The Seven Deadly Sins (七つの大罪, Nanatsu no Daizai)? are a recurring plot device in the series.
Appearances
- Shin Megami Tensei: if...
- Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse
- Megami Ibunroku Persona
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Persona 5 / Royal
- Persona 5 Strikers
History
The seven deadly sins, or capital vices, are a list of moral offenses deemed to be prime motivations for sin and sins which lead to other sins. Based on their initially described name, they are commonly misinterpreted as entirely seriously immoral offenses. While some manifestations of these sins could qualify as "mortal sins," they are not always worthy of eternal damnation, according to some Christian branches. The first list was originally created by Evagrius of Pontus, and contained eight sins: lust, gluttony, avarice, acedia/spiritual sloth, "sadness", wrath, vainglory, and pride. This sin of "sadness" has been interpreted as "sorrow at having to achieve good" or "sorrow at the prosperity of others." Pope Gregory the Great would later revise this list and establish it as an important concept of Catholic moral theology. Envy was added to the list, while sadness and acedia were combined into sloth, and vainglory later listed as a direct product of pride. Each of these sins has the potential to be taken too far and could be considered seriously immoral.
The sins can be defined in the following manner based off the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Summa Theologica: 1. Gluttony: excessive love/indulgence in food or drink 2. Sloth: excessive desire for ease and aversion to difficulty, often to the neglect of good practices 3. Avarice or Greed: the excessive desire to possess something, including wealth, position, and knowledge 4. Wrath: misplaced or excessive anger, usually followed by an unhealthy interest in revenge 5. Lust: unlawful and voluntary sexual desires and practices 6. Envy: resentment and sorrow directed at another's good or success, rooted in the belief that it is taking away from one's own reputation or image 7. Pride: overestimated self-worth and excessively high self-esteem
In Binsfeld's classification of demons, each sin is paired with certain high-ranking demon:
- Asmodeus: Lust
- Beelzebub: Gluttony
- Mammon: Greed
- Belphegor: Sloth
- Satan: Wrath
- Leviathan: Envy
- Lucifer: Pride
Profile
Shin Megami Tensei: if...
When Tamaki Uchida heads with her companion into the Expanse, she must navigate selected regions themed around most of the seven deadly sins on her quest to stop Ideo Hazama's vengeful rampage. At the entrance of every region, Hazama will appear as a statue to lecture Tamaki on how humans are sinful creatures. The entrance to each dungeon is unlocked by a ring that embodies a virtue that is opposite to the sin it represents.
- World of Pride: Ruled by Vine. According to Hazama, Tamaki and her partner are the prideful ones by thinking that they can save the school by themselves.
- World of Gluttony: Ruled by Orcus, who's actually Karukozaka High School's principal transformed into a demon thanks to a Parasite. The principal is the glutton whose transformation into a demon is the punishment for his sin.
- World of Sloth: Ruled by Balam. As most students of the school did nothing and just stayed put after the school was transported to the Expanse, they were captured and forced into slave labor as punishment for their laziness.
- World of Envy: Visited only in Yumi and Reiko's routes. The envious one is actually Tamaki herself who feels that towards Yumi or Reiko after they're taken away by a handsome man at the entrance of the dungeon. At the end of the dungeon, Tamaki fights Lilith, who is the embodiment of her envy.
- World of Wrath: Visited only in Charlie's route. Ryuuichi, Akiko's boyfriend, is the one representing the sin. Hazama forces Tamaki to do a series of trials in order to free Akiko while forbidding Ryuuichi to help, all in order to irritate him. When Ryuuichi loses his temper and tries to attack Hazama directly, he is turned into stone.
- World of Greed: Ruled by Chefei. Chefei tries to trick Tamaki into giving in to her greed by placing many chests with valuable items on the way to his chamber and he becomes stronger for each chest opened.
Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse
The Tokugawa Mandala is powered by Aether infinitely siphoned from the Expanse embodied by five of the sins in a different Jar. The Four Heavenly Kings and Marici guard these Jars. Only the most purest or well trained of souls can endure them, leaving Toki as the only one capable of sealing each jar. The sins that are used for the Mandala are:
- Wrath
- Sloth
- Gluttony
- Lust
- Pride
Megami Ibunroku Persona
Enemies of the Karma race are themed after six of the seven deadly sins (with Gluttony being omitted). The Karma race demons appear as common enemies in the Alaya Cavern. Stronger boss versions of them also appear at the end of the Mikage Ruins.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Lucifer's profile in the PSP port of the game identifies him as ruling over the sin of Pride. Before his boss fight alongside Ixquic, Belphegor also identifies himself as the ruler of Sloth. Three other demons associated with the deadly sins appear in the game (Leviathan, Satan, and Beelzebub), but their profiles make no mention of the fact.
