Palace

**Palaces** (パレス, *Paresu*) are locations in Persona Record Series. They are isolated domains in the Metaverse, separate from Mementos.

## Profile

A Palace is a manifestation of "distortion", strong negative or corrupt thoughts that warp the perceptions of people into a hazard for themselves and others (for example, seeing all other people as living ATMs). According to Morgana, most people's negative and corrupt thoughts are blended together into the Metaverse in a location called Mementos, which is a Palace for all of humanity. However, particularly strongly distorted individuals manifest personal Palaces that is solely inhabited by their Shadow Self.

Not all Palaces are formed by ill-natured individuals, as Futaba's Palace is fueled by Futaba Sakura's suicidal thoughts and repressed memories of her mother. This suggests that extreme negative emotions or psychological trauma can also cause a Palace to form. If the Palace is formed by said reasons, objects containing it will appear in their own Palaces as they represent subconscious knowledge, so it is possible for its owner to enter it and recollect or for other people to view them. The hosts of Palaces are often unaware of its existence, and if they were infiltrated by someone, they will not generate any adverse effects for its hosts in the real world until the Palace is destroyed or the host's Shadow Self is killed.

All Palaces draw in Shadows, which help to protect them and fend off intruders, and cognitive existences projected by the host's interpretation of a real person or idea appear in the Palace. These existences are either passive, as in the case of Princess Ann in Kamoshida's Palace, or pose a threat to intruders, such as the Corporobo in Okumura's Palace. The stronger the person's corruption, the stronger the Shadows will be in the Palace. While cognitive existences do not affect their counterparts in reality, the Shadows still represent the unconsciousness there, so the Phantom Thieves of Hearts establish code names for all of their members to avoid identity exposure during their infiltration. Also, Morgana states that directly entering from the main entrance of a Palace is a no-go option for a Phantom Thief, since that will alert any Shadows inside the Palace to take action.

To activate access to a Palace from the real world, it requires input for the Metaverse Navigator app with four pieces of crucial information, whether it's by either voice or typing: full name of the host, location of the Palace in comparison to the real world, title of the host, and the form the Palace takes. The Metaverse Navigator will afterward permanently remember the Palace (E.G: Perverted Teacher, Castle and Shujin Academy as Kamoshida's Palace's parameters) and remove it only if the location is no longer accessible. Palaces serve as the main battleground for the Phantom Thieves, and the ones explored each represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Deep within a Palace is a Treasure, a physical representation of the Palace owner's wicked desires or negative emotions, which is supposedly the root behind the owner's distortions. Once the Phantom Thieves of Hearts successfully infiltrate a Palace, find the treasure, and establish an escape route, they send a calling card to the owner in the real world in order for the Treasure to take on a physical form. Once the Treasure has been taken and the Shadow Self of the owner has been defeated, the Palace immediately crumbles and permanently disappears, and the host's personality will undergo a massive change. The Treasures can be taken into the real world and can be pawned off. For the Phantom Thieves, some of the Treasures are used to fund their activities.

Generally, a Persona-User cannot develop a Palace, as a Persona user almost always has a clear grasp of their desires, having tamed and trained their Shadow.

The party may revisit Palaces even after the treasure route is secured, as long as the treasure has not been stolen yet, as the latter action destroys the Palace.

If the host's desires are destroyed by the intruder, usually by stealing their treasure, that person's mental state will deteriorate in the real world, and they will confess all their crimes in front of the public. If the host's Shadow Self is killed outright, the one in reality will suffer a mental shutdown, almost always leading to their death as well. This is key to the plan of Masayoshi Shido, who uses the talents of Goro Akechi in the Metaverse as a way to safely assassinate Okumura to advance his plan. The Phantom Thieves prevent the host's death by not killing their Shadow Self, instead persuading them to return to their true selves and confess their crimes.

## History in Persona Record Series

Palaces are mention by the The Phantom Thieves Of Hearts, But they never really appeared in the series until Chapter 7, as Sasa Yuuki summoned one, Ren then gets trapped in the Palaces as it is fused with a Witches Labyrinth, he then meets Yuma Chitose in there who saves him from a injury by healing him, He then kills the witch Zenobia in the Palace labyrinth, but Iroha is kidnapped by Minou, they are able to get iroha back and stopped Sasa Yuuki's Shadow, But now they must go after Walpurgisnacht, Before it Destroys Shibuya and all of Tokyo.

## Trivia

* Palaces are somewhat similar to the personalized dimensions in the TV World, as each dungeon typically reflects the mentality of the one who created it. However, while the TV world is made of hidden thoughts and secrets of people and do not always represent corruption, Palaces are exclusively made of corruption or negative desires.