Judgement Arcana

The Judgement Arcana is a recurring Arcana in the Persona series.

Overview
The Judgement Arcana, in tarot, is associated with realizing one's calling, gaining a deep understanding of life and a feeling of acceptance and absolution.

In gameplay, the Judgement Arcana is commonly associated with a balance of Light and Darkness. Figures of the Judgement Arcana are usually related to Judgement Day myths or are gods tied directly to the judgement of humankind.

Characters of the Judgement Arcana are well-aware, quite intelligent and view the world with infinite possibilities. Most powerful when combining their intuition with their smarts, their thought process is among the most vast and realistic.

It is often associated with reborn organizations of Persona users that were being given new objectives or other characters associated with turning points of the game, and from Persona 3 onward, is an automatically progressing Social Link/Confidant that progresses along the story.

Although the traditional British spelling of "judgement" is considered less common than the American spelling of "judgment" today, "Judgement" (capitalized as a proper name) is exclusively applied while referencing the tarot Arcana.

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
 * Persona 5 Strikers

List of Personas
In Megami Ibunroku Persona and Persona 2, this Arcanum corresponds to the Divine and Herald races.

Megami Ibunroku Persona
The protagonist can guarantee a fusion accident resulting in a Judgement Arcana persona by starting from a "hard reset" (as in, not already mid-game and loading a save or selecting "Return to Title") and performing a White Fusion after taking exactly 656 steps in an area where no enemies will attack, such as the Mikage Sun Mall.

The Judgement Arcana is represented by Eriko Kirishima.

Persona 3
The protagonist gains access to the Judgement Arcana near the end of the game, and it symbolizes the protagonist’s actions and decisions through an awareness of himself and others. Personas of the Judgement Arcana are demons associated with the Law alignment.

In Persona 3, the Judgement Arcana starts should the protagonist choose not to kill Ryoji Mochizuki, thus ending the Fool Social Link represented by SEES and allowing the newly formed Nyx Anihilation Team the opportunity to confront Nyx at the promised place on January 31st.

The Judgement Arcana increases as the protagonist ascends the final block of Tartarus, Adamah. Upon completing the Social Link, the protagonist gains access to the ultimate form of the Judgement Arcana, Messiah, the savior. Messiah is fused using Orpheus and Thanatos. It can also be obtained from Shuffle Time in the top level of Tartarus.

FES / Portable
The Judgement Arcana remains relatively the same as Persona 3, however, an exclusive Persona, the fallen angel Lucifer, was added to the Judgement Arcana repertoire. The original angelic Lucifer of the Star Arcana in Persona 3 has been replaced with Helel.

Persona 4
The Judgement Arcana Social Link is represented by the Seekers of Truth, in which the Social Link can only be forged should the protagonist make the correct decisions on December 3rd, unlocking the Normal Ending instead of triggering the Bad Ending. The Judgement Arcana powers up when the Fool Arcana is maxed, therefore the Seekers slowly find out the true culprit of the murder cases within the Midnight Channel, and at one point, the protagonist is supposed to deduce the true culprit. Making the wrong deduction three times triggers the Bad Ending.

Should the protagonist be able to point out the real culprit, the Judgement Arcana will continue to power up over the next few in-game days, until it reaches rank 8. The Judgement Arcana automatically maxes out once the alliance defeats the true culprit, and upon learning the truth, the Judgement Arcana bestows its ultimate form, Lucifer, the Rebel King of Hell.

Persona 5
The Judgement Arcana is represented by the Confidant with Sae Niijima, which ranks up automatically as the protagonist progresses in the interrogation. This Confidant doesn't unlock any gameplay bonuses, with the only "bonus" being unlocked being a story bonus, called "True Justice". Even when the Confidant is established, fusing Judgement Personas will not yield an Arcana Burst, nor will a Persona gain extra EXP from being strenghthened until after Niijima's Palace is completed.

Completing the Judgement Arcana Confidant will also bestow the ultimate form of the Arcana, Satan.

Royal
In Persona 5 Royal, the Judgment Arcana remains largely the same, though Levels of some Personas have been altered.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth

 * ° indicates a Persona that can only be created through special fusion. Hover to see the combination.
 * ↓ indicates a Persona that is only avaiable via DLC.

Trivia

 * Much like the Fool Arcana, in Persona 5 the Judgement Arcana is the first one since Persona 3 not to be represented by the main group of Persona users in the game, but instead by a standalone character, in this case being Sae Niijima, who also represents a turning point of the game. Unlike the other cases where the Social Link starts during the turning point, the confidant with Sae is completed after the turning point of Persona 5.