Persona 6: Runes and Men

Persona 6: Runes and Men is a JRPG by Italian company Bushido Games, released for the Playstation 6. 
It's part of the Persona series by Atlus. 
== Themes ==
While P3 had blue, P4 had yellow and P5 had red, the game's color theme is white, because it represents snow (which is frequent in Hokkaido) but also purity, tradition, mysticism, spirituality, beauty, virginity, isolation, purification, refusal of multiculturalism and cancel culture, uncontaminated nature and pagan faith, but also death and erasure of identity. 
The game's dungeons take place in the Kamui Mosir, an alternative world which is said to be inhabited by spirits of nature (which are called Kamui by the Ainu) and contains the shadows of the masses. As Shinozaki Corporation alters nature to bring progress, the spirits turn into Vengeful Spirits and cause various disasters, which the party, the Runeslayers, have to stop through their rituals. Said spirits later help the Runeslayers against Shinozaki. 
Another main theme is apparent emptiness and inability to express true feelings, as shown by the Kandakoro Mosir, which is this game's equivalent to the Mementos and shields the Mosir Core, where the protagonist's Shadow Self resides. The protagonist felt their life as an ordinary student in Sapporo oppressive, and the forced awakening to a Persona before accepting their Shadow caused said Shadow to become stronger and awaken a Reverse Persona. 
Both the protagonist and their sibling have passed through states of "death" and loss of identity, but in the end both are alive and have reconciled and turn over a new leaf. Despite this, however, both have completely given up their identity, as the protagonist, alive in the body of the Chinese boy Baldur, is renamed Wotan by their sibling, who themselves have given up their name and hide their face under a mask, becoming only known as Hodr the Blind. 
== Plot ==
The plot is split into two episodes: Raido (old Norse for "journey"), the main episode, akin to Persona 3's The Journey, starring Einar/Sigrun, and Fimbulvetr, a special episode similar to the Answer that replaces the third semester and focuses on Hodr the Blind, a non-silent masked man who turns out to be the protagonist's thought-dead opposite gender counterpart. 
=== Raido ===
The game starts at night, in a flat in Sapporo, when the protagonist's father Shigetomo Tsuchiya is shot in the head by a masked man who claims to be the Ainu demon Kenas Unarpe, who later proceeds to kidnap the protagonist Einar/Sigrun Tsuchiya and cut their tongue with a knife, making them actually mute, then use said knife to cut their skin in order to form weird tribal glyphs as if to do some weird ritual. However, the protagonist summons their Persona in self-defense and wounds the killer, who ultimately throws the protagonist out the window and claims that they have "awakened the power of the gods" (a Persona), so they won't die.
You then select the protagonist's gender. They awaken in a hospital, two months afterwards. Doctors have managed to cure most of their wounds but they can't regenerate the lost tongue or make them able to walk again, meaning they're now mute and forced on a wheelchair. In the hospital, they see their brother, who mention that Einar/Sigrun has been declared officially dead, and as such they have been moved to the town of Asaheim. They tell them to make up a false name to use in their daily life, which is the name the player inputs (in the anime, Einar refuses to make up a false name but writes his name in Kanji).
The protagonist is then taken to their new home by their sibling, and then on a tour of Asaheim. As they goes to sleep, they awaken in the Velvet Room, which looks like some sort of shamanic temple, where they meet Philemon and Lavenza. Philemon refers to them as "Voiceless Ghost" and explains them how the the Wild Card works. 
The day after, the protagonist wakes up and is escorted by their sibling to their new school, Asgard High School. Soon, they are bullied for their disability and mutism, however the protagonist's sibling protects them. 
TBA 
=== Fimbulvetr ===
After the protagonist sacrificed themselves to defeat Jormungandr (the evolved form of Shinozaki's Persona Hela), their remains, able-bodied and no longer mute, are still trapped in the Kamui Mosir, which has been corrupted and turned into the Fimbulvetr. Their remaining trauma and sheer will to return to life have produced a cognitive existence named Thrymr, a bloodthirsty abomination which wants to absorb the entire world inside itself to ease the perpetual pain it suffers from by just being alive. The protagonist's remains, however, keeps Thrymr confined in a crystalline replica of Sapporo through the Chains of Gleipnir, which cause only a very small fraction of the abomination's power to leak into the real world, in the form of a violent winter. 
A masked man calling themselves Hodr enters Asgard High School and eavesdrops on Yuiri's class: they find out an exchange student has come from China, Baldur Volsung, and think of the Norse legend of Baldr, whose killing by Loki ended the Fimbulvetr and started the Ragnarok. Hodr plans to take Baldur to the Fimbulvetr as a human sacrifice to imitate Loki, as a way to allow Einar to return to the real world. As the school break sounds, Hodr tries to kidnap the Chinese boy and go to the Fimbulvetr, attempting to kill him in order to have him awaken to his Persona Baldr, just as he did with Einar. 
