The Metaverse Navigator phone icon.
Metaverse Navigator (イセカイナビ, Isekai Nabi)?, Meta-Nav for short, is a mysterious phone application in Persona 5. It is a key concept to its story.
Appearances[]
Profile[]
Persona 5[]
The Metaverse Navigator app is bestowed upon the protagonist by Igor to allow him and his allies to access the other world known as the Metaverse. By using the app on their P. A. D., the protagonist and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts can discover the location of their targets and can infiltrate both Mementos and Palaces to steal the hearts of individuals with distorted desires, which are the "corrupt people." To infiltrate a Palace, three keywords are needed: a target's name, their location and the form of the distortion in their hearts (specifically, how the Palace owner sees the world around them) and sometimes the concept behind it. In the case of Mementos, only the keyword "Mementos" is needed. Conveniently, there's a bookmark function to easily access an active Palace in the future if the conditions of locating it have been met by just pressing it without needing to enter the keywords. When the Metaverse Navigator is activated, it displays a red and black ripple animation effect.
Igor is said to bestow the app to anyone the protagonist wishes to aid him in his rehabilitation. However, the app is known to pull unsuspecting people into the Metaverse as well if they are standing near and observing an app-user as the Navigator is being activated (implying that it functions with an area of effect). There have even been cases of people unwittingly activating the app, and thus accidentally entering a Palace, by happening to say the keywords in ordinary speech. People who are taken into the Metaverse appear to automatically receive the Navigator as well. Additionally, as was the case with Futaba Sakura, the application may also install itself onto the devices of people nearby, without sending those people into the Metaverse. The app appears to be impossible to delete, as Igor will simply resend the app to the users' phones. Its source code is implied to be arcane and impossible for even the most skilled hackers to analyze; when Makoto Niijima asks her about it, Futaba describes it as less an app and more "a mysterious app-like thing".
As "Igor" turns out to actually be Yaldabaoth, it can be interpreted that he bestows the app to anyone that he deems worthy to assist the protagonist to carry out his plans to remove those who cause discord so he can control Tokyo and possibly the world. After his defeat and the destruction of Mementos, the app is permanently deleted.
During the third semester in Persona 5 Royal, the app continues to remain. However, due to the dream world, the app has become a white and dark blue color instead of the usual red and black, and the pupil on the eye becomes the same logo seen frequently during Maruki's Palace. When Takuto Maruki is defeated, the app is deleted once again.
Keywords[]
| Name | Location | Concept | Distortion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suguru Kamoshida | Shujin Academy | Pervert | Castle |
| Ichiryusai Madarame | Shack | Plagiarist | Museum |
| Junya Kaneshiro | All of Shibuya | N/A | Bank |
| Futaba Sakura | Sojiro Sakura's House | N/A | Tomb |
| Kunikazu Okumura | Okumura Foods Corporate HQ | N/A | Outer Space |
| Sae Niijima | Courthouse | N/A | Casino |
| Masayoshi Shido | Diet Building | N/A | Ship |
| Mementos | |||
| Dr. Maruki | Odaiba Stadium construction site | N/A | Laboratory |
Persona 5 Strikers[]
The Metaverse Navigator is secretly lodged within the EMMA application, with the intent of luring innocent bystanders inside Jails to have their hearts changed. The Monarchs in the game capitalize on this design in order to gain uncanny amounts of followers by giving out their Keywords to the public. In reality, that keyword is actually the Metaverse Navigator keyword, and simply by inputting it triggers the MetaNav, trapping the victim's Shadow in that Monarch's Jail. Once there, Shadows will mercilessly attack them and extract their desires directly from them (taking the form of gems). The victims undergo a Change of Heart and become mesmerized worshipers of the Monarch, causing insanity, property loss or even violent incidents. However, Persona users are sucked into the Metaverse themselves and are immune to having their desires stolen. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts use this Metaverse Navigator from EMMA in order to enter the Jails and perform an actual change of Heart on the Monarch, so the desires can be freed.
Unlike Palaces, removing a Monarch from a Jail does not destroy it. Instead, it remains and might still become a hazard against the public. This is because the Jails are not isolated areas, they are all a part of EMMA and are ruled by it.
Persona 5: The Phantom X[]
While the Metaverse Navigator has the same role it does in Persona 5, it differs a fair bit from its original counterpart. For one, as Palaces are found directly in Mementos the search function is absent. For Motoha Arai and Aran Hirano the app installed itself without Wonder’s intervention much like how it did for Futuba. The app also has a different logo in this game, with the eye being enclosed around a snake.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Metaverse Navigator icon resembles a mix between the Eye of Horus and the All-Seeing Eye, which are occult symbols commonly mentioned in conspiracy theories. The pupil on the eye is the pentagram star, another symbol commonly associated with the occult.
- Morgana is the only member of the Phantom Thieves who can access the Metaverse without the use of the app due to his origins being tied with it. However, much of the same rules apply to him as they do to those who use the Navigator.
- In the anime adaptation, it appears that just looking at the app icon can force a user to fall asleep and enter the Velvet Room should Igor wish to talk.
- The application is voiced by Tomoko Fujino in the Persona 5 The Animation, in the actual game, it is uncredited.