Arcana

The Arcana are the different classes of Tarot Cards. They are a major thematic element of the Persona series.
The Arcana are divided into the Major Arcana (22 unique cards) and the Minor Arcana (four suits of 14 cards each, not unlike those of traditional playing cards). The Minor Arcana appear in rare events in the Persona 2 duology, only in Shuffle Time in Persona 3 and Persona 4 Golden, and not at all in Megami Ibunroku Persona, Persona 4 and Persona 5.
"Arcana" is properly the plural form, the singular being "Arcanum," but in the Persona series "Arcana" is used for both singular and plural.
==Major Arcana==
thumb|right|250px|Mr. Edogawa's explanation on the 22 Major Arcana.
In the Persona series, the Personas' Arcana are functionally equivalent to demon races. According to the Persona World guide, each Arcana in Megami Ibunroku Persona equals a specific race (such as the Lovers Arcana being composed of demons from the Fairy race). These racial equivalences were partially kept in Persona 2 and abandoned in Persona 3 onwards, which instead divided Personas on how they are most closely related to their Arcana, such as the Lovers Arcana being comprised of demons who are related to love and relationships. The demon enemies of Persona 2 and the enemy Shadows starting from Persona 3 also uses the Arcana format most of the time, though there is not much of a theme in their grouping most of the time.
The story of each Arcana primarily explores one's understanding and awareness of oneself and their place in the world: the stories may start off with self-discovery while closing towards awareness of the outer world. Each step's process gives visual clues to portray the meaning and keywords of the cards.
Starting from Persona 3, each Arcana has a related Social Link or Confidant, usually with a "story arc" related to an individual that represents the Arcana it's related to, with the exception of the World Arcana, which is rarely seen in gameplay and does not have a related Confidant, as it is to symbolize the end of the protagonist's journey. Each Persona user also has an Arcana they are related to as well, usually defined by their first Persona.
Although in regular cases, each Arcana is represented by only 1 individual, Persona 3 serves as an exception to this rule, as the Social Link characters that can be hung out with are different from the male and enemy combatants, who cannot be hung out with. Persona 3 Portable complicates the rule, as Akihiko Sanada and Shinjiro Aragaki as Social Links are represented by different Arcana than their Persona counterpart.
While most Major Arcana in the Persona series are derived from the traditional 22-card deck, alternative and nontraditional Arcanas are also used, usually with the same numbers as their traditional equivalent, such as the Jester Arcana and the Fool Arcana both numbered as "0," or no numbers in the case of the Faith and Hope Arcanas.
In the Q series, Arcana is only applied to Main Personas and Sub-personas that player characters can use; the enemy Shadows do not have an Arcana in this series, even though the bulk of enemies are generic Arcana Shadows from 3 and 4.
Nontraditional decks used in the Persona series include Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot deck (Hierophant & Priest/Apostle, Lust/Hunger, Aeon, Universe), El Gran Tarot Esoterico (Consultant/Councillor), and the various incomplete Visconti-Sforza decks (Hope, Faith). Jester is unique in that it’s an Arcana using an antiquated name of its namesake, that being Fool.
Number 	Arcana 	P1 Race Equivalent	P1 User 	P2 User 	P3 S. Link 	P4 S. Link 	P5 Confidant
0 	Fool 	National Spirit 	- 	- 	SEES 	Investigation Team 	Igor
0 	Jester3 	- 	- 	- 	- 	Tohru Adachi 	-
I 	Magician 	Genma 	Yuka Ayase 	- 	Kenji TomochikaJunpei Iori1 	Yosuke Hanamura 	Morgana
I 	Councillor7	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	Takuto Maruki
II 	Priestess 	Megami 	Maki Sonomura 	- 	Fuuka Yamagishi 	Yukiko Amagi 	Makoto Niijima
III 	Empress 	Lady 	Yukino Mayuzumi	Yukino Mayuzumi	Mitsuru Kirijo 	Margaret 	Haru Okumura
IV 	Emperor 	Deity 	Protagonist 	- 	Hidetoshi Odagiri 	Kanji Tatsumi 	Yusuke Kitagawa
