"Shadows are the lower parts of the psyche everyone has... Suppressed human thoughts given physical form. When people are unable to face their darker selves, they break loose, free from all control. But sometimes, humans with special awareness can tame their Shadows... Those are Persona-users."
Shadows (シャドウ, Shadou)?/(影, Kage)? are the primary type of enemy in the Persona series, sharing many characteristics with the demons common elsewhere in the Megami Tensei franchise. They are born from humans and composed of suppressed human emotions, usually negative ones. Strong-willed Shadows attract lesser ones, which can combine into stronger Shadows.
Appearances[]
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
- Persona 3 / FES / Portable / Reload
- Persona 4 / Golden
- Persona 4 Arena / Ultimax
- Persona 4: Dancing All Night
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
- Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
- Persona 5 / Royal
- Persona 5 Strikers
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Persona 5: The Phantom X
Profile[]
Megami Ibunroku Persona[]
A precursor to the Shadow concept used in the rest of the series occurs in Megami Ibunroku Persona. Throughout the story, aspects of Maki Sonomura's consciousness are embodied by several different characters: her id Aki, her ego Mai, the playable Maki, who is actually Maki's idealized version of herself; and Pandora, who represents Maki's nihilism. In dialogue, the Ideal Maki is referred to by herself as a shadow of Maki's heart, and at the end of the game, the Ideal Maki accepts and rejoins with Pandora after the latter's defeat.
In the Alaya Cavern, the protagonist and the Ideal Maki find the protagonist's other self, who judges him based on the deeds he performs throughout the game and grants him the Totems for the ultimate Personas depending on the number of good deeds performed. Maki compares this other self with the other versions of herself faced before. In the manga adaptation, a second "other self" is represented as Naoya Toudou's guilt appearing in the form of his deceased twin brother Kazuya. He is able to use Personas and disappears when accepted, mirroring how Personas and Shadows alike would be represented in future installments.
Persona 2[]
In the latter stages of Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment, Shadow Selves of the main characters, in particular Lisa, Eikichi, Tatsuya, Ulala, Katsuya, Maya and Baofu emerge. The primary antagonist, Nyarlathotep, is also seen as humanity's collective Shadow.
These "Shadow Selves" appeared due to contradicting rumors in Innocent Sin, which allowed them to exist and be members of the Masked Circle. In Eternal Punishment, Nyarlathotep created them within the Monado Mandala. They attempt to deceive and confuse their other selves, who they attack in the hopes of replacing them. Their Reverse Personas also seek to defeat their counterparts. After being defeated, they warn that they will continue to exist as a part of their other selves, something each human and Persona accepts with the exception of Maya in Innocent Sin.
In Innocent Sin, Nyarlathotep hoped they would kill the teams led by Tatsuya Suou so his plans could continue unhindered, either by the party dying at the hands of the Shadows, or by them drowning in their despair upon witnessing their darkness made manifest. This plan failed, primarily because in true Persona fashion, the triumphant true selves vowed to grow from the lessons taught by the Shadows, bonding them closer instead of shattering them. The only exception to this Maya Amano, who denied what her Shadow said and never accepted her.
In Eternal Punishment, the Shadows appear to taunt the party like in the previous game, though they also flash back to specific moments in each character's past. These flashbacks are used to highlight their other selves' insecurities, prompting Maya to nudge them into making the right decisions. Most Shadows are fought after their initial encounter and in pairs of two; Shadow Ulala and Katsuya fight the party at once, as do Shadow Maya and Baofu. Shadow Maya does not encounter the party before their fight, however, as Nyarlathotep appears in her place to taunt Maya over her rage and sadness directly. Since she is a silent protagonist, it is left ambiguous as to whether or not Maya's accepts her Shadow in this game.
Persona 3[]
"Monster that appears during the Dark Hour and preys on those who are conscious. Its victims become 'The Lost.'"
The Kirijo Group's discovery of the Shadows' existence and subsequent experiments on manipulating them, ostensibly as a power source and means of time manipulation, resulted in a catastrophic accident at their laboratories, killing hundreds. It is unclear how did the Kirijo Group discovered Shadows prior to their experiments, but after the incident Shadows have been appearing due to the Dark Hour.
