Alciel is a Demon in the Megami Tensei franchise.
Profile
Origin
Arsiel[a] is a figure in the Jewish mystical work Midrash ha-Neʿelam, mentioned in commentary on Genesis 14:21. He is the Prince of Gehinnom/Gehenna (Hell) and plays the role of the Satan by God's command. The Sodomite king who says "Give me the souls"[b] in the Genesis passage is interpreted in the Midrash ha-Neʿelam as Arsiel.[2]
Alciel's official compendium entries are influenced by dubious information found in Barbara Walker's The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, which claims that the Jewish figure Arsiel is derived from a Chaldean underworld god named Aciel and also known as the Black Sun, and says that he is not necessarily evil as darkness was considered a necessary facet of the cycle of life and regeneration in "oriental religions".[3] This is also reflected in the spelling as Aciel in the localization of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne and his skill Sol Niger (Latin for "black sun"). Note that the mention of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa in his Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne compendium entry is introduced by the localization and is not present in the original Japanese.[4]
Design
Gameplay
| Name
|
Level
|
HP
|
MP
|
| Aciel
|
77
|
624
|
306
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Skill Inheritance
|
| Preference
|
Mouth
|
Wing
|
Eye
|
Lunge
|
Bite
|
Claw
|
Weapons
|
Girl
|
Talk
|
| —
|
✔
|
✘
|
✔
|
✔
|
✔
|
✘
|
✘
|
✘
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Name
|
Level
|
HP
|
MP
|
| Alciel
|
66
|
629
|
143
|
|
|
| Location
|
Purgatorium - 1st Brane, 2nd Brane, 4th Brane, 6th Brane
|
|
| Race
|
AlignmentFactored with certain skills
|
EXP
|
Recruit
|
Beg
|
Speech
|
RERandom Encounter
|
| Vile
|
Law
|
25185
|
✘
|
✘
|
Great
|
✔
|
|
|
|
| Resistances
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| WkWeak
|
WkWeak
|
NuNull
|
NuNull
|
NuNull
|
NuNull
|
WkWeak
|
NuNull
|
| ×1¼×1.25
|
×1¼×1.25
|
×1
|
×1
|
×1
|
×1
|
×3
|
×1
|
|
| Ailment Resistances
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ×1
|
×1
|
×1
|
×1
|
×1
|
|
| Basic Attack
|
Element
|
Hits(s)
|
Target
|
Effect
|
Phys
|
1
|
Single enemy
|
—
|
|
| Skills
|
| Skill
|
Cost
|
Description
|
Poison Breath
|
11 MP
|
70% chance of Poison to all enemies.
|
Tetrakarn
|
50 MP
|
Makes all allies reflect Phys and Gun attacks for 1 turn.
|
|
|
|
| Name
|
Level
|
HP
|
MP
|
| Alciel
|
75
|
3444
|
1548
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Resistances
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| WkWeak
|
WkWeak
|
NuNull
|
NuNull
|
NuNull
|
NuNull
|
WkWeak
|
NuNull
|
| ×1¼×1.25
|
×1¼×1.25
|
×1
|
×1
|
×1
|
×1
|
×¼×0.25
|
×1
|
|
| Ailment Resistances
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ×0
|
×0
|
×0
|
×0
|
×0
|
|
| Basic Attack
|
Element
|
Hits(s)
|
Target
|
Effect
|
Phys
|
1
|
Single enemy
|
—
|
|
| Skills
|
| Skill
|
Cost
|
Description
|
Poison Breath
|
11 MP
|
70% chance of Poison to all enemies.
|
Tetrakarn
|
50 MP
|
Makes all allies reflect Phys and Gun attacks for 1 turn.
|
Acid Breath
|
45 MP
|
Decreases all enemies' defense power and agility by 1 rank.
|
Titanomachia
|
21 MP
|
Heavy Phys damage to all enemies. High critical rate/Low hit rate
|
|
Compendium
| Compendium Entries
|
| Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
|
According to the mystic Cornelius Agrippa, he is the prince of 'Gehenna', one of the seven levels of hell. His name means 'the sun of night'. He is commonly seen as one and the same with Abaddon and Satan.
|
| Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster
|
According to the mystic Cornelius Agrippa, he is the prince of Gehenna, one of the seven levels of hell. His name means "the sun of night." He is commonly seen as one and the same with Abaddon and Satan.
|
| Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
|
The "Black Sun" who lives in the underworld in Babylonian lore.
His original name is Aciel, which the Jews borrowed from a Babylonian god, and called him the "King of Gehenna." But in some Asian faiths, all things are reborn only by darkness, so Alciel is not all bad.
|
| Shin Megami Tensei IV
|
The "Black Sun" who lives in the underworld in Babylonian lore.
His original name is Aciel, which the Jews borrowed from a Babylonian god, and called him the "King of Gehenna." But in some Asian faiths, all things are reborn only by darkness, so Alciel is not all bad.
|
| Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
|
The "Black Sun" who lives in the underworld in Babylonian lore. His original name is Aciel, which the Jews borrowed from a Babylonian god, and called him the "King of Gehenna." But in some Asian faiths, all things are reborn only by darkness, so Alciel is not all bad.
|
Game Appearances
Alciel is one of the demons guarding the magatsuhi at the Amala Temple, residing specifically at the Black Temple. When the Demi-fiend puts out the flame in his room, Alciel appears from the ground, claiming he has arrived from hell for magatsihi. Intrigued with Demi-fiend's uniqueness, Alciel tries to eat him, but is defeated.
Trivia
- Despite several compendium entries stating that Alciel is derived from Mesopotamian culture, there is no evidence to support this claim; it is likely a conflation resulting from the use of the word "Chaldean" to describe Alciel in the occult book The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, by Barbara G. Walker. At the time the book was written, "Chaldean" was often used to describe figures in occultism, not figures related to the historical Chaldea of Mesopotamia.
Nomenclature
Gallery
-
-
Artwork of Aciel attacking from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
-
-
-
Portrait graphic from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
-
Model from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
-
Model from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
-
-
Notes
- ↑ Hebrew: עַרְסִיאֵל, romanized ʿArsîʾēl[1]
- ↑ In Biblical Hebrew, the word used can mean either "soul" or "person". In the context of the Genesis narrative, the plain reading (peshat) is to interpret it as "person", while the Midrash ha-Neʿelam interprets it as "soul".
References