V 	Hierophant 	Kishin 	Kei Nanjo 	Kei Nanjo 	Bunkichi and Mitsuko 	Ryotaro Dojima 	Sojiro Sakura
V 	Apostle8 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	Zenkichi Hasegawa
VI 	Lovers 	Fairy 	- 	Lisa Silverman 	Yukari Takeba 	Rise Kujikawa 	Ann Takamaki
VII 	Chariot 	Fury 	Masao Inaba 	- 	Kazushi MiyamotoRio Iwasaki1 	Chie Satonaka 	Ryuji Sakamoto
VIII2 	Justice 	Wargod 	Hidehiko Uesugi	Katsuya Suou 	Chihiro FushimiKen Amada1 	Nanako Dojima 	Goro Akechi
IX 	Hermit 	Holy 	- 	- 	"Maya"Saori Hasegawa1 	Fox 	Futaba Sakura
X 	Fortune 	Beast 	- 	Jun Kurosu 	Keisuke HiragaRyoji Mochizuki1 	Naoto Shirogane 	Chihaya Mifune
XI2 	Strength 	Snake 	- 	- 	Yuko NishiwakiKoromaru1 	Kou Ichijo orDaisuke Nagase 	Caroline and Justine
XI2 	Hunger3 	- 	- 	- 	- 	Tohru Adachi 	-
XII 	Hanged Man 	Fallen 	- 	Baofu 	Maiko Oohashi 	Naoki Konishi 	Munehisa Iwai
XIII 	Death 	Reaper 	Reiji Kido 	Eikichi Mishina	Pharos 	Hisano Kuroda 	Tae Takemi
XIV 	Temperance 	Avatar 	- 	- 	Andre Laurent Jean Geraux 	Eri Minami 	Sadayo Kawakami
XV 	Devil 	Tyrant 	Reiji Kido 	- 	President Tanaka 	Sayoko Uehara 	Ichiko Ohya
XVI 	Tower 	Vile 	- 	- 	Mutatsu 	Shu Nakajima 	Shinya Oda
XVII 	Star 	Yoma 	- 	Ulala Serizawa 	Mamoru HayaseAkihiko Sanada1 	Teddie 	Hifumi Togo
XVIII 	Moon 	Night 	- 	Maya Amano 	Nozomi SuemitsuShinjiro Aragaki1	Ai Ebihara 	Yuuki Mishima
XIX 	Sun 	Avian 	- 	Tatsuya Suou 	Akinari Kamiki 	Yumi Ozawa orAyane Matsunaga	Toranosuke Yoshida
XX 	Judgement 	Herald 	Eriko Kirishima	Eriko Kirishima	Nyx Annihilation Team 	Seekers of Truth 	Sae Niijima
XX 	Aeon 	- 	- 	- 	Aigis4 	Marie5 	-
XXI 	World 	Dragon 	- 	- 	Elizabeth 	Yu Narukami 	Ren Amamiya
XXI 	Universe6 	- 	- 	- 	Makoto Yuki/Kotone Shiomi 	- 	-
Unnumbered	Faith7 9 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	Sumire Yoshizawa
Unnumbered	Hope8 9 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	Sophia
*1 In Persona 3 Portable, female route only.
*2 In Persona and Persona 2, Strength and Justice Arcana are VIII and XI respectively, this is swapped in Persona 3 and subsequent installments.
*3 In Persona 4 Golden only. Initially called Jester Arcana (numbered 0), then becomes Hunger (numbered XI) should the protagonist decide to confront Tohru Adachi alone.
* 4 In Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable only.
*5 In Persona 4 Golden only.
*6 Only mentioned in Persona 3, Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable, and allows the protagonist to seal Nyx away at the cost of their life. Has no effect on gameplay.
*7 In Persona 5 Royal only.
*8 In Persona 5 Strikers only.
*9 The Visconti-Sforza deck where the Faith and Hope Arcana are from is unnumbered. Faith is listed on the bottom of the Confidant list in the menu.
==Minor Arcana==
The Minor Arcana are comprised of four suits with 14 cards each. The Minor Arcana commonly employ the Italo-Spanish suits: Wands (alternatively, batons, clubs or staves), cups, swords and pentacles (alternatively, coins, disks or rings).
===Persona 2===
Personas from the minor Arcana are featured in these games via mutation only. These Personas cannot be summoned normally in the Velvet Room. See List of Persona 2: Innocent Sin Personas#Minor Arcana and List of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Personas#Minor Arcana.
===Persona 3===
The Minor Arcana cards appear during Shuffle Time and grant the player various effects depending on which card is chosen:
:Cups - Restores the protagonist's or party's HP if drawn. The amount depends on the card's number.
:Wands or Staves - Grants bonus experience or stats if drawn. The amount depends on the card's number.
:Pentacles or Coins - Grants bonus Yen if drawn. The amount awarded depends on the card's number.
:Swords - Grants the player a bonus that varies in possibility depending on which version is played. In Persona 3, only a random weapon can be given; the power of the weapon is dependent on the card's number. In Persona 3 FES' extra story The Answer, a random piece of equipment is also able to be awarded. In Persona 3 Reload, the card can now further grant Skill Cards similar to Persona 4 Golden.
