Those who possess the wild card are often symbolized by multiple masks.
"It is like the number zero... empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself."
In the Persona series, the Wild Card (ワイルドカード, Wairudo Kaado)? is the ability to form a contract allowing one to access and summon multiple Personas and switch between them in battle, and the ability to change bonds into strength. The Wild Card is most closely related to the Fool Arcana, with its Tarot numeral being zero (0); however, stagnant Wild Cards can be associated with other Arcanas.
Appearances[]
- Persona 3 / FES / Portable / Reload
- Persona Mobile Online
- Persona 4 / Golden
- Persona 4 Arena / Ultimax
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
- Persona 5 / Royal
- Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
- Persona 5 Strikers
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Persona 5: The Phantom X
Known Wild Card Users[]
- Makoto Yuki / Kotone Shiomi (Persona 3: The Journey)
- Aigis (Persona 3: The Answer; circumstances prevented her from fully taking advantage of it)
- Tarou (Persona Mobile Online)
- Yu Narukami (Persona 4)
- Sho Minazuki (Persona 4 Arena Ultimax; rejected the contract)
- Elizabeth (Persona 4 Arena)
- Goro Akechi (Persona 5; stagnant)
- Ren Amamiya (Persona 5)
- Wonder (Persona 5: The Phantom X)
Profile[]
Persona 3 / FES / Portable / Reload[]
"Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place."
The protagonist, Makoto Yuki / Kotone Shiomi, is the only character in Persona 3 to possess the Wild Card. The protagonist is visited by a child that is not visible to others, who prompts them to sign a contract, which is later revealed to be the source behind the protagonist's Wild Card ability. Having signed the contract, the protagonist is granted access to the Velvet Room and thus is allowed to fuse and create new Personas. Additionally, the protagonist can form Social Links that further empower the Personas fused that correspond to the Arcana of the Social Link. In combat the protagonist is also able to perform Fusion Spells prior to Reload and a wide variety of its replacement in Reload, Theurgy. While they have never shown to have a direct interaction with Philemon, they are visited by him under the guise of a blue butterfly.[1]
The Answer / Episode Aigis - The Answer[]
In the playable epilogue of Persona 3 FES titled The Answer, Aigis is the only character to gain the ability of the Wild Card. Upon her visit to the Velvet Room, Igor states that awakening the power of the Wild Card is equivalent to signing the contract. While she is capable of taking advantage of Social Link bonuses, she does not have access to Social Links due to the circumstances she awakened to her Wild Card in. She is unable to use Fusion Spells in prior games, however this is changed in Reload as she is able to perform a similar variety of Theurgy as her predecessor. Like the protagonist before her, she was visited by a blue butterfly.
Persona Mobile Online[]
The Protagonist, Tarou, possesses the wild card.
Persona 4 / Golden[]
Protagonist's Wild Card, as seen when first using a Persona.
The protagonist of Persona 4, Yu Narukami, is welcomed to the Velvet Room, where Igor tells him that while he does not have a "contract" yet, being the first to enter without one but said to sign one in the future. It is hinted that when Izanami gave him the power to enter the Midnight Channel, she inadvertently awakened his Wild Card ability which completed the contract, but it does not explain how he was able to enter the Velvet Room without it. The protagonist is also able to form and strengthen bonds to further the strength of his Personas during fusions.
The protagonist was not shown to have any encounter with Philemon nor the butterfly prior to his appearance in the Velvet Room (save points appear as the butterfly, but only appear afterwards).
Persona 4 Arena / Ultimax[]
"Some have had the talent of turning bonds into great strength by forming a contract through intense desire... We residents of the Velvet Room refer to this talent as the 'wild card', and it has at times changed the course of history."
The Wild Card is an important story element in Elizabeth's story mode, and a minor story element to its current wielders, Aigis and Yu, though they do not use it in the game. Much of her story is centered on her understanding the true nature of the Wild Card, through challenging its last known wielders, Aigis and Yu, in battle. Despite their inability to defeat Elizabeth, they manage to succeed in helping her understand the full potential of the Wild Card, enabling her to receive the Fool Arcana.
Yu and Aigis are mostly unable to change Personas during battles and they are only able to do so when they successfully launch their Instant Kills, where Izanagi and Athena will change to Izanagi-no-Okami and Palladion respectively in their Instant Kill animations.
Sho Minazuki declined the contract at some point prior to the events of the games.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth[]
"The Fool is the number zero... It is the Arcana that represents beginnings, and infinite possibilities. Just like the card, my guest can wield infinite personas. We call that ability the power of the wild card."
In Persona Q, the true power of the Wild Card gets sealed off from both the P3 and P4 heroes. Margaret explains that the two groups are trapped within a finite plane of existence, which limits the Wild Card's representation of infinite possibilities. While all playable characters originating from Persona 3 and Persona 4 are unable to change their main Personas, including the leaders, they all have the ability to equip a second, Sub-Persona. Margaret and Elizabeth learn by using the Tarot that the ability to equip the Sub Personas is due to the blessings of the Fool, showing its blessing upon them all due to multiple users of the card being together.
Persona 5 / Royal[]
The protagonist of Persona 5, Ren Amamiya, is able to utilize the power of the Wild Card along with the Metaverse Navigator by Yaldabaoth. Like prior protagonists, he is able to draw power from the bonds he creates, called Confidants. Unlike Social Links, they provide additional abilities for the protagonist inside and outside of the Metaverse. During the game's climax, the protagonist is empowered by the faith of the citizens of Tokyo, enabling him to summon Satanael. The idea of the faith strengthening the protagonist is similar to Confidants, though whether or not this was thanks to the wild card is unclear.
Goro Akechi was given the same power as well but was only shown to be able to use two Personas, both of the Justice Arcana: Robin Hood and Loki. Futaba Sakura speculates that Akechi was only able to awaken to two Personas (one that represented his lies and one that represented his hate) because he did not trust anyone enough to form genuine human bonds, implying that a person needs to be connected to others in order to make full use out of the Wild Card ability. It is later revealed that the reason Yaldabaoth granted them both the wild card was to pit them against each other as part of a test for humanity. However, Yaldabaoth had rigged the test from the start, posing as Igor to hamper the protagonist's progress.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth[]
In Persona Q2, the P3, P3P, P4 and P5 heroes find their power of the Wild Card has been altered, which limits the Wild Card's representation of infinite possibilities. While all playable characters originating from all four games are unable to change their main Personas, including the field leaders, they all have the ability to equip a second, Sub-Persona.
While facing off against Enlil, the four users of the Wild Card combine their attacks into one single combo, enabling them to effectively defeat the enemy.
Persona 5 Strikers[]
As a direct sequel to Persona 5, the protagonist still possesses ability of the Wild Card. Unlike the game before, the confidant system is not present.
Persona 5: The Phantom X[]
The protagonist of Persona 5: The Phantom X, Wonder, did possesses ability of the Wild Card (most likely had been bestowed by Igor) where he can summon multiple Personas. However, Wonder can only bring max to 3 Personas in party.
Trivia[]
- Igor's assistants (Elizabeth, Theodore, Margaret and Lavenza) have been shown to freely use multiple Personas.
- Sho Minazuki is the only known case of a person rejecting a contract, though Igor states that he will eventually return to sign it.
- The Wild Card was never mentioned prior to Persona 3, but in Megami Ibunroku Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, all playable characters were able to switch Personas in combat and had access to the Velvet Room, partial components of the Wild Card.
- It was stated by Atlus in an interview in the DoubleJump guide that Philemon's appearance as a butterfly is a sign that he is watching over the protagonists, which are often Wild Card users.
References[]