Outfits and locations of the sides.

This page will contain pictures of the real world outfits and buildings or areas the aesthetics of the different sides are based on. To give some general info, law's aesthetic tends to look heavily christian and a little jewish, with a combination of ancient and futuristic designs in blue and white. Neutral's religion tends to look heavily shinto and taoistic, specifically based in shugendo, with orangeish outfits. And chaos tends to look buddhist and based on japanese fighting groups such as samurai or shinobi, but with a color theme reminiscent of western satanic groups in black and red.

Note the interesting thing about all the main religions in game, is that although they have gods from many religions, including dead ones their aesthetics tend to be based primarily only on major religions that still exist today, with one each centering on the abrahamic, taoic, and dharmic umbrellas. Few of the outfits seem to be based on old pagan outfits, even for chaos who talk about bringing back the demonized pagan gods. Though they do tend to contain gods from these dead religions. Interestingly this applies even though the sides have some outfits that are more historical, but would not be seen being used generally in modern day.

## Law

### Outfits

**(Blue) Monastic scapulars**. The scapular is a Christian garment
suspended from the shoulders. There are two types of scapular, the larger monastic scapular and the smaller devotional scapular. It is a reminder of dedication to the
christian life, and is sometimes said to come with certain indulgences. The origins of the scapular are not entirely known. But mention of them shows up in the seventh century. The smaller form of scapular was invented closer to the eleventh century, becoming small pieces of cloths worn around the neck underneath one's clothes. These reduced scapulars were worn by non monastics, originally by ones referred to as oblates who were still affiliated with monasteries. But later became worn by many of the faithful, as it became more common for laypeople to engage in spiritual practices around the twelfth century.

Blue versions of these are seen as being worn by the messians, and especially messian priests who show up in the churches in both SMTI and SMTII. And though it is harder to see, white ones are part of the monk uniform in IV. The ones worn by monks and priests in the games have hoods, whereas regular messians have hoodless ones. Blue scapulars of the large size are fairly rare in real life, tending to be limited to occasional use by choirs or in special instances. Most tend to be earthy tones, unless it is built into a priest's uniform. This blue tone conveys a sense of messians being a more modern derivative of christianity, with their church in imagine likewise having a tone of blue energy lines and a futuristic appearance.

**Dominican robes**. The dominicans are an order of monks that was founded by saint dominic. The dominican order was coming into being at a time when monks were no longer seen as people who must separate themselves entirely from society. Dominicans were founded largely to help bring the education of earlier monks to the cities, but wanted a degree of flexibility in order to be able to do so in the vernacular of the times. In SMTIV, the robes worn by the monks are based on dominican robes, but with a mild eastern flair added, and using similar color schemes of blue and white as the messians also did in earlier games. Hugo also makes a pose similar to saint dominic's picture when he is fought against in apocalypse. Whether this robe was chosen in particular for a thematic connection, or just as another monk robe is unknown.

**Robes**, and more especially hooded robes are especially associated with the law side in various forms. Kiyoharu wears what looks like a blue monk robe outright. And the elders in II wear general robes that are open in the front of various colors. The unnamed figure at the end of I also wears a blue robe and hood. Different kinds of robes show up in different outfits such as IVs monk outfits. Humans in heavenly realms are also often seen wearing hooded white robes. Other figures for other sides also wear robes however, such as the shomonkai. Hoods in general are a common staple of messian outfits.

**Vestments** are christian liturgical garments used among the Eastern Orthodox, Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans. Their use was a point of controversy in the Protestant Reformarion, since vestments are associated with the more formalized and ritualized concept of high church, leading to low church formats wanting to discourage use.

Although full vestments are not often seen in game, due to even the messian priests tending to wear only the scapular, the center bishop seems to be wearing vestments, and so they must be in use in some sense, even if not in most cases.

**The** **mitre** or **miter** is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mitres are worn in the Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, and some Lutheran churches. In SMTII the center bishop is seen wearing a mitre. Though interestingly, the higher ranked elders do not. And the church in Iv does not seem to use one. Law hero's hat in smti seems to be a combination of a mitre, and a shinto eboshi.

**The** **stole** is a liturgical vestment of various Christian denominations. It consists of a band of colored cloth, and is usually adorned with religious imagery. The center of the stole is worn around the back of the neck and the two ends hang down parallel to each other in front, either attached to each other or hanging loose. Various entities from different sides are seen wearing stoles. The angel dominion does, and even chaotic figures like lucifuge. Although they are not seen as often as you might think, considering how common they are in christianity.

**Eastern inspired robes**. While law's aesthetic at first glance looks mostly western, there are some notable eastern elements mixed in. In smti, law hero post transformation as the messiah has an outfit that is a mixture of eastern style robes and a western mitre. Although due to being a composite design, it would be hard to pin down any specific design it is drawing from. Likewise, by smtiv all of the samurai wear eastern looking clothes, but with a western style coat over it. On top of the monk outfits in iv being a mix of east and west.

