77 Invigorate 3 Passive Greatly restore SP at the end of the turn. 78

Gallery

Ardha's concept art from Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2

Portrayal of Ardha in Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2

Seraph and Ardha

Ardha in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Ardha in Persona O.A.

Ardha in Persona O.A. (No Background)

Ardha in Persona 5 Royal

Ardha in Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2

In Other Languages

Language	Name
English	Ardha
Japanese	アルダー (Arudaa)
French	Ardha
Italian	Ardha
German	Ardha
Spanish	Ardha