DEBUNKING 30 SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI FAN MYTHS, PART TWO: #16-30

At last, the final 15 Shin Megami Tensei fan myths have arrived. So which are next on the chopping block? 

Well, I’ve been told there are Multiverses, but I couldn’t find any. Interpretations of Nocturne lyrics are a dime a dozen and actually worth even less. Somehow, there’s even a Tyrannosaurus Rex! And obviously many more than just these. Rumors even whisper of a mysterious 31st myth. 

Read on (or check out PART ONE: MYTHS #1-15 if you haven’t, they’re essential!) and help stem the tide against rampant SMT misinformation!

As before, some things to note: 

1. These myths are not presented in order of importance or in ANY order except for a few that build off of each other. 

2. For clarity, the quoted statement (Ex. “Kaneko Lives in a Flower Field”) represents the false statement I am refuting. This statement is the “myth.”  PLEASE NOTE: The image header for each section may contain a truncated version of the myth; the "Myth's Gist" for each represents the full statement.

3. Most of the time I abbreviate game names: 

• Shin Megami Tensei / Shin Megami Tensei II = SMT1 / SMT2 
• Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne = Nocturne
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey / Redux = SJ / SJR
• Shin Megami Tensei IV / Apocalypse = SMT4 / SMT4A
• Persona 2: Innocent Sin / Eternal Punishment = P2: IS / P2: EP
• Persona 3 / 4 / 5 = P3 / P4 / P5

And so on and so forth. 

4. Sources cited, if necessary, are available at the bottom of their respective sections as footnotes. Additionally, for many myths I included optional non-cited sources providing further context and information. 

Again, please enjoy!

 

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UPDATE (6/18/22): Additions and updates to #16 (more about ophanim), #18 (definition of "flat characters" updated), #20 (Mara is a "he" in SMT5!), #21 (Cthulhu's member in Dx2), #26 ("war broke out in heaven"), #27 (clarification), and #28 (I previously conflated Raido and Raidou XL; Persona Club mention), plus general grammatical corrections.

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The Myth’s Gist: Biblical angels were actually scary, eldritch monsters and SMT4’s archangels represent this.  

The appeal of this forbidden “truth” about angels resonates not just with fans of SMT4’s contorted, metallic archangels but internet commenters in general. However, this entire “eldritch angel” concept is an entirely modern, invalid misinterpretation with no basis in Jewish or Christian religious tradition or art iconography.

For SMT4’s angels, we can cut right to the quick. 

 

Source for Amemiya's art: [16z]

Keita Amemiya, tokusatsu designer, is the artist behind its archangels and he had this to say in an official SMT4 interview about his inspiration for them:  

I can’t really work with consulting materials and data, and that makes me feel ‘realistic’ designs don’t suit me. When I give an idea form, it is only complete in my head. [16a]

Yes, he deliberately eschewed sources, meaning that the angels you see in the game are entirely Amemiya’s own creation; moreover, they are deliberately divorced from ANY source material and only reflect his personal art style. Thus, to even say they follow the eldritch model is completely untrue. 

 

However, fan perception of SMT4’s angels is still affected by the general and, I must repeat, modern perception that angels are actually Lovecraftian beasts. This view dates back to at least 2010 with a Cracked.com article [16b] about biblical misconceptions; the irony here is perfect. Let's look at the most common claims from the article and internet comments since its publication. 

First, the basic claim: “angels are actually monsters.” This is untrue as angels are overwhelmingly described in anthropomorphic or otherwise familiar terms, including: 

• The “sons of God” of Genesis, who lust after and copulate with human women, implying sexual “compatibility” with the human form (Genesis 6: 1-4)
• These same angels eat bread baked by Lot, so they have normal mouths (Genesis 19:3)
• The angel messengers to Lot who resemble men and are objects of lust for the Sodomites, i.e., they have butts (Genesis 19:5) 
• Angels are also described as holding things and having hands (2 Samuel 24:16, Judges 6:21, 1 Chronicles 21:16, etc.) 
• Certain angel classes are clearly described as winged, such as seraphim (Isaiah 6:2)

Next, the most common phrase cited as proof that angels are monsters: they utter “be not afraid” as if to assuage humans of their “grotesque” anatomy. But this is an immense leap of logic due to basic symbolic language and meaning understood by all ancient peoples--why would ugly (and thus symbolically “bad” or “evil”) things be associated with the heavenly sphere? And also for the following reasons: 

• Humans are afraid of anything surprising or unwanted, like a spider on the floor or wall; we know exactly what spiders are and are many times their size yet we still fear them
• Appearances of divine things to humans are common in mythology the world over, as theophanies (the manifestation of a god)
• In the Japanese Kojiki, Emperor Yuryaku encounters on a mountaintop the god Hitokotonushi in the form of a man; the emperor, himself of the divine bloodline, piously fears the god [16c]
• In the Indian Mahabharata, the grand cosmic form of Vishnu (Vishvarupa) appears to the hero Arjuna, who is fearful of its scale and magnificence [16d]
• For myths in general, pious fear is seen as the natural human response to witnessing the sudden manifestation of the divine powers of the universe 
• These powers are also only described in ways people naturally comprehend; cosmic Vishnu may have many arms and heads but they are still just arms and heads; naturally, the biblical writers also described angels in terms they understood like hands and wings, not as contorted asymmetrical nightmares that do not exist naturally
• Most importantly, theophanies are NOT unique to the Bible even if it has its own way of expressing them

Lastly, there are the angel types that form the core of the “biblically-accurate,” “monstrous” views: the seraphim, because they are described as many-winged and “burning”; cherubim, because they have multiple animal heads; and ophanim, because they are wheels with many eyes. Here’s why they are actually totally consistent with the imagery of the Bible and other similar cultures: 

Seraphim (Isaiah 6:1-8): 

• Are a part of Isaiah’s vision of God’s throne; the six-winged “burning” or “flaming” seraphim circle the throne and praise God
• The modern consensus is that the seraphim are derived from the Egyptian uraeus, the protective and symbolic serpent found on the nemes, or headdress of pharaohs
• The uraeus is depicted as winged on seals and other archaeological finds [16e, 273, 275] 
• The uraeus serpent is identified as the black-necked cobra [16e, 273], capable of spitting at long distance a venom which can cause irritation and inflammation of the skin
• “The Hebrew name for both the [black-necked cobra] and the [uraeus] is saraf, ‘the one that burns.’ The famous seraphim of Isa 6:2, 6 are not to be understood in any other way.” [16e, 273]
• Isaiah 6 does describe the seraphim as having hands and feet but these “are not proof that they had a human shape, since cobras shown in the numinous realm could appear not only with wings but also with hands, feet, and even with a human voice.” [16e, 273]
• Egyptian parallels can be seen as informing Isaiah’s vision: as the pharaoh sat on his throne and was protected by the uraeus, so was Yahweh on his throne protected by the fierce “burning venom” seraphim; by the 8th century BCE Yahweh was seen as “the actual sun god” [16e, 277] [“burning” interpreted as fire and light, thus “sun,” 16f, 35]

Image source: [16y]

Cherubim (Ezekiel 1:1-14, 19-25; 10:1-22; 11:22): 

• Four appear as part of Ezekiel’s vision (i.e., an experience beyond reality’s limits) of God’s chariot-throne, the merkabah, and have human, lion, eagle, and ox aspects; are referred to as “living creatures” 
• The cherubim are just one of the many hybrid creatures of the ancient Near East, including winged scarabs, the aforementioned uraei, griffins, sphinxes [16f, 46-47], and aladlammu [16e, 340]
• Close parallels to the cherubim and their association with the merkabah are to be found in sacred hybrid animals depicted on thrones of other cultures, especially Egypt 
• An ivory found in Megiddo in Israel depicts in Egyptian style a prince seated on a throne flanked by symbolic “cherubim” or sphinxes, depicted with human faces, bird wings, and lion bodies [16e, 62]
• Though Ezekiel’s mystical vision seems to literalize or animate his cherubim, their symbolic function as protectors of the throne and who sits on it is identical to the Egyptian-style sphinx throne and others 

Ophanim (Ezekiel 1:15-21; 10:2, 6, 10, 16-17, 19; 11:22): 

• They also appear in conjunction with Ezekiel’s merkabah vision and act as the wheels of the chariot, also four in number parallel to the “living creatures”/cherubim
• The most famous descriptions of the ophanim, that they are “wheels within wheels” and that their rims are full of eyes, remain mysterious to scholars [16f, 57]; however, working theories remain grounded in "Babylonian symbolism in the wheel as a cosmic halo or divine astral symbol as found in Neo-Assyrian cylinder seals of the 8th-7th century" [16f, 59]
• Beings with supernatural numbers of appendages and organs are not unique to the Bible: the Hecatoncheires of Greek myth are the “hundred-handers” with fifty heads (and thus 100 eyes) apiece; deities of India and Buddhism frequently have more than two arms and yet they are perceived as benevolent. Additionally, the giant Argus Panoptes (lit. “all-seeing Argus”) was sometimes depicted with eyes all over his (relatively normal, anthropomorphic) body, similar to the ophanim; consider that the ophanim themselves may have been intended to be "all-seeing" as well--but as eyes of God, ultimately the absolute "all-seeing" one, yet "biblilcally-accurate" depictions stop short of a "biblically-accurate God"
• Like the other angels, due to the ophanim’s proximity to God’s holy chariot/throne it is never suggested they were to be interpreted negatively as monsters 
• Though 200 years after Ezekiel, Plato in the Timaeus dialogue describes his World Soul using similar “wheel within a wheel” imagery, suggesting a common antecedent [16f, 57, 308] 
• Notably, the description of the ophanim changes in Ez. 10:11-12, where the “wheels within wheels” develop heads (in some translations of verse 11) and bodies and wings, transforming them into a proper class of anthropomorphized angels [16f, 59] 

Source for Plato's wheel: [16f]

This is a complicated topic and the provided is just a sampling of scholarly interpretations of these “vision” angels based on textual analysis, contextual cultural comparisons, and archaeological evidence that are, conspicuously but not mysteriously, completely devoid of “eldritch” perceptions. The unspoken assumption in the field is that angels are not unknowable beings but inherently knowable concepts; as has been repeatedly emphasized, the imagery featured in these verses from Isaiah and Ezekiel is not unique to the Bible. The territories of ancient Israel and Judah existed in the shadows of major cultural, economic, and militaristic powers such as Egypt, the various Mesopotamian empires, the Hittites, and the “Canaanite” influence of Ugarit to the immediate north. It is only natural that these ancient Jewish people would adopt the common symbols and images of these influential nations when telling their own, genuinely unique, story of the relationship between a god and his people.

