"It's been a long while since the dharma vanished from people's hearts and the adharma took hold... I must cleanse this impurity. If you wish to change my mind, then show me the strength of your dharma!"
Vishnu, rarely known as Adideva, is one of the primary deities in the Hindu pantheon. He is called The Preserver and is known for a kindly demeanor and genuine interest in the welfare of humanity. In the Hindu religion, Vishnu the Preserver is one of the three principle deities of the Trimurti (Hindu male Triad) along with Brahma, the Creator, and Shiva, the Destroyer. He was first seen in early Vedic mythology as the god that assisted Indra in defeating Vritra and is now the supreme deity within Vaishnavism, a branch of Hinduism that focuses on the worship of Vishnu. As the preserver, Vishnu maintains balance within the world, and at the end of our current aeon he will appear as his final avatar Kalki and judge whether mortals have been good or evil. After this, the universe will end and creation will start anew. He is depicted with up to four arms, blue skin, holding a chakra wheel, a lotus flower, a mace and a conch, and rides on the back of Garuda. He also sleeps on the back of a great Naga named Ananta Shesha.
Vishnu's first prominent appearance in later Hindu mythology was in the form of his first avatar, the fish Matsya, where he warned the first human, Manu, about a great flood that was soon to come and to tow his ship full of plants and animals to the mountains where they would avoid the high water levels. After this he appeared in many incarnations, both as humanoids and animals, throughout Hindu tales. Probably the best known incarnation of Vishnu was within the Hindu epic Ramayana, where he appeared as the hero Rama who set out to save his wife Sita from the rakshasa king, Ravana.
He is the husband of the goddess Lakshmi in all her incarnations. He may also be worshipped in the form of Harihara, the perfect fusion of Vishnu and Shiva.
He is known to have countless avatars (the word avatara is generally put after the avatars' names), and there is not a universally agreed upon list of his avatars among Hindus, but the following ten are the most agreed upon list of avatars:
Matsya - The fish avatar. Plays a role in the story of Manu (the first man in Hindu myth) by warning him of an impending flood.
Kurma - The tortoise avatar. Supports a sacred mountain on his back during the churning of the ocean in order to obtain Amrita.
Varaha - The boar avatar. Is known to have rescued the earth (sometimes in the form of a woman) out of the ocean after she either falls in or a demon pushes her in.
Narasimha/Simha - A half man, half lion avatar. Kills the invulnerable demon Hiranyakasipu.
Vamana - The dwarf priest avatar. Tricks the benevolent demon king Bali by demanding three footspans of land. Bali agreed and Vamana grew in size, thus occupying the Earth in one step, the Heavens in another. When asked where should he place his third foot, Bali offered his own head. Vamana was impressed and granted Bali a separate Loka for him.
Parashurama - The warlike human avatar. Born into the Brahmin caste, he carries a great battle axe given to him by Shiva to destroy all corrupt rulers. Kills the thousand-armed king Kartavirya of the Himalayas.
Rama - The kingly avatar carrying a bow and arrow. A popular mortal hero in Hinduism and the central figure in the epic Ramayana. Kills many demons including the Rakshasa, Taraka, Kabandha and Ravana.
Krishna - The Mahabharata avatar. The central character in the Bhagavad-Gita / Song of the Blessed Lord, in which he is the charioteer for Arjuna.
Buddha - The historical avatar. Although to Buddhists he is not an avatar or deity, to Hindus he is often considered to be an avatar of Vishnu, with contemporary Hindus sometimes viewing Buddhism as another form of Hinduim. The only avatar that can be connected to an actual person, though some historians debate that Buddha was made an avatar to bring his worshippers back into the Hindu fold or weaken the demons in their war against the gods by converting them to Buddhist beliefs.
Kalki - The avatar that is yet to be. He is the coming avatar who will ride in on a white horse, sword in hand, to end the evil of the current age (called Kali Yuga), and usher in a new time of prosperity. His coming is prophesied to happen sometime in the next 400+ years.
"Origin: India. One of the major gods in Hindu lore. He is the preserver of the universe. He rides Garuda and holds a conch shell, chakra, mace, and lotus flower. He is usually seen equipped with a bow and sword. He appears in the human world in various guises and rids the world of evil."
—Shin Megami Tensei A-Mode DDS dictionary
Vishnu will join the party to defeat his old arch-rival, Ravana, if the protagonist is following the path of Law. If they are Neutral or Chaos, Vishnu will attack them in the Tokyo Government Office. After being defeated, he laments that he was defeated not by Ravana or a god, but by mere humans. Vishnu cannot be used in any fusions.
Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE[]
Vishnu appears as a powerful event boss, spawning with Narasimha and Garuda. Acquiring his plug-in within game requires achieving the highest monthly score within the Ultimate Battle Coliseum and completing the Champion Course. He can be fused by a special double-fusion of Ananta and Garuda.
Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne[]
"One of the major gods in Indian mythology. He is the preserver of the universe. It is believed that he will descend to earth ten times to maintain the balance of power."
"One of the Trimurti and the highest-ranking god in Hinduism. He governs the universe and is also recognized as its protector. It is said that, when the surface world is in danger, he will appear as an avatar."
—Shin Megami Tensei V lore
Compared to many previous games since Soul Hackers, in this game Vishnu uses his Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner color palette rather than his Soul Hackers colors.
Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers[]
"One of the Trimurti of Hindu mythology. He is known as the Preserver. Whenever the earth is in danger it is said he will appear on earth as an incarnation known as an avatar."
Vishnu is the highest-leveled Persona of the Emperor Arcana, at level 86. Obtaining Vishnu requires fusing the Spell Cards of Gandharva and Yaksini with the Avatar Totem, which is received after obtaining all 142 Spell Cards.