**Eboshi**. An Eboshi hat is a type of headdress worn by Shinto priests (shinshoku) during ritual ceremonies, though originally it was in more wide use, especially for coming of age ceremonies. The hat law hero wears post transformation based on one of these mixed with a western mitre. Law hero's outfit in general is meant to give a mixed vibe, including that of shinto priests. But it would not be until later games that the law side had shinto amatsukami more strongly associated with them. The gauntlet rite samurai outfit also has headgear based on them.

**White and blue trench coats**. While it becomes more common in the later games, with the samurai outfits incorporating old style colonial coats, white and blue trench coats are already used in some ofthe earlier games by messians. The gyrator units are shown wearing them in smtii. And in imagine, a standard messian outfit seems to incorporate a long coat. As well as the cloth of the knights templar from the same game being explicitly a trench coat. This is contrasted against the black trench coats used by chaos in smti.

**Head covering.** The messian units magus and adept are seen wearing head coverings. While what aesthetic they are drawing on is left ambiguous, one possibility is the ancient hebrew tallit. Though they are specifically meant to look more like magicians, and so are likely also drawing on the outfits of the golden dawn.

**Bandanas**. A large amount of messian outfits incorporate headbands, with both beth and hiroko using one with the messian logo in II. Various other units in the early games have branded ones, and in iv the samurai use unbranded ones.

**Yellow buddhist monk robes. Kasaya** are the robes of Buddhist monks and nuns, named after a brown or saffron dye. In Sanskrit and Pali, these robes are also given the more general term **cīvara**, which references the robes without regard to color. In SMTIV hugo is seen wearing a robe which while not identical to a buddhist monk robe is designed to look like one. Though the lower monks wear blue and white. Likewise, law hero in smti is seen wearing some kind of a composite eastern robe, making the syncretism series-wide. Albeit much more explicit in the later games.

**Prayer beads** are a form of beadwork used to count the repetitions of prayers, chants, or mantras by members of various religions. While the design suggests counting, many derivatives of them are also used as adornments, or decorations for statues. Two of the most well known of these are rosaries, and the dharmic mala.

The law side is seen using prayer beads, and sometimes calling it a rosary, but the appearance of these tends to be different from standard catholic rosaries, and when seen worn by units like the magus in smti appear to have merged with the idea of buddhist malas, but still bearing a cross on them.

**Tunic and blue beret**. In the middle ages, tunics were a common clothing item, which looked like a shirt but which went a little below the waist. And the beret was a common hat of that time as well, although less ubiquitous than tunics. The messian temple knights are seen wearing a white tunic with a blue feathered beret. As part of the general neo medieval aesthetic. These temple knights seem to be the main low level unspecialized messian unit, because they also show up as npcs and so are fairly common in the first two games. The blue berets in addition to giving a crusader time period vibe double as a reference to the united nations, which is known for peacekeepers wearing blue berets.

The Roman *tunica* was adopted by the Roman citizens in the 3rd century BC. It was worn by citizens and non-citizens alike; citizens, though, might wear it under the toga, especially at formal occasions. The length of the garment, the presence or lack of stripes, as well as their width and ornamentation, would indicate the wearer's status in Roman society.The tunic continued to be the basic garment of the Byzantine Romans of both sexes throughout the medieval period. Tunics were often worn over chain mail as part of a warrior's uniform.

**White cape**. Many of The units in the games have white capes, though what type of cape varies by the unit. The temple knights do in the first two games, including major chatacter ones like Beth. Likewise, in the later games the monks have white capes in smtiv, and the messiah is shown wearing one in desu. The ones seen being worn by the temple knights are based on the capes worn by crusaders, with some of them having a visible cross on them in the way that was common among crusading knights.

**Crusader outfits**. Many messian battle outfits are derived from the outfits worn by crusaders. Crusader outfits tended to have cross designs on the shields and down the front cloth. Various messian units are based on this, ranging from temple knights to the rocket crusader terminators. The main messian symbol in the early games, the blue cross fairly often shows up drawn inside of a shield symbol as part of its design, which is ultimately derived from this. This references not just the universalist ideological struggle but can be a reference to new world order type groups in fiction which are often depicted as aesthetically inspired by the knights templar.

**Colonial frock coat**. In SMTIV the standard outfit for the samurai is a blue frock coat based around those that existed in colonial times, worn over an eastern inspired shirt designed to look like what luke skywalker from star wars wears. Their sword, and even the plot with the black samurai provide further star wars references. While this is not made obvious at the beginning of iv, due to all the main characters wearing this outfit, the samurai are a law organization affiliated with the messian church, although mikado is in practice a failed law society. Their outfit is meant to show a syncretism between east and west.

**Futurist aesthetic.** In Arcadia in smtii it shows that once the world of law is achieved the outfits and aesthetics used by it are expected to be different than that worn before. The Arcadia residents are shown wearing outfits that mix ancient greek aesthetics with futurist and even potentially hippie inspired ones. With gimmel being based on the image of apollo. In Arcadia it actually shows very little in the way of Christian aesthetics. Note that while Arcadia is a design created by the corrupt center, even in the law ending it shows little of the original church remaining. In general, the law side tends to often have a fairly futuristic appearance, especially in its church design in imagine or its use of machinery.