The Dark Hour is a hidden twenty-fifth hour that takes place every midnight, during which the world comes to a stop and humans reflexively contain themselves in coffins, obliviously "playing dead" to protect themselves from the attention of the Shadows. Occasionally, a human will not transmogrify in this manner, and will quickly become prey of the Shadows, having their minds devoured and becoming vegetative (Apathy Syndrome). In some cases, people even become Shadows as their physical form dissolves. Only those with the potential to summon Personas, even if they can't be successfully summoned, are immune to this effect and function normally during the Dark Hour.
The bulk of the Shadows dwell in Tartarus, a massive tower that appears during the Dark Hour, right atop Gekkoukan High School, the site of the previous accident. Each Shadow is defined by two characteristics: the body and the mask. The mask represents the Arcana of the Shadow, while the body helps define its name. These two attributes also aid as a visual reminder of an enemy's weaknesses and strengths.
On each full moon after the protagonist's arrival to Tatsumi Port Island, powerful Shadows belonging to the first twelve major arcana appear outside Tartarus and threaten to wreak havoc. The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad combats these enemies.
The Old Documents say the Shadows arise from human emotions. When enough of the Shadows were gathered in one place, they will fuse together to become the Death Arcana Shadow, who would set in motion the events which leading up to the The Fall. Eiichiro Takeba delayed the Fall by causing the incident which led to the Dark Hour, interrupting Death's formation and causing it to fragment into thirteen Shadows. Aigis further delayed the Fall by sealing Death into the protagonist, who became Pharos.
Shadow Arcana[]
These special Shadows are the fragments of Death who escaped after being fractured. Twelve of them went dormant for 11 years since Death was sealed by Aigis, but they reawaken after the protagonist returned to Tatsumi Port Island.
They appear on every full moon, seeking to return to Death which is sealed inside the protagonist. Shuji Ikutsuki manipulates SEES into destroying each of them. Once they are all destroyed, Pharos absorbs their essence, allowing him to leave the protagonist and incarnate. However, Pharos' experiences within the protagonist lead him to take a human form, Ryoji Mochizuki, who suppresses his memories of being Death and Herald of the Fall. Once Ryoji regains his memories, Ryoji is forced to become Nyx Avatar, who will summon Nyx and destroy the world.
The twelve Arcana Shadows are:
- Arcana Magician
- Arcana Priestess
- Arcana Empress
- Arcana Emperor
- Arcana Hierophant
- Arcana Lovers
- Arcana Chariot
- Arcana Justice
- Arcana Hermit
- Arcana Fortune
- Arcana Strength
- Arcana Hanged Man
The Answer[]
The new episode included in Persona 3 FES, The Answer suggests that a Persona is merely a Shadow that remains under control of the mind that created it; this is why Persona users aren't rendered brain-dead by exposure to other Shadows during the Dark Hour. In addition, The Answer shows that some who've had their Personas artificially induced can become Shadows themselves when unable to keep control.
Persona 3 Club Book[]
In the Persona 3 Club Book, it is explained that Shadows are literally fragments of Nyx's psyche. When Nyx's original form as the Planet Eater collided with the planet Earth, though its physics-defying nature prevented the destruction of Earth, it still collided with something and its "wave-like" psyche was left on Earth. Its "waves of Death" spread across the planet and all life, and in order to survive, Earth's lifeforms adapted to this exposure by containing the energy of Nyx's psyche into themselves. The result is the Collective Unconsciousness, allowing every lifeform on Earth to seal these energies at the deepest part of their psyche, becoming Shadows. In order for the psyches of living beings to contain these fragments, Earth lifeforms were forced to greatly limit their individual lifespans, resulting in the rise of more complex, yet mortal, organisms such as animals and humans.
Shadows are confined within every living being by the individual's "will to live" and "fear of death." As such, people who are losing their will and/or forgetting their fears (such as, but not limited to those in despair, those who wish for death) will be influenced by their own Shadows, and the complete cessation of these two thoughts will allow these Shadows to break free of their hosts. Because Shadows have been an integral part of life on Earth for so long, the psyches of Earth's lifeforms are unable to function without Shadows. This is why those with Apathy Syndrome, humans who have lost their Shadows, are merely living shells whose minds have broken down without their Shadows. Likewise, on a macroscale, within the Collective Unconsciousness, the collective thoughts which desire death are gradually causing roaming Shadows who have lost their hosts to emerge into reality.
