Persona 2

Rumor control just got serious.

The night is still, the streets are quiet,
 In this house lived my Love;
 She left the town long before,
 Yet her house is still standing in the same place.
 There I also see a man standing and staring into the heavens,
 Wringing his hands in violent grief.
 I shudder when I behold his face;
 The moon reveals to me my own likeness.
 You Doppelgänger, you pale companion!
 Why do you mimic my love sickness,
 That tormented me at this place

For so many nights in the past?
—"Der Doppelgänger," Innocent Sin Original Opening

Persona 2 is a duology of games released in 1999-2000 as an Urban Fantasy spinoff of the popular JRPG franchise Shin Megami Tensei. It is the second title in the Persona spinoff series developed by Atlus, which continued in 2006 with Persona 3.

Innocent Sin (Tsumi) stars loner tough-guy Tatsuya Suou, a Japanese high school student from Sumaru City. A popular rumor going around the city states that if you dial your own cellphone number, a mysterious entity called "Joker" will appear in front of you and then grant you one wish. When Tatsuya and his friends try this, Joker appears and marks them for death, accusing them of committing a terrible crime against him that they can't remember. As the Joker Charm runs out of control and rumors begin to become reality, Tatsuya and his friends must fight to uncover the mystery of why they are being targeted and stop Joker before it's too late.

Eternal Punishment (Batsu) stars perky Intrepid Reporter Maya Amano, a Japanese journalist for teen magazine Coolest. A popular rumor going around the city states that if you dial your own cellphone number, a mysterious entity called "JOKER" will appear in front of you and then kill whoever you wish. Maya's investigations into the rumor lead her to be marked for death by JOKER, who accuses her of committing a terrible crime against him on "The Other Side" that she can't remember. As the Joker Curse runs out of control and rumors begin to become reality, Maya and her friends must fight to uncover the mystery of JOKER and "The Other Side" before it's too late. And then there's a boy in a red jacket that Maya swears she has met before...

Gameplay-wise, Persona 2 straddles a fence between the previous title and the sequels to follow. The grid-based battles are thrown out, along with the moon phase calendar (later to make a comeback in Persona 3). The Contact system, however, is in full swing. In addition to having four conversation options with enemies (reduced to just one in Eternal Punishment to make it less cumbersome), choosing multiple characters will yield a new contact based on their relationships, which change over time. Though mainly a source of comedy, it would be perfected with Persona 3's Social Links.

Persona summoning works much the same way, with Fusion Spells allowing multiple Personas to combine their magic. Also new are "contracts" - when you make an enemy happy, they make a guarantee that they won't hurt you, and can also give you special items.

Though the PSX version of Innocent Sin never left Japan, Eternal Punishment was localized and released in North America in 2000. While it isn't necessary to play the first to understand the second, much of the fun of the second comes in spotting the changes between the two continuities. Atlus initially announced no plans in localizing Innocent Sin into English and later elaborated they had planned to release it, but were prevented from doing so over unspecified content issues. A fan translation of this version was released in 2008. Atlus later admitted they were aware of it, but chose to not interfere with it.

Innocent Sin was remade for the Playstation Portable with widescreen support, new art, enhanced demon negotiations and the option to pick between the original and arranged soundtrack. It also slightly censored the more overt Nazi imagery at the end of the game that is widely believed to have prevented the PSX release from leaving Japan. This version of the game was released in North America in September of 2011, and in Europe in November 2011 published by Ghostlight, with Ghostlight planning a late 2011 deluxe release for Europe. It was confirmed that the second part of the game would also be remade and was released in May 17, 2012 in Japan with an extra scenario, so it shouldn't be too long before the rest of the world gets it as well.

Not to be confused with a game called Sin and Punishment, which are the Japanese subtitles in order of release.

Tropes used in Persona 2 include:
  • Abandoned Hospital: Morimoto Hospital.
  • Abomination Accusation Attack: With Katsuya and a female in your party, it's possible to slander demons by accusing them of groping one of the ladies.
  • Agent Mulder: A pair of them: Akinari Kashihara and Maya Okamura, both World History teachers at Seven Sisters High School.
  • All Myths Are True: This is even a gameplay mechanic: by spreading new rumors, you can suddenly have bars selling weapons under the table or lingerie stores carrying bulletproof vests.
    • This comes to bite you in the ass in Innocent Sin's ending. Have you ever heard of the Spear of Longinus?
  • All There in the Manual: The game designers have published at least 75% of all that's known about the characters' backstories, personal habits, and just about any manner of things fans could possibly want to know outside of the game itself. It's pretty impressive.
  • All Your Colors Combined: All of the Ultimate Personas join up to perform the Grand Cross fusion (renamed Dragon Cross in EP).
  • Almighty Janitor: Toku, the hobo who lurks around Honmaru Park (or the ramen shop in Eternal Punishment) and dispenses rumors.
  • Already Met Everyone
  • Alternate Universe: Eternal Punishment takes place in one.
  • Always Save the Girl: Tatsuya is dedicated to protecting Maya, which is mostly evident in Eternal Punishment.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance: Thanks to your efforts during the EX Dungeon, Tatsuya Sudou, who's been pretty damn respectable without his memory, gets it back and promptly goes back to his old self. Not that you actually had a choice.
  • Anatomy of the Soul: Joker's aim is to revive Xibalba using the "Dream Energy" taken from those who summon him. Eikichi witnesses this firsthand when his bandmates are zapped by Joker, reducing them to shells devoid of any willpower or aspirations. Over the course of the game, the threesome revert to shadow-like beings, then fade away entirely.
  • Ancient Astronauts: The main impetus behind Innocent Sin is a rumor that the Mayans were alien visitors, which (thanks to Nyarlathotep), becomes retroactively true. Subverted, of course, in that this is due to Clap Your Hands If You Believe: after the Reset Button that triggers Eternal Punishment's plot, all supposed existence of Ancient Astronauts never existed.
  • Another Side, Another Story: The new story in the PSP remake of Eternal Punishment will be focusing on Tatsuya's side of the story.
  • Apocalypse Day Planner: Remarked on by Maya's coworkers during Eternal Punishment's prologue; the planets all aligned in the Grand Cross formation "this summer", but nothing happened. Those who've played the previous game remember things a little differently.

