“The Protagonist, a young man who lives with his mother, begins to have strange dreams... An otherworldly labyrinth, a talking door, a crucified man, and a man tormented by demons.”
Shin Megami Tensei is the first installment in the Shin Megami Tensei series, and a spin-off of the Megami Tensei games. The main protagonist is Kazuya and the main antagonist is Yuriko. The Ring of Gaea and the Order of Messiah are this game's villainous factions.
It is the grandfather of the entire Shin Megami Tensei franchise which in turn spawned the Persona series, as well as others like Devil Survivors, Soul Hackers, and more. The game was made with Neutrality in mind, and the Neutral Ending of the game is what leads into the follow-up game.
Shin Megami Tensei was originally released in Japan on the SuperFamicon on October 30, 1992. It was later ported to many different consoles. In 2014, the game was ported to iOS for the first time in North America based on the GBA version.
In 2001, SMT received a remake the original PlayStation featuring updated graphics and music.
In 2003, SMT received another remake on the GBA with updated graphics. This version was used as the base for the iOS port.
It is followed by Shin Megami Tensei II.
Official Description[]
English iOS Website[]
A boy lives with his mother in an area of Tokyo known as Kichijoji. One night, he has a strange dream. In this dream, the boy wanders into another dimension and enters a maze. There he encounters talking doors, a crucified boy, a boy tortured by demons, a strange girl, and a mysterious ritual... Once he awakens from this dream he learns that a murder in nearby Inogashira Park has set the whole world on edge, and the police are preventing anyone from entering or leaving the area. Along with the news, the boy discovers that someone has sent him a strange email containing a file called the "Demon Summoning Program," that seems to do exactly what it sounds like...
Summary[]
The story begins with a dream sequence as the nameless Protagonist is led through a formless hallway to meet a crucified man, a man tortured by demons, and a beautiful woman bathing who pledges to be with him eternally.
Upon waking, the story begins in Tokyo as the Protagonist checks his email to learn that a mysterious man calling himself Stephen has sent out a suspicious 'Demon Summoning Program' to all those willing to use it. Intrigued, the Protagonist downloads it onto his laptop before going out on an errand for his mother. Outside, it becomes apparent that all is not right with Tokyo - police have barricaded many streets and people have started to go missing, along with a recent murder in the park. It's soon realized that recent experiments with Terminal-based teleportation have accidentally opened up a portal to The Abyss, and demons have begun roaming the streets.
The Protagonist has another dream in which he meets the same dream-companions again, only this time they interrupt a ritual sacrifice in the dream. The woman who was to be sacrificed expresses her gratitude before the dream ends. Guided by the mysterious Stephen, the Protagonist uses the Demon-summoning program to convince some of the demons to join him and fight back against the more hostile demons. He soon meets up with the real-world versions of the men he met in his dream as they begin a search for some of the missing persons in the demon-infested Tokyo. Along the way, he meets a woman named Yuriko, who claims to be the woman he met in his dream and that she intends to fulfill her promise to always be with him as soon as she can sever his connection to 'the other one'.
The news of demonic invasion soon gets out, however, and the American military, led by Ambassador Thorman, declares martial law in Tokyo as they try to get rid of the demons. A reactionary Japanese militia force, led by Gotou, rallies against the cordoning imposed by the Americans and they begin working with the demons, whom they see as the ancient spirits of the land sent to create a utopia, to prevent the Americans from destroying Tokyo. A third resistance faction, led by the Heroine, seeks to keep the Americans and the reactionary Japanese forces from clashing and getting Tokyo caught in the middle. The party meets the Heroine, who turns out to be the sacrificial woman from their collective dream. Despite their efforts, she is captured by Gotou's forces and Yuriko appears to personally oversee her public execution, claiming that once she is gone, Yuriko can be with the Protagonist eternally.
