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This article is about all appearances of Thanatos in the Megami Tensei series. For the specific personification that takes the form of Thanatos in Persona 3, see Death (Persona 3).
Thanatos, in Greek mythology, symbolizes peaceful death and eternal sleep. He is the son of Nyx and Erebus, and the elder twin of Hypnos. His role is minor, often overshadowed by Hades, the underworld god.
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How is Thanatos depicted in the Persona 3 Reload game?
Thanatos, in Persona 3 Reload, is the Death Arcana's ultimate Persona. He emerges from Orpheus during the protagonist's initial summoning attempt, overpowering the Arcana Magician. The protagonist can subsequently utilize Thanatos. He is portrayed as a youthful male holding an inverted torch and either a wreath or butterfly.
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What is the difference between Thanatos and Hades in Greek mythology?
In Greek mythology, Thanatos is a harbinger of peaceful death, bringing eternal sleep to mortals. He is a son of Nyx and Erebus and the elder twin of Hypnos. He is often portrayed as a fearsome, sword-wielding figure. Conversely, Hades, the god of the underworld, has a more prominent role in the mythology, often displacing Thanatos in stories.
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When can you start using Thanatos in Persona 3 Reload?
In Persona 3 Reload, Thanatos, the Death Arcana's ultimate Persona, is introduced early when the protagonist tries to summon Orpheus. Thanatos emerges, overpowering the Arcana Magician. As the game progresses, the protagonist can access Thanatos via hexagon-spread fusion in the Velvet Room. In the game's epilogue, Aigis can also summon Thanatos using normal fusion.
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What is the significance of Thanatos being known as a harbinger of peaceful death?
In Greek mythology, Thanatos signifies peaceful death, contrasting with deities associated with violent ends. He is seen as merciless, yet guides mortals gently after death. His role is to bring the eternal sleep of death, a task he performs indiscriminately.
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History[]
Thanatos is the personification and god of death and mortality in Greek mythology. He is commonly known as a harbinger of peaceful death, bringing the eternal sleep of death to the world while more violent gods were responsible for harsher death. He did not play a major part in Greek mythology and rarely appeared in any stories, as he was mostly displaced by Hades, the god of the underworld.
In the Greek poem, Theogony, Thanatos (Greek: θάνατος, Death) is one of the sons of Nyx and Erebus and is the elder twin brother of Hypnos. In the earliest mythological accounts, Thanatos is the harbinger of peaceful death, bringing eternal sleep to the world. Characterized as indiscriminate and merciless, Thanatos is detested by all and he hates them in return, all too happy to bring mortals to their fated end. Thanatos is perceived by Greek poets as a fearsome, sword-wielding, shaggy bearded specter and fierce of countenance. He is a harbinger of suffering and grief, and his coming was marked by pain.
In later eras, Thanatos is portrayed again as an angel of death, associated more with a gentle passing than a woeful demise, guiding mortals after their death. Many Roman sarcophagi depict him as a winged boy, very much akin to Eros. His Roman counterpart is Mors, who was known through his later gentler depiction.
Thanatos can be found in the central area of the Ingress in the Womb of Grief, but due to the layout of the level, he can only be reached after the protagonist as explored a vast majority of the Sixth Sphere, while requiring the assistance of several apps along the way, including Floor Search. Like other demons sealed in the Womb of Grief, freeing Thanatos will unlock him for fusion.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner[]
"Origin: Greece
The god of death in Greek mythology, also known as the Grim Reaper. He is the son of the night goddess Nyx, and the twin brother of the sleep god Hypnos.
When it's somebody's time to die, Thanatos first dedicates their life to Hades, king of the Underworld, by cutting their hair with his blade. When he is finished, he takes them.
He is said to walk amongst men, clothed in a black robe and carrying a blade."
—Akuma Zensho
Megami Ibunroku Persona[]
Thanatos appears as the boss of the Thanatos Tower in the Snow Queen arc, as the Persona of Yuriko Yamamoto. Yuriko takes Thanatos' form when the party refuses her offer to give them eternal youth by killing them.
In battle, Thanatos is aided by six tentacles. These tentacles are the only enemies in the game not classified under an Order. Once Thanatos has been defeated, it will assume the form of an eyeball which can only cast the Hell Eyes skill.
Thanatos is the sole member of the Reaper Order in the PlayStation version of the game. His Order was changed to Tyrant in both the Japanese and English versions of the PSP port.
Persona 3[]
"The Greek god of death, he is the son of Nyx and the brother of Hypnos. He is depicted as a young man with an inverted torch and wreath or butterfly in his hands."
—Persona 3 compendium
Thanatos is the ultimate Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3. It first appears near the beginning of the game, when the male or female protagonist first summons Orpheus. Under Pharos' influence, Thanatos emerges by ripping Orpheus apart, before it mercilessly mutilates the Arcana Magician.
Later, the protagonist can gain access to Thanatos after the Social Link with Pharos is completed, after the defeat of all 12 Arcana Shadows. Thanatos' special fusion prerequisite requires all the other Personas of the Death Arcana: Loa, Pale Rider, Samael, Mot, and Alice in a pentagon-spread fusion in the Velvet Room. Thanatos grants the Heart ItemRing of Darkness, an accessory which repels Darkness-based attacks.
Thanatos is the form Death takes when acting as a Persona for the protagonist. Even after Death/Pharos leaves the protagonist to become Ryoji Mochizuki, the protagonist can fuse and summon Thanatos and Ryoji can assume the form of Thanatos as well, as it can be seen as the symbol of Death's bond with the protagonist.