Far right image by Spectrum Cinema

Some angels in the Bible do stand out from the robed, Christianized norm--the seraphim, cherubim, and ophanim being prime examples--but even so, they are only exceptionally unusual if your knowledge of religion is bound by memories of Sunday school and rambling sermons, a bubble that's honestly difficult (but not impossible!) for the ancient context, as detailed above, to penetrate and burst. However, the “biblically-accurate angel” movement rejects mainstream views for fringe interpretations that will never be found in a legitimate, vetted publication; if that sounds familiar it’s because it’s in the dubious company of the ancient astronaut hypothesis, Japanese-Jewish common ancestry theory, or other conspiracy theories. This is why generally missing from its discussion is proper context for the angels’ appearances and descriptions, like that these specific, consistently-cited “eldritch” angels specifically belong to extraordinary visions of God’s throne, the apex of Jewish cosmology. Obvious clickbait articles or Youtube videos with an alarming lack of cultural awareness or knowledge of religious development are unreliable teachers of hidden “truths.”

 

Sources: 

 

[16a] Yamai, Ishida, Doi and Demon Designers Interview [Famitsu, 07.2013]

[16b] 5 Thngs You Won't Believe Aren't in the Bible, Cracked.com

[16c] Kojiki, chapter 132. Trans. Philippi.; transcription 

[16d] Many Heads, Arms and Eyes: Origin, Meaning and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art. Srinivasan. 1997.

[16e] Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel. Keel/Uehlinger, 1998. 

[16f] The Development of Jewish Ideas of Angels: Egyptian and Hellenistic Connections ca. 600 BCE to ca. 200 CE. Annette H. M. Evans, 2007. (link 1) (link 2)

[16z] https://twitter.com/keitaamemiya01/status/1427564011474718727

[16y] https://www.livius.org/pictures/israel/megiddo/megiddo-museum-pieces/megiddo-ivories/

More: 

• SMTheology - Be Not Afraid (On the Theological Accuracy of the Shin Megami Tensei IV Archangels) video by Kid Capes

 

 

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The Myth’s Gist: Strange Journey was meant to be SMT4 but the absence of Tokyo prevented it. 

This rumor circulated around SJ’s original DS releases in 2009/10. How exactly it started is lost to time but that doesn’t mean it can’t be proven false. The game’s director, Eiji Ishida, sheds light on the game’s development and smashes this rumor into atoms in an SJR interview: 

[Strange Journey] was developed as a spinoff from the start. The promotional staff at the time judged the game to have high enough quality to be marketed as a numbered title, so they suggested selling it as a numbered SMT game. Even Mr. Kazuma Kaneko, who worked with us to design the human and demon characters and pen the original story, backed up the suggestion, saying it was “good enough to be called Shin Megami Tensei IV.”

But, because it was conceived as a spinoff, we enjoyed the freedom of going off on a tangent from the mainline games (and the extra pain and suffering from that, haha). Therefore, I felt a strong resistance to market it as a numbered title, and I ultimately rejected the suggestion. I think I would be a little more flexible about it now, but my past self who had just experienced the pain of creating a new title wasn’t as confident, and I couldn’t make that decision then. [17a]

So, the truth is Tokyo was never part of the picture and the idea of it being the fourth numbered title was merely a marketing suggestion. 

 

Source:

 

[17a] Embarking on a Strange Journey, redux 

More (Ishida's cats on social media): 

• https://twitter.com/daishideath
• https://www.instagram.com/daishi555/ 

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The Myth’s Gist: SMT characters are dull and have no character or personality, especially compared to their modern Persona counterparts. 

This is really a matter of basic characterization and narrative structure. If you’ve taken an English class in college you’ll remember (or have forgotten--don’t worry, that’s okay!) the following stripped down definitions of how characters are written: 

• Flat characters. Simple, two-dimensional personalities that rely on archetypes and whose own growth remains static or at least limited; simply, they don’t feel like real people, more like cardboard cutouts or impressions of people. But even in stories with more complicated characters, flat characters still exist as secondary characters who can affect the narrative in minor ways (through interactions with the protagonist, etc.).
• Round characters. Predictably, the opposite of flat characters. These are dynamic, life-like agents of the central narrative conflict and develop and change through their actions and reactions to said conflict. Their substance can be defined by what they are on the inside as much as who they are on the outside. 

Ideally, you would at least want your protagonist to be a rounded character--however, both SMT and Persona use silent protagonists meant to be proxies of the player, so they are deliberately “blank.” That leaves the supporting casts to pick up the slack. 

SMT’s traditional supporting cast members are its alignment heroes. Their formulaic character arcs usually go as follows:

• an introduction
• a focus on their conflicts and resulting motivation
• an important decision made
• a transformation as a result of that decision that makes them the “hero” of a particular alignment
• their ultimate role as warrior of that alignment
• their defeat/success depending on the player’s own decisions.

It could even be further reduced to “they have a motivating problem, they make a transformative decision to solve it, they grow to become alignment representatives based on that decision/transformation.” It is nonetheless a simple but effective driver of dramatic arcs and allows them to affect the direction of the story in its closing acts. The best examples are still SMT1’s Law and Chaos heroes, described succinctly: Law Hero is motivated by a lost girlfriend, dies in the process and is resurrected, then seeks a rule of Law as a messiah; Chaos Hero wants revenge against a bully, fuses with a demon and achieves it, and grows to desire a Chaotic world as a half-demonic entity.

 

In modern Persona, particularly the Persona 4 “episodic” model, its character development formula is shockingly similar. Within the span of an in-game month or “episode,” we’re given:

• an introduction to the character
• the character's problem
• the party solving the problem
• character growth due to acceptance of the problem and subsequent development of a persona
• then the character joining the party

Yukiko Amagi is the perfect example of this formula: she feels caged in due to her traditional role at the family inn (her shadow is literally a caged bird conflicted about her role), she accepts her inner conflict, gains a persona, and joins the party. The main difference between this and SMT’s formula is that “episodic” Persona characters have a single chance for meaningful personal growth and control over plot development--their arc “month”--and tend to remain static thereafter. Persona 3’s characters are the exception to this, as they are shown to have agency outside of the protagonist’s presence and grow to serve the plot instead of being a short-term focus. 

But the major perceived difference between the two is a “personality gulf,” heavily favored towards Persona’s longer and more frequent cutscenes, which, besides scenes of critical plot development, include summaries of plot events, onsen scenes, beach scenes, camping scenes, etc.; in other words, these are usually events where characters’ pre-defined personalities--their dispositions, likes/dislikes, etc.--are reinforced but lack actual character development through choices or actions. And though highly touted and loved, character development (or, in some cases, regression!) from Persona’s S-links and Confidants is not reflected in the main stories because they are optional; their omission is also conspicuous in sequels and spinoffs. Again, because P3’s persona (and thus character!) evolutions are baked into the narrative instead of being restricted to S-link completion, it remains the modern Persona game with the most organic character development. 

 

Thing is, SMT has plenty of personality, too. Its main scripts are a fraction of the length of Persona’s, but due to deliberate design; its characters cannot get up to the same light-hearted antics because the setting doesn’t allow it. However, SMT has its own appropriate counterpart to them: demon personality types. Each demon is assigned one of a dozen or more types which determine not only what they say in conversations but any message, whether they level up, want to change a skill, or give you a gift. These can get repetitive due to their sheer frequency but are largely goofy and can still surprise, especially in newer games that have greater amounts of text and thus more variety. And since they are divorced from the main narrative, demons’ personality dumps don’t cause tonal whiplash, fitting SMT’s setting to a tee.

The honest truth may be that, despite simple arcs, both SMT’s and Persona’s characters would be considered flat by critical metrics; none of them actually act convincingly human, relying on archetypes. But another fact is that Persona’s cast members remain more relatable since they don’t live in fantastical apocalyptic settings surrounded by bizarre and boorish creatures. However, to imply they have more genuine depth of characterization than SMT’s heroes is not true, especially in Persona’s episodic model which affords each character a sole major event across an in-game month to effect a single change of heart or strengthening of resolve; in other words, character development equivalent to an SMT alignment hero. Actions, not the number of words spoken, shape rounded characters.

More:  

• https://writersalliance.org/flat-and-round-characters-in-fiction/
• https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/creative_writing/characters_and_fiction_writing/types_of_characters.html
• https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-flat-character-vs-round-character

 

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The Myth’s Gist: Nocturne has sparse cutscenes and character interactions, thus its story is minimalistic to the point of being nonexistent. 

