Sorual

Np. Enjoy the game!

Oh okay, I just really dont feel like watching a 3 hour movie of cutscenes right now Might just have to get that info later on

So I haven't been on here for a good bit but remembered that quite a few people here like the persona series. (and that the only reason IM into the series is because someone here recommended it to me) I recently finished Persona 5. I have developed the habit to write essays about pieces of fiction that demand analysis. I find that writing helps me learn about my own position on a subject. Most recently, I wrote an essay on Persona 5 explaining how it uses Jungian ideas (just like the rest of the series) to highlight the necessary role of the trickster in society. I figured that some people here might be interested in that subject, so here I am posting my analysis. I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any feedback then I would be happy to hear it Its pretty long, so brace yourselves. Here it is:
 
Sometimes truth can only be attained through lies. In Jungian psychology, the Trickster is the one that rebels against the masses and exposes their shrouded ugliness. The Trickster challenges the ideas accepted by society and volunteers as the catalyst for change in the world. The game Persona 5 takes the familiar archetype and encapsulates everything that it means to be a Trickster. Persona 5 uses themes of thievery and social reform to highlight the existence of the Trickster in modern society.   One of Carl Jung’s most famous ideas was that of his notion of personality archetypes. All people derive from a set of character skeletons that they give their own skin. For example, the “Wise Old Man” archetype is a familiar trope in fiction. However, just because characters derive from the same skeleton does not mean that their skin is the same. How the character is built upon can make the “Wise Old Man” anything from Albus Dumbledore to Obi Wan Kenobi. One of the most impactful character archetypes however is the Trickster.   The Trickster is known as the opposer to social norms; The changemaker. The Trickster sees through the shadow of the public and uses their own deceitful means to expose the folly of man. One example of the trickster comes from African Mythology. Esu is a satirist and is antagonised often, however he plays a pivotal role is the betterment of society. For example, two farmers who live next to each other often quarrelled, but made a promise to never do so again. Esu knew that this was simply a lie the farmers told themselves to get on good terms. Esu took it upon himself to put on a hat, one side white and one side black, and walk in between the farmers. Almost on cue, the farmers broke into hostile discourse. They were insistent that the hat was whichever color they happened to see. At that point, Esu took off the hat and turned it inside out. The hat was in fact red. Both were wrong. Esu revealed the ugly truth behind their empty lie through his own deceitful means.   In Persona 5, the main cast of characters form a group called the Phantom Thieves. They gain the power to infiltrate a person’s “palace” which is said to be the manifestation of their “distorted desires”. It exists in a realm called the “Metaverse” which is a manifestation of the unconscious. A majority of the palaces belong to corrupt adults who have manipulated the public to act a certain obedient way with the less-than-reasoned justification that they are the one in the right. Konoshida for example is a successful volleyball coach at Shujin Academy High School. He reasoned that his contribution to the school justified abusing the players on the team both physically and sexually. His palace took the form of a castle. He saw Shujin Academy as nothing more than his territory filled with servants pretending to be students. His desire to abuse his students distorted his perception of the school. What better group of people to expose this folly than the group of tricksters, the Phantom Thieves?   By infiltrating the palaces and stealing the “treasure” which is explained to be the source of their distortions, the Phantom Thieves can force a change of heart. By taking the item that first triggered their flawed perception, they can expose the truth. Konoshida, for example, had an olympic medal. He had won a medal for his prowess in volleyball, which was the catalyst for superiority complexes in the future. To understand why this method of exposing the truth is trickster like, one needs to understand how the act was both contrary to popular opinion, but deceitful.   Enter Carl Jung’s idea of the persona. According to Jung, everyone has two sides of their personality: The persona and the shadow. The persona is the metaphorical mask people wear in social situations so that they are acceptable. For example, people would wear different masks at a court hearing than at a party. Turning on Katy Perry’s new hit single while the rape victim is their their story might be considered socially unacceptable. People adopt different personas at different times. In many cases however, a person can believe that their persona is their only true self. That is where the shadow comes into play. The shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that is locked away. The parts of people that are socially unacceptable; Their inner demons. If a person denies the existence of their own shadow, then they deny themselves truth. The shadow will only hurt them. The person will struggle with their identity knowing that their shadow exists, but refusing to accept it.   This is what Carl Jung illustrates as the journey to “self actualization”. That is, the process of recognizing and accepting all facets of personality. Without authenticity, a person becomes a byproduct of social norms and social norms alone. By accepting the shadow however, the persona can be used as a valuable tool. Without accepting the shadow, one cannot expose truths otherwise unacceptable. By wearing a mask, one can promote new ideas in a socially palatable way.   Persona 5 illustrates the idea of a persona in a very direct and literal way. In the Metaverse, personas take the form of beings one can summon for defence. When the characters touch the physical mask the gain when they enter the metaverse, they summon a being as defence against shadows. Shadows are also given physical form. Instead of being metaphorical demons, they are literal demons that the characters must use their literal personas to defend against. This physical conflict illustrates the figurative dynamic to personas being used to suppress inner shadows to an almost staggering degree of direct subtlety. The gamers unaware of the inner dynamic would simply see a fight as a generic boss battle in a video game, but paired with Jungian context, the fights in Persona 5 holds tremendous figurative meaning.   Shadows can also be accepted. When knocking a shadow off of its feat, one can attempt to befriend it. Similar to how shadows work in people’s minds, shadows can either be suppressed or accepted. And just like in people’s minds, should the shadow be accepted, the player gains them in the form of a new mask. The shadow becomes a useful tool in the form of a new persona.   The persona in Persona 5 is stated to be a manifestation of the character’s rebellious will. The characters in the Phantom Thieves are all tricksters, so their personas represent their tenancies to rebel against social norms. In order to gain their persona however, they had to come to terms with their shadows. Each character had been suppressed or abused by corrupt adults who governed what was considered socially acceptable. Their shadow was their knowledge of their abuse; Their knowledge that they were wrong. The acceptance of the fact that they were wronged allowed them to use their personas not as a cripple imposed on them by social norms, but a tool to invoke their own will.   Prior to their personas awakening, The characters surrendered to social norms. Makoto Niijima was an obedient student council president. Ann Takamaki agreed to sexual favors from volleyball “extraordinaire” Konoshida. Like most other people in society, they had surrendered to their socially acceptable self. The face they put on because they were told it was for the best, but knew deep down that it was not. Most NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the game wear the mask of obedience. Like personas in the Metaverse, the mask of obedience is given physical parallel. In Japan, people wear a face mask to work if they are sick. An overwhelming number of people in the game are wearing face masks.   The difference between the face masks and the masks the Phantom Thieves wear post-awakening is the placement. Face masks cover the mouth. NPCs walk around slouched over almost machine like with their mouths invisible. In addition, their eyes are either covered by their hair or not present at all. The NPCs not only refuse to speak out against what can be seen, but refuse to even see it. The Phantom Thieves’ masks however cover the upper part of the face, leaving clear holes for eyes. Within the social setting for the Phantom Thieves, opposition is encouraged. Their personas are that of rebellion. A social setting that allows for such ambition can only be accomplished with the idealistic naivety of teenagers. Indeed, the people in society with the strongest personas, and consequently, the most potential to invoke change, are the youth.   The Phantom Thieves adopt the “gentleman thief” trope in fiction. Their costumes in the metaverse are well made. They peruse the palace with elegance. Haru Okumura even sips a cup of tea after defeating a shadow. The player character’s persona is called “Arsene”. One of the most famous gentleman thief characters in fiction is Arsene Lupin from various novels written by Maurice Leblanc. The character Arsene, much like the Phantom Thieves themselves, is a force of good will underneath the law; A Robin Hood of gentleman thievery. The player character’s persona sharing a name with an iconic gentleman thief is characteristic of his trickster archetype. Gentleman thievery is by nature a trickster role. The thief hides their intent behind a facade of good manners and sophisticated attitude, but steals from the foul to give to the needy. Similarly, the Phantom Thieves use their personas, their social mask, to deceptively expose the ugly truths of corrupt adults. By day, the Phantoms fool the public with an appearance of normal high school life. Within their own social circle however, they don their personas, their trickster alter egos, and expose the folly of mankind.   A prominent motif in Persona 5 is that of prison and captivity. The Velvet Room, a room that is a physical representation of what the player character feels, is a prison. Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter the Prison of Regression, a prison in the metaverse that holds the obedient public’s shadows. The source of the imprisonment is desire. People’s desires to be socially accepted tie them down to captivity. Similarly, desire is also the source of distortions in perception. Konoshida allowed his desire for superiority over his students to distort how he perceived the school. The general public’s desire to be accepted distorted their perception of the world so that it was no longer theirs. In stark contrast to the desires of the public are the desires of the Phantom Thieves: The clarification of perception. A trickster’s work is fueled by their pursuit for truth. Desire is what makes all people do anything. The question becomes whether or not its application will lead to distortion or clarification.   Futaba Sakura let desires imprison her. Before she became a member of the Phantom thieves, Futaba was a society shut-it. She never left her room. She was told that her mother committed suicide because of her. Futaba developed a desire to bring her mother back; a desire to atone for what she had done. She had her own palace that took the form of a tomb. She was convinced that her own room was the tomb that she must die in to atone for what she understood as killing her mother. Not only wrongdoing adults can have palaces. Anyone whose desires distort their perception are subject to corruption. Futaba’s desire to atone made her lock herself in her own room. She was, in a very literal sense, a prisoner of her own desire.   Freedom is the power to choose a persona. The general public roams the street bearing the same white face-mask. The Phantom Thieves however, wear masks that reflect their own aspirations and preferences. For example, Ann Takamaki has stated that she has always admired aspects of strong female antagonists in fiction. She cites their resolve, independance, and deceitful but clever methods of achieving goals. Ann is infatuated with the femme fatale character archetype. Similar to Arsene, the name of Ann’s persona, “Carmen”, is shared by a famous fictional character that exemplifies a type of trickster. Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella saw the debut of Carmen, the iconic femme fatale. The reference stands as a testament to the nature of Ann’s social self. When Ann awakened to her persona, she became the type of character she has always admired. Her mask became that of her own aspirations.   The other characters of the Phantom Thieves were also prisoners at a point, but they accepted their shadow. They realised that they had been wronged; That a part of them was contrary to social norms. When the thieves awakened to their persona, a mask appeared on their faces. In order to gain the power of the persona however, they needed to take it off for the first time. The mask seemed welded onto the characters’ faces. When they took it off, there was blood. Taking the mask off was painful. The removal is symbolic of proving that it can be removed. The pain shows that accepting one’s inner demons may be hard, but can be done. From that point onward, the Phantom Thieves could take their masks on and off as they pleased. There were no longer prisoners. They were free.   The masks the Phantom Thieves wore however are still masks. They are the disguise: The paramount equipment for a thief. The Phantom Thieves are merely high school students. Half of the game is simply studying for the upcoming midterms and socializing with other students. Fantasy however, is the first step to change. All ideas were at one point a hope for the future that had yet to come true. When the thieves dawn the mask, they get to play the liberating game of pretend. Ryuji is no longer a failed runner that broke his leg, but Skull, the blunt force of the group. Futaba is no longer a society shut-it, but Oracle, the overseeing operative of heists. The masks they wear when becoming the Phantom Thieves allow them to enjoy their own fantasy. Their idealism allowed to the Phantom Thieves to invoke change. Ironically, it is precisely because of their fantasy that they have such a real impact on the world.   It is when society has reached a point of figurative captivity that the tricksters, the Phantom Thieves, need to step in between the two farmers with a deceptively black and white hat. Tricksters are needed to expose Man’s folly and to free society from captivity. Persona 5 not only successfully illustrates Carl Jung’s ideas of personas and shadows, but proves their necessity for the good tricksters to do their jobs.     That was it Please let me know what you think or share any ideas on how I can improve. (as well as critique my own analysis if you disagree with it)   Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

