An ultimate Persona (最強ペルソナ, Saikyou Perusona)? or advanced Persona (後期ペルソナ, Kouki Perusona)? is a Persona formed when an individual undergoes a great change or gains a new sense of resolve. These Personas are among the strongest that their users can summon and typically represent gods or similarly powerful entities as a result. As their users continue to develop, ultimate Personas can gain new forms or fuse with initial Personas, as seen in Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal, respectively. In most games, ultimate Personas come with signature skills and more powerful resistances.
In Megami Ibunroku Persona through Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, these Personas are gained all at once with only a few exceptions, representing steps the respective parties take together. From Persona 3 onward, second awakenings are more character-specific and are often prompted by story, Social Link or Confidant events.
Initial Personas can gain the same amount of strength as ultimate Personas. This only occurs when the Persona-user in question rejects their second awakening.
Appearances[]
- Megami Ibunroku Persona
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
- Persona 3 / FES / Portable / Reload
- Persona 4 / Golden
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
- Persona 5 / Royal
- Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Profile[]
Megami Ibunroku Persona[]
The ultimate Personas are fused by adding certain Totems to fusions that result in a Persona whose Arcana is the same as the ultimate Persona's Arcana, and can only be equipped by the character they belong to. The totems are gained towards the end of the game, though the exact method depends on the route.
In the SEBEC quest, if the protagonist performs good deeds throughout the quest, when he meets with his other self in the Alaya Cavern, the other self will reward him with the totems.
In the Snow Queen route, the protagonist has to trade Ambrosia gained from defeating the Tower bosses with Raiho during the final dungeon. If the harder towers are completed before the easier ones, more Ambrosia will be given.
Character | Arcana | Persona | Lvl | Totem |
---|---|---|---|---|
Protagonist | Emperor | Amen Ra | 62 | Rosetta Stone |
Maki Sonomura | Priestess | Verdandi | 61 | Pasque Flower |
Kei Nanjo | Judgement | Yamaoka | 60 | Amber Glasses |
Masao Inaba | Chariot | Susano-o | 59 | Purified Water |
Yukino Mayuzumi | Empress | Durga | 57 | Bisonskin Drums |
Yuka Ayase | Magician | Frey | 59 | Stuffed Deer |
Eriko Kirishima | Judgement | Michael | 62 | Judgement Contract |
Hidehiko Uesugi | Justice | Tyr | 54 | Victorian Rune |
Reiji Kido | Death | Mot | 58 | Babylonian Coffin |
Persona 2[]
Innocent Sin[]
Most of the ultimate Personas are gained after defeating Joker in the Caracol if the party found the corresponding mask at Mt. Iwato (the Red Eagle Mask for Apollo, the Yellow Owl Mask for Hades, the Pink Azas Mask for Venus and the Blue Swan Mask for Artemis).
Having Apollo, Venus, and Hades equipped at the end of the boss battles against their reverse counterparts in Leo Temple, Taurus Temple, and Scorpio Temple respectively will change the Personas' resistances:
- Apollo's weakness to Dark will turn into an immunity. His resistance to Nuclear will be upgraded into an immunity. He'll still be weak to Water and Ice, but the amount of damage he receives from those elements will be reduced.
- Venus' weakness to Dark will turn into an immunity. She'll go from taking neutral damage from Elec to resisting it. Her weakness to Ice will be upgraded into taking neutral damage from that element. She'll still be weak to Wind, but the amount of damage she receives from it will be reduced.
- Hades' weakness to Dark will turn into an immunity. His weakness to Nuclear will be upgraded into taking neutral damage from it. He'll still be weak to Fire, but the amount of damage he receives from that element will be reduced.
Yukino retains Durga as her ultimate Persona, which is obtained if she comes to terms with Shunsuke Fujii's death and stays with Tatsuya's party at the Caracol. Jun Kurosu's ultimate Persona is Chronos, obtained by equipping Hermes during the Aquarius Temple's boss fight and then mutating it once it reaches maximum rank.