This may be one of the most unfortunate misconceptions of the entire lot, often repeated in guides and discussions for newcomers to SMT. It is the result of expectations from other series, from Persona to Final Fantasy; Nocturne may indeed have fewer cutscenes and less dialogue, but whether or not a story exists isn’t determined by quantity. The craft of storytelling can be defined many ways but the most common include the following terms: 

• Story: “A sequence of events involving characters. Events include both natural and non-natural happenings (such as floods and car accidents). Characters get involved by being agents (causers of events), patients or beneficiaries (being affected by events).” [19a]
• Theme: “A salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work's treatment of its subject-matter. While the subject of a work is described concretely in terms of its action (e.g. 'the adventures of a newcomer in the big city'), its theme or themes will be described in more abstract terms (e.g. love, war, revenge, betrayal, fate, etc.). The theme of a work may be announced explicitly, but more often it emerges indirectly through the recurrence of motifs.” [19b]
• Narrative: When not used as a synonym for “story,” it refers to “how the story is conveyed” [19c] to the audience, “be it by oral or written text, picture, performance, or a combination of these. Narratives can be found in conversation, jokes, novels, plays, films, comic strips, etc.” [19a]
• Plot: “The particular arrangement of actions, events, and situations that unfold in a narrative. A plot is not merely the general story of a narrative but the author’s artistic pattern made from the parts of the narrative, including the exposition, complications, climax, and denouement. How an author chooses to construct the plot determines the way the reader experiences the story.” [19d]

These definitions are important but, for the purposes of this myth, they’ll primarily be used for examples. Building off the previous characterization entry, I’ll simplify the needs of “story” down to its basics: character actions that surround a central conflict. Keep that in mind. 

And so, Nocturne begins with a dream about your teacher, Yuko Takao. This dream is extremely important as the very first lines reveal the central theme of the game (using the 2004 translation): 

“A world that loses its power will fade away into nothingness. If such is the fate of this world, then I shall return it to its mother’s womb. The world must first die, for it to be born again…” 

The bolded line (one Takao even repeats later on!) is the key statement: the story is about death and rebirth. But she gets more specific: 

“I am the nurturer of the next world. It is my duty to create the world that is to come.” 

Yuko is the nurturer, the mother figure, and she also will “create” this next world. This gives it away: Nocturne isn’t just about rebirth, it is about creation. She also mentions not to forget what she tells you, emphasizing its importance. This theme reflects what the story is fundamentally about: characters vying for creation of the next world. Yuko is also the source of the game’s first major action: defying Hikawa by inviting you, Chiaki, and Isamu to the hospital to survive the Conception. 

If that’s not enough, producer Cozy Okada was kind enough to point it out in a Nocturne interview: 

Okada: … The side games, starting with Shin Megami Tensei if…, deal with smaller themes compared to mainline, so this game’s theme was ‘Creation out of Chaos’. I actually discussed with Kaneko nine years ago about making a game with Chaos as its theme.

It’s easy to perceive the theme as soon as you start playing the game. It really feels like a true ‘Shin Megami Tensei’ title.

Okada: It does, doesn’t it? It might seem different at first glance, but once you start playing, you really feel it. [19e]

I feel it’s unnecessary to explain Nocturne’s story plot point by plot point, but once you get to the Vortex World, the central narrative conflict revolves around the collection of Magatsuhi--frankly the MacGuffin of the story--needed to summon a god of “creation,” thus fueling the character reactions and actions that define and resolve individual plot events that lead right into the next one: surviving the Conception → waking up transformed in the hospital → exploring the hospital →  defeating Forneus and discovering the barren Vortex World → meeting with the other characters and witnessing how they survive in the Vortex World and define it, etc. In other words, Nocturne features natural storytelling.

 

Nocturne’s cutscenes may be relatively infrequent and short but they don’t need to be longer to be more effective: they are expertly framed and visualized to actively show you vital information and character actions instead of being passive backdrops for static talking portraits, while their economy of words succinctly explains current character motivations. Each one tells you something new about the world or how you (via choices), Chiaki, Isamu, Hijiri, Hikawa, and Yuko are developing along with the struggles for Magatsuhi; these are all features of Nocturne’s deliberate “narrative” framing.  At the story’s climax, the conflict over Magatsuhi changes into a conflict over--unsurprisingly--its theme of creation, with each character vying for a different outcome. This is a complete story no less valid or fleshed out than Persona 5’s fight for justice or Persona 4’s quest for truth. 

To review our storytelling terms, here’s how Nocturne would fit into each: 

• Story: An apocalypse thrusts a handful of humans to survive in a barren, transient world, seek the power (Magatsuhi) needed for influence, and make the world anew in their image.
• Theme: Creation, of a new world. 
• Narrative: Cinematic visual presentation; gameplay mechanics that allow for choice and different outcomes.
• Plot: As individual interlinked events, broadly: Students meet their sick teacher in a hospital, the world ends, they adapt to survive the new environment, and so on and so forth until they transform and clash with one another. The plot point with the most drastic effect on the story is the Conception itself; everything else is dependent on it happening. 

Akin to the discussion of character, excess dialogue does not develop a story, it only makes the script longer. Nocturne’s story does more with less, especially when communicated through its exceptional visual language. It may still be different from the RPG norm but Nocturne’s narrative remains a thematically rich and rewarding one, which is why it continues to be held in high regard.
  

Sources:

[19a] Narratology 2.3: A Guide to the Theory of Narrative. Jahn.

[19b] The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Baldick. Oxford, 2001.

[19c] The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Abbott. Cambridge, second edition, 2008.

[19d] Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Kennedy, Gioia. Longman, 2003. 

[19e] Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne -- Dengeki Online Release Interview

 

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The Myth’s Gist: Despite appearing as a monstrous male organ, Mara is actually female because the profiles of Strange Journey and some subsequent games use female pronouns in their descriptions; Strange Journey also features a quest where Mara is implied to be female. 

A popular and visually dissonant “revelation” shared on social media, this claim is, of course, total bollocks. It’s easily refuted but explaining the context is complicated. One step at a time: 

• Mara is the male “lord of death” in Buddhism who tempted the meditating Buddha with earthly pleasures
• SMT’s Mara is the same being as this “lord of death”; this has never changed throughout his series appearances
• At least parts of SJ were influenced by Barbara Walker’s infamously inaccurate Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, including the concept of Mem Aleph which was lifted wholesale [20a]
• SJ’s Chaos-exclusive quest “Mara’s Desire,” where he is encountered in Maya’s boss room, can be initiated one of two ways: with an NPC Grendel dead or alive 
• If the Grendel is dead, Mara tells you to meet him and no mention of goddesshood is made in subsequent dialogue

But if Grendel is alive, he tells you to meet “a beautiful goddess; charming and voluptuous”; then, Mara says: 

What? A beautiful goddess was supposed to come? Well, you didn't hear entirely wrong, then.

I used to be a beautiful goddess of death who enchanted men. Be satisfied with that. If you want, I could assume the form of a goddess and charm you… Come on, no need to be shy. Gwahahaha!

Particularly revealing are Mara’s statements “I used to be a beautiful goddess of death” (i.e., Mara is no longer a goddess, which matches his role in Buddhism) and “I could assume the form of a goddess and charm you” (i.e., again, Mara is not currently in the form of a goddess but could become one to tempt you, akin to his Buddhist role). But is there a goddess of death named Mara? Only if you believe some highly suspicious and poorly cited Wikipedia and online encyclopedia entries. But the idea of a Hindu goddess named Mara that is also related to the Buddhist Mara seems to originate from the Woman’s Encyclopedia; the “Mara” entry states that it is the “exceedingly ancient name of the Goddess-as-Crone, the death-bringer.” [20a] This statement is uncited and is entirely Walker’s invention. She links it to Buddhist Mara by stating that the Buddhists chose to translate the name of the goddess as “Fear-of-Death”; it is true that “mara” means “death” in Sanskrit, but it is a common word with obviously no links to goddesses who don’t actually exist. 

The whole quest seems crafted as an extended joke. There’s the fact that Mara’s name does in fact contain the “MA” particle significant to SJ’s main goddesses and central plot, perhaps the reason why Grendel thought Mara was a goddess in the first place. Additionally, in Japanese Mara refers to himself using the pronoun “washi,” which is basically old man speak and also uses the “elderly male” personality type for his generic dialogue--and, notably, so does the English version. Needless to say, if Mara were intended to be female, he would have had a female personality type. 

Then there’s Mara’s profile. SJ’s English version states, “a Hindu demon that represents fear of death. She tempted the Buddha during his meditations. She gave birth to the Mares and Mora, powerful demons of darkness.” In Japanese, Mara’s in-game profiles have been more or less the same since his first modern appearance in Persona 3 FES and none of them identify him as female. It’s likely that the then-Atlus USA misread the intentions of the quest and its dialogue and changed the pronouns in the profile. 

SJ’s “female” Mara profile would unfortunately make its way to SMT4, SMT4A, and back around to SJR where it would misinform a whole new generation of players despite 4 and 4A containing quests identifying him as male. Unfortunately, these profiles are rarely changed after their initial translation and can be carried forward thoughtlessly, such as in SMT4 where Orochi has Hoyau Kamui’s profile from Soul Hackers. I would not be surprised if Mara’s still says the same thing in SMT5. (UPDATE: It does not!)

