Rangda

Rangda is a demon in the series.

History
Rangda is the demon queen of the leyaks, witches who can separate their head and entrails from their body, according to traditional Balinese mythology. Terrifying to behold, the child-eating Rangda leads an army of evil witches against the leader of the forces of good, Barong.

It is suggested that Rangda may be derived from the 11th century Javan queen Mahendradatta who was exiled by the king, Dharmodayana, for allegedly practicing witchcraft. The tale surrounding this is that she proceeded to take her revenge by killing off half the kingdom, which by then belonged to her and Dharmodayana's son Airlangga, with plague before being overcome by a holy man. The name Rangda itself means "widow" in old Javanese and Balinese language. It may also be associated with the legend of a demon queen named Calon Arang, who wreaked havoc in late 10th century Java, during the reign of Airlangga.

Rangda is important in Balinese culture, and performances depicting her struggles with Barong or with Airlangga in that tale are popular tourist attractions as well as tradition. She is depicted as a mostly nude old woman, with long and unkempt hair, pendulous breasts and claws. Her face is traditionally a horrifying fanged and goggle-eyed mask, with a long, protruding tongue.

It has been suggested that Rangda may be closely associated with the Hindu warrior mother goddess Durga, or the black goddess of destruction Kali, given that Bali is a Hindu island. While Rangda is mainly seen as fearsome and a personification of evil, she is also seen as a protective figure in some parts of Bali. The colors associated with Rangda are red, black and white, and these colors are also associated with Kali, and her iconography is also similar to Kali. Mahendradatta, the queen Rangda might be based on, was known for her devotion to the cult of Durga in Bali.

Appearances

 * Megami Tensei: Femme Race
 * Megami Tensei II: Femme Race
 * Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei II: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei: if...: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei NINE: Brute Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei IV: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei V: Femme Race
 * Last Bible II
 * Last Bible III
 * Last Bible Special
 * Majin Tensei: Wilder Race
 * Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis: Wilder Race
 * Ronde: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Femme Race
 * Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers: Femme Race
 * Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon: Pagan Order
 * Soul Hackers 2: Femme Race
 * Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku: Femme Race
 * Megami Ibunroku Persona: Femme Order
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment: Magician Arcana
 * Persona 3 / FES / Portable: Magician Arcana
 * Persona 4 / Golden: Magician Arcana
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Magician Arcana
 * Persona 5 / Royal: Magician Arcana
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth: Magician Arcana
 * Devil Children Black Book & Red Book: God Race
 * Devil Children White Book: God Race
 * DemiKids Light Version / Dark Version: Evil Type
 * Devil Children Fire/Ice Book: Akuma Race
 * Devil Children Messiah Riser: Akuma Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card: Card Summoner: Femme Race
 * Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2: Brute Race
 * Devil Survivor / Overclocked: Femme Race
 * Devil Survivor 2 / Record Breaker: Femme Race
 * Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2: Femme Race

Profile
In almost every installment, fusing Rangda and Barong will result in Shiva. She is also so prominent with her signature physical repelling resistance throughout the series but with some sort of weakness to magic, particularly electricity, which is the element usually possessed by Barong.

Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE
Rangda can be encountered as a boss by obtaining an item from giving five opals to the Barong Believer in Protopia. Using this item in a plasma that appears by the teleport in Kagurazaka Caverns' gold level instance will spawn her. She has a rare chance of dropping her plug-in item.

Rangda lacks her usual reflection of physical attacks; nullifying them instead. Her illusion variant, which was implemented much earlier than her regular form, still reflects physical instead of nulling it.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Rangda can be found and recruited in Sector Horologium or fused. Barong, found in Horologium 1F, posts an EX Mission to issue a challenge to her. Once found and talked to, she responds to the mirror Barong sends with one of her claws.

Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse
Rangda can be found in Camp Ichigaya. She can teach Nanashi the Binding Claw, Mazandyne and Madness Nails skill through her Demon Whisper. She benefits from learning Force, Physical and healing skills.

Shin Megami Tensei V
Rangda is one of the demons required to fuse Shiva.

Enemy Rangda can be spoken to by Barong. She tries to reconcile with him but he appears oblivious and insults her as an "old hag", prompting her to snap and attack.

Persona 3
Rangda is the penultimate Persona of the Magician Arcana. By using a triangle fusion of Orobas, Sati and Hua Po, the resulting Rangda can potentially inherit the Fire Boost skill from Hua Po to increase its damage output.

Persona 5
Rangda is the seventh Persona of the Magician Arcana and can be found in the later areas of Niijima's Palace and in the Sheriruth area of Mementos, with the title of "Dancing Witch." She is the first Persona to learn the Bloodbath Physical skill and also serves as an initial source of the Counterstrike skill, which she has in addition to naturally repelling Physical and Gun skills. When itemized through Electric Chair Execution, Rangda yields the Bloodbath Skill Card. Rangda is once again needed for a special fusion with Barong to summon Shiva.

Demikids Light/Dark
Known as Rhanda, she can perform the combo Fiery Impact with Flarlok. She also has the power Rogue Charm.

Devil Survivor
Rangda holds a distinction of being a consistent source of decent "Phys Repel" skill, since she appears in Free Battles late in the game and thus becomes available on Devil Auction once defeated.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Demon=

Persona=

Persona 5 / Royal
Persona 5=

Persona 5 Royal=

Trivia

 * Incidentally, Rangda's appearance in Megami Tensei and several other early games is simply a palette swap of Barong.
 * Starting from Shin Megami Tensei, fusing Rangda and Barong creates Shiva, one of the most important gods of Hinduism who represents eternity, creation and destruction.