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"Occurs every day at midnight. Normal people become Transmogrified, and won't remember a thing."
—Dictionary Entry
DarkHour

The Dark Hour appears.

The Dark Hour (影時間, Kage-jikan)? is a phenomenon that occurs in Persona 3. The Dark Hour occurs for an hour every night as a time anomaly that takes place during 12:00 AM, and serves as the 25th hour hidden between one day and the next. As the phenomenon takes place, non-Persona users are transmogrified into coffins and remember nothing that happens during the Dark Hour once they awaken. Because of this, the general public is unaware of its existence.

It is not clarified what the range of the Dark Hour is and whether or not it appears outside of Japan as a worldwide phenomenon, or if it is exclusive to the timezone of Port Island, though it still appears at Yakushima. If it is a global phenomenon, then it can be assumed that it occurs at midnight for every timezone.

Appearances[]

Profile[]

Shadow transform

Shadow transformation.

During the Dark Hour, the physical world is totally altered, mostly with respect to atmosphere and color. The buildings, the night sky, as well as the moon would assume a sickly green hue, while bodies of water turn crimson and thicken, resembling blood (or are actually blood), as evidenced by the fountain in Paulownia Mall and the sea seen during the monorail. Red liquid puddles form in random surfaces as well, even if there were no puddles there before. All electrical appliances cease to function unless the equipment is specifically made for use in the Dark Hour, such as those made by the Kirijo Group, like Mitsuru's motorcycle and the instruments in the Iwatodai Dormitory.

P3-DarkHour

The Dark Hour on a full moon night.

Normal humans transmogrify into coffins and become oblivious to what is happening. Shadows become active during the Dark Hour and attempt to lure humans out of their coffins in order to feed on their psyches, afflicting them with the Apathy Syndrome. If an ordinary human survives the Dark Hour without being attacked by a Shadow, their memories are erased instead.

Only those with the potential to summon a Persona are able to stay fully active during the Dark Hour and resist Shadow attacks; even if they sleep, their bodies will not transmogrify, and they will retain their memories. However, one without the potential can be taught how to enter the Dark Hour, as in the case of Shuji Ikutsuki. A known side effect of people able to experience the phenomena is a significant decrease in stamina: the longer they stay awake, the more quickly they will become tired.

Those who have the power to summon a Persona are the only ones who can destroy Shadows. They use the Evoker, a device resembling a gun, to summon their Persona, the alter ego or their inner self.

History[]

P3-Tartarus

Tartarus during the Dark Hour, as seen in Persona 3.

Before the occurrence of the Dark Hour 10 years ago, the Kirijo Group discovered the existence of the Shadows. Upon realizing that they had the property to manipulate time and space, the group decided to perform experiments on them to refine and acquire their powers. Their project was carried out on the man-made Port Island, where a laboratory was built for such a purpose. During the course of conducting the research, the Kirijo Group collected Shadows en masse and found out the prophecy of The Fall, or the end of the world. Accepting death as a deliverance and following the wishes of their employer, the senior scientists began rejuvenating Death, the appriser of Nyx to descend on humanity to bring about the advent of The Fall.

During the final stages of Death's rejuvenation however, one of the senior researchers named Eiichiro Takeba opposed the efforts to initiate The Fall, interrupting the experiment. As a result, Death was forcefully separated into thirteen distinct Shadows, each bearing their respective Arcana, with the thirteenth shadow Death in an incomplete state.

The fragmented Shadows went berserk, destroying the lab and everyone within it. This, in turn, made a significant impact on the time continuum, creating the Dark Hour. A tower soon emerged from the ruins of the lab. This was Tartarus, considered to be the lair of Shadows.

To cover up the incident, the Kirijo Group put all of the blame on Eiichiro Takeba; altering all records of his findings and withholding all printed matter addressed to his family, making him an essential scapegoat for the tragic incident. The ruined laboratory was later rebuilt as Gekkoukan High School, but every time the Dark Hour occurs, Tartarus reemerges, altering the structure to use as its own. When the Dark Hour ends for that day, the school transforms back into its original state.

Persona 3[]

During the game, SEES' goal is to put an end to the Dark Hour and all combat in the game takes place during it.

Full Moon Operations[]

Hanged_Man

Hanged Man

The Hanged Man operation.