As has been demonstrated, the idea of SMT’s Mara--the Buddhist Mara--being a goddess is false on multiple fronts. Even though I can no longer corroborate this, I once hung around the same "area" as "some people" (wink wink) and female Mara was treated like a subversive discovery, with all the glee inherent in similar tweets seen today. A combination of misinformation from Walker’s book and an exercise in half-wittedness from then-Atlus USA created a Mara misidentification that’s completely invalid. 

Source:

[20a] Post with quotes from Walker's Woman's Encyclopedia

More:

• Initial post discussing Mara in Strange Journey

 

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The Myth’s Gist: Mara is a penis-shaped monster, of that there is no doubt. Because of the penis, it is considered by some to be scandalous or even shocking when he shows up in promotional material like the initial 2017 Shin Megami Tensei V demon reveal teaser, since he is believed to be responsible for pushing the games’ ratings up to M for Mature. 

So is Mara the most controversial demon of all? As it turns out, probably not. Kaneko is notable for, if nothing else, SMT’s cadre of genital-themed demons including not only Mara but Mishaguji, Arioch, Tiamat, and many more. What’s curious about these demons is that their artwork is rarely censored even if they resemble penises, like Mara and Mishaguji, or vaginas, like Arioch and features on Tiamat; even the lowly Pretas’ little ding-a-lings remain. One of the more notable demons to have features removed is the multi-breasted Diana, who has had her nipples polished off for every modern appearance. 

Then there’s Rahu, a demon with an obvious johnson sticking out of his forehead like a horn, who suffered the removal of his specific penile features for the PSP Devil Summoner release; this version included other censored artwork alleged to be due to Sony’s demands and Rahu has not appeared in a game since, so for now this is its own special case. Also worth mentioning is another demon left by the wayside: SMT2’s Cthulhu, who has a penis emerging from his mouth that would almost certainly be cut out if he reappeared, though honestly the design is one of Kaneko’s worst and would likely receive a brand new form instead. (UPDATE: Cthulhu subsequently appeared in Dx2 and the penis was cut!)

But the ideal, and unexpected, example of censorship across multiple mediums is Master Therion. He, the Great Beast form of Aleister Crowley, is depicted as such a human-faced creature only with the shadow of an absurdly long, engorged phallus emerging from his groin. This feature has been removed on at least two occasions: his SMT TCG card art and his 3D appearance in Liberators Dx2. It was also not present on his original SMT2 sprite but, at least according to his own SMT1 comments, [21a] Kaneko drew the pixel art prior to full illustrations so the idea could have come later. However, in most other appearances, like the 2D sprites of the 3DS games, Master Therion’s penis is still there. 

So why is Master Therion’s penis sometimes removed while Mara gets to run completely free? Again, context is king. Mara has a phallic shape but is otherwise a strange looking, tentacled monster that could almost pass for a fungus (think of that SMT1 design!). Master Therion, on the other hand, literally features erect genitalia in its proper anatomical position and thus could be considered obscene depending on the policies or laws of various states or entities.

 

 

But think about it: Mara goes unchanged in 3D and on trading cards that kids could access, while Master Therion’s member is deemed too hot under the same circumstances--because his more closely resembles a “realistic” depiction of an actual human penis in a sexual context. Bad for kids, bad to leave hanging on a rendered model. Mara may get all the attention but leave it to Aleister Crowley to be the real troublemaker! 

Source:

[21a] Shin Megami Tensei LAW & CHAOS DISC liner notes

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The Myth’s Gist: Megaten’s protagonists are usually nameless but names derived from drama CDs, anime adaptations, and novelizations like Minato Arisato for P3’s protag, Hitonari Tadano for SJ’s, Naoki Kashima for SMT3’s, etc., are still “official” and thus legitimate to some level. 

Fans of any franchise generally love canonicity, as it can determine what is worthwhile to experience. But consider why Atlus’ protagonists are silent and why their names are left blank: SMT and Persona tend to be full of choices and/or multiple story paths and thus, to a limited-to-moderate degree, how the games unfold is determined by the player as you inhabit these characters’ shoes. These range from the simple effects of Persona’s social choices and persona perks to the alignment splits of SMT that can determine what you see and where you go in a single playthrough. By leaving the protagonist’s name blank, the clear intent is for you to immerse and insert yourself into the story and make the choices your own.

Yes, some Persona and SMT protagonists do have canon names that necessarily serve the needs of their individual stories. And yes, thinking up an original moniker can be difficult, so there’s no blame at the feet of those who would rather leave it to a drama CD instead of sitting at a name entry screen for 15 minutes at the start of a game. But those who always default to “official” names for the “official” experience may set themselves up for predetermined expectations and miss out on the ultimate, deliberate message of the nameless protagonist: “canon doesn’t matter.” 

And speaking of player avatars, apologies on behalf of Atlus to its women fans though, damn. 

 

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The Myth’s Gist: Devil Summoner’s Agony and Persona 3’s Messiah don’t merely allude to Jesus, they literally are Jesus. 

The might of context continues to reign unopposed, easily proving these claims false. First, check out Agony’s official description: 

Origin: Unknown

A zombie who is always carrying a cross. He's a martyr who was not reborn in the Kingdom of God after dying. Because his people did not give their lives for their God, he was reborn as a demon.

Though he lived through many forms of pain, his God did not ask this of him. Because he only cared about pleasing his God, he became a truly miserable soul.

Almost like Alice, this demon is merely a zombie (literally in the Undead race) without any extra intended significance other than he carries a cross, which should not mean an automatic equation with Jesus since he was not the only person to be crucified. Moreover, there’s the context in which Agony appears in the game: as an unceremonious regular encounter in the irreverent Devil Summoner’s mid-game Hikawa Shrine, hardly the way Atlus would introduce a significant religious figure like Jesus as a demon. Agony is also part of Kaneko’s line of completely original “horror/torture” demons including Inferno, Torso, Scarecrow, and Waxwork. 

Messiah is only slightly more complicated. He may be the P3 protagonist’s ultimate persona, but to be the last there must also be a first. This is Orpheus, who actively resembles the protagonist with his swept bangs--it’s a more literal interpretation of the persona as “mask” than the series has seen before or since. The next unique persona is Thanatos, the Greek personification of death. 

Then, finally, there is Messiah. And how is Messiah created? By fusing Orpheus and Thanatos together; a process by which Orpheus is symbolically killed by Thanatos, then reborn as Messiah. Messiah is designed with a body similar to Orpheus’ and also retains the protagonist’s likeness; Thanatos’ coffins are attached to his arm in reference to Messiah’s symbolic “death.” However, he lacks specific Christian iconography. Here is how Messiah is described by the game: 

Appears before Judgment Day to save the virtuous. He is a universal figure, appearing in myth around the world. Many stories involve his death and rebirth.

This is a generic description for any savior figure, deliberately calling a messiah “universal” and refraining from making specific references to Jesus, just like the design. Again, Jesus was not the only one to be crucified, nor the only one considered a savior or messiah. One rarely mentioned is the Saoshyant, the Zoroastrian prophesied savior and renovator of the world. 

But another is Orpheus himself, in a way. To save his beloved Eurydice, Orpheus traveled across the threshold of death into Hades; while that ended poorly, Orpheus nonetheless symbolically “died” in Hades and “returned to life” when he exited it. This was afforded extra significance when he became credited as the founder of Orphism, a religion that revered deities with similar characteristics, particularly the rebirth of Dionysus-Zagreus. The members of this religion accepted an afterlife that would be their own way to beat death. Whether or not Orpheus and his namesake religion influenced Christianity has long been an alluring question for scholars, but here in Atlus Land dubious sources that answer the question affirmatively can’t be discounted as a way to explain P3’s approach, especially in light of Atlus' continued use of the Barbara Walker's deplorable Woman's Encyclopedia as seen in myth #20. In fact, Walker does call Orpheus "[Dionysus'] earthly prophet and savior-son." [24a]

And so with P3, we have Orpheus/the protagonist depicted as this reborn “messiah,” which resonates with the game’s story. The intention behind Messiah’s design and the plot significance of his evolution is easily understood once you know the context!

 

Source: 

 

[24a] The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Walker, 1983. Pg. 745.  

More:

• Agony's profile on the Megaten Wiki
• Messiah's profile on the Megaten Wiki
• Orphism on ARAS
• Orphism on Wikipedia
• Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity. de Jáuregui, 2007, 2010.

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The Myth’s Gist: Because their names are spelled nearly the same in Japanese, SMT1's US Ambassador to Japan Thorman (トールマン, tooruman), obviously the god Thor in disguise and the deliverer of nukes to Tokyo, is seen as a thinly veiled allusion to US President Harry S. Truman (トルーマン, toruuman), who approved the hydrogen bomb attacks that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

An interview with the game’s scenario writer, Ryutaro Ito, chalks the similarity up to coincidence: 

Thorman from Shin Megami Tensei’s American embassy is based on the American president Truman, right?

Itou: No, his name comes from the Norse god Thor and I only realised later it also sounded like the name of the president from the time of the atomic bombings. It feels like this is too good to be true for a simple coincidence. Who knows what the staff was thinking back then… [24a]

Thor was chosen for the role without regard to Truman. It’s as simple as that!

Source:

[24a] Game side - Interview with Ito Ryuutaro

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The Myth’s Gist: The frequency of Shin Megami Tensei’s end times scenarios, biblical Fiends, and Christian allusions means it is equivalent to the Book of Revelation and the battle of Armageddon in its scale, scope, and intentions. 

