Medusa

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This article is about the Greek Demon. For the robotic Demon of the same name, see Medusa (Shin Megami Tensei II).
Medusa
メデューサ
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Artwork from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei

Artwork from Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II

Artwork from Kyūyaku Megami Tensei

Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei IV

Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Origin Greek Culture
Race(s) FemmeDigital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II
Kyūyaku Megami Tensei: Megami Tensei II
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation
Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2

TyrantDigital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
Kyūyaku Megami Tensei: Megami Tensei I
Majin Tensei
Majin Tensei: Blind Thinker

YomaMajin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis
Alignment(s) ChaosShin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Medusa is a Demon in the Megami Tensei franchise.

Profile

Origin

Vase depicting Perseus's slaying of Medusa (c. 550-530 BC)

Medusa[a] is a monster of Greek mythology. Children of the primordial ocean deities Phorcys and Ceto, Medusa is one of the three Gorgons along with her sisters Stheno and Euryale, hideous monsters with snakes for hair and the power to turn anyone that looked on their face into stone, the transformative gaze being a power of all the gorgons but was later associated only with Medusa.[1] Medusa is noted by Hesiod in the Theogony as the only mortal of the sisters, and is mentioned as having lain with Poseidon in a field.[2] She is a woman with hair made of snakes whose gaze had the power to turn people to stone. The hero Perseus was sent on a quest by the scheming Polydectes to slay Medusa in the hopes she would kill Perseus, and was aided by the goddess Athena who provided him with a reflective shield so he may see Medusa without being struck by her petrifying gaze, and Hermes who granted Perseus his winged sandals and Hades' helm of invisibility so he may sneak up on the Gorgon. With these Perseus was successfully able to behead Medusa and from her severed neck sprung her children Pegasus and Chrysaor, born from her tryst with Poseidon, while her spilled blood created the serpent Amphisbaena. Perseus then used her head to petrify Polydectes for forcing his mother into marriage.

Medusa's head would be kept by Athena, incorporating it into her aegis tunic.[3][4] Athena is said to have given a lock of Medusa's hair to Heracles[5] and some of Medusa's blood to Asclepius.[6] Depictions of Medusa's face or the Gorgon's full monstrous form were called gorgoneia (singular gorgoneion), and they were used to ward off evil.

She was initially portrayed as a hideous creature with wings, claws and fangs, but over time the depiction shifted to portray her as a beautiful woman with her serpentine hair as her only monstrous trait. For instance, Pindar calls her "fair-cheeked".[b][7] The Roman poet Ovid introduced in his Metamorphoses the following narrative: Perseus, being asked why Medusa is the only one of her sisters to have serpents for hair, says that she was once beautiful—especially her hair—and had many suitors. However, she was vitiated (vitiasse)[c] by Neptune (Poseidon) within the Temple of Minerva (Athena); the chaste Minerva, shielding her eyes, transformed the Gorgon's hair into serpents as punishment.[8]

Design

Medusa's Kyūyaku Megami Tensei: Megami Tensei I design has the lower half of a serpent, contrary to the classical depictions of Medusa with human legs. The depiction of Medusa as half-serpent can be found in various works since the 1980s and was popularized by the 1981 British–American film Clash of the Titans.[9]

In Shin Megami Tensei IV was designed by guest artist Yasushi Nirasawa. Rather than sticking to the traditional depictions of Medusa, Nirasawa chose to instead design her with a more modern punk style.[10] Medusa is depicted as a woman with pale blue skin with clawed hands and yellow eyes, with her arms and back covered in purple scales. Her hair is made of snake skeletons and chains with metal snake heads, and from the waist down she has the skeletal tail of a snake filled with human skulls. She wears a punk style leather clothes, namely a bra, bracelet, and dress with metal spikes on it. This was revised by Masayuki Doi for Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse to bring Nirasawa's design more in line with the artstyle of the other characters, being the first demons that Doi revisited for the game. Doi chose to depict her in a more tempting pose and emphasize the strengths of Nirasawa's base design.[11]

