“That was my name for a time... I didn't mind it. I am merely a harbinger of the Fall... Although, Nyx and myself are now one in the same.”
Nyx, also known as Queen Asura, is the Goddess of the Night and ultimate main antagonist of the Snow Queen Quest in Megami Ibunroku Persona, as well as Persona 3. She acts as the final boss of the latter game.
Appearing under the name Night Queen, Nyx appears as the true antagonist for the Snow Queen Quest. Her ultimate goal is to create an "eternal night" and uses the Snow Queen Curse as a means of being brought back into the world. When the Demon Mirror is used to free Ms. Saeko, the Snow Queen comes to her senses, causing the now-free Night Queen Persona to show herself, originally being the Persona of Tomomi Fujimori until the Demon Mirror being used upon her that made her see what she became and separated from her.
Nyx is a celestial-body sized alien called a Planet Eater. Nyx crashed into prehistoric Earth where her body and psyche were separated, with her body becoming the Moon and her psyche staying on Earth. Her "wave-like psyche" existed in contradiction to the psyche of early lifeforms on Earth, so life as a whole evolved to seal Nyx within the Collective Unconscious as their Shadows. The Fall is when of both Nyx parts which would, if rejoined, rip the Shadows out of the living creatures on Earth while simultaneously destroying Earth. This process is kicked underway by the events of Persona 3.
Physical Appearance[]
In Persona 1, her appearance is that of a woman in black cloaks being held up by two other women with silver masks. This appearance is a deviation of her first appearance in Soul Hackers.
In Persona 3, she is much larger, with a giant black dress, a white face with hollow black eyes, a large black crown, and large black wings.
Design Variants[]
In Persona 3, her avatar takes the form of Ryuji Mochizuki.
During The Fall, Nyx shows her true form, which is the Moon itself, big green and with a giant red eye.
In the final battle of Persona 3 she appears as a glowing white light the protagonist must defeat.
In-Game Appearances[]
| In-Game In-Game Appearances | |
|---|---|
 Queen Asura's model in P1  Nyx's model in P3 |
Other Video Game Appearances[]
In the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, she appears as a woman with pink skin and blonde hair wearing a black fur coat.
In Soul Hackers, she is a woman in a large black gown with a silver mask.
| Other Video Game Appearances | |
|---|---|
 Nyx in Shin Megami Tense  Nyx in Soul Hackers |
History[]
Megami Ibunroku Persona[]
Appearing under the name Night Queen, Nyx appears as the true antagonist for the Snow Queen Quest. Her ultimate goal is to create an "eternal night" and uses the Snow Queen Curse as a means of being brought back into the world. When the Demon Mirror is used to free Ms. Saeko, the Snow Queen comes to her senses, causing the now-free Night Queen Persona to show herself, originally being the Persona of Tomomi Fujimori until the Demon Mirror being used upon her that made her see what she became and separated from her. Appearing briefly with her are two unnamed, but recognizable characters from the SEBEC Quest of the game in masks; the Masked Girl indicates she wishes to destroy the school and created the world they are currently in, and the Masked Man humors the girl, but seems to be following his own objectives. The Night Queen merges with the two becoming Queen Asura for the final battle, but is defeated.
Persona 3[]
The Persona 3 Club Book explains that Nyx is a celestial-body sized alien called a Planet Eater. Nyx crashed into prehistoric Earth where her body and psyche were separated, with her body becoming the Moon and her psyche staying on Earth. Her "wave-like psyche" existed in contradiction to the psyche of early lifeforms on Earth, so life as a whole evolved to seal Nyx within the Collective Unconscious as their Shadows. The Fall is when of both Nyx parts which would, if rejoined, rip the Shadows out of the living creatures on Earth while simultaneously destroying Earth. This process is kicked underway by the events of Persona 3.
Nyx lies in hibernation and can only be called by the Appraiser of the Fall, which happens to be the incarnation of the Arcana that was never meant to be: Death. When the Kirijo Group was experimenting on Shadows, Mitsuru's grandfather, along with several scientists, knew about the Fall and willingly embraced it. They eventually succeeded in amassing a large amount of Shadows within the experimental facility and rejuvenated Death. However, Eiichiro Takeba declined and destroyed the facilities, causing Death to be forcibly split into thirteen separate Shadows. Defeating the individual parts would cause them to reunite with the "main" thirteenth Shadow, which was sealed within the protagonist. Death, while within the protagonist's mind, assumed the amnesiac identity of Pharos. Therefore, it is not until the protagonist defeats the remaining twelve Shadows that Death is rejuvenated and reawakened.