So I haven't been on here for a good bit but remembered that quite a few people here like the persona series. (and that the only reason IM into the series is because someone here recommended it to me) I recently finished Persona 5. I have developed the habit to write essays about pieces of fiction that demand analysis. I find that writing helps me learn about my own position on a subject. Most recently, I wrote an essay on Persona 5 explaining how it uses Jungian ideas (just like the rest of the series) to highlight the necessary role of the trickster in society. I figured that some people here might be interested in that subject, so here I am posting my analysis. I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any feedback then I would be happy to hear it Its pretty long, so brace yourselves. Here it is:
 
Sometimes truth can only be attained through lies. In Jungian psychology, the Trickster is the one that rebels against the masses and exposes their shrouded ugliness. The Trickster challenges the ideas accepted by society and volunteers as the catalyst for change in the world. The game Persona 5 takes the familiar archetype and encapsulates everything that it means to be a Trickster. Persona 5 uses themes of thievery and social reform to highlight the existence of the Trickster in modern society.   One of Carl Jung’s most famous ideas was that of his notion of personality archetypes. All people derive from a set of character skeletons that they give their own skin. For example, the “Wise Old Man” archetype is a familiar trope in fiction. However, just because characters derive from the same skeleton does not mean that their skin is the same. How the character is built upon can make the “Wise Old Man” anything from Albus Dumbledore to Obi Wan Kenobi. One of the most impactful character archetypes however is the Trickster.   The Trickster is known as the opposer to social norms; The changemaker. The Trickster sees through the shadow of the public and uses their own deceitful means to expose the folly of man. One example of the trickster comes from African Mythology. Esu is a satirist and is antagonised often, however he plays a pivotal role is the betterment of society. For example, two farmers who live next to each other often quarrelled, but made a promise to never do so again. Esu knew that this was simply a lie the farmers told themselves to get on good terms. Esu took it upon himself to put on a hat, one side white and one side black, and walk in between the farmers. Almost on cue, the farmers broke into hostile discourse. They were insistent that the hat was whichever color they happened to see. At that point, Esu took off the hat and turned it inside out. The hat was in fact red. Both were wrong. Esu revealed the ugly truth behind their empty lie through his own deceitful means.   In Persona 5, the main cast of characters form a group called the Phantom Thieves. They gain the power to infiltrate a person’s “palace” which is said to be the manifestation of their “distorted desires”. It exists in a realm called the “Metaverse” which is a manifestation of the unconscious. A majority of the palaces belong to corrupt adults who have manipulated the public to act a certain obedient way with the less-than-reasoned justification that they are the one in the right. Konoshida for example is a successful volleyball coach at Shujin Academy High School. He reasoned that his contribution to the school justified abusing the players on the team both physically and sexually. His palace took the form of a castle. He saw Shujin Academy as nothing more than his territory filled with servants pretending to be students. His desire to abuse his students distorted his perception of the school. What better group of people to expose this folly than the group of tricksters, the Phantom Thieves?   By infiltrating the palaces and stealing the “treasure” which is explained to be the source of their distortions, the Phantom Thieves can force a change of heart. By taking the item that first triggered their flawed perception, they can expose the truth. Konoshida, for example, had an olympic medal. He had won a medal for his prowess in volleyball, which was the catalyst for superiority complexes in the future. To understand why this method of exposing the truth is trickster like, one needs to understand how the act was both contrary to popular opinion, but deceitful.   Enter Carl Jung’s idea of the persona. According to Jung, everyone has two sides of their personality: The persona and the shadow. The persona is the metaphorical mask people wear in social situations so that they are acceptable. For example, people would wear different masks at a court hearing than at a party. Turning on Katy Perry’s new hit single while the rape victim is their their story might be considered socially unacceptable. People adopt different personas at different times. In many cases however, a person can believe that their persona is their only true self. That is where the shadow comes into play. The shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that is locked away. The parts of people that are socially unacceptable; Their inner demons. If a person denies the existence of their own shadow, then they deny themselves truth. The shadow will only hurt them. The person will struggle with their identity knowing that their shadow exists, but refusing to accept it.   This is what Carl Jung illustrates as the journey to “self actualization”. That is, the process of recognizing and accepting all facets of personality. Without authenticity, a person becomes a byproduct of social norms and social norms alone. By accepting the shadow however, the persona can be used as a valuable tool. Without accepting the shadow, one cannot expose truths otherwise unacceptable. By wearing a mask, one can promote new ideas in a socially palatable way.   Persona 5 illustrates the idea of a persona in a very direct and literal way. In the Metaverse, personas take the form of beings one can summon for defence. When the characters touch the physical mask the gain when they enter the metaverse, they summon a being as defence against shadows. Shadows are also given physical form. Instead of being metaphorical demons, they are literal demons that the characters must use their literal personas to defend against. This physical conflict illustrates the figurative dynamic to personas being used to suppress inner shadows to an almost staggering degree of direct subtlety. The gamers unaware of the inner dynamic would simply see a fight as a generic boss battle in a video game, but paired with Jungian context, the fights in Persona 5 holds tremendous figurative meaning.   Shadows can also be accepted. When knocking a shadow off of its feat, one can attempt to befriend it. Similar to how shadows work in people’s minds, shadows can either be suppressed or accepted. And just like in people’s minds, should the shadow be accepted, the player gains them in the form of a new mask. The shadow becomes a useful tool in the form of a new persona.   The persona in Persona 5 is stated to be a manifestation of the character’s rebellious will. The characters in the Phantom Thieves are all tricksters, so their personas represent their tenancies to rebel against social norms. In order to gain their persona however, they had to come to terms with their shadows. Each character had been suppressed or abused by corrupt adults who governed what was considered socially acceptable. Their shadow was their knowledge of their abuse; Their knowledge that they were wrong. The acceptance of the fact that they were wronged allowed them to use their personas not as a cripple imposed on them by social norms, but a tool to invoke their own will.   Prior to their personas awakening, The characters surrendered to social norms. Makoto Niijima was an obedient student council president. Ann Takamaki agreed to sexual favors from volleyball “extraordinaire” Konoshida. Like most other people in society, they had surrendered to their socially acceptable self. The face they put on because they were told it was for the best, but knew deep down that it was not. Most NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the game wear the mask of obedience. Like personas in the Metaverse, the mask of obedience is given physical parallel. In Japan, people wear a face mask to work if they are sick. An overwhelming number of people in the game are wearing face masks.   The difference between the face masks and the masks the Phantom Thieves wear post-awakening is the placement. Face masks cover the mouth. NPCs walk around slouched over almost machine like with their mouths invisible. In addition, their eyes are either covered by their hair or not present at all. The NPCs not only refuse to speak out against what can be seen, but refuse to even see it. The Phantom Thieves’ masks however cover the upper part of the face, leaving clear holes for eyes. Within the social setting for the Phantom Thieves, opposition is encouraged. Their personas are that of rebellion. A social setting that allows for such ambition can only be accomplished with the idealistic naivety of teenagers. Indeed, the people in society with the strongest personas, and consequently, the most potential to invoke change, are the youth.   The Phantom Thieves adopt the “gentleman thief” trope in fiction. Their costumes in the metaverse are well made. They peruse the palace with elegance. Haru Okumura even sips a cup of tea after defeating a shadow. The player character’s persona is called “Arsene”. One of the most famous gentleman thief characters in fiction is Arsene Lupin from various novels written by Maurice Leblanc. The character Arsene, much like the Phantom Thieves themselves, is a force of good will underneath the law; A Robin Hood of gentleman thievery. The player character’s persona sharing a name with an iconic gentleman thief is characteristic of his trickster archetype. Gentleman thievery is by nature a trickster role. The thief hides their intent behind a facade of good manners and sophisticated attitude, but steals from the foul to give to the needy. Similarly, the Phantom Thieves use their personas, their social mask, to deceptively expose the ugly truths of corrupt adults. By day, the Phantoms fool the public with an appearance of normal high school life. Within their own social circle however, they don their personas, their trickster alter egos, and expose the folly of mankind.   A prominent motif in Persona 5 is that of prison and captivity. The Velvet Room, a room that is a physical representation of what the player character feels, is a prison. Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter the Prison of Regression, a prison in the metaverse that holds the obedient public’s shadows. The source of the imprisonment is desire. People’s desires to be socially accepted tie them down to captivity. Similarly, desire is also the source of distortions in perception. Konoshida allowed his desire for superiority over his students to distort how he perceived the school. The general public’s desire to be accepted distorted their perception of the world so that it was no longer theirs. In stark contrast to the desires of the public are the desires of the Phantom Thieves: The clarification of perception. A trickster’s work is fueled by their pursuit for truth. Desire is what makes all people do anything. The question becomes whether or not its application will lead to distortion or clarification.   Futaba Sakura let desires imprison her. Before she became a member of the Phantom thieves, Futaba was a society shut-it. She never left her room. She was told that her mother committed suicide because of her. Futaba developed a desire to bring her mother back; a desire to atone for what she had done. She had her own palace that took the form of a tomb. She was convinced that her own room was the tomb that she must die in to atone for what she understood as killing her mother. Not only wrongdoing adults can have palaces. Anyone whose desires distort their perception are subject to corruption. Futaba’s desire to atone made her lock herself in her own room. She was, in a very literal sense, a prisoner of her own desire.   Freedom is the power to choose a persona. The general public roams the street bearing the same white face-mask. The Phantom Thieves however, wear masks that reflect their own aspirations and preferences. For example, Ann Takamaki has stated that she has always admired aspects of strong female antagonists in fiction. She cites their resolve, independance, and deceitful but clever methods of achieving goals. Ann is infatuated with the femme fatale character archetype. Similar to Arsene, the name of Ann’s persona, “Carmen”, is shared by a famous fictional character that exemplifies a type of trickster. Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella saw the debut of Carmen, the iconic femme fatale. The reference stands as a testament to the nature of Ann’s social self. When Ann awakened to her persona, she became the type of character she has always admired. Her mask became that of her own aspirations.   The other characters of the Phantom Thieves were also prisoners at a point, but they accepted their shadow. They realised that they had been wronged; That a part of them was contrary to social norms. When the thieves awakened to their persona, a mask appeared on their faces. In order to gain the power of the persona however, they needed to take it off for the first time. The mask seemed welded onto the characters’ faces. When they took it off, there was blood. Taking the mask off was painful. The removal is symbolic of proving that it can be removed. The pain shows that accepting one’s inner demons may be hard, but can be done. From that point onward, the Phantom Thieves could take their masks on and off as they pleased. There were no longer prisoners. They were free.   The masks the Phantom Thieves wore however are still masks. They are the disguise: The paramount equipment for a thief. The Phantom Thieves are merely high school students. Half of the game is simply studying for the upcoming midterms and socializing with other students. Fantasy however, is the first step to change. All ideas were at one point a hope for the future that had yet to come true. When the thieves dawn the mask, they get to play the liberating game of pretend. Ryuji is no longer a failed runner that broke his leg, but Skull, the blunt force of the group. Futaba is no longer a society shut-it, but Oracle, the overseeing operative of heists. The masks they wear when becoming the Phantom Thieves allow them to enjoy their own fantasy. Their idealism allowed to the Phantom Thieves to invoke change. Ironically, it is precisely because of their fantasy that they have such a real impact on the world.   It is when society has reached a point of figurative captivity that the tricksters, the Phantom Thieves, need to step in between the two farmers with a deceptively black and white hat. Tricksters are needed to expose Man’s folly and to free society from captivity. Persona 5 not only successfully illustrates Carl Jung’s ideas of personas and shadows, but proves their necessity for the good tricksters to do their jobs.     That was it Please let me know what you think or share any ideas on how I can improve. (as well as critique my own analysis if you disagree with it)   Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

