Warning: If you read any of this, most of it contains spoilers, so if you want to play the game, and haven’t yet, then don’t read this.

The definition of Persona with regard to psychology is: The mask or façade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment and not representing the inner personality of the individual; the public personality

An interesting side note is that the actual personality is called the Anima.
The definition of this is the inner personality that is turned toward the unconscious of the individual.

With regard to Persona 3 and 4, obviously the Anima life of the characters would be the social links, and school events that take place outside of the TV in Persona 4, and the Dark Hour (the time in between 11:59, and Midnight) in Persona 3.

I find it very interesting all of the psychological principals that exist in this game.
Everyone but the main character of the game has one set persona that they can invoke in the “other” worlds in order to overcome the situations that have created these other worlds. In Persona 3 the basic premise is that the “other” world in which you can use your persona is always changing, and a huge dungeon takes the place of your school during the “Dark Hour” in Persona 4 the world inside the TV is actually the thoughts of the cumulative population, and only those with the power of Persona can enter the TV. In Persona 3 non-persona users are actually in coffins during this time. A process called in-game as Transmogrification. (The change of something ordinary into something fantastic or strange)

I find this interesting as well because access is restricted to non-persona users to the other world.
Now if you think about the idea of Multiple Personae, this is a gift bestowed upon ONLY the main character. Which you name at the beginning and all the dialogue that takes place is chosen by you the player. The multiple personae are “fused” in the Velvet Room, which only the Main Character can see, and enter.
As you level up, and gain experience you are able to hold more and more Personae in your head. These Personae can hold up to 8 abilities, and have different strengths and weaknesses. The Personae also are based mostly off of religious and demonic figures, with lower level personae representing vague demons, and higher level personae representing those with more history.

Now back to the psychological aspect. It is interesting to me that a non-talking character (which is obviously made so that you in effect ARE the main character, you can’t customize his appearance, but if you could, that would be the last straw at making him 100% in control of your customization) I think the reason the main character / you, are the only one that can change your said personae, and fuse new ones, is because only YOU, the player of the game / main character in the story has the ability to change your perception with regard to the situations at hand, which ties into the definitions I mentioned previously.

One interesting change from Persona 3 to Persona 4 is that, in Persona 3, the only person you could give commands to was the Main Character. This made boss fights more difficult and frustrating, because AI controlled your other 3 party members. Though the AI is pretty good about not using skills that are not in your favor, it is still cumbersome, because in order to figure out that an enemy is not affected by fire, your controlled characters will first use whatever their designated elemental skill is, and it may not be effective. They will stop using it if it is not effective, but most of the time after an analysis, you know which will, and will not work, and this doesn’t seem to carry over to other battles, as the AI only remembers so much.

The much needed ability to directly control the other characters in Persona 4 is much smoother. But I also think it takes away from the premise, that YOU are the main character and can only pull your own strings, and not the strings of your allies.

They do have an in-game explanation for this in Persona 4, and that is that you are directly telling them what to do in battle based off of their skills, but if an enemy overheard your main character telling you to blast some demon with a fire spell, obviously they might be ready for it and dodge. SO I feel this leaves something to be desired with regard to a proper explanation.

I hate to be so analytical of these two games, but it is part of my psychological analysis, and these games looked at separately or together in my opinion are some of the best RPG’s of all time that I have played. I do think they could have made Persona 4 a little bit fresher though, because unfortunately it’s basically the exact same thing, with a slightly different story.

My favorite thing to note is that the real world and the other world are mutually exclusive, except for the fact that you must have a persona to be aware of, or enter the other world. Persona can only be invoked in the “other-world” which is different from Persona 2, where there is no “other world” only the real world, and Persona can be invoked anywhere at any time, and people also use Persona for real life advantages, but not everyone possesses one.

The unifying messages of the Persona series is definitely of Friendship, and finding the Truth. With regard to the Friendship aspect, it is only with the power of those that you believe in, and believe in you, that you are able to kill the final bosses in both of these games. I am not yet sure about persona 2 because I haven’t completed it, and I am anxiously awaiting Persona 1 on PSP.

I also really like the difference in P4 and P3 with regard to getting your Persona. In both of the games the Main Character has it without undergoing any seemingly obvious change, as though it was fate, which ties in with the contract and the Velvet Room as well. There is no explanation for why the main in P3 has it, but in P4, the power was actually bestowed upon him by a celestial being posing as a human, experimenting on what could happen when said power is bestowed.

In P3, people are found with “the potential” they are discovered because they are conscious during the Dark Hour while the other persona users are active. In P4 (which I like the premise for this a lot more) because it ties in more with my psychology theme, people awaken to their persona during their experience on the other side, (which they are not supposed to be able to get there by conventional means, a persona user has to throw them in) they face the side of themselves they have been suppressing, and because they do this they gain power later, instead of having it bestowed. Which makes me kind of think the main character isn’t really deserving of the power, it was just given, instead of earned.

I also think that the whole “Social Links” in both games tie in very well too, because the Anima of real life and the relationships of the people to the Main Character become his power in the other world to fuse stronger and better personas with more versatile skills in order to overcome the Shadows in the other world.
I would also have to note that the presence of Shadows (which are your enemies in these games) is a psychological term as well. The psychological definition for this is: part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts, which in the game that is exactly what they are. The cumulative weakness of all people is basically what the shadows are in P4. But in P3 it has a different explanation for why they are there, basically a science experiment gone awry. Facing the shadow of yourself in the other world in P4 bestows upon you a persona, and maxing out a social link with a playable character basically “promotes” that persona (it has the same battle skills, just more defenses) So finding yourself by facing your shadow invokes persona, and clearing up the rest of the doubt of yourself makes persona even stronger.

Another interesting thing to note, is that all of the Personae, are actually broken down into categories of Major Arcana tarot cards. Which are loosely based on psychological profiles which can be generally applied for tarot card readings, which here is an odd fact about myself, but I used to be a tarot card reader. Never made money off it or anything, but I had a deck, and practiced doing it. Also the people based off of these general psychological profiles for the social links all hit the nail on the head with regard to the major arcana tarot cards they represent.

For instance Chie from P4 was the Chariot Social Link. Chariot represents physical strength, and the majority of the time Chie and MC (Main Character) are training physically to stop bullies. Becoming a better friend with her, unlocks personas with physical attack skills as the prevalent ability.

I could go on and on, but I suggest you look up the individual meanings yourself, and see how they apply to each individual character that you are curious about.

I know I might be wrong about a few of the Plot elements as I have not played P3 in awhile, so if you have any other information just go ahead and give it to me.

I would like to end with this. Teddie is my favorite character, because he is the only playable character which is a shadow, who brainwashes himself into forgetting he is a shadow, which transforms him into something else completely, and when he faces the shadow of who he is by hiding, he actually turns into a real person, and gains a persona. He is of the Star Arcana, and not only is he adorable and charming, and his Social Link is automatic, but he is also the best representation of the entire blog I just laid out with regard to the 3 phases I mentioned (Anima, Shadow and Persona) As Teddie lives his life, in and outside of the "other world'

If you don’t already have it, definitely give them a try, or pick up ANYTHING in the Shin Megami series, steal persona 1 and 2 online if you have to (not as good in my opinion so far of what I have played of P2.) but if you like those, P3 and 4 are better.

-Dan