**Submission oriented bondage**. The lowest ranking angel in
many of the games is often depicted wearing bondage as a sign of
submission. This contrasts with some chaos demons like succubus
sometimes being dressed in a dominatrix outfit. This calling to mind the chaotic desire for power and control,
versus the more humble self perception of law. Things like satan's chains may be part of a continuous aesthetic with it, and you find it in the demeanor of the figures in general. Unlike chaos however, for law only demons are seen using it as a symbol, and not human characters.

**Angels**. Although this is perhaps obvious, the law side is composed not only of human members, but angels as well, and so is also associated with the outfits worn by angels, or various angel aesthetics. This can be anything from standard angel robes, to the armor archangels are often depicted with, to being nude, to various robes, or even middle eastern clothing such as israfel is depicted wearing. The angels also show up sometimes with a mechanical aesthetic, which is not a religious thing, but goes to show the personality being ascribed to them. Angels are obviously generally depicted with wings, and this gives a sky based aesthetic.

**Boregheh masks**. Although megaten seems to ignore the existence of Islam for the most part, one reference to it comes from the mask worn by Mastema, which is based on the boregheh masks that are often used as part of certain burka styles. Note of course that in IV, mastema is working for the neutral side.

### Locations

**Churches**. In keeping with the law side looking primarily like a christian religion, their churches look more or less like gothic christian churches, with the only noticeable influence from other religions being a few things, such as that some of the crosses have a lotus at the bottom, or later in iv, a menorah. The center of their altars bears a cross or sometimes there is no altar in general, with only the cross standing in the center of the front. Though most of these look like normal churches, it is occasionally mixed with a futuristic design in the church itself.

**Gothic architecture** is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. The defining design element of Gothic architecture is the pointed or ogival arch. The messian churches are explicitly stated to be based on gothic designs, and for the contrast between the gothic tone and the futuristic mechanical aspects used by them to be a noted contrast. Some of the churches are shown to be dimly lit, conveying a kind of ominous tone that is often associated with the architectural style. The place set is sealed in II even has gargoyle statues next to it, in keeping with this aesthetic.

**Neoclassicism**. The law side in II seems to use an aesthetic that calls to mind ancient greek designs. Most notably in SMTII. Note that the name arcadia in II refers to something like a greek concept of eden. In addition to this, eden at the end may also be inspired by ancient egyptian design. Note that real life churches themselves often incorporate greek design without it needing to be an independent aesthetic added on to the side.

This aesthetic is not only something used for buildings, or only used due to the association with later Christianity. In SMTII there is an overt greek theme, with various messian things named after greek ones. To show a more explicit sublimated greek culture in the later context.

**Futurism**. Law often also has the most futuristic aesthetic of the sides, in keeping with its forward looking paradigm. in imagine especially, where it is depicted as having technological buildings with blue energy lines on them with even their churches themselves bearing this aesthetic. Even in its heavenly looking realms or figures sometimes this aesthetic is there, having things that look like tech, or commonly having angels that not only look, but sometimes act like machines. Likewise, in strikers, the law coded villain konoe likewise has a cyberpunk type aesthetic to his jail.

**Bee hives**. Note also, that in IV Shene Duque is designed to look like a beehive. And at the end of the game is decreed the new symbolic mikado castle, as well as already being considered a holy land. This bee hive design calls to mind law's big picture thinking.

**Heaven.** In keeping with the angelic aesthetic, heavenly realms are often also associated with the law side. In Majin tensei II you visit a heaven analogue called amnesia, in which the names of the areas in it are named after the seven heavens in judaism. And in iv, you touch on a place called paradisio at the end of purgatorium.

In SJ, Mastema is described as coming from the kingdom of light, and in MTII you see lucifer being cast out of what looks like heaven. In the end of SJ, it looks like the entire world kind of merges with heaven in a sense, becoming a heavenly realm. The empyrean ascent is also implied to be a subset of it.

**Space**. Although yhvh in iva is depicted as in some sense transcending being either law or chaos, he is still seen by figures in game as a lawful figure, due to being ostensibly the head of law. His own realm looks like it is in space, but is populated by high ranking angels. And likewise, in II you fight him in space as well. And there are a few demons which tie this aesthetic of space to law, such as lovecraftian ones.

In medieval times, space itself was often seen as an extension of heaven, with planet orbits often being given places in it. This likely is also a kabbalah reference, since heaven in kabbalah is associated with the second and third worlds, whereas god himself exists beyond them interacting with those in them only indirectly. Cosmic order is also depicted as law leaning, to contrast the seeming chaos of nature on the world, since space is seen as depicting something being all-encompassing.

**Minimalism** is an art movement that began in post–World War II Western art, based on the reductive aspects of modernism. Minimalist architectural designers focus on the connection between two
perfect planes, elegant lighting, and the void spaces left by the
removal of extra details. Minimalism is heavily inspired by japanese designs in home and architecture, where it has always had a large presence due to the inspiration of zen buddhism. Modern minimalism is often interpreted as a response to the chaotic nature of urban life, trying to restore a more simplified order.

In megaten, in a few games mnimalism is associated with the angels. In majin tensei ii the angel society is seen to be heavily based in minimalist artwork, and in the original strange journey the law ending shows a city based in minimalist architecture. This ties to the spiritual aspects of minimalism, and the focus on simple living and humility.

