Front and back of the Blank Tarot Card from Persona 2: Innocent Sin |
Tarot Cards are a major recurring items in the Persona series.
History
Tarot Cards are the individual cards of the Tarot Deck, a type of playing card deck occasionally used for divination and standard games. A standard Tarot deck will consist of seventy-eight cards: twenty-two which are uniquely numbered and illustrated with Roman numerals, called the Major Arcana, plus fifty-six cards separated in four suits (Coins, Cups, Wands, and Swords) and numbered from One to Ten, with the additional cards of Page, Knight, Queen and King for each suit, called the Minor Arcana.
Appearances
- Megami Ibunroku Persona
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
- Persona 3 / FES / Portable
- Persona 4 / Golden
- Persona 4 Arena
- Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
- Persona 5
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Profile
The Tarot is a powerful thematic element of the Persona series, as it is used to help define a person in various ways, revealing what it is what they truly are under the everyday masks that culminate in the formation of a Persona. The Tarot cards and the concept of Persona are important elements in Jungian imagery and psychotherapy, which are the basis for the series.
Tarot cards were used as obtainable items required for Persona summoning in Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, and were used as plot devices in Persona 3 and Persona 4. In the last two, only the Major Arcana of the Tarot were used, although the Minor Arcana were used in Persona 3 and Persona 4 Golden for Shuffle Time and as Incense (stat-boosting items) in Persona 3.
The order of the eighth and eleventh arcanas are interchangeable due to the influence of Rider-Waite decks in Tarot, as they reversed the original order of the two so their divination method would fit better with several astrology compendiums.
Persona 2
In the Persona 2 duology, the player could obtain Blank Cards, which are used in the Velvet Room by asking the Demon Painter to transform them into Tarot Cards of any Arcana, except Fool and the four Minor Arcana.
Persona 3
In Persona 3, Igor uses the Tarot Cards to perform Fusion, and Elizabeth uses the Tarot Cards as a summoning medium to summon her Personas instead of an Evoker.
Persona 4
In Persona 4, Igor use the Tarot cards to read the protagonist's fate. They are also used by Margaret, the protagonist, and the Investigation Team to summon their Persona by being struck with either by hand or a weapon.
Persona 5
In Persona 5, Chihaya Mifune perform very accurate divination with the Tarot Cards.