| This article is about the race. For the character, see Nahobino (character). |
Fusion of the protagonist and Aogami gives birth to a Nahobino.
"Together, we have become a being known as a Nahobino. This new body should allow us to fend off the demons."
Nahobino is a unique race in Shin Megami Tensei V. They are demons who have regained their Knowledge of good and evil, and through that, their true godlike power. The first and foremost of the unified demons is the protagonist of the game, specifically in the form where the human protagonist and Aogami's bodies have fused together.
"Nahobino" can refer to any demon who has regained their Knowledge, and the protagonist is specially known as "the Nahobino." In Japanese, these two concepts are distinct, the term Nahobino (ナホビノ*)? is exclusive to the protagonist while other unified demons are called "Gouitsujin" (合一神*)?.
History
Nahobi-no-kami or Naobi-no-kami (直毘神*)? refers to two Shinto gods, namely Kaminahobinokami (神直毘神) and Oonahobinokami (大直毘神), who are born from Izanagi, after the netherworld filth (Kegare) washed away from his body formed two gods of calamity, Magatsuhi (禍津日神*)?. "Nao" (直*)? is the Japanese verb stem for "to fix/straighten" (c.f. naoru and naosu). Their duty is to fix or straighten the calamity brought by Magatsuhi, as "maga" (曲*)? is also the Japanese verb stem for "to turn/bend" (c.f. magaru and mageru).
In Kojiki, a third god, goddess Izunome-no-kami (伊豆能売*)?, is born along with Nahobi whose duty is to purge/cleanse Magatsuhi, but she is not mentioned in Nihon Shoki.
Profile
In the past, the world would be filled with countless Nahobino, who'd all essentially be gods, but would constantly fight for the Throne of Creation, falling in battle for it. Eventually, the God of Law would prevent them from approaching the throne by stealing their Knowledge, reducing them to demons, and secreting away their Fruit of Knowledge in his own paradise. However, a serpent, believed to be Lucifer, would tempt other mortals to eat the Fruit of Knowledge, but on the pretense of reviving the war of the myriad gods. In a fit of rage, the Creator would banish these humans from his paradise.
Since the humans now have the Knowledge of demons infused in them, demons have the opportunity to become Nahobino again by fusing with them. However, simply being Nahobino is an act that violates the God's order. But his death by the hands of Lucifer now allows the Nahobino to exist. From one point of view, the Nahobino's existence is proof that God really is completely dead. From another point of view, perhaps God's ban against Nahobino is only lifted for some, as Abdiel had to embrace her Fallen nature to become one.
The protagonist and Aogami fusing to become a Nahobino.
The first Nahobino that appears after God's death is the fusion of the human protagonist and Proto-fiend Aogami.
Certain powers of the Nahobino is their ability to see certain things that cannot be seen with the human eye, such as Magatsuhi Crystals and the World of Shadows, although the protagonist needs to focus to his powers accordingly to be able to see them.
As the Nahobino is a forbidden being according to the Creator, many of Bethel's members question the existence of Nahobino and particularly devoted followers like Abdiel and Camael try to kill them on the spot. Nonetheless, the majority of angels support the protagonist despite being a Nahobino due to their invaluable aid against the forces of chaos. Similarly, the forces of chaos respect the protagonist for their strength and proof that God no longer exists, yet express disappointment in the protagonist when they support Bethel.
During a summit after Arioch's death, the protagonist accompanies Hayao Koshimizu (who is actually Tsukuyomi), the other branch leaders immediately take notice of the protagonist's Nahobino status and begin questioning about the empty throne and that their God is dead, prompting Abdiel to attack the protagonist to prove her words. In the ensuing fight, she is defeated and Bethel immediately splinters, with the protagonist eliminating Odin, Vasuki and Zeus along the way. Shiva was not interested in the throne and instead sought to destroy and recreate the world anew, secluding himself away to prepare the Brahma Sutra ceremony; however, he is slain by the protagonist before he could begin.