**Eden**. Gardens, grassy clearings, and the concept of the garden of eden in particular are a common association for law. In majin tensei II, eden shows up as the center of amnesia, which is their analogue of heaven in that game. and in SMTII it was used as the top of the meggido ark. And in the new law ending in redux the center of the city is a large garden that is presumably meant to call eden to mind.

This ties to the fact that the afterlife in general is often religiously depicted not as a disembodied heaven, but a new paradise, sometimes even called a new eden. In the kabbalah especially, heavy focus is given on how in the world to come, heaven and earth will be united together in a universal eden. Gardens in general have a law slanted focus, since gardens are indicative of a planned design for nature, which contrasts against chaos' association with free untamed nature.

## Neutral

### Outfits

**Orange robes**. Unfortunately, since neutral's religion is never really shown outside of the healing areas other than in a few shrines you visit, there is not much in the way of outfits that are strongly associated with it. Since various other characters' outfits even if they are neutral are of course just their own outfit. However, note that the orangeish color that the healing dojo member has in the first game seems to be an inspiration for color coding neutral series wide. Since the person in the repair garage wears an orange apron in II, steven has an orange suit, and even the shomonkai, who are a dark version of neutral ideology have an orange robe with a white and blue tie over it.

### Locations

**Shinto shrines**. Neutral's worship centers have a heavy aesthetic of being based on eastern religion, and shinto especially. Not only in the healing dojo, but even random side things you visit will have this aesthetic, or be depicted with relevant figures. Which is interesting of course, since shinto's content is almost exclusively about relation to its gods, whereas neutral depicts itself as being humanistic and about only minimal interaction.

**Torii**. The gates in front of shinto shrines are known as torii, and are used to designate the transition from everyday life to the religious. Neutral being based heavily on shinto often uses these, and one of them even shows up in the repair garage which is the neutral church in II. Shugendo is known as a kami-buddha teaching, showing syncretism. Though the idea of merging the religions eventually became seen as negative and so syncretist temples were forced to choose one or the other to affiliate with. Note that in I you also see a chaos figure using a torii and shinto aesthetics in one scene.

**Axis mundi** refers to any mythological concept representing "the connection between Heaven and Earth" or the "higher and lower realms." It will often be something like a tree, mountain, or pillar. In majin tensei ii, they refer to the human world as the axis, highlighting it as between, and connecting the higher and lower realms. In much of mainline it is treated in this way, with many neutral gods being worldly gods of the axis who are closer to human existence, residing in spiritual realms close to earth. One major examples in the games is the four devas who often work for neutral protecting the world, and which in buddhism live on the axis of mount meru. Although in-game, mount meru is not adressed.

**Diamond realm.** In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Diamond Realm (*kongōkai*) is a metaphysical space inhabited by the Five Wisdom Buddhas. It is not always seen as a literal realm, but rather a way to frame into context certain properties of reality or of the adibuddha.

In SMT, this is the primary seen neutral spiritual realm, since it shows up as a neutral spiritual realm in I, shows up again to visit in II, and then in IVA shows stephen using it as a base to access multiple worlds from, even including nocturne's which is a game he was not in. Making this depiction make it seem to span multiple games. Though you don't see the standard wisdom buddhas in it, instead it being populated by en no ozuno, who is said in the visionary items to be an incarnation of the bodhisattva vajragarbha.

**The monochrome forest**. In IV the main spiritual realm associated with neutral is the monochrome forest populated by the white - who are an interpretation of the great white brotherhood of theosophical beliefs, which are a large basis of neutral.

The forest's natural state is not meant to be monochrome however, since it is the demesne of the goddess of tokyo, but became black and white when she became saddened over her death. While the game never explains the importance of this realm in particular, the fact that the white make it their home means that from a neutral perspective it must have some degree of importance.

**The pleroma** is the general spiritual existence of the aeons in gnosticism. While it does not show up in most of the games, sophia is a neutral rep in nine, and mentions returning to it. This ties to the idea of archers being associated with law, and so although subtle, makes aeons more of a neutral abrahamic existence. The basis of the pleroma being neutral likely ties both to jung, as well as the fact that aeons in gnosticism do not interfere with the world too directly. Sophia however also shows up in SMTV, where she is not associated with neutral in particular, being the one who helps you fuse demons. And alludes to coming from the pleroma.

## Chaos

### Outfits

**Black Trenchcoat**. In SMTI the gaian npcs all have a black trench coat and shaved head, as well as the gaian unit suicide squad. Even female npcs. And so it seems to be being depicted as a common uniform worn among them, at least in certain contexts. This combo is not seen past SMTI however. Interestingly, chaos hero is seen wearing a trench coat before even becoming affiliated with the gaians, and later when fusing with a demon no longer has it. Interestingly, yamato and joker are later seen with black trenchcoats as well, and both represent some of the themes of chaos, though not being gaians.