So I haven't been on here for a good bit but remembered that quite a few people here like the persona series. (and that the only reason IM into the series is because someone here recommended it to me) I recently finished Persona 5. I have developed the habit to write essays about pieces of fiction that demand analysis. I find that writing helps me learn about my own position on a subject. Most recently, I wrote an essay on Persona 5 explaining how it uses Jungian ideas (just like the rest of the series) to highlight the necessary role of the trickster in society. I figured that some people here might be interested in that subject, so here I am posting my analysis. I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any feedback then I would be happy to hear it Its pretty long, so brace yourselves. Here it is:
 
Sometimes truth can only be attained through lies. In Jungian psychology, the Trickster is the one that rebels against the masses and exposes their shrouded ugliness. The Trickster challenges the ideas accepted by society and volunteers as the catalyst for change in the world. The game Persona 5 takes the familiar archetype and encapsulates everything that it means to be a Trickster. Persona 5 uses themes of thievery and social reform to highlight the existence of the Trickster in modern society.   One of Carl Jung’s most famous ideas was that of his notion of personality archetypes. All people derive from a set of character skeletons that they give their own skin. For example, the “Wise Old Man” archetype is a familiar trope in fiction. However, just because characters derive from the same skeleton does not mean that their skin is the same. How the character is built upon can make the “Wise Old Man” anything from Albus Dumbledore to Obi Wan Kenobi. One of the most impactful character archetypes however is the Trickster.   The Trickster is known as the opposer to social norms; The changemaker. The Trickster sees through the shadow of the public and uses their own deceitful means to expose the folly of man. One example of the trickster comes from African Mythology. Esu is a satirist and is antagonised often, however he plays a pivotal role is the betterment of society. For example, two farmers who live next to each other often quarrelled, but made a promise to never do so again. Esu knew that this was simply a lie the farmers told themselves to get on good terms. Esu took it upon himself to put on a hat, one side white and one side black, and walk in between the farmers. Almost on cue, the farmers broke into hostile discourse. They were insistent that the hat was whichever color they happened to see. At that point, Esu took off the hat and turned it inside out. The hat was in fact red. Both were wrong. Esu revealed the ugly truth behind their empty lie through his own deceitful means.   In Persona 5, the main cast of characters form a group called the Phantom Thieves. They gain the power to infiltrate a person’s “palace” which is said to be the manifestation of their “distorted desires”. It exists in a realm called the “Metaverse” which is a manifestation of the unconscious. A majority of the palaces belong to corrupt adults who have manipulated the public to act a certain obedient way with the less-than-reasoned justification that they are the one in the right. Konoshida for example is a successful volleyball coach at Shujin Academy High School. He reasoned that his contribution to the school justified abusing the players on the team both physically and sexually. His palace took the form of a castle. He saw Shujin Academy as nothing more than his territory filled with servants pretending to be students. His desire to abuse his students distorted his perception of the school. What better group of people to expose this folly than the group of tricksters, the Phantom Thieves?   By infiltrating the palaces and stealing the “treasure” which is explained to be the source of their distortions, the Phantom Thieves can force a change of heart. By taking the item that first triggered their flawed perception, they can expose the truth. Konoshida, for example, had an olympic medal. He had won a medal for his prowess in volleyball, which was the catalyst for superiority complexes in the future. To understand why this method of exposing the truth is trickster like, one needs to understand how the act was both contrary to popular opinion, but deceitful.   Enter Carl Jung’s idea of the persona. According to Jung, everyone has two sides of their personality: The persona and the shadow. The persona is the metaphorical mask people wear in social situations so that they are acceptable. For example, people would wear different masks at a court hearing than at a party. Turning on Katy Perry’s new hit single while the rape victim is their their story might be considered socially unacceptable. People adopt different personas at different times. In many cases however, a person can believe that their persona is their only true self. That is where the shadow comes into play. The shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that is locked away. The parts of people that are socially unacceptable; Their inner demons. If a person denies the existence of their own shadow, then they deny themselves truth. The shadow will only hurt them. The person will struggle with their identity knowing that their shadow exists, but refusing to accept it.   This is what Carl Jung illustrates as the journey to “self actualization”. That is, the process of recognizing and accepting all facets of personality. Without authenticity, a person becomes a byproduct of social norms and social norms alone. By accepting the shadow however, the persona can be used as a valuable tool. Without accepting the shadow, one cannot expose truths otherwise unacceptable. By wearing a mask, one can promote new ideas in a socially palatable way.   Persona 5 illustrates the idea of a persona in a very direct and literal way. In the Metaverse, personas take the form of beings one can summon for defence. When the characters touch the physical mask the gain when they enter the metaverse, they summon a being as defence against shadows. Shadows are also given physical form. Instead of being metaphorical demons, they are literal demons that the characters must use their literal personas to defend against. This physical conflict illustrates the figurative dynamic to personas being used to suppress inner shadows to an almost staggering degree of direct subtlety. The gamers unaware of the inner dynamic would simply see a fight as a generic boss battle in a video game, but paired with Jungian context, the fights in Persona 5 holds tremendous figurative meaning.   Shadows can also be accepted. When knocking a shadow off of its feat, one can attempt to befriend it. Similar to how shadows work in people’s minds, shadows can either be suppressed or accepted. And just like in people’s minds, should the shadow be accepted, the player gains them in the form of a new mask. The shadow becomes a useful tool in the form of a new persona.   The persona in Persona 5 is stated to be a manifestation of the character’s rebellious will. The characters in the Phantom Thieves are all tricksters, so their personas represent their tenancies to rebel against social norms. In order to gain their persona however, they had to come to terms with their shadows. Each character had been suppressed or abused by corrupt adults who governed what was considered socially acceptable. Their shadow was their knowledge of their abuse; Their knowledge that they were wrong. The acceptance of the fact that they were wronged allowed them to use their personas not as a cripple imposed on them by social norms, but a tool to invoke their own will.   Prior to their personas awakening, The characters surrendered to social norms. Makoto Niijima was an obedient student council president. Ann Takamaki agreed to sexual favors from volleyball “extraordinaire” Konoshida. Like most other people in society, they had surrendered to their socially acceptable self. The face they put on because they were told it was for the best, but knew deep down that it was not. Most NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the game wear the mask of obedience. Like personas in the Metaverse, the mask of obedience is given physical parallel. In Japan, people wear a face mask to work if they are sick. An overwhelming number of people in the game are wearing face masks.   The difference between the face masks and the masks the Phantom Thieves wear post-awakening is the placement. Face masks cover the mouth. NPCs walk around slouched over almost machine like with their mouths invisible. In addition, their eyes are either covered by their hair or not present at all. The NPCs not only refuse to speak out against what can be seen, but refuse to even see it. The Phantom Thieves’ masks however cover the upper part of the face, leaving clear holes for eyes. Within the social setting for the Phantom Thieves, opposition is encouraged. Their personas are that of rebellion. A social setting that allows for such ambition can only be accomplished with the idealistic naivety of teenagers. Indeed, the people in society with the strongest personas, and consequently, the most potential to invoke change, are the youth.   The Phantom Thieves adopt the “gentleman thief” trope in fiction. Their costumes in the metaverse are well made. They peruse the palace with elegance. Haru Okumura even sips a cup of tea after defeating a shadow. The player character’s persona is called “Arsene”. One of the most famous gentleman thief characters in fiction is Arsene Lupin from various novels written by Maurice Leblanc. The character Arsene, much like the Phantom Thieves themselves, is a force of good will underneath the law; A Robin Hood of gentleman thievery. The player character’s persona sharing a name with an iconic gentleman thief is characteristic of his trickster archetype. Gentleman thievery is by nature a trickster role. The thief hides their intent behind a facade of good manners and sophisticated attitude, but steals from the foul to give to the needy. Similarly, the Phantom Thieves use their personas, their social mask, to deceptively expose the ugly truths of corrupt adults. By day, the Phantoms fool the public with an appearance of normal high school life. Within their own social circle however, they don their personas, their trickster alter egos, and expose the folly of mankind.   A prominent motif in Persona 5 is that of prison and captivity. The Velvet Room, a room that is a physical representation of what the player character feels, is a prison. Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter the Prison of Regression, a prison in the metaverse that holds the obedient public’s shadows. The source of the imprisonment is desire. People’s desires to be socially accepted tie them down to captivity. Similarly, desire is also the source of distortions in perception. Konoshida allowed his desire for superiority over his students to distort how he perceived the school. The general public’s desire to be accepted distorted their perception of the world so that it was no longer theirs. In stark contrast to the desires of the public are the desires of the Phantom Thieves: The clarification of perception. A trickster’s work is fueled by their pursuit for truth. Desire is what makes all people do anything. The question becomes whether or not its application will lead to distortion or clarification.   Futaba Sakura let desires imprison her. Before she became a member of the Phantom thieves, Futaba was a society shut-it. She never left her room. She was told that her mother committed suicide because of her. Futaba developed a desire to bring her mother back; a desire to atone for what she had done. She had her own palace that took the form of a tomb. She was convinced that her own room was the tomb that she must die in to atone for what she understood as killing her mother. Not only wrongdoing adults can have palaces. Anyone whose desires distort their perception are subject to corruption. Futaba’s desire to atone made her lock herself in her own room. She was, in a very literal sense, a prisoner of her own desire.   Freedom is the power to choose a persona. The general public roams the street bearing the same white face-mask. The Phantom Thieves however, wear masks that reflect their own aspirations and preferences. For example, Ann Takamaki has stated that she has always admired aspects of strong female antagonists in fiction. She cites their resolve, independance, and deceitful but clever methods of achieving goals. Ann is infatuated with the femme fatale character archetype. Similar to Arsene, the name of Ann’s persona, “Carmen”, is shared by a famous fictional character that exemplifies a type of trickster. Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella saw the debut of Carmen, the iconic femme fatale. The reference stands as a testament to the nature of Ann’s social self. When Ann awakened to her persona, she became the type of character she has always admired. Her mask became that of her own aspirations.   The other characters of the Phantom Thieves were also prisoners at a point, but they accepted their shadow. They realised that they had been wronged; That a part of them was contrary to social norms. When the thieves awakened to their persona, a mask appeared on their faces. In order to gain the power of the persona however, they needed to take it off for the first time. The mask seemed welded onto the characters’ faces. When they took it off, there was blood. Taking the mask off was painful. The removal is symbolic of proving that it can be removed. The pain shows that accepting one’s inner demons may be hard, but can be done. From that point onward, the Phantom Thieves could take their masks on and off as they pleased. There were no longer prisoners. They were free.   The masks the Phantom Thieves wore however are still masks. They are the disguise: The paramount equipment for a thief. The Phantom Thieves are merely high school students. Half of the game is simply studying for the upcoming midterms and socializing with other students. Fantasy however, is the first step to change. All ideas were at one point a hope for the future that had yet to come true. When the thieves dawn the mask, they get to play the liberating game of pretend. Ryuji is no longer a failed runner that broke his leg, but Skull, the blunt force of the group. Futaba is no longer a society shut-it, but Oracle, the overseeing operative of heists. The masks they wear when becoming the Phantom Thieves allow them to enjoy their own fantasy. Their idealism allowed to the Phantom Thieves to invoke change. Ironically, it is precisely because of their fantasy that they have such a real impact on the world.   It is when society has reached a point of figurative captivity that the tricksters, the Phantom Thieves, need to step in between the two farmers with a deceptively black and white hat. Tricksters are needed to expose Man’s folly and to free society from captivity. Persona 5 not only successfully illustrates Carl Jung’s ideas of personas and shadows, but proves their necessity for the good tricksters to do their jobs.     That was it Please let me know what you think or share any ideas on how I can improve. (as well as critique my own analysis if you disagree with it)   Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