Co-Worker: All this fuss about Armageddon and Grand Cross, and nothing happened this summer... The more hype, the more people complain.

  • Apocalypse Hitler: So, someone decides to start a rumor that Adolf Hitler is still alive. Not a problem, right? Well, normally not. But what with this whole "rumors become reality" business... Long story short, Hitler boss fight!
  • Apocalypse How: Class 6, at least.
  • Apologetic Attacker: Some of Maya's battle quotes count as apologetic, such as "I'm sorry..." as a victory quote.
  • Arab Oil Sheikh: Salam, a Quest Giver who hands over Tarot in exchange for maps.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite the fact that he regularly fights demons with the help of an aspect of his psyche that manifests as a mythological figure, and despite all the crazy things that happen as the game goes on, Katsuya's reaction to any new strange thing still tends to be "that's impossible!".
    • Considering how insane the plot gets, can you blame him?
  • Ascended Extra: The party members of Eternal Punishment are this, save for Maya and Tatsuya, who were already important.
  • Attack Of The School Festival: Kasugayama High is holding a festival by the time you arrive looking for Yasao.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: In Innocent Sin, Nyarlathotep actually manages to blow up the world, leaving only Sumaru City intact. While Eternal Punishment is a Reset Button, the ending implies that that universe still exists in some form.
  • Badass Longcoat/Scarf of Asskicking: The Masked Four.
    • Hitler/The Fuhrer sports one in the PSP version, complete with Cool Shades.
  • Badass Long Hair: Baofu. The Padparacha jeweler has an impressive mane, as well.
  • Bag of Spilling: Used straight with most of the cast, but subverted with Tatsuya Suou in Eternal Punishment: he starts the game with his ultimate Persona from Innocent Sin. And, if you have save data from a finished version of Innocent Sin, he'll start Eternal Punishment at the level he was there.
  • Bald of Awesome: Dr. Tomi. GOLD FINGERRRRRRR!
  • Ballroom Blitz: Kasugayama's festival is revealed to be the work of Joker, herding the dancers into the gymnasium to drain them.
  • Bavarian Fire Drill: Maya's clever trick of lighting a cigarette in the women's bathroom at SMILE Mall, setting off the fire alarm. It works so well, she does it again in the second game.
  • Beauty Pageant: The "Miss Sevens" Pageant. Oft-referenced, not least of which by Lisa (noted to have won last year), but not actually seen in-game.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Exemplified by the various NPCs throughout town, many of whom dial the Joker to fulfill their fondest wish. The businessman eating in Gatten Sushi hopes for a promotion; he becomes the head of his company thanks to Joker, whereas in the alternate Eternal Punishment universe, JOKER murders his boss, thereby promoting him by default. In both games, the businessman is jubilant at his good fortune. The price, however, is the eventual loss of his will (transformed into a Shadow in Innocent Sin, brainwashed by the New World Order in Eternal Punishment), preventing him from fulfilling any of his dreams ever again. A similar scenario plays out with the other NPCs.
    • This works from a gameplay standpoint, too. Some rumors have a 50-50 chance effect, which can either help or hinder your quest. For example, spreading a rumor about Parabellum hiring a bodyguard might result in the Bartender selling a powerful new gun... or he may just charge more for his old wares, using the bodyguard as a bullying tactic.
  • Better to Die Than Be Killed: Spotlighted in the anime trailer. A perp is chased up to a rooftop by Katsuya, whereupon he shows himself to be possessed by the Joker. The man pleads with Katsuya to help him, but is quickly re-taken by the Joker personality, which hurls his body off the building.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Several of them, good freaking grief. Katsuya's the most obvious, as he actually has a little brother he will completely rework his life for, but the other male characters in Innocent Sin can count as well, Jun and Tatsuya (in both games) being the worst. Jun actually takes it upon himself to murder his best and only friends from ten years ago because he thinks they killed his Cool Big Sis and is later viciously protective of Tatsuya in some of the official media, if not Innocent Sin itself (and for possibly other reasons), while Tatsuya himself is driven entirely in Eternal Punishment to protect Maya. Obviously, hurting her -- or in Katsuya's case, him -- will be the last thing you do.
  • Big Damn Fire Exit: The Sky Museum's Timed Mission. Whoever designed the placement of its staircases should be sued.
  • Big No: Tatsuya at the end of Innocent Sin. He's got good reason, too: his friends have all forgotten him.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Both Innocent Sin (Tatsuya loses Maya) and Eternal Punishment (Maya loses Tatsuya).
  • Black Knight: The Longinus 13 are a modern day equivalent of this. Also, robots. On top of being part of the Western Zodiac recurring theme, they may be based on Heinrich Himmler and his "roundtable" of 12 lieutenants.
  • The Blank: In Innocent Sin, Shadow Maya still has a face in her character portrait, but her character sprite has no eyes (the only facial feature visible on the sprites) to make her effectively faceless when she shows up. It's the first of several (obvious) signs that something is very wrong with her, though it's surprisingly easy to miss at first, but for a subtle feeling of wrongness about her appearance.
  • Bleep, Dammit!: Invoked in the American version of Eternal Punishment, where Ulala swears like a drunken sailor, and Baofu occasionally swears, too. However, they intentionally only censor a couple letters... so you can tell what they're saying. Also doubles as Getting Crap Past the Radar.