The "goal" of "freed" shadows (if it can be called that) is to instinctively fuse together with each other to reunite themselves, or more precisely for Nyx to return to its original state of existence. Thus, Shadows do not actually "eat" people since they are merely breaking free the Shadows inside lifeforms and fusing together. When individuals wander into or adapt to the Dark Hour and are attacked by Shadows, the external Shadows are merely trying to forcibly extract the Shadow confined within the individual to merge together. However, Persona-users are an exception, because they are recognized as a hindrance to their purpose, Nyx's revival.
Just as the Arcana represent the psychological maturity of humans, they also represent the tendencies and psychological complexes contained by Shadows. More precisely, each Shadow expresses a set of psychological complexes without the human aspects of psychology, resulting in behaviors which are the inverse of what the Arcana usually stand for. No single Shadow regardless of their Arcana can express or hold Nyx's "consciousness," but when sufficient numbers of Shadows with Arcana 0-12 fuse, the result is the 13th Arcana, Death, which can hold Nyx's consciousness and power. The formation of Death signifies that preparations for Nyx's revival have been completed; Death raises Tartarus to act as an antenna for both Nyx's former body within the Moon and Shadows from within the Collective Unconscious, growing taller as more Shadows enter it.
After Tartarus grows tall enough, and Death draws in Nyx's consciousness to awaken from the depths of the Collective Unconscious into itself, it becomes Nyx Avatar and would call down Nyx's original body in the Moon to descend on Earth. This results in the "Fall" and once Nyx's consciousness incarnates in its original form as Planet Eater, its presence will rip out all Shadows from all life and destroy the Earth. Nyx's consciousness needs Death to awaken and move, but it doesn't need Death to accomplish the Fall, as seen if the protagonist kills Ryoji on December 31st. When the protagonist achieves the Universe Arcana, he uses its power to pull back Nyx's consciousness and allow it to sink into the depths of the Collective Unconscious again.
Shadows are existences of pure thought and energy. They don't possess physical bodies, and thus cannot interact with normal space. However, they do possess the ability to manipulate space-time and twist laws of physics. They use this ability to create the Dark Hour: a space existing outside of normal space-time where not only they can move freely, they can even drag things from normal space to interact with (Arcana Shadows can possess a train, a battle tank and a mall's power generator). "Transmogrification" is merely an identifier of someone who does not exist within the Dark Hour, and thus cannot be affected by those within it. As for those with the "Potential" who can move freely within the Dark Hour, they are people who unwittingly manage to use the Shadows' space-time manipulation ability for themselves.
Persona 3 Em[]
In the mobile spin-off Persona 3 Em -- in addition to normal shadow enemies from the original Persona 3 game -- Arche-Personas appear, which are negative counterparts of the personas of S.E.E.S., with opposite affinities and weaknesses. They are said to represent a part of a person that they do not fully understand and that is difficult for them to accept, similar to the function of shadows and shadow selves in Persona 4.
The Arche Personas that appears are:
Which Arche-Personas are faced is dependent on who is in the party at the time, so facing all of them requires multiple playthroughs. Arche-Lucia and Arche-Orpheus are always faced, however.
Persona 4[]
Shadows and Personas retain the same roles. Those who face their own personal Shadows in the Midnight Channel and accept them can use their power as Personas while those who deny their shadows as part of themselves will be attacked and killed by them or disappear completely if the person was malicious and cruel, and Igor eventually states outright that they are one and the same. However, the world of the Midnight Channel is more likely to be the true home of the Shadows, as they and Personas appear much more easily there than they did during the Dark Hour. The Midnight Channel itself is a world reflecting the collective human heart, so it's probable that Shadows are spawned there as a result of humans trying to shut away the darkest facets of their personalities.