The Protagonist can choose to align himself with any of the three factions, but no matter what, the Heroine will be rescued and join his side, the two forces will clash, and Ambassador Thorman - the demon Thor in disguise - will launch Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles on Tokyo, destroying nearly everything. The Protagonist, the Law Hero, and the Chaos Hero only survive thanks to the sacrifice of the Heroine, who sends them to the Diamond Realm, another plane of reality, with her magic.
Upon their return from the Diamond Realm, they discover that 30 years have passed and that worldwide nuclear holocaust has occurred. Humans have survived, but the world has drastically changed, and demons roam freely. In Tokyo, particularly, two groups have risen from the remnants of the Martial Law forces and the Japanese Rebellion forces - the Messian Order and the Ring of Gaea.
The two factions are at odds with opposing ideologies. The Messians have aligned themselves with Law, choosing to devoutly follow the plans of their leaders to find salvation in 'God's Thousand-Year Kingdom'; finding the Gaeans as anarchists. The Gaeans aligned themselves with Chaos, shunning the Messian view as dictatorial, and choosing a path of anarchy where the strong make their own futures. The Messians have begun construction of a great Cathedral to be the throne of God from which he will purge the world of sinners, and the Gaeans seek to summon Lucifer from The Abyss to release strong demons across the world. Both sides have their followers and detractors, including the Law Hero and Chaos Hero, respectively.
In the future Tokyo, the Protagonist begins to feel the pains and hear the screams of a woman who apparently isn't there. After freeing a man known as the Psychodiver from a Gaean tyrant's prisons, the Protagonist is informed that his soul is inexorably intertwined with another's and it is her pain he feels. The Psychodiver tells him that the woman's mind has been infected by a demon, and if her condition worsens further, his own life will be in danger. The Protagonist finds the woman locked in a Messian stronghold. She bears an exact resemblance to the Heroine and she has been made to be the so-called Messiah of the Messian Church. With the Psychodiver's help, the Protagonist enters her mind and defeats the demon possessing her.
As the girl wakes up, she tells the Protagonist about vague memories of her former life. She was the Heroine who died saving him, but her soul was so strongly connected to him that she was reborn into the world without her memories of anything but the Protagonist. She leaves her life as the Messiah to travel with him and they are separated from the Chaos Hero and Law Hero. The Chaos Hero fuses himself with a demon out of his frustration to become stronger and leaves the Protagonist, deeming him 'weak'. The Law Hero sacrifices himself while protecting the Protagonist from a powerful demon who steals his soul.
The Chaos Hero finds his way into the Ring of Gaea while the Law Hero's soul is appropriated by the Messians and he is reborn as their Messiah. Both sides race towards the completion of their plans to summon Lucifer or God to bring salvation to humanity. Both sides try to convince the Protagonist to join their cause, and he can choose to join Echidna and serve Chaos, join Aniel and serve Law, or slay both to assert his allegiance to neither, depending on the player's choice.
Regardless of the player's choice, the Messian Cathedral is completed which summons a flood upon Tokyo, washing away everyone who wasn't in the Cathedral at the time. Only a few Messians and Gaeans remain alive in the Cathedral and they continue to try to eradicate the other. Again, the player has the choice of joining with the Law-aligned Messians, fighting against the demonic leaders of the Ring of Gaea; or to join the Chaos-aligned Gaeans and fight the tyrannical angelic Messian leaders.
After their initial clash, the Messians and the Gaeans find themselves locked in a stalemate, each side controlling half the Cathedral. The Asura Lord, leader of the Gaeans, has entrenched his forces in the basement of the Cathedral with his henchmen Arioch, Astaroth, Surtr, and finally the Chaos Hero. The upper floors are guarded by the angels Uriel, Gabriel, and Raphael, as well as the Law Hero standing before the angel Michael, the leader of the Messians. No matter his path, the Protagonist must fight his way across both lines to confront both Michael and Asura Lord.
