Welcome to the fourth #ArcanaInPersona article~
#3: The Empress
< #2: The Priestess - Next Article (Soon) >
The game series Persona is overflowing with symbolism. Even the term Persona is derived from Jungian psychology which strives on symbolism. The most interesting parallel I found in Persona is its usage of Tarot cards & the Major Arcana.
In this article series I'm writing about each Arcana and its corresponding Social Links/Confidants in Persona games. Today's article is about the Arcana that's represented by a female character that comes from a prestigious lineage: The Empress.
The Empress in Tarot Cards
The Empress is the third Trump Card in a tarot deck. It's usually depicted as an Empress sitting on her throne holding a Shield or Orb in one hand. In Tarot divination, The Empress represents mothers, prosperity, creativity and fertility. It can also present comfort and protection.
The Empress in Persona
Starting Persona 3, every Empress Social Link is a female that is close to the main character. One of the first party members in Persona 3. The Velvet Room Assistant in 4. An Upperclassmen of Persona 5 protagonist and and one of girls that join the team in the latter half of the game.
The girls representing The Empress Arcana usually have cold personality but with some degree of hidden kindness and care. True to their Arcana, they're usually elegant and have princess/queen upbringing, something that's present in all the characters mentioned in this article.
Like with the Priestess Arcana, all girls representing The Empress Social Link can be a Romantic Partners to the main character of the game.
The Personas of The Empress Arcana usually excel in the Ice Magic and/or healing powers. They are usually important female figures. Many of them are queens or mothers in some way.
Persona 3's Mitsuru Kirijo
Mitsuru is one of the founding members of SEES, the team for solving the mystery of the Dark Hour. She serves as the leader of the team before the protagonist of took the role of leading in the battle. Misturu plays the role of the Navigator until Fuuka joins and replaces her. After that she joins the front-lines as a party member.
Mitsuru is mature, calm and confident girl, though her confidence might manifest in arrogance. She's very intelligent for a high school student and her relaince on logic may sometimes appear as cold-hearted. Sometimes, Mitsuru lacks common sense due to her upbringing.
Mitsuru is the heir to Kirijo Group, the corporation that resulted in the creation of Tartarus and the Dark Hour, as such she feels responsible for the suffering of its victims. She was trained to use her Persona from a young age, making her the character that fought the shadows the longest out of Persona 3 cast.
True to her Empress Arcana. Mitsuru can be seen as the team's mother, despite her cold personality she shows caring for her teammates. As a heir to Kirijo Group, Mitsuru can be seen as a princess or a queen when she finally becomes the leader of the Group.
Her Social Link can only be started late in the game after November 21st and only if the Protagonist maxed out his "Knowledge" stats and scored the highest result in the school exam. Her story revolves around dealing with her heritage of Kirijo Group after certain story event. She learns about how normal girls living their life. She eventually opens up about her insecurities and her arranged marriage.
While I like Mitsuru's character, she has a very bad AI in Persona 3/Fes gameplay: Due to how the AI works she tends to spam the (mostly) useless attack: Marin Karin, which has a low chance of confusing enemies.
Persona 4's Margret
Margret is a resident of the Velvet Room and she serves as the assistant of Igor in Persona 4. She handles the Persona compendium, by allowing the protagonist to register and re-summon Personas to aid him in his journey.
Margret is the older sister of Elizabeth (Persona 3,) and she appears as a mature woman with a mysterious vibe to her. She's more down to earth than her sister but since she isn't human, she still has weird ideas of her own.
Margret's Social Link starts when the protagonist reaches the third level of "Knowledge" stats. Her Social Link progress as the protagonist completes her requests which involves creating specific Personas with unique skills. These Personas are tricky to fuse without a guide.
There isn't much to say about Margret other than she's embodies The Empress Arcana in her elegance and knowledge.
Persona 5's Haru Okumura
Haru Okumura is the final party member to be introduced in Persona 5, and she joins the Phantom Thieves to help her father atone for his evil deeds. She partners with Morgana and calls herself "beauty thief" before actually joining the team.
Haru is a shy, sweet, (fluffy,) and soft-spoken girl. She's usually stays alone and don't stand out in the school, as she's afraid people tend to be kind to her due to her heritage (being the daughter of the famous Okumura) rather than her real self.
Despite her kind and cheerful personality, Haru hides sadistic side. Her fighting style in the Metaverse is very violent (her main weapon is an Axe,) and she has a passive aggressive side. She embodies The Empress Arcane in that she's basically a princess and she's has a strong motherly side that appears when she cares after plants.
Haru's life was decided for her by her father and she has a fiance that doesn't care about her and sees her only as tool to achieve his goal. She finally finds the courage
She's is the last Confidant to debut in Persona 5 (Starts at October 30th while the game ends in December.) This makes her Confidant story easy to miss. Her Confidant revolves around her becoming more involved in her father's company, and her goal to use the plants she grows, create a cafe chain just like her grandfather's.
Did I mention, she's fluffy?
So, that's all for The Empress Arcana
While Margret is a bit different. I noticed that Haru and Mitsuru share more than a few similarities despite their differences (Mitsuru's has cold and confident personality while Haru is soft and shy. Their roles in their teams are the opposite too.)
Both girls come from a well established families and are the princesses of their heritage. Both have little common sense on how non-wealthy people live by. Both have fiances that only care about their heritages and not their real selves. Both have sadistic side that shows from time to time.
Like the Priestesses, the Empresses tend be very intelligent and knowledgeable. But I didn't find as many similarities between them as I found in the characters representing the two Arcana before this one.
So, What are your thoughts?
This article was harder to write than The Magician Arcana & The Priestess Arcana article as I needed more research. I learned quite a bit about these girls (and learned how little I know about Margret.)
I was late writing this post, as I wanted my #ArcanaInPersona articles to be weekly ones. I hope I pick up the pace and write the next ones sooner... The next Arcana will be: The Emperor! Stay tuned~
Cover image is edited from this base image and P5's Empress Card from the wiki. Mitsuru's Image is taken from the wiki. Margret's is taken from this video. Haru's first image is taken from here. Confidant Menu is from here.
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