What constantly gets overlooked about Revelation (in relation to SMT) is that it describes a specific series of events and is not just about the Four Horsemen immediately laying waste and casting Megidola against Japanese teenagers. Here is a partial list of end times happenings as written by John: 

• The appearance of the Lamb of God (Revelation 5:6-9, thereafter) 
• The breaking of seven seals, the first four of which precede the Four Horsemen (Rev. 6)
• The sounding of seven trumpets which cause seas of blood, locusts, falling stars, etc. (Rev. 8:6-13, 9, 10:1-7) 
• A woman giving birth, clothed in the sun and opposed by the Dragon (Rev. 12)
• The appearance of the false prophet and the Mark of the Beast on the population (Rev. 13)
• The pouring of the seven bowls of God’s anger (Rev. 16) 

Nowhere in SMT exists the Mark of the Beast or its false prophet who seduces much of humanity with his evil wiles. The seven seals do not appear in SMT, nor do the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse destroy the world by leading war, plagues, famine, or outright death; world destruction in SMT is either caused by nukes or Nocturne’s more esoteric means, while the Four Horsemen and other Revelation Fiends are usually found cloistered in secluded rooms in which they rarely appear and are never significant actors in any game narrative. Nowhere is there a Lamb or a woman clothed in the sun or any bowls emptied upon the earth, and so on and so forth. 

SMT does not contain these events because it was never concerned with recreating Revelation in the first place. It does have earthquakes and floods and great destruction of life but these are not events unique to Christianity or any single religion. Its intent is always a synthesis based on its Japanese perspective and inclusion of myriad cultures and religions. Even games like SMT2 that have obvious allusions to Christianity are just that: Aleph and Hiroko are not literally Jesus and Mary just as the space laser Megiddo Ark was not part of John’s vision. But even while the series may not accurately represent Armageddon, it certainly always depicts a lower case "a" apocalypse. SMT is just fine with that. 

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The Myth’s Gist: Lyrics from Nocturne’s battle themes include “one more god rejected,” “I am the bug inside you,” “man’s greatest glimpse of fire red,” and are descriptive of the game’s plot. 

These are just some of the many fan-transcribed lyrics from Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne’s battle themes, famously created by the Albert Apple computer voice and composer Shoji Meguro’s own layered on top; the results are almost entirely incomprehensible, yet fans insist that they understand them. The undisputed heavyweight of the debate is the track “Forced Battle,” which does contain audible lyrics from the New King James Version of Revelation: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His Judgement has come to you” (14:7), "drink of the wine of the wrath of God" (14:10), and “when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released” (20:7). [26a] So just how relevant are these lines to the game? 

Would you be surprised to hear “not at all?” As has already been established, Nocturne does not portray events of Revelation, much less Armageddon, making these lyrics irrelevant to its narrative. Moreover, “Forced Battle” is from the game’s initial release in 2003, almost a year before Maniacs in 2004 and its inclusion of the Revelation-inspired Fiends; if the quotes were meaningful, this would mean Meguro had special access to Maniacs content years before release and decided to flagrantly betray his superiors with their inclusion. It’s much easier to conclude that the lyrics are a cheeky inclusion at best that were never actually meant to be heard, much less studied and debated. 

Next is the issue of transcription accuracy, which, when considering how contentious this particular topic can be, casts long shadows of doubt from the start. We’ll focus on our popular friend “one more god rejected,” an alleged phrase from “Forced Battle” that sounds like it was conceived without any awareness of Nocturne beyond its True Demon Ending--but I digress. However, if a line like “one more god rejected” is accurate and the other lyrics are NOT just more Bible verses of dubious relevance, this means Meguro wrote them himself, as no one else is credited for them otherwise. But Meguro is never credited as a lyricist for any of his works, whether in Japanese or English. [26b]

The other problem with “one more god rejected” and the others, like “I’m the bug inside you,” is once again their relevance to Nocturne itself--specifically, as we are now assuming in our hypothetical, from Meguro’s own perception of what the game is. “One more god rejected” implies a successive battery of rejected gods, but that’s not how any SMT game presents itself; if anything, gods are not rejected but accepted into your party as demon allies, even the ones you defeat. Of course, there is an automatic fan defense for this point, too, claiming that demons aren’t your allies but “slaves”; this displays ignorance of the Japanese term 仲魔 or “nakama” for allied demons, which is a punny portmanteau of “friend” (仲間, “NAKAma”) and “demon” (悪魔, “akuMA”). “I’m the bug inside you” is also claimed to refer to the Magatama the Demi-fiend ingests but they are never referred to as bugs anywhere*. So the idea that Meguro wrote English lyrics for Nocturne that describe things that are both inaccurate to the game itself and also suspiciously sound like fan misinterpretations based on a lack of Japanese context is supremely absurd. 

But why waste more time analyzing when the truth is already known? On the topic of revelations, Meguro himself actually divulged what the lyrics are. In the liner notes for Strange Journey’s soundtrack, he says this about the game’s Chaos Theme (track 19): 

曲調自体は混沌を意識しつつエキセントリックなものにならないように、真・女神転生III-NOCTURNE でいう牛頭天王が出てくるイベントシーンのBGMの雰囲気をめざしました。真・女神転生III-NOCTURNEでもBGMにボイスを使ったのですが、今ここで明かされる新事実! NOCTURNEのボイスの内容は聖書のヨハネの黙示録から引用しています。ヨハネの黙示録は読んでみるとなかなか強烈なことが書いてあるので興味のある方はぜひ読んでみることをお勧めします。

My goal was something similar to the BGM in the Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne cutscene where Gozu-Tennoh appears, where the music has a chaotic tone without eccentricities. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne’s BGM also used voice samples, and I’ll unveil a new fact here! Nocturne’s voices quote from the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Revelation is quite an intense read, so if you are interested I recommend you check it out. [26c]

So there you have it. No gods were ever rejected, no bugs were inside anyone, no man ever even had a mediocre glimpse of fire red. The Revelation quotes were not only correct all along, they were all Meguro used. 

The lyrics debate has been possibly the silliest discourse in the entire fandom, but the relative notoriety of certain lines like “one more god rejected” have nonetheless contributed to the damaging perception of the series as this entirely bleak "ATTACK AND DETHRONE GOD" revenge fantasy where gods are only defeated, never bargained with, despite the opposite being true. As of this writing nothing beyond the above three verses have been deciphered in Forced Battle or any other Nocturne track but, with the New King James Version of Revelation as the sole focus, it’s only a matter of time. 

Since this article's original publication, Larrue published his own Nocturne lyrics video with the bombshell that "one more god rejected" is actually "war broke out in heaven" (Rev. 12:7). Check out the video for more!

*Actually, instead of a full edit and just to get ahead of the conversation, one character does refer to a Magatama as a bug: the Puzzle Boy. However, he does so in ignorance of what Magatama are (i.e., as a joke) so this would not be a reliable source.

 

Sources: 

 

[26a] Isolated SMT Nocturne Forced Battle samples

[26b] Shoji Meguro, VGMdb credits

[26c] Shin Megami Tensei STRANGE JOURNEY Original Soundtrack liner notes, booklet pages 7-8

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The Myth’s Gist: Art depicting EVA-01 and Shinji illustrated in Kaneko’s style is 100% by Kaneko himself. 

Circulating through Megaten channels seemingly forever, this “Kaneko” original is easily proven otherwise as its appearance is from an Evangelion fan art book titled Orenogelion and the work of a credited artist named Allen, a fact so obvious it’s signed on the art itself. Per the description, the art is also specifically meant to evoke EVA-01 as Shinji’s persona. 

Even if the credit doesn’t already show this is 100% not Kaneko’s work, Kaneko or any other professional artist illustrating this type of “tribute” art for other properties would never redefine the original using their own creations and concepts. By this I specifically mean that if a creator is famous for an unusual or unique concept in addition to their own style, it would be in poor taste for them to produce "tribute"/fan art using that concept's definitions. In this case, Kaneko and the persona, but another and better example may be Hirohiko Araki and his JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stands. Araki in fact produced his own fan art of Fist of the North Star's Kenshiro in 2006--as an illustration of Kenshiro the character only, not Kenshiro with a Stand, which would redefine what Kenshiro is by Araki's own definition. To do so (without the other creator's permission) would be arrogant and, well, unprofessional! It's just another reason why Allen's art could have never been Kaneko's.

 

More:  

• Example Reddit thread about the fan art
  
  

 

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The Myth’s Gist: Megami Tensei’s games are connected through a massive multiverse that contains a definitive canon and sequential timeline. 

In reality, this is one of those topics that fans seem to care about way more than the creators do--and that goes for any series--as the only clear indications of continuity or timeline in the SMT main series appear in these games: 

1. SMT1 → SMT2 (direct sequel) 
2. SMT4 → SMT4A (“what if” sequel) 

The spinoffs IMAGINE and NINE do not retroactively impact SMT2 that much but if you have to include them the sequence would be: 

• SMT1 → IMAGINE → NINE → SMT2

And that’s it for SMT. The effects of continuity only significantly impact the two games that are continuations (SMT2, SMT4A) and that’s downright natural. But then there is the matter of the pocket continuity of SMT if… and the games of the Saturn and PlayStation generation: 

• Devil Summoner → Soul Hackers (sequel with recurring characters) 
• SMT if… / Persona 1 / Soul Hackers → P2: IS (recurring characters) → P2: EP (direct sequel) 

These games take place in an alternate continuity from SMT1, made obvious not just from the lack of nuclear annihilation but that Ambassador Thorman is mentioned in Devil Summoner and lacks any motivation to destroy Tokyo for God. This allows the Raidou games to be prequels to Devil Summoner: 

• Soulless Army → King Abaddon (sequel) → Devil Summoner

Raidou’s games also feature an alternate “Raido” from a different dimension and Raidou Kuzunoha XL from the SMT1 continuity; however, both are one-way exchanges that are little more than cameos with no meaningful impact overall. But that’s it; the rest exist apart from the SMT1 timeline or the alternate timeline. We know this because of a complete lack of evidence for connections in other games. 