**Red Keikogi**. *Keikogi* or dōgi is a uniform for training, used in martial arts derived from Japan, or budō. (*Keiko* means practice, *gi* means dress or clothes.) The prototype for the modern keikogi emerged in the late 19th century. Japanese martial arts historian Dave Lowry speculates Kanō derived the uniform's design from the uniforms of Japanese firefighters' heavy hemp jackets called "hanten". By 1920, the keikogi as it exists today was worn by Kanō's students for judo. Although it can sometimes be hard to distinguish from other clothes, it seems like the gaian units in IV's battle outfits are closer to keikogis. Which is why they are barefoot when using them.

**Ninja outfit**. The shinobi or ninja was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, assassination and guerrilla warfare. Their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the samurai-caste, who observed strict rules about honor and combat. Many gaian units such as assasin and Jiraiya are depicted as ninjas or assasins. Due to the associations of in-group clan interest, and association with the east in general.

**Black monk outfit**. Though its redundant to list all the different japanese outfits that the gaians use, the picture to the right strongly resembles the gaian unit fallen monk. This is interesting in that similarly to the messians, the monastic outfit are commonly used by many of its members, moreso than would be normal if it was being used exclusively for monastic reasons. Implying that monastic outfits are sometimes used by the religions as more general outfits of the religions as a whole, incorporating the ideology into everyday life. Though perhaps there is an element of selection bias in what figures you see as well.

**Red monk outfit.** **Cīvara** refers to buddhist monk robes without implying a particular color. In SMTIV the gaian temple's main room is filled with people in red buddhist monk outfits, and a statue of mem aleph in the buddhist paranirvana pose is on the altar. Buddhism has been associated long term strongly (though not exclusively) with gaianism in game, likely due to the focus on self practice, the more amoralist accusations of shingon, and the radicalized versions of imperial way zen. In the later games they use more red, whereas in the earlier games they use more black.

**Fuke Zen hat**. In fuke zen, monks wear hats that cover their heads, concealing their identity, as a sign of giving up the ego. In imagine, many of the gaian npcs are seen using these hats. While the original design for the hat was the idea of blotting out the ego, in an interview it was explained that many chaos units cover their face to give the idea of a group that sneaks about in the shadows.

**A Japa mala** or mala is a string of prayer beads commonly used by Hindus, Buddhists and some Sikhs for the spiritual practice known in Sanskrit as japa. It is usually made from 108 beads, though other numbers are also used. Malas are used for keeping count while reciting, chanting, or mentally repeating a mantra or the name or names of a deity. They are commonly seen being used by the chaos side Even as far back as I, though other figures are occasionally seen with them.

**Samurai Helmet**. In SMTI, chaos hero after fusing with a demon gets a samurai helmet. Though its mostly only a head and shoulderpiece rather than a full body suit. And looks more like shredder from tmnt than a full samurai outfit, and looks still somewhat mixed with the ninja aesthetic rather than samurai. That aside, it was common to give samurai helmets a mask aspect that looked demonic, giving rise to the association with chaos. Note the contrast in that while law hero's outfit makes him look like a religious figure, chaos hero's makes him look like a warrior. Though both sides in general tend to have a lot of religiously inspired clothing.

**Western ocult outfits**. While the aesthetics of the gaians tend to be mostly eastern, their religion has a blend of east and west aspects, mixing western occultism and demons in with esoteric buddhist aspects. Occasionally you will see practitioners of chaos in western occult outfits, but this is less common to see in the gaian temples themselves, being moreso distinct groups. Crowley himself shows up as a character in smtii however, and is referenced earlier on in raidou.

**Motorcycle outfit**. In both smti and ii, the gaians have a motorcycle unit, with atlus explaining in interviews that this is meant to be indicative of the gaians having absorbed the remains of the japanese bosozoku biker gangs. The early game suicide unit likewise has a similar aesthetic, with a long coat reminiscent of those worn by bosozoku. Japanese biker gangs rose to prominence via ex kamikaze, which led them to tend to have a nationalist and aggressive character. The gaians drawing from this aesthetic ties to its goal to revive the warrior values of the past, as well as the cyberpunk tone of gang activity rising to prominence in a collapsed system. In SMTII the biker unit's bike also looks like the iconic bike from akira.

**Noh** **Masks**. Noh masks are masks used in a type of japanese theater. Interestingly, gaian units are seen wearing the noh masks for both heaven and hell, (the latter also being called oni masks) tying to divinity rather than merely the demonic. Most gaian units wear noh masks in smtii, although not always on their face, with one having several on sticks, and one strapped to chest. Since chaos is dialectically associated both with the demonic, and it's own interpretation of the holy, these masks are used to depict as such.

**Hachimaki** or "**helmet scarf**" is the term for the stylized headband in Japanese culture, usually made of red or white cloth, worn as a symbol of perseverance by the wearer. The most well known usage of them is by kamikaze pilots in world war II. In SMTI they are seen being worn by the followers of gotou referred to as suicide unit who are based on the kamikaze pilots of imperial japan.

**Shaved Head** In SMTI and imagine a common trend
of the gaians was to have a shaved head.

**Hair ribbons**. The gaian priest in I and II has strings hanging down on either side of their head in a way that is occasionally seen in shinto rituals.