Baofu: Who the f##k are you?
Ulala: "Don't underestimate me you *bleep*ing bastards!"

  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Maya and Yukino's Contact combination in Innocent Sin, with Maya playing the former and Yukino as the latter.
  • Bonus Boss: Two from the Climax Theater sidequest in the PSP version. Persephone and the angel Kushiel.
    • Philemon himself in Eternal Punishment.
  • Book Ends: The beginning of Eternal Punishment has Tatsuya reunited with Maya in the new universe. The ending of Eternal Punishment has Maya reunited with Tatsuya in the new universe, though her reaction is different.
  • Boss Corridor: The Clock Tower entrance.
  • Bragging Rights Reward: The One-Hit Kill Fusion Armageddon pwns literally everything -- even the final boss (but not Philemon though; he repels it). Trouble is, you need to summon both Lucifer and Satan to cast it, and can obtain only one per playthrough. Which basically boils down to (you guessed it) 100% Completion.
  • Break the Cutie: Every single character hits this in both games at least twice (most of the end Innocent Sin is Jun demonstrating this, and if you make the wrong choice in Caracol, Yukino's the second-best example), but Lisa in Eternal Punishment is likely the most powerful, drastic example. In Innocent Sin, she's spunky, happy, able to kick ass and is almost comically over-the-top in her pursuit of Tatsuya. If you wake her up in Eternal Punishment, however, she starts sobbing uncontrollably against Tatsuya's shoulders, asking him to take her along so she can help to make up for what she forgot. What possibly puts this above the other break-the-cutie moments in game (and the ones she herself suffers in Innocent Sin) is that she's NOT letting her feelings get in the way. She says that she won't bother Tatsuya and the others again, which, if you know Lisa is just... absolutely heartbreaking. This depression continues, too, at the end of the game (if you continue that route). She sobs on the shrine steps, and Eikichi (if you don't wake him) and Jun both approach her, trying to cheer her up because it's just so painful.

Lisa: I know you're troubled with a lot of things... I won't bother you... But... You have to take me with you! Don't leave me...!