While descending the lower floors to find the Chaos Hero, the Protagonist meets Yuriko again, who reveals herself to be Lilith in disguise. She was the first wife of the biblical Adam and she longs to be the Protagonist's partner. It is implied that the Protagonist and the Heroine are the reincarnations of Adam and Eve, explaining Lilith's motivations in attempting to kill the Heroine and live eternally with the Protagonist. Near the bottom of the Cathedral, the Protagonist meets an enigmatic man, Louis Cyphre, who warns the Protagonist that the 'true enemy' still waits.
After defeating Asura Lord at the behest of Law, Michael at the request of Chaos, or both to restore the balance, the Protagonist is teleported to the roof of the Cathedral above the clouds. A Chaos-aligned Protagonist is congratulated by Louis Cyphre, who reveals his true form as Lucifer and vows to lead the world into a golden age of freedom. On the Law path a messenger of God welcomes the Protagonist, and tasks him with preaching God's word so that all mankind may be welcomed into the Thousand-Year Kingdom. A Neutral Protagonist is greeted by the figure of Taishang Laojun, a being of balance, who thanks him for his efforts on behalf of the universe and urges that the hero build a new future for mankind, "built by neither reliance on God nor demons, but by the hands of people themselves."
The Neutral path is considered canonical by later games. With the defeat of both Asura Lord and Michael, balance has been restored to the world and the Protagonist can work to create a world where the survivors can worship freely, which leads into the prologue of Shin Megami Tensei II.
Characters[]
Main[]
Supporting[]
Bosses[]
| Image | Enemy | Description | Dungeon |
|---|---|---|---|
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Orias | Orias is encountered as a boss at the Hospital, initially disguised as the Director to conduct medical experiments on captive patients. | Hospital |
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Amanojaku | Amanojaku appears as the second boss when he eats and impersonates the protagonist's mother, after gaining entry by impersonating a policeman asking about the protagonist. | Kazya's House |
 |
Douman | Douman takes the form of a human and attempts to summon demons from the Expanse by using a Terminal and performing a strange ritual. When the protagonist and his allies interrupt the evocation, Douman reveals his true form and battles them. After Douman is killed, Pascal/Cerberus leaps at the terminal, only to be teleported away. The party tries to follow the demon by using the machine, sending them to Shinjuku. | Terminal |
 |
Gotou | Gotou is a military general who acts as the catalyst of the Great Cataclysm. After learning of God's machinations, and an American plot to destroy Japan with nuclear missiles which was part of those machinations, he institutes martial law in Tokyo and begins using Stephen's Terminal System technology with Douman's help to bring forth a massive number of demons from the Expanse, where he would use them as a military force to fight the forthcoming threat and prevent the establishment of the Thousand Year Kingdom of God, a conspiracy that had started long before the events of the game. Knowing only the name of the leader of the Resistance opposing him, he orders the capture of any girl with the same name as the heroine. | Japanese Self Defense Building |
 |
Thor | In the Law route, Thor congratulates the protagonist for aiding him in the purification of Tokyo. In the Neutral and Chaos route, he fights the party. Regardless of the options, it is too late to save Tokyo from the "Hammer of Thor," a cluster of nuclear ICBMs used to purge the demons. With this, Japan is completely obliterated. | American Embassy |
 |
Blue & Red Phantoms | While trapped in the Diamond Realm, once the protagonist fetches two Somas for En no Ozuno, he will then have him fight the Red Phantom and the Blue Phantom (though one of the battles can be skipped if the protagonist's alignment matches either of theirs) to gain alignment-exclusive weapons (the Light Sword for Law and the Headsman Ax for Chaos). | Diamond Realm |
 |
