This article is about the Persona 4
character. For Japanese deity, see Izanami.
|
This article contains major spoilers.
|
The contents of this article cover major plot and/or character spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.
|
Izanami is a character in the Persona series.
Profile
Izanami takes her name from one of Japan's creation gods. She is not a Shadow but something similar to an embodiment of culture shared between people in a specific region.[1] Izanami can exert her power over the entire area of Inaba.[1] She disguises herself as the Moel Gas Station Attendant and, using her powers, kicks off the events of Persona 4 by giving three outsiders the ability to enter the TV World and spreading a rumor about the Midnight Channel.[2][3][4] In doing so, she hopes to stir something in the insular mountain town,[5] and test humans' desire for the truth after witnessing their inability to think critically.[6]
For Izanami's design, Shigenori Soejima made her boss forms based on the story of Izanagi and Izanami, and how one must look for the truth. Thus, the first form hides the second form, and it's not really a "transformation" like with other final bosses, but more like something being revealed.[7]
Gameplay
Game Appearances
On April 11th, Ryotaro Dojima, Nanako Dojima, and the protagonist stop at Moel Gas Station on their way home. The attendant asks if they are going out on a trip. Dojima replies that they were picking up the protagonist from the train station and that he just arrived from the big city. While Dojima goes to smoke and Nanako heads to the bathroom, the attendant greets the protagonist and shakes his hand. The attendant assumes the protagonist will get bored in the more rural area of Inaba, having come from the big city, and tells him the gas station is hiring part-timers.
On March 20th, after reading a letter from Tohru Adachi, the protagonist asks Ryotaro Dojima and Nanako Dojima about what happened when he first arrived in Inaba as he and his friends have come to suspect that someone gave him the power to enter the TV when he first arrived in Inaba. Nanako recalls that he spoke to a strange gas station attendant and looked ill afterwards. The protagonist heads to the Central Shopping District, but doesn't see the attendant. He steps into the Velvet Room to consult Igor. After he exits, it begins raining, and he sees the same Moel Gas Station Attendant from his first day in Inaba. The protagonist questions the attendant about Namatame and Adachi and asks if they were responsible for giving him the power to enter the TV. The attendant begins laughing and admits that, as suspected, they gave the three a jumpstart in the form of the handshake.
When the protagonist first came to Inaba, the attendant shook his hand and gave his power a jump start of sorts. The attendant also did this for Namatame and Adachi, thinking these three outsiders would be able to shake things up in Inaba. The past year's events exceeded the attendant's expectations, and they question why the protagonist sought them out. The protagonist replies, and the attendant calls this desire for the truth foolish. Suddenly, it gets foggy in the shopping district, and the attendant reveals her true identity as Izanami. The last being they fought, Ameno-sagiri, was only a temporary form she created. But the protagonist's power is too great for her to ignore as he now stands and challenges Izanami. She agrees to test him for real this time and says she will wait for him in a certain place.
After discussing what they learned so far, the Investigation Team enters the TV World once more and go to Yomotsu Hirasaka where Izanami awaits them. As they make their way through, they hear Izanami talk to them. She reminds the protagonist that he saw this place during his dreams on his first night in Inaba, and she attributes it to her giving him a jump start with the handshake. On another floor, Izanami speaks of the Namatame, Adachi, and the protagonist. She picked three people who embodied the qualities of despair, emptiness, and hope. One was ignorant of the truth and didn't awaken his power; another knew the truth but turned his back on it resulting in magatsu corrupting his power; and the third continues to search for the truth. She chose the three of them and gave them powers to understand what humanity wanted.
When confronting Izanami in person, Naoto assumes that Izanami created the Midnight Channel and also spread the rumor about it. Izanami corrects the group's understanding: While she did create it, she did not choose what was seen. It was more like a window that responded to some humans' desires to be seen, and other humans' desires to see. Through the past year's events, Izanami concluded that humanity prefers lies over the truth, so she wants to grant their desires by leaking the fog into the real world. The Investigation Team acknowledge that some humans really might prefer to live like that, but they do not.
Claiming that she will create the world full of fog that humanity desires, Izanami fights the Investigation Team. She appears as a figure in a large white robe. At first, they are unable to really attack her. The protagonist uses the Orb of Sight, unveiling Izanami's true form as a corpse-like being. She eliminates each member of the protagonist's party one by one with the Thousand Curses before getting the protagonist himself. For reasons beyond Izanami's comprehension, the protagonist hears the voices of the people he has met during his year in Inaba, and stands back up, no longer affected by Izanami's powers. He summons Izanagi-no-Okami and uses the Myriad Truths to defeat her for good. Izanami does not understand how she was defeated and still believes that humans would find peace being blinded by lies. Regardless, she knows she has been defeated, and reminds the Investigation Team that they must create happiness themselves now that the fog is gone.
