Alignment

"Chaos" redirects here. For the race, see Chaos (Race).

Shin Megami Tensei IV's depiction of alignment with Walter representing Chaos and Jonathan representing Law, and Flynn having to choose between them

Alignment is a recurring mechanic in the Megami Tensei franchise and a representation of an individual's moral or idealistic attitude. It is predominately featured in the Shin Megami Tensei series as a significant gameplay and story mechanic, but is also featured in the Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei series and the Devil Summoner series as well.

Alignments are measured on a horizontal axis scale between Law, Neutral, and Chaos (occasionally abbreviated together as LNC). These three Alignments represent an individual's position relative to their core beliefs and way of life, with the Law-aligned favoring peace maintained by strict order and discipline; Chaos-aligned preferring freedom and self-serving individuality; and Neutral-aligned striking a balance between the two extremes. Additionally, there is also a vertical scale called Tendency that is predominately used for Demons: Light, Neutral, and Dark. These position spiritual affinity. Together, the Alignment and Tendency intersect to specify a Demon's complete orientation. Altogether there are nine possible Alignments.

Alignments are predominantly used to categorize Demons, mainly in determining which Demons the protagonist can or cannot ally with. Alignments are also notably a staple mechanic of story progression in the Shin Megami Tensei series, where certain actions taken throughout a game will shift the protagonist's own Alignment between Law, Neutral, and Chaos. This will either determine the ending route taken or reward the protagonist for choosing a route that aligns with their final Alignment.

Outside of determining Demon recruitment and some small mechanics, Shin Megami Tensei if... and Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne do not have an Alignment system tied to their story progression; Nocturne instead has Reasons as an equivalent. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse does not use the LNC scale in its story progression, but rather uses a Light-Dark scale.

Mechanics

Alignments are positioned on an axis between two scales: Law-Neutral-Chaos and Light-Neutral-Dark. From these, there are nine possible Alignments.

Alignments
Light-Law	Light-Neutral	Light-Chaos
Neutral-Law	Neutral-Neutral	Neutral-Chaos
Dark-Law	Dark-Neutral	Dark-Chaos

Each Demon Race is associated with a particular Alignment, wherein all members of that Race share that Alignment. This mainly determines which Demons can or cannot be allied with and summoned. In most games with Tendency, Dark-aligned Demons are unable to be recruited through Negotiation and must instead be fused. In Shin Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei II, this restriction is also imposed on Light-aligned Demons. In some Shin Megami Tensei series games, this limitation extends more widely, where Demons in general cannot be recruited or summoned into the party (if already allied with) if the protagonist's own Law-Chaos Alignment is on the opposite spectrum. Neutral Alignment does not impose this restriction for most Demons. Some games may also restrict equipment based on a character's Alignment as well.

In games where Alignment plays a role in story progression, the protagonist typically starts out as Neutral-aligned. Certain actions taken throughout the game will shift the protagonist's Alignment score toward either Law or Chaos, usually from making key decisions or siding with certain characters of a particular Alignment. Maintaining a balance between the two extremes puts the protagonist in Neutral. In most Shin Megami Tensei series games, the protagonist's final Alignment determines which ending route is taken past the game's penultimate point, leading to different story outcomes and bosses, and ultimately determining which ending is received. In Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, Shin Megami Tensei V, and the Canon of Creation in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, however, the protagonist is allowed to choose an ending route regardless of their final Alignment score, but will incur a penalty for choosing a route that does not match. The protagonist's Alignment cannot be changed once they have passed the penultimate point, effectively locking them to their final Alignment.

Mechanics by Game

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei series

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei

Alignment in Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei primarily exists as a way of classifying demons and has only one axis ranging between GOOD and EVIL, with NEUTRAL being in the middle. Nakajima and Yumiko do not have an alignment.

GOOD-aligned demons are mainly demons created through fusion.

NEUTRAL-aligned demons mostly consist of races that the player can encounter in dungeons and recruit via the TALK command.

EVIL-aligned demons can also be encountered in dungeons but cannot be recruited or fused and serve a purely antagonistic role.

Defeating EVIL and NEUTRAL demons in combat will yield not only experience points, but also a specific type of reward depending on the demon's alignment - a Bead for NEUTRAL encounters and a set amount of Magnetite depending on the demon fought for EVIL encounters.

