Nyarlathotep (Megami Tensei)

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|-|Adolf Hitler=
|-|False Kashihara=
|-|The Faceless God=
|-|Moon Howler=
|-|True Nyarlathotep=
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==Summary==
Nyarlathotep is a notable antagonist in Megami Ibunroku Persona, and the main antagonist of Persona 2: Innocent Sin and its sequel, Eternal Punishment. An entity that embodies the destructive side of the Collective Unconscious, and therefore the shared evils and sins of mankind. He believes that humans are destined to destroy themselves, as opposed to his counterpart, Philemon, the embodiment of creation and the virtues of humanity, who believes that humans will instead achieve a perfected state of harmonious enlightenment, and proposed that the two establish a bet to see which of their ideologies would prove victorious in the end. In order to spin things to his own favour, Nyarlathotep constantly plots and schemes to bring about the downfall of mankind and prove their folly, leading to the events of the Persona 2 duology itself.
==Powers and Stats==
Tier: | | | , higher with transformations
Key: Adolf Hitler | Great Father | The Faceless God | Nyarlathotep
Name: Adolf Hitler, "The Fuhrer" | Nyarlathotep, as well as several titles and epithets such as "The Faceless God," "The Dweller in Darkness," "The God of a Thousand Forms," "The Blind, Faceless One" and "The Crawling Chaos." Though the entity itself technically has no defined name or identity.
Origin: Megami Tensei
Gender: Commonly referred to as a masculine entity, though it is genderless and can assume forms of both sexes.
Age: 110 years old by the events of Innocent Sin | Irrelevant.
Classification: Leader of the Last Batallion, Avatar of Nyarlathotep | Embodiment of the Collective Unconscious, Counterpart of Philemon, Shadow of Humanity, Archetype of Existential Destruction. Human.
Powers and Abilities:
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|-|Fuhrer=
Base: Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Expert Spear Wielder, Supernatural Willpower, Flight, Reactive Power Level, and Reactive Evolution (In times of dire need, Persona users can massively increase their strength to the point where those who previously stomped them can be overwhelmed by their sheer aura. Persona users can manifest new abilities and force their Persona's to evolve mid-fight, and change the tides of battle), Power Nullification and Sealing (The Spear of Destiny can inflict wounds that never heal, either naturally or by magic, and take effect instantly, and even degraded copies of it can seal away Personas and magical abilities), Invulnerability (Can grant himself general invulnerability over a variable amount of time with the Holy Grail), Darkness Manipulation, Death Manipulation and possibly Existence Erasure (Omega Cluster inflicts instant death on an enemy party, starting with its weakest member, and, in his own words, returns them to nothing), Electricity Manipulation, Resistance Negation
Resistances and Affinities: Darkness Manipulation and Light Manipulation, as well as Existence Erasure, Information Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Soul Manipulation, Fusionism and Memory Manipulation (Simply having the potential to awaken a Persona grants one a will firm enough to maintain their own existence and individuality in the unconscious world, where the concept of the ego does not exist and all individuality dissolves into oneness, with ordinary people being immediately overwhelmed by the nothingness and scattered throughout all possible worlds by stepping into it)
|-|Faceless God=
Abilities: All previous powers to immensely greater degrees, as well as: Cognitive Physiology (Archetype), Natural Weaponry and Elasticity. Magic, consisting of: Earth Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Enhanced Power Nullification and Curse Manipulation. Dimensional Travel, Cosmic Awareness, Clairvoyance (As one of the more powerful avatars of Nyarlathotep, the Faceless God should possess the same capabilities as Rago, who could directly access the Akashic Records of the Collective Unconscious to instantly learn any information he desires regarding his opponents)
Resistances and Affinities: Absorption of Darkness Manipulation and Curse Manipulation. Invulnerability to Light/Dark-based Death Manipulation, Biological Manipulation and Mind Manipulation
|-|Nyarlathotep=
Abilities: All previous powers to far greater extent. Additional Magic, including Fire Manipulation, Water Manipulation, Air Manipulation, Gravity Manipulation, Light Manipulation, Holy Manipulation and Mind Manipulation. Damage Boost and Limited Durability Negation (With Guard Punish, which functions such that defending targets receive double the damage they would've received had they not been guarding at all). Status Effect Inducement, which includes Empathic Manipulation (Confusion), Illusion Creation and Paralysis Inducement. Shapeshifting (Nyarlathotep can appear as anyone and anything he desires, though he is most often represented as a black butterfly), Avatar Creation (Can create and control embodiments of himself, taking the form of lesser deities, such as the Faceless God, and even humans capable of using Personas, such as Rago)
Resistances and Affinities: All previous abilities to a far greater extent, Invulnerability and/or Absorption of various forms of attack, including Darkness Manipulation, Curse Manipulation, Light/Dark-based Death Manipulation, Biological Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Energy Manipulation and Resistance Negation (capable of changing his affinities as desired, depending on how seriously he takes a confrontation)