Nocturne stands alone because of its unique Amala Universe and that Hijiri is not actually Aleph. Digital Devil Saga is unrelated due to its unique Avatars and other features. Both Devil Survivors stand alone because each has unique plot devices (Bels, Septentriones) that couldn’t possibly coexist with something else. Strange Journey stands alone because of its unique “Mothers'' backstory and the idea that demons originate from a “data dimension.” [28a] SMT4 stands alone because its elements from SJ (Demonicas, Red Sprite bridge, Mem Aleph) were intended only as references by SJ’s director Eiji Ishida, [28b] a man who would know if there is a connection or not. Also consider that constant apocalypses are a bad way to argue that all of these stories happen on the same Earth. There is evidence of an overarching Persona continuity in the Persona 3 Club book, but a meaningful connection between old Persona and modern Persona (i.e., more than just throwaway references or collective imagery that's nonetheless reinterpreted) never seems to manifest itself.

And then there’s the multiverse idea, the linchpin of which is Nocturne’s Amala Universe, an infinite space of worlds that could presumably house the confirmed timeline universes and the standalone “bubble” ones. But the problem here is that the Amala Universe is described in Nocturne as exclusively populated by worlds undergoing Conceptions--Nocturne’s unique apocalypse scenario, the purpose of which is to create new worlds. But obviously, no other games in the series undergo Conceptions. SMT1 does not create an all-new world. Neither does P2, SJ, Soul Hackers, etc. These are not Conception worlds and they are simply not part of the Amala Universe. In other words, there is no Megaten multiverse. 

Consider SMT4A’s Heroes in the Diamond Realm DLC, where the heroes of SMTs 1-4 are pulled together by Stephen. This would have been a great opportunity to showcase an intent of overarching continuity, but… it didn’t happen. The heroes were gathered for no specific reason other than an obvious crossover ploy by Atlus to sell DLC. A multiverse doesn’t matter to them and seems to not even exist by their account. The only truth in this particular fandom myth is the two major timelines, but they are separate and don’t affect each other in a significant way. 

 

Sources: 

 

[28a] Isogai Shougo talks about alignments and parallel dimensions in Strange Journey, from SJ: Schwarzwelt Reminiscences

[28b] Shin Megami Tensei IV Official Artworks. Pp. 59, 70

 

More:  

• Megami Tensei Multiverse page on the Megami Tensei Wiki (Note that the wiki does NOT have an Amala Universe page despite that being a name-dropped concept; it’s just included within this Multiverse page)

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The Myth’s Gist: The second, statue form of Shin Megami Tensei NINE boss Maria contains strange animals like a coelacanth and Tyrannosaurus Rex that are allusions to Leviathan and Satan (as the “Dragon”) respectively. 

Maria first appeared in the infamous Japan-only Xbox title with two Kaneko designs: as a human clad in black robes holding a chain and as a statue flanked by various animals including the lion/eagle/bull of the biblical tetramorph/cherub plus a coelacanth and Tyrannosaurus Rex at her feet. Since the tetramorph animals have clear meaning, the coelacanth and T-rex must have meaning, too, most often interpreted as Leviathan and Satan. However, unseen details, obscure official descriptions, and her boss battle dispute this. 

Because of the historical unreliability of Xbox emulation, the only way most interfaced with Maria was via the 2D Kaneko art. But as her models from NINE and Persona 5 reveal, the coelacanth and T-rex are not the only ancient animals on her person: her back hides trilobites and a snake slithering its way up to her head. This instantly complicates the Leviathan and Satan interpretations, but the actual boss battle is where things get interesting. As the battle progresses, the statue’s animals actually fall off (best seen in a video of the fight) and turn into common demons:  

 

• The lion head becomes Cerberus
• The eagle becomes Gryphon
• The coelacanth becomes Mizuchi
• The T-Rex becomes Yamata no Orochi
• The bull becomes Nandi

None of these are Christian demons! Missing are the trilobite and snake, but you never see her back in the game so thus they are not part of the battle. Also not technically Christian in NINE is Maria herself: in the narrative, the statue is the true form of a Messian-programmed, “messianic” artificial intelligence, meaning she is not the literal mother of Jesus in the game. Her designs reflect her digital existence in multiple ways, as described in Kaneko Works III [29a]: 

• Robed Maria: The gold patterns on her robe refer to lines of code, her “halo” is actually shaped like a data disc, the chain she holds symbolizes confinement of human souls to God which is similar to the chains on some of Kaneko’s other angel designs, and her black robe hearkens back to Black Maria. 
• Statue Maria: It combines the motherly aspect of Mary and the prostitute aspect of Mary Magdalene, the latter referring to her now-absent robe, revealing most of her body. She assimilated mother goddesses from various regions (similar to the Black Maria quest from SMT4). She now has more data discs/halos, and the significance of the animals and their in-game transformations (as described above) is explained. 

So, the best explanation for the coelacanth and T-Rex is that they are assimilated or absorbed parts in a figurative boss mechanic. This myth is simply another instance where an innocent lack of context for an unreleased game--and two new appearances without that context in Persona 5 Royal and Strange Journey Redux--leaves speculation to run rampant. 

Source:

[29a] [Kaneko Works III] Yaldabaoth, Maria, Adam, Eve

 

More:  

• Shin Megami Tensei NINE: Maria boss battle video (same as above but crucial to watch for context)

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The Myth’s Gist: Various SMT games, especially Nocturne, are based on philosophical works such as Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, particularly its concept of the ubermensch as the inspiration for the Demi-fiend.  

It is practically a fact in the Western fandom that Nocturne is a detailed allegory of the Demi-fiend’s trials and tribulations to emerge as Nietzsche’s fabled “overman,” so much so that word has spread way beyond the fans; in a recent Nocturne HD interview, (technically Sega) localization editor Josh Malone had this to say about Nocturne’s themes: 

In addition to the obvious gods and demons, Nocturne features a blend of themes and iconography from Judaism, Christianity, Satanism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and even Nietzschean philosophy, putting them all on equal footing. [30a]

But just how Nietzschean is Nocturne? We needn’t look further than the ubermensch itself. Here is a simplified summary of Nietzsche’s key definitions of the concept: 

• In Nietzsche’s view, “God is dead”--which doesn’t mean the literal death of the Christian God but that he and other ancient, immutable philosophies are no longer useful to society as a source of moral values
• The future human who will create new values for society in the absence of outmoded values is the ubermensch
• The one who is content with current society is the ubermensch’s opposite, “the last man”
• The ubermensch must not be content with current society and seek hardships to innovate new values
• The ubermensch stands against nihilism and loves life even if it is endlessly cyclic

Simplified further, the ubermensch is an idealized human who recognizes the values of old systems of thought are obsolete and creates new ones for the benefit of human society. How well does this define the Demi-fiend and Nocturne? 

• The gods that represent ancient values are your active demon companions and the Demi-fiend’s journey would be exponentially more difficult without them
• The Demi-fiend is specifically and repeatedly defined as not human but a human/demon hybrid in an unearthly world
• The values in the game, provided by Reasons, are created by the other characters and not the silent player proxy Demi-fiend; additionally, none of them end up being strong enough to represent their own ideals and rely on the Demi-fiend
• Yes, every single Reason in the game is someone else’s idea and not the Demi-fiend’s; the best the Demi-fiend can do on his own is the Demon ending which entails a complete lack of a Reason
• The Reasons do not reflect Nietzsche’s ideals for the ubermensch: Yosuga, Musubi, and Shijima completely redefine life and are, effectively, inhuman; the Demon and True Demon endings are stagnation and nihilism defined and are the ubermensch’s opposites; the Freedom ending does not offer new values but resets existence to its prior state, i.e., it is a “last man” ending

In sum, the values espoused by Nietzsche and the ubermensch are completely irrelevant to the Demi-fiend and Nocturne itself!

Additionally, searching in Japanese for [真・女神転生 ニーチェ] (“Shin Megami Tensei Nietzsche”) finds nothing like the detailed theses you can easily find in English, just a few articles that all specifically mention the “God is dead” quote. In fact, as of just prior to the publication of this article the third result was a Famitsu article on Monark, the ex-Atlus creators’ SMT if…-alike. I implore you to search for yourself. This comparison seems to not exist in Japanese, and I am fairly certain that a special Nietzsche version of Nocturne was not created specifically for the American market in 2004.

What fuels this drive to compare pop culture works to Nietzsche, often incorrectly, is something I can’t answer but its popularity is evident even just within SMT. For Nocturne it could have resulted from the myth that it has “no story”; by rationalizing it to be a Nietzschean allegory, it was finally given “meaning.” However, the likely real answer is that the Western audience is simply unfamiliar with the game’s bounteous themes from Eastern religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shinto. [30b] Cycles of death and rebirth, the true religious significance of Kagutsuchi and Magatsuhi, the Conception and Vortex World in relation to the Buddhist Womb Realm--what would be obvious terms to Japanese players, literally pregnant with meaning, are typically lost on Western players eager to project their own biases upon the game. 

