Assorted Persona Topics
Artificial Persona Users
Artificial Persona Users are individuals who have had their Persona forcibly awakened through science without the assistance of a Guide or through the Ordeal of facing their Shadow and bringing its suppressed power under the ego's control.
In most cases, this is by forcing The Potential upon the psyche before it has occurred naturally. This causes an incongruence between the ego and the Shadow, bringing the two into inevitable conflict. The Shadow is not fully controlled by the Persona and on occasion may come forth to violently attack its person, representing this state of disharmony. That it would result in death for the Shadow as well matters little; human beings are full of contradictory impulses, and the self-destructive urge is part of what The Potential brings under control through the resolution to face death.
Most Artificial Persona Users are thus forced to take Suppressants, which are pharmaceutical medications made by the Kirijo Group with psychogenic effects, to temporarily quell the Shadow. Unfortunately, these medications cause gradual organ damage to the body, giving these unfortunate individuals a death sentence by choice of whether it's quick or slow. For obvious reasons, most people take the medication, but some may decide to cut out the middleman and eschew the medicine to let what happens happen.
The Kirijo Group is largely responsible for most Artificial Persona Users before the events of Ten Years Ago as a result of their research into utilizing Shadows for control over time and space. The survivors of these programs tend to naturally gravitate towards Strega, given that it was founded by three of them, but not all. Some certainly have their own agenda.
Currently, the New World Order is in the process of picking up where the Kirijo Group left off in creating new Artificial Persona Users. However, they are limited by a short supply of Evokers, a hurdle that Kotodama can't overcome. Their head of R&D, Hisataka Shinjo, promises a revolutionary new process of creating Artificial Persona Users where such limitations are no longer a problem, but it's still in the works.
The Tien Tao Lien is currently making lists for him of promising candidates and keeping them monitored.
Evoker
A piece of technology developed by the Kirijo Group to facilitate the summoning of a Persona for those individuals with The Potential.
Shaped like a handgun, an Evoker is used to simulate both the anxiety of facing death and the forcible shattering of cognitive barriers to bring forth one's Persona.
Evokers contain a Plume of Dusk, but the role this mysterious object takes in its operation is unknown to the majority of Persona Users.
OOC Minutia
- Evokers can only be obtained by SEES, Strega, and the New World Order without difficulty. Characters not associated with those organizations may have problems finding replacements. Anyone not initially applying into one of those factions will need to detail how their character got one during application. The bar isn't high! We just want to know how you imagine it happening and will let you know if it needs adjustment.
- Trying to use an Evoker on someone else other than yourself fully does not work, even if they're willing to allow you to do that to them. The reasons why are unclear.
Plume of Dusk
A Plume of Dusk is a mysterious glowing crystalline object that looks similar to a feather. These objects appear 'alive' in a sense that's difficult to quantify, even by the most advanced technology.
Originally 'discovered' by the prior head of the Kirijo Group, Kouetsu Kirijo, in a Jomon era dig site, he believed them to be the key to manipulation of space and time and quickly made them the monofocus of the Group's most secret projects.
Some few understand that it is the basis of their supernatural technology. For more information on this, see Psience and Technology.
During the incident of Ten Years Ago, the majority of the technological secrets on how to utilize them have been lost. The Kirijo Group has been understandably reluctant to reopen the door on developing this technology again.
OOC Minutia
- Plumes of Dusk are not readily available to anyone! Not even SEES, outside of the rare technology the Kirijo Group outfits them with, or Strega, besides Evokers. That doesn't mean there's not a source for them. The New World Order has been provided with a few and are currently researching them. For anyone else, deals with the devil are quite possible.
- We ask at this time that no-one surround a concept around trying to place a Plume of Dusk inside of a person, that's Sho's thing, and the technology to replicate that phenomenon is currently lost.
The Potential
A term mostly utilized by the Kirijo Group, the Potential refers to the ability to awaken to a Persona without the need for guidance by a supernatural power.
Originally studied by the Kirijo Group as part of their aims to put the powers of time and space in the hands of man, it is now primarily sought out by them for the purposes of facilitating their atonement.
The Potential usually occurs in young people who are facing grief and trauma from the death of loved ones, but not always. Sometimes it just happens. Those with the Potential will awaken in the Dark Hour and find themselves more protected from the supernatural 'allure' of this place than the average person.