Arachne | After being teleported from the Diamond Realm back to Tokyo, the protagonist starts to hear the voice of a girl screaming for help in his mind, which causes him intense pain and inflicts damage on his health every Full Moon. After rescuing the Psycho Diver from Ozawa, he explains that the mind of the girl he hears has been possessed by a demon, and because her spirit is interconnected with his own, he feels what she feels. | Messian Church |
 |
Belial | Belial appears as Count Red. He, along with Count Black, Nebiros, used the souls of humans to create an illusionary town in Roppongi for Alice to play in, in the series' first reference to their relation. After the protagonist survives from Alice's death magic, Count Red will intervene and reveal his true form as Belial to kill the party. | Illusory Rappongi |
 |
Nebiros | Nebiros appears as Count Black, a demon who has imprisoned countless souls into beings known as the Bodyconians in an attempt to create a false paradise for his and Count Red's adoptive daughter, Alice in Roppongi. Nebiros has imprisoned the girlfriend of the Law Hero as a Bodyconian who can be put to rest with a Balm of Life. | Illusory Rappongi |
 |
Security AI | The AI that protects the old Police HQ. The T95D and T95C/P units are controlled by this system. In order to stop it, one must access the controls on the top floor of the Police HQ. |
Old Police HQ |
 |
Niou | Niou is a boss fought in the Sugamo Prison of Ikebukuro if they are found to be guilty and locked up by Yama when brought before him by the Chaos Hero. | Sugamo Prison |
 |
Yama | Ruling over Ikebukuro, Yama bestows the law of the Gaeans on those that enter his territory. He judges the protagonist's actions of controlling demons on a trial and is up to the player to decide if he will accept Yama's request of aiding the Chaos forces on the destruction of the Cathedral of the Messians, and thus be absolved of any charges, or reject his offer and thus being thrown in jail, where he will eventually be freed by the Chaos Hero and will end up having to fight Yama. | Ikebukero |
 |
Kazfiel | A Messian in Tokyo Tower, after the Echidna/Aniel incident, will ask if humans need God's help. If the protagonist says no while on the Neutral path, the Messian will reveal himself as Kazfiel and attack. | Tokyo Tower |
 |
Ladon | Ladon lies in the bottommost floor of Ueno and upon defeat drops the Golden Apple needed to return Cerberus to its senses. | Ueno |
 |
Echidna | In the GBA/iOS versions, if Pascal-Cerberus's mind is restored with the Golden Apple at the entrance to Tokyo Destinyland, the protagonist will receive the Dog Collar Visionary Item upon Echidna's defeat. | Tokyo Destinyland |
 |
Aniel | Haniel appears within the base of Order of Messiah in Shinagawa, who alongside the recently resurrected Law Hero, commands the protagonist to go to Tokyo Destinyland and eliminate Echidna, a Gaean commander. If the protagonist didn't listen to them, Haniel will attack the party and will promptly be killed, much to the dismay of the Law Hero. | Messian Base |
 |
Zouchouten, Koumokuten, Jikuten, and Bishamonten | The four kings in Ichigaya Camp's gold-level instance. He can be summoned by defeating the Kumbhanda mini-boss in the basement levels. | Ichigaya Camp |
 |
Ravana | Ravana cannot be fused until after he is either defeated (Law and Neutral) or joins the player's party (Chaos). | Tokyo Government Office |
 |
Indrajit | After the protagonist defeats Ravana in the Tokyo Government Office in the Law or Neutral paths, a furious Indrajit immediately appears to avenge his father's death. He subsequently fails. | Tokyo Government Office |
 |
Vishnu | 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. | Tokyo Government Office |
 |
Uriel | Along with Gabriel, Raphael and Michael, Uriel is one of the four major sub-bosses of the last arc of the game, the Seraphims, and one of the most powerful angels under God's orders that stands guarding the superior part of the Basilica. | Seraphims |
 |
Gabriel | Along with Gabriel, Raphael and Michael, Uriel is one of the four major sub-bosses of the last arc of the game, the Seraphims, and one of the most powerful angels under God's orders that stands guarding the superior part of the Basilica. | Seraphims |
 |