Persona 5
Each Palace and its occupant represents one of the sins. These sins are stolen by the player as treasure from the individual in order to make them atone for their crimes, viewing death as an easy way out for the criminal in question. The following pairing of the bosses and their sins are told by the trophy titles earned after the player has finished each Palace scenario, except for the eighth and ninth palaces.
- Suguru Kamoshida/Asmodeus: Lust
- Ichiryusai Madarame/Azazel: Vanity
- Junya Kaneshiro/Bael: Gluttony
- Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki/Sphinx: Wrath
- Kunikazu Okumura/Mammon: Greed
- Sae Niijima/Leviathan: Jealousy/Envy
- Masayoshi Shido/Samael: Pride
- The people of Tokyo/Holy Grail in the Depths of Mementos: Sloth
- Yaldabaoth and Satanael: All of the Deadly Sins
- Takuto Maruki/Azathoth: Sorrow
Persona 5 Strikers
Much like the Palaces, each Jail represents a specific Sin. All of these bar the last one are mentioned in the trophies for clearing each of them and the names of their bird cages.
- Alice Hiiragi of Shibuya: Lust
- Ango Natsume of Sendai: Greed
- Mariko Hyodo of Sapporo: Gluttony
- Shuzo Ubukata of Okinawa (Deceased): Sloth
- Akane Hasegawa of Kyoto: Wrath
- Akira Konoe of Osaka: Pride
- Kuon Ichinose of The Abyss: Jealousy *
- EMMA / False God Demiurge of Tokyo Tower: Sorrow
Save for the aforementioned sins, Alice displays signs of Envy, Natsume displays signs of Vanity, Hyodo displays signs of Greed and Konoe displays signs of Sloth in-game.
Trivia
- Most demons in Persona 5 are incorrectly assigned to the deadly sins in traditional demonology. There is no major boss representing Sloth but is replaced by Vanity due to Mementos (which has no true "major boss") representing Sloth. Other enemies which represent ones of the sins are not defined so, namely Belphegor (Sloth). All in all, only Asmodeus, Mammon and Leviathan are correctly paired to their sins, although Bael is the basis for the demon of Gluttony, Beelzebub. Also only Lust, Envy and Pride are in the correct positions of the order of the sins.
- In Strikers, Lust, Sloth, Wrath and Sorrow are placed in the correct order, while Greed, Gluttony, Pride and Envy have their orders reversed.
- While Shadow Futaba is identified with Sloth in the Phantom Thief letter that solidifies Futaba's Treasure, she actually seems to be the part of Futaba that wishes to break out of her despair and disaffection at the time of her Palace being formed, later providing vital help when snapping Futaba out of the depressed haze that was fueling Cognitive Wakaba's power. Thus, it is just as valid to say that the real Futaba is associated with Sloth.
- In Persona 5, there is a sin called Emptiness which is never assigned to a Palace owner. However, it is believed that the one representing that sin is Goro Akechi as a large parts of his personality are just a facade he presents to others, while his true self desires vengeance a goal which is ultimately seen as being meaningless once fulfilled.
Hazama's Chapter - Manga - Kahn - Novel | |
---|---|
Characters | |
Playable | Tamaki Uchida - Yumi Shirakawa - Shinji Kuroi - Reiko Akanezawa - Akira Miyamoto - Amon - Ideo Hazama |
Non-playable | Nova - Akiko Yano - Ryuichi Sakamoto - Kayama - Katsuhiko Sato - Otsuki - Chefei - Zurvan |
Locations | |
General | Karukozaka High School - River Styx |
Expanse | World of Pride - Gluttony - Sloth - Envy - Wrath - Greed - Tower of Confinement - Inner World |
Archives | |
Terminology | Guardian - Expanse - Moon Phase System - Sword fusion |
Lists | Guardians - Demons - Bosses (Hazama's Chapter) - Skills - Items |