They're soon attacked by the remains of the Runeslayers. Hodr summons Loki and proves to be a match for all four Persona users at the same time. They tell them they're looking for the protagonist, who is in the core of the Fimbulvetr, in order to bring them back. The Runeslayers, however, claim there has to be a solution that doesn't require killing a real person, to which he replies that, according to Sigmund Joker's research (which Sigrun/Einar stole and gave to former followers of Shido after killing Siegfried), a person who dies in the Collective Unconscious has two possibilities: if the death is recent and doesn't involve the destruction of vital organs, remaining determination in the body allows it to stay "critical" and normal resurrecting spells (Recarm, Samarecarm, etc) can still resurrect it, while, if the deceased cannot maintain determination through death, the victim's consciousness dissipates and causes actual death, which requires two sacrifices to reverse: one of mind (a cognition from the victim's unconscious that has developed an ego of its own) to regenerate the consciousness, and one of blood (another living person) to allow said consciousness to occupy their body and stabilize itself. The first sacrifice was Kvitravn, so Hodr needs Baldur (who is a recently-arrived foreigner, thus someone whose death no one would care about) as the blood sacrifice: Baldur's consciousness will be fully erased from the combined impact of the death and the act of the protagonist's consciousness incarnating and stabilizing. He then takes the party to the Velvet Room, and Philemon proves Baldur has to be sacrificed because the protagonist's unstable consciousness has created an existence known as Thrymr, which is the cause of the Fimbulvetr: the protagonist keeps Thrymr at bay, but unless the sacrifice is performed, their unstable consciousness will eventually lose its determination and Thrymr will break free, expanding the Fimbulvetr and possibly engulfing the whole world. 
The party makes their way through the four Strata, fighting a guardian each time, then, after defeating Utgarda Loki, descend into Breidablik, a crystalline replica of Sapporo with a giant abomination at the center, locked in chains, screaming and writhing to break free. Said creature is Thrymr, and the protagonist is struggling to hold it still. The party then fights Thrymr in order to stop it and gain time before it regenerates, to then perform the blood sacrifice. 
Hodr then fights Baldur one-on-one: if Hodr wins, Baldur will let himself be killed, but if Baldur wins, Hodr himself will serve as the sacrifice. The duel goes on until Hodr wins and performs the sacrifice, impaling Baldur's Persona Baldr with Mistilteinn Arrow, the ultimate attack of his Persona Loki: the protagonist manifests themselves as a ghost in front of Hodr, and enter Baldur's body. 
The ending shows the protagonist (in Baldur's body) opening their eyes in their sibling's arms, as if it all had been just a dream, and, as Sigrun/Einar tells them: "Finally you're awake. It might be hard to get used to this new body, but you're finally alive, and for the first time, whole. I'll finally be able to walk together with you, to hear you express your emotions. As you're no longer Einar/Sigrun, nor Baldur, I want to give you a new name. From now on, I'll name you Wotan, as in the ancient Ainu king that the westerners known as Odin, as in your Persona and as in that which you incarnate the most. Have you forgiven me for what I've done?" they reply: "Yeah..." in Baldur's voice, proving that they're starting to recover from their mutism, and then their sibling replies: "So stand up, brother, and let's spend time together as if the crisis never divided us. Kenas Unarpe is dead, Baldur is dead, Sigrun/Einar is dead and Einar/Sigrun is dead. I am Hodr, and you're my brother, Wotan!", to which he ends with: "I am Wotan". The protagonist (now renamed Wotan) stands up and walks, then the scene cuts to them and their sibling finally taking a walk in the park together, hand in hand.
== Characters ==
=== Playable (including navigators): ===
Einar/Sigrun Tsuchiya (Einar Tsuchiya in the anime): The game's protagonist, an ordinary high school student of Ainu ethnicity, son of the late Shigetomo Tsuchiya. They are not customizable, but made physically mute and paraplegic by a terrorist who claims to be the demon Kenas Unarpe, and only talk through sign language or text messages (dialogue options represent that). Unlike Joker, their internal monologue is introspective instead of just serving as a narration, and actually contains elements of personality. In the Kamui Mosir, their code name is their real name, Einar or Sigrun depending on their gender, but they're also known as the Voiceless Ghost. They are not a self-insert silent protagonist like most Persona main characters, but established characters with name and plot significance who are physically unable to speak. Einar's Persona is Einherjahr, Sigrun's Persona is Valkyrie: both Personae are physical-based, but Einherjahr also has ice attacks, while Valkyrie has fire, and their Ultimate Persona is Odin. Their weapon is a sniper rifle. Their Arcana is the Fool, which later becomes the World. The Mosir Core, the deepest stratum of the Kamui Mosir, is created from their feelings of self-hatred, insecurity, fear and PTSD, which they cannot express, and contains their Shadow Self. They are immune to the Silence status, as they resonate with their Personae so much that they can freely command them without talking. In the Raido good ending, they are pulverized by Jormungandr's Ragnarok Beam as they call on their determination protect the rest of the party: resurrecting spells do not work, so Kvitravn decides to bring them back by fusing with their remains, allowing them to evolve Odin into the Special Persona Wotan and come back to life: they now can speak (though they still have to get used, and as such only speak once) and are able-bodied, though they only exist in the Mosir Core and have lost their Wild Card ability, being instead forced to use Wotan: their suspended existence corrupted the Mosir into the Fimbulvetr. 