Gameplay

Shin Megami Tensei IV

BossAlly
Name Level HP MP
Medusa 15 2834 1276
Strength 37
Dexterity 37
Magic 37
Agility 37
Luck 37
Location Naraku - 1st Observation Platform
Race AlignmentFactored with certain skills EXP
Femme Chaos 1790
Drop
Chakra Pot (100%) — —
Resistances
— RsResist — — DrDrain WkWeak NuNull NuNull
×1 ×½×0.50 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1¼×1.25 ×1 ×1
Ailment Resistances
×0 ×0 ×0 ×0 ×0
Basic Attack Element Hits(s) Target Effect
Phys 1 Single enemy —
Skills
Skill Cost Description
Snake's Fangs — 2-3 hits of Heavy Gun damage with 50% chance of Bind to random enemies.
Rapid Needle 9 MP Weak Gun damage to all enemies.
Tathlum Shot 7 MP Medium Gun damage to one enemy.
Zionga 8 MP Medium Elec damage to one enemy.
Name Level HP MP
Medusa 35 315 140
Strength 41
Dexterity 41
Magic 41
Agility 41
Luck 41
Location Special Fusion (Pele + Basilisk + Vouivre)
Race AlignmentFactored with certain skills Speech C. CostCompendium Summoning Cost Fusion Condition
Femme Chaos — — Defeat Medusa
Resistances
— StrStrong — — DrnDrain WkWeak — —
×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1
Ailment Resistances
×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1

Basic Attack Element Hit(s) Target Effect
Phys 1-3 Single enemy —
Skills
Skill Cost Description Level
Stun Needles 14 MP 1-3 hits of Heavy Gun damage with 60% chance of Bind to random enemies. Innate
Mazionga 20 MP Medium Elec damage to all enemies. Innate
Tathlum Shot 7 MP Medium Gun damage to one enemy. 36
Gun Pleroma — Increases damage output of user's Gun attacks by 25%. Stacks with other bonuses. 38

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

BossAlly
Name Level HP MP
Medusa 33 3046 622
Strength 35
Dexterity 61
Magic 33
Agility 41
Luck 36

Race AlignmentFactored with certain skills EXP
Femme Chaos —
Drop
Zionga Stone (100%) Needle Orb (100%) —
Resistances
— RsResist — — NuNull WkWeak — —
×1 ×½×0.50 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1¼×1.25 ×1 ×1
Ailment Resistances
×0 ×0 RsResist RsResist ×0 ×0 ×0 ×0
Skill Affinity
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Basic Attack Element Hit(s) Target Effect
Phys 1 Single enemy —
Skills
Skill Cost Description
Snake's Fangs 24 MP 2 to 3 hits of heavy gun damage and 60% bind to multiple foes.
Rapid Needle 5 MP Weak gun damage to all foes.
Tathlum Shot 7 MP Medium gun damage to one foe.
Zionga 10 MP Medium elec damage to one foe.
Marin Karin 5 MP 55% charm to one foe.
Name Level HP MP
Medusa 39 420 189
Strength 39
Dexterity 69
Magic 57
Agility 54
Luck 46
Location Special Fusion (Pele + Basilisk + Vouivre)
Race AlignmentFactored with certain skills Speech C. CostCompendium Summoning Cost Fusion Condition
Femme Chaos Medusa 30606 Defeat Medusa
Resistances
— RsResist — — NuNull WkWeak — —
×1 ×½×0.50 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1¼×1.25 ×1 ×1
Ailment Resistances
×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1 ×1
Skill Affinity
—
+3
—
—
+3
−5
—
—
—
+2
—
—
Basic Attack Element Hit(s) Target Effect
Phys 1-3 Single enemy —
Skills
Skill Cost Description Level
Snake's Fangs 24 MP 2 to 3 hits of heavy gun damage and 60% bind to multiple foes. Innate
Marin Karin 5 MP 55% charm to one foe. Innate
Mazionga 24 MP Medium elec damage to all foes. Innate
Gun Pleroma — Boosts gun attack by 25%. 40
Grand Tack 11 MP Heavy gun damage to one foe. 41
Ziodyne 20 MP Heavy elec damage to one foe. 43

Compendium

Compendium Entries
Shin Megami Tensei IV

A monster of Greek lore; one of the three Gorgon sisters.