Going even further, Western (non-theological) philosophy in general may not the best avenue to “explain” this very Japanese series. We know from published bibliographies that the sources Atlus utilizes for their games are overwhelmingly mythology dictionaries and single-subject books on a particular region or culture. And among the many staff interviews translated into English, the rare mentions of philosophy are inevitably about general religious philosophy without mention of a particular thinker, philosophical school, or method. Of course I cannot absolutely say that philosophy has had no impact as I have never been an Atlus staff member nor can I say you won’t get lucky finding a Hobbes or Descartes quote that fits an aspect of SMT to a tee. But since philosophy is broad and encompasses many tendencies of religions it’s simply too easy to retroactively apply them to SMT and its scenarios, alignments, and characters via a confirmation bias.

As a personal example of how ideas can spread beyond their intentions, for our Kaneko’s Crib Notes April Fool’s 2017 joke we created a fake “website” called Megaten-Maniax, parodying memes and attitudes permeating the general Megaten fandom. One article, “GOD IS EVIL: The Absolutism of a Chaos-Based Universe in Shin Megami Tensei’s Post-Structuralist Simulacrum” by “Darren Stove” lampoons misuse of philosophical terms in SMT fan theories--and is something I literally wrote in 5 minutes. But as Poe’s law dictates, some people took the article seriously as it became detached from its original April Fool’s context, calling my deliberate word salad “nicely written” or throwing insults at the non-existent personage of Darren Stove. 

However it happens, a small number of people will inevitably buy into a ludicrous idea. Luckily, I don’t think Darren Stove had any real impact on anything. But imagine a more earnest attempt that looks near-professional and is well-researched (that is, it cites sources regardless of their quality) and how its conjecture or misleading information could seep into the discourse and become an assumption--it’s the very process of how these fan myths spread, even all the way up to someone associated with Sega/Atlus. 

So what is the best way to learn more about SMT? Look no further than the staff interviews and commentaries, whether in the few officially translated and published books or the scores of fan translations available to all. Creators like Kazuma Kaneko, Cozy Okada, Kazuyuki Yamai, Masayuki Doi, and many others are obviously going to know the series and their own work better than, well, Nietzsche. You can get started right now by visiting these great resources: 

• https://dijehtranslations.wordpress.com/category/megaten/
• https://megatengaku.wordpress.com/readings/interviews/
• https://personacentral.com/category/interviews
• Shmuplations  

These staff materials won’t answer every question nor are they exhaustive of the dozens of Japanese books, countless magazine interviews, and even more publications that have yet to be translated into English. But there’s so much available that it will surely lead your own SMT musings down a much more constructive path. I don’t deny speculation is fun but informed speculation is even better. 

 

Sources:

 

[30a] What It's Like Updating a Classic Like 'Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne' for 2021

[30b] SMTheology: Nocturne - Conception in the Womb 

 

More:  

• The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche. Magnus, Higgins. 1996. 
  

 

 

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It’s essential to know that the fan myths featured don’t seem to exist in Japan. I’d speculate that’s mostly due to an information gap between there and everywhere else (Japanese fans get all the books without need for translation, of which we in the Anglosphere only have a fraction) plus cultural differences (ex. apathy to “biblically-accurate” angels). That doesn’t mean they know all the answers to things intentionally kept vague or undefined; instead of Aleph, Japanese speculation about Hijiri, according to Ian Kelley, involved Stephen or even original Megami Tensei protagonist Nakajima! But for us, that 12 out of the 30 myths involve Nocturne in some way shows that the roots of many of ours hearken back to the days when the Western fandom was small and ideas were passed around without question. 

30 sure is a nice, round number, though. Indeed it’s too nice as there are more myths that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another (the reason was usually “I don’t feel like writing about this”). Including brief explanations and casual debunkings (casual is the key word), some of them are: 

CUT MYTH #1: “Hashino's and Soejima’s comments about women are sarcastic”

The Gist: In this Persona 3 interview with Katsura Hashino and Shigenori Soejima, they mention they never had serious friendships with girls in high school, which reflects poorly on the context of the exclusively male fantasies of P3 where girls are treated as obtainable objects. These comments are then defended as being “sarcastic.” 

Are they sarcastic? Read the entire interview, or at least up to that exchange. Sure doesn’t look like sarcasm to me, plus Japanese sarcasm usually comes across as more brutal than English sarcasm can be. Another “defense” of the comments is that the S-links were designed by Azusa Kido, a woman, so that somehow recontextualizes their content--even though Hashino was still P3’s director and ultimately approved all of the decisions. To me these seem like scrambling counterpoints by fans who can’t accept criticism of things they like or equate themselves with (always a bad thing to do) or have to maintain the illusion that Persona and its creators are above reproach. 

CUT MYTH #2: “Kaneko will return”

The Gist: Kaneko is gonna come back any day now and save SMT art. 

Laugh out loud

CUT MYTH #3: “Certain series are console exclusives”

The Gist: SMT is the Nintendo series and Persona is the Sony series. 

No, these games just get released for the platforms where each may have the best audience and sales potential. SMT4 may have been on the 3DS but Nocturne was not released for Gamecube.

CUT MYTH #4: “Persona fans will snatch up SMT5”

The Gist: Persona fans are going to migrate to SMT en masse with this cool new game.

This DOES happen and Persona has been the introductory series for many an eventual SMT fan, but in my experience it’s usually a trickle rather than a flood. In the Giant Bomb days I made extended pleas in the form of positive user reviews (that were front-page featured!) for games like Raidou 2 and Strange Journey that were met with apathy by the P4 Endurance Run crowd. SMT just doesn’t have the same features Persona fans want, anyway. 

CUT MYTH #5: “YHVH is the Demiurge or gnostic”

The Gist: The idea that YHVH, especially in 4A, is actually the Demiurge/Yaldabaoth. The usage of lower-case “gnostic” here refers to the generic comparative usage of a lesser god responsible for a corrupt world, often found in literary criticism. 

I feel like I covered YHVH pretty well between the corruption idea and the framing of the Japanese context surrounding him. No, he’s definitely not intended to be Yaldabaoth; they would have called him that if it were the case.* I don’t think he’s “gnostic” either; he’s just assessed honestly by people with radically different religious views! 

 

*This myth would have also included a look at nomenclature not just in SMT but in Japanese media; when something isn’t a “maoh,” it’s often pointedly specific!

CUT MYTH #6: “Authors are infallible”

The Gist: Authors are to be seen as gods. 

I can’t remember why this is here. I probably just wanted to make the point that authors do, in fact, make mistakes and Atlus is prone to making factual mistakes with mythology. This also applies to circumstances like their justification for SJR’s child Demeter (the scenario “demanded” her be an unpredictable “rascal”) and said justification being brought up as a completely invalid defense when the design is rightfully criticized (and to refute that defense: 1. the scenario could have been written any other way--they CHOSE to make her a child; 2. now that Demeter is returning in SMT5 apart from that scenario, the design is even more nonsensical). 

Basically, sometimes you do have to take what creators say with a grain of salt!

CUT MYTH #7: “So and so is the most powerful character”

The Gist: Power levels factor into a character’s importance. 

Mmmm. I’m definitely too old for this. But watch. 

Zazzle Bazzle is a character I just created. Zazzle Bazzle is a bear with human hands who wears a pith helmet. Zazzle Bazzle is literally invincible and could survive the Big Crunch or the heat death of the universe. Zazzle Bazzle is the single most powerful being in this universe or any universe and can atomize anything instantly just with a thought. Time moves slower for Zazzle Bazzle than any other being so nothing else can get the edge; Zazzle Bazzle also controls time itself. Zazzle Bazzle is omniscient and can see every atom and being in existence at all times. Literally nothing can defeat Zazzle Bazzle. 

In just a couple minutes, I invented the most powerful character to ever exist. But if you remember the character discussion, you’ll know that Zazzle Bazzle actually doesn’t have any character. Zazzle Bazzle is completely flat with powers that would actually prevent meaningful narrative conflict. Power levels are meaningless when defining actual character; it only takes a pen or keystroke to create something more powerful or even omnipotent, but it won’t actually make them compelling and relatable. 

CUT MYTH #8: “The Kool-Aid Man isn’t a real demon” 

The Gist: The Kool-Aid Man is not actually in SMT. 

I dunno, have you seen this footage? Looks legit to me. 

There are undoubtedly more fan myths being tossed around as facts that weren’t covered in either of these articles. I’m fine with that and hope others can pick up the slack. I think the best lesson to glean from this entire fan myths project is to question long-held assumptions, especially if the proof appears sketchy or is not clearly supported by in-game text. 

Be inquisitive about what you read. That includes anything I’ve written! If a claim is valid, it should hold up to scrutiny. If not, engage with the sources and see how different your conclusions may be. Shin Megami Tensei is not a holy text or a legal document, it’s a game series with highs higher than most of the genre and lows as low as anything else. And great art, of course. 

Hmm. You know, before we part ways, I seem to remember implying the existence of a 31st myth. I did, didn’t I?

 

 

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The Gist: Atlus West’s social media marketing does enough to educate its fans about the complexities and idiosyncrasies of Shin Megami Tensei and prevents easily-avoided misconceptions from forming. 

 

So, I don’t believe fans know more than the creators or people in charge--everything I’ve learned is directly from their mouths, for one. But as has been shown, SMT is a series with serious misconception problems in the West (about fundamental aspects, like what demons are) and it’s frustrating that the onus is often placed on fans to inform others how SMT operates differently from its RPG competition. 

