Reaper (Persona)

The Reaper (刈り取る者, Karitoru-mono)^? is a Shadow that appears in most games in the Persona series with exploration-based elements since Persona 3.

AppearancesEdit

• Persona 3 / FES / Portable: Death Arcana, Optional Boss
  • Persona 3 The Movie: Enemy featured very briefly
• Persona 4 / Golden: Death Arcana, Optional Boss
  • Persona 4 The Animation: Enemy
• Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: F.O.E
• Persona 5 / Royal: Optional Boss
  • Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers
• Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth: F.O.E

ProfileEdit

The Reaper of the Persona series has several features that distinguish it from other "grim reapers" in popular culture. The Reaper, instead of carrying a gigantic scythe, wields two long-barrel revolvers. Its face is shrouded in a blood-stained cloth sack, with only one ominous white eye to see its surroundings. It wears two long chains across its left and right shoulders, forming a cross.

The Reaper acts as a security system for areas where Shadows infest, such as Tartarus and Mementos. It either actively pursues threats as they linger in an area for too much time or ambushes them inside treasure chests or other objects that might otherwise contain valuable items, such as Power Spots. In Persona Q however, it does not act any different than other F.O.Es. It is incredibly powerful even when compared to other Shadows, having an extremely wide array of skills that can arrange from Physical skills, Elemental and Almighty magic, status and buffs, making it highly unpredictable and difficult to beat via normal means. Despite it has low HP compared to most end-game bosses, all of its other stats are abnormally high, making it incredibly fast, endurable and hard-hitting.

Unlike most other on-field Shadows where it is encountered, the Reaper uses its own model upon spawning on the map.

The Reaper's origins are largely unknown. However, in Persona Q alone, they are said to be deployed by Chronos to wipe out any threats against divine providence.

Persona 3Edit

The Reaper lurks in Tartarus, and will appear to the player when certain conditions are met. This involves staying on one floor of Tartarus too long, or choosing a card from Shuffle Time that is appended with an ominous black crossbones. When it approaches the party, the player can hear a loud rattling of chains, and it also appears on the mini-map. Unlike any other shadows on the field, it can even climb up small ramps in floors. The Reaper cannot follow the player to the stairs that lead to the next floor, however, making the stairs a safe haven from it. Unless if the party's level is 70 or higher, the Reaper will most likely instantly kill all party members in a few turns while barely taking any damage.

The Reaper's appearance is hastened when:

• Choosing a skulled ("cursed") card in Shuffle Time,
• On a regular floor with no Shadows
• On a floor with powerful Shadows (red-glowing variants)
• There are "more Shadows on the floor than normal", which is filled exclusively with golden shadows or rare chests
  • The last two conditions are due to the risks of the "cursed" cards during Shuffle Time, all of which bear large rewards.

As one of Elizabeth's Requests (#53), the protagonist must defeat the Reaper. Because the Reaper is a very challenging opponent, players should come prepared with a strategy in place or utilize the fusion spell Armageddon and instantly destroy the Reaper. If the request is active, the Reaper will drop the Bloody Button upon its defeat, in which you can turn in to unlock the Monad Depths.

During the battle, equipping the whole party with Omnipotent Orbs or casting either Makarakarn or Tetrakarn triggers the Reaper to use Megidolaon, which can be fatal unless characters are at Level 99.

The MovieEdit

The Reaper appears briefly in the final movie, being the last obstacle to obstruct Makoto Yuki from reaching Nyx. When his Persona, Orpheus, regular skills fail to destroy it, Elizabeth gives him the ability to use Megidolaon in order to defeat it and move on.

Persona 4Edit

The Reaper is an exclusive boss that can only be fought in the second playthrough of the game, where it can be found in trap chests during a second cycle. Upon examining it, the protagonist is forewarned that a powerful force dwells within the chest and repeatedly asked whether he is ready to open it. Should the protagonist choose to open it, the Reaper will attack the party and engage them in a battle. Similar to its predecessor, the Reaper can be challenged multiple times as long as the protagonist manages to locate the treasure chest he dwells within.