Sigrun/Einar Tsuchiya (Sigrun Tsuchiya in the anime): The protagonist's twin sibling, who has saved them from the fall and sent them to Asaheim. Their Persona is the opposite as the one of the protagonist and they're the Death Social Link. Their codename as Runeslayer is Eien (Japanese for "eternity"). It's later revealed they are Kenas Unarpe, who have accepted a job as hitman from Shinozaki to save the family from falling into poverty after their parents lost their job due to the Covid Pandemic. They however hate the dirty business of Shinozaki and have planned for their sibling to awaken a Persona because they want to give them a new, peaceful life, and be killed by them. As Shinozaki was a progressivist and supporter of Toranosuke Yoshida, and an opposer to the conservative Shido, Kenas Unarpe is secretly working with the remains of Shido's men, led by Chojuro Ooe, to destroy Shinozaki from within and at the same time steal Sigmund Joker's research on the Metaverse. They're a Wild Card like the protagonist and as such lack a Special Persona. As an enemy, they use the Death Arcana Persona Loptr. Their weapon is a grenade launcher. Later, it's revealed they survived their battle against the protagonist and become the protagonist of the Fimbulvetr, still non-silent and under the identity of Hodr, using the bow Mistilteinn as their weapon and Loki (of the Fool Arcana) as their Persona, which is the evolved form of their primary Persona created from their will to redeem themselves and allow their sibling to exist in the human world again. 
Yuiri Hirokane: A young shrine maiden, who is the first friend the protagonist makes at Asaheim. She's calm, collected, empathetic, sweet and rather shy, and often hesitant, and always thinks before she acts. She's bi, and as such can romance both the male and female protagonist. Her codename as Runeslayer is Shinko (Japanese for "Faith"). She's of the Temperance Arcana. Her starting Persona is Tokapchup, specialized in fire, healing and buffs, which later evolves into Alfrodull, and her Special Persona is Agni. Her weapon is a submachine gun.
Siegfried Joker: A Japanese-American man, son of a famous American Cognitive Psience researcher named Sigmund Joker. He was the former leader of the Phantom Thieves, who disbanded them after he found out that they were the cause of Shinozaki Corporation's rise. He was known in Tokyo as Ren Amamiya (the last name is his mother's maiden name) and Akira Kurusu (which he made up for himself), but reverted to using his true name after regretting what he had done. He's the Fool Social Link and a mentor figure to the party. He uses his real name Siegfried as his Runeslayer name, and his Persona is Sigurd (he can switch, but he refuses to do it). He is the first navigator (before you recruit Haruhisa) and later a temporary party member, and lets himself be killed by Kenas Unarpe to protect his father's research from both Shinozaki Corporation and Shido's former collaborator Chojuro Ooe (who has revived the Conspiracy). He cannot be romanced and his wife Makoto Niijima-Joker and his sons Wagner, Sigmund-Ryuji and Sae-Ann appear in his Social Link: his SL proceeds with the plot until the fifth level, when Siegfried dies, then it becomes optional and requires interacting with his son Wagner Joker, as you help him overcome his grief. Unlike in Persona 5, he speaks regularly in this game. His weapon is a pistol, and is locked to his special pistol Gungnir. He lacks an Ultimate or Special Persona due to his plotline death. 
Kvitravn: A talking crow who is the guardian of the Kamui Mosir. Unlike Teddie and Morgana, he isn't played for laughs, instead he speaks cryptically and is mostly serious. He's actually a part of the protagonist, representing their personality and being the manifestation of their unconscious, and as such can read the protagonist's thoughts and voice them in their stead. As a part of the protagonist, he can be taken over by the protagonist's Shadow Self. His Persona is Cikap Kamuy, specialized in Wind and Dark, which later evolves into Huginn-Muninn, and his Special Persona is Roc. His weapon is his beak, and it cannot be bought, instead it automatically levels up through plot progression. He's the Devil Social Link. For the final boss, he fuses with Einar/Sigrun to save them from death, which causes Einar to awaken Wotan. 
Nohime Fuyuhara: Another initial member of the Runeslayers and an alumnus of Asgard High School. She has a passion for music and loves playing her shamisen. She can only romance a female protagonist, and, if not romanced, starts a lesbian relationship with Yuiri. Her weapon is a shotgun. Her nickname is Kiseki (Japanese for "miracle"). Her persona is Repun, specialized in ice spells and physical attacks, which later evolves into Ymir, and her Special Persona is Susanoo. She's the Moon Social Link. 
Haruhisa Oda: The navigator of the group. A teacher of Japanese literature in Asgard High School. His nickname is Chie (Japanese for "wisdom"). His Navigator Persona is Sarorun, who later evolves into Freyr, and lacks a Special Persona due to his status as a navigator. He's the Hierophant Social Link. 
Yoruichi Shibata: A former worker at Shimozaki corporation, who has been fired and accused of superstition due to his refusal to vaccinate himself, as he thinks mRNA vaccines are lethal (they have caused various deaths). His codename as Runeslayer is Shinjitsu (Japanese for "truth"). His Persona is Yushkep, which uses psy and lightning attacks, statuses and debuffs and later evolves into Ivaldi, and his Special Persona is Quetzalcoatl. His weapon is a gatling gun. He cannot be romanced. He's the Tower Social Link. 