In Golden, Izanami's background is changed. Izanami (Izanami-no-Okami), Ameno-sagiri, Kunino-sagiri, and Marie (Kusumi-no-Okami) all used to be one being named Izanami-no-Mikoto who was in charge of protecting people and granting their wishes, even if it led to destruction.[1] But humanity's desires went out of control over time, and the part of her that grants desires became so powerful that it split off into its own being named Izanami-no-Okami, while the part of her that protects people was left as a weaker being named Kusumi-no-Okami. Furthermore, Kusumi lost her memories, resulting in the amnesiac Marie who was used to spy on humans and determine what their desires are.
In February, Marie recalls that after the protagonist defeated Ame, she heard a voice similar to her own that said something about humans not wanting the truth and how they wished to live in the fog. This voice was presumably Izanami's. When the protagonist confronts Izanami on March 20th, if he has done Marie's Social Link, then Izanami will now remark on how troublesome the protagonist is for defeating both of the Sagiri, which she put into Adachi and Namatame, and saving Marie. Izanami mocks Marie for having kept the Old Bamboo Comb this whole time as it was a curse, and a sign of their separation. After the Investigation Team defeats Izanami, Ame, and Kuni, the three start to merge back into Marie, and she becomes whole again over time.
Anime Appearances
|
This appearance section is a stub. You can help Megami Tensei Wiki by expanding it.
|
| No reason provided.
|
Manga Appearances
|
|
This appearance section is a stub. You can help Megami Tensei Wiki by expanding it.
|
| No reason provided.
|
Stage Play Appearances
|
|
This appearance section is a stub. You can help Megami Tensei Wiki by expanding it.
|
| No reason provided.
|
Nomenclature
Names in Other Languages
| Language |
Name |
Meaning
|
 English
|
Izanami
|
| Izanami-no-Okami
|
 Japanese
|
イザナミ Izanami |
Izanami
|
| 伊邪那美大神 Izanami no ōkami |
Izanami-no-Okami
|
 Simplified Chinese
|
伊邪那美
|
 Korean
|
이자나미 Ijanami |
Izanami
|
Gallery
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Special Investigation Files", Persona 4 Golden Premium Fan Book. p. 231.
- ↑ "Namatame: Then one day, the rumor I heard some time ago came back to me. Since I had nothing better to do, I sat down blankly in front of the TV and watched my own reflection..." .
- ↑ "Adachi: There's still this feeling I can't shake... It's about how it all started... about that Midnight Channel. Now I remember... Someone told me about it when I first came to town... before I heard the rumors at the station. And I was intrigued when I noticed that something similar was written on Namatame's reports as well. But... I can't remember who it was that told me. Since Namatame and I both gained our power after coming to Inaba... I have a feeling that has something to do with it." Persona 4.
- ↑ "Naoto: The rumors about the Midnight Channel... It may be that this "Izanami" was the one who originally spread them... Neither Ameno-sagiri nor the Shadows have taken a single step outside the other world. Simply put, the only one who could have spread the rumor was someone who had come from there...
Yosuke: The more it got passed around, the more extra junk got added to it… Like one big game of Telephone. That's where all the "you have to watch it alone" and "the one who appears is your soulmate" stuff came from." Persona 4.
- ↑ "Attendant: I did the same for a few other outsiders like you. A handful of strangers were more than sufficient to stimulate a small place like this. But it seems the stimulus was stronger than I imagined-enough to envelop this town with fog, and later lift it..." Persona 4.
- ↑ "Hashino: Izanami sees that humanity has stopped thinking critically for themselves and has surrendered to whatever they hear, and she thinks, "These unthinking people might as well be dead, so I will grant their wish. If I'm wrong, prove it to me." Then, when she happens to encounter certain humans that appear interesting to her, she bestows on them the power to change their reality, and that is how it all begins. But the protagonists are far stronger than she had thought, and though she had planned to merely be a spectator, they strike back in a way she hadn't expected. (laughs)" Persona 4 – 2008 Developer Interview. Retrieved December 30, 2024. Shmuplations.
- ↑ "Chapter 3: Shadows", Persona 4 Official Design Works. p. 168-169.
Visualive Persona 4
