The second part of the official World Guide Q&A from the P3 Club Book released in 2006.
This part ends Aigis’ and Ikutsuki’s section of the Q&A.
As before, all information in this post is canon information, translated from Japanese supplementary material unreleased in the west.
Questions covered in this Part:
This is a question I, too, am able to answer. Shadows are aiming to bring about Nyx’s revival.
Oh? But, did Ikutsuki-san not explain earlier that the Shadows themselves are Nyx?
You are not wrong. Precisely speaking, their primary goal is to return to their existence as Nyx as she existed originally. They are but tiny fragments of energy as they exist in their current form, so first of all, these fragments are constantly striving to unite and merge with other fragments, which means that Shadows always strive to try and fuse with other Shadows. When enough Shadows have fused and the resulting Shadow has reached a certain level of energy, this Shadows will attract even more Shadows, and thus gradually cause Nyx’ soul to be united and returned to its full power.
The large, powerful Shadows which appeared during full moons were created in the experiments of the Kirijo Group by gathering a large number of Shadows, weren’t they? If so, that would mean…
Exactly. It isn’t even necessary to forcibly fuse them together. As insecurities and doubts spread the wish for the end in the world, sooner or later, this will give birth to gigantic Shadows, even if it may take a certain amount of time. If these gigantic Shadows, too, merge, their power suffices to unite all of Nyx’s psyche and revive her. This is the whole purpose of the Shadows’ existence.
And the whole purpose of our existence is to destroy these Shadows before that can happen! Ahem…
And that is precisely why to the Shadows you are flies in their ointment. I explained earlier that Shadows do not actually ‘devour’ people. However, they do make an exception for Persona Users and will attack them without any sense of mercy. Shadows possess a certain level intelligence and are able to understand that Persona Users pose a hindrance to Nyx’ revival. Likewise, they will also sometimes attack people who have managed to adapt to the Dark Hour after wandering into it, in order to forcibly remove the Shadows suppressed in their psyches and merge with them.
They appear to be clever little beasts.
Aren’t they? Seen from this perspective, wouldn’t you agree that Shadows are actually quite adorable?
The look in your eyes is unsettling, Ikutsuki-san.
I understand that the Shadows are classified in Tarot Cards, beginning with Number 0, “The Fool” and ranging to Number 12, “The Hanged Man”.
If I remember right, you were taught in class that the Tarot Cards can be used to represent the spiritual growth of an individual, correct? It is similar with the classification of Shadows; their Arcana indicates the tendencies and content of the psychological complexes they entail.
And the higher the number of their Arcana, the stronger their power?
Hm, no, not exactly. The Arcana’s number indicates the grade of maturity the Shadow has reached, but all grades are quite necessary to compose Nyx. You need Shadows which tend to all different Arcana meanings, from 0 to 12. When you fuse all of these Shadows, they will mutate into the 13th Arcana, Death. This Arcana is special and, accordingly with its role as the “Appraiser of the Fall”, indicates that the preparations for Nyx’s revival have been completed.
And that was Ryoji-san. It is sad… He may have been a 'lech’, but that he had to meet such an end…
You called for me?
Target Located! FIRE!
Ouch-Ouch-OUCH! That hurt!
Ah… What a temperament! I generally prefer my ladies without heavy firearms, though.
Be silent and die.
Hey, hey, calm down. I was just going to try and explain a few things myself.
The “Death” Arcana is special in that I am capable of carrying the true weight of Nyx’s psyche, allowing her consciousness and power to be transferred into me. This turns me into her incarnation — The Nyx Avatar. In this state, I am a bringer of death, comparable to the grim reaper. The Nyx Avatar will then call to its body in the moon and proceed to become one with it. Nyx would then return to being an existence capable of destroying whole planets, only befitting the name “Star Eater”. It’s making me sad just to think of it.
But my friend was able to use a trick called the “Universe” Arcana and let me sink into the depths of the Collective Unconscious once more. He’s amazing, isn’t he?
You seem surprisingly happy that The Fall was averted.
Well, you see- Ah, on the other hand, some things are better left unsaid. I will be taking my leave now. Farewell!
…!
…He’s gone… I have to admit, he is actually a surprisingly kind person.
What are you doing, Ikutsuki-san?