There are also new variants of Arcana Shadows introduced, such as "Bambino," "Hablerie" or "King" types. Some of the new types, such as the "Machine" and "Nyogo" types, are stated to appear in the Midnight Channel due to the thoughts of people watching.
Teddie appears to be a peculiar exception to this rule—despite being a Shadow, he became curious about humans and created a new, nonthreatening form for himself so people wouldn't be afraid of him, sealing away most of his memories in the process. He also acquires a Persona, prompting Igor to note that if a Shadow develops a sense of self, it too can acquire a Persona.
Persona 4 Colors[]
In the game, there is a minigame where one takes control of Chie Satonaka and must perform her signature Galactic Punt in time to strike a Shadow, and a minigame called "Cool Walker" where one takes control of Yu Narukami in what appears to be Yukiko's Castle, where they must avoid the Shadows and collect treasure chests to increase their score.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax[]
A huge shadow appears during one of Sho Minazuki's intros, where he cuts it in half. The Shadow Selves seen in the game are made from regular shadows being forcibly merged together. Eventually an endless swarm of normal shadows is unleashed on the persona users once the Malevolent Entity no longer needs them. Tohru Adachi hints that gathering enough shadows together and uniting them will result in summoning a God, which is indeed Sho and the Malevolent Entity's plan.
Persona 4: Dancing All Night[]
Shadows appear in the Midnight Stage, where the antagonist has forcibly enslaved them to its will by tying ribbons to all of them. These shadows are forced to dance as the humans dance, and eventually be purified. Unlike the Dark Hour or the TV World, Shadows cannot be harmed through combat. Instead the characters must dance, removing shadows as they finish dancing upon the stage. When victims submit to the Shadow's will, they transform into a Shadow, and the one way to change back to their original form is to finish the dance.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth[]
Shadows appear again as the main antagonists. All of them are minions of Chronos and are split into the generic "Arcana" shadows and non-generic F.O.Es, and they serve the guardians deployed by him at the end of each Labyrinth, impeding the party's progress. Once the Persona users learn the truth about Rei and Zen, it is learned fully that the guardians and their Shadow servants are deployed by Chronos to guard the treasures at the bottom of the Labyrinths no matter what so he can take his time to understand Rei, even if the one who charged them with the task decides otherwise. Shadows in Persona Q do not have Arcana.
Ultimately, the Clockwork God wants Zen to continue his duties in the price of wiping out all intruders to his plans, including Zen himself if he sides alongside the Persona users. His spider F.O.Es such as the Watcher and the Capturer patrol the Clock Tower where he resides as security guards, while the Reaper is deployed to destroy all who interrupt divine providence, namely Zen and the Persona users. The Clockwork God's strongest Shadow under his service is the Captor Spider, which acts as his messenger and has captured Rei inside it near the end of the game.
Persona 5[]
"A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed—a side of one's personality they don't want to see."
Especially distorted humans are shown to share their personality almost completely with their Shadow counterparts, and engage the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in battle. These Shadow Selves can control lesser Shadows, who resemble masked humanoids who patrol and maintain their Palaces. Unlike in Persona 3 and Persona 4, generic Shadows are never fought in the game directly with the exception of the Reaper, as they explode into one or more mythological forms when engaged, and the Shadow Selves usually fight in altered forms.
The Shadows taking mythical form initially believe themselves to be the Palace's Shadows unless successfully negotiated with, where they regain their memories and recall they come from the human's Sea of Souls, whereupon they offer to transform themselves into a mask (and thus a new Persona), release a captured party member (if they take any Hostages), or give the party one or more items. The Shadows will initially have a Shadow title for them, but once the protagonist has obtained it as a Persona either through negotiation or through fusing for it in the Velvet Room, its title will turn into its Persona name (ex. Mocking Snowman to Jack Frost). Shadows in Persona 5 can be of any Arcana instead of only the first thirteen, and some Shadows can have different Arcana from their Persona counterparts.
While in the overworld, Shadows appear based on the Palace's theme. Depending on the attention level, they have glowing blue, yellow, or red eyes, and strong ones have a dark red aura. When they see the protagonist, they will summon a spotlight to follow him for as long as they are pursuing him. Stealing their Mask provokes an Ambush in the battle with their Persona forms. In Royal, after obtaining the Chaînés Hook perk from the Faith Confidant, the protagonist can trigger an Ambush to a Shadow within a Palace from a greater distance, though it requires him to be out in the open. When successful, the Ambush will leave the Shadows with various mental ailments.
