This article is about the manifested entities in the Persona series. For other things named Persona, see Persona.
Personas are manifested entities in the Persona series. A Persona is the manifestation of a person's psyche in response to outside stimuli,[1] which can take the shape of gods, demons, or historical or folk figures. Those who have awakened to their Personas and are able to summon them are referred to as Persona-users.[2] Personas are often compared to masks that emerge to protect the user from hardships;[1] the term "persona" is a word of Latin origin meaning a mask or a projected social front.
In order to obtain a Persona, one can be either given one by a higher power such as Philemon, or obtain it through confronting high emotions. In Persona 3, Evokers are used to emulate the heightened mental emotion of firing a gun to your head to "coarse" a Persona to appear, similarly with the drugs Strega uses. In Persona 4 and Persona 5, a Persona is usually obtained by confronting one's Shadow Self in some way and accepting their express feelings as a part of them, either by confronting their physical presence after they have been defeatedPersona 4 Persona 4 Golden Persona 4 Arena or agreeing with their thoughts, usually shown by the future Persona-user having yellow eyes similar to a Shadow Self.Persona 5 Persona 5 Royal Persona 5 Strikers
In Persona 3 media and forward, Persona-users generally can only have one Persona that may change or grow stronger over time, with the exception being holders of the "Wild Card", usually of the Fool Arcana, in which the Arcana symbolism means they are able to obtain multiple Persona of any Arcana, with their bonds with people who have that similar Arcana allowing them to make Persona of the respective Arcana stronger. However, mostly media outside the mainline games usually will have the characters mainly only use their starting Persona.
In Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, the nature of the place those games are in combined with multiple "Wild Card" Persona-users together create a situation where they cannot use any Persona other than their original one, but are able to use Sub-Personas, alongside other character who normally could not have different Personas.
Gameplay
Personas, alongside Shadows act as the Persona series' equivalent to Demons in other Megami Tensei games, which can be summoned into battles by their Persona-user and fused by the player. Personas are associated with the Arcana, which group Personas and Shadows by the Major Arcana tarot.
Megami Ibunroku Persona and Persona 2: Innocent Sin / Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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Persona 3 onward
From Persona 3 onward, Personas are generally considered to be unique and mostly unchangeable for most characters who wield them with the exception of those with the "Wild Card" (usually the player character), which allows them to hold multiple personas of each Arcana. The player can use the Social Link system (In Persona 3 and Persona 4) or the Confidant system with a character relating to a specific arcana in order to increase the strength of the Personas of the respective Arcana. Completing an Arcana will unlock new options for fusion.
Other party member may obtain an "Ultimate Persona" later in their respective games. In Persona 3, S.E.E.S. members will automatically obtain their Ultimate Personas as the story progresses. In Persona 4 and Persona 5, Ultimate Personas are obtained by fully completing a party member's respective Arcana. In Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal, doing this activates a "Second Awakening" later on for that character in the respective game's new story segment.
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References
↑ 1.01.1"Igor: It may take some time to fully comprehend. A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli... You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships. That being said, your power is still weak..." Persona 3.
↑"Shuji Ikutsuki: Although rare, there are those who can function during the Dark Hour. Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. That's "Persona"--the power you used the other night. The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users. Which means, it's all up to you guys." Persona 3.