Shin Megami Tensei series

Shin Megami Tensei

Main article: Alignment (Shin Megami Tensei)

Shin Megami Tensei is the first game to have a heavy focus on Alignment, with every demon of the same race sharing the same Alignment and Tendency. Human party members have their own Alignment as well.

The Hero starts the game as Neutral-aligned and can change his Alignment with choices presented to him in the main story as well as actions taken during gameplay. His alignment will determine his ending route, and if he can recruit or summon specific demons, though demons with a Light or Dark Tendency cannot be recruited through negotiation and instead must be summoned through fusion. Alignment also determines if the Hero can heal at Messian Churches or Gaean Ashrams without paying an extra fee, or what armor human party members can equip. Additionally, the Hero's Alignment will change the direction the overworld map icon is spinning, as if he is Law-aligned, it will spin clockwise. If he is Chaos-aligned, it will spin counter-clockwise, and if he is Neutral-aligned it will wobble back in forth in either direction.

Shin Megami Tensei II

Alignment works nearly the same way it does in Shin Megami Tensei. A noticeable difference stems from Aleph not being allowed to enter Messian Churches at all should he be Chaos-aligned. A Law-aligned Aleph may still pay a fee to heal at a Gaean Ashram however. Aleph's Alignment cannot be determined from looking at the overworld map avatar either, as it will always be wobbling back and forth regardless of Alignment. Shin Megami Tensei II is the only game in the series where party member names directly impact Alignment; letting the game use their default names rather than manually inputting them greatly shifts Aleph's Alignment towards Law.

Shin Megami Tensei if...

Shin Megami Tensei if... lacks the focus on Alignment the two previous mainline games did. The Protagonist's Alignment is not related to the story whatsoever and is determined solely by what demons they have summoned. The Protagonist will be Neutral-aligned by default, and should they summon a Law or Chaos-aligned demon, their Alignment will change to match the demon's, making them unable to summon or recruit a demon of the opposite Alignment.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nine

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Depending on Kei Azuma's alignment, the background music in normal battles changes.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

The protagonist starts the game as a Neutral-aligned character. Periodically throughout the game dialogue options will be presented that will influence the protagonist's Alignment towards Law or Chaos, with their proper alignment being changed if the bias towards a particular Alignment is great enough. Alignment is indirectly told by the color of the Protagonist or a demon's name. Their name being white will mean that they are Neutral-aligned, being blue will mean they are Law-aligned, and being red will mean they are Chaos-aligned.

Upon initiating negotation the opinion of the demon being negotiated with is influenced by the Alignment of both it and the protagonist. A Law-aligned demon will start off with a favorable opinion of a Law-aligned protagonist and an unfavorable opinion of a Chaos-aligned protagonist, making negotiation easier and harder respectively. Conversely, a Chaos-aligned demon will start off with a higher opinion of the protagonist if he is Chaos-aligned and a lower opinion if he is Law-aligned, causing the same effect. If either the demon or the protagonist is Neutral-aligned, no change in opinion will happen before the negotiation takes place, making it have a standard difficulty.

A mechanic unique to Strange Journey that interacts with Alignment is the Demon Co-Op mechanic. If a member of the protagonist's party strikes a weakness of the opposing party while there are other members that share their Alignment, a demon co-op attack will be initiated. A demon co-op attack deals Almighty-element damage to all enemies that were hit by the attack that triggered it. The damage of a demon co-op attack scales with the amount of party members that participate in it, from a minimum of one to a maximum of three.

Certain extra missions are available only to the protagonist if he is of a certain Alignment.

When the Alignment Lock is reached, the Protagonist will be asked a series of questions that will lock his Alignment in and determine the route that will be played through for the end of the game. If the Protagonist is too far into either Law or Chaos, he will not be asked any questions and will be immediately locked into that respective route.

Shin Megami Tensei IV

Main article: Alignment (Shin Megami Tensei IV)

In Shin Megami Tensei IV, Alignment is once again influenced by choices presented throughout the main story as well as in side content such as quests and NPC dialogue. Flynn will start the game as Neutral and can only answer to choices in a Lawful or Chaotic fashion, pushing him towards Law or Chaos respectively. If the player balances these choices, Flynn's Alignment can also settle on Neutral again rather than Law or Chaos. At the Alignment Lock, Flynn will make a final choice that will definitively determine his Alignment and so what route he will follow for the end of the game. There is also an extra choice that can be made regardless of Alignment that will lead to an ending titled the "Nothing" ending.