Character | Lvl. | Persona | Requirement | Location | Unique Skill |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tatsuya Suou | 53 | Apollo | Obtain the Red Eagle Mask on Mt. Iwato, then defeat Joker. | Caracol | Nova Kaiser |
Eikichi Mishina | 57 | Hades | Obtain the Yellow Owl Mask on Mt. Iwato, then defeat Joker. | Bloody Honeymoon | |
Lisa Silverman | 57 | Venus | Obtain the Pink Azas Mask on Mt. Iwato, then defeat Joker. | Foamy Lover | |
Maya Amano | 51 | Artemis | Obtain the Blue Swan Mask on Mt. Iwato, then defeat Joker. | Crescent Mirror | |
Yukino Mayuzumi | 44 | Durga | Accept Fujii's death and stay with the party. | Thunder Inferno | |
Jun Kurosu | 57 | Chronos | Equip Hermes during the Aquarius Temple boss fight, then mutate at MAX Rank. | Velvet Room | Cross Fortune |
Eternal Punishment[]
Except for Tatsuya, who has already obtained his ultimate Persona, Apollo, before the beginning of the story, all other characters' ultimate Personas require the party to obtain the Material Cards from Mt. Iwato and then summon them in the Velvet Room manually. This gives the party the freedom to apply a magic card and stat boost card during the summoning. The ultimate Personas in Eternal Punishment are slightly less powerful and useful skill-wise than in Innocent Sin, but consume less SP.
Character | Lvl. | Persona | Requirement | Location | Unique Skill | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tarot cards | Material card | |||||
Maya Amano | 63 | Artemis | Moon (252) | Silver Bow | Mt. Iwato | Crescent Mirror |
Ulala Serizawa | 62 | Astria | Star (248) | Ortyx | Twinkle Nebula | |
Katsuya Suou | 63 | Hyperion | Justice (189) | Ancient Sun | Justice Shot | |
Baofu | 61 | Prometheus | Hanged Man (244) | Bronze Ring | Wiseman Snap | |
Eriko Kirishima | 76 | Gabriel | Judgement (304) | Lily | EX Dungeon 2-A | Release Jail |
Kei Nanjo | 75 | Yamaoka | Hierophant (225) | Amber Eyeglasses | EX Dungeon 2-C | Guardian Hammer |
Tatsuya Suou | 62 | Apollo | N/A | Nova Cyther |
Persona 3[]
The ultimate Personas are evolved forms of the initial Personas gained throughout the story, based on their operator's character development. Following a story-specific prompt, each character individually experiences a personal resolution, which brings about the metamorphosis of their initial Persona into their ultimate Persona. The ultimate Personas are listed below in order of metamorphosis.
Gameplay-wise, ultimate Personas nullify what element their previous forms were resistant towards, with sole exception of Messiah, who repels Light and is weak to Darkness while resisting all magic (except Almighty). The party member's ultimate Personas can also gain more skills by leveling up compared to their initial Personas.
In Reload, when a party member's Persona evolves into their ultimate form, they would unlock a new Theurgy spell to use in battle in addition to the Theurgy skill they already have beforehand.
In any instance where a scenario continues from the end of the Journey (such as the Answer and the Persona 4 Arena series of games), all surviving members of SEES have their ultimate Personas by default, if applicable.
Character | Persona | Prompt | Resolution |
---|---|---|---|
Akihiko Sanada | Caesar | Death of Shinjiro Aragaki | To face everything head-on |
Ken Amada | Kala-Nemi | Being saved by Shinjiro Aragaki | To live for his mother and Shinjiro |
Fuuka Yamagishi | Juno | Natsuki Moriyama transferring schools | To protect those she is connected with |
Yukari Takeba | Isis | Receiving her father's true message | To fulfill her father's wishes by fighting against the Dark Hour |
Mitsuru Kirijo | Artemisia | Death of her father | To carry on her father's legacy |
Junpei Iori | Trismegistus | Death of Chidori Yoshino and fusion of Hermes and Medea | To live for Chidori |
Aigis | Athena | Failure to eliminate Ryoji Mochizuki and to fulfill her predetermined purpose | To "live" and decide her own fate |
Makoto Yuki / Kotone Shiomi | Messiah | N/A | N/A |
Shinjiro Aragaki (who dies protecting Ken), Koromaru and Metis do not gain ultimate Personas. The protagonist can only obtain their ultimate Persona by fusion upon completion of the Judgement Social Link.