*sob* *sniffle*
He explained all the best parts before I could.
Oh my, what an aggressive question. I wonder if we can’t figure out the identity of the person who asked this question, based on the amount of intellect put into it…
Hey, I’m sorry, I’m just not that smart, OK!? And anyway, ’s not like you’re the one to talk, always coming at us with those lousy puns. Who do you think you are anyway, Dave Spector!?
What horrible words from you too, Junpei-kun… You could at least humor me! Won’t you allow a poor man plagued by Nihilism his few pleasures in this world?
Indeed, Junpei-san. You are horrible.
A…Aigis…!
> Ikutsuki is moved to tears.
Punishing Ikutsuki-san for his horrible puns is my favorite duty. Your attempt to rob me of said duty is simply to be described as 'horrible’.
W-Wait, that’s what you disagree with!?
Oh well, let’s just leave it at that. Now, gimme a good answer already, pleaaaase!
Alright, now, first of all, let’s all calm down, good? Good, then… ahem. Incidentally, all the subjects mentions in the question addressed earlier are strongly connected to a certain ability of Shadows. So it is actually very convenient to address them all at once.
A certain ability?
Yes. Once a certain amount of Shadows has fused into a sufficiently powerful Shadow, it becomes able to access this potential. This power allows Shadows to manipulate space-time. As I have already explained to you earlier, Shadows gather in order to unite and return Nyx to power. However, unlike living beings, Shadows are existences of pure thought and emotion and do not possess a physical body. Thus, they usually cannot move or act freely in our world. In accordance with this, they need to create a sort of space outside of time, independent of the usual laws of space-time, in which, instead of human beings, Shadows can move freely. This can be accomplished with their ability to manipulate space-time.
And that’s the Dark Hour, huh?
Exactly! Created by the Shadow’s latent abilities, the Dark Hour is a special state of space and time, that can not be interfered with by the usual laws of time and space. In return, this also means that the Shadows are unable to interfere with the living beings existing within normal space-time. Now, to explain Transmogrification, this phenomenon occurs in order to make sure people who are not located within the Dark Hour are not affected by it. Due to this, they only appear as symbols without identity, featureless coffins, while the Dark Hour is in effect. The hard, metal exterior of the coffins symbolizes protection from the Shadows, a shell to avert harm from them.
Ugh… I still don’t get it at all. I mean… what about the people we’ve seen walk into the Dark Hour? What’s different about them?
Ah, you mean those who are able to adapt. Normal people suppress the Shadows in their hearts, however, to suppress one’s Shadow always also means to avert your eyes from the truth. This is only natural, after all, who wishes to be constantly reminded of their own mortality? However, there are also those who are able to face the truth of death bravely, without succumbing to a desire for death. And there is a yet smaller portion among these people, who are able to tame the Shadows in their hearts and use their abilities for themselves.
In other words, the one ones who adapt, the ones with the “Potential”, are those who are able to use the Shadow’s power to time-space-manipulation for themselves?
Um, well, OK, then what about Tartarus!? That’s the thing I understand the least!
Hm, let’s see… You could consider it a sort of antenna. It is a landmark, which Nyx’ spirit uses to call to its body in the moon. That is why the Shadows that have escaped the people in the city are drawn to Tartarus. They gather there in order to fuse and grow stronger, until they are able to return to their full power as Nyx’s psyche. The more Shadows gather in Tartarus and the stronger they grow, the higher Tartarus itself, too, grows. Once it has become tall enough, the physical body the Shadows are calling to descends, along with the moon, in order to merge with it’s sufficiently restored psyche.
There is a certain material, which plays a crucial role in this answer to this question. It is a material which did not originally exist on earth — The Plume of Dusk.
It is the same as the Continue-Item you receive if you play our game on Easy Mode, correct?
Indeed. In reality, these “Plumes” were shed by Nyx when her body fused with the moon, and then fell down onto earth. In other words, they are shards of Nyx’ body. They received the name “Plume of Dusk” for their shape, which resembles the plumage of a bird. These Plumes seem to exist in a state between mass and information, having properties of both. Though they are parts of Nyx, the embodiment of death, they send out a wave very close to the readings of a living being. Further, they carry the potential to the same power of space-time manipulation as Shadows. This is why machines which have a Plume of Dusk inserted into their core can work and be used, even during the Dark Hour. Mitsuru-kun’s bike as well as the Evokers all carry Plumes of Dusk inside.