Many with the Potential will awaken once they encounter a Shadow that forces them to face a situation of life or death. The resolution to fight in the face of imminent death will typically bring forth their Persona. It doesn't need to be an encounter with a Shadow, though; theoretically, any near-death situation in a supernatural space that sparks the resolve to fight will allow one to awaken.
An Evoker typically makes the process of awakening easier, but many people notably have an extreme aversion to putting a firearm to their head and pulling the trigger.
The Kirijo Group has developed a means of creating a sort of pseudo-Potential that allows normal people to experience the Dark Hour unprotected, but does not hand this technology out casually.
Furthermore, the Potential can be forced to develop in Artificial Persona Users through human experimentation, but rarely without extreme consequence to the psyche.
After years of study, the Kirijo Group have the means to test for the Potential during routine medical diagnostics. This testing is conducted as a matter of course on all residents of Iwatodai City and Tatsumi Port Island who check into their hospital. Certainly they do not inform the populace of this, but while the ethics are questionable, they believe it is for the greater good to know whether an individual has the Potential naturally in order to assist them as they come close to awakening.
OOC Minutia
- Teenagers who faced the death of a loved one Ten Years Ago before the formation of their Shadow nearly always have the Potential. The reason for this is unclear. It will not always manifest until a certain life event creates a 'resolve' within them.
- One need not find out the Potential exists in your character by awakening during the Dark Hour. SEES discovers Fuuka Yamagishi has it for example through routine medical testing at their hospital. All this testing would reveal is they have the potential to wield a Persona. Note: This does not happen during routine health checkups at Gekkoukan, only at Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. Furthermore, the Will of Rebellion fully protects someone from this testing unless they waive consent OOCly.
- Some people just have the Potential, even without facing death trauma. Why this happens is also unclear. A strong resolution to fight and face death very young can often develop by the time their Shadow forms, but even that isn't strictly necessary.
- If your character has the Potential but awakens another way through the help of a Guide, don't sweat it, it's probably fine!
- While technically the Will of Rebellion is 'a' potential, in that it's similar, nobody calls it that ICly, including the Kirijo Group. It is merely noted to be within a similar category on the Persona page for people to understand the category of awakening OOCly.
Skill Cards
Skill Cards are supernatural objects that hold cognitive power within them. They're typically marked with Minor Arcana and other symbols to denote the kind of Skill Card that they are. Most Persona Users come to understand over time what a skill card does right away. Typically they're found during Shuffle Time. However, some characters - typically artists of the highest caliber, learn how to create skill cards themselves and imbue them with cognitive power. These powers are typically quite taxing, and dependent upon not just the current skill level of the artist, but their spiritual journey.
The Velvet Room employs the services of the so-called Demon Painter, who can take certain blank Tarot Cards and convert them into Skill Cards. Typically he requires payment commensurate to the services offered, and never performs this to create skill cards greater than the level of the Persona User's power on their spiritual journey. So too can these services sometimes be offered by local friendly spirits at Shrines all over Japan, should one be able to pay their price.
It ought to be noted that Skill Cards, despite holding supernatural power, look like ordinary cards to everybody in the real world. You might find someone you helped has been holding onto one as a lucky charm for years, or that a friend was using another as a book mark. Skill Cards can show up in surprising places!
The attendants at the Velvet Room, or the Time Count at the Time Castle are capable of affixing Skill Cards to your Persona. Typically they require a fee of the local currency to represent the value of the services provided.
OOC Minutia
- For more on utilizing Skill Cards mechanically, see: Equipment
- If you want the ability to create Skill Cards through artistic skill, we require it to be part of the application process, or a later request. Art should be a pretty big part of your character concept, if you choose to go this route!
- Skill Cards currently are tied to advancement, more on this later!
Suppressants
Suppressants, a.k.a. Persona Suppressants, are medications developed by the Kirijo Group in order to assist Artificial Persona Users with the problem of their Persona frequently coming out and trying to kill them.
These medications have extreme side effects such as nerve and organ damage, causing problems with autonomic nervous system neurotransmitter secretion as well as the endocrine system hormone regulation in individuals who utilize them, usually causing related side effects in temperature regulation.
Naturally, it hasn't been evaluated by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency for efficacy and safety, and is not on the market.