  • Britain Is Only London: Hence the clothing store sign.
  • Brother-Sister Incest: Metaphorically. The relationship between Maya and Tatsuya all through Innocent Sin is very plainly a big-sister/little-brother deal: if Tatsuya tries to express romantic feelings for Maya, she teases him and implies rather heavily that she doesn't and won't ever reciprocate. At the end of Eternal Punishment, they appear to have become Star-Crossed Lovers.
  • Burger Fool: PEACE Burger.
  • But Thou Must!: There are a few notable occasions where your actions and responses affect the plot (e.g. whether or not Anna Yoshizaka dies in Innocent Sin or you can mutate Maia into Maia Custom in Eternal Punishment), but on the whole, Thou Must.
  • Calling Card: Maya is handed a note reading "yOu'rE nEXt --JOKER" at the start of Eternal Punishment.
  • The Call Knows Where You Go To School
  • Cape Busters: The Longinus 13 are the Marionette-Jaeger (Heavenly Fire "Marionette-Hunters"), with "Marionette" being Nazi shorthand for Personas. This means, in short, that their job is to hunt down Persona users.
  • Changing of the Guard: Maya Amano, it's your turn to shine.
    • What's interesting is that everyone from Eternal Punishment assists Tatsuya in some capacity in Innocent Sin (well, barring Katsuya), and vice-versa. Not only that, some of them reappear as bosses.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The first four playable good guys of Eternal Punishment all count save Maya, as she was already important. However, special mention goes to Baofu, who we first see in Innocent Sin as a drunken lout who gives the young Tatsuya and Jun a lecture in a flashback, and whom you barely can recognize even if you played Eternal Punishment, as he is missing his Cool Shades at the time.
  • Chrome Champion/Evil Knockoff: Metal Daddy and Metal Mom a.k.a. metal replicas of Eikichi and Jun's parents.
    • In Eternal Punishment, it's robot versions of Eikichi, Lisa and Jun. They wield the same Ultimate Personas, too, making this a retroactive Mirror Boss.
  • City of Adventure: Sumaru City.
  • City of Weirdos: Baofu comments that, with the curse in effect, Sumaru City is the most dangerous place in the world.
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The rumor curse.
    • This has all sorts of funky effects on the city. Holistic healing now suddenly has tangible results (i.e. chiropractors and hippie crystal therapy can cure poison and broken bones instantly).
  • Class Reunion: Pretty much every nominal character from the first Persona reunites for this one. Even the dead ones. The only one who don't make it back are Ayase/Alana and Masao/Mark.
  • Clock Tower: The steeple of Seven Sisters' High School.
  • Cluster Bleep Bomb: Ulala drops one in the U.S. version of Eternal Punishment.
  • Coincidental Broadcast: Showing the spread of the Joker's influence in the city.
  • Color Coded for Your Convenience: The Masked Four. Even incognito, their 'normal' attire is the same color (the crystal skulls they carry around are color coded, too).
  • Combination Attack: Fusion Spells, where multiple party members combine spells to form a powerful attack.
  • Continuity Nod: The PSP version of Innocent Sin adds a series of new side quests tied to a movie theater. The first two available take you to St. Hermelin (the school from the original Persona) and Karukozaka High School (from the series' Spiritual Predecessor and branching point of the continuity it takes place in, Shin Megami Tensei: if...).
    • At one point, when uncovering the masks for the ultimate personas, Yukino mentions that it's "another sad story about masks" referring to her appearance in the Snow Queen quest in the original Persona.
  • Coolest Club Ever: Club Zodiac.
  • Cordon Bleugh Chef: Exploited Trope by the Shiraishi ramen lady, since the item on the menu is so awful that nobody would order it unless they were really shopping for guns.
  • Cosmic Chess Game
  • Crash Into Hello: The ending of Innocent Sin and the beginning of Eternal Punishment. Tatsuya running into Maya, even picking up Maya's Iconic Item. Which stirs up feelings of deja vu in Maya...
  • Creator Cameo: "Tad" is a self-insertion by Scenario designer Satomi Tadashi, who previously cameoed in the first Persona.
    • Graphic Designer Soejima Shigenori appears as "Garcon Soejima", a French waiter at Claire de Lune.
    • The manager of the Seedy CD music store is Tasaki Toshiko, who composed Persona 2's music.
    • Lastly, the Demon Artist is modeled on Megami Tensei series artist Kazuma Kaneko (pre-haircut).
  • Creepy Cool Crosses/Crucified Hero Shot: Before the final boss battle, Nyarlathotep summons the ghosts of Jun's parents, who hang suspended in the air from laser crucifixes.
  • Cthulhu Mythos: The games where it's referenced the most. Tatsuya's new story in the PSP remake of Eternal Punishment includes Randolph Carter as Chandraputra appearing and a boss fight against nearly every Lovecraft creature in the series. Including the main series design of Nyarlathotep. It even has Cthulhu and Dagon speaking R'lyehian.
