"There is no hypocrisy... in my vision. None. The demon is but a means to an end. Nothing more, nothing less. Humans need the will to survive at any cost. And those who lack that strength of will... no longer deserve to live."
Shohei Yakumo is a character in Shin Megami Tensei V.
Appearances[]
- Shin Megami Tensei V / Vengeance: Major Character, Boss (Meta Race)
Profile[]
Shin Megami Tensei V[]
"All that strength, and still you're content to be Bethel's lapdog...? What are you thinking? You've seen what happens to the humans who demons set their sights on. They get twisted. Manipulated. Broken. Did those demons make anyone's lives better? Or did they ruin everything they touched? Demons are a blot on our world that must be cleansed. If you think they're worth fighting for, then by all means, prove it."
A mysterious tall man standing by Nuwa's side. He dons an old-fashioned police uniform with the Kanagawa Prefecture arm badge and wields a katana and a revolver. He hails from a long lineage of law officers and spiritualists, with him following the family tradition.
Shohei's father, a kind man but hard on himself, had his weakness exploited by a demon, causing his death. As such, he displays resentment towards demons, finding them to be parasites that do not belong in the human world. He sides with Nuwa, a demon who's been with him since he was very young. Nuwa claims she and Yakumo were inseparable. While the two appear to be cordial with each other, they are implied (and eventually confirmed) to be in love with each other.
Due to his resentment of demons, he and Nuwa initially wished to make a world in which no gods or demons would exist. However, as Nuwa is a demon and the two reciprocate their feelings for each other, they realized that this option was unfeasible. His views on humanity are rather stern as well, finding that, in his words, people who don't have the will to fight are better off dead anyway, and that those that would betray their fellow man should've never been born to begin with.
His sternness often drew misunderstanding from other people, with his ideals even being challenged by Aogami, who finds him to be cold and even questions if he genuinely cares about humanity, but even if his ideals are condemned by the world, Yakumo actually holds on to a noble objective of his own: he actually believes in humanity's potential, and simply hates humans who have given up: he and Nuwa reject godhood as a whole, wanting to destroy the throne and leave humanity to decide their fate for themselves. The unfolding events of the ending give a glimpse of the morals he wishes to uphold: in spite of tragedy, he puts tradition and has faith in what humanity has done in the past and what they can do together in the future: creation via godhood would be dishonorable to that purpose.
Yakumo first meets the protagonist in Da'at, while in the midst of his battle with Nuwa. At first, Yakumo finds him to be no different from other demons, but Nuwa asks him to let him go on a whim. Yakumo laters confront the protagonist again in Chiyoda, questioning Nuwa's decision to spare him. Although he's convinced he's nothing special, he decides to give him a chance and battle him instead of shooting him down outright. After being defeated, he'll question him for cooperating with Bethel and the demons, especially after Lahmu's casualties, as well as manipulating one into doing his bidding to become a Nahobino.
If the protagonist chooses to save Tokyo or uphold God's will, Yakumo and Nuwa will intercept him at the throne in a last-ditch attempt to prevent them from claiming it, transforming into a massive, human-faced dragon. They are ultimately slain in the ensuing battle.
If the protagonist chooses to destroy the throne, Yakumo and Nuwa will not talk with the protagonist unlike the other Nahobino pairs, instead making their way straight to the throne. However, they are intercepted by Abdiel and Ichiro Dazai, who transform into their Nahobino form and easily overwhelm the pair. Yakumo takes the brunt of the attack, sparing Nuwa from death at the cost of his own life. The protagonist arrives soon after and he expresses shame in failing his goal, saying it was his destiny to lose, but content that he died on his own terms. His death leaves Nuwa heartbroken, who simply disappears; if certain criteria is met, she reappears after they kill Nahobino Abdiel, telling them of another option that she no longer has reservations with following his death.
Vengeance[]
Yakumo's past is further fleshed upon in this game. His mother was a generational spiritualist and his father was a policeman with a well-established record. When he was young, his parents were slain by the Qadištu. As a result, Yakumo was raised by other demons. Quite contrary to the modern-day Yakumo, the demons who raised him were his only companions, as he was considered an outcast at school. Koshimizu speculates that he wants to "slay all demons" only to keep a grasp of his own identity. When he was around the same age as the protagonist, he also tried to kill Nuwa to no avail.
Yakumo is encountered a second time after the Nahobino defeats Naamah and Glasya-Labolas on his way to school. Upon sensing them, Naamah leaves immediately.
Yakumo and Nuwa later stake out Agrat's Magatsuhi trap to slay the Qadištu once they come to retrieve it, despite the fact that if they allowed it to continue gathering Magatsuhi, it could put several hundred civilians into the crossfire. However, before they can encounter the demonesses, they run into the party who were responding to a severe increase of Magatsuhi activity next to Jozoji Shrine. Yuzuru tells him off as allowing it to continue will cause much damage, and leads the rest of the party to a confrontation against them. Once defeated, Tao disassembles the Magatsuhi trap, and Yoko and the Nahobino call him off for his hypocrisy as Nuwa tends to his wounds. To prove that he was not a hypocrite, he stabs Nuwa at the shoulder and seemingly kills her (something he knows that would not work) and claims to them that the demon was just a means to the end.
Nuwa and Yakumo were among the spectators of Tiamat's resurrection. A later side conversation reveals that Nuwa shielded him from Tiamat's initial blast and died. Having lost everything and despondent, he gives up the competition for the Throne and returns to Tokyo reconsidering future plans.
Stats[]
Shin Megami Tensei V[]
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Strategy[]
Yakumo will spend turns buffing himself with Tarukaja before assaulting the party with Physical attacks, making Phys Dampeners quite useful. He will use Mazionga following the turn he activates Omagatoki: Critical. Shohei has no means of canceling debuffs to his Defense and Accuracy/Evasion which the party can utilize to their advantage. Having the protagonist learn Mudoon or Black Dracostrike from the enemies in the Kanda region prior to fighting Yakumo will alllow for extra turns, and Alice and Kaiwan can be used to also strike his weakness. Belphegor resists both Phys and Elec, and offers Mudoon and Marakukaja, making him an attractive choice for this battle, especially if he can be fused with Taunt to draw Yakumo's single-target attacks. Yoshitsune can use Pierce Armor to lower Yakumo's defense and Puncture Punch to ignore his Physical resistance once fully debuffed.
In Other Languages[]
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
 Japanese
|
八雲 ショウヘイ |
 Korean
|
야쿠모 쇼헤이 |
  Traditional Chinese
|
八雲 翔平 |
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
- Shohei's surname Yakumo means "eight" (八) (ya) and "cloud" (雲) (kumo).