The Kirijo Group supplies these medications to Artificial Persona Users staying in their hospitals, but for good reason these people typically don't have a great deal of trust in the Kirijo Group.
Most individuals who require the medication receive it through clandestine black market deals with the few people able to create them. This is the path that Strega takes, and Takaya is tight-lipped about who his supplier might be.
The New World Order has a pharmaceutical manufacturing operation to provide the medication to its people as well, promising those who take it that they will be a part of the World Without Sin to come and that death will no longer be an issue.
Theurgy
"Theurgy means 'spiritual magic that could reach the gods' in Greek. To put it simply, it synchronizes with the user's emotions, and when the right conditions are met, allows them to unleash an attack of immense power."
- --Shuji Ikutsuki, Faculty Advisor for SEES
A recent development of the Kirijo Group's most clandestine R&D laboratory, Theurgy comes from the use of special cartridges within the Evoker which synchronize with one's emotions. Utilizing these cartridges under moments of great stress, the person can unleash powerful attacks. This is always a voluntary action as it requires loading the cartridge in as one would ammunition. The User gains an 'instinct' that they can utilize the cartridges and unleash the power of their Persona.
However, while the Kirijo Group has 'quantified' Theurgy conceptually other Persona Users have been utilizing similar for the length and breadth of human history. It simply wasn't named before in this manner, instead typically being a personal choice made by allied groups of Persona Users as to what they called this. Each group of Persona Users has a different method, which may be the result of a Guide offering them a 'special card' that allows them to perform this. Or Jose offering the 'Wishing Star' to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Or perhaps simply grasping a certain object of deep emotional weight to them, that personifies their narrative journey.
Whatever the case may be, the method is often consistent across 'teams' as to how this is utilized.
Typical Theurgy Methods by Theme
Note: These are merely suggestions by theme. You are welcome to utilize whatever method makes the most sense for your character. However, if you're utilizing something that doesn't have precedent upon this list, then please list it when you're applying for a Theurgy attack.
Persona 1: As Veterans, the Persona 1 cast was already utilizing Theurgy during their adventures in Mikage-Cho. There hasn't been need for them to call upon this power in years. As of late however, the itch, the instinct that it might be needed soon is returning to them. During their travels, Philemon typically imbued a highly personalized object that was representative of their journey with this power. For those who didn't have such, Igor summoned a specialized Arcana Card through the Hellphone.
Persona 2: The Persona 2 Eternal Punishment cast had Golden Butterflies land upon an object deeply personal to them during their first encounter with Philemon. This imbued them with this latent power, which is awakening within them. For those who didn't have such, Igor commissioned the Demon Painter to make a specialized Arcana Card for them. Those guided by Nyarlathotep may draw upon the negative emotions that suffuse the Mark directly for this, though it comes with a reminder of who you belong to and the implication of an eventual price.
Persona 3: Theurgy Cartridges! The Kirijo Group has these. Mysteriously, Strega and the New World Order has the technology as well. Takaya Sakaki's player may choose to abide by Reload requiring him to train with an Evoker and a Theurgy cartridge to do this or can make the choice that he can already do this. Being able to do this to some degree with a later upgrade that requires him to use an Evoker would also be acceptable.
Persona 5: The Phantom Thieves of Hearts have a shared collective object in the 'Wishing Star' that Jose gave them. This object still works, even at a distance, though the weaker their bonds are with their team the less likely Theurgy is able to work at a distance from the Star. Note: this is distinct from 'Showtime' which will be covered in a future update. Minor alterations to cognitive reality for the duration of the attack are acceptable. Will of Rebellion characters outside of them can receive their own object from Jose or an Arcana Card from Igor.
Antagonists: Antagonists can to some degree break these rules. If none of these things fit your character concept, then simply drawing deep from a wellspring of your own power can simulate this. Evoker using Antagonists however must use Theurgy cartridges, period.
OOC Note
- For more on Theurgy in a mechanical sense, see Arcana System. (Currently under construction!)
- Original Themes are welcome to submit their method to staff, and they will be posted accordingly in this section.
Transmutation
The great ordeal that is meaningful change. It can take many forms, and in many ways it is an inevitable part of this wonderful and unique tapestry known as human nature... but in many others, it might be the most difficult challenge an individual can face. Whether your life isn't what you want it to be, or you want to change your circumstances -- or maybe you've simply had a great and terrible change forced on you by things outside your control and want to claw your way back out from the hole it has put you in.