Masafumi Ito: A formerly famous J-Pop (folk metal in Japan is considered J-Pop) idol who has since been rejected by the musical industry due to his "graduated" age and his refusal to conform to new fashions. He's bi, but despises feminist and LGBT movements that have started to become mainstream in Japan since Yoshida was elected. He hates being called "queer", instead he calls himself "an eldritch spirit" and refers to same-sex relationships as "Brotherhoods of Steel" born from deep devotion and battle camaraderie. His conception of homosexuality is based on the ideas of the controversial philosopher Hans Bluher, whom he mentions in his Social Link as "one of his three main inspirations", the others being Yukio Mishima (a gay Japanese writer who committed seppuku in 1970 to protest against the westernization of Japan) and Yusuke Kitagawa (Masafumi's former boyfriend and still a close friend). He's completely disillusioned with the modern J-pop industry that "has abandoned its mystical and spiritual roots to embrace liberal perversions coming from the West", and claims to "worship the God of Blood the Americans dread, and dread the God of Gold the Americans worship". He had transferred to Asaheim with Yusuke to seek a peaceful life. His nickname as Runeslayer is Nigensei ("duality"). His weapon is an assault rifle. His Persona is Mosirkara, which is specialized in Earth spells and evolves into Tyr, and his Special Persona is Wakinyan. He can be romanced as the male protagonist only, because he sees the female protagonist as "behaving like a man" and the only type of girls he's interested in are those who embody the Japanese ideal of "yamato nadeshiko". He's the Hermit Social Link. 
Baldur Volsung: A Chinese exchange student, who appears only in the Fimbulvetr and, like his mythological namesake, ends up killed by Hodr the Blind as a sacrifice to allow Einar to exist in the real world (and trigger the Ragnarok). His Persona is Baldr, which is specialized in Light, healing and Almighty and doesn't evolve, and his weapon is a bazooka. When the blood ritual is performed and the protagonist is able to return to reality, they occupy Baldur's body and pretend to be him. 
=== Social Links ===
Fool: Siegfried Joker (automatic)/Wagner Joker (after Siegfried dies) (cannot romance)
Magician: Mamoru Hikawa (romance as a girl): A poor first-year who studies at Asgard High School and works at a shop to pay his own studies. His parents lost their job during the Covid Pandemic. He deludes himself that he can manage everything, but he can't and often gets his little money stolen. 
Priestess: Ayumi Chishima (cannot romance): A third-year student at Asgard High School. She's one of the most popular students and is always chased by boys, but she has a chronic fear of confessing her love to her unpopular friend Sho Hisayama.
Empress: Naoko Tomizawa (cannot romance): A science teacher at Asgard High School. She's often detached and professional with other people because she deeply cares for them and doesn't want them to see her as weak and suffer due to her fault. 
Emperor: Shinzo Azai (cannot romance): the leader of the school martial arts club, and a fourth-dan judoka who competed at a national level. 
Hierophant: Haruhisa Oda (cannot romance)
Lovers: Kristof Mikhailovic Santos (cannot romance): A Russian dancer and photo model. He's Yusuke Kitagawa's current boyfriend after breaking up with Masafumi, and is the one who inspires Yusuke's ukiyo-e paintings. His Social Link involves Yusuke too. 
Chariot: Rin Hosokawa (cannot romance): The ace of the school volleyball club. She is tomboyish and energetic. As Kamoshida's case in 2016 has been forgotten, she only remembers Suguru Kamoshida as the coach of the Shujin team and her childhood hero. Dreaming to be "the second coming of Suguru Kamoshida", she forces her teammates to overwork until they collapse, which nets her the hate of most of her teammates. She is in love with a boy named Masaru Utsunomiya, who is in the verge of breaking up with her due to her insistent personality, though they reconcile due to Einar/Sigrun's help. 
Strength: Renjiro Izuya (romance as a girl): A Shogi player, known for winning with intelligent plans after being put at severe disadvantages. He disputes the finals of a tournament against Hifumi Togo.
Hermit: Masafumi Ito (romance as a man)
Wheel: Usami Honda (romance as a man)
Justice: Minato Ishimori (cannot romance): A police officer who survived a bullet to the head after refusing to take a bribe from Shinozaki. He returned to service after awakening from a coma of two months. 
Hanged Man: Ujimasa Oribe (cannot romance): An old man who is kept in the hospital due to a tumor. He is paranoid and fears the day he's going to die. He accept his death and dies peacefully after his Social Link is over, else he still dies in the ending. 
Death: protagonist's sibling (cannot romance)
Temperance: Yuiri Hirokane (romance as both) (cannot romance after October 1st)
Devil: Kvitravn (automatic) (cannot romance)
Tower: Yoruichi Shibata (cannot romance)
Star: Soichiro "Rommel" Nagareboshi (cannot romance) He's the one who mans the "Wolfsangel J-Pop shop", a shop specialized in selling J-Pop disks, cosplay costumes, musical instruments, rune-based gadgets, shinto and Ainu talismans and other stuff pertaining to J-Pop, but secretly sells weapons and armor to the Runeslayers. He's a close friend of Masafumi.
Moon: Nohime Fuyuhara (romance as a girl) (cannot romance after October 1st)
Sun: Koji Tanaka (cannot romance)
Judgment: Runeslayers (plot progression Social Link) 
== Gameplay ==
The game plays very similar to past Persona games. It's split between a Life Phase and a Dungeon Phase: the life phase allows the player to travel through Asaheim and partake in various day-to-day activities, while the dungeons, set in the Kamui Mosir, are where the combat takes place.