  • Darker and Edgier: Innocent Sin is dark, even by Mega Ten standards. In the only ending, the heroes lose without really having accomplished much of anything, the world is destroyed, one of their number dies, and the only way they can squeak out anything resembling a happy ending is cutting a deal with Philemon that undoes everything that happened, both good and ill.
  • The Day of Reckoning: The raising of the Mayan spaceship Xibalba, followed by the destruction of Earth. According to the Oracle of Maia, only the chosen few will survive, safe aboard the ship.
    • In Eternal Punishment, the prophecy varies a little bit. The Wang Long, fabled dragons that inhabit the planet's ley lines, will be called forth following a massive discharge of Kegare (or JOKER) energy.
  • Death Cry Echo: All enemies go out with this.
  • Deliberately Monochrome: At Mt. Iwato, the flashbacks to previous Persona games are shown in sepia.
    • The TV studio turns black and white while under the effect of Chiruzu's time freeze.
  • Demonic Possession: The method by which JOKER continues his spree after he's killed.
  • Demoted to Extra: Eikichi, Lisa and Jun suffer from this in Eternal Punishment. They still play a role, although it is much more minor then before.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Twice. Not just Nyarlathotep, but Philemon as well, in the EX Dungeon. Though it's likely just temporary...
  • Die or Fly: How the main characters unlock their latent Persona powers.
  • Dirty Cop: Some of the police officers in the Konan Police Department (especially Captain Shimizu and most of the SAT operatives) are in league with the New World Order. One of the members of the New World Order is an officer in the JGSDF and their manpower comes from the army as well.
  • Disappeared Dad: A common affliction in Innocent Sin. Both Tatsuya and his brother are estranged from their father, who was kicked out of the police force on charges of corruption.
    • Both Maya and Jun lost their fathers when they were children; the former was a war correspondent who was killed in action, inspiring Maya to pursue a journalism career. Jun's dad met a mysterious (though no less grisly) demise when he tumbled into the gears of Seven Sisters' clock tower.
  • Disc One Nuke: The Low-End Breaker Fusion Spell, which instantly kills whichever enemy has the lowest level. The only thing stopping it from being a full-blown Game Breaker is its inability to kill bosses (though rumor demons are fair game).
  • Door to Before: There's a portal in Nyarlathotep's realm which leads back to the city (actually, to be more precise, the whole metropolis is sucked into it by at that point, but you get the idea). This ties back into Nyarlathotep's arrogance/weird sense of sportsmanship.
  • Downer Ending
  • Drowning My Sorrows: Ulala and Baofu's Contact option while in battle.
  • Dummied Out: The ability to create and download new dungeons has been taken out of the English release of the Innocent Sin remake.
  • Dysfunction Junction
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: A major theme in both games, to the extent that it's Maya's mantra in Innocent Sin.
  • Easing Into the Adventure: In both games, the Player Character can't continue until you've talked to certain NPCs. Innocent Sin opens with Tatsuya staring down bullies, getting lectured by his teacher, and visiting Eikichi's garage band.
    • In Eternal Punishment, Maya can't leave the office until you've talked to everybody. She spends the rest of the prologue interviewing teachers at Seven Sisters about the JOKER killings.
  • Eldritch Location: Philemon and Nyarlathotep's domains.
  • The End of the World as We Know It
  • End of the World Special: The conclusion to Innocent Sin, and impetus to the following game.
  • Enemy Civil War: Nazis vs. the Masked Circle.
  • Enemy Without: The Shadow Sides. Rather than emerging directly from the heroes, they seem to have been engineered by Nyarlathrotep himself from the innate darkness of every human, to which he has a direct link. They were given full form thanks to a rumor about the group of five that set fire to the Museum.
  • Environmental Symbolism: The entire city infrastructure is shaped like a giant yin-yang, so...
    • Lady Scorpio's hangout, the Zodiac Club, is bathed in blue lights.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Tatsuya. Also, King Leo a.k.a. Tatsuya Sudou refers to the Joker, Jun Kurosu, as having the beauty of a goddess.
  • Everybody Hates Hades: Averted in that he's Eikichi's Ultimate Persona. He also talks like a eunuch for some reason.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Various rumormongers and merchants throughout the city. There are, in fact, two characters named Barkeep and Bartender.
  • Everyone Is Related: The main characters of Innocent Sin (with the exception of Yukino) were introduced each other as children, long before their eventual meeting in the game.
  • Everything's Deader with Zombies
