The Persona Effect and Jung For Days (Part 2) Archetypes
- Tristan Biggs
- Apr 12, 2017
- 3 min read
In this series I will cover, in as succinct a way as I possibly can, the ways that Persona draws from the theories of Jung, how they are represented in Persona 5, and fleshed out further with some examples from 3 and 4 where needed. After all, I am still in the middle of the game. The main thing I want to cover is how this connects with what I affectionately call the Persona Effect, and how the use of these theories draws the audience in further. Warning- this article may be spoilerific! Archetype What it is: Highly developed elements of the collective unconscious that can only be seen by examining behaviour, myths, images, art, religions, dreams, etc. throughout humanity. They are universal, and history, culture and personal context shape and manifest representations of these archetypes. The mother, the shadow, the trickster, the hero, are all examples.
In the games: Well D’uh! The shadow and the hero are pretty darn obvious, and are at the forefront of every Persona game. The shadow is a representation of the personal unconscious as a whole and embodies the compensating values held by the conscious personality. It often represents the person’s dark side, or the aspects that we do not wish to acknowledge or identify with. This motif is used throughout the games as the primary driving force, and enemies, in the games. The fact that the shadows you fight are not the only reference, but that the protagonists of the games need to battle their own personal demons/dark sides draws the audience in more than if they were just battling other people and their dark sides. Everyone is aware, arguably through the collective unconscious, that we all have our demons and vices. We all know that part of ourselves that exists, but we do not want to acknowledge, and having the characters battle that in others but also themselves was a genius move in the series. Of special note, Persona 4/Golden/Arena/Ultimax did an amazing job at this by making the characters fight their own shadows before they get their Persona. So far, Persona 5 still heavily incorporates the shadows as enemies, but also the dark side bosses stemming from real world people, but doesn’t have the crew fighting their own shadows. That said, Atlus still does a stellar job at having the crew show their alternate side through the use of their costumes and the personae themselves. Ryuji’s rebellious nature is shown directly by having his persona as famous pirate Captain Kidd, Morgana’s heroic vigilante side by Zoro, etc. The act of using famous figures as a basis for these Personae, still fits in with the use of mythic beings, folklore creatures and gods that are used for the other Personae you can collect. They are archetypes in and of themselves, and for the target audience, are fairly recognizable. They draw from archetypes that have been around for decades, but in an accessible way, further cementing them as a universal motif. I could go on and on about all the shadows and archetype connections, but I won’t drag this on any further. The hero archetype is omni present and upfront throughout the series, the trickster is ever present as well, especially in Teddy and Morgana, the list goes on. What I truly find remarkable is the way that Atlus and the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei games take such complex and involved concepts, makes them very accessible and understandable, but still keeps their complexity. You could take them at the base level, what Atlus easily provides in tutorials and in the main games’ primary stories, and go along happily on your way with a solid understanding of the concepts. Alternately you could dive right into it and completely lose yourself in the mythos. You could study beyond the game, but also in the extended story parts/lore/etc and really expand your knowledge. You can go as far as you want to, but still learn quite a bit about complex psychological and sociological theories, but always have fun. Commendable. Stay tuned for more thoughts on Persona 5, and what I have labelled as the Persona Effect over the coming days. * It should be assumed that all details are taken from the games themselves, my experiences in my University career studying psychology (poorly J), and the wonder that is Wikipedia. I will not be posting sources for that reason.
Comments