Maria

Maria is a demon in the series.
==History==
, known as the Virgin Mary, the Madonna, Myrhiàm or Maryam, is the central female figure in Christianity and many other Abrahamic faiths, she was a first-century Jewish woman living in the province of Galilee, wife to Joseph and mother of , the messiah for Christians and a great prophet for Muslims.
She is said in the Gospel and the Quran to have followed her son Jesus in his preachings, being an example of goodness and piety.
In both Christianity and Islam, Maria is said to have conceived Jesus with the miraculous intervention of God, through the holy spirit (only for Christians, as Muslims do not believe in the holy trinity) after being visited by the archangel Gabriel, while maintaining her virginity. Because of this she is honored as the mother of God (theotokos in Greek) by Christians and as the greatest of all women in Islam.
Catholicism is the branch of Christianity and the Abrahamic faiths that focuses the most on Maria, where she is said to have inspired Jesus' first miracle at the marriage at Cana, and later bore witness to his death on the cross and resurrection three days later, she also received the holy spirit in the form of a flame during the Pentecost and became a leading figure among Jesus' apostles.
Catholics believe that Maria didn't permanently die, but rather was assumed into Heaven at the end of her life, where she became the Regina Cæli, queen of the heavens, ruler of all saints and angels. 
Despite her important role, she isn't worshiped as a goddess, but rather honored as a great saint, and many today claim to have received miracles and visions from her.
In the , the three books by Dante Alighieri that depicts the Catholic view of the afterlife in the middle ages, and a great inspiration for the Megami Tensei franchise, she is said to reside in the Candida Rosa (Italian for "white rose") a realm within the highest sphere of Heaven, the Primum Mobile, from where she intervenes to save Dante Alighieri's soul, allowing him to travel through the three realms of the afterlife.
In some Apocryphal texts, she is said to have been protected by the archangel Aniel.
==Appearances==
*Shin Megami Tensei NINE: Major Character, Kou Sojin Race, Boss
*Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux: Megami Race, Boss
*Shin Megami Tensei V: Megami Race, Optional Boss
*Persona 5 Royal: Faith Arcana
*Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2: Megami Race
==Profile==
===Shin Megami Tensei NINE===
Maria is an artificial goddess who rules over the Idea Space. She was created by the Neomessians who stopped waiting for the messiah promised by God, believing themselves to have been abandoned. Maria is used every year to extract "Idea Energy," killing all the humans and then using it to make clones with a lifespan of one year in a neverending cycle. In the Law Ending continues this mission as Kei Azuma and either Mubiora or Miranda are welcomed into the Millennium Kingdom.
After taking a certain amount of damage each time, parts of her body will break off and spawn other demons for reinforcements (the lion spawns Cerberus, the eagle spawns Gryphon, the ox spawns Nandi, the fish spawns Mizuchi, and the Tyrannosaur spawns Yamata no Orochi).
===Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux===
Maria is the boss of the Sixth Sphere of the Womb of Grief. When the protagonist finds and challenges her, she is overjoyed to learn that he is strong enough to make it this far, but also warns that he will need to best her in combat to gain the final Fruit.
Maria's fight takes a different pace compared to the bosses before her. She carries a wide variety of attacks, having Maragidyne, Maziodyne, Magarudyne and Mahamaon, which makes it difficult to effectively fend off all her attacks. Furious Strike is also a Physical attack that hits the whole party. The focus of her moveset is Expel, though, as she carries a couple of moves that force party members to become weak to it for two turns: Purifying Light affects one party member, and Consuming Light affects the whole party. To defend against this, bring along several Tetraja Stones to nullify her next Mahamaon until her Light skills wear off.
Her other unique skill is Innocent Prayer, which works like Silent Prayer but also restores 623 HP to her. Unlike other instances of Silent Prayer or similar skills on bosses before, Maria will use Innocent Prayer when she's at -2 at any debuff or when your party is at +2 at any buff. Thus, keeping the party at +1 and Maria at -1 will ensure she never uses this skill. One can take advantage of her AI by constantly applying a strong debuff (War Cry, Acid Breath, Fog Breath) to cause her to constantly spam Innocent Prayer while the rest of the party keeps getting Co-Op attacks off her weakness. This strategy will only work if the rest of the party can out damage her healing.
Maria surrenders the Sixth Fruit after her defeat, and becomes available as a special fusion requiring Black Maria and Pallas Athena. She also leaves behind the Halo forma, which forms the Double Scoop Sub-App, allowing D-Sources to contain two bonus skills instead of one.