During a Full Moon that occurs for the next few months, a fragment of Death reawakens (sometimes more than one), wishing to return to its original body. SEES is tasked to kill all of them during these Full Moon Operations as per their chairman's orders. The twelve fragments each represent a Major Arcana from the Tarot, starting from the 1st Tarot (Magician), to the 12th Tarot (Hanged Man).

Persona 4 Arena[]

A temporary simulation of the Dark Hour appears in Persona 4 Arena, particularly in Mitsuru's Story Mode. A Public Safety Officer inadvertently caused the Dark Hour through an unknown artifact that came from the Kirijo Group's Ergonomics Laboratory, though Mitsuru manages to put an end to the phenomenon. In Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, there are two new stages, both of which involve the Dark Hour:

These two stages imply that the Dark Hour has somehow returned again, and that like Port Island, Inaba has now become an epicenter for Shadow activity outside the TV World. As a result, S.E.E.S can freely summon their Personas in the Dark Hour affected real world without the use of an Evoker. Eventually it is confirmed by AkihikoJunpei and even Naoto that the Dark Hour has returned, set up by the masterminds behind the P1 tournaments, one of them being Sho Minazuki.

Gallery[]


Characters
Playable Male protagonist - Female protagonist - Yukari Takeba - Junpei Iori - Akihiko Sanada - Mitsuru Kirijo - Fuuka Yamagishi - Aigis - Koromaru - Ken Amada - Shinjiro Aragaki - Metis
Social Link Kenji Tomochika - Hidetoshi Odagiri - Bunkichi and Mitsuko - Kazushi Miyamoto - Chihiro Fushimi - Isako Toriumi - Keisuke Hiraga - Yuko Nishiwaki - Maiko Oohashi - Pharos - Bebe - President Tanaka - Mutatsu - Mamoru Hayase - Nozomi Suemitsu - Akinari Kamiki - Rio Iwasaki - Saori Hasegawa - Ryoji Mochizuki
Major Igor - Elizabeth - Theodore - Shuji Ikutsuki - Officer Kurosawa - Takaya Sakaki - Jin Shirato - Chidori Yoshino - Takeharu Kirijo - Kouetsu Kirijo - Eiichiro Takeba - Natsuki Moriyama - Nyx - Erebus - Margaret
Minor Kiyoshi Sakuma - Mr. Edogawa - Mr. Ekoda - Ms. Miyahara - Ms. Ounishi - Mrs. Terauchi - Kikuno Saikawa - Yuu Kimijima - Souta Aizawa - Kyouka Sayama
Cameo Yukiko Amagi - Noriko Kashiwagi - Man Drinking Alone
Location
Port Island Gekkoukan High School - Paulownia Mall - Iwatodai Station - Port Island Station - Naganaki Shrine - Dorm - Moonlight Bridge - Velvet Room
Tartarus Blocks: Thebel - Arqa - Yabbashah - Tziah - Harabah - Adamah - Monad Depths
Abyss of Time Malebolge - Cocytus - Caina - Antenora - Ptolomea - Judecca - Empyrean
Other Kyoto - Great Seal
Music
Albums Original Soundtrack (JP / US / FES / Portable) - Bonus CD - Burn My Dread -Reincarnation- - Spring of Birth OST - Midsummer Knight's Dream OST - Falling Down OST - Winter Of Rebirth OST - Persona 20th Anniversary All Time Best Album
Songs "Burn My Dread" - "Aria of the Soul" - "Want To Be Close" - "When the Moon Reaches for the Stars" - "Iwatodai Dorm" - "Mass Destruction" - "Color Your Night" - "Deep Breath Deep Breath" - "The Meaning of Armbands" - "Deep Mentality" - "It's Going Down Now" - "Changing Seasons" - "Current Net Price Tanaka" - "Battle Hymn of the Soul" - "Kimi no Kioku" - "P3 FES" - "Mass Destruction -P3fes version-" - "Heartful Cry" - "Brand New Days" - "Soul Phrase" - "A Way of Life" - "Time" - "Wiping All Out" - "More Than One Heart" - "Fate is In Our Hands" - "One Single Word" - "One Hand, One Heartbeat" - "One Determination" - "Sound of the Beast" - "Storm for a Butterfly" - "Light in Starless Sky" - "My Testimony" - "Self Redemption"