On their way to the throne, other pairs that have found their Knowledge would confront each other due to their conflicting ideals, and the protagonist would have to take sides. These sides successfully fuse with each other to become a Nahobino if they're opposed by the protagonist in their ideological pursuit of the throne:
- Abdiel & Ichiro Dazai - Ichiro, wanting to fix things, seeks to uphold the previous world of a singular truth, God and his order, both to give humans who are lost a path to walk on and to prevent a return to a state in which the irreconcilable differences of the gods embroiled the world in perpetual conflict. Ichiro feels grateful to God and to the angels, especially Abdiel herself, for protecting Tokyo and for giving his life direction. He also points out that the gods serving under Bethel turned upon each other rather than cooperate once they no longer believed God was in charge. Though she had once considered rebelling against him, Abdiel maintains that God is transcendent, and therefore any corporeal defeat of God is at most temporary and thus his will should still be obeyed, but the gods believe only Nahobino are fit to rule and stop listening to her. Even when Abdiel's enforcement of what she sees as God's will fails, she is at first hesitant to become a Nahobino to protect God's order, as it would taint her honor as an angel, but Dazai persuades her to defy God's will to enforce his order, causing her to become a fallen angel in the process.
- Hayao Koshimizu & Yuzuru Atsuta - Koshimizu, actually the Amatsukami Tsukuyomi, works with Yuzuru to restore the world's godly pantheons, which had fallen to demonhood under God's order, to power once more, and create a new world of myriad gods in the process. They believe that everyone should be able to appeal to their own gods to protect the things in the world that they care about, even if their ideas of what is good conflict. They suggest that only their homeland's native pantheons are fit to protect Tokyo and Japan, and trusting in only one God to maintain the world was a mistake, as well as slavish and foolish. Towards the end of the story, Yuzuru goes from being grateful to God for recreating Tokyo when it was destroyed to resentful of his and the angels' failure to protect it, and Koshimizu, while not himself averse to angels, comes to believe that God is either truly dead or a "misguided dictator." They deny Dazai's claim that the world they envision would put humans at the mercy of endlessly warring gods, emphasizing that the "new order" shall be one that contains infinite possibilities.
- Nuwa & Shohei Yakumo - claiming to be "inseparable," Nuwa has long been by Shohei's side. Although Shohei is constantly misunderstood due to his rather intense view, Nuwa explains that Shohei genuinely believes in the potential of humanity and that he hates those humans who have given up. Nuwa claims that angels are oppressive and, while a demon herself, believes that demons only know "violence and evil." Shohei also believes that demons only ruin everything they touch, being determined to exterminate them. This most likely also relates to demons' pursuit of hunting down humans for their Knowledge, wanting to use them to reach godhood for themselves. Shohei further proposes that humans need to be culled, too, so that the weak are purged and humanity as a whole becomes stronger and unleashes its potential. As such, the two are determined to unmake the existing order and destroy the Throne of Creation, accomplishing their goals and ending the cyclical pursuit of the throne's power for good.
- The protagonist & Hayao Koshimizu - In the Canon of Vengeance, after Aogami is sacrificed for the resurrection of Tiamat and Yuzuru's death at the hands of Abdiel & Ichiro, Koshimizu reveals to the protagonist both his and Aogami's true origins as Proto-fiends of the Amatsukami Tsukuyomi and Susano-o, explaining that the Amatsukami analyzed the Aogami line of Proto-fiends and replicated the system for becoming a Nahobino and outfitted for the Tsukuyomi-type line (Koshimizu himself), meaning it is possible for the protagonist to fuse with him and become a Nahobino again. Unlike Koshimizu's fusion with Yuzuru, the protagonist is the one in control and Koshimizu will side with him regardless of route in the Canon of Vengeance.
- The God of Law - an unnamed Nahobino (thematically implied to be a reincarnation of YHVH) who wrested control of the throne of creation from Baal and, disgusted by the endless cycle of war, stripped all other Nahobino of their Knowledge. Despite his Nahobino power, he was slain by Lucifer.
- Lucifer - After killing the God of Law, Lucifer took his Knowledge to become a Nahobino. It is because of this that he was able to sit upon the throne of creation.
There are more candidates for Nahobino fusion, but they would never actually make it for one reason or another (or made the decision not to become a Nahobino in Khonsu’s case):
- Lahmu & Sahori Itsukishima:
- Original Game and Canon of Creation - although Lahmu would at one point successfully fuse with her temporarily by preying on her vulnerabilities and corrupting her, Sahori has temporary spans where she snaps out of her confusion and decides to rebel, leaving Lahmu defenseless, as the two of them did not have a mutual bond. Additionally, Tao retaining her sanity was what ultimately allowed her to turn the tables against them, as Lahmu created something completely insane, intentionally or otherwise. The protagonist would quickly slay Lahmu in their fused form before he could truly become a Nahobino, consensually sacrificing Sahori in the process.