Defeating the Reaper may grant the respective characters their strongest weapons per defeat; however, should all of the in-battle characters have received their strongest weapons, the Reaper instead drops the strongest armor. If all of those have already been received as well, the Reaper drops the Omnipotence Orb, an accessory which voids all attacks excluding Almighty.

It will only drop a character's weapon if they are in the team that fights him. One must re-organize their team if they want to gain every weapon. 

GoldenEdit

The Reaper works the same way as the original Persona 4, except that it can be encountered on the first playthrough of the game. In order to make it spawn, the protagonist has to open a total of twenty-one chests. Should this number of chests be reached, the sound of rattling chains will echo throughout the dungeon. If the player opens a chest where a Shadow would most likely stay in during this instance, the player will be warned of an ominous presence, should they ignore the warning, a fight with The Reaper will be triggered just like in Vanilla.

However, if the player merely opens a normal chest, the chest counter will be reset and the sound of rattling chains will disappear. Leaving the dungeon or moving up/down floors also applies to this.

The AnimationEdit

Three Reapers show up when the Investigation Team confronts Adachi in his own reality, Magatsu Inaba. The first one confronts Kanji and Naoto at the Central shopping district, the second one fights Chie, Yukiko and Rise at the Amagi inn and the last one battles Yosuke and Teddie at Saki Konishi's house. The Reapers prove to be powerful opponents for the Investigation Team, but eventually, the Investigation Team managed to beat the Reapers after banding together.

Persona Q: Shadow of the LabyrinthEdit

The Reaper is an F.O.E who appears on the second floor of the Clock Tower and all floors above it. Unlike most other games where the Reaper is simply a security guard patrolling areas related to the collective unconsciousness and remove any lingering threats, it is explicitly stated to be one of Chronos' servants who appeared to remove Zen for upsetting the natural providence of the world by creating the world from Rei's memories and preventing her soul from returning to the Sea of Souls.

While the player is in the same room as the Reaper, it will pursue them for 2 steps before resting for 1 step. Unlike many other aggressive FOEs in the previous dungeons, the Reaper can pursue the player over empty spaces - but not through columns. Noting the columns' locations or impeding its movement with the various block-like pistons scattered through the dungeon becomes critical in trying to avoid it.

In battle, the Reaper can act twice each turn and has a wide array of attacks and ailment-inducing moves. Once it dips to below 50% HP it will start trying to inflict Sleep, Panic, and/or Agility Bind to render the party unable to dodge a Power Charged Myriad Arrows or Deathbound. Past 25% HP it switches strategies and throws party-wide attacks, including Mamudoon and Megidolaon. While resistant to them, the Reaper is still vulnerable to ailments and Binds which can make the battle less aggravating.

The Death's Order material it drops allows Theodore to create gear that halves the characters' stats but doubles the Exp they receive; 1 is required to create armor with this effect, 2 to create an accessory, and weapons can be created after acquiring 3. If defeated while the request to hunt one is active, it will drop the Broken Chain needed to complete it.

Persona 5 Edit

The Reaper once again returns as a powerful foe in the series, appearing to hunt the Phantom Thieves while in Mementos from Aiyatsbus onward, following Morgana's warning about a powerful Shadow in Mementos. It will only appear when the party has remained on the same floor for a full two minutes before appearing in the area, with the sound of rattling chains and a red visual rippling effect indicating its presence. The Reaper will then move through the floor and will chase down the party, even phasing through doors, but not through walls. The party will be safe while standing on the entry or exit platforms, but the Reaper will still be present in the area. Getting back into the Mona car from the platform will reset the Reaper to its original position in the area, and it will start stalking the party again.