So I haven't been on here for a good bit but remembered that quite a few people here like the persona series. (and that the only reason IM into the series is because someone here recommended it to me) I recently finished Persona 5. I have developed the habit to write essays about pieces of fiction that demand analysis. I find that writing helps me learn about my own position on a subject. Most recently, I wrote an essay on Persona 5 explaining how it uses Jungian ideas (just like the rest of the series) to highlight the necessary role of the trickster in society. I figured that some people here might be interested in that subject, so here I am posting my analysis. I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any feedback then I would be happy to hear it Its pretty long, so brace yourselves. Here it is:
 
Sometimes truth can only be attained through lies. In Jungian psychology, the Trickster is the one that rebels against the masses and exposes their shrouded ugliness. The Trickster challenges the ideas accepted by society and volunteers as the catalyst for change in the world. The game Persona 5 takes the familiar archetype and encapsulates everything that it means to be a Trickster. Persona 5 uses themes of thievery and social reform to highlight the existence of the Trickster in modern society.   One of Carl Jung’s most famous ideas was that of his notion of personality archetypes. All people derive from a set of character skeletons that they give their own skin. For example, the “Wise Old Man” archetype is a familiar trope in fiction. However, just because characters derive from the same skeleton does not mean that their skin is the same. How the character is built upon can make the “Wise Old Man” anything from Albus Dumbledore to Obi Wan Kenobi. One of the most impactful character archetypes however is the Trickster.   The Trickster is known as the opposer to social norms; The changemaker. The Trickster sees through the shadow of the public and uses their own deceitful means to expose the folly of man. One example of the trickster comes from African Mythology. Esu is a satirist and is antagonised often, however he plays a pivotal role is the betterment of society. For example, two farmers who live next to each other often quarrelled, but made a promise to never do so again. Esu knew that this was simply a lie the farmers told themselves to get on good terms. Esu took it upon himself to put on a hat, one side white and one side black, and walk in between the farmers. Almost on cue, the farmers broke into hostile discourse. They were insistent that the hat was whichever color they happened to see. At that point, Esu took off the hat and turned it inside out. The hat was in fact red. Both were wrong. Esu revealed the ugly truth behind their empty lie through his own deceitful means.   In Persona 5, the main cast of characters form a group called the Phantom Thieves. They gain the power to infiltrate a person’s “palace” which is said to be the manifestation of their “distorted desires”. It exists in a realm called the “Metaverse” which is a manifestation of the unconscious. A majority of the palaces belong to corrupt adults who have manipulated the public to act a certain obedient way with the less-than-reasoned justification that they are the one in the right. Konoshida for example is a successful volleyball coach at Shujin Academy High School. He reasoned that his contribution to the school justified abusing the players on the team both physically and sexually. His palace took the form of a castle. He saw Shujin Academy as nothing more than his territory filled with servants pretending to be students. His desire to abuse his students distorted his perception of the school. What better group of people to expose this folly than the group of tricksters, the Phantom Thieves?   By infiltrating the palaces and stealing the “treasure” which is explained to be the source of their distortions, the Phantom Thieves can force a change of heart. By taking the item that first triggered their flawed perception, they can expose the truth. Konoshida, for example, had an olympic medal. He had won a medal for his prowess in volleyball, which was the catalyst for superiority complexes in the future. To understand why this method of exposing the truth is trickster like, one needs to understand how the act was both contrary to popular opinion, but deceitful.   Enter Carl Jung’s idea of the persona. According to Jung, everyone has two sides of their personality: The persona and the shadow. The persona is the metaphorical mask people wear in social situations so that they are acceptable. For example, people would wear different masks at a court hearing than at a party. Turning on Katy Perry’s new hit single while the rape victim is their their story might be considered socially unacceptable. People adopt different personas at different times. In many cases however, a person can believe that their persona is their only true self. That is where the shadow comes into play. The shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that is locked away. The parts of people that are socially unacceptable; Their inner demons. If a person denies the existence of their own shadow, then they deny themselves truth. The shadow will only hurt them. The person will struggle with their identity knowing that their shadow exists, but refusing to accept it.   This is what Carl Jung illustrates as the journey to “self actualization”. That is, the process of recognizing and accepting all facets of personality. Without authenticity, a person becomes a byproduct of social norms and social norms alone. By accepting the shadow however, the persona can be used as a valuable tool. Without accepting the shadow, one cannot expose truths otherwise unacceptable. By wearing a mask, one can promote new ideas in a socially palatable way.   Persona 5 illustrates the idea of a persona in a very direct and literal way. In the Metaverse, personas take the form of beings one can summon for defence. When the characters touch the physical mask the gain when they enter the metaverse, they summon a being as defence against shadows. Shadows are also given physical form. Instead of being metaphorical demons, they are literal demons that the characters must use their literal personas to defend against. This physical conflict illustrates the figurative dynamic to personas being used to suppress inner shadows to an almost staggering degree of direct subtlety. The gamers unaware of the inner dynamic would simply see a fight as a generic boss battle in a video game, but paired with Jungian context, the fights in Persona 5 holds tremendous figurative meaning.   Shadows can also be accepted. When knocking a shadow off of its feat, one can attempt to befriend it. Similar to how shadows work in people’s minds, shadows can either be suppressed or accepted. And just like in people’s minds, should the shadow be accepted, the player gains them in the form of a new mask. The shadow becomes a useful tool in the form of a new persona.   The persona in Persona 5 is stated to be a manifestation of the character’s rebellious will. The characters in the Phantom Thieves are all tricksters, so their personas represent their tenancies to rebel against social norms. In order to gain their persona however, they had to come to terms with their shadows. Each character had been suppressed or abused by corrupt adults who governed what was considered socially acceptable. Their shadow was their knowledge of their abuse; Their knowledge that they were wrong. The acceptance of the fact that they were wronged allowed them to use their personas not as a cripple imposed on them by social norms, but a tool to invoke their own will.   Prior to their personas awakening, The characters surrendered to social norms. Makoto Niijima was an obedient student council president. Ann Takamaki agreed to sexual favors from volleyball “extraordinaire” Konoshida. Like most other people in society, they had surrendered to their socially acceptable self. The face they put on because they were told it was for the best, but knew deep down that it was not. Most NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the game wear the mask of obedience. Like personas in the Metaverse, the mask of obedience is given physical parallel. In Japan, people wear a face mask to work if they are sick. An overwhelming number of people in the game are wearing face masks.   The difference between the face masks and the masks the Phantom Thieves wear post-awakening is the placement. Face masks cover the mouth. NPCs walk around slouched over almost machine like with their mouths invisible. In addition, their eyes are either covered by their hair or not present at all. The NPCs not only refuse to speak out against what can be seen, but refuse to even see it. The Phantom Thieves’ masks however cover the upper part of the face, leaving clear holes for eyes. Within the social setting for the Phantom Thieves, opposition is encouraged. Their personas are that of rebellion. A social setting that allows for such ambition can only be accomplished with the idealistic naivety of teenagers. Indeed, the people in society with the strongest personas, and consequently, the most potential to invoke change, are the youth.   The Phantom Thieves adopt the “gentleman thief” trope in fiction. Their costumes in the metaverse are well made. They peruse the palace with elegance. Haru Okumura even sips a cup of tea after defeating a shadow. The player character’s persona is called “Arsene”. One of the most famous gentleman thief characters in fiction is Arsene Lupin from various novels written by Maurice Leblanc. The character Arsene, much like the Phantom Thieves themselves, is a force of good will underneath the law; A Robin Hood of gentleman thievery. The player character’s persona sharing a name with an iconic gentleman thief is characteristic of his trickster archetype. Gentleman thievery is by nature a trickster role. The thief hides their intent behind a facade of good manners and sophisticated attitude, but steals from the foul to give to the needy. Similarly, the Phantom Thieves use their personas, their social mask, to deceptively expose the ugly truths of corrupt adults. By day, the Phantoms fool the public with an appearance of normal high school life. Within their own social circle however, they don their personas, their trickster alter egos, and expose the folly of mankind.   A prominent motif in Persona 5 is that of prison and captivity. The Velvet Room, a room that is a physical representation of what the player character feels, is a prison. Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter the Prison of Regression, a prison in the metaverse that holds the obedient public’s shadows. The source of the imprisonment is desire. People’s desires to be socially accepted tie them down to captivity. Similarly, desire is also the source of distortions in perception. Konoshida allowed his desire for superiority over his students to distort how he perceived the school. The general public’s desire to be accepted distorted their perception of the world so that it was no longer theirs. In stark contrast to the desires of the public are the desires of the Phantom Thieves: The clarification of perception. A trickster’s work is fueled by their pursuit for truth. Desire is what makes all people do anything. The question becomes whether or not its application will lead to distortion or clarification.   Futaba Sakura let desires imprison her. Before she became a member of the Phantom thieves, Futaba was a society shut-it. She never left her room. She was told that her mother committed suicide because of her. Futaba developed a desire to bring her mother back; a desire to atone for what she had done. She had her own palace that took the form of a tomb. She was convinced that her own room was the tomb that she must die in to atone for what she understood as killing her mother. Not only wrongdoing adults can have palaces. Anyone whose desires distort their perception are subject to corruption. Futaba’s desire to atone made her lock herself in her own room. She was, in a very literal sense, a prisoner of her own desire.   Freedom is the power to choose a persona. The general public roams the street bearing the same white face-mask. The Phantom Thieves however, wear masks that reflect their own aspirations and preferences. For example, Ann Takamaki has stated that she has always admired aspects of strong female antagonists in fiction. She cites their resolve, independance, and deceitful but clever methods of achieving goals. Ann is infatuated with the femme fatale character archetype. Similar to Arsene, the name of Ann’s persona, “Carmen”, is shared by a famous fictional character that exemplifies a type of trickster. Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella saw the debut of Carmen, the iconic femme fatale. The reference stands as a testament to the nature of Ann’s social self. When Ann awakened to her persona, she became the type of character she has always admired. Her mask became that of her own aspirations.   The other characters of the Phantom Thieves were also prisoners at a point, but they accepted their shadow. They realised that they had been wronged; That a part of them was contrary to social norms. When the thieves awakened to their persona, a mask appeared on their faces. In order to gain the power of the persona however, they needed to take it off for the first time. The mask seemed welded onto the characters’ faces. When they took it off, there was blood. Taking the mask off was painful. The removal is symbolic of proving that it can be removed. The pain shows that accepting one’s inner demons may be hard, but can be done. From that point onward, the Phantom Thieves could take their masks on and off as they pleased. There were no longer prisoners. They were free.   The masks the Phantom Thieves wore however are still masks. They are the disguise: The paramount equipment for a thief. The Phantom Thieves are merely high school students. Half of the game is simply studying for the upcoming midterms and socializing with other students. Fantasy however, is the first step to change. All ideas were at one point a hope for the future that had yet to come true. When the thieves dawn the mask, they get to play the liberating game of pretend. Ryuji is no longer a failed runner that broke his leg, but Skull, the blunt force of the group. Futaba is no longer a society shut-it, but Oracle, the overseeing operative of heists. The masks they wear when becoming the Phantom Thieves allow them to enjoy their own fantasy. Their idealism allowed to the Phantom Thieves to invoke change. Ironically, it is precisely because of their fantasy that they have such a real impact on the world.   It is when society has reached a point of figurative captivity that the tricksters, the Phantom Thieves, need to step in between the two farmers with a deceptively black and white hat. Tricksters are needed to expose Man’s folly and to free society from captivity. Persona 5 not only successfully illustrates Carl Jung’s ideas of personas and shadows, but proves their necessity for the good tricksters to do their jobs.     That was it Please let me know what you think or share any ideas on how I can improve. (as well as critique my own analysis if you disagree with it)   Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

So I haven't been on here for a good bit but remembered that quite a few people here like the persona series. (and that the only reason IM into the series is because someone here recommended it to me) I recently finished Persona 5. I have developed the habit to write essays about pieces of fiction that demand analysis. I find that writing helps me learn about my own position on a subject. Most recently, I wrote an essay on Persona 5 explaining how it uses Jungian ideas (just like the rest of the series) to highlight the necessary role of the trickster in society. I figured that some people here might be interested in that subject, so here I am posting my analysis. I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any feedback then I would be happy to hear it Its pretty long, so brace yourselves. Here it is:
 