Raphael | Along with Gabriel, Raphael and Michael, Uriel is one of the four major sub-bosses of the last arc of the game, the Seraphims, and one of the most powerful angels under God's orders that stands guarding the superior part of the Basilica. | Seraphims |
 |
Law Hero | Should the protagonist decide to take the Law path, he is killed in a fight with Chaos Hero at the Basilica. In the ending, it is said that he is in Heaven living with God in peace and prosperity. | Basilica |
 |
Surt | In the Chaos route, after locating the throne room of Asura in the last floor basement, the hero will need to go back to Surt's room, where he will give him the "Claw of Surtm" a valuable item needed so Asura can forge the "Devil Ring" and the fight against Michael and his followers become available. | Throne Room of Asura |
 |
Astaroth | In the Chaos route, after locating the throne room of Asura in the last floor of the basement, the hero will need to go back to Astaroth's room, where he will give him the "Wings of Astaroth"—a valuable item needed so Asura can forge the "Devil Ring" and the fight against Michael and his followers will become available. | Astaroth Room |
 |
Arioch | In Chaos route, after locating the throne room of Asura in the eighth basement, the protagonist will need to go back to Arioch's room, where he will give him the "Arioch's Fang," a valuable item needed so Asura can forge the "Devil Ring" and make the fight against Michael and his followers become available. | Basilica |
 |
Chaos Hero | If the player takes the path of Chaos, the Chaos Hero finds out that Rie was Lilith, who was just using him to get near the protagonist all along. This seemingly disappoints the Chaos Hero, and he asks to be left alone for a short while. After the protagonist recovers the Devil Ring, the Chaos Hero wears it in an effort to open the door to the Seraph Michael. In his arrogance, he proclaims it gives him more strength than that of God, but his body fades away because of the power. The Law Hero then appears and gloats that the Chaos Hero brought his death upon himself for defying God's will. Shortly after, the Law Hero is defeated. | Basilica |
 |
Lilith | Lilith is the true form of the young woman named Yuriko. Defeating her allows the protagonist to retrieve the Belial Pot she took previously in the game, which can then be fused with a Spirit Sword to create the Karyuken, the heroine's strongest sword. | Basilica |
 |
Beelzebub | Beelzebub appears as Lucifer's right-hand man in Shin Megami Tensei. Late in the game, Louis Cyphre sends the protagonist over to Shiroganedai. Should the protagonist follow the Law or Neutral alignment paths, Louis Cyphre will lie about what is hidden there, speaking of a powerful weapon; should the protagonist take the bait, Beelzebub will engage them in battle. In the Chaos alignment path, Louis Cyphre will tell the truth, and Beelzebub joins the protagonist instead. | Shiroganedai |
 |
Michael | He poses as the leader of the seraph angels and serves as the most powerful servant of God on Earth, instructing the Law Hero in his Messiah persona and the other angels from behind the curtains in the completion of the messian fortress, being in the escorting of servants from Shinagawa to aid in the construction, and spreading the messian religion through the television broadcastings on Tokyo Tower. | Tokyo Tower |
 |
Asura | After encountering the protagonist, Asura mocks him, stating that "to have betrayed one who cared about [him] (referring to the Chaos Hero) in order to follow the orders of one who has done nothing for [him]," he is truly a "shining example of a servant of God." With that said, Asura proceeds to engage the heroes in the final battle, where he is slain and the balance of the world finally restored. | Angel Ring |
Title Screens[]
| Shin Megami Tensei (Super Famicon) | Shin Megami Tensei (PlayStation) | Shin Megami Tensei (GBA) |
|---|---|---|
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Original Soundtrack[]
Media[]
Variations[]
SFC
PS1
GBALogos[]
| Shin Megami Tensei logos | |
|---|---|
 Shin Megami Tensei original logo  Shin Megami Tensei English iOS logo |
Spin-Offs[]
| Shin Megami Tensei Comic Anthologies | |
|---|---|
| There were two comic anthologies released in 2001 in three volumes.