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: If you use the Joker Charm in Innocent Sin, but don't have a wish (or refuse to tell it), then Joker turns you into a mindless zombie. In Eternal Punishment, using the Joker Curse will transform you into a Joker.
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: Sumaru Castle, after it rises out of the earth atop that... metal, Jenga block... thing.
  • Evolving Attack: Personas have a random chance of "Mutation" following a battle, which can do anything from raising it's stats, to unlocking a new power, to evolving into a brand new Poké-- erm, Persona altogether.
  • Exposition Fairy: Your first random encounter is interrupted by a low-level goomba, Robin Goodfellow, who cheerfully explains the basics.
  • Eyes Always Shut: The unenthusiastic clerk at the W.Slash internet cafe.
  • Eyes of Gold: Nyarlathotep and his Shadow flunkies.
  • Face Palm: As Team Mom, Maya has plenty of reasons to employ this. Yukino's version is even goofier, complete with Sweat Drop.
  • Facial Horror: In Innocent Sin, the Seven Sisters' school emblem is cursed, disfiguring anyone who wears it. It's not explicitly shown in-game, but the anime trailer contains the full face-melting results.
  • Fair Cop: Japan's answer to David Caruso, Katsuya Suou. In Persona 3, the news channel interviews a young man in his twenties (Tatsuya) training to be a cop like his brother.
  • Fake Difficulty: In Innocent Sin, the "theater" mode of bonus dungeons/scenarios does not allow you to save.
  • Fantasy Kitchen Sink: The Persona/enemy lineup consists of everything from the Greek pantheon to Norse myth to Shaka Zulu. Perennial series favorite Rasputin the Mad Monk also say hi.
  • Fight Woosh
  • Fire-Forged Friends
  • Five-Bad Band: The Masked Circle.
  • Five-Man Band: Lampshaded in Innocent Sin in that its characters do, in fact, comprise a rock band (Jun even plays synth). Note also that both of the "Big Guy" powerhouses are female. It fits better in Innocent Sin because of the Masked Circle.
  • Floating Continent: Sumaru City.
  • Forgotten First Meeting: Thanks to Repressed Memories, no one of the "Masked Circle" remembers each other. Note that all the Love Interests for Tatsuya are from the group.
  • Fortune Teller: The Sumaru Genie.
  • For Want of a Nail: Actually, life in Eternal Punishment isn't all that different, to Baofu's chagrin. Miyabi's not fat, and Jun's home life is pretty good.
  • Four Is Death: The Masked Four.
    • King Leo's job is to raise the four pillars of fire, mentioned in the prophecy as "the Flames of Atonement".
  • Freudian Excuse: Jun Kurosu.
    • It's not quite fair to just hit Jun with that, as the entire Innocent Sin cast falls into this trope, though Jun takes the cake with his parental issues, with his borderline Electra complex and mommy issues. They all at least have some problem or other with their fathers. In fact, the final boss of the game, Great Father, is a composite of all the characters' fathers.
    • Great Father's left foot (right on the player's side) is only assumed to be Tatsuya's father. All of the other limbs say their kid's name when they attack, and the main body is Kashihara, while this foot calls out for... Jun. By necessity though, since Tatsuya's name is the only one in the game that can be changed -- and thus can't be used in any of the voiced lines.
  • Gag Nose: Tony, the laid-back foreign exchange student from Italy who sells trinkets to pay for tuition. You can spread a rumor that he's a fence for the Sicilian Mafia, resulting in -- what else? -- Tony becoming an illegal smuggler. He doesn't seem to mind though.
    • And also, y'know.... him.
  • Gameplay and Story Integration: When Ulala gets possessed by the JOKER in Eternal Punishment, she punches Maya and forces her to start the fight with some HP taken off.
    • In Eternal Punishment, the scenes from Innocent Sin have Tatsuya talking; whereas Maya is silent... whereas in Eternal Punishment, Maya is the Silent Protagonist.
    • And in Innocent Sin, during the fight with Shadow Maya, everyone except for one character will be at low HP because of an attack used on them multiple times before fighting.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: Numerous aversions, such as starting a boss fight with low HP after said boss attacks you during an event, using healing spells on wounded people, etc.
  • Gas Leak Coverup: The torched sanitarium in Eternal Punishment.
  • Gas Mask Mooks/Gas Mask Longcoat: The Last Battalion.
  • Gay Option: Jun Kurosu.
  • Genre Busting: It's an RPG Urban Fantasy about saving the world and facing your fears and with psychological elements, and it's a horror game like the other Megatens. And Innocent Sin has elements of a Dating Sim to boot.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Ulala swears like a sailor in the English version. Without getting an "M" rating for the stuff she says, they simply bleeped a lot of her cusses out... and they don't make a lot of effort to hide what she's saying.