FES / Portable[]
Thanatos' role and attribute remains relatively the same from the original game. However, the fusion prerequisite now requires an additional Persona, namely Ghoul, an additional Persona of the Death Arcana in Persona 3 FES and Portable to perform a hexagon-spread fusion in the Velvet Room.
In the playable epilogue of Persona 3 FES, titled the Answer, Thanatos can also be summoned in the Velvet Room by Aigis through normal fusion.
The Manga[]
Thanatos' first appearance is identical as in the games. After the defeat of Arcana Hanged Man, Minato stops using Orpheus as his main Persona and starts summoning Thanatos instead, indicating he fused the death god offscreen.
Minato would continue to use Thanatos in all his battles afterwards. Unlike in the games, Thanatos is associated with the "power of Death" which Minato harnessed due to being a vessel for Death for 11 years. In the final battle, Thanatos is the only Persona which can completely ignore Nyx Avatar's Moonless Gown barrier, which otherwise completely reflects attacks from SEES. That said, Thanatos isn't able to output enough power to meaningfully damage Nyx Avatar, and is then destroyed in a few hits.
Messiah, which is fused from Orpheus and Thanatos, cannot ignore Moonless Gown but is instead able to destroy it completely with blades of light, echoing how Nyx Avatar tells Minato to wield the power of Death his own way.
The Movie[]
Thanatos' first appearance is largely the same as in the games, albeit in the movie Thanatos only emerges after Orpheus' own attacks failed to do significant damage on the Arcana Magician.
Next time, Makoto summons Thanatos to battle Ryoji as Nyx Avatar in its true Arcana, Death. Ryoji initially identifies Thanatos as "his hesitation" and is pushed back, but after he cuts off his hesitation he manages to defeat the Persona, at which point Makoto gains a chance to deal the final blow with his sword. When Nyx's true form emerges from the Moon, Makoto fuses Thanatos with Orpheus to create Messiah.
Reload[]
Thanatos is a Persona of the Death Arcana. With DLC installed, he becomes one of the Personas necessary to summon Satanael through special fusion.
Persona 4 Arena / Ultimax[]
Thanatos now serves as Elizabeth's Persona. He is the only Persona in the game that is capable of using all the Elemental Spells.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth[]
Thanatos is one of the DLC Sub-Personas, which can be downloaded for $2. His unique skill is Door of Hades, which hits all enemies with a heavy Almighty attack, with a high chance to instantly kill, once per turn for three turns.
Persona 5[]
"A Persona of another story. The Greek god of death, he is the son of Nyx and the twin brother of Hypnos. He is known to provide mortals with a peaceful death."
Thanatos can be obtained via the Legacy DLC bundle and has the Iron Heart trait, which halves the SP cost of all magic skills during a Baton Pass. Also, by transferring Alice's trait "Just Die!", the game recognizes Door of Hades as an insta-kill skill, reducing it to 0 every time. During a fusion alarm, Thatanos will yield the Darkness Ring R accessory, which gives the wearer the skill Evade Curse as well as +8 in their Magic, while the Picaro variant yields a Demonic Decree Skill Card.
Thanatos is aided by three tentacles of each type. After being defeated, Thanatos becomes Thanatos (Eyeball) and all remaining tentacles are destroyed.
Heavy Almighty attack each turn for 3 turns. (All enemies)
Innate
Megidola
32 SP
Heavy Almighty attack. (All enemies)
Innate
Death Counter
32 HP
Counter whenever user's row is attacked for 3 turns.
Innate
Runic Shield
Passive
High chance to null Fire/Ice/Elec/Wind/Psy/Nuke damage to user's row.
49
Broadshot
68 HP
Heavy Phys attack that pierces to the back row. (1 enemy) Stronger in Boost.
50
Megidolaon
48 SP
Severe Almighty attack. (All enemies)
51
Gallery[]
Devil Summoner[]
Thanatos artwork from the Devil Summoner series
Thanatos as it appears in Card Summoner
Persona series[]
Concept artwork of Thanatos
Thanatos in Gekkoukan High School.
The protagonist and Thanatos
Thanatos as he appears in Persona 3
Thanatos as he appears in Persona 3
Thanatos slaying the Arcana Magician Shadow
Thanatos in-game
Thanatos in Persona 3 Reload
Thanatos from P3P
Thanatos in Persona 3 Manga
Thanatos in Persona 3 Manga
Concept artwork of Thanatos in Persona 3 The Movie
Thanatos's Persona 3 The Movie concept design
Thanatos in Persona 3 The Movie
Thanatos artwork from Persona 4 Arena
Thanatos in-game
Thanatos in-game (2)
Thanatos as he appears in Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Thanatos in Persona O.A.
Thanatos in Persona 5
Thanatos in Persona 5 Royal
Thanatos Picaro in Persona 5 Royal
Thanatos Picaro in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Persona 25th Anniversary[]
Artwork of Thanatos and the protagonist concluding the 25th Anniversary event.
In Other Languages[]
Language
Name
English
Thanatos Thanatos Picaro
Japanese
タナトス (Tanatosu) タナトス・賊神 (Tanatosu Pikaro)
French
Thanatos Thanatos Picaro
Italian
Thanatos Thanatos Picaro
German
Thanatos Thanatos Picaro
Spanish
Tánatos Tánatos Pícaro
Trivia[]
The depiction of Thanatos in Persona 3 seems to be derived more from the earliest mythological accounts, being characterized as a grim warrior surrounded by a mantle of metal coffins.
Thanatos appears alongside Pallas Athena, Izanagi and Messiah as one of the Personas featured in Lord of Vermilion Re: 2, once again serving as Elizabeth's Persona. Thanatos enables Elizabeth to use Megidolaon, which is considered a Physical Ability in the game.