Tarot Card
Tarot cards are a recurring theme and mechanic in the Persona series.
Overview
Background
Tarot cards originated in Italy and developed in continental Europe as a parallel tradition to the standard 52-card deck. Tarot cards are used to play tarot, a family of trick-taking games (called tarocchi in Italian and Tarock in German). The number of cards vary in different tarot varieties, but most French and Italian decks contain 78 cards: 10 numbered cards and 4 face cards for each of the four suits, 21 trump cards, and a special Fool (or Excuse) card.
The four suits are usually the French suits (spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds) in modern-day game decks, though historically tarot cards used the Italian suits (swords, cups, batons, and coins). The trump cards historically depicted specific characters, objects, or concepts, but most modern game decks no longer use the traditional imagery for the trump cards and instead use depictions of domestic scenes; such decks are called Bourgeois Tarot.
Starting in the late 18th century, tarot cards have been used for esoteric purposes, with figures such as Antoine Court de Gébelin, Jean-Baptiste Alliette, Éliphas Lévi, and Arthur Edward Waite being influential in the development of esoteric tarot practices. Esoteric decks have kept the traditional trump cards, which are grouped with the Fool as "Major Arcana", while the remaining cards, which use the Italian suits, are called "Minor Arcana". Tarot esotericists assign particular symbolic meanings to each card.
Because tarot games never gained widespread popularity in Britain or the United States, tarot cards are primarily associated with divination in the English-speaking world.
In the Persona series
- See also: Arcana
All Persona games other than Persona 5: The Phantom X assign Major Arcana to each Persona, and games other than Megami Ibunroku Persona usually assign Major Arcana to enemies as well. When Social Links or Confidants are present, Major Arcana are assigned to each. In the Persona 2 duology, tarot cards can be obtained and traded for Personas, while the different versions of Persona 3 and Persona 4 have used tarot cards in Shuffle Time.
The Persona 3 and Persona 4 Major Arcana cards have abstract designs, often incorporating some imagery from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. On the other hand, the cards in the Persona 5 series are close parodies of the Tarot de Marseille pattern.
Mechanics by Game
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
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This gameplay section is a stub. You can help Megami Tensei Wiki by expanding it. |
| Reason: Needs info on how to obtain Fool cards |
Major Arcana tarot cards can be obtained from demons of the given Arcana through negotiation. If the protagonist has made a contract with a demon, the demon will additionally give "free cards" (known as "free tarot" in the Japanese version), which can be converted into any of the Major Arcana cards by the Demon Artist. Tarot cards can be traded with Igor for Personas. The exact number of cards needed varies per Persona.
Fool-arcana cards are obtained differently than the other tarot cards.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Tarot cards function identically to Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
Persona 3
- Main article: Shuffle Time § Persona 3
Minor Arcana tarot cards appear in Shuffle Time. There are no face cards.
Persona 3 Reload
- Main article: Shuffle Time in Persona 3 Reload
Both Minor and Major Arcana tarot cards appear in Shuffle Time. The Page and Knight face cards are consolidated into a Jack card as in a standard 52-card deck.
Persona 4
- Main article: Shuffle Time § Persona 4
Major Arcana tarot cards appear in Shuffle Time.
Persona 4 Golden
- Main article: Shuffle Time § Persona 4 Golden
Both Minor and Major Arcana tarot cards appear in Shuffle Time. There are no face cards.
Nomenclature
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 English
|
Tarot Cards | |
 Japanese
|
タロットカード Tarotto kādo | Tarot card(s) |