Ulala: Shut up you (bleep)(bleep)! I'm gonna (bleep)ing kick your scrawny a(bleep)! You piece of sh(Bleep)!

  • The Ghost: Tatsuya and Katsuya's father in the PSX versions. To put it in context, everyone else's dad pops up in Innocent Sin (Maya's father is posthumously seen in a flashback), but not this guy. He technically appears during the final boss battle (as one of the Great Father's appendages); it's tricky to tell which one he's supposed to be though, even in Kazuma Kaneko's concept art, though it is possible to take a guess by applying process of elimination. However, in Eternal Punishment's PSP remake, he appears in the new scenario.
  • Ghostapo: According to legend, Hitler is chilling in Antarctica with his elite forces.
  • God and Satan Are Both Jerks: At the conclusion of Innocent Sin, you discover that Philemon helped orchestrate the events of the series up to this point to test whether he or Nyarlathotep represent the more powerful aspect of humanity. Events that involved the destruction of Mikage-cho in the original Persona, the deaths of countless people (including Maya), and an Earthshattering Kaboom. The resulting dialog box gives you the option of punching him for what he's put everyone through.
  • The Gods Must Be Lazy: Philemon seems to embody this trope. He was basically trying to prove that humanity could achieve a perfect existence, so giving humans the power of Persona was the most he could do. Yet this doesn't explain why Nyarlathotep gets to make the Moral Event Horizon his bitch.
  • Going Through the Motions: Characters have only a few stock poses, but you're going to see every one they've got in the course of a conversation.
  • Good Guy Bar/Punny Name: Parabellum (get it?).
  • Gotta Catch Them All: The crystal skulls in Innocent Sin.
  • Gratuitous English: "Let's Positive Thinking!", Ellen, some of Eikichi's battle quotes. Ellen usually gets it right though. Eikichi, on the other hand...
  • Grave Marking Scene: At the end of the Eternal Punishment, Baofu and Ulala visit the grave of Miki, Baofu's old partner/lover who was murdered. Baofu makes his peace, while Ulala promises Miki that she'll look over him.
  • Guest Star Party Member: In Eternal Punishment, other than Ellen above, you can also recruit Nate from the first Persona. Both have grown up considerably.
    • Additionally, Yukino in Innocent Sin is one of the initial party members of Persona 1 -- although she left early on unless you did the Snow Queen Quest that was Macekred out of the PSX US version.
  • Guide Dang It: The Ancestral Personas. In Eternal Punishment, they form the basis for a game-spanning Sidequest. Even meeting the requirements isn't enough, since you still need a FOOL card to summon the last Persona, and could scour the entire game without uncovering even one. All this to insta-kill a boss which isn't even difficult to begin with.
    • Hastur is an über-powerful, one-of-a-kind Persona whose card you can collect early in the game (not that it'll do much good, as you need to be at a very high level to summon it), for free. The catch? Doing so requires talking to a specific NPC and imputing "HASTURCOMEFORTH" into a text prompt. Supposedly, a demon somewhere shares this information if you Contact it, but that would be like looking for a Needle in a Stack of Needles.
    • The Undersea Ruins treasure room. To reach the chests, you must Contact the Random Encounter Aestha for help. Naturally, Aestha is often difficult to pin down, and she won't unlock the room until you've Contacted her a dozen times or more. So get cracking, monkey.
      • One final way to twist the knife: you can also find and talk to her... only to give you the rumor of a fusion spell ingredient rather than what you want to know.
  • Gundamjack: A literal one, as Tatsuya steals one of the Tenchu Army's Mini-Mecha.
  • Hairstyle Inertia: The original "Masked Circle". Averted with Maya in order to mislead players.
  • Healing Spring: Lampshaded and deconstructed. The proprietor of said healing spring, Trish, is an extortionist fairy who hangs around dungeons, profiting from your pain. Her inflated prices are on-scale with the amount of healing required (contrast this with the flat-rate healers in town).
  • Heroic Mime: Played With. In canon, Maya and Tatsuya both speak in both games, but the protagonist's speech (whichever one that is) isn't shown - in the Nyarlathotep flashback scene in Eternal Punishment's Mt. Iwato, Maya says ".........", and Tatsuya speaks, whereas in Innocent Sin, Maya would have spoken, and Tatsuya wouldn't.
  • History Repeats: Much of Eternal Punishment is a re-imagining of events in Innocent Sin. This is partly because Tatsuya's memories of the Other Side are affecting the current reality.
  • Holy Hand Grenade: The Spear of Longinus.
  • Hot Scoop: Maya, Yukino and even Fuji are examples of this trope.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Nyarlathotep whenever he assumes human form. The Shadow Sides qualify, as well.
    • The Nazis are never seen without their gas masks, and are covered from head to toe in black uniforms. Given their origin (a rumor) and the fact that Hitler turns out to be another of Nyarlathotep's alter-egos, it's strongly implied that they're all just manifestations.
  • Iconic Item: Boy howdy. Tatsuya Suou and Jun Kurosu have the two most prominent ones (Tatsuya's lighter was originally Jun's father's, and Jun's watch was originally Tatsuya's father's; they switched items in a display of friendship), but Maya also has Mr. Bunbun. Flowers, too, seem to represent Jun, as the opening video for Innocent Sin demonstrates.
    • Frankly, lots of characters in this crazy duology have special items. Katsuya's glasses, Yukino's camera or at least the one she got from her crush, and Philemon's mask count, just to name a few extras.
  • Idle Animation
  • I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: In Maya mythology, Xibalba is roughly translated as "Place of fear".
  • I Know Kung Faux: Eikichi is terrified of his conservative dad, especially since Kankichi claims to knows 18 forms of martial arts - "including capoeira"!
  • The Illuminati: The New World Order.
  • I'm Crying but I Don't Know Why: When the gang meets Maya in Innocent Sin, they start crying, seemingly for no reason (see Wistful Amnesia below for the whole thing and why).
  • Impossibly Cool Clothes: More so than in most other Megaten games. Maya's party in particular is nicely coiffed.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Jun uses flowers to attack, Baofu throws coins, and Eikichi uses machine guns disguised as guitar cases.
  • Inexplicably Identical Individuals: The Satomi sisters, each of whom run a different pharmacy.
  • Infallible Babble: Completely and utterly subverted.
  • In Medias Res: To people familiar with other games of the franchise, it can sure seem like we're starting in the middle of things in Innocent Sin; how come there's no super-extended scene of actually being granted Personas and everyone just seems to have 'em already? Turns out this is a very important plot point, and had people not pushed certain events out of their minds, this whole mess would never have happened,
    • America had this worse for a while since Innocent Sin was only released in Japan, making Eternal Punishment harder to follow. Fortunately, Innocent Sin was finally released on the PSP in the U.S. with a remake of Eternal Punishment expected to be on the way sometime in the future.