Additionally, Incense Cards can appear awarding items that improve any of the stats of the protagonist's Personas. They are based on the four face/court cards of the Minor Suits, with the they improve being dictated by the suit they belong to, and the amount they improve based upon how strong the court cards are to each other.
===Persona 4 Golden===
The Minor Arcana cards appear once again during Shuffle Time in the PlayStation Vita remake of Persona 4. The Minor Arcana cards have the same effects as in Persona 3 and FES' The Answer, except for the Swords Cards, which give the protagonist Skill Cards instead of weapons, and the Cup Cards, which restore SP along with HP.
==Nonexistent Arcana ==
In the Persona 2 games, due to the way the contact system is built, all enemies are classified under an Arcana. However, some of those aren't present in the tarot deck, being more akin to races. However, the game does acknowledge them as such and refers to them by "Arcana." Demons of those Arcana are impossible to recruit. They are:
:Reich (Nazis in the PlayStation release)
:Machine
:Leo
:Aquarius
:Scorpio
:Taurus
:Rumor
:Human
:Zombie (misspelled as Zonbie in Eternal Punishment)
:Dummy
==Trivia==
*While both Persona 1 and Persona 2 have Personas to represent the usual major Arcana, due to the lack of Social Links there are a lack of characters to match an Arcana to, making them the only Persona games not to feature all of the 20 first major Arcana in terms of character representation.
**This also means that the Justice Arcana is the only Arcana to be represented by a new character each game, with Hidehiko Uesugi in Persona 1, Katsuya Suou in Persona 2, Chihiro Fushimi/Ken Amada in Persona 3, Nanako Dojima in Persona 4 and Goro Akechi in Persona 5.
*Persona 3 features thirteen main Persona users. Each represents one of the first 13 major Arcana, with the exception of Elizabeth:
**0. Fool: The protagonist
**1. Magician: Junpei Iori
**2. Priestess: Fuuka Yamagishi
**3. Empress: Mitsuru Kirijo
**4. Emperor: Akihiko Sanada
** 5. Hierophant: Shinjiro Aragaki
**6. Lovers: Yukari Takeba
**7. Chariot: Aigis
**8. Justice: Ken Amada
**9. Hermit: Jin Shirato
**10. Fortune: Takaya Sakaki
**11. Strength: Koromaru
**12. Hanged Man: Chidori Yoshino
*As of Persona 5 Strikers, the Temperance and Tower Arcana are the only major arcana to have never been represented by any playable character, and the Hermit has only been represented by a non-fighting Navigator (Futaba Sakura).
** Temperance is the only major Arcana to have never been represented by any Persona user at all. The Tower Arcana is represented by Takahisa Kandori from Megami Ibunroku Persona and Anna Yoshizaka from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (via the playable version of their Personas, Nyarlathotep and Aeshma respectively, being identified as such.)
*Persona 5 Royal was the first Persona game to introduce another tarot card that lacks a number, with that being the Faith Arcana. That said, Death is traditionally depicted without a number despite also being the thirteenth card, with its design in Persona 5 reflecting this.
==Gallery==
===General===
 
File:Fool-0.png|Fool Arcana
File:Magician-0.png|Magician Arcana
File:Priestess-0.png|Priestess Arcana
File:Empress-0.png|Empress Arcana
File:Emperor-0.png|Emperor Arcana
File:Hierophant-0.png|Hierophant Arcana
File:Lovers-0.png|Lovers Arcana
File:Chariot-0.png|Chariot Arcana
File:Justice-0.png|Justice Arcana
File:Hermit-0.png|Hermit Arcana
File:Fortune-0.png|Fortune Arcana
File:Strength-0.png|Strength Arcana
File:Hanged Man.png|Hanged Man Arcana
File:Death-0.png|Death Arcana
File:Temperance-0.png|Temperance Arcana
File:Devil-0.png|Devil Arcana
File:Tower-0.png|Tower Arcana
File:Star-0.png|Star Arcana
File:Moon-0.png|Moon Arcana
File:Sun-0.png|Sun Arcana
File:Judgement.png|Judgement Arcana
File:World-0.png|World Arcana
File:Jester.png|Jester Arcana
File:Hunger.png|Hunger Arcana
File:Aeon-0.png|Aeon Arcana
File:P5 Royal Consultant Arcana.png|Councillor Arcana
File:FaithArcana.png|Faith Arcana
File:Faith.png|True Faith Arcana, obtained after Sumire Yoshizawa's true Persona Awakening
;Merchandise
Persona25th TarotCards.jpg|Persona 25th Anniversary Tarot Cards (P5-themed)
Category:Tarot
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