Kazuma Kaneko's design motif for Vishnu in this particular game is the "King of Persona-users" due to his numerous avatars. Vishnu's bust still retains traditional Hindu symbols, but he wears upper hose which were popular in England as formal garment through the 17th century and can be seen in many English kings' portraits.
Persona 3 FES[]
"One of the major gods in Hindu myth, he is the preserver of the universe. It is believed that he will descend to earth ten times to maintain the balance of power."
—Persona 3 compendium
Vishnu is the second most powerful Persona of the Sun Arcana, next to Asura. With the addition of weapon fusion in FES, he can be fused with any kind of Nihil weapon to obtain Sarnga, Vishnu's bow.
"Bow crafted from sunbeams. Strengthens Wind attacks."
—Sarnga description
It has an attack value of 400 and a hit rate of 90. His Heart Item is Chakra Ring, which halves the cost of spells for the character who equips it.
Persona 5[]
"One of the major Hindu gods, he is the preserver of the universe. Legends claim that he will make ten appearances across time and space to strike down evil and uphold justice."
—Persona 5 background
Vishnu is the penultimate Persona of the Fool Arcana and can only be obtained through fusion in the Velvet Room after the Fool ArcanaConfidant has been completed. This requires that the protagonist be completely on the path to the True Ending, and can only be fused in the Qliphoth World on a first playthrough.
Vishnu now learns Concentrate via level up instead of Charge. When itemized through Electric Chair execution, Vishnu will now yield the Sudarshana slingshot for Morgana, with 315 ATK, 90 ACC and the +Dizzy (med) effect. During a fusion alarm, Vishnu will yield Sudarshana EX instead, with 330 ATK, 90 ACC and the +Dizzy (high) effect, it is the strongest slingshot in the game for Morgana.
DemiKids Light & Dark[]
"A four-armed demon that can adopt a form that best suits its particular mood."
Vishnu appears as an optional boss in a room opposite that of Shiva's. To meet with Vishnu, the Embryon must first prove their worth to his avatar Narasimha and obtain his sword. Upon meeting Seraph, Vishnu states that it has been a while since the dharma (righteousness) has vanished from people's hearts and been replaced by adharma (wickedness) as it has now. He claims that he must cleanse this impurity by destroying Seraph and the others, and the only way to change his mind is for them to show the strength of their dharma.
During the battle, Vishnu's resistances will shift each turn unannounced. He will shift to an elemental resistance to counter the last elemental attack used on him. Using an Almighty attack may prompt him to use Chaturbhuja during both of his turns. Once he is low on HP, he will cease shifting between elemental resistances and focus on using Rage, Chaturbhuja, Vanity and Rakunda/Makakaja.
Defeating him gives the party the Pandemonium rounds (attack power 300, strongest in the game) and infuses the Nandaka with his power, unlocking the God of Light Mantra. After Vishnu's defeat, Seraph can open the chest in his room, which houses the Aura Ring (+20 to all stats).
Quantum Devil Saga[]
Serph's new Atma. It inherited both Varuna's ice powers and Agni's fire powers. In addition to that, Vishnu also had the ability to use both abilities at the same time to create white energy balls that can disintegrate anything on an atomic level.
Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2[]
"One of the primary gods in the Hindu lore. He is called "the preserver" and the incarnation of sunlight. Appearing in different locations in one of his ten "Avatar" forms, he saves the world from danger and restores peace."
Adds Light/Dark Pierce. +20% to Light/Dark damage. +30% to own effect on Battle Speed.
At beginning of own turn: Inflicts Dark (Magic) damage (Power: 100) on all enemies. Reduces ATK, DEF, and EV/AC of all enemies by 20% if the attack is successful. (1 turn)
Innate
Nirvana
6 MP
Inflicts Light (Magic) damage (Power: 120) on all enemies. This skill will gain 1 Boost level at the start of own turn.
If attack is successful: Receive 1 additional Press Turn icon. (This Chain Effect will only activate once per turn.)
Level 1: Nullifies all death prevention skills Level 2: Increases Power to 140, and adds the following Chain Effect when the attack is successful: Decreases enemy ATK, DEF, and EV/AC by 20%. (1 turn) Level 3: Increases Power to 160
Innate
Mamudobarion
8 MP
Inflicts Dark (Magic) damage with 130 power on All Enemies.
Aragami (Awaken)
Dark Survivor
Auto
+15% to Dark damage and HP stops at 1 HP upon receiving the first killing blow.
Aragami (Gacha)
Tar Flexi
Auto
Activates the following Chain Effects at the beginning of battle:
If user's party attacks first: Increases own party's ATK by 20%. (3 turns)
If enemy attacks first: Reduces ATK of all enemies by 20%. (3 turns)
Protector (Awaken)
Light Accele
Auto
+15% to Light damage. +20% to own affect on Battle Speed.
Protector (Gacha)
Yin Yang Cycle
Auto
+20% to Light/Dark damage.
Psychic (Awaken)
Butcher
Auto
+20% damage to skills that target all or random enemies.
Psychic (Gacha)
Null Fire
Auto
Adds Fire Null.
Elementalist (Awaken)
Solar Prosperity
Auto
Activates the following Chain Effect at the beginning of battle:
If user's party attacks first: Increases own party's ATK and EV/AC by 20%. (1 turn)
Elementalist (Gacha)
Gallery[]
Vishnu in Megami Ibunroku Persona
Vishnu in Megami Ibunroku Persona
Vishnu in Megami Ibunroku Persona
Vishnu as he appears in the Megami Ibunroku Persona manga
Sketch of Vishnu and Naoya in the Megami Ibunroku Persona manga