Death would then take the form of Ryoji Mochizuki, who was responsible for summoning Nyx and becoming the harbinger of the Fall until Aigis fought him on the Moonlight Bridge, reawakening him to his mission. He would later become the avatar of Nyx. After the protagonist manages to fend off Nyx Avatar, the avatar proceeds to connect to Nyx's true physical body, the Moon. As she descends to Earth, SEES was rendered immobile, leaving only the protagonist immune to her effect. Through the cheering of SEES and his friends' along with the people's will to live, the protagonist ascended to the Moon and battled Nyx failingly, where he used the Universe Arcana's ability (The Great Seal) to repair the weakened seal on Nyx's psyche by turning his own life essence into the seal once again keeping the two parts separate sealing Nyx away by keeping Erebus from alerting her to combine.
It is also mentioned in the guidebook that the Nyx in Persona 3 is named after the Greek goddess of the same name. In Greek mythology Nyx embodied a powerful Mother-Archetype, so the being was named after her due to humanity feeling they were all her children. Conversely, gods and demons emerge from humans as another means to defend their psyche from Nyx. Negative emotions can also help weaken the seal on her psyche, with events like P3's Fall having happened before.
The Answer[]
Nyx was briefly mentioned in the playable epilogue of Persona 3 FES, The Answer. It is later revealed that Nyx herself is neither hostile nor malevolent and that she was alerted to start the Fall from the sorrow, depression, and apathy of humankind represented by Erebus. Upon returning to the time where the protagonist seals Nyx, it is revealed that the protagonist is not planning to seal Nyx away from humanity, but Erebus, to stop a manifestation of humanity's negative will and grief from contacting her to bring the Fall.
Mythological Origins[]
Nyx is the primordial goddess and personification of the night from Greek mythology. Originally said that she was born from chaos and her name means "the mother night." Versions of her birth and origins vary, but one interpretation has her as a creator goddess, laying a silver egg that produces the gods responsible for the creation of the world.
Personality[]
Throughout the battle, Nyx Avatar swaps Arcanas a total of 14 times, from the initial Fool Arcana to its true Death Arcana form. Before it swaps Arcanas, it will always say "The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed" followed by a philosophical comment corresponding to that Arcana's upright meaning about how life is worth living for. However, after shifting to its Death Arcana phase, it instead concludes that death is inevitable no matter what. The message of this speech appears to be how despite there are many things that make life worth living, it wouldn't matter, for death is absolute.
Powers & Abilities[]
Nyx is fought in a scripted battle following the defeat of Nyx Avatar. Nyx's only attack is "Death", an Almighty attack that deals 9999 damage; the protagonist will automatically endure the hits no matter what. For the first few turns the protagonist will only be able to use Slash attacks, which deal normal damage but do not deplete Nyx's HP. After being given strength from the rest of the party the protagonist will have enough HP to cast the unique skill Great Seal, automatically ending the battle.
Appearances[]
- Shin Megami Tensei II
- Shin Megami Tensei: if...
- Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
- Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers
- Megami Ibunroku Persona / Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
- Persona 3 / FES / Portable / Reload
- Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
- Persona 4 Arena (mentioned)
- Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (mentioned)
Notes[]
- Nyx is not a manifestation of a collective thought (unlike Nyarlathotep, Izanami, Yaldabaoth), but an almighty, astronomical entity who appeared from outer space.
- Nyx's presence is so strong that Fuuka Yamagishi is able to sense it without her Persona.
- The Persona 3 Club Book explains that Nyx is a celestial-body sized alien called a Planet Eater. Nyx crashed into prehistoric Earth where her body and psyche were separated, with her body becoming the Moon and her psyche staying on Earth. Her "wave-like psyche" existed in contradiction to the psyche of early humans on Earth, so humanity evolved to seal Nyx within the Collective Unconscious as their Shadows. The Fall is when of both Nyx parts which would, if rejoined, rip the Shadows out of the living creatures on Earth while simultaneously destroying Earth. This process is kicked underway by the events of Persona 3.
- The Persona 3 Club Book explains that Plumes of Dusk are fragments of Nyx's body that were shed when Nyx's body fused with the moon. They exist in a state between matter and information, having properties of both, and carry within them the same space-time manipulation ability as Shadows; they are essentially physical Shadows.
- It is also mentioned in the guidebook that the Nyx in Persona 3 is named after the Greek goddess of the same name. In Greek mythology Nyx embodied a powerful Mother-Archetype, so the being was named after her due to humanity feeling they were all her children. Conversely, gods and demons emerge from humans as another means to defend their psyche from Nyx. Negative emotions can also help weaken the seal on her psyche, with events like P3's Fall having happened before.
- The Nyx Avatar's voice is of a much, higher pitch in the original Japanese game (similar to Ryoji's natural voice) compared to in the English dubs.
- The skill "Night Queen" is also the name by which Nyx is referred to in Megami Ibunroku Persona during the Snow Queen Quest.
- It is revealed in The Answer that Nyx is not a malevolent entity, she is only brought about by the great sorrow and anger of humanities collective unconsciousness, manifested in the form of Erebus.
Cover Gallery[]