Sometimes truth can only be attained through lies. In Jungian psychology, the Trickster is the one that rebels against the masses and exposes their shrouded ugliness. The Trickster challenges the ideas accepted by society and volunteers as the catalyst for change in the world. The game Persona 5 takes the familiar archetype and encapsulates everything that it means to be a Trickster. Persona 5 uses themes of thievery and social reform to highlight the existence of the Trickster in modern society.   One of Carl Jung’s most famous ideas was that of his notion of personality archetypes. All people derive from a set of character skeletons that they give their own skin. For example, the “Wise Old Man” archetype is a familiar trope in fiction. However, just because characters derive from the same skeleton does not mean that their skin is the same. How the character is built upon can make the “Wise Old Man” anything from Albus Dumbledore to Obi Wan Kenobi. One of the most impactful character archetypes however is the Trickster.   The Trickster is known as the opposer to social norms; The changemaker. The Trickster sees through the shadow of the public and uses their own deceitful means to expose the folly of man. One example of the trickster comes from African Mythology. Esu is a satirist and is antagonised often, however he plays a pivotal role is the betterment of society. For example, two farmers who live next to each other often quarrelled, but made a promise to never do so again. Esu knew that this was simply a lie the farmers told themselves to get on good terms. Esu took it upon himself to put on a hat, one side white and one side black, and walk in between the farmers. Almost on cue, the farmers broke into hostile discourse. They were insistent that the hat was whichever color they happened to see. At that point, Esu took off the hat and turned it inside out. The hat was in fact red. Both were wrong. Esu revealed the ugly truth behind their empty lie through his own deceitful means.   In Persona 5, the main cast of characters form a group called the Phantom Thieves. They gain the power to infiltrate a person’s “palace” which is said to be the manifestation of their “distorted desires”. It exists in a realm called the “Metaverse” which is a manifestation of the unconscious. A majority of the palaces belong to corrupt adults who have manipulated the public to act a certain obedient way with the less-than-reasoned justification that they are the one in the right. Konoshida for example is a successful volleyball coach at Shujin Academy High School. He reasoned that his contribution to the school justified abusing the players on the team both physically and sexually. His palace took the form of a castle. He saw Shujin Academy as nothing more than his territory filled with servants pretending to be students. His desire to abuse his students distorted his perception of the school. What better group of people to expose this folly than the group of tricksters, the Phantom Thieves?   By infiltrating the palaces and stealing the “treasure” which is explained to be the source of their distortions, the Phantom Thieves can force a change of heart. By taking the item that first triggered their flawed perception, they can expose the truth. Konoshida, for example, had an olympic medal. He had won a medal for his prowess in volleyball, which was the catalyst for superiority complexes in the future. To understand why this method of exposing the truth is trickster like, one needs to understand how the act was both contrary to popular opinion, but deceitful.   Enter Carl Jung’s idea of the persona. According to Jung, everyone has two sides of their personality: The persona and the shadow. The persona is the metaphorical mask people wear in social situations so that they are acceptable. For example, people would wear different masks at a court hearing than at a party. Turning on Katy Perry’s new hit single while the rape victim is their their story might be considered socially unacceptable. People adopt different personas at different times. In many cases however, a person can believe that their persona is their only true self. That is where the shadow comes into play. The shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that is locked away. The parts of people that are socially unacceptable; Their inner demons. If a person denies the existence of their own shadow, then they deny themselves truth. The shadow will only hurt them. The person will struggle with their identity knowing that their shadow exists, but refusing to accept it.   This is what Carl Jung illustrates as the journey to “self actualization”. That is, the process of recognizing and accepting all facets of personality. Without authenticity, a person becomes a byproduct of social norms and social norms alone. By accepting the shadow however, the persona can be used as a valuable tool. Without accepting the shadow, one cannot expose truths otherwise unacceptable. By wearing a mask, one can promote new ideas in a socially palatable way.   Persona 5 illustrates the idea of a persona in a very direct and literal way. In the Metaverse, personas take the form of beings one can summon for defence. When the characters touch the physical mask the gain when they enter the metaverse, they summon a being as defence against shadows. Shadows are also given physical form. Instead of being metaphorical demons, they are literal demons that the characters must use their literal personas to defend against. This physical conflict illustrates the figurative dynamic to personas being used to suppress inner shadows to an almost staggering degree of direct subtlety. The gamers unaware of the inner dynamic would simply see a fight as a generic boss battle in a video game, but paired with Jungian context, the fights in Persona 5 holds tremendous figurative meaning.   Shadows can also be accepted. When knocking a shadow off of its feat, one can attempt to befriend it. Similar to how shadows work in people’s minds, shadows can either be suppressed or accepted. And just like in people’s minds, should the shadow be accepted, the player gains them in the form of a new mask. The shadow becomes a useful tool in the form of a new persona.   The persona in Persona 5 is stated to be a manifestation of the character’s rebellious will. The characters in the Phantom Thieves are all tricksters, so their personas represent their tenancies to rebel against social norms. In order to gain their persona however, they had to come to terms with their shadows. Each character had been suppressed or abused by corrupt adults who governed what was considered socially acceptable. Their shadow was their knowledge of their abuse; Their knowledge that they were wrong. The acceptance of the fact that they were wronged allowed them to use their personas not as a cripple imposed on them by social norms, but a tool to invoke their own will.   Prior to their personas awakening, The characters surrendered to social norms. Makoto Niijima was an obedient student council president. Ann Takamaki agreed to sexual favors from volleyball “extraordinaire” Konoshida. Like most other people in society, they had surrendered to their socially acceptable self. The face they put on because they were told it was for the best, but knew deep down that it was not. Most NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the game wear the mask of obedience. Like personas in the Metaverse, the mask of obedience is given physical parallel. In Japan, people wear a face mask to work if they are sick. An overwhelming number of people in the game are wearing face masks.   The difference between the face masks and the masks the Phantom Thieves wear post-awakening is the placement. Face masks cover the mouth. NPCs walk around slouched over almost machine like with their mouths invisible. In addition, their eyes are either covered by their hair or not present at all. The NPCs not only refuse to speak out against what can be seen, but refuse to even see it. The Phantom Thieves’ masks however cover the upper part of the face, leaving clear holes for eyes. Within the social setting for the Phantom Thieves, opposition is encouraged. Their personas are that of rebellion. A social setting that allows for such ambition can only be accomplished with the idealistic naivety of teenagers. Indeed, the people in society with the strongest personas, and consequently, the most potential to invoke change, are the youth.   The Phantom Thieves adopt the “gentleman thief” trope in fiction. Their costumes in the metaverse are well made. They peruse the palace with elegance. Haru Okumura even sips a cup of tea after defeating a shadow. The player character’s persona is called “Arsene”. One of the most famous gentleman thief characters in fiction is Arsene Lupin from various novels written by Maurice Leblanc. The character Arsene, much like the Phantom Thieves themselves, is a force of good will underneath the law; A Robin Hood of gentleman thievery. The player character’s persona sharing a name with an iconic gentleman thief is characteristic of his trickster archetype. Gentleman thievery is by nature a trickster role. The thief hides their intent behind a facade of good manners and sophisticated attitude, but steals from the foul to give to the needy. Similarly, the Phantom Thieves use their personas, their social mask, to deceptively expose the ugly truths of corrupt adults. By day, the Phantoms fool the public with an appearance of normal high school life. Within their own social circle however, they don their personas, their trickster alter egos, and expose the folly of mankind.   A prominent motif in Persona 5 is that of prison and captivity. The Velvet Room, a room that is a physical representation of what the player character feels, is a prison. Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter the Prison of Regression, a prison in the metaverse that holds the obedient public’s shadows. The source of the imprisonment is desire. People’s desires to be socially accepted tie them down to captivity. Similarly, desire is also the source of distortions in perception. Konoshida allowed his desire for superiority over his students to distort how he perceived the school. The general public’s desire to be accepted distorted their perception of the world so that it was no longer theirs. In stark contrast to the desires of the public are the desires of the Phantom Thieves: The clarification of perception. A trickster’s work is fueled by their pursuit for truth. Desire is what makes all people do anything. The question becomes whether or not its application will lead to distortion or clarification.   Futaba Sakura let desires imprison her. Before she became a member of the Phantom thieves, Futaba was a society shut-it. She never left her room. She was told that her mother committed suicide because of her. Futaba developed a desire to bring her mother back; a desire to atone for what she had done. She had her own palace that took the form of a tomb. She was convinced that her own room was the tomb that she must die in to atone for what she understood as killing her mother. Not only wrongdoing adults can have palaces. Anyone whose desires distort their perception are subject to corruption. Futaba’s desire to atone made her lock herself in her own room. She was, in a very literal sense, a prisoner of her own desire.   Freedom is the power to choose a persona. The general public roams the street bearing the same white face-mask. The Phantom Thieves however, wear masks that reflect their own aspirations and preferences. For example, Ann Takamaki has stated that she has always admired aspects of strong female antagonists in fiction. She cites their resolve, independance, and deceitful but clever methods of achieving goals. Ann is infatuated with the femme fatale character archetype. Similar to Arsene, the name of Ann’s persona, “Carmen”, is shared by a famous fictional character that exemplifies a type of trickster. Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella saw the debut of Carmen, the iconic femme fatale. The reference stands as a testament to the nature of Ann’s social self. When Ann awakened to her persona, she became the type of character she has always admired. Her mask became that of her own aspirations.   The other characters of the Phantom Thieves were also prisoners at a point, but they accepted their shadow. They realised that they had been wronged; That a part of them was contrary to social norms. When the thieves awakened to their persona, a mask appeared on their faces. In order to gain the power of the persona however, they needed to take it off for the first time. The mask seemed welded onto the characters’ faces. When they took it off, there was blood. Taking the mask off was painful. The removal is symbolic of proving that it can be removed. The pain shows that accepting one’s inner demons may be hard, but can be done. From that point onward, the Phantom Thieves could take their masks on and off as they pleased. There were no longer prisoners. They were free.   The masks the Phantom Thieves wore however are still masks. They are the disguise: The paramount equipment for a thief. The Phantom Thieves are merely high school students. Half of the game is simply studying for the upcoming midterms and socializing with other students. Fantasy however, is the first step to change. All ideas were at one point a hope for the future that had yet to come true. When the thieves dawn the mask, they get to play the liberating game of pretend. Ryuji is no longer a failed runner that broke his leg, but Skull, the blunt force of the group. Futaba is no longer a society shut-it, but Oracle, the overseeing operative of heists. The masks they wear when becoming the Phantom Thieves allow them to enjoy their own fantasy. Their idealism allowed to the Phantom Thieves to invoke change. Ironically, it is precisely because of their fantasy that they have such a real impact on the world.   It is when society has reached a point of figurative captivity that the tricksters, the Phantom Thieves, need to step in between the two farmers with a deceptively black and white hat. Tricksters are needed to expose Man’s folly and to free society from captivity. Persona 5 not only successfully illustrates Carl Jung’s ideas of personas and shadows, but proves their necessity for the good tricksters to do their jobs.     That was it Please let me know what you think or share any ideas on how I can improve. (as well as critique my own analysis if you disagree with it)   Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

So I haven't been on here for a good bit but remembered that quite a few people here like the persona series. (and that the only reason IM into the series is because someone here recommended it to me) I recently finished Persona 5. I have developed the habit to write essays about pieces of fiction that demand analysis. I find that writing helps me learn about my own position on a subject. Most recently, I wrote an essay on Persona 5 explaining how it uses Jungian ideas (just like the rest of the series) to highlight the necessary role of the trickster in society. I figured that some people here might be interested in that subject, so here I am posting my analysis. I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any feedback then I would be happy to hear it Its pretty long, so brace yourselves. Here it is:
 