**Bondage**. To contrast law's submission oriented bondage, some equivalent chaos demons like succubus are depicted wearing a dominatrix outfit. This obviously reflects a mentality of dominance prevalent in chaos in general. However, this is not limited to demons or dominance focused. Various npcs for chaos in SMTI are seen wearing bondage outfits in general as uniforms in keeping with their association as provocative and as social outsiders.

**A kasa. The Asian conical hat** is a simple style of conical hat, used to block sun and rain. In many different games, gaians are seen wearing them.

**Demons**. The chaos side is obviously heavily affiliated with demons. This interestingly ties in a bit with its shingon aesthetic, since their demonic forms can be seen as similar to wrathful incarnations. This demonic aesthetic also applies to not only fallen angels, but other demonized gods, and even things like asuras who are considered eastern demons. Note that although lucifer is a fallen angel, many of the other top demons are demonized gods, rather than ex-angels. And when chaos takes power, many of these gods tend to try to return to their original godly forms.

**Tantric deities**. In vajrayana buddhism there are a variety of tantric deities, most notably the wrathful incarnations who take demonic forms for the sake of skillful means. Since gaianism heavily draws from the aesthetics of vajrayana shingon, many of its gods are either tantric deities, or demons whose vibe is presented as continuous with them. While some strains of vajrayana were already accused of amoralism by other strains of buddhism, gaianism in particular drops the claim that its practices are for buddhist ends, making the wrathful activities and unleashing of passion the point in and of itself.

### Locations

**Shingon temples**. Although the gaians are said to not be buddhist per say, they still draw heavily on buddhist aesthetics, specifically that of shingon vajrayanna. Vajrayana is known for demonic imagery, making it a close tie to the chaos aesthetic. The gaian temples look heavily japanese shingon in nature, including Toro lanterns, paper lanterns, and wooden walkways. In the later games, the buddhist statues are replaced with a statue of mem aleph, though her appearance is still buddhist in tone.

**Toro lanterns** are a traditional lantern made of stone, wood, or metal. Like many other elements of Japanese traditional architecture, it originated in China; however, extant specimens in that country are very rare, and in Korea they are not as common as in Japan. In Japan, *tōrō* were originally used only in Buddhist temples, where they lined and illuminated paths. Lit lanterns were then considered an offering to Buddha. During the Heian period (794–1185), however, they started being used also in Shinto shrines and private homes. You see toro lanterns in the gaian temples in the early games. This is in keeping with the depiction of gaian temples as heavily buddhist, as well as japanese in general.

**Japanese paper lanterns** are also used in gaian temples held up by the statues in II. In addition to general use as lanterns, which was more common before the advent of electric lighting, in modern day they are also associated with festivals. In Japan the traditional styles include *bonbori* and *chōchin* and there is a special style of lettering called *chōchin moji* used to write on them. Airborne paper lanterns are called sky lanterns, and are often released into the night sky for aesthetic effect at lantern festivals.

**Wooden walkway**. Something you tend to see in japanese temples is a wooden walkway joining two areas. If you notice in the gaian temple in II, the entire entryway is a large walkway leading up to the altar. And similarly in I, the path is a stone walkway. Though this design in japan is not used exclusively for temples. It gives the gaians a more overt japanese aesthetic.

**Shimenawa**. Similarly to the neutral healing ashram, gaian temples have japanese shimewana ropes above their center. While gaian temples tend to be more buddhist oriented, they do occasionally have some overt shinto inspirations such as torii.

**Shinto shrines**. While shinto shrines are primarily associated with neutral, chaos also has shinto aesthetics at times. In imagine, they have a torii gate, and douman is also seen using one in smti. And they have hanging rope shinemawa, similar to that seen in neutral churches. Chaos is associated both with primal animistic practices, as well as kunitsukami, giving context for these aesthetics. Notably, while law is associated with amatsukami, they have very little in the way of overt shinto aesthetics.

**Nature**. In keeping with chaos' association with nature, it will tend to emphasize being in it more than the other sides. And in SJs chaos end, they even had outdoor temples. Note that nature here specifically refers to the ground and green nature, since the sky and space are associated with law. This is because the ground and animal nature sets a tone of a particularist ingroup slant and natural action, whereas the sky is a single thing over the entire world, and so represents a more universal thing. And space is the cosmic order. Chaotic nature is often shown as a jungle or forest, since clearings and gardens are associated more with law.

**Grotto**. In an interview, it mentions that in early games the gaians dug out caves to use as temples. Likewise, in the abyss it seems a lot of the buildings are constructed as a type of grotto, and have building aspects and temple aspects be continuous with stone caves. This is likely meant to call to mind the association chaos has with the earth, and often by extension with the underground. Interestingly, the churches in the abyss are replaced with healing baths. Though it is not made clear why this is. They even have ones of different alignments.

**Underworld.** While chaos occasionally uses hell and fire as a motif, the demon world tends to be depicted more like a general underworld than like hell proper. Variously called the expanse, makai, sheol, etc. Since you cross the river styx when you die there is an even further vibe of it as being like a more general underworld in the early games, although dangerous demons are quarantined there. Demons use the term hell as a motif, and are occasionally associated with fire, but bell is not own. place proper.

