Phoenix

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For the Avian demon who is sometimes translated as Phoenix, see Feng Huang. For the Monster Rancher 2 character featured in Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2, see Phoenix (Monster Rancher 2).

Phoenix
フェニックス
SMT2DeSumDCW Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei II Artwork from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Artwork from Devil Children White Book
Origin	Greek culture
Race(s)	AvianShin Megami Tensei Shin Megami Tensei II Shin Megami Tensei if... Shin Megami Tensei: Nine Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux Shin Megami Tensei IV Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Shin Megami Tensei: J Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Colosseum 20XX Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Requiem Majin Tensei Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis Majin Tensei: Blind Thinker Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Shin Megami Tensei Pinball: Judgment Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card: Card Summoner Kētai Akuma Densho BeastDevil Children White Book HolyDigital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II Kyūyaku Megami Tensei ToriDevil Children Light Book and Dark Book Devil Children Fire Book and Ice Book
Alignment(s)	Light-LawShin Megami Tensei Shin Megami Tensei II Shin Megami Tensei if... Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Colosseum 20XX Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Requiem Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers LawShin Megami Tensei IV Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Arcana	Temperance

Phoenix is a Demon in the Megami Tensei franchise.

Profile

Origin

The phoenix is a mythological bird originating in ancient Greece with Near Eastern influence. A symbol of rebirth, the phoenix will burst into flames when it dies only to be reborn from the ashes. As such, it has connections to life and death as well as the sun.

The word po-ni-ke is found in the Mycenaean Greek corpus in a context that appears to refer to some sort of creature, possibly the griffin, which was a popular iconographic element in Mycenaean Greece. It may have developed into the ideas of the phoenix with the griffin being reimported later under its current name.

Plutarch in his essay "On the Failure of Oracles" quotes a fragment attributed to Hesiod which says that the phoenix lives a life lasting 972 generations of men, but it has only a tenth the lifespan of a nymph. This could perhaps be the earliest mention of the phoenix should it be authentic.

The first detailed account of the phoenix is known from Herodotus's Histories. According to Herodotus (whom Porphyry says copied the account from Hecataeus), the people of Heliopolis in Egypt have a sacred bird known as the phoenix, and the priests told him that when a phoenix dies every five hundred years, its child flies from Arabia to Heliopolis carrying the body of its parent embalmed in myrrh to the Temple of the Sun, where the parent phoenix is buried. However, Herodotus doubts the story. He additionally says that a painting of the phoenix depicted a bird like an eagle with gold- and red-colored feathers. Pliny the Elder relays a similar story; attributing the tale to a Roman senator named Manilius, he says that when the elder phoenix dies at the age of 540, a worm emerges forth from the decaying body and grows into a new phoenix, which then carries the remains of its predecessor to a Temple of the Sun near Panchaia (a mythical island said to be in the Indian Ocean). The Herodotus/Hecataeus account is likely the result of identification of the Greek phoenix with the Egyptian sacred bird Bennu. However, the phoenix was in no way restricted to association with Egypt, with many sources claiming it dwelt in India.

The more popular image of the phoenix as a singular being dying in a plume of fire and being reborn from its own ashes appears by the 1st century AD. Martial in his Epigrams compares the city of Rome with the phoenix, with the city being renewed after its partial destruction by fire. While appearing late in the record, Roel van den Broek (1972) argues that the myth of the phoenix burning and reviving itself is the older version of the story and is a "purely Greek product", being the Greek reflection of the common Near Eastern "bird of the sun" motif. Numerous writers associated the phoenix with the sun, with some even saying that the phoenix escorts the sun across the sky.

Many early Christian authors such as Clement of Rome and Isidore of Seville would use the phoenix's rebirth as an allegory for the resurrection. Clement writes that, just as the phoenix is reborn, so too can Christians be confident that God will bring about the resurrection of those who served him faithfully.

Gameplay

For complete gameplay information, see Gameplay:Phoenix.