Sometimes truth can only be attained through lies. In Jungian psychology, the Trickster is the one that rebels against the masses and exposes their shrouded ugliness. The Trickster challenges the ideas accepted by society and volunteers as the catalyst for change in the world. The game Persona 5 takes the familiar archetype and encapsulates everything that it means to be a Trickster. Persona 5 uses themes of thievery and social reform to highlight the existence of the Trickster in modern society.   One of Carl Jung’s most famous ideas was that of his notion of personality archetypes. All people derive from a set of character skeletons that they give their own skin. For example, the “Wise Old Man” archetype is a familiar trope in fiction. However, just because characters derive from the same skeleton does not mean that their skin is the same. How the character is built upon can make the “Wise Old Man” anything from Albus Dumbledore to Obi Wan Kenobi. One of the most impactful character archetypes however is the Trickster.   The Trickster is known as the opposer to social norms; The changemaker. The Trickster sees through the shadow of the public and uses their own deceitful means to expose the folly of man. One example of the trickster comes from African Mythology. Esu is a satirist and is antagonised often, however he plays a pivotal role is the betterment of society. For example, two farmers who live next to each other often quarrelled, but made a promise to never do so again. Esu knew that this was simply a lie the farmers told themselves to get on good terms. Esu took it upon himself to put on a hat, one side white and one side black, and walk in between the farmers. Almost on cue, the farmers broke into hostile discourse. They were insistent that the hat was whichever color they happened to see. At that point, Esu took off the hat and turned it inside out. The hat was in fact red. Both were wrong. Esu revealed the ugly truth behind their empty lie through his own deceitful means.   In Persona 5, the main cast of characters form a group called the Phantom Thieves. They gain the power to infiltrate a person’s “palace” which is said to be the manifestation of their “distorted desires”. It exists in a realm called the “Metaverse” which is a manifestation of the unconscious. A majority of the palaces belong to corrupt adults who have manipulated the public to act a certain obedient way with the less-than-reasoned justification that they are the one in the right. Konoshida for example is a successful volleyball coach at Shujin Academy High School. He reasoned that his contribution to the school justified abusing the players on the team both physically and sexually. His palace took the form of a castle. He saw Shujin Academy as nothing more than his territory filled with servants pretending to be students. His desire to abuse his students distorted his perception of the school. What better group of people to expose this folly than the group of tricksters, the Phantom Thieves?   By infiltrating the palaces and stealing the “treasure” which is explained to be the source of their distortions, the Phantom Thieves can force a change of heart. By taking the item that first triggered their flawed perception, they can expose the truth. Konoshida, for example, had an olympic medal. He had won a medal for his prowess in volleyball, which was the catalyst for superiority complexes in the future. To understand why this method of exposing the truth is trickster like, one needs to understand how the act was both contrary to popular opinion, but deceitful.   Enter Carl Jung’s idea of the persona. According to Jung, everyone has two sides of their personality: The persona and the shadow. The persona is the metaphorical mask people wear in social situations so that they are acceptable. For example, people would wear different masks at a court hearing than at a party. Turning on Katy Perry’s new hit single while the rape victim is their their story might be considered socially unacceptable. People adopt different personas at different times. In many cases however, a person can believe that their persona is their only true self. That is where the shadow comes into play. The shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that is locked away. The parts of people that are socially unacceptable; Their inner demons. If a person denies the existence of their own shadow, then they deny themselves truth. The shadow will only hurt them. The person will struggle with their identity knowing that their shadow exists, but refusing to accept it.   This is what Carl Jung illustrates as the journey to “self actualization”. That is, the process of recognizing and accepting all facets of personality. Without authenticity, a person becomes a byproduct of social norms and social norms alone. By accepting the shadow however, the persona can be used as a valuable tool. Without accepting the shadow, one cannot expose truths otherwise unacceptable. By wearing a mask, one can promote new ideas in a socially palatable way.   Persona 5 illustrates the idea of a persona in a very direct and literal way. In the Metaverse, personas take the form of beings one can summon for defence. When the characters touch the physical mask the gain when they enter the metaverse, they summon a being as defence against shadows. Shadows are also given physical form. Instead of being metaphorical demons, they are literal demons that the characters must use their literal personas to defend against. This physical conflict illustrates the figurative dynamic to personas being used to suppress inner shadows to an almost staggering degree of direct subtlety. The gamers unaware of the inner dynamic would simply see a fight as a generic boss battle in a video game, but paired with Jungian context, the fights in Persona 5 holds tremendous figurative meaning.   Shadows can also be accepted. When knocking a shadow off of its feat, one can attempt to befriend it. Similar to how shadows work in people’s minds, shadows can either be suppressed or accepted. And just like in people’s minds, should the shadow be accepted, the player gains them in the form of a new mask. The shadow becomes a useful tool in the form of a new persona.   The persona in Persona 5 is stated to be a manifestation of the character’s rebellious will. The characters in the Phantom Thieves are all tricksters, so their personas represent their tenancies to rebel against social norms. In order to gain their persona however, they had to come to terms with their shadows. Each character had been suppressed or abused by corrupt adults who governed what was considered socially acceptable. Their shadow was their knowledge of their abuse; Their knowledge that they were wrong. The acceptance of the fact that they were wronged allowed them to use their personas not as a cripple imposed on them by social norms, but a tool to invoke their own will.   Prior to their personas awakening, The characters surrendered to social norms. Makoto Niijima was an obedient student council president. Ann Takamaki agreed to sexual favors from volleyball “extraordinaire” Konoshida. Like most other people in society, they had surrendered to their socially acceptable self. The face they put on because they were told it was for the best, but knew deep down that it was not. Most NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the game wear the mask of obedience. Like personas in the Metaverse, the mask of obedience is given physical parallel. In Japan, people wear a face mask to work if they are sick. An overwhelming number of people in the game are wearing face masks.   The difference between the face masks and the masks the Phantom Thieves wear post-awakening is the placement. Face masks cover the mouth. NPCs walk around slouched over almost machine like with their mouths invisible. In addition, their eyes are either covered by their hair or not present at all. The NPCs not only refuse to speak out against what can be seen, but refuse to even see it. The Phantom Thieves’ masks however cover the upper part of the face, leaving clear holes for eyes. Within the social setting for the Phantom Thieves, opposition is encouraged. Their personas are that of rebellion. A social setting that allows for such ambition can only be accomplished with the idealistic naivety of teenagers. Indeed, the people in society with the strongest personas, and consequently, the most potential to invoke change, are the youth.   