Editing Order of Messiah

{{for|the law alignment organization|other uses|Messiah (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Priest_Messian.png|thumb|A Messian Priest from ''Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE'']]
The '''Order of Messiah''' {{J|メシア教|Meshia kyou}} is a recurring group that appears in the ''[[Shin Megami Tensei (Series)|Shin Megami Tensei]]'' series.

Messians typically believe in assisting the weak, and egalitarianism, but at the cost of a collectivist social order. They are generally considered representative of the Law alignment. This often puts Messians at odds with members of the [[Ring of Gaea]], who represent the Chaos [[alignment]].

Messians bear a strong resemblance to followers of Christianity and Jehovah's Witnesses, as they are piously religious, and regard prayer and following the will of their god as being of the utmost importance.

==Appearances==
*''[[Megami Tensei II]]''
*''[[Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei]]''
*''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]''
*''[[Shin Megami Tensei II]]''
*''[[Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX]]''
*''[[Shin Megami Tensei NINE]]''
*''[[Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne]]''
*''[[Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE]]''

==Profile==
===''Megami Tensei II''===
The Messians, who have their church set up in [[Nakano]], are exactly like their incarnations in future games. The religion was said to have arisen in 2011. The [[Protagonist (Megami Tensei II)|protagonist]] and his [[Dark Hero|friend]] first encounter Messians in the tunnels of [[Shinagawa]], where they request their aid in slaying the [[Jabberwocky]]. Afterwards, they declare that the two are the Messiahs and give them the Soloman's Ring. Later, the hero visits their church in Nakano, and learns the code needed to enter the [[Intelligence Building]] in [[Shibuya]].

===''Shin Megami Tensei''===
After the nuclear holocaust of [[Tokyo Millennium|Tokyo]], the Messian Order became a prominent religion among the survivors. Living in a world where gods and demons walk among them, many people flocked to the Order, which preached safety and protection in exchange for piety. The [[Law Hero]] is drawn towards their ideology early on, and after his death, his soul is reincarnated by the Messian leaders to be the Messiah himself, sent to lead the followers. The dream of the Messians is to build the Cathedral - a structure from which they can begin God's vision of the [[Millennium Kingdom]] - a paradise in which all pious people are saved. In truth, this Kingdom would only allow a small number of single-mindedly devoted followers to be saved, forsaking all others. Indeed, when the Cathedral is completed, the Messian leaders harness God's power to bring forth a second great flood to destroy Tokyo, leaving alive only the inhabitants of the Cathedral (a small number of Messians and [[Ring of Gaea|Gaeans]], ironically). The leaders of the Messians are revealed to be the high-ranking angels [[Uriel]], [[Raphael]], [[Gabriel]] and [[Michael]].

During the section of the story concerning Tokyo Destiny Land and the Shingawa, [[Haniel]] in Shinagawa represents the Messians and the Law alignment, while [[Echidna]] represents the Gaeans and the Chaos alignment in Tokyo Destiny Land. If you kill Haniel and then choose to help the Gaeans, you will be locked into the Chaos alignment. If you kill both Echidna and Haniel, you end up in the Neutral path, and if you kill Echidna and then choose to help the Messians, you will be locked into the Law alignment.

===''Shin Megami Tensei II''===
The events of ''[[Shin Megami Tensei II]]'' take place in a time where the [[Millennium Kingdom]] sought after by the Messians actually came to pass. The neutral society created by the [[Protagonist (Shin Megami Tensei)|protagonist]] at the end of the first game, where both demons and humans could worship freely, was taken over by the Messians through a coup d'état and changed into a theocracy. Built upon the remains of the Cathedral after the great flood, the Tokyo Millennium Center greatly resembled the Messians' ideal Kingdom, with only a small number of followers granted peace and salvation. The Messians are lead by a Pope in the Central Tower of Tokyo Millennium. He follows the orders of the Messian Elders, who have prophesied the coming of a Messiah who will lead the devout.

However, some regions of [[Tokyo Millennium]] had inhabitants who did not follow the Messian creed, and so the leaders of the Messian Order attempted to further prune the population of their ideal Kingdom. Following the prophecies of the Elders, there appeared three Messiahs. The first possible Messiah, [[Gimmel]], appeared in the area of Arcadia, a region cut off from the others and so this Messiah, accepted only by the Arcadians, went unchallenged. The second and third Messiahs appeared after a recent Tournament in which a young fighter from the Valhalla area won his citizenship into the lofty ranks of the Central Tower. The young champion, [[Aleph]], met with the Pope who claimed him to be the Messiah they were looking for, when the third contender, [[Daleth]], appeared claiming to be the 'real' Messiah and that Aleph was the 'Anti-Messiah.' According to the prophecy, such an Anti-Messiah was indeed supposed to appear and that the 'true' Messiah would be able to best the imposter in battle. The Pope decreed for their battle to occur, and Aleph emerged victorious, becoming the widely-accepted Messiah. With their Messiah chosen, the Messian Elders enact their plan to create their exclusive Kingdom.