Social Links are back. Each rank up grants a new special ability like in P5. Unlike Persona 5, however, Ultimate Personae are acquired during the story, and maxing out a Social Link grants a Special Persona that is not the primary's evolution: each party member can switch freely between the Primary/Ultimate and the Special, just like the protagonist switches between all the Personae they have equipped. 
Unlike Persona 5, you only get a game over when all four party members are dead, and when you die, you can choose to restart a battle from the beginning. This includes multiphase bosses, which don't require you to restart the entire battle but only the current phase. 
Only Einar/Sigrun can switch Personae, however other party members that have unlocked the Special Persona can switch only between the Special and their primary/Ultimate.
== Dungeons ==
Kimun Mosir, Mountain of Brutal Bears
Wakaush Mosir, Abyss of Whirling Waters
Aeoina Mosir, Castle of Sterile Steel
Shiramba Mosir, Forest of Gargantuan Growth
Huchi Mosir, Cave of Furious Flames
Pauchi Mosir, Maze of Infinite Insanity
Tao Cluster, Two Mosir in One: A composite Mosir formed by a fusion of Kinasut Mosir and Hoyau Mosir. It serves as a shield that protects the gate to the Kandakoro Mosir. The protagonists traverse between the two Mosir that form the Cluster by activating Tao Emblems, which transforms a "light zone" into its "dark" counterpart and vice versa. Unlike other Mosir, the player needs to face both bosses to open the gate to Kandakoro, but can choose to face each of them in the order they want: Kvitravn's Persona will evolve after defeating the two bosses. You then fight Kenas Unarpe at the end of the dungeon, before opening the gate. 
Kandakoro Mosir, Mirror of Harsh Truth: the greatest of the Mosir, which houses the Core. It takes the form of a series of high-tech floating islands in the sky connected by roads made of translucent crystals and tunnels filled with light, crystals and mirrors that show flashbacks of the Protagonist's past and true feelings. It houses the Mosir Core, the center of the Kandakoro Mosir, and the source of all Mosir, generated by the trauma of the protagonist themselves. It houses the Seed of Yggdrasil, which grows more and more as Shinozaki diffuses his propaganda in Japan. The protagonist's Shadow Self, AKA Kandakoro, lurks inside it, now embraced and pierced by Yggdrasil's roots. After fighting Kandakoro, the protagonist evolves their Persona into Odin and face Kandakoro's remains. 
Yggdrasil, Tree that Rules the Nine Worlds: All the nine Mosir fused into one through Shinozaki's propaganda network (embodied by the roots that compose the tree. The top houses the Rainbow Ark where Muneshige Shinozaki sits, watching over Asaheim from his throne.
Fimbulvetr, Land of Eternal Winter: A world made entirely of transparent ice, created by the corrupted protagonist who rests in its heart, Breidablik. It has four strata.
Breidablik, Where Light Eternally Rests: A crystalline replica of Sapporo, where the protagonist's spirit lies. 
== Bosses ==
Kimun: A colossal bear Kamui representing the Earth element, which threatens the city with a massive landslide. It's weak to Wind, resists Ice and absorbs Earth. 
Wakaush: A beautiful Kamui taking the shape of a woman made of ice, representing the Water element, which threatens the city with a snowstorm. It's weak to Earth, resists Fire and absorbs Ice. 
Kenas Unarpe (forced loss): The mysterious assassin of Shinozaki Corporation. You have to lose this battle.
Aeoina: A humanoid Kamui taking the shape of an armored warrior with a mask, representing the Thunder element, which threatens the city with a thunderstorm. It's weak to Fire, resists Wind and absorbs Lightning. 
Shiramba: A carnivore plant-dinosaur hybrid Kamui, representing the Wind element, which threatens the city with a hurricane. It's weak to Lightning, resists Ice and absorbs Wind.
Kenas Unarpe: The mysterious assassin of Shinozaki Corporation, who alternates between his Persona Mara, Quetzalcoatl, Yamata-no-Orochi, Lilith and Yatagarasu, then, after being reduced to a quarter of his max health, summons Loptr (a Persona of much higher level than the party, though Siegfried can compete with it). Note: this is the last fight before Siegfried dies.
Huchi: A sphynx/manticore hybrid Kamui, representing the Fire element, which threatens the city with a volcanic eruption. It's weak to Ice, resists Lightning and absorbs Fire. 
Pauchi: A Kamui similar to a giant seven-eyed mask with tendrils coming out from it, which can switch between a physical-based Rorschach Daemon and a magic-based Rorschach Geist by mutating its body through Rorschach Power. It absorbs Psychic, nulls Light and is weak to Dark, and, in its Daemon form, is immune to all elemental magic, while in its Geist form it's immune to physical attacks. 
Kinasut: A black Chinese dragon Kamuy, covered in blood. It absorbs Dark.
Hoyau: A white European dragon Kamuy, covered in crystals. It absorbs Light. 
Kenas Unarpe (second fight): Kenas Unarpe, who now fights you again, revealing himself as a Wild Card. He switches between his Persona Loptr, Norn, Surtr, Mara, Masakado and Ganesha. After you defeat him, he unmasks himself and reveals to be your sibling, who, now weakened, summons Einherjahr/Valkyrie and challenges the protagonist to a one-on-one duel where you are forced to use your starting Persona. 