In Reload, it is speculated that Koromaru's Cerberus is already his ultimate Persona. Aigis speculated that he had experienced a major event beforehand to have already triggered his Persona evolution, which would explain on how he is able to have two Theurgies when he first joins the party. However, in Persona Q, it is implied that Cerberus is his initial Persona since Koromaru refuses to let his Persona evolve to remind him of his failure in preventing his original owner's death. This may had been retconned since Reload was produced after Persona Q.
Persona 4[]
The awakened Persona (覚醒ペルソナ, Kakusei Perusona)?, like in Persona 3, are evolved forms of the initial Personas. Unlike in Persona 3, these Persona are obtained by maxing out the respective party member's Social Link.
Gameplay-wise, awakened Personas nullify whatever element their normal forms were previously resistant to, all the while gaining a resistance towards another element. The only exception to this is the protagonist's ultimate Persona, which resists Physical, Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Wind Skills, though it also loses its previous form's Darkness nullification, being neutral to Light and Darkness.
Character | Persona | Requirement |
---|---|---|
Yu Narukami | Izanagi-no-Okami | Unlock True Ending* |
Yosuke Hanamura | Susano-o | Max out S.Link Magician |
Chie Satonaka | Suzuka Gongen | Max out S.Link Chariot |
Yukiko Amagi | Amaterasu | Max out S.Link Priestess |
Kanji Tatsumi | Dairoku Tenmaou | Max out S.Link Emperor |
Rise Kujikawa | Kanzeon | Max out S.Link Lovers |
Teddie | Kamui | Max out S.Link Star |
Naoto Shirogane | Yamato-Takeru | Max out S.Link Fortune |
- The protagonist automatically gains his own ultimate Persona, Izanagi-no-Okami, during the final battle in the True Ending, but it cannot be used in normal gameplay until a certain fusion is performed on a New Game Plus file after obtaining the True Ending.
Golden[]
Persona 4 Golden offers new, third-tier Personas for every character (except for the protagonist, who still gains Izanagi-no-Okami during the final battle in the True Ending and can only be used in normal gameplay upon fusion in New Game Plus). Unlocking these Personas grants the respective Persona a unique ultimate skill. To unlock these ultimate Personas, the protagonist must first max out the corresponding teammate's Social Link, and then speak with them for another Social Link meeting at any point after 1/10 to evolve their Persona further. Most of the third-tier Personas for the Investigation Team are named after extensions of their gods' names (Yosuke and Teddie), alternative readings of their names (Kanji and Rise), or epithets revolving around them (Yukiko and Naoto), with Chie's third tier being wholly untied to her ultimate Persona.
Gameplay-wise, these new ultimate Personas now absorb whatever element their awakened forms had previously been nullified towards, while most of the third tiers promote the resistance their second forms had into a nullification, exceptions being Takeji Zaiten (who now resists Phys) and Yamato Sumeragi (who has no drain affinity, instead repelling Light and Darkness).
As a result of the party's respective Social Links having unlockable skills as the protagonist progresses through them in Golden, ultimate Personas now gain an evade skill towards the element they are weak against when the Social Link is maxed out, lowering their chances of them being downed, with sole exception to Yamato-Takeru, who doesn't have a exploitable weakness and so learns Invigorate 3 instead. Third-tier Personas also grant each party member's ultimate skill upon awakening.
Character | Persona | Ultimate Skill | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
Yu Narukami | Izanagi-no-Okami | Myriad Truths | The word of power that banishes all the world's curses and falsehoods. |
Yosuke Hanamura | Takehaya Susano-o | Youthful Wind | Moderately restores party's HP and raises Hit/Evasion rate for 3 turns. |
Chie Satonaka | Haraedo-no-Okami | Dragon Hustle | Increases the party's Attack, Defense, and Hit/Evade. |
Yukiko Amagi | Sumeo-Okami | Burning Petals | Deals severe Fire damage to all foes. |
Kanji Tatsumi | Takeji Zaiten | The Man's Way | May inflict Down/Dizzy on all foes. |
Rise Kujikawa | Kouzeon | Complete Analysis | View foe's skills and elemental affinities, even those you have not tried. Overrides Full Analysis |
Teddie | Kamui-Moshiri | Kamui Miracle | Anything could happen...