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Attack Potency: Outerverse level (Can do battle with the entire end-game cast of Innocent Sin simultaneously, and, although defeated, ultimately put up a fight against them, meaning he is likely superior to Personas such as Sakya) | Outerverse level (Far more powerful than Hitler, being an entity created with the purpose of serving as "the ultimate obstacle" for Tatsuya's party to overcome as part of a trial to showcase their worth) | Outerverse level (The most powerful of all Trapezohedron Demons and the final one to be faced by the Eternal Punishment cast during their journey through Kadath Mandala, able to easily toy with them in a battle and casually laughing off his own defeat, only allowing them to proceed due to his own desire to do battle in the flesh, whereas they had previously defeated Umr at-Tawil. Stated to exist at the root of the Outer Gods that exist past the Ultimate Gate, being the manifestation of their collective will and consciousness) | Outerverse level (Nyarlathotep is the shadow of humanity and the archetype of existential destruction that resides on a domain even deeper than Kadath Mandala, acting as the foil to Philemon and the dark side of the Collective Unconscious, with the two forming "one unified existence" from which all human souls, alongside the world itself, and all infinite archetypes, are born, as they are personifications of humanity as a whole, giving birth to all gods and demons. Warped his entire realm into the shape of a cube, giving it form and structure so the Eternal Punishment cast could travel through it, and easily caught a sword strike from Tatsuya during their first meeting in Monado Mandala), higher with transformations (The Moon Howler is considerably more powerful than his human avatars, being, out of infinitely-many, the form which Nyarlathotep assumes when in need to engage in direct combat against threatening opponents, and his final form is even more so, being his true self of which all others are mere parts or "embodiments")
Speed: Immeasurable Reactions and Combat Speed | Immeasurable | Omnipresent (Those who inhabit the unconscious, archetypal world are untied from space and time and diffused throughout all of existence, experiencing "all dimensions and possibilities") | Omnipresent
Lifting Strength: Unknown | Immeasurable
Striking Strength: Outerverse level | Outerverse level | Outerverse level | Outerverse level, higher with transformations
Durability: Outerverse level | Outerverse level | Outerverse level (Shrugged off attacks from the end-game cast of Eternal Punishment, toying with them throughout the entire fight) | Outerverse level, higher with transformations (Engaged in an extended battle with Tatsuya's party both as the Moon Howler and in his true form, only being defeated through their combined efforts)
Stamina: Superhuman | Infinite (Lacks a true physical form, existing entirely on the conceptual level instead)
Range: Extended Melee Range, up to Dozens of Meters with Magic. Likely Outerversal with his Persona | Outerversal.
Standard Equipment:
The Spear of Destiny: A legendary lance said to have once belonged to Saint Longinus, an alleged Roman soldier who, during the site of Jesus' crucifixion, sought to confirm the Son of God's death by piercing his side, creating a wound that spilled blood endlessly, never to be healed, and which later came to be known as the fifth and final of the Holy Wounds of Christ.
In truth, this story was entirely fabricated by Nyarlathotep, but as human thoughts and beliefs shaped and influenced the flow of reality, so did the Holy Lance itself come into being, with its mythical background causing human cognition to grace it with the ability to grant certain death to those pierced by it, creating wounds that take effect instantly and are incapable of being healed, either naturally or by magic. The spear is also able to seal off an individual's Persona, preventing them from utilizing their powers for an uncertain duration.
Intelligence: Nigh-Omniscient. Exists as an incarnation of the dark side of every human, past, present and future, throughout infinite universes, and thus possesses the accumulated knowledge of humanity on this scale, ontop of himself acting as one half of the fundamental wellspring of all awareness and consciousness, which provides humans with the very ability to comprehend and rationalize their own surroundings in accordance to a set of patterns.
Weaknesses: Nyarlathotep draws power from the negative thoughts and emotions of humanity, and thus he can be both strengthened and weakened by the masses' state of mind, although this seems to work in reverse as well, as his own defeat led to the hearts and souls of the people being changed en masse.
Notable Attacks/Techniques:
Almighty Attacks: The highest class of spells in the Megami Tensei franchise, consisting largely of powerful non-elemental attacks that have the special property of completely bypassing any resistances or immunities that a target may possess, be them innate or magically enforced, the latter of which including anything from reflective barriers to items that distort the very laws of the universe in order to protect the user from all forms of damage, and they are likewise unable to blocked, drained or generally defended against.