Kandakoro (Shadow Protagonist) and copy of Kvitravn: the boss of the Mosir Core. They fight together, using the Personae Reverse Einherjahr/Valkyrie and Replica Huginn-Muninn. The player must only kill the Shadow protagonist, as the copy of Kvitravn just serves as a support and will respawn after three turns. Defeating it causes the protagonist's Persona to evolve into Odin. 
Disembodied Kandakoro: The remains of Shadow Protagonist in its berserk form, as it let itself become one with the Yggdrasil and refuses to let go of its suffering. 
Muneshige Shinozaki: the CEO of Shinozaki corporation, who reigns over the Yggdrasil (the manifestation of propaganda and indoctrination fused with the Kamui Mosir) from the Rainbow Ark. He is a Persona user, and controls the mecha-like persona Heimdall (the body, which contains Shinozaki is the main target but doesn't attack) and its four parts Fist of Multiculturalism (left arm), Phallus of Fluidity (cannon on right shoulder), Eye of Surveillance (on the chest) and Panel of Sustainability (epaulette on his left shoulder): the Fist uses strong physical attacks, absorbs physical and is weak to all magic and charges to launch the strong physical attack Egalitarian Revolution (which hits the entire party, is instakill if the player is dizzy, and causes Dizzy if the player isn't guarding), the Phallus uses Almighty magical attacks, absorbs all magic and launches the destructive magical attack Subversion of Binarism, which shoots the entire party for the element each target is weak to (physical if the target has no weakness, so in order to null it you need a Persona that nulls Physical and has no weaknesses) for severe damage and causes a random status ailment depending on the element, the Eye is weak to Dark and reflects Light, "puts into check" a character to counter any attacks thrown from them with an instakill laser, casts buffs and debuffs and uses Imposition Gaze to reduce SP to zero for the entire party and the Panel is weak to physical but reflects all magic, constantly heals the body for a small amount of health, casts shields that allow other parts to reflect magic and charges to use Sustainable Energy to heal both the head and the four parts to full: all four special attacks have a charge turn where each part's defenses are halved so that the player can prevent said attacks by destroying the parts. 
Jormungandr: Shinozaki's Ultimate Persona, created by the masses' induced worship for him. It takes the form of a huge six-winged robotic snake-dragon colored in rainbow, brown and black, that swirls endlessly over the Yggdrasil. The fight consist of two phases plus the finisher: at first, the party fights the six elemental wings, two at a time (Red Wing of Fire, Orange Wing of Earth, Yellow Wing of Lightning, Green Wing of Wind, Blue Wing of Ice and Purple Wing of Psychic), all of which absorb their element and reflect Physical but are weak to the opposite element, and Shinozaki as the Crystal of Protection behind the back of the head (which only casts statuses and instakills), who reflects all magic but is weak to Physical: the goal of this phase is to destroy the Crystal, which can only be targeted between each wave (it can be attacked for as long as the player wants until it reaches certain thresholds of health). You then fight Jormungandr's head, which changes weaknesses each turn: when weak to an element, said boss absorbs everything else and always reflects physical until it weakens defense to maximize attack with Rainbow Charge, which makes it weak to physical, but triples the next attack's damage. Its attacks are: Six Colors, which launches all six low-level elemental spells in a single turn to random targets, Rainbow Wind, which causes high almighty damage to the entire party plus Silence, White Guilt, which takes control of a party member for a turn, Coercion Fang, which hits a character for severe physical damage and causes despair, Forced Progress, which is weak almighty damage that uses a fraction of the user's HP and doubles in power any time it's used until becoming 16 times more powerful, and Dispiriting Look, which sets the target's SP to zero. Then, Shinozaki decides to use Ragnarok Beam from Jormungandr's head, which the protagonist takes, and is then brought back by Kvitravn's sacrifice to destroy Jormungandr using the Special Persona Wotan, to then ultimately destroy the Ultimate Persona with the special attack Gungnir Lance. 
=== Fimbulvetr bosses ===
Farbauti and Laufey: Two giants, one male and one female, that guard the first Stratum of FImbulvetr. Farbauti has no weakness, absorbs physical attacks and uses strong physical attacks such as Giant's Fist, which causes confusion, Crushing Grip, which holds a party member for three turns to then instantly kill them if you don't do enough damage, and Quake Punch, an earth-elemental attack which hits the whole party for high damage and scales with strength instead of magic, and raises his attack and defense with Tarukaja and Rakukaja. Laufey, on the other hand, absorbs any magical attack and casts all six third-tier single target elemental spells, plus Charming Breath, which charms a party member, can heal Farbauti with Diarama and cast Makarakarn on him and raises her magic with Makakaja.
Logi, Kari and Aegir: Three creatures, one of fire, one of wind and one of ice, that guard the second Stratum of Fimbulvetr. Each one absorbs their element and reflects its opposite, and all resist physical. Each one has both the single-target and multi-target high and severe level spells, and all of them have strong physical attacks. Plus they have Delta Strike, a physical attack which deals colossal damage on random targets three times, but requires a charge turn and can be disrupted if at least one is dead.
