Shadow Labrys

Shadow Labrys is the Shadow Self of Labrys and the final boss of Persona 4 Arena ' s Arcade Mode.

Appearances

 * Persona 4 Arena: Arcade Final Boss / Playable Character
 * Persona 4 Arena (Manga): Major Character
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Manga): Major Character

Design
For the most part, Shadow Labrys shares the same design as her other self, with her unique features being her bright yellow eyes which glow faintly in dim conditions, and the hysterical or menacing expression she usually dons. Due to her abilities, she is also able to appear to take the form of other characters that she is aware of. In order to differentiate her in battle, her sprite artwork also has a darker and different form of shading, with a large dark blue glow behind her. In battle, she is always seen with her Persona, Asterius, behind her.

Personality
Shadow Labrys is sadistic and cruel, enjoying having friends fight each other senselessly. She is also very manipulative, with her abilities of deception and freeform disguise aiding her to control others to follow her plans for the P-1 Grand Prix in order to complete her ulterior motive of becoming free from Labrys. However, as powerful and cunning she is, Shadow Labrys has a rather short temper, often becoming extremely irate at those who try to stop her or indirectly foil her plans. Like other Shadows derived from people, she has the skillful ability to coax her other self to disown her to empower herself. While simply fabricated by the malevolent entity's tampering with Labrys' mind, it appears that Shadow Labrys also has the intense desire to be still be free from the Kirijo Group's grasp, going as far as at one point seizing Labrys and taking her out of the way of Mitsuru's party, while often disregarding them as nothing more than "Kirijo dogs" and claiming that she's "never going back" to the Kirijo Group's facility.

Unlike other Shadow Selves who became Personas, Shadow Labrys can manifest as a separate personality from her true self on occasion, usually when Labrys' personality is suppressed for some reason. During these episodes, Shadow Labrys acts as crazed as she did before she was accepted by her true self, but in reality she has developed a tamer, kinder personality; while still vicious and aggressive, she no longer hates the world and values her true self's friends, willingly ceding control over her and Labrys' shared body after all nearby threats are removed (although she claims to just be bored enough to fall back asleep and wait for something new to come along).

Persona 4 Arena
Shadow Labrys is born when Labrys was implanted with a fabricated desire by the malevolent entity of going to Yasogami High School and meet her mother, which is the girl whom she is based on. She is then thrown to the TV by the eerie voice to lure the other Persona users living in Inaba into it and have them fight each other in order to force them to understand the pain her other self went through in the past. In reality, this is just an attempt for the Malevolent Entity to create a body for himself using SEES and the Investigation Team's personas so he can destroy the world with it. After the player defeats Labrys, Shadow Labrys reveals herself before the player character and fights them alongside Asterius, an extension of her. After being defeated, Labrys accepts her repressed desires, gaining her Persona.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Despite being put to rest, supposedly, Shadow Labrys' memories and personality were stored on a separate sub network within the original Labrys' mind. Due to Sho Minazuki taking control of her the same way he did in the original Persona 4 Arena, Shadow Labrys was able to overwrite Labrys' original self and come back in the flesh, destroying the very remote used on her, and putting a fight against Sho, as well as the rest of the others around. It is due to this that she was also able to call Asterius as her own Persona.

After having Yu, Chie and Yosuke all restrain her from trying to kill or fight against Sho any further, Shadow Labrys eventually concedes out of boredom and simply gives control back to the normal Labrys, since she deems herself to not be one to "play house anyway". However, Labrys within their shared trance realizes or hints that Shadow Labrys did so to help her, while the Shadow simply tells her to "shut up". Soon, she then disappears and leaves the rest to her original self.

Playstyle
Shadow Labrys is a variation of Labrys, sharing some and having many of her own normal and special attacks, but sporting some subtle differences in action and style, with her own unique "Persona" which is almost always active (as opposed to all other characters' Personas/avatars playing passively). Reminiscent of puppeteer, or "active avatar" characters in general, she fights in conjunction with Asterius, whose fearsome attacks cover an incredible amount of range. Her flaws lie in her relatively low damage output and the ease of Persona Breaking Asterius should the player neglect to defend it.

In Ultimax, not much has changed, especially since her auto-combo is still the same as in the previous game. However, Shadow Labrys' Persona Cards/Units are instead pushed up from 4 to 6 due to being a more Persona/avatar-reliant character, especially since it is an active one as opposed to passive. It can also be rather confusing since two versions of Shadow Labrys exist, the original, mentioned on this page, and the "Shadow Type" that still uses Ariadne.

Her leitmotif is called "Shadows of the Labyrinth".