Buffs and Debuffs: A set of skills that, as the name implies, allows the caster to greatly amplify their own physical attributes and reduce that of their foes, thus allowing one to stand up to much stronger opponents by closing or even reversing the gap in power between them. Outside of gameplay limitations, they can be stacked indefinitely, and sufficient usages of buffs allow the caster to survive attacks that would otherwise obliterate them with only minor injuries and amplify their speed to the point of completely outspeeding opponents that could previously predict all of their movements, while debuffs have a directly proportional effect on the enemy's statistics.
Faceless God Avatar: The avatar of Nyarlathotep that is fought at the end of the Extra Scenario in the PSP version of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. He holds both Randolph Carter's Trapezohedron of Emotion and Shiori Miyashiro's Trapezohedron of Reflection.
* Crawling Chaos: The Faceless God unleashes a veil of darkness that inflicts Huge Almighty damage to all foes while sealing their magic.
* Asteroid Bomb: Summons an asteroid that inflicts Huge Almighty damage to all foes.
* Trial of Darkness: Deals large Dark damage and inflicts dark-based instant death to all foes.
* Transient Ripple: Nullifies all enemy buffs, shields and regeneration.
* Armageddon R: Inflicts immeasurable damage over a wide area, far surpassing the power of Armageddon, which was already powerful enough to instantly one-shot enemies of comparable strength to the user.
Moon Howler: The form taken by Nyarlathotep while manifested as a full deity, fought during the final events of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
* Megidolaon: A powerful Almighty attack that hits over a wide area, tapping into "the pale light of divinity" which reigns over the concept of destruction itself in order to engulf all opponents into "the total annihilation beyond death."
* Omega Cluster: Creates an enormous and lasting field of dark energy that instantly kills one enemy at a time starting from the weakest every few moments.
* Unperishable Black: Halves all enemies' HP.
* Guard Punish: A powerful Almighty attack that deals double damage against defending targets.
* Shadow Kill: Shadows erupt from the ground to inflict heavy physical damage to all enemies.
Miscellaneous Abilities: Due to being the archetype that Personas named "Nyarlathotep" base themselves on, Nyarlathotep himself would naturally have all of their abilities. This would also apply to entities that take their power from Nyarlathotep, such as Great Father. All such abilities are as listed below:
* High Pressure: Medium Almighty damage over a wide area.
* Unseasonable Bloom: Medium Wind and Mind damage over a wide area. Inflicts confusion.
* Abortive Slash: Medium Physical damage over a wide area. Inflicts confusion.
* Floral Profusion: Medium Almighty damage over a wide area. Inflicts illusions.
* Faerie Wind: Medium Wind and Mind damage over a wide area.
* Ziodyne: Heavy Electric damage to a single foe. Inflicts paralysis.
* Hamaon: Inflicts Light-based instant death to one foe.
* Alpha Blaster: Deals persisting Light damage to all enemies.
* Holy Sword: Heavy non-elemental damage to all enemies. Inflicts Light-based instant death.
* Holy Grail: Grants self complete invulnerability for a variable amount of time.
* Holy Ark: Unleash a flurry of energy beams that deal high Almighty and Dark damage over a wide area.
* Vril-Blitz: A high-power electric attack over a wide area that heals the user. Inflicts shock.
* Holy Lance: Uses a copy of the Spear of Destiny to deal high physical damage and seal away the target's magical abilities.
* Despairing Dream: Casts a field that allows Nyarlathotep to bypass resistance to Soul Manipulation and deal direct damage to the spirit.
* Firestorm: A high-power surge of flames over a wide area.
* High Pressure: A medium Almighty attack that hits over a wide area.
* Reminiscence Wave: A high-power energy attack that affects a wide area.
* Earth's Anger: A high-power Earth attack that causes large jagged stones to burst out of the ground and ravage all enemies.
* Seals Raid: Phantasmal men appear and beat up a single target, dealing medium Havoc damage to all enemies.
* Hurricane: A high-power Wind attack that summons a powerful hurricane.
* Delusion Channeling: A heavy energy attack that affects a wide area.
* Fear Torrent: A high-power Water attack that summons surging geysers from the ground.
* Master 18: Dozens of phantasmal men manifest and unleash a flurry of attacks on a single target.
True Nyarlathotep: The form taken by Nyarlathotep when harnessing his full power. He claims that the form is one that had never been seen by any other prior to revealing it to the main cast of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, having been driven to his limits by their strength. It is unknown if "any other" includes Philemon, his supposed equal.
* Chaos Element: Inflicts high damage proportional to the target's strength. Affects a wide area.
* Wheel of Time: A powerful Almighty attack that grows 10% stronger with every use.
* Crawling Chaos: A powerful wide-area Almighty attack that seals away the magical abilities of all targets.
* Shadow Kill: Shadows erupt from the ground to inflict heavy physical damage to all enemies.
* Transient Ripple: Nullifies all enemy buffs, shields and regeneration.
==Notable Matchups==
Victories:
Losses:
Inconclusive:
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