- Canon of Vengeance - Sahori is successfully persuaded by Tao to reject Lahmu. As a result, he is killed right inside Jouin High School before he could do anything to Sahori. Sahori survives the Lahmu encounter, but is quickly killed off by Lilith alongside Tao right after (Tao is resurrected by a mysterious force after being killed) and remains dead.
- Khonsu & Miyazu Atsuta - Khonsu, although initially planning to claim the throne upon finding the human bearing his Knowledge, realized that Miyazu was suffering from a terminal disease and doesn't have much time left to live, so he gives up his aspiration of claiming the throne to help her instead. As such, he has been secretly giving her Magatsuhi to prolong her survival. Eventually, it escalates to wanting to help Miyazu by making her immortal by making her become a goddess after finding out his Magatsuhi donations would make her cease to exist should they fuse into their Nahobino form, but Miyazu does not want this, then tries to make her a pharaoh with his death after losing to the protagonist as Khonsu Ra. His advisor, Isis, helps remind Khonsu that it's Miyazu's earnestness to make the most out of her short life that has caused him to be charmed by her to begin with. Khonsu then realizes his mistake and decides to spend the little time she has left together.
- The protagonist & Amanozako - it is only implied by Amanozako, as she's been searching for her "soulmate," but she later admits that it's actually the protagonist. She assumes it makes sense, since she was created with the base of a Proto-fiend, and the Aogami line of Proto-fiends was made from Susano-o, the true name of Aogami.
- Zeus - Shortly after Zeus left Bethel, he found the human holding his Knowledge, only to discover that that human had already been killed by the angels.
- Odin - He sent his Valkyries to search for his human partner, but he needed to do so himself if he wished to find them.
- Genma Fionn mac Cumhaill himself - according to Fionn, when he licks his thumb, he temporarily gains the power of a Nahobino. This is further elaborated on in his demon compendum entry; he has been tasked to cook the Salmon of Knowledge, and upon licking some of the salmon's fat from his thumb, he would gain its Knowledge, which has since fused into his thumb.
- The protagonist & Baal/Zeus - Baal showed initial interest in using the protagonist's soul as a substitute for his Knowledge, but expressing an intent to "rip" their soul out, the protagonist slew him in self-defense. While Zeus initially allowed the protagonist to take the throne and gave him his key during their first bout, he eventually realized he could use their soul for as a substitute and confronted him in the Empyrean, only to be slain in self-defense like Baal.
- There was also an unknown demon who presumably abducted a Jouin High School student during the revamped hostage arc in Vengeance in hopes of regaining his Nahobino form. The demon was however, slain by Eisheth, the new mastermind of the hostages arc, and the student escaped and was saved by the party due to him being too frightened to give the Qadištu demonness a proper answer.
List of Nahobino
Shin Megami Tensei V/Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
| Demon | Level |
|---|---|
| The protagonist (Fused with Aogami) | 3+ |
| Abdiel (Fused with Ichiro Dazai) | 83 |
| Nuwa (Fused with Shohei Yakumo) | 83 |
| Tsukuyomi (Hayao Koshimizu & Yuzuru Atsuta) | 83 |
| Lucifer | 85/90 |
| The protagonist (Fused with Hayao Koshimizu) | Inherit |
In Other Languages
| Language | Titles | |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese
|
ナホビノ (Nahobino) | 合一神 (Unified God) |
 Korean
|
나호비노 (Nahobino) | 합일신 |
  Traditional Chinese
|
創毘 (Chuàng pí) | 合一神 (Unified God) |
Trivia
- "Nahobino" is used for both the entity itself and the race title in the English version. In the Eastern versions, "Nahobino" (ナホビノ*)? refers to the entity only, while the race title is instead written as "Unified God" (合一神, gouitsujin)?.
- In the Traditional Chinese translation, the entity Nahobino's hanzi is instead rendered as "創毘" (Chuàng Pí) with "創" meaning "to create" instead of "to fix."
- It is implied that a demon could become a Nahobino even by fusing with a human who doesn't hold their specific Knowledge if their soul fits their purposes (hence the decision of Lahmu’s followers to kidnap high school students), although the resulting creation is not known.
- The Nahobinos' demon partners reflect the desires of their human partners, such as Ichiro wanting to be a strong warrior.
- If the human holding a demon's Knowledge dies, a new human holding that Knowledge would eventually be born, though its implied by Zeus to take several centuries.