She had snakes for hair, bronze scales for skin, golden wings on her back, sharp fangs, and eyes that could turn anyone who looked straight into them into stone. In some traditions, she was a beautiful woman, and her snake hair was her only ugly feature. With the help of the goddess Athena, Perseus was able to behead her.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

A monster of Greek lore; one of the three Gorgon sisters.
She had snakes for hair, bronze scales for skin, golden wings on her back, sharp fangs, and eyes that could turn anyone who looked straight into them into stone. In some traditions, she was a beautiful woman, and her snake hair was her only ugly feature. With the help of the goddess Athena, Perseus was able to behead her.

Game Appearances

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei

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Shin Megami Tensei IV

Medusa guards the lower levels of the Sky Tower, petrifying humans that stumble into her domain and cultivating a collection of human statues. She ambushes the Samurai prentices when they venture to the bottom of the Sky Tower, enamored by their youthful appearances and excited at the prospect of adding the most magnificent specimens to her collection. During the fight, she becomes increasingly frustrated when the prentices foil her attacks, mistaking them to be associates of Tayama. She is eventually defeated and sorrowfully laments her defeat.

She is unlocked for fusion after her defeat.

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Medusa makes her presence known to Nanashi and his party by petrifying the angels guarding the entrance to the Sky Tower as the group explores the Excavation Worker Quarters. She greets the party as they rush out to see the commotion she caused. Abe is confused to see her alive, having heard from Lucifer that she had died, but she lets him know that the Divine Powers revived her. Despite their goals, she still considers herself an artist first and foremost and is much more interested in turning Nanashi and his party into statues. Despite engaging the party in battle, she is defeated once more.

She is unlocked for fusion after her defeat.

Majin Tensei

Nomenclature

Names in Other Languages
Language Name Meaning
English Medusa
Japanese メデューサ Medyūsa Medusa
Traditional Chinese 梅杜莎 Méidùshā Medusa
Korean 메두사 Medusa Medusa

Gallery

Notes

  1. ↑ Greek: Μέδουσα, romanized Médousa
  2. ↑ Greek: εὐπαράος, romanized euparáos; this is a dialectal form of what is εὐπάρειος eupáreios in standard Attic Greek.
  3. ↑ The exact meaning of this is disputed, though it does involve a sexual encounter of some sort.

References

  1. ↑ Bibliotheca 2.4.2, Apollodorus. Greek.
  2. ↑ Theogony 274-281, Hesiod. Greek.
  3. ↑ Description of Greece 9.34.2, Pausanias. Greek.
  4. ↑ Iliad 5.733-742, Homer. Greek.
  5. ↑ Bibliotheca 2.7.3, Apollodorus. Greek.
  6. ↑ Bibliotheca 3.10.3, Apollodorus. Greek.
  7. ↑ Pythian Odes 12.16, Pindar. Greek.
  8. ↑ Metamorphoses 4.794-804, Ovid. Latin.
  9. ↑ Phil Boot, The legacy of Ray Harryhausen’s Medusa. Published August 22, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2025. Science and Media Museum.
  10. ↑ "Yasushi Nirasawa: I strayed from the stale fantasy image and went for more of a modern, punk look for Medusa. Her trademark hair snakes are redone as chains and skeletons, and the skulls of her prey are crammed into her lower body." Shin Megami Tensei IV Official Artworks. Published by UDON. English. Page 146.
  11. ↑ "Masayuki Doi: The first demon from the original game I decided to refine. The original was worthwhile in itself, so I tried to highlight its good points, while also bringing my own improvements. The skulls I left alone, and focused on the sense of harmony. She had an offense pose in the original game, so I emphasised her tempting side in this game. I have a feeling I’ve been called a pervert more often since this Medusa and Mermaid were revealed (bitter laugh)." [1]. Retrieved Febuary 25, 2026.
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