Aside from the different bosses, locations, and quests exclusive to a route, Alignment's sole effect in gameplay is to increase the damage taken when hit by certain skills, such as Sea of Chaos, which, when used against Law-aligned enemies, will cause 50% more damage against them. Unlike previous games, it does not affect negotiation, as Flynn can recruit most demons regardless of their alignment.

Flynn's alignment is never outright stated and the only way of finding out what it is currently is by talking to an NPC named "Cynical Man" at Hunter Association bars, who will comment on Flynn's demeanor, indirectly indicating what his alignment is. If he says Flynn is polite, Flynn is Law-aligned. If he says Flynn is hot-blooded, then Flynn is Chaos-aligned. And if he says that Flynn is "hard to get a handle on", Flynn is Neutral-aligned.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Unlike it's predecessors, Alignment in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse operates on a scale of Light and Dark rather than of Law, Neutral, and Chaos. There is no middle path for Nanashi to follow, so he must decide solely between being Light-aligned or Dark-aligned. Nanashi's alignment does not affect gameplay like in Shin Megami Tensei IV, so he can freely summon and recruit any demon barring a few exceptions.

Halfway through the game, Nanashi is offered a choice between endings aligned to either Law or Chaos. They can be chosen regardless of his Alignment, though he can also reject them and continue on with the story.

When the route split is reached, Nanashi must choose between a Light-aligned path or a Dark-aligned path, which are titled the "Bonds" and "Massacre" routes respectively. Should Nanashi choose a path that contradicts his Alignment, he will be penalized. If Nanashi is Light-aligned but chooses to follow the Massacre route, he will lose all his items. If Nanashi is Dark-aligned but chooses to follow the Bonds route, he will lose all of the demons in his stock.

Shin Megami Tensei V

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Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Main article: Alignment (Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance)

Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation

Main article: Alignment (Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation)

Ayato Katsuragi's alignment can be changed depending on the choices made on his initial personality test, shifting him slightly towards Law and Chaos. However, his starting alignment will remain Neutral. Following this, his alignment can vary depending on the choices he makes, which can affect the ending. Other human characters also have alignments, but much like demons, they are fixed and do not change. Giten Megami Tensei also features the Light-Neutral-Dark axis, which has some gameplay effects; for example, if Katsuragi has the Dark alignment he will be able to recruit Dark-aligned demons via Negotiation.

Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine

The player starts as a Neutral-aligned character. During certain quests, primarily the Acts, the player will be prompted to make choices that may shift their Alignment towards Law or Chaos. Outside of that, they may donate to the Messian or Gaian Churches once every 20 hours for a shift towards Law or Chaos, respectively.

The main effect of a player's Alignment is Magnetite costs for summoning demons. If the demon and the player's Alignments are incompatible, then the cost will be greatly increased. Additionally, certain equipment may have effects relating to players or enemies of a specific Alignment.

Alignment majorly affects the main story starting from Act 19 and has minor effects throughout the game, mostly involving interactions with NPCs. For instance, the Gaean in Shinjuku that sells a map of Ueno will change his price depending on the player's alignment: 10000 Macca for Chaos players, 20000 for Neutral players and 30000 for Law characters.

Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2

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Devil Summoner series

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner

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Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

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Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon

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Trivia

• There are unused menu graphics relating to alignments in the data of Megami Ibunroku Persona.

Nomenclature

AlignmentLawChaos

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Alignment
Japanese	属性 Zokusei	Attribute
	ALIGNMENT

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Law
Japanese	LAW
	秩序 Chitsujo	Order

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Chaos
Japanese	CHAOS
	混沌 Konton	Chaos

Gallery

• 
  Artwork illustrating the alignment concept for Shin Megami Tensei, dated January 10, 1991
• 
  Artwork illustrating the alignment concept for Shin Megami Tensei IV
• 
  Render illustrating the alignment concept for Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine
• 
  Graphic illustrating the alignment concept for Imagine