The Phantom Thieves adopt the “gentleman thief” trope in fiction. Their costumes in the metaverse are well made. They peruse the palace with elegance. Haru Okumura even sips a cup of tea after defeating a shadow. The player character’s persona is called “Arsene”. One of the most famous gentleman thief characters in fiction is Arsene Lupin from various novels written by Maurice Leblanc. The character Arsene, much like the Phantom Thieves themselves, is a force of good will underneath the law; A Robin Hood of gentleman thievery. The player character’s persona sharing a name with an iconic gentleman thief is characteristic of his trickster archetype. Gentleman thievery is by nature a trickster role. The thief hides their intent behind a facade of good manners and sophisticated attitude, but steals from the foul to give to the needy. Similarly, the Phantom Thieves use their personas, their social mask, to deceptively expose the ugly truths of corrupt adults. By day, the Phantoms fool the public with an appearance of normal high school life. Within their own social circle however, they don their personas, their trickster alter egos, and expose the folly of mankind.   A prominent motif in Persona 5 is that of prison and captivity. The Velvet Room, a room that is a physical representation of what the player character feels, is a prison. Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter the Prison of Regression, a prison in the metaverse that holds the obedient public’s shadows. The source of the imprisonment is desire. People’s desires to be socially accepted tie them down to captivity. Similarly, desire is also the source of distortions in perception. Konoshida allowed his desire for superiority over his students to distort how he perceived the school. The general public’s desire to be accepted distorted their perception of the world so that it was no longer theirs. In stark contrast to the desires of the public are the desires of the Phantom Thieves: The clarification of perception. A trickster’s work is fueled by their pursuit for truth. Desire is what makes all people do anything. The question becomes whether or not its application will lead to distortion or clarification.   Futaba Sakura let desires imprison her. Before she became a member of the Phantom thieves, Futaba was a society shut-it. She never left her room. She was told that her mother committed suicide because of her. Futaba developed a desire to bring her mother back; a desire to atone for what she had done. She had her own palace that took the form of a tomb. She was convinced that her own room was the tomb that she must die in to atone for what she understood as killing her mother. Not only wrongdoing adults can have palaces. Anyone whose desires distort their perception are subject to corruption. Futaba’s desire to atone made her lock herself in her own room. She was, in a very literal sense, a prisoner of her own desire.   Freedom is the power to choose a persona. The general public roams the street bearing the same white face-mask. The Phantom Thieves however, wear masks that reflect their own aspirations and preferences. For example, Ann Takamaki has stated that she has always admired aspects of strong female antagonists in fiction. She cites their resolve, independance, and deceitful but clever methods of achieving goals. Ann is infatuated with the femme fatale character archetype. Similar to Arsene, the name of Ann’s persona, “Carmen”, is shared by a famous fictional character that exemplifies a type of trickster. Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella saw the debut of Carmen, the iconic femme fatale. The reference stands as a testament to the nature of Ann’s social self. When Ann awakened to her persona, she became the type of character she has always admired. Her mask became that of her own aspirations.   The other characters of the Phantom Thieves were also prisoners at a point, but they accepted their shadow. They realised that they had been wronged; That a part of them was contrary to social norms. When the thieves awakened to their persona, a mask appeared on their faces. In order to gain the power of the persona however, they needed to take it off for the first time. The mask seemed welded onto the characters’ faces. When they took it off, there was blood. Taking the mask off was painful. The removal is symbolic of proving that it can be removed. The pain shows that accepting one’s inner demons may be hard, but can be done. From that point onward, the Phantom Thieves could take their masks on and off as they pleased. There were no longer prisoners. They were free.   The masks the Phantom Thieves wore however are still masks. They are the disguise: The paramount equipment for a thief. The Phantom Thieves are merely high school students. Half of the game is simply studying for the upcoming midterms and socializing with other students. Fantasy however, is the first step to change. All ideas were at one point a hope for the future that had yet to come true. When the thieves dawn the mask, they get to play the liberating game of pretend. Ryuji is no longer a failed runner that broke his leg, but Skull, the blunt force of the group. Futaba is no longer a society shut-it, but Oracle, the overseeing operative of heists. The masks they wear when becoming the Phantom Thieves allow them to enjoy their own fantasy. Their idealism allowed to the Phantom Thieves to invoke change. Ironically, it is precisely because of their fantasy that they have such a real impact on the world.   It is when society has reached a point of figurative captivity that the tricksters, the Phantom Thieves, need to step in between the two farmers with a deceptively black and white hat. Tricksters are needed to expose Man’s folly and to free society from captivity. Persona 5 not only successfully illustrates Carl Jung’s ideas of personas and shadows, but proves their necessity for the good tricksters to do their jobs.     That was it Please let me know what you think or share any ideas on how I can improve. (as well as critique my own analysis if you disagree with it)   Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

Man, am I glad you found this. TOO many people on this site and around the whole fanbase got hyped up for no reason. It blows everything and ruins the experience. In fact, I am putting the link for this in my status and tell the rest of the site here to calm down when it comes to this kind of stuff with KH3.

purhaps your right about it being better then them doing jack squat marketting before. and i know that the youtubers dont do reviews. thats why i mentioned them. there just people that were payed to give the game publicity. i just take issue with nintendo paying popular youtubers to promote their game. i stated that i never had anything wrong with reviews and stated why i know they need to exist. its just the youtubers that dont review that are acting as means of publicity for nintendo not because of the love of the product by the youtubers, but because nintendo payed them with success in their own channel as well as of course, the game. its a win win for both parties. i just feel that the reason behind this publicity (being payed with publicity/the game and not the actual love of the product) is a bit distasteful imo. thats not to say that they dont actually love the product, (im sure many of them think its great) but i dont think smosh games would have put out videos about the new 3ds and MH4U if it worent for them being payed. some might legitametly love the product, but in the end, from what im seein, whats pushing them to make a video is again, the free publicity for their channel given to them by nintendo in exchange for them promoting the product. however, i know this is business. both parties need publicity in order to be succesful. and i understamd that this a a means of perfectly attaining a win win scenario for both the youtuber and nintendo. however it still leaves a meh taste in my mouth. however you guys are right in that it is better than no marketing at all i suppose. sry i missed that.

Nintendo hardly markets so this is finally a good move by them, it's about time they did, there brand alone can't sell if they don't promote their new products

It sounds like the people you're mentioning who are saying all these good things aren't reviewers, but just the popular Youtubers, so of course they won't really say much other than "This is fun!" They're not really experienced in proper reviews, so they're not going to go into detail, or really point out where the game could improve. They're just helping Nintendo to show the games off, and I'd imagine that they're doing a good job at that (I personally can't stand channels like Smosh, but they have large fanbases, and using them for exposure is a smart move on Nintendo's part).
 