===Shin Megami Tensei V===
Maria can be found in the Empyrean, where she laments the end of the current world along with her current role. The protagonist must obtain the Seed of Life from Sophia, which requires them to have filled out 75% of the Demonic Compendium. When spoken to her with it in their possession, she realizes that they are to be the ruler of the next world, she decides to test them and gives one of the following quests depending on their position:
*If the protagonist chooses to recreate the world to save Tokyo, she gives the quest "The Wrathful Queen" and transforms into Inanna.
*If the protagonist chooses to uphold the Creator's will, she gives the quest "The Compassionate Queen" and fights as normal.
*If the protagonist chooses to destroy the throne, she gives the quest "The Noble Queen" and transforms into Danu.
Defeating her or the demon she transforms to completes the quest and also unlocks them for fusion. 
===Persona 5 Royal===
Maria is the ultimate Persona of the Faith Arcana, and can only be obtained from fusion after completing the Faith Confidant with Sumire Yoshizawa. When itemized via Electric Chair execution in the Velvet Room, she offers the Spiral Heal Charm accessory, which allows whoever wearing it to cast Mediarahan. However, when itemized with the fusion alarm sounding, Maria offers the Rosary of Purity accessory, which allows whoever wears this accessory the ability to cast Holy Benevolence, which is otherwise Maria's signature skill and cannot be passed down to other Personas via inheritance.
===Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2===
==Stats==
===Shin Megami Tensei NINE===
===Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux===
<tabber>
Boss =
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Summonable Demon =
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===Shin Megami Tensei V===
===Persona 5 Royal===
===Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2===
==Gallery==
Shin Megami Tensei NINE Maria 1.jpg|Maria in Shin Megami Tensei NINE
Shin_Megami_Tensei_NINE_Maria_2.jpg|Maria in Shin Megami Tensei NINE
Shin_Megami_Tensei_NINE_Maria_3.jpg|Maria in Shin Megami Tensei NINE
Maria_P5R.jpg|Maria in Persona 5 Royal
LusterCandy SMT5.gif|Maria casting Luster Candy in Shin Megami Tensei V
マリア - 真・女神転生V 日めくり悪魔 Vol.198|Maria in SMTV Daily Demon #198
==In Other Languages==
Language	Name
English 	Maria
Japanese	マリア (Maria)
French 	Marie
Italian 	Maria
German 	Maria
Spanish 	María
==Trivia==
*Maria's human form, depicted while holding golden chains, is probably inspired by the "Madonna della Catena" (Italian for "our Lady of the Chain"), a title ascribed to Maria as the protector of slaves and prisoners.
**According to Kazuma Kaneko Works III, the chains she holds are symbolic of chastity. Chains were also featured in Madam's design in Shin Megami Tensei II.
*Maria's "statue" design very likely takes inspiration from the in Barcelona, Spain. This choice was likely influenced by the fact that the architect was a fervent devotee of the virgin Mary.
*The animals that compose her marble body are all derived from Christian symbology:
**The lion, the hawk and the bull are part of the "tetramorph," an allegorical figure for the four evangelists and represent the angelic order of cherubim.
**The fish is a symbol used by christians during the spread of their religion in the Roman Empire, it had various meanings, such as baptism, some apostles being fishermen, and the Greek word for fish "Ichtys" was used as an acrostic for the name of Jesus. 
**The tyrannosaurus rex at the bottom of the statue may refer to Satan, who is at times depicted as a snake or dragon being stepped upon by Maria, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. 
**Alternatively, the placement of the fish and tyrannosaur being in close proximity could be a reference to both Behemoth and Leviathan, chaotic creatures of both land and sea from the Book of Job that are fated to slay each other and become a massive feast for humanity to dine on. 
**While hard to see in the front, the snake on the back of Maria may refer to the serpent that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, symbolizing temptation, or the triumph over thereof. Mary bears the title of New Eve (Nuova Eva) contrasting Eve as a woman that inadvertently took part in Adam's and mankind's fall, Mary intentionally took part in mankind's salvation together with Jesus Christ.
**Also on the back are three trilobites, a possible reference to the Holy Trinity.
*Maria's main body is surrounded by a "mandorla," an almond shaped halo used in early Christian art to represent heavenly apparitions, especially of Jesus and Mary.
*Maria is on the Monument of Goddess Booster Pack for the Digital Devil Story Card Game.
Category:Abrahamic Mythology
Category:Historical Figures
Category:Shin Megami Tensei NINE Characters
Category:Shin Megami Tensei NINE Demons
Category:Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux Demons
Category:Persona 5 Royal Personas
Category:Faith Arcana
Category:Shin Megami Tensei V Demons
Category:Law Demons in Shin Megami Tensei V
Category:Shin Megami Tensei V Bosses
Category:Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux Characters