**Babylonian imagery**. At times chaos loosely references babylonian imagery, though often done by spiritual beings more than humans. Lucifer uses a ziggurat as a base in mti, and the tower of babel is associated with being a chaotic being in desu. This is in keeping with in iv where they say the gods of Babylon are the origin of demons. Though this is only a slight association. In MTII, heaven also seems to loosely call the shape of a ziggurat to mind.

**Schwarzwelt**. While one of the few areas that does not have a direct religious analogue, the schwarzwelt is also a space associated with chaos. Although it is not exclusively chaotic beings who dwell there. The schwarzwelt is not a place demons live in all the time, but an emerging force that pulls them in to help destroy human society. Mainly existing as a reaction to environmental harms.

## General

**Kabbalah**. An important aspect to understand about the locations and spiritual dimensions of the sides, is that while the angels live in heavenly realms, and the demons live in hellish realms, these realms more specifically are heavily kabbalic interpretations of these things. In various games, the areas are named after the kabbalic heavens and underworld, the sephirot of the tree of life, the four worlds, and other kabbalic associations. Demons often refer to the human world as asiyah (the human world in kabbalah) or malkuth (the lowest sephirot that represents where humans live). And the depths of the expanse is called atziluth, to represent it being the world of archetypes that demons are born from. Note however that while kabbalah is an overarching basis, the spiritual reality is not exclusively kabbalic, but a composite of many sources. This however is kabbalic in itself somewhat, in the sense that later occultists would often mix kabbalah with other spiritual dynamics. More information on fhe kabbalah page.

In majin tensei II you are told that the heavenly, hell, and human realms are like light, shadow, and the solid objects between them. The reason these areas are kabbalic in interpretation is in reference to the kabbalic idea that both the light and dark sides are part of the system, rather than darkness being an aberration. As such, understanding the nature of the sides involves having to understand the intertwined nature of their existence.

**The womb realm**. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Womb Realm is the metaphysical space inhabited by the Wisdom Kings. The Womb Realm is a very popular subject for mandalas, and along with the Diamond Realm Mandala forms the Mandala of the Two Realms. This mandala, along with the Diamond Realm, form the core of Japanese Tendai and Shingon Buddhist rituals, including the ritual of initiation of new novices. The womb realm represents archaic beginnings, whereas the diamond realm represents accomplishments. They are normally associated with vairocana.

In nocturne, the vortex world is implied to be the womb realm, with this being stated more openly in the japanese version. In nocturne it is mixed with the idea of the cosmic egg, with kagutsuchi being the egg, and representing an archaic pre-universe with the potential to shape the nature of a new world. Despite the diamond realm and womb realms both showing up in the series, with one or the other showing up in almost every mainline game, they are never directly associated together.

**The empyrean** or **the** **empyrean heaven** refers to the highest location in ancient cosmologies. In aristotle's works it was occupied by the element of aether. Though ancient greeks also associated it with fire, from which it takes its name. While it began as a concept in greek works, it entered into christianity as a term for the dwelling place of god, in the highest heaven. In dante's infermo, he is guided there by beatrice who the closer she gets to it the more exalted of a form she takes.

In the games the empyrean is likewise associated with being one of the highest spiritual realms, and containing the throne of god. In redux, it is used as a term for the realm the wisemen go to to take on the form of god. But it is given little explanation beyond this. In V it becomes the location of the throne of god, which taking makes you the primary divinity in that reality. Notably though, in v there is presented as a spiritual realm beyond it, though little is explained about this. Interestingly, in keeping with its history as a greek idea before a christian one, in game it highlights how different gods take the throne and it was held by others before yhvh. Note that the empyrean in v is a separate realm from the place the angels come from. Similar to beatrice's form changing as she approached it, tao's form in smtv changes as the story takes you closer to it, and she helps guide you there.

**Takamagahara** is the abode of the heavenly gods in shinto. Often depicted as located up in the sky, it is believed to be connected to the Earth by the bridge Ama-no-ukihashi*.*

While the amatsu are depicted as law leaning, in the early games they are depicted as ultimately working for neutral, and in the later games there is some ambiguity where sometimes some of them work for law, but at other times they do not. So it is placed in an ambiguous realm.

**Styx** is a river in greek mythology which is primarily known as the river you must cross to reach hades, the land of the dead. The ferryman of the river styx is known as charon. It also became part of dante's inferno, being a river in hell. Styx is featured in many mainline megaten games as something you must cross after death, with charon being shown in these depictions.

**Yomi** or **Yomi-no-kuni** is the Japanese word for the land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in Kojiki, this is where the dead go after life. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is impossible to return to the land of the living. Yomi in Japanese mythology is comparable to Hell or Sheol and is most commonly known for Izanami's retreat to that place after her death. Izanagi followed her there and upon his return he washed himself, creating Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto in the process.

In SMTII bahomet threatens to kill you and send you to yomi. Though he does not clarify whether yomi here refers to the abyss in general, or to a specific realm within it, or somewhere else. Note that in SMTII the shinto heaven is not mentioned, with the amatsukami instead using the diamond realm as a base.