Archives
Terminology Persona (Initial / Prime / Ultimate) - Persona user - Shadow - Wild Card - Evoker - Attack Properties - Tactics - All-out Attack - Shuffle Time - Dark Hour - Moon Phase System - Full Moon Operations - SEES - Kirijo Group - Nanjo Group - Strega - Artificial Persona user - Suppressants - Apathy Syndrome - The Fall - Death - Who's Who - Phoenix Ranger Featherman R - Plume of Dusk
P3RE: Shift - Theurgy - Combat Characteristics
Lists Arcana - Personas (P3 - FES - P - R) - Shadows - Bosses (P3 - FES) - Skills - Items (Heart Items / Vending Machines) - Status Effects - Elizabeth's Requests - Activities - Calendar - Trophies (Portable / Reload) - Steam Profile Items - Patches and Updates
School Life Daily Life - Seasons - Social Link - Social Stats - Yen - Class - Studying - Movie Theater - Bed - Part-time Jobs - Shrine - Tanaka's Amazing Commodities - Crane Machine - Chagall Café - School Club - Linked Episode - Computer - Refrigerator - Gardening / Books / DVDs / Cooking - Studying - Fortune Telling
Other Media
Games FES - Portable - Reload - Dancing in Moonlight
Productions The Movie - The Movie: Escape from the Dark Hour - the Weird Masquerade: -Ao no Kakusei- / -Gunjou no Meikyuu- / -Souen no Kesshou- / -Ai no Seiyaku- / -Hekikuu no Kanata e- - Persona Stalker Club - 「PERSORA AWARDS」 - PERSORA AWARDS 2 - PERSORA AWARDS 3 - Persora -The Golden Best-
Drama CDs A Certain Day of Summer - Daylight / Moonlight - Character Drama CD Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 / Vol. 4 / Vol. 5 - New Moon / Full Moon - Portable Vol. 1 / Vol. 2
Publications Manga - Shadow Cry - Memento Mori - Owari no Kakera - Alternative Heart - Velvet Blue - Persona Magazine - Dear Girls Comic Anthology - Dengeki Comic Anthology - Tartarus Theater - Persona VS
Mobile Games The Night Before - Persona Ain Soph - Social - Escape - Illust Puzzle - Broken Shadow - Aegis: The First Mission - Qix - Chaining Soul - Em
Events Music Live 2008 - Music Live 2009 - Music Tour 2010 - Music Live 2012 - Music Fes 2013 - Music Box 2014 - Super Live 2015 - Livehouse Tour 2015 - Super Live 2017 - Super Live 2019- 25th Anniversary Symphonic Concert
20th Anniversary Festival - 25th Anniversary - 25th FES
Miscellaneous Merchandise
Ultimax - Manga (Arena) - Manga (Ultimax) - Stageplay (Arena) - Stageplay (Ultimax)
Characters
Playable Arena Yu Narukami (Izanagi - Regular / Izanagi-no-Okami - Instant Kill) - Yosuke Hanamura (Jiraiya) - Chie Satonaka (Tomoe) - Yukiko Amagi (Konohana Sakuya) - Kanji Tatsumi (Take-Mikazuchi) - Naoto Shirogane (Sukuna-Hikona) - Teddie (Kintoki-Douji) - Aigis (Pallas Athena - Regular / Palladion - Instant Kill) - Mitsuru Kirijo (Artemisia) - Akihiko Sanada (Caesar) - Elizabeth (Thanatos) - Labrys (Ariadne) - Shadow Labrys (Asterius)
Playable Ultimax Yukari Takeba (Isis) - Junpei Iori (Trismegistus) - Sho Minazuki (Tsukiyomi) - Rise Kujikawa (Himiko) - Ken Amada & Koromaru (Kala-Nemi & Cerberus) - Tohru Adachi (Magatsu-Izanagi) - Marie (Kaguya-Hime) - Margaret (Yoshitsune - Cu Chulain - Ardha - Regular / Helel - Instant Kill)
Non-Playable Unit #024 - Igor - Theodore - Nanako Dojima - Ryotaro Dojima - Detective Kurosawa - Fuuka Yamagishi - Eri Minami - Yuuta Minami - Malevolent Entity - Erebus - Kikuno Saikawa - Shuji Ikutsuki - Minoru Inoue
Locations
Inaba Midnight Channel - Velvet Room - Yasogami High School - Tartarus
Music
Albums Original Soundtrack (Arena / Ultimax) - Original Arrange Soundtrack
Songs "Best Friends" - "Now I Know" - "Aria of the Soul" - "Reach Out To The Truth" - "Mass Destruction" - "Break Out Of..." - "Today"
Archives