1. All allies and/or all foes' HP and SP fully recovered; |
Naoto Shirogane | Yamato Sumeragi | Shield of Justice | Shields the party from all damage once. |
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth[]
All ultimate Personas from Persona 3 and Persona 4 are revisited in Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. When both protagonists reach a Level 55, Margaret will make a request challenging only the protagonists to a fight. When emerging victorious, Margaret notes that a change has occurred within the both of them, with Orpheus transfiguring into Messiah, and Izanagi transfiguring into Izanagi-no-Okami. Margaret states that due to the power of the two Wild Cards coming together and facing a battle to the death, the protagonists will obtain even greater power, and because the Wild Card has extended to their companions, their Personas will be able to evolve as well if their level is at a certain point (Level 55 or higher). Shinjiro and Koromaru ask Margaret if it is possible for their Personas to remain the same so that they can never forget what they have done, or failed to do; Margaret tells them that if they focus on keeping their same Persona, it should be possible for them to stay the same while they gain new power.
On evolution, most Personas gain a new resistance. The two protagonists get the most out of the evolution due to resisting most attacks and shedding a weakness. In addition to new resistances, an ultimate Persona learns a unique skill that fills in the unused 4th slot in their skill set.
Character | Persona | Special Skill |
---|---|---|
P3 hero | Messiah | Debilitate |
P4 hero | Izanagi-no-Okami | Heat Riser |
Yukari Takeba | Isis | Tornado Boost |
Junpei Iori | Trismegistus | Golden Gemini |
Akihiko Sanada | Caesar | Conqueror Title |
Mitsuru Kirijo | Artemisia | Punishment |
Aigis | Pallas Athena | Aegis Shield |
Koromaru | Cerberus | Deadly Vanguard |
Ken Amada | Kala-Nemi | Target Boost |
Shinjiro Aragaki | Castor | Whirlwind Swing |
Yosuke Hanamura | Susano-o | Death Needle |
Chie Satonaka | Suzuka Gongen | Furious Fists |
Yukiko Amagi | Amaterasu | Inferno Boost |
Kanji Tatsumi | Dairoku Tenmaou | Uprising |
Teddie | Kamui | Amrita |
Naoto Shirogane | Yamato-Takeru | Powerhouse |
Fuuka Yamagishi | Juno | Oracle |
Rise Kujikawa | Kanzeon | Into the Void |
Persona 5[]
The ultimate Personas, like in Persona 4, are evolved forms of the initial Personas gained through maxing out the party member's Confidant relationship. All of the evolved Personas are described as trickster deities in-game.
Gameplay-wise, ultimate Personas nullify whatever element their normal forms were resistant to, all the while gaining a resistance towards another element. They also gain an evade skill towards the element they are weak against, lowering their chances of being downed. The only exception to this is the protagonist's ultimate Persona, which drains Curse and nullifies Bless while being resistant to all other attacks (except Almighty).
Character | Persona | Requirement |
---|---|---|
Ren Amamiya | Satanael | Unlock True Ending |
Morgana | Mercurius | Max out Magician Confidant |
Ryuji Sakamoto | Seiten Taisei | Max out Chariot Confidant |
Ann Takamaki | Hecate | Max out Lovers Confidant |
Yusuke Kitagawa | Kamu Susano-o | Max out Emperor Confidant |
Makoto Niijima | Anat | Max out Priestess Confidant |
Futaba Sakura | Prometheus | Max out Hermit Confidant |
Haru Okumura | Astarte | Max out Empress Confidant |
Goro Akechi does have another Persona, Loki, but it is not an ultimate Persona and he summons it when he is no longer a party member, meaning it is not playable.
Royal[]
Persona 5 Royal, like Persona 4 Golden before, offers third-tier Personas. During the awakening process, the character's initial and ultimate Personas fuse together. All third-tier Personas are named after either the original names of the fictional characters their initial Personas represent or the historical basis for the same.
In order to trigger the evolution of any of the party member's third-tier personas bar Morgana, Akechi and Sumire, their confidants must be maxed and the protagonist must be invited to their homes for a talk during specific dates, starting with Ann Takamaki during January 13th. (Morgana's will automatically awaken on January 10th.) During that meeting, they will all apologize for so easily accepting the reality of Takuto Maruki and lament failing to protect the protagonist while he was risking his life for their sake. They then swear to him that they will deal with their grief and move forward, awakening their third tier persona by fusing their initial and ultimates. Triggering a third-tier awakening causes time to pass, as is the case for Confidant events.
