Large Shadow
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| Large Shadow | |
| 大型シャドウ | |
Model from Persona 3 Reload | |
| Arcana | Fool Magician Priestess Empress Emperor Hierophant Lovers Chariot Justice Hermit Fortune Strength Death |
Large Shadows[1] are a type of Shadow in Persona 3. Twelve notable Large Shadows based on the Major Arcana appear each Full Moon.
Profile
Large Shadows are created when individual Shadows are merged. As all Shadows are split parts of Nyx's psyche, they naturally desire to merge, becoming more powerful.[2] This can be seen, for instance, with the stronger Gatekeeper Shadows in Tartarus.[1] Even more powerful Large Shadows can form naturally when enough people espouse apocalyptic ideology.[2]
However, the Kirijo Group also artificially created Large Shadows, each representing a Major Arcana. Kouetsu Kirijo (and later Shuji Ikutsuki) found a prophecy explaining that when the Large Shadows of the first twelve Arcana were merged to create a thirteenth, Death, Death would become the "Appriser" who would bring about the Fall.[3] Eiichiro Takeba, objecting to this, tried to prevent it, and caused an explosion that interrupted the unification and kept Death split into the smaller (but still powerful) Arcana-based Large Shadows. This incident also created the Dark Hour and Tartarus. However, this was enough to grant Death its own form, albeit an incomplete one without the other twelve Large Shadows.[4] This incomplete form of Death battled Aigis on the Moonlight Bridge, and Aigis was forced to seal it into the mind of a young child (the protagonist, Makoto Yuki or Kotone Shiomi).
Ten years later, when the protagonist awakened to their Persona,[5] the Large Shadows began appearing again on the full moon. Due to residing in the protagonist's mind, Death developed the more human form of Pharos, and, as the other Large Shadows are defeated, Pharos gradually regains his memory and manifests into Ryoji Mochizuki. After Ryoji/Death is allowed to merge with the other twelve Large Shadows, he becomes Nyx Avatar, strong enough to act as the behalf of Nyx's own will.[3][6]
Game Appearances
Persona 3
Large Shadows appear each full moon, leading S.E.E.S. to carry out Full Moon Operations to defeat them. These include:
- Magician (April 9)
- Priestess (May 9)
- Empress and Emperor (June 8)
- Hierophant and Lovers (July 7)
- Chariot and Justice / Tank-Form Shadow (August 6)
- Hermit (September 5)
- Fortune and Strength (October 4)
- Hanged Man (November 3)
- Death / Ryoji Mochizuki (December 2)
- Nyx Avatar (January 31)
Less-powerful Large Shadows termed "Gatekeepers" also appear intermittently in Tartarus; see that page for more details.
Persona 5: The Phantom X
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Slightly differing versions of the Large Shadows defeated by S.E.E.S. are encountered again when they meet with the Phantom Thieves.
Trivia
- In Japanese, the names of the Arcana-based Large Shadows are distinguished from the actual Arcana by being transliterations of the English names, while the Arcana themselves use the actual Japanese words typically used for tarot. For example, the Priestess Shadow is called プリーステス Purīsutesu, while the High Priestess Arcana is called 女教皇 Jokyōkō (lit. "Female Pope"/"Popess").
Nomenclature
The term for "Large Shadows" does not appear in-game, and as such lacks an official English localization. However, the term 大型シャドウ is consistently used to refer to them in Japanese supplementary media, including the entry in the Glossary section of Persona 3 FES Official Fanbook: My Episode.
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese
|
大型シャドウ Ōgata Shadou | Large Shadow |
Gallery
- For more images of the specific Shadows depicted below, visit their respective pages' galleries.
Notes
References
- General
- "World Guide Q&A", Persona Club P3 (2006), Famitsu Editorial Department. Published by Enterbrain. pp. 172-207. ISBN-13: 9784757730953.
- Specific
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "大型シャドウ
ニュクスの一部であるシャドウたちは、それぞれ合体・融合しようとする性質があり、それが一定数以上集まって、元のニュクスに近い大きな力を取り戻したものを大型シャドウと呼ぶ。タルタロス内でときおり出現する門番のような大型シャドウは、タルタロスへと自主的に集まってきたシャドウが融合したものであり、満月のたびに出現する大型シャドウは、10年前の桐条の実験によって人為的に集められ合体させられたものである。なお、各シャドウはタロットのアルカナにあわせて分類され、１番の魔術師（マジシャン）から１２番の刑死者（ハングドマン）までの大型シャドウが集まって融 合し、それが１３番目のアルカナ“死神(デス)”に吸収されることで完全なものとなる" Translation: "Large Shadows
Shadows which are a part of Nyx all have a tendency to combine and fuse with one another; when a certain number of them gather and regain a great power close to that of the original Nyx, they are called Large Shadows. The large, gatekeeper-like Shadows that occasionally appear within Tartarus are the result of Shadows that have voluntarily gathered in Tartarus and merged, while the Large Shadows that appear every full moon were artificially gathered and merged through Kirijo experiments 10 years ago. Furthermore, each Shadow is classified according to the Arcana of the Tarot, and the Large Shadows from the 1st, the Magician, to the 12th, the Hanged Man, come together and merge, becoming complete when they are absorbed into the 13th Arcana, Death." "用語集 (Glossary)", Persona 3 FES Official Fanbook: My Episode (2007). Published by Enterbrain. Japanese. 150. Translation by User:im mender?. - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Persona Club P3, p. 176.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Persona Club P3, p. 177.
- ↑ "Ryoji Mochizuki: Ten years ago, a man collected hordes of Shadows and contained them in a laboratory. That's where I was born. But the unification was interrupted, and I awoke before I was complete." Persona 3 Reload.
- ↑ "Ryoji Mochizuki: And when his Persona awakened, the twelve Shadows did as well. ...All in order to become one with me." Persona 3 Reload.
- ↑ "Nyx Avatar: [Ryoji] was my name for a time... I almost miss it. I am merely a harbinger of the Fall... Or perhaps I should say "former" harbinger. There is no longer a distinction to be made between Nyx and myself..." Persona 3 Reload.