**Valhalla** is the central hall located in asgard, and is ruled over by the god odin. Half of those who die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr. In Valhalla, the dead join the masses of those who have died in combat known as Einherjar and various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, as they prepare to aid Odin during the events of Ragnarök. Mentioned as an existent spiritual realm by odin in iva. He talks about allowing those who are worthy due to being strong warriors to enter. Valhalla is also the name of one of the areas in tokyo millennium. And in SMTI, the cathedral has tones of relation to it due to being under attack by surtr.

**Yggdrasil** is an immense mythical tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse cosmology. In strange journey it is talked about as a thing that spans a large area, and which you fight one of the pieces of.

**Elysium** is mentioned by zeus in redux. Saying again that it is a place he allows people entry to. Note how these places in the games are not presented as universal realms, but as smaller places that a limited amount of people go to due to association only with a specific god among many. Note that due to the random spiritual realms associated with these gods it is likely that many more are implied to exist even if not explicitly mentioned. Note also that since the main alignments are filled with various polytheistic gods, in some universes the more overarching spiritual realms associated with the sides may also be a stand in for these places, or they may be tied together.

Elysium or the Elysian Fields is an afterlife idea that developed over time in certain segments of greek religion. Originally considered seperate from hades, it was a place for heroes and those related to the gods. Later conceptions expanded it to any exemplary or virtuous person,

**Akashic records**. In theosophy and anthroposophy, the Akashic
records are a compendium
 of all human events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have
 occurred in the past, present, or future. They are believed by
theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as
 the etheric plane. The akashic records show up directly in devil survivor 2, being a part
of the akashic stratum, the place where the current administrator of the
 world is seen as residing.

**The sun**. Various religions treat the sun either as a god itself or as alocation that gods live in. Such as in the egyptian religion where amun lives in the sun. In DDS2 the sun itself is presented as a spiritual location that you go to in the game, and which is tied to metempsychosis.

**The void**. While the void as a trope is common in fiction, as well as even a thing mentioned in some spiritual beliefs, in megaten, while a thing that exists, it is given little focus. In japan the void is called **mu**, which is a buddhist concept of lack or emptiness. In nocturne, ahriman is called the god of mu / the void, and emerges from some seemingly dark space. But little more is made of this. So it is not clear to what extent it is presented as a large power in these worlds. Being instead only explicitly associated with one specific god among many. This association of the void with ahriman is due to the buddhist ideas of emptiness which are being tied to it and to the idea of serenity, and of a law analogue Although it is not called by name, this concept of emptiness is again associated with law leaning ideology in Iv when lucifer calls it the empty breath of god. Which ties with nietzschean ideas that monotheism represents a desire for nonbeing, because a monotheistic god lacks distinct personality, being merely abstract absolutes. So while the void is given a buddhist tone, it is one of a few buddhist things more associated with law.

The void shows up again in devil survivor 2 as a place that data goes when it is "deleted," essentially being the emptiness of ceasing to exist. But again it is not really explained in much depth, being presented as a feature that the moderator of the unvierse can use, reducing segments of the universe to the void by deleting them, rather than a power in its own right.

**Persona**. While there are spiritual realms in persona too, like tartarus these tend to not be implied to be the literal thing they are named after in the same way they are in smt. Though they may still relate to the concepts such as how mementos in p5 was meant to also be a manifestation of the tree of death. Persona games also talk about important spiritual realms like the seal of souls, where all souls rest between reincarnations, and the velvet room, where igor helps those who can use personas. The term sea of souls is also used semi equivalent to the collective unconscious which is implied to be the deepest layer of reality. The sea of souls is analogous to when in mainline they talk about souls returning to the depths of infinity on death. Being analogous to the kabbalic idea of atziluth, as the deepest level before adam kadmon, and the infinite ein sof.

**Data**. The basis of the series is that everything is made out of data. The human world is a more crystallized and tangible form, but the demon worlds tend to be slightly less tangible, in keeping with the kabbalic idea of subsequent worlds being more concrete. And this is used as a way to relate demons to technology, and to view technology and computers themselves as continuous with the idea of the world itself as a giant data flow. In some games like devil survivor 2, you can even see the data streams as an actual code you can interact with in the astrolabe. And when demons aren't viewed as more tangible forms, they are sometimes viewed as collections of data, such as in sj, or iv, or sh2. While data isn't itself a place, it is a pervading reality of the locations, with the demon world even being called the data dimension in a sj interview.

**Samsara** is a Sanskrit word that means "wandering" or "world", with the connotation of cyclic, circuitous change. It also refers to the concept of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental assumption of all Indian religions. In short, it is the cycle of death and rebirth. *Saṃsāra* is sometimes referred to with terms or phrases such as transmigration, karmic cycle, reincarnation, and "cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence". It is not necessarily one specific place, but rather a description of reality in general, or rather all aspects of it that are encompassed by the cycle. The idea of samsara is a large basis of the megaten games, with the idea of karma being used as a description of your rebirths and outcomes. However, unlike in indian religions, there is no true way to be totally free from it in megaten, it being merely a description of reality in general. But you can use constructed ways to try to free yourself to varying degrees.