The Tournament and various Areas of Tokyo Millennium were used as a selection ground to determine which inhabitants were 'truly' devoted to [[YHVH]]. Even the three Messiahs themselves had been artificially created by Messian scientists for their prophecies. The Messians enlist the aid of [[Abaddon|a demon]] to destroy the neutral region of Valhalla. They had also been running tests on a virtual-reality paradise known as Arcadia that would necessarily control its inhabitants and grant them an everlasting paradise within the confines of their minds. This simulated paradise is the true final form of the Messians' plan for the Millennium Kingdom. It is revealed that Messian Elders are once again the angels Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael. Three of them (sans Gabriel) were so devoted to the ideal of God's Millennium Kingdom that they planned to fulfill the prophecies on their own, and their absolute faith in the rightness of their plan even created a fake incarnation of YHVH who sanctioned them. Gabriel, who was contacted by the true YHVH, distanced herself from the other elders and after their defeat at the hands of their own creation, Aleph, she helped to guide him down God's true path in the Law Alignment.

===''Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne''===
The Order of Messiah makes brief appearances before and after the [[Conception]].

Early in the game, a number of Messians and Gaians are slain by a group of demons summoned by [[Hikawa]] at Yoyogi Park. Both factions had tried to stop Hikawa's plans, but instead wound up as sacrifices to bring the Vortex World into creation.

After the Conception, within the Amala Labyrinth, the souls of the slain Messians and Gaians can be seen preaching their respective beliefs.

===''Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE''===
After the [[Great Cataclysm]], the Messians established a new base of operations in [[Arcadia]], and continue to strive towards establishing the [[Millennium Kingdom]] of the gods. Their leader is [[Lord Judah]], one of the [[Seven Philosophers]].

===''Shin Megami Tensei NINE''===
The Messians are revealed to be the ones responsible for creating Idea Space. They created it because they were tired of waiting for God to send the Messiah so they decided to use technology to bring salvation. An artificial goddess named [[Maria]] was created to administer Idea Space to support the creation of the Thousand Year Kingdom. In the Law route, Maria and the protagonist decide to end Idea Space and free everyone trapped inside, with the protagonist joining the Law-based regime ruling Tokyo Millennium afterward. {{fact}}

==List of Demons==
===''Shin Megami Tensei''===
{|class="table smt1" style="text-align:center; margin:auto"
!Demon
!Level
|-
|[[Fanatic]]
|18
|-
|[[Holy Knight]]
|22
|-
|[[Magus]]
|37
|-
|[[Scanner]]
|51
|-
|<abbr title="PC version only">[[Missionary]] *</abbr>
|60
|}

===''Shin Megami Tensei II''===
{|class="table smt2" style="text-align:center; margin:auto"
!Demon
!Level
|-
|[[Butcher]]
|9
|-
|[[Neophyte]]
|15
|-
|[[Executioner]]
|21
|-
|[[Holy Knight|Temple Knight]]
|26
|-
|[[Gyrator]]
|34
|-
|[[Terminator]]
|40
|-
|[[Magus|Adept]]
|51
|}

===''Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX''===
{|class="table 20xx" align="center" style="text-align:center"
!Human
!Level
|-
|[[Holy Knight|Temple Knight]]
|21
|-
|[[Fanatic|Zealot]]
|34
|-
|[[Terminator]]
|40
|}

==Gameplay Notes==
*Using recruited Messians in [[fusion]] in ''Shin Megami Tensei'' or ''Shin Megami Tensei II'' will result in a random demon typically sharing the Law-alignment. Unlike regular [[Fusion|fusions]], this result will ignore the player character's level.

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[[Category:Order of Messiah|*]]
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[[Category:Law-Aligned Characters]]
[[Category:Megami Tensei II]]
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[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei II]]
[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX]]
[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne]]
[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE]]
[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei Allies]]
[[Category:Megami Tensei II Allies]]
[[Category:Shin Megami Tensei II Allies]]