However, the problem with fan works and translations is that they ultimately have a limited reach. My most-viewed article remains Identity Crisis part 3, with 40,000 views after six years of existence and 10,000 more than my next. For a personal blog that’s terrific but it didn’t reach even a tenth of SMT4 players (600k). Subtracting Japanese sales (250k) from that figure still proves my point. 

So who is in a better position to inform fans? Why, Atlus West, of course. Do they? Well, that’s what I endeavored to find out, via their social media accounts. 

Content between Atlus West’s social media presences (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) is identical so I focused only on Twitter. I ventured only as far back as the release of SMT4 in 2013 as, honestly, their social media “game,” so to speak, was rudimentary until some time after P5’s initial release. I only considered tweets with what I’m terming “lateral marketing”: any content beyond the industry-standard marketing like trailers, preorder links, previews, etc. The latter don’t function as the type of “informing” I’m talking about, which is specifically "information that defines aspects of SMT." 

Here’s what I found. 

Shin Megami Tensei IV

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/357276011399888896

The single tweet of interest for SMT4 is for its launch. Yes, tweets really can be that plain. Remember the box set and the eShop deal for $30 of credit if you bought both it and Fire Emblem: Awakening? That deal alone was probably the best standard marketing SMT4 could have had. I think I still have some of that credit left over! 

Shin Megami Tensei (iOS) 

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/439112311735726080

Here’s the single tweet promoting the iOS English release of SMT1. That’s really it. Guess they knew what to expect. 

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiUZ-Taprow

• https://atlus.com/whats-in-a-name-smtiv-final-and-localizing-a-name/

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/776585281847697412

Atlus’ social media marketing finally approaches maturity here with a video and daily countdowns to the game’s launch featuring character art, including everyone’s favorite, Navarre. The video is an extremely stupid parody of how they settled on the “Apocalypse” subtitle (instead of the JP “Final”) but is nonetheless more effort than ever before, plus it was paired with a more informative blog post. I give credit for said effort but there’s still nothing that informs potential consumers about what the series is. 

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/994624031683825664

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/994983466780381189

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/995347976510951425

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/995710362803691527

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/996106089132273664

If SMT4A’s marketing could be considered a relative step forward, SJR’s is several human-sized grasshopper leaps backward. Forget informing about SMT itself, these tweets don’t give any actual information about SJR. Yes, trailers, etc. existed. And the same helmet was used in JP promotions as well and was sent to the Atlus West offices for their use. 

But efforts like this feel like Atlus West has no idea how to market SMT. The wackiness implied by a staff member wearing a bucket on their heads is only a fraction of what SMT is; yes, the Japanese side basically did the same thing on their livestreams, but their limited edition of SJR also came with the excellent Megaten Maniacs book that details the series’ history and development. Of course, who needs history and context when we have memes?

But, again, credit must be given where it’s due: Atlus West’s severely underutilized blog hosts an SJR Q&A with Eiji Ishida and other staff members, handling questions from English-speaking fans for the first time since the original Nocturne Doublejump guide in 2004. Some legitimately good answers in there. More like this, please! 

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/1293568709001265154

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/1382778251953643521

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/1385707552965599240

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/1397983443535990786

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/1401244931608309760

Yes, we get the belabored “Featuring Dante” meme not once but twice! Oh, and a screenshot of Matador! Atlus West really understands what most people know about Nocturne: absolutely nothing! If any SMT game needs official, instructive supplementary material, Nocturne is it. 

Though a far cry from the humble tweets of 2013, this is official communication for a game so fundamentally misunderstood it’s frequently cited to have no story at all, amongst other aspects in its 12 fan myth appearances. Regurgitating and thus endorsing jokes so stale and so irrelevant to the Nocturne experience is practically a celebration of ignorance. And though Nocturne HD made many localization improvements, a fan-created nickname for Kagutsuchi, “disco ball,” crept into the game script, not only diverting from the Japanese intent but also serving to diminish the god’s significance to its Western audience. It’s a minor thing but it takes far fewer than a thousand cuts to doom the discourse on a particular subject. 

I can’t sugarcoat it: I truly believe that the online discourse on Nocturne was fucked many years before Nocturne HD, given that the original was essentially dropped on an unsuspecting audience without a guiding hand to walk them through concepts culturally unfamiliar to non-Japanese, and old enough to allow falsehoods that the game is impossibly hard or Revelation retold to take root. In defense, with zero history in the West SMT had to start somewhere, plus the “mysteriousness” was undoubtedly an allure for some. On the other hand, more words have been exchanged online over the easily debunked “Hijiri is Aleph” crap or the supposed “lyrics” than the game’s allusions to the Womb Realm or rebirth that deepen the narrative’s themes and reward engagement. HD version issues aside, Atlus Japan created a masterpiece; Atlus West copied memes. 

So what can be done?

In the course of my browsing Atlus West’s Twitter, I came across this brief video using game voice clips explaining what a persona is. 

https://twitter.com/Atlus_West/status/1232794973357137921

Though completely perfunctory, it is precisely the type of informing message their SMT posts lack. Simple definitions like these coming from the official Atlus West account would be amazing for correcting misinformed online narratives. 

Atlus Japan’s marketing campaign for Shin Megami Tensei V has been great between the daily demon videos and Doi’s design commentaries. While replicating the daily demons seems impossible for Atlus West due to localization timelines and thus a lack of equivalent English footage, they have been translating Doi’s comments on the same day they’re released in Japan. This already betters the efforts for previous games (they did not translate Doi’s Twitter-posted comments for SJR) but the general Western audience, who cannot natively understand what “Shin Megami Tensei” actually means, needs a different, more basic approach catered for cultural deficiencies both societal (i.e., demons can originate from religions other than the dominant Western triad of Christianity/Judaism/Islam) and ludological (i.e., SMT has a different intent behind its “monsters” than other RPGs). 

For example, my Shin Megami Tensei story involves being familiar with Cu Chulainn from Celtic myth before learning he was in Nocturne, which convinced me to start playing it. Because I knew who Cu Chulainn was, it ultimately informed me what demons were (actual figures of myth) and that the ones I didn’t recognize were not just generic RPG critters but had to originate from a mythology somewhere. But I know from a decade-plus of interaction with fans that not everyone will share this experience, especially players that skew younger. A little official help to lift the fanbase closer towards the common knowledge of their Japanese peers could work wonders, including:

• Information on important Japanese staff, especially artists
• An official, sanctioned timeline
• Officially defining which games fall under which series umbrella, the difference between “SMT” and “Megaten,” etc. (People still get confused over SMT and Persona due to the latter’s former “Shin Megami Tensei” branding)
• Introduction to Japanese terms and concepts in the series
• The aforementioned basic definition of “demon,” among others
• Publishing Meguro’s actual Nocturne “lyrics,” i.e., which Revelation verses he used
• Translated snippets from official books
• Literally anything instructive that could curb misinformation and misconceptions

How likely is Atlus West to produce anything like this? Not very. 

For one, they are only a translation and publishing brand for Sega for non-Japanese territories; they do not create anything themselves (except when it comes to inserting memes into dialogue). 

They exist to promote sales of their published games, so they cannot themselves produce deep analyses or spoil any game content beyond what has been shown in their marketing. As a proponent of them promoting introductory content, this is not necessarily an issue. 

As such, they cannot, say, do their own research for original demon profiles that would contradict what is presented in the games. (Despite in-game profiles that sometimes do!) Along the same lines, they may not even be able to state as a fact the series’ overall acuity to myths because they are still responsible for selling games with Demeter or conspiracy theories like Japanese-Jewish common ancestry theory. 

And what incentive would Atlus West have to do any of this, anyway? None! 

Even if designs like Demeter’s or the SMT guest artists’ come along, it is still their job to promote them. Why would they purposefully contradict what they need to sell? Plus, conversations about misheard Nocturne lyrics or other nonsense are still in Atlus’ favor since their brand is drumming up conversation and attention. They clearly value memes going by Nocturne HD’s lateral marketing. 

Some misconceptions may stem from older games (including Nocturne HD already, as its marketing campaign has ended) or those yet unreleased in English but there is even less incentive for Atlus West to correct them because those games are not currently earning them money. And that’s the ultimate answer, really: Atlus (as a whole) is a corporate subsidiary whose only job is to make fat stacks of cash. As long as the fan myths don’t hurt their bottom line there’s no reason to divert from their present course of indifference. 

Then there’s Shin Megami Tensei V, still a week away from release as of this publication. It will become the best-selling game in the series; the timing and platform are just right. It will create more new fans of SMT than ever before. But, judging by Atlus West’s insufficient marketing efforts, it will also create more fan myths than ever before. And, as always, there will be great variety: some outlandish, some harmless but imaginative, some intriguing, and some like those I’ve shown that redefine SMT in their own image. Inevitably, a handful of the latter will fester and become mimetic headaches for years to come. 

So what to do when you’re a fan who does care about improving knowledge within your community? Well, you produce things like this series of debunkings until you stop caring or your voice gets drowned out by a din of baseless conjecture. Atlus doesn’t care, Shin Megami Tensei is just a product. In response, you should treat it like a product: squeeze all the fun you can have from it, throw it away, and move on to the next one. 

 

- Eirikr (my Tumblr) (my Twitter) 

 

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Special Thanks!

Many people helped me conquer this mountain and I’m grateful for their aid: 

• Atmaflare 
• Dijeh 
• Kid Capes 
• Bee 
• Soren
• The Stealing Knowledge Discord crew
• Antonia 
• Poltergeist0001
• Matteste
• Larrue