JWittz does a lot of reviews professionally, so it makes more sense for him to give an in-depth analysis at a game's inner workings. I can't possibly imagine channels such as Smosh going into a professional discussion about what games do well, and what they do not so well. Nintendo's not really doing anything shady, they're just trying to show their games to new audiences in the hopes of getting more attention and sales. It's definitely a major improvement from their times of barely marketing their games (And only popular games like Mario at that. Ever remember seeing commercials for Xenoblade or Fire Emblem before the current console generation? Me neither). Advertisements from the more popular Youtube channels are good for spreading word, while reviews from professional review channels are more effective for those of us who are more serious about gaming.

The fanbase being like this only feeds into the idea of all KH fans being childish which is thought by other gaming communities.
 
I don't wanna hate or anything, but people being GENUINELY angry over the fact that we didn't get a new trailer for KH3 on Sunday was childish. Square didn't promise anything, the fans got their hopes up without second thought. If they'd done research instead of jumping the gun and thinking this was a big event they'd realise the true D23 is in November.
 
The amount of information Tetsuya gave out during interviews at E3 was enough for another 3 trailers. Some of us were being too greedy and then blamed Square Enix. I want some things to be a mystery, it would suck for most things in KH3 to be revealed before the game even releases.

Talking shit about my anime, talking shit about my waifu!
 
Also, be careful. Someone might think you're serious and get butthurt.

why? i see nothing wrong with it. ive never sold any but i have bought them before and dont regret it. a person recieved a demo code to a gae and doesent want it so he/she sells it to a person that does want it. i for one really wanted a demo code for smash 3ds but didnt get one due to my not being a club nintendo platinum member. so i went on ebay and bought one for 10 dollars. so did my sister and friend. i dont regret the purchase because i had a great time with the demo. i understand the argument that states "its immoral to make money off of a demo" i really do nderstand that. however, we live in a day and age where demo codes exist. and if someone who really wants one doesent get one, and a person who has no interest in it gets one, i agree that it should just be given. however, that leads to incredibly overcluttered reddit posts about giving away smash demo codes *hint hint remember that?* and i think that selling the codes provides an easy way for a person who recieved a code but didnt want it to give it to another person who does want it. and also get something in return for his/her effort. the money not only repays people who sell the codes, but gives them more insentive. if someone is willing to sell his/her code, then that means that they dont value it. and person who is willing to pay for the code, is someone who would value it. so, its a means to get something from a person who doesent value it to a person that will value it. the person who values it gets their demo code and the seller gets something out of something he/she would normally not benefit from. everyone wins. of course, this is all assuming that these sellers got the codes they are selling in an innocent way. as long as their method of obtaining the code doesent stop another person from getting the code for free, like sniping a code on a certain reddit thread that was intended to be a free thing, then flipping it on ebay. thats absolute BS. as long as it was NOT done like that, then its ok. if the seller got the code in a way that would stop another actual fan from getting a code for free, then i have a problem with it. the same problem i have with scalping of products. (most notably movie tickets and freaking amiibo) your making it harder for an actual fan to get their hands on what they want because of the scalper's own selfish desires for money. if this is the same thing with demo codes, then i agree that it is bad. however, if the way that the seller is obtaining the code DOESENT stop an actual fan from getting it for free, then im all for it.
 
feel free to critisise my opinion. im open to other opinions. i created this topic only to better understand others so any reply would be appreciated as long as it is civil

how many topic titles on this site are named "XD"!?...........................
 
lol

OH! theres a male lead character and a female supporting character!..... what if............!
 
lol

i love competition. the whole idea of the constant progression to get better at something that you love and comparing your skills to others, only to either win, (something fun to happen) or lose. (which encourages more growth in skill. its still a good thing) its a win-win situation for me if i win or lose. competition is one of the things in life that i truly love with a passion.
 
with this love, it wouldent be too surprising that competative fighting games would be my second favorite game genre (next to RPGs which involve complex storytelling and valuable experiences for the beholder/player [another thing i truly love] but thats a topic for another time) i truly love competative fighting games. and wouldent you know it, i can only experience one fighting game (out of so many out there) optimally. smash bros. (because i own a gamecube controller) in order to fully enjoy a game, i believe that playing it must be a comfortable experience. even more so if you are in a competition when you need to be at peak preformance. and the controller, is a VERY large part of comfortability in a video game. i own a gamecube controller (which i consider to be the best and most comfortable controller for smash bros) so i am able to play smash bros optimally. and i do truly love smash bros. it is my favorite game in the competative fighting genre. however its not the ONLY game in the genre. and i do love other fighting games very much as well. however, i cant enjoy them to the fullest without the right controller. and what controller do most fighters use? an arcade stick.
 
now, if you noticed my discussion threads and statuses all that time ago on this site, you might be saying "but you have an arcade stick. remember? you built one." and yes. i did build one. i built one to enjoy the world of fighting games that optimally requires one. and i did so. this is how i grew to love many fighting games. and i decided that my personal preference for these games wa an arcade stick (im aware that there are those who prefer fight pads or regular controllers and that is ok) i really loved playing with my homemade arcade stick........ until it broke. now, i did order a new chip to wire up to the buttons, joystick, etc. and that revived it...... for about 2 weeks or so.
 
now, ive given up on making a high quality arcade stick. i needed to actually buy one. one that has excelent reviews across the board and would fit my needs PERFECTLY! enter, my situation at the present moment. i think its about time i played some fighting games other than smash bros again. i would REALLY like to play the games i used to play with my old arcade stick, as well as some other fighting games that i never got around to playing. not only did i already give up on making a high quality one, but these games i would also be getting for te ps4 meaning that even if i repaired my arcade stick (again) it still woulent work because it doesent support ps4. this leaves me with one option. buy one.
 
i dont want any arcade stick. i wantd a high quality one. again, one that was universally loved and had great review scores. enter the Madcatz Tournament Edition 2. an arcade stick that meets all of these criteria and is considered one of the best of the best. only problem: it costs 200 dollars o.O i cant afford that right now. and this happened right before the SFV beta becomes playable. of course. its not just my luck. its perception bias. but its still frustrating but nevertheless, my birthday is comming up soon. while i seriously doubt id be able to get something that costed even 100 dollars for my birthday, i still have something. plus, ive been working very hard on an online course durring my summer vacation. im still unsure as to if i will be able to get it, but i can still hope. and for those of you who ask, i actually want to get a job so i can make he money on my own. however, i cant find a job no matter how i try and even if i could, i already have an online course to take.
 
what wa sthe point of this thread? nothing. absolutly nothing. this thread has no purpose other than "just cus i felt like sharing". lol i felt like explaining for some reason. and with that, i digress. thank you for reading that sad excuse for a short and concise opening to a discussion thread. lol if you have any thoughts then please feel free to share

i love competition. the whole idea of the constant progression to get better at something that you love and comparing your skills to others, only to either win, (something fun to happen) or lose. (which encourages more growth in skill. its still a good thing) its a win-win situation for me if i win or lose. competition is one of the things in life that i truly love with a passion.
 
with this love, it wouldent be too surprising that competative fighting games would be my second favorite game genre (next to RPGs which involve complex storytelling and valuable experiences for the beholder/player [another thing i truly love] but thats a topic for another time) i truly love competative fighting games. and wouldent you know it, i can only experience one fighting game (out of so many out there) optimally. smash bros. (because i own a gamecube controller) in order to fully enjoy a game, i believe that playing it must be a comfortable experience. even more so if you are in a competition when you need to be at peak preformance. and the controller, is a VERY large part of comfortability in a video game. i own a gamecube controller (which i consider to be the best and most comfortable controller for smash bros) so i am able to play smash bros optimally. and i do truly love smash bros. it is my favorite game in the competative fighting genre. however its not the ONLY game in the genre. and i do love other fighting games very much as well. however, i cant enjoy them to the fullest without the right controller. and what controller do most fighters use? an arcade stick.
 
now, if you noticed my discussion threads and statuses all that time ago on this site, you might be saying "but you have an arcade stick. remember? you built one." and yes. i did build one. i built one to enjoy the world of fighting games that optimally requires one. and i did so. this is how i grew to love many fighting games. and i decided that my personal preference for these games wa an arcade stick (im aware that there are those who prefer fight pads or regular controllers and that is ok) i really loved playing with my homemade arcade stick........ until it broke. now, i did order a new chip to wire up to the buttons, joystick, etc. and that revived it...... for about 2 weeks or so.
 
now, ive given up on making a high quality arcade stick. i needed to actually buy one. one that has excelent reviews across the board and would fit my needs PERFECTLY! enter, my situation at the present moment. i think its about time i played some fighting games other than smash bros again. i would REALLY like to play the games i used to play with my old arcade stick, as well as some other fighting games that i never got around to playing. not only did i already give up on making a high quality one, but these games i would also be getting for te ps4 meaning that even if i repaired my arcade stick (again) it still woulent work because it doesent support ps4. this leaves me with one option. buy one.
 
i dont want any arcade stick. i wantd a high quality one. again, one that was universally loved and had great review scores. enter the Madcatz Tournament Edition 2. an arcade stick that meets all of these criteria and is considered one of the best of the best. only problem: it costs 200 dollars o.O i cant afford that right now. and this happened right before the SFV beta becomes playable. of course. its not just my luck. its perception bias. but its still frustrating but nevertheless, my birthday is comming up soon. while i seriously doubt id be able to get something that costed even 100 dollars for my birthday, i still have something. plus, ive been working very hard on an online course durring my summer vacation. im still unsure as to if i will be able to get it, but i can still hope. and for those of you who ask, i actually want to get a job so i can make he money on my own. however, i cant find a job no matter how i try and even if i could, i already have an online course to take.
 
what wa sthe point of this thread? nothing. absolutly nothing. this thread has no purpose other than "just cus i felt like sharing". lol i felt like explaining for some reason. and with that, i digress. thank you for reading that sad excuse for a short and concise opening to a discussion thread. lol if you have any thoughts then please feel free to share

I agree .

Yes, I am planning to sell my soul to Square Enix I'm gonna nick name my PS4 and call it "SquareStation 1.0

ur right. cant wait for all 3 of those games

It's fine. I just wanted to explain the whole Disney/Naruto situation.