- Kamoshida's Palace: Knights in black or gold armor with stoic masks.
- Madarame's Palace: Security guards and female curators with heart masks.
- Female curator Shadows always transform into Hua Po or Apsaras (Persona 5) / Ame-no-Uzume (Royal).
- Kaneshiro's Palace: Policemen in riot gear with gas masks and Doberman Pinschers wearing muzzles.
- Doberman Pinscher Shadows always transform into Orthrus.
- Futaba's Palace: Mummies with headwear-like masks made of bandage, scimitar-wielding dervishes with tribal masks, and gray jackals with similar masks to mummies.
- Gray jackal Shadows always transform into Thoth.
- Okumura's Palace: Cylinder or sphere-formed robots with angular masks.
- Niijima's Palace: Casino dealers, bunny waitresses and tuxedo-wearing bouncers wearing melted masks. Non-hostile Shadows who run the games do not wear masks.
- Waitress Shadows always transform into Queen Mab, Kushinada-Hime, Kikuri-Hime or Valkyrie.
- Shido's Palace: Guards in suits, special assault team and assault hounds wearing blue party masks.
- Assault hound Shadows always transform into Cerberus.
- Mementos: Large humanoids with bird masks on their head and other masks bearing worn on their bodies. Unlike other guards, they do not speak and are not forced into a Chance battle by stealing their mask, but by crashing Morgana in van form into them, knocking them over.
- Depths of Mementos: Prison guards with white hood masks and black sunglasses.
- Qliphoth World: White and golden robotic angels with featureless faceplates as masks. Unlike other Shadows, their real faces are white, shaped like their masks, and their eyes do not glow red with the mask off.
- Maruki's Palace (Persona 5 Royal only); Black featureless humanoids either in lab coats or clothes-less; guards have exaggerated muscles. They have a spiral as masks. Clothes-less Shadows can also appear with appendages or without; those with appendages have hair that are shaped like Maruki's while appendage-less Shadows are bald.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth[]
Shadows return in this game as Arcana Shadows instead of resembling their Persona counterparts unlike in Persona 5, in addition to F.O.Es. They act as the bulk of the enemies seen in the game, but unlike in Persona Q, they generally serve as basic obstacles and do not have a major role in the game's storyline, being replaced by cognitions instead. Sometimes Shadows inhabiting in the movie reality will attack its cognition inhabitants, and what seems to be human such as the policemen in Kamoshidaman can transform into Shadows and attack the party if provoked. Just like in the game's prequel, Shadows in Q2 do not have Arcana.
Due to the skill type revamp, some Arcana Shadows are now capable of using Psy Skills, Nuclear Skills, and Bless/Curse damaging skills which they are unable to in the previous games they are in. Subsequently, they also have weaknesses or resistances towards Psy or Nuclear.
Persona 5 Strikers[]
Shadows return in both physical and mythological form. These Shadows are found in Jails located inside the Metaverse. Just like Persona 5 (Royal), if simplified due to a removal of the negotiation mechanic, the protagonist may occasionally obtain a Persona after fighting normal Shadows, which have Shadows transform into masks that can be collected manually or they could immediately gravitate to Joker when the battle concludes, giving him Persona Points to use in the Velvet Room. The rate of appearance for these masks can be enhanced by leveling up the Joker's Wild BOND Skill.
Unlike in Persona 5 (Royal), where the sealed state of Shadows followed the motif of their respective Palace and their rulers, all Shadows share the same theme across all of the Jails, resembling real life prison officers, S.W.A.T. units, and various law enforcement robot forms like heli-drones, gatling gun-mounted helicopters, or robotic dogs. Additionally, the sealed states of Shadows can be fought during skirmishes within the Jails. The uniform appearance of sealed Shadows can be due to the fact that the real master of the Jails aren't the Monarchs, but EMMA, as it's she who maintains the Jails, and following her termination, the Jails vanished.