Kobunsha Comic Anthology was a comic anthology released in June 2001. Shin Megami Tensei 4-frame gag battle is a comic anthology published by Kobunsha under there 4-frame gag battle line of comic anthologies released in July 2001.  Kobunsha comic anthology  4-frame gag battle |
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| Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Revelation (1997) | |
|---|---|
| a 1997 role-playing game for the PC-98 home computer, and a spin-off in the Shin Megami Tensei series. It was developed by Atlus, published by ASCII, and released on April 4, 1997. A remaster of the game was released for Windows on December 22, 1999, featuring updated graphics and 3D-rendered dungeons. In the year 19XX the city of Tokyo was devastated by ICBMs launched by Ambassador Thorman in which the city was almost destroyed, but people hid in shelters that were spread throughout Tokyo when the attack happened. The city now infested with demons was ravaged by chaos while the people in the shelters lived peacefully as they were protected by the Devil Busters organization for when demons attacked the shelters. |  |
| Shin Megami Tensei: In in the Ruins (2001) | |
|---|---|
| A novel within the Shin Megami Tensei series. The novel received a loose manga adaptation in 2002 due to its success called Shin Megami Tensei EDEN. Shin Megami Tensei: Jin in the Ruins is an original novel written by Yoru Yoshimura with illustrations from Eiji Kaneda and a cover illustration from Kazuma Kaneko. It takes place in XXXX, sometime after the Great Cataclysm of the first game.
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| Shin Megami Tensei TRPG Mato Tokyo 200X Supplement Kongo Shinkai (2006) | |
|---|---|
| The SMT series has multiple tabletop role-playing games based on the Shin Megami Tensei series. Shin Megami Tensei TRPG Mato Tokyo 200X Supplement Kongo Shinkai (真・女神転生TRPG魔都東京200Xサプリメント 金剛神界) is a supplement for the TRPG and was released on 1/1/2006. It is based on the first SMT game. |  |
| Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE (2007) | |
|---|---|
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The game was an MMORPG developed by Atlus through a partnership with CAVE. It is set between the events of SMT I and II and tells the story of demons beginning to invade in the aftermath of the Great Cataclysm. The player takes on the role of a Demon Buster, who fights and interacts with demons. In the Tokyo of IMAGINE, sometime around the 21st century (Year 202X), survivors of a war known as the "Great Cataclysm" live in small constructed shelters awaiting the day when humanity can be rebuilt. These survivors, led by a group known as the Seven Philosophers, construct a massive tower which eventually became known as Shinjuku Babel. The remaining survivors then retreated underground and constructed a refugee city known as Third Home. |
Trivia[]
- A popular rumor among Japanese fans is that there is a possibility of the game's intro freezing and displaying the message "すぐにけせ" ("Turn it off") repeatedly on the screen. A video was uploaded on NicoNico Douga showing the message, even though it is considered false.
- As a reference to this rumor, the same message appeared in Persona 4 Arena if the game was played before the official release date.
- Shin Megami Tensei has the most official ports in the franchise, as it can be played 13 different platforms.
- The game was the first mainline Shin Megami Tensei game to be on Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online service and its Super Famicom digital library.
Continuity[]
- The canon ending to this game is the Neutral Ending in which the hero destroys both the Law and Chaos factions and leads the world to build back from before. This leads into the sequel, Shin Megami Tensei II that is set after the Neutral Ending of this game.
- This game marks the first appearance of Stephen, a man in a wheelchair who is credited for the creation of the Demon Summoning Program. He appears in many of the subsequent SMT games, and he remains one of if not the only characters to be the exact same person among every game.
- Considering the fact that every game post-II is set in a parallel universe, that means that Stephen exists beyond time and space.
- It also marks the first appearance of Lucifer, known in this game as Louis Cyphre. He is another character who may be existent throughout the multiverses of the SMT world.
- In the Visionary cutscene titled "Gnawed Ball" present in the GameBoy Advance and iOS versions of the game, Pascal is brought home by the Hero's Mother, who says that she adopted her from a man named Nakajima, possibly being the very same Akemi Nakajima from the Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei series.
Gallery[]