Fenrir, Midgardsormr and Hela: A humanoid demon, a serpentine demon and a wolflike demon, who guard the third Stratum. Hela uses Light, Dark and Almighty high level magic attacks and instakills, it absorbs both Light and Dark and is weak to Physical. Fenrir, who is a powerful attacker that absorbs Dark and reflects Ice with moves such as Death Fang (an instakill-dealing physical attack), Freezing Fang (an ice-elemental attack that scales with strength and always freezes the target unless guarded) and Shadow Fang (a dark-elemental attack that scales with strength and drains HP). Midgardsormr, on the other hand, is specialized into agility and luck, is immune to Dark, inflicts Poison and has attacks such as Bad Breath (which inflicts a random status ailment between Poison, Sleep, Confuse and Mute to your entire party), Honeyed Breath (which inflicts Charm to a party member unless guarded), Shadow Fang, and Pestilence (which instantly kills any poisoned character). 
Utgarda Loki: The guardian of the fourth Stratum, who protects the gate to Breidablik. It's a copy of Hodr's Persona Loki which possesses higher stats and physical, Dark and Almighty spells of high and severe tier, such as Laevateinn (a colossal almighty damage attach which always targets Hodr), Negative Pile (which causes despair), Brave Blade (which causes colossal physical damage), Mamudoon, and the two shields Tetrakarn and Makarakarn. It reflects Dark and is immune to Light. It's modeled on Persona 5's version of Loki and its fighting style is reminiscent of the second phase of Goro Akechi from Persona 5. 
Thrymr: An abomination confined in Breidablik through the Chains of Gleipnir, which feels eternal pain and hunger, which can only be temporarily eased by taking lives. He has been created by the unstable state of the protagonist as a consciousness without a body. He's the cause of the violent snowstorms in Asaheim and wants to engulf the entire world in snow in order to calm the agonizing pain that accompanies his hunger. It can switch between two "stances" through the use of "Stance Change": the Raging Stance looks like a titanic humanoid mass of faces with six arms, reflects Physical and attacks with Volcano Fist, Quake Fist, Thunderstorm Fist, Tornado Fist, Tsunami Fist, and Insanity Fist (single-target physical attacks which cause instant kill to characters who are weak to the element they're associated with), Jotunn Scream (inflicts Rage both on self and on a party member), Guard Break (causes high damage, lowers target's defense, instant death if the target is guarding), Stun Smash (severe physical damage + Dizzy) and Raging Crush (an all-party physical attack which always causes Mute), plus Makarakarn. The Crying Stance, taking the form of a weird bug-like being made of faces, instead reflects all elemental magic, uses all six severe-damage single-target spells and attacks with Angst Cry (instant death to all party members not immune to dark), Bad Breath, Eternal Rest, Pestilence (instant kill to any sleeping or poisoned party member respectively), Throw Shade (all-party Dark based severe damage attack which inflicts Sleep), Larva (earth-based instant kill to a party member and heals by the victim's current HP), Phantom Mist (which halves all enemies' accuracy and current HP) plus Tetrakarn.
Baldur Volsung: The final duel between Hodr and Baldur to decide who shall sacrifice himself to awaken the protagonist, and as such completely destroy Thrymr and end the Fimbulvetr. Baldur uses his Persona Baldr, while Hodr is limited to using Loki. 
== Soundtrack ==
Most of the OST performed by Damian Schneider, otherwise known as Munknorr. 
While Persona 3 had rap, 4 had pop, and 5 had jazz, P6 has folk-style music and features very few songs with lyrics, often in Icelandic, but never Japanese. Atlus described the game's OST as "shamanic folk".
==== Songs: ====
Raido (main theme of the game): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7MlpWvjGjU
Vindferd (theme of traveling around Asaheim): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VxUURyexhQ
Blòt (theme of Kandakoro Mosir): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5PZLwf-7eo
== Adaptations ==
The game has been adapted into an anime titled "Runes and Men, a Persona Story", and a manga titled "Runes and Men-the Manga". Unlike many Persona adaptations, the number of the game is never featured in the adaptations' titles.
The anime uses Einar as the protagonist, the manga uses Sigrun. 
Both characters stay mute like in the game due to said mutism being a plot point, however the anime and the manga are presented as the audience reading the protagonist's diary, and as such the voice actor for Einar is the anime's narrator, while the manga shows segments of text taken from the protagonist's diary in the game.
== Trivia ==
This game was created to be "anti-woke".
The name "Runes and Men" is a reference to a song by Death in June.
This game has voice acting in English, Japanese and Ainu. A recurring element in the Runes and Men series is voice acting in obscure languages that are native to the setting: the sequel, set in the Japanese exclave of Katanga (near Congo) has Kikongo voice acting instead of Ainu. 
The Physical and Gun elements are now just Physical and the Earth element replaces Nuclear. 
* Wind is opposed to Earth, while Psy and Lightning are opposites.
* Standard Earth spells are named Iwa, Iwala and Iwadyne, and focus on creating rock spikes. The severe damage spells are called Impaling Crystal (one target) and Diamond Glyph (all enemies).
*Earth spells have a chance to heal the user of a quantity of HP equal to the damage dealt.