Compendium

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Compendium Entries
Shin Megami Tensei (A-Mode DDS)	Origin: Egypt A sacred bird which resurrects from a pyre. When it senses its death is near, it builds a pyre and lies on top of it. It then resurrects from within the flames to live for another 500 to 600 years.
Shin Megami Tensei II (A-Mode DDS)	出身地：エジプト 死と再生を繰り返し、炎の中から蘇るとされる霊鳥。成鳥は鷲に似た姿をしており、薔薇色の飾りが付いた美しい青色の尾を持ち、首の周りは金色に輝いた姿をしている。死期を悟ると自分で香木を積み火を点け横たわるが、燃える火の中から蘇ってまた五百～六百年生きると言われている。その生き血を飲んだ者は不老不死になるとされる。エジプトのヘリオポリスに親鳥を弔いに行く時に、一度だけ人の前に姿を現す。その神々しく美しい姿を見た鳥が数多く付き従い、長蛇の行列ができる。この行列を見た者には幸運がもたらされるという。 Translation: Place of origin: Egypt
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey	The famous holy Egyptian bird that's born from fire. The Phoenix is a crimson-colored bird the size of an eagle with a colorful tail. After about 500 years, it throws itself into a pyre and is reborn from the ashes as a chick.
Shin Megami Tensei IV	The famous holy Egyptian bird that's born from fire. The Phoenix is a crimson-colored bird the size of an eagle with a colorful tail. After about 500 years, it throws itself into a pyre and is reborn from the ashes as a chick.
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse	The famous holy Egyptian bird that's born from fire. The Phoenix is a crimson-colored bird the size of an eagle with a colorful tail. After about 500 years, it throws itself into a pyre and is reborn from the ashes as a chick.
Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine	An avian that is born from fire and lives forever. There is said to be only one in the world. It is commonly associated with fire and immortality. The tears of the Phoenix can heal wounds, and drinking its blood is said to bestow immortality and eternal youth. It is a symbol of death and rebirth. Every 500 to 600 years, it builds a nest of fragrant wood and then dies in a blaze of fire, only to be reborn as a fledgling from the ashes. The Phoenix is believed to originate from Egyptian mythology or from the Phoenician guardian bird Phoenciiax. In the grimoire "Lemegedon," it is listed as the 37th of Solomon's 72 demons.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (Akuma Zensho; PSP)	出身地：エジプト 不死鳥として有名な、エジプトの聖なる鳥。炎の中より生まれる。 フェニックスは深紅の体を持った鷲くらいの大きさの鳥で、青い尾にはバラ色の羽毛が飛び出していたと伝えられる。 ５００年ほど生きるとその体を自ら火の中に投じ、幼鳥となって再生した。これがフェニックスが不死鳥とされるゆえんである。 なお、このフェニックスのモデルは、エジプトの霊鳥ベンヌであるといわれる。 Translation: Place of origin: Egypt A sacred bird of Egypt well-known as the immortal bird. It is born from flames. The phoenix is said to have been a bird the size of an eagle that has a deep-crimson body and a blue tail with rose-colored feathers protruding from it. After having lived for 500 years, it threw itself into fire and was reborn as a young bird. This is why the phoenix is thought to be an immortal bird. Additionally, it is said that the phoenix is modeled after the Egyptian spirit bird Bennu.
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS)	A holy Egyptian bird that is born from fire. The Phoenix is a crimson-colored bird the size of an eagle with a colorful tail. After about 500 years, it throws itself onto a pyre and is reborn from the ashes as a chick.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin	Immortal bird that immolates itself every 500 years to be reborn.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment	Bird that immolates itself every 500 years.
Devil Children White Book	ホノオのなかから　ふっかつすると　いわれる　トリのデビル　まっかな　からだをしている Translation:
Devil Children Light Book and Dark Book	世界に１羽だけの　何度　死んでも　燃えさかる　炎の　中からよみがえる　真っ赤な　鳥の　デビル Translation:
DemiKids Light Version and Dark Version	A crimson bird-demon that is reborn from burning flames each time it dies in battle.
Devil Children Fire Book and Ice Book	何度　死んでも　燃えさかる　炎の　中からよみがえる　世界に１羽だけの　真っ赤な　鳥の　デビル Translation:
Kētai Akuma Densho	不死鳥の名でも知られる霊鳥。炎の中に身を投げ、再生・復活を繰り返すと言われる。 出身地：エジプト フェニックスは、エジプトの霊鳥ベンヌがモデルとされたと考えられている霊鳥で、一般には「死と復活」を意味する不死鳥として知られる。五百年あるいは六百年ごとに自ら発する炎によって焼け死ぬとされているが、灰となった体から幼鳥となって生き返ると言われ、こうした転生を行う生態が、不死鳥と呼ばれるゆえんになっている。真紅の体をしており、鷲と同じくらいの大きさで、金色と赤い色の羽を持ち、また単性生物であるとされ、オスのみが存在すると言われる。 Translation: A sacred bird also known as the immortal bird. Said to throw itself into flames, regenerating and reviving itself repeatedly. Place of origin: Egypt Phoenix is a sacred bird thought to be modeled after the Egyptian sacred bird Bennu, and is generally known as an immortal bird signifying "death and rebirth". Every 500 or 600 years, it burns to death from its own flames, but is said to come back to life as a chick from the ashes of its body, and as such, this reincarnating behavior has earned it the appellation of immortal bird. It has a crimson body, is roughly the size of an eagle, has gold and red feathers, and is thought to be unisexual; only the male is said to exist.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Phoenix
Japanese	フェニックス Fenikkusu	Phoenix
	ホイニクスShinyaku Last Bible Shinyaku Last Bible II: Hajimari no Fukuin Hoinikusu	Misspelling of ポイニクス (Poinikusu, phoînix)
Korean	피닉스 Pinikseu	Phoenix

Gallery

See Gallery

References

General

• The Myth of the Phoenix According to Classical and Early Christian Traditions (1972), Roel van den Broek. Published by E. J. Brill. Translation by I. Seeger. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004296268

Specific