Image from Atlus
This post contains major spoilers for the story of Persona 3. If you do not wish to have the story spoiled, please skip this post. You have been warned. Please keep in mind these are my own thoughts and interpretations of Persona 3.
Introduction
Throughout the entirety of Persona 3 there is one major theme that is persistent. That theme is death. It is explicitly shown with multiple characters as well as being the major arcana used by Ryoji as the Avatar of Nyx. I’ll be discussing this theme in two different ways. The first one will be death in relation to characters and the other will be death in relation to the ending.
The Death Arcana
The Death Arcana is important to the entire story of Persona 3. The mysterious boy you meet named Pharos has a social link that is Death. As the story progresses, he disappears and Ryoji appears. You eventually find out that he’s the Avatar of Nyx and he is going to bring fourth the Fall, or the death of everyone.
The Death Arcana can be split into two different meanings. Some are positive and others are negative. Death is usually associated with positives if it is face up, but negative when upside down.
Below is one description of the positive descriptions of the Death Arcana.
Death doesn’t just symbolize literal death. But rather a form of rebirth that brings about strong change.
Richie Nguyen –The Gamer
Another positive definition for the Death Arcana is this.
The Death card signals that one major phase in your life is ending, and a new one is going to start. You just need to close one door, so the new one will open. The past needs to be placed behind you, so you can focus your energy on what is ahead of you.
Labyrinthos
This is a description of the Death Arcana when it is upside down.
Like the Shadow Arcana, Nyx Avatar represents the inverse interpretation of the Death Arcana. While the Death Arcana represents transition, regeneration, deep change, and cycles, the inverse Death Arcana represents doom, destruction, and an end to everything.
Megami Tensei Wiki
The deaths I will be talking about can be related to these different parts of this arcana.
Shinjiro’s Death
There are many deaths in Persona 3, but I wanted to focus on specific characters. These specific characters dying put it into your head that death is indeed the prevalent theme in the game. One of the first major deaths comes from the character Shinjiro. He was a former member of SEES that recently rejoined after having quit for a number of years. He dies after protecting Ken from being shot.
It is at this point where the story took a turn for me. I knew that we were working towards preventing Nyx from being reborn, but I didn’t think we’d see a major character death. His death serves as motivation for the team as well as for Ken.
For Shinjiro his death is somewhat of a rebirth for Ken. Ken was obsessed with revenge against Shinjiro for what happened to his mother, but after being protected by him that changes. With some words from Akihiko Ken finds the determination to carry on for his mother’s sake and Shinjiro’s. This newfound determination leads to his Persona evolving. The evolution of his Persona can be seen as a rebirth for Ken since a persona is your other self.
Akihiko also goes through somewhat of a rebirth. At Shinjiro’s funeral at the school, while he is alone, he mentions how he thought he could protect anyone if he was strong. He continues to grieve, but comes to the realization that he needs to carry on because he still has things he needs to do.
I believe that rebirth is appropriate describing these two as their Persona’s go through a change. This represents a change within themselves as well. They also find new motivation to carry on with their lives.
Ryoji’s Possible Death
When it comes to Ryoji’s death, if you choose to kill him, it represents the idea that death is inevitable. Making this choice wipes The Dark Hour from everyone’s memories and lets them live normal lives, until the Fall occurs. For me this choice stands out because the odds truly do seem against you and accepting death might be easier than fighting it.
Killing him truly leads to a change in each charterer as they get to live normal lives as normal high school students. They don’t have to think about trying to save people nor do they have to put themselves in danger. The world will still end though. Everything will come to an end, but you just will be unaware of it.
Minato’s Death
When it comes to the main character, Minato, his death serves as a new beginning. He sacrificed himself to become the barrier that prevents the Fall from occurring. He gives everyone in SEES a new beginning as they can now live normal lives. Everyone gets to start a new phase in life thanks to Minato. There is also more that can be said for his death.
When Minato died I was at a loss of words. I was sad and hoped that he’d come back somehow. Eventually it made sense to me. Throughout the game death is at the forefront and after each death the charterers move on. With this death I feel as though not only do the characters have to move on, but we as players have to move on as well.
I’ve tried playing back through the game, but I never get too far. I think it’s because every time I play I think of the ending and I just feel like there’s nothing left for me to do. I know the ending and I can’t change it.
In the Answer, only playable with Persona 3 FES, the other characters find out how and why Minato sacrificed himself. A major boss that you end up facing with the other characters is Shadow of Doubt, a manifestation caused by SEES not being able to move on after Minato’s death. The Answer ends with everyone realizing that they need to accept that he’s gone.
Conclusion
I believe that the ending is about accepting death. It’s something that is honestly hard to do. I’ve struggled with accepting death before as I’m sure many people have. I truly only got over it through acceptance and just trying to remember the person. I’m not going to elaborate much further on this point. You can @ me on Twitter if you’d like to hear a little more.
I realize that there were more deaths, but I feel as those these were the most important ones. I would certainly recommend playing the game to see what you feel from it. If you played Persona 3 how did you feel about the ending? Do you agree that death is the main theme? As always thanks for reading! If you notice a mistake feel free to let me know.
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