Persona 4 Arena

 * "Here I come..." (While chosen on the Character Select screen)
 * "What do you want me to do?" (at the start of her Arcade Mode)
 * "Burn..." (While performing Terra's Eruption)
 * "Die!" (While performing Flames of Hades)
 * "I've got you!" (Initiating Labyrinthos Gate Instant Kill)
 * "There's no escape..." (Initiating Labyrinthos Gate Instant Kill)
 * "You're trapped in a maze!" (During Instant Kill)
 * "You'll never get out!" (Instant Kill)
 * "Stay there forever!" (Instant Kill)

Victory Quotes
General Character Specific
 * What? Are you broken already? *Sigh* I'm so bored that I could die!
 * Ahaha! No need to hold back, Asterius! Go ahead… and tear 'em to pieces!
 * Now, are you ready to die?
 * Ugh, what a pain. Everything pisses me off so much that I'll just have to destroy it all.
 * There. Game, set and match. Umm, how does that dirt taste? Ahahaha!
 * All I can do is fight and destroy things. Nothing wrong with that, right? After all, that’s what I was made for!
 * How’s it feel, huh!? Whoever loses gets destroyed…, That’s the hell I went through!
 * Teddie: Aww, what's an ordinary Shadow like you doing in a place like this? Hurry up and die!
 * Mitsuru Kirijo: You thought you could take me back when you were that weak? Hahaha, what a loser! Crawl back to your facility by yourself!
 * Aigis: You love and have friends, even though you're a machine. You're the exact opposite of me. You'll never understand my pain!
 * Labrys: I am a Shadow, the true self… and I have no more use for you. Get lost!
 * Shadow Labrys: I'll destroy anything, and that includes my own self! Ahahaha!

Victory Quotes
General Character Specific
 * Ahahaha! You really are useless! Aww, it's okay, I'll destroy you completely!
 * Ha, I won! Ahahaha, you're weak! Real weak! So weak that it pisses me off that I wasted my time with you!
 * It's so nice to be over here! After all, I get to be myself and destroy everything!
 * What, it's over already? ... You really are boring. I don't like to be bored.
 * Are you broken? Did I break you yet? Hurry up and break! I want to see you in little tiny pieces!
 * Ahahaha! How awful for you! ... What's with that look? Oh, you're terrified! Ahahahaha!
 * Yu Narukami: I remember you and your little gang! This time, I'll make sure to tear you apart!
 * Yosuke Hanamura: I can't believe how much you disappointed me! I thought I'd get to play with you more! Boring son of a bitch!
 * Yukiko Amagi : You thought your lame little fire could burn me? I'll show you what it's like to burn! ...In Hell!
 * Teddie: Are you still keeping that ridiculous facade up? You're a Shadow, act like one! 'Course, I'm gonna kill you anyway, so it doesn't matter! Haha!
 * Mitsuru Kirijo: Ahahaha! You Shadow Operatives are useless! I'll come back as many times as I want!
 * Akihiko Sanada: Tch... You didn't put up much of a fight, tough guy! Aren't you going to eliminate me? C'mon, try it!
 * Aigis: How does it feel to be torn apart by your older sister? Tell me how it feels!
 * Junpei Iori: Ugh, what a goddamn pain... You clowns keep showing up, one after another! Enough, you bastards!
 * Ken Amada & Koromaru: Turns out you're not special at all, you brat! I'm gonna put both you and your mutt down!
 * Labrys: I'll always be by your side! I'll take over for you when you're gone... so die!
 * Elizabeth: What're you looking so calm about!? You just lost! Here, come back and I'll destroy you for good!
 * Margaret: ...You look so composed, but you've gotta be pissed on the inside, don'tcha? You sure took your time coming out, and you still lost! Ahahahaha!

Trivia

 * Due to her prominent position in almost all stories as a major antagonist masterminding the P-1 Grand Prix, Shadow Labrys is the only playable character in Persona 4 Arena not to have their own unique story, instead appearing in most stories as a boss.
 * Unlike other Shadows, Shadow Labrys' humanoid form is retained in the boss battle against the transformed shadow form. This may simply be due to the nature of the battle system in Persona 4 Arena.
 * Shadow Labrys is identified as both the Shadow-Type of Labrys, with Ariadne as her Persona, and a separate character with Asterius as her Persona.
 * Since she wields a Persona (Astrerius), then she is a Shadow that had developed an ego. This makes her of the few Shadows that have developed egos, the others include Teddie and Metis (though the latter is still debatable).
 * Unlike Labrys, Shadow Labrys doesn't speak with a Kansai accent
 * There is a error in her title, The Raging Bull of Carnage but the announcer says Destruction instead.