Persona 5 Tactica[]
Lavenza theorizes that Salmael absorbed the Shadows drifting Shadows within the subconscious sea and then turned them into Legionnaires. She figured the power crystals dropped when they die were remnants from when they used to be Shadows.
Erina is a combination of a Shadow, a Persona, and a Cognition.
Gallery[]
Megami Tensei Chaining Soul: Persona 3 |
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Shadow in Megami Tensei Chaining Soul: Persona 3
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Persona 4: Dancing All Night |
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Persona 4 Colors |
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Chie Satonaka fighting a Shadow in Persona 4 Colors.
Yu Narukami and 3 Shadows in Persona 4 Colors.
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Persona 5 |
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Normal Shadow in Kamoshida's Palace
Captain Shadow in Kamoshida's Palace
Normal Shadow in Madarame's Palace
Captain Shadow in Madarame's Palace
Female curator Shadow in Madarame's Palace
Normal Shadow in Kaneshiro's Palace
Captain Shadow in Kaneshiro's Palace
Dog Shadow in Kaneshiro's Palace
Normal Shadow in Futaba's Palace
Captain Shadow in Futaba's Palace
Dog Shadow in Futaba's Palace
The Bandit Shadow in Futaba's Palace
Normal Shadow in Okumura's Palace
Levitating bot Shadow in Okumura's Palace
Normal Shadow in Niijima's Palace
Captain Shadow in Niijima's Palace (which becomes a "non-Captain" type in Royal)
Waitress Shadow in Niijima's Palace
Normal Shadow in Shido's Palace
Captain Shadow in Shido's Palace
Dog Shadow in Shido's Palace
Shadow in Mementos
Normal Shadow in the Depths of Mementos
Captain Shadow in the Depths of Mementos
Normal Shadow in the Qliphoth World
Captain Shadow in the Qliphoth World
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Persona 5 Royal |
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Captain Shadow in Okumura's Palace
New Captain Shadow in Niijima's Palace
Scientist Shadow in Maruki's Palace
Worker Shadow in Maruki's Palace
Worker Shadow in Maruki's Palace
Captain Shadow in Maruki's Palace
Shadow in Path of Da'at section of Mementos
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See Also[]
- Persona (concept)
- Persona user
- Shadow Self
- F.O.E
- Disaster Shadow
- Dire Shadows
- Lock Keeper
- Ruffian
- Jungian psychology in the Persona series
Shadow list[]
- List of Persona 3 Shadows
- List of Persona 4 Shadows
- List of Persona Q Shadows
- List of Persona 5 Shadows
- List of Persona Q2 Shadows
- List of Persona 5 Strikers Shadows
Shadow category[]
- Persona 3 Shadows
- Persona 4 Shadows
- Persona 4 Golden Shadows
- Persona Q Shadows
- Persona 5 Shadows
- Persona Q2 Shadows
Characters | |
Playable | Rise Kujikawa - Yu Narukami - Kanami Mashita - Yosuke Hanamura - Chie Satonaka - Kanji Tatsumi - Teddie - Yukiko Amagi - Naoto Shirogane - Nanako Dojima - Margaret - Marie - Tohru Adachi - Hatsune Miku |
Non-playable | Protagonist - Ryotaro Dojima - Minoru Inoue - Sumomo Ujima - Tomoe Sayama - Tamami Uesugi - Nozomi Nakahara - Kyoka Ochimizu - Dance Instructor - Yuko Osada - Mikuratana-no-Kami - President Tanaka |
Locations | |
Other | Velvet Room - Yomotsu Hirasaka - Takura Productions - Inaba - Midnight Channel |
Midnight Stage | Kujikawa Rise (Stage) - Circus Tent - Sultry Lounge - Doll House - Romantic Castle - Mechanical Castle - Event Space - Mikuratana-no-Kami's Realm |
Music | |
Albums | Persona 4: Dancing All Night Original Soundtrack |
Songs | Dance! - Calystegia |
Archive | |
Terminology | Persona - Persona User - Shadow - Kanamin Kitchen - LMB Festival - Shadow Self - Investigation Team - Apathy Syndrome |
Lists | Trophies |