Ultimate Persona

An ultimate Persona (or advanced Persona ) is a Persona formed when an individual takes up a resolution in their heart. The Persona is usually one of the strongest Personas the user can summon.

Appearances

 * Megami Ibunroku Persona
 * Persona 2: Innocent Sin
 * Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
 * Persona 3 / FES / Portable
 * Persona 4 / Golden
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
 * Persona 5 / Royal
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth

Megami Ibunroku Persona
The ultimate Personas are fused by adding certain Totems to fusions that result in a Persona whose Arcana is the same as the ultimate Persona's Arcana, and can only be equipped by the character they belong to. The totems are gained towards the end of the game, though the exact method depends on the route.

In the SEBEC quest, if the protagonist performs good deeds throughout the quest, when he meets with his other self in the Alaya Cavern, the other self will reward him with the totems.

In the Snow Queen route, the protagonist has to trade Ambrosia gained from defeating the Tower bosses with Raiho during the final dungeon. If the harder towers are completed before the easier ones, more Ambrosia will be given.

Innocent Sin
Most of the ultimate Personas are gained after defeating Joker in the Caracol if the party found the corresponding mask at Mt. Iwato (the Red Eagle Mask for Apollo, the Yellow Owl Mask for Hades, the Pink Azas Mask for Venus and the Blue Swan Mask for Artemis).

Having Apollo, Venus, and Hades equipped at the end of the boss battles against their reverse counterparts in Leo Temple, Taurus Temple, and Scorpio Temple respectively will change the Personas' resistances:


 * Apollo's weakness to Dark will turn into an immunity. His resistance to Nuclear will be upgraded into an immunity. He'll still be weak to Water and Ice, but the amount of damage he receives from those elements will be reduced.
 * Venus' weakness to Dark will turn into an immunity. She'll go from taking neutral damage from Elec to resisting it. Her weakness to Ice will be upgraded into taking neutral damage from that element. She'll still be weak to Wind, but the amount of damage she receives from it will be reduced.
 * Hades' weakness to Dark will turn into an immunity. His weakness to Nuclear will be upgraded into taking neutral damage from it. He'll still be weak to Fire, but the amount of damage he receives from that element will be reduced.

Yukino retains Durga as her ultimate Persona, which is obtained if she comes to terms with Shunsuke Fujii's death and stays with Tatsuya's party at the Caracol. Jun Kurosu's ultimate Persona is Chronos, obtained by equipping Hermes during the Aquarius Temple's boss fight and then mutating it once it reaches maximum rank.

Eternal Punishment
Except for Tatsuya, who has already obtained his ultimate Persona, Apollo, before the beginning of the story, all other characters' ultimate Personas require the party to obtain the Material Cards from Mt. Iwato and then summon them in the Velvet Room manually. This gives the party the freedom to apply a magic card and stat boost card during the summoning. The ultimate Personas in Eternal Punishment are slightly less powerful and useful skill-wise than in Innocent Sin, but consume less SP.

Persona 3
The ultimate Personas are evolved forms of the initial Personas gained throughout the story, based on their operator's character development. Following a story-specific prompt, each character individually experiences a personal resolution, which brings about the metamorphosis of their initial Persona into their ultimate Persona. The ultimate Personas are listed below in order of metamorphosis.

Gameplay wise, ultimate Personas now nullify what element their previous forms were resistant towards, with sole exception of Messiah, who now repels Light and is weak to Darkness. The party member's Personas also gain new skills to learn upon evolution.

Shinjiro Aragaki (who dies protecting Ken), Koromaru and Metis do not gain ultimate Personas. The protagonist can only obtain their ultimate Persona by fusion upon completion of the Judgement Social Link.

Persona 4
The awakened Persona, like in Persona 3, are evolved forms of the initial Personas. Unlike in Persona 3, these Persona are obtained by maxing out the respective party member's Social Link.

Gameplay wise, awakened Personas null whatever element their normal forms were previously resistant to, all the while gaining a resistance towards another element. The only exception to this is the protagonist's ultimate Persona, which Resists Physical, Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Wind Skills, though it also loses its previous form's Null Dark affinity.


 * The protagonist gains his own ultimate Persona, Izanagi-no-Okami, automatically during the final battle in the True Ending, but it cannot be used in normal gameplay until a certain fusion is performed on a New Game Plus file.

Golden
Persona 4 Golden offers new, third tier ultimate Personas for every character (except for the protagonist, who still gains Izanagi-no-Okami during the final battle in the True Ending and can only be used in normal gameplay upon fusion in New Game Plus). Unlocking these Personas grants the respective Persona a unique ultimate skill. To unlock these ultimate Personas, the protagonist must first max out the corresponding teammate's Social Link, and then speak with them for another Social Link meeting at any point after 1/10 to evolve their Persona further. Most of the third tier Personas for the Investigation Team are named after extensions of their gods' names (Yosuke and Teddie), alternative readings of their names (Kanji and Rise), or epithets revolving around them (Yukiko and Naoto), with Chie's third tier being wholly untied to her awakened Persona.

Gameplay wise, these new ultimate Personas now absorb whatever element their awakened forms had previously been nullified towards, while most of the third tiers promote the resistance their second forms had into a nullification, exceptions being Takeji Zaiten (retains Resist Phys) and Yamato Sumeragi (no Drain affinity, instead Repels Light and Dark).