The Reaper in battle is incredibly strong; possessing a large variety of attacks and equally sturdy defense. While it does not null, repel, drain or resist any element, it has huge amounts of DEF to reduce damage from all attacks and is still immune to instant kill effects. Sometimes it prefers to spend its turns on the various elemental Break skills as opposed to attacking the party, providing random relief turns for the party. However, the Reaper can be grinded for quick, large amounts of EXP during the month of November and December, as the Flu Season spreads through Tokyo. Like all other Shadows, the Reaper too can succumb to Despair and will die after three turns, granting the party an instant win. The Reaper has a chance to drop a Divine Pillar accessory, which halves all incoming damage, but removes the ability to Evade. Unlike most Shadows, the Reaper cannot be recruited or negotiated in any form or way, and it does not possess an Arcana (unlike in previous installments).

It is strongly recommended to let the Reaper ambush the party since if it ambushes them it will only perform 1 action per turn.

RoyalEdit

Flu Season now no longer affects the Reaper.

Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom StrikersEdit

The Reaper is the ultimate boss of this game. In order to unlock him for battle, the party must:

• Clear the game and reload the cleared save.
• Complete all quests requiring the hunting of special Shadows in order to unlock them as fusions.
• Complete the quests that involves rematches with Alice Hiiragi, Ango Natsume, Mariko Hyodo and Akira Konoe.
• Rematch Alice, Natsume, Hyodo, Konoe and False God Demiurge for a second time.

After this, a quest requiring defeating the Reaper in Okinawa's Jail will appear. Defeating the Reaper in this quest and talking to Lavenza once more unlocks New Game Plus and Risky mode.

Persona Q2: New Cinema LabyrinthEdit

The Reaper returns as one of the strongest F.O.Es in the game despite never appearing as an overworld obstacle. The 4th block of the Theater District has a unique Treasure Spot that radiates darkness rather than glowing yellow or red in previous districts, and the party expresses trepidation if they attempt to harvest from it. Should the player proceed with trying to gather at the Treasure Spot, the Reaper will ambush the party -- though Snake Glare can negate this ambush and have the player start on equal footing with it.

With two actions, no weaknesses on top of immunity to almost every ailment available, the Reaper is a very tough opponent, with party-wide attacks of all varieties. Start by having party members not resistant to Curse defend, because the Reaper always starts the fight by casting Mamudoon which can claim a few free kills.

The one solace you have is its vulnerability to Agility Bind which can cause most of its deadly attacks to miss. While it's bound, utilize passives like Bound Arts+ with multi-hitting physical skills to try and get critical hits as often as possible for easy Boost.

Defeating the Reaper for the first time yields the Infernal Key, a key item that unlocks the special fusion for Lucifer. Its Holy Shard material can be used to make three powerful accessories - two of which will half HP and SP costs, while the third is the accessory equivalent of Invigorate 3. The Reaper, despite being an F.O.E. will not reward the player with a Sub-Persona on defeat.

StatsEdit

Persona 3Edit

Persona 4Edit

Persona Q: Shadow of the LabyrinthEdit

Persona 5Edit

Despite displaying no resistance to Bless and Curse, the Reaper is immune to instant kills.

Persona Q2: New Cinema LabyrinthEdit

GalleryEdit

The Reaper in the manga adaption of Persona 4

The Reaper in Persona 4 The Animation

The Reaper appears in Persona 4 The Animation

One of the "Cursed" Shuffle Time! cards from Persona 3 Portable

The Reaper concept art.

TriviaEdit

• In Persona 3 the Reaper's total HP, 4444, refers to one of the pronunciations of the Japanese word for "four" (四^?), shi, which is the same as "death" (死^?). The number four is also known in Japan and China as the number of misfortune.
• The Reaper's garments bear some resemblance to Tatsuya Sudou's clothes, from the Persona 2 duology. Additionally, considering Sudou eventually loses his right eye during the events that take place during the duology, and the Reaper itself is missing that eye as well, one can speculate the two of them are somehow connected.
• In Persona Q, the Reaper's total HP, 13,666, is a combination of two ominous numbers – 13 being associated with bad luck and 666 being the Number of the Beast.
  • In relation to the latter, 6,666 Experience points are awarded to a party of three members upon defeating The Reaper in Persona 3.