Terminology Dark Hour - Evoker - Midnight Channel - P-1 Grand Prix - Persona - Persona user - Plume of Dusk - Shadow - Shadow Self - Shadow Operatives - Investigation Team - Wild Card - Persona Fragments - Red Fog
Lists Status Changes - Skills - Trophies (Arena / Ultimax) - Steam Profile Items
Productions The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena Stageplay - Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Stageplay
Characters
Playable - P3 P3 hero - Yukari Takeba - Junpei Iori - Akihiko Sanada - Mitsuru Kirijo - Fuuka Yamagishi - Aigis - Koromaru - Ken Amada - Shinjiro Aragaki
Playable - P4 P4 hero - Yosuke Hanamura - Chie Satonaka - Yukiko Amagi - Kanji Tatsumi - Rise Kujikawa - Teddie - Naoto Shirogane
Playable - PQ Rei & Zen
Non-playable Elizabeth - Margaret - Theodore - Marie - Nanako Dojima - Queen of Hearts - Merciful Clergyman - Kind Doctor - Best Friend - Clockwork God - Chronos - Zeus
Locations
Origin Tartarus - Yasogami High School
Main Hub Handcrafted Workshop - Nurse's Office - Velvet Room
Labyrinths You in Wonderland - Group Date Cafe - Evil Spirit Club - Inaba Pride Exhibit - Clock Tower
Music
Albums Original Soundtrack - Sound of the Labyrinth
Songs "Maze of Life" - "Light the Fire Up in the Night" - "Laser Beam" - "Changing Me"
Archives
Terminology Persona (Sub-Persona) - Persona user - Velvet Room - Fusion (Sacrificial Fusion) - Shadow (F.O.E) - Wild Card - Dark Hour - Evoker - Boost - Power Spot - Skill Card - SEES - Investigation Team - Cut-in - All-out Attack
Lists Arcana - Personas - Shadows - Bosses - Skills (Skill Cards) - Items - Ailments - Requests - Patches and Updates
Other Media
Manga -Roundabout- - Side:P3 - Side:P4
Productions Escape From Persona Q: Cyber Labyrinth - Official Visual Material
Characters
Playable - P5 P5 hero - Ryuji Sakamoto - Ann Takamaki - Yusuke Kitagawa - Goro Akechi - Morgana - Makoto Niijima - Futaba Sakura - Haru Okumura
Playable - P4 P4 hero - Yosuke Hanamura - Chie Satonaka - Yukiko Amagi - Kanji Tatsumi - Rise Kujikawa - Teddie - Naoto Shirogane
Playable - P3/P P3 hero - P3P heroine - Yukari Takeba - Junpei Iori - Akihiko Sanada - Mitsuru Kirijo - Fuuka Yamagishi - Aigis - Koromaru - Ken Amada - Shinjiro Aragaki
Non-playable Hikari - Nagi - Doe - Hikari's Father - Elizabeth - Theodore - Margaret - Marie - Caroline and Justine - Kamoshidaman - Herbivore Dinosaurs - Yosukesaurus - Ribbon - Overseer - Mother Computer - Enlil - Nanako Dojima
Locations
Origin Tartarus - Iwatodai Dormitory - Junes - Midnight Channel - Dojima Residence - Café Leblanc - Mementos
Main Hub Cinema - Velvet Room - Shop
Labyrinths Kamoshidaman - Junessic Land - A.I.G.I.S. - Hikari - Theater District
Music
Albums Original Soundtrack
Songs "Road Less Taken" - "Wait and See" - "Pull the Trigger" - "Remember, We Got Your Back" - "Invitation to Freedom" - "Cinematic Tale" - "Life Will Change" - "Nothing is Promised" - "LaLaLa Goodbye Personality!" - "Hikari is Bad!" - "That’s Right, Right?" - "I Will Make You Normal" - "Colorful World"
Archives
Terminology Persona (Sub-Persona) - Persona User - Velvet Room - Fusion - Shadow (F.O.E) - Wild Card - Dark Hour - Evoker - Glasses - Mask - Power Spot - Cognition - Boost - Metaverse - SEES - Investigation Team - Phantom Thieves of Hearts - Cut-in - Special Screening - All-out Attack - Baton Pass - Akashic Record
Lists Arcana - Characters - Items - Skills - Personas - Shadows - Bosses - Ailments - Special Screenings - Patches and Updates
Other Media
Manga Roundabout Special - Official Visual Materials
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