Then I, most likely, too…
Of course there is a Plume of Dusk at work in your core as well, Aigis. But in your case, this material takes an even greater role. In your Personality Module, there are two equally-sized Plumes of Dusk, crossed in the shape of a Butterfly. We call this special Personality Module “Papillon Heart” and it is one of the greatest results of our research. While it acts as your energy source, it simultaneously also grants you the ability to carry a psyche within you, just like a human.
Unfortunately, it also acts as a Blackbox of your psyche, since we are not able to exactly discern the inner workings and principles of a Plume of Dusk.
This seems like a problematic sort of technology.
Well, you do know what they say: Desperate situations call for desperate measures. And likewise, sometimes it is a good idea to attack the enemy with their own weapons, even if doing so poses a certain risk.
The Kirijo Group’s Shadow Research began when Kouetsu Kirijo coincidentally came into the possession of one of the Plumes of Dusk I mentioned earlier.
And this was how it began?
At first he was merely hoping to find out more about the mysterious powers of the Plume and to find a way to put these same powers to a good use, however, as the research progressed, Kouetsu learned of the existence of Nyx. What happened afterwards was explained sufficiently in our story. Kouetsu Kirijo soon became obsessed with the idea of The Fall and worked towards facilitating her advent. This is how it came to the experiment which was conducted 10 years ago. Concretely speaking, this experiment was meant to artificially facilitate the Fall by forcibly fusing together gathered Shadows and thus giving birth to Death, without the need for the necessary number of people to give in to demise first.
This was a fate I managed to avert through my reluctant sealing of Death into our Leader…
Indeed. And though my role in the Kirijo Group had only be trivial up to that point, this was when I decided to take things into my own hands. By taking care of all important matters and errands that came up as a result of the failed experiment and absolving them to the superiors’ satisfaction, I was able to ascend in rank within the firm, until I was able to talk to Takeharu Kirijo as an equal. At the same time, I founded S.E.E.S. in order to discern the location of the lost Death Arcana Shadow, and managed to become the Chairman of the Gekkoukan Schools. And then I found the boy who would go on to become your “Leader”.
You are a despicable, ruthless man, Ikutsuki-san.
Now, what exactly where the closer circumstances of the births of the members of Strega?
N-No, that didn’t happen. I also definitely don’t know any Takaya…. Ah… Excuse me…
Seriously!? At least stand by the fact that you screwed up, instead of just letting your knees shake over there!
Gh… You two…
I believe we should be taking care of the explanations from here on out. During the pursuit of their Shadow Research, the Kirijo Group had already managed to ascertain the existence of Persona Users, people who are able to oppose Shadows with their powers. Still, they did not fully understand the conditions to acquire such potential.This is why Ikutsuki began gathering children and he attempted to bring forth Persona Abilities within them by subjecting them to inhumane experiments. It seems that of the many dozens of test-subjects Ikutsuki had gathered, only we survived… apparently, at least…
Why did they require the test-subjects to be children?
Probably because the first person the Kirijo Group was able to prove actually having Persona Potential was that Mitsuru-girl. Anyway, even after all was over, there was no way for us to just relax and live in peace. After all, even if they got us to get out Personas, we were still failures. Then again, even among naturally awakened Persona Users, there’s some who are unstable. I mean, look at that Aragaki-guy.
In any case, we decided to separate from Kirijo. So we took hold of a large quantity of Persona Suppressor Medication and made our escape. As for those of us test-subjects who did not succeed in escaping that day… I believe they were all sent into Tartarus on a first attempt to explore it, and joined the Lost… They were filed as 'missing’ when Kirijo failed to recover the bodies. Following these events, all evidence of the existence of the project to create artificial Persona Users was destroyed or sealed away.
…However, my grudge against the Kirijo Group has long since faded. After all, they did achieve to bring the coming of the Fall so much closer.
It is horrible,that all this had to happen. I believe it would only be correct to give the final word to Ikutsuki-san, in order for him to deliver an appropriate apology.
I will not apologize, Aigis…
Copyright: ATLUS, Famitsu
Translation: nenilein