As a result of the party's respective Social Links having unlockable skills as the protagonist progresses through them in Golden, Awakened Personas now gain an evade skill towards the element they are weak against when the Social Link is maxed out, lowering their chances of being downed, with sole exception to Yamato-Takeru, who doesn't have a exploitable weakness. Unlocking their third tier Persona will also grant each party member an ultimate skill.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
All ultimate Personas from Persona 3 and Persona 4 are revisited in Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. When both protagonists reach a Level 55, Margaret will make a request challenging only the protagonists to a fight. When emerging victorious, Margaret notes that a change has occurred within the both of them, with Orpheus transfiguring into Messiah, and Izanagi transfiguring into Izanagi-no-Okami. Margaret states that due to the power of the two wild cards coming together and facing a battle to the death, the protagonists will obtain even greater power, and because the wild card has extended to their companions, their Personas will be able to evolve as well if their level is at a certain point (Level 55 or higher). Shinjiro and Koromaru ask Margaret if it is possible for their Personas to remain the same so that they can never forget what they have done, or failed to do; Margaret tells them that if they focus on keeping their same Persona, it should be possible for them to stay the same while they gain new power.

On evolution, most Personas gain a new resistance. The two protagonists get the most out of the evolution due to resisting most attacks and shedding a weakness. In addition to new resistances, an ultimate Persona learns a unique skill that fills in the unused 4th slot in their skill set.

Persona 5
The ultimate Personas, like in Persona 4, are evolved forms of the initial Personas gained through maxing out the party member's Confidant relationship. All of the evolved Personas are described as trickster deities in-game.

Gameplay wise, ultimate Personas null whatever element their normal forms were previously resistant to, all the while gaining a resistance towards another element. They also gain an evade skill towards the element they are weak against, lowering their chances of being downed. The only exception to this is the protagonist's ultimate Persona, which Drains Curse and Nulls Bless while being resistant to all other attacks (except Almighty).

Goro Akechi does have another Persona, Loki, but it is not an ultimate Persona, and he summons it when he is no longer a party member, thus it is not playable.

Royal
Persona 5 Royal, like Persona 4 Golden before, offers third tier Personas. During the process of ascending into the third tier, both first and second tier forms of that Phantom Thief's Persona fuse together. All third tier Personas are named after either the original names of the fictional characters their initial Personas represent or the historical basis for the same.

In order to trigger the evolution of any of the party member's third-tier personas bar Morgana, Akechi and Sumire, their confidants must be maxed and the protagonist must be invited to their homes for a talk during specific dates, starting with Ann Takamaki during January 13th. (Morgana's will automatically awaken on January 10th.) During that meeting, they will all apologize for so easily accepting the reality of Takuto Maruki and lament failing to protect the protagonist while he was risking his life for their sake. They then swear to him that they will deal with their grief and move forward, awakening their third tier persona by fusing their initial and ultimates. Triggering a third tier awakening ends the day instantly.

Sumire will awaken her third-tier Persona during the day if her Confidant is fully maxed, after thanking the protagonist for his aid, and Akechi, if the conditions for the True Ending have been fulfilled, will awaken to his Persona if the protagonist refuses Maruki's final offer.

Both Akechi and Sumire's second-tier Personas will evolve on February 2nd, but due to the fixed schedule for that day, they can only be viewed and used on February 3rd, where combat is last available. This applies to New Game Plus as well. This means these Personas can only be used in combat in Maruki's Palace, most obviously against the final boss, though the party may still engage in normal enemy encounters and participate in Velvet Room Challenge Battles during this time.

Gameplay wise, most third tier Personas possess the same defensive abilities as their ultimate Personas. The exceptions are the protagonist, whose third tier Persona has same resistances as his initial one and weaknesses minus its Ice weakness, and Akechi and Sumire, who are respectively granted a resistance to Psychokinesis and Nuclear skills. Unlocking their third tier Persona will also grant each party member an Ex Skill.


 * The protagonist's ultimate persona in-game is Satanael, while his third tier persona, Raoul, is DLC exclusive

In Royal, both Akechi and Sumire also receive second-tier ultimate Personas. Akechi is a unique case since his second-tier Persona is technically an alternate initial Persona, but is treated as an ultimate Persona for the sake of gameplay. Takuto Maruki also gets an ultimate Persona, Adam Kadmon, though he isn't playable.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
All ultimate Personas from Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 appear in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth. Special Screenings number 42 through 45 each yield a Sooty Film on completion, which the party brings to Elizabeth to initiate a fight with one of the Velvet Room attendants. When the party completes all four fights, all four protagonists will obtain their ultimate Personas. Everyone else's Personas will be able to evolve as well if they reach level 55; for party members already above that threshold, the evolution takes place the next time they level up. Shinjiro, Koromaru and Akechi are exceptions, and will instead have a powered-up version of their Personas.

On evolution, a character's Persona will gain new resistances. The protagonists stand the most to gain from this evolution, as their ultimate Personas shed most of their weaknesses and resist multiple elements. Akihiko, Ken, Kanji, Naoto, and the P5 cast will upgrade their innate resistance into an immunity; Akechi also loses his weakness to Curse in the process, while Naoto gains a resistance to Fire. Shinjiro and Koromaru will not change their resistances or weaknesses on evolution.

Each character's Persona has a unique skill that isn't learned by anyone else. When their Personas evolve to their ultimate form, that skill will automatically upgrade to a stronger version. If that unique skill was deleted or never learned, the party member can have the upgraded unique skill overwrite any of the Persona's other skills. The Navigators do not learn any new skills on evolution, instead, two of their in-battle support skills will have their costs reduced by 1.