To those whose hearts burn earnestly and relentlessly for change in all its myriad forms, the power of Transmutation hears your call.
Eve of the Evolution Revolution - What is Transmutation?
Transmutation is a form of awakening that is catalyzed when an overwhelming desire for change is expressed within an Atelier, a cognitive space where individual willpower is at its strongest. Consider it like a calcification of a person's determination to shift the fortunes of their life -- the individual will to strive above their circumstances made manifest through a Persona.
For those entering an Atelier without a Persona - especially an Atelier currently being parasitized by a Homunculus - encountering an insurmountable obstacle within that space is oftentimes the spark that gives rise to Transmutation in those who have the potential: faced with a real and inescapable threat, the spark of change can ignite in the heart of a person brave enough to face it and accept its challenge, triggering their awakening.
The initial Awakening typically involves being engulfed in a chrysalis of fabric (or other, analogous material) like a caterpillar undergoing metamorphosis. Space within the cocoon is far larger than the outside, starkly red, and full of the sounds of industrial machinery hard at work. Fabric latches onto the person within the Cocoon, kicking off an evocative, almost magical girl transformation sequence for the individual.
An individual who has been parasitized by a Homunculus can also undergo Transmutation when - if - they are freed. A form of Ordeal, in these circumstances the Homunculus' Cocoon the individual is trapped in serves as the chrysalis of their awakening, and part of their awakening involves finding the will to break the chains the Homunculus has bound them with; it, otherwise, follows the steps of a regular Awakening closely. See What Happens to the Possessed? in the Homunculus file for more information!
The specifics may vary, but the end result is always the same: the cocoon bursts open to reveal the freshly-reborn Persona-User and their new Persona.
The Transmutation - A Makeover for Your Soul
People who undergo Transmutation are changed profoundly -- it's the nature of the beast, after all. But sometimes even profound change can be a subtle and nuanced thing, which is why - of course - the cognitive world makes up for this by making a person wear that change on their sleeve.
An individual who has awakened to a Persona via Transmutation undergoes a number of dramatic changes when they enter a cognitive space. Outfits change into a cognitive costume that often puts the 'extra' in extravagant, but a Transmutation doesn't change just that: physical characteristics of a person, like their hair, eye and skin color can all change drastically, even to shades and hues that shouldn't be humanly possible. Whether their hair color shifts across a spectrum, or maybe the sclera of their eyes change colors or even their pupil shapes change or they get a new, ruddy red skintone, it represents a marked shift from normalcy. These aesthetic shifts can even bring new additions: horns, fangs, or even something more abstract like the adoption of meaningful body art or surgical stitches.
The possibilities are enormous, but they are all bound down to a simple idea: they are, ultimately, a reflection of the person themselves, and the change they have embraced within them. A Transmutation is a distillation of the soul, representing in the most abstract and in-your-face ways the most important aspects of a person, their life, their personality, and their will in one fabulous package. A Persona is one's mask to face the world; the Transmutation is the burning fire beneath the facade.
Allegory, Allegorier, Allegoriest - The Persona
A Persona awakened through Transmutation is directly influenced by that Transmutation. A Transmutation Persona is the will of an individual perceived through the lens of change and transformation.
This, naturally, tends to be more esoteric than you'd think, but in the broadest strokes means Transmutation Personas in some way embody the thematic concept of change. Literary characters from gothic horror stories are especially prevalent, as the genre is rife with stories that either revolve around themes of transformation or feature it heavily: see also, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, frankensteins, et cetera. Other possibilities include figures in alchemy, real or legendary; gods and demons from Zoroastrianism; historical and mythical figures who enacted great change or were subjected to it; and so on. The idea is that it is ultimately symbolic of the person's experience with change, and thus the gamut can be fairly wide.
When a person summons their Persona through Transmutation, they manifest a phantasmal blue butterfly that they then proceed to crush or otherwise disperse, the shattering of it calling forth the Persona.
OOC Minutia
- As is implied in the above, the cognitive outfit achieved by Transmutation does not protect one's identity like the Will of Rebellion. It is the self presented loudly to the world. However, that does not necessarily mean you recognize them at a glance, their outfit protects them from recognition only in the same sense that mundane disguises might.