Sumire will awaken her third-tier Persona during the day if her Confidant is fully maxed, after thanking the protagonist for his aid, and Akechi, if the conditions for the True Ending have been fulfilled, will awaken to his Persona if the protagonist refuses Maruki's final offer.
Both Akechi and Sumire's third-tier Personas will evolve on February 2nd, but due to the fixed schedule for that day, they can only be viewed and used on February 3rd, where combat is last available. This applies to New Game Plus as well. This means these Personas can only be used in combat in Maruki's Palace, most obviously against the final boss, though the party may still engage in normal enemy encounters and participate in Velvet Room Challenge Battles during this time.
The protagonist's third-tier Persona, Raoul, is only obtainable by purchasing the DLC for it.
Gameplay-wise, most third tier Personas possess the same defensive abilities as their ultimate Personas. The exceptions are Raoul (who nullifies Curse but is weak to Light), Hereward and Ella (who are respectively granted resistances to Psychokinesis and Nuclear skills, respectively). Third-tier Personas also grant each party member's Ex skill upon awakening.
Character | Persona | Ex Skill | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
Ren Amamiya | Sinful Shell | A bullet made from the Seven Deadly Sins that can pierce even a god. | |
Raoul* | Phantom Show | Inflict Sleep (high odds) to all foes. | |
Morgana | Diego | Miracle Rush | Medium Physical damage to all foes. High critical rate. |
Ryuji Sakamoto | William | Fighting Spirit | Multiply party's next Physical attack damage by 2.5. |
Ann Takamaki | Célestine | High Energy | Multiply party's next Magic attack damage by 2.5. |
Yusuke Kitagawa | Gorokichi | Hyakka Ryouran | Increase party's Attack, Defense and Agility for 3 turns. |
Makoto Niijima | Agnes | Checkmate | Decrease all foes' Attack, Defense and Agility for 3 turns. |
Futaba Sakura | Al Azif | Ultimate Support | Fully restore HP (including revival if necessary) and cure all ailments of party except for special status. |
Haru Okumura | Lucy | Life Wall | Erect a shield on all allies to repel 1 (non-Almighty) attack. |
Goro Akechi | Hereward | Rebellion Blade | Colossal Almighty damage to 1 foe. Stronger against downed targets. |
Sumire Yoshizawa | Ella | Masquerade | Severe physical damage to one foe two times. |
- The protagonist's ultimate persona in-game is Satanael, while his third tier persona, Raoul, is DLC exclusive
In Royal, both Akechi and Sumire also receive ultimate Personas. Akechi is a unique case since his is technically an alternate initial Persona, but is treated as an ultimate Persona for the sake of gameplay. Takuto Maruki also gets an ultimate Persona, Adam Kadmon, though he is not playable.
Character | Persona | Requirement |
---|---|---|
Goro Akechi | Loki | Unlock "True Ending" |
Sumire Yoshizawa | Vanadis | Max out Faith Arcana |
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth[]
All ultimate Personas from Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 appear in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth. Special Screenings number 42 through 45 each yield a Sooty Film on completion, which the party brings to Elizabeth to initiate a fight with one of the Velvet Room attendants. When the party completes all four fights, all four protagonists will obtain their ultimate Personas. Everyone else's Personas will be able to evolve as well if they reach level 55; for party members already above that threshold, the evolution takes place the next time they level up. Shinjiro, Koromaru and Akechi are exceptions, and will instead have a powered-up version of their Personas.
On evolution, a character's Persona will gain new resistances. The protagonists stand the most to gain from this evolution, as their ultimate Personas shed most of their weaknesses and resist multiple elements. Akihiko, Ken, Kanji, Naoto, and the P5 cast will upgrade their innate resistance into an immunity; Akechi also loses his weakness to Curse in the process, while Naoto gains a resistance to Fire. Shinjiro and Koromaru will not change their resistances or weaknesses on evolution.
Each character's Persona has a unique skill that isn't learned by anyone else. When their Personas evolve to their ultimate form, that skill will automatically upgrade to a stronger version. If that unique skill was deleted or never learned, the party member can have the upgraded unique skill overwrite any of the Persona's other skills. The Navigators do not learn any new skills on evolution, instead, two of their in-battle support skills will have their costs reduced by 1.
See also[]