This game confirms both of Siegfried's possible names as both canon and non canon: he was named Siegfried Joker, but in Japan he was known by his false name Ren Amamiya, however he introduced himself under the false name Akira Kurusu to some of his non-party Social Links and in Strikers (since Ren Amamiya is legally dead), and only went by his true American name after the Phantom Thieves were disbanded.
Einar is a reference to the Einherjahr warriors (and to Einar Selvik), while Sigrun is the name of a Valkyrie in norse mythology. 
It's the first game where the Fool Social Link is not automatic. It's automatic for the first five levels (with Siegfried), then it becomes optional (and involves Siegfried's son Wagner). 
Einar/Sigrun is the only protagonist to be bisexual. 
The name of Kristof Santos was suggested me by a guy who put "Chris Santos" in the playable character, saying "A Filipino in Persona". I changed the name to the more Russian-sounding Kristof and made him a Russian and Yusuke's boyfriend. 
Einar is the only protagonist to have no quotes in battle and to not receive additional dialogue in the anime and manga. This is because his mutism is a physical condition. He's also the first protagonist whose name is fixed and doesn't change between adaptations, though the anime uses Einar as protagonist and Sigrun as Kenas Unarpe, while the manga goes with the opposite. 
* However, Einar/Sigrun has a diary written in first person that tells the plot synopsis, with personal thoughts added, has an internal monologue that explains more about their feelings instead of being simple narration, and speaks like a normal character in some flashback scenes that date to before they were made mute, and Kvitravn and Shadow Einar/Shadow Sigrun represent parts of their personality. Which means that the protagonist that is physically mute is at the same time the one with the most amount of dialogue (though all of it is concentrated in the flashbacks) amongst the Persona main characters, and is not a self-insert at all. 
*Unlike Persona 3's protagonist, Yu Narukami and Joker, there's no way to write off Einar from the story completely when adapting the story into an anime or manga, as the plot is explicitly about him and his mutism is a plot point. 
*"Runes and Men, a Persona Story" is the first anime adaptation in the Persona series to have a narrator. While Persona 5, the game, had internal monologue as narration, it was excised from the anime, while 3 and 4's second-person narrators that address the player directly have been written off, though occasionally referenced in dialogue.
Many characters from Persona 5 return, such as Siegfried, Makoto, Yusuke, Hifumi and Haru, and others have important roles in the plot or in certain social links but are never physically met, such as Toranosuke, Shido, Kamoshida, Madarame and Ann. This is the first Persona post-3 where it happens. 
* Ooe, whose last name was briefly mentioned in Persona 5 (attributed to a Cognition sub-boss in Shido's Palace) is much more important in this game (though he's still unseen) than he is in P5 itself, as Ooe is the one who revived the Conspiracy after Shido's change of heart and is planning to take Sigmund Joker's research on Cognitions and the Metaverse all for himself, using the protagonist's sibling as a triple agent to spy on both Siegfried and Shinozaki. 
Before Runes and Men, Siegfried Joker was alternatively known as Ren Amamiya and Akira Kurusu, but this game establishes that both of those names were canon aliases he had used when interacting with different people, though neither of them was his birth name. 
If the player wants to be a heterosexual girl, they are locked into romancing Renjiro or Mamoru. Most of the heterosexual male SL the protagonist's age have a girlfriend, and despite Masafumi being bi, he dislikes women who "behave like men" (i.e. don't embody the Japanese ideal of Yamato Nadeshiko). 
Masafumi Ito is meant to have all the traits Western audiences would not expect from a bisexual, while Yuiri and Nohime simply don't care about ideologies and their orientation has nothing to do with their character arcs, and both of them are strictly gender-binary. 
This is the first Persona where the protagonist does not evolve his Persona through the cheering of the masses. In fact, masses brainwashed by Shinozaki propaganda outside Asaheim cause Shinozaki's Persona Hela to evolve into Jormungandr, while Einar only awakens Wotan due to Kvitravn's sacrifice (and even then, it's a temporary condition which ends in the protagonist being unable to return to reality, nor to die. 
Unlike Joker, Einar/Sigrun will appear non-silent in this game's sequels and spin-offs, as their mutism has been cured through the body switch. However, in order to avoid canonizing a gender and appearance for them, they look like Baldur, speak with Baldur's voice and are always referred as the name Wotan, which is given them by their sibling as a sign of rebirth. Meanwhile, their sibling will only appear in sequels and spinoffs with the mask they wear as Hodr and a distorted voice. 
According to some historians, the word "Aesir" (Norse gods) is connected to "Asia", meaning that the mythical Asgard could be located in Japan. This game references that theory by portraying Wotan as a local Shinto deity (unknown outside Hokkaido) that is said to protect Hokkaido and as an ancient god-king of the Ainu who is said to have been chosen by the Kamui to depart from Asaheim and civilize the west, where he would be later known as Odin. 
With Katanga: Runes and Men 2, the Runes and Men franchise has become separate from Persona. While this game still has Persona elements such as a silent protagonist and a Japanese (albeit in Ainu territory) high school setting, Runes and Men 2 has a fully voiced and established main character named Yoshitsune Sankara, does not feature high school (Yoshitsune is a university dropout) and is set in a Japanese exclave in southern Congo called Katanga. The voice acting is in Kikongo, not Ainu, because Ainu is not spoken in Katanga. 
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