  • Inn Between the Worlds: Trish's Fountain and the Velvet Room.
  • Instant Awesome, Just Add Mecha: Adolf Hitler's personal guard the "Longinus 13" named for the gigantic spears they carry around. The Tenchu Army in Eternal Punishment have their own mecha squadron, as well.
  • Instant Plunder, Just Add Pirates: The barkeeper of The Jolly Roger restaurant.
  • The Internet Is for Porn: Using the Contact option in battle, demons will occasionally ask the player what the internet is for. OBVIOUSLY, one of the options -- no matter who is being asked -- is to say that it's for porn. It's always funny.
  • Intrepid Merchant: Narumi is built on the peninsula, and gets obliterated when Sumaru City rises. One rumor later though, and all of the merchants/rumormongers magically relocate.
  • Ironic Echo: Maya's catchphrase ("LET'S BE POSITIVE!") becomes the slogan of the New World Order.
  • Kill the Cutie: Maya.
  • Knowledge Broker: Various "Rumormongers" who are scattered in each city district. They fork over rumors for free, so unless you want a rough time of it, you'd better take time to talk with them.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Used in the ending of Innocent Sin to create a timeline where the world isn't screwed. Hell, Eternal Punishment is a Deconstruction of what happens when you decide you'd rather subvert the trope and risk having the world end again, on top of none of your friends not remembering you or your adventures.
  • Last-Name Basis: Even after 40+ hours of gameplay, Officer Suou still insists on addressing Maya as "Ms. Amano". This just adds to his overall adorkability.
    • Maya's editor Mizuno is a less-friendly example as she constantly barks "'Amano!'" in place of her name.
  • Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club: Club Zodiac is either a front for the Taiwanese mob or the Masked Circle.
  • Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Though the antagonists of both games share similar goals, it's the New World Order that learns from past mistakes. Immediately following JOKER's defeat, an New World Order agent appears on television to spread a rumor that anyone who performs the Joker Curse will become a JOKER themselves. Thought you could handle one Joker? Try a WHOLE CITY of them.
  • Letting the Air Out of the Band: Happens in one cutscene to the music in Innocent Sin.
  • Level Drain: The "Prophecy" spell, which resets a Persona's rank to 1. Given that a Persona's spells and stats come mostly from gaining ranks, and going from rank 1 to rank 8 often takes several hours of grinding, this can be pretty inconvenient.
  • Levitating Lotus Position: Shaka (a.k.a. Budha), a hidden Persona in Aoba Park.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Three years between games, and Saeko Smith and Principal Harding still haven't changed out of their outfits.
  • Load-Bearing Boss: Defeating Chiruzu/Guido, upon which the Undersea Ruins collapse.
  • Love Triangle: Both games have notable ones.
    • Betty and Veronica: In Innocent Sin, Lisa and Maya are this to Tatsuya.
      • Not to mention Jun who also has feelings for Tatsuya. (Jughead?)
    • Sibling Triangle: In Eternal Punishment, both Tatsuya and Katsuya are clearly infatuated with Maya. Katsuya's Shadow taunts him with this fact, trying to pursuade him to shoot Tatsuya. Katsuya says that while the Shadow is right about his feelings, he loves his brother anyway, and shoots the Shadow instead.
  • Made of Evil: "Kegare" is basically the essence of sin, hatred and malice, and in Eternal Punishment, Jokers are full of it. The New World Order starts draining people of their Kegare for their latest nefarious scheme.
  • Mad Scientist Laboratory: Guido's science lab.
  • Malevolent Masked Men: The Masked Circle.
  • Mayincatec: Did you know that Mayans built giant underground flying machines in Japan? No? Well, they retroactively did thanks to the power of rumors!
  • Merged Reality: The conclusion to Eternal Punishment.
  • Mirror Match: The Shadow Sides of both games.
    • They wield "Reverse" versions of your characters' Ultimate Personas. This makes for some amusing pre-battle banter, with the Reverse Persona declaring their plans to usurp their counterpart, and the real one telling them where to stick it.
  • Mouthful of Pi: At the start of Innocent Sin, one of Tatsuya's schoolmates is shown being chastised by his teacher for "cheating". The student claims Joker granted his wish to become super-smart, and proves it by reciting the first 100 digits of Pi from memory. The teacher is unimpressed.
  • Nazis With Gnarly Weapons: Overlooking the robot suits and UFOs, their hardware and planes are strictly 1939.
  • Neck Lift: Tatsuya is first introduced to Joker via this greeting.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A vast majority of the bad stuff that happens in Innocent Sin simply wouldn't have occurred if the PCs decided to stay home. For instance, the "Masked Circle" starts off as a teensy group with a mere handful of members until you wander around town trying to scrounge up information on its sinister doings, of which no one had yet heard. Consequently, you unintentionally spread the rumor that the Masked Circle is a huge evil cult-conspiracy. Very soon afterwards, you'll find that a very large portion of the otherwise innocuous NPCs who hang around the city are now members.
  • Non-Elemental: Almighty attacks are non elemental magic, which is elemental since some demons and personas are weak or strong to all type of magics when it's not all type of attacks. Even a few opponents are specifically immune to Almighty attacks, like Dark Alice and the Big Bad first form. That being said, there are a few attacks with no element at all like Another Dimension or Death Roulette. Most of them are instakill attacks.
  • Noob Cave: Seven Sisters High School in both games.
  • No Swastikas: In the PSP remake of Innocent Sin, Hitler is given a trenchcoat and sunglasses and is simply called "Führer" when he shows up (even if it's obvious it's still him).
    • The swastikas in cutscenes are also changed to Iron Crosses.
    • This is especially funny since, in the original's battle with Hitler, the whole damn battlefield is covered in swatikas.
  • Normally I Would Be Dead Now: The nameless, chainsaw-wielding Loony Fan who stalks Eriko inside the TV Studio.
  • Nostalgia Level: Mt. Iwato in Eternal Punishment is littered with flashbacks to both the Innocent Sin and the original Persona.
    • If Eriko's in your party, the latter's Silent Protagonist (or an apparition of him, at least) will be haunting the TV Studio.
  • Not-So-Phony Psychic: Sumaru Genie is infamous for her bogus readings. A rumor will fix that.
  • Not a Game:

Maya: "Life's not like a videogame. You can't just press the Reset Button. The sins you committed will never disappear."

  • Number One Dime: Tatuysa's engraved cigarette lighter, and Jun's watch. They swapped them as children.
  • Oedipus Complex/"Well Done, Son" Guy: All over the place in Innocent Sin. Not only does every character have Oedipal issues, but the Final Boss is literally a giant composite of everyone's fathers.
  • Ondo: Here it is.
  • One-Hit Kill: The Nazi/Tenchu snipers have a random shot at killing your characters in one hit, regardless of your overall stats.
  • One-Liner Echo: In both games, right before facing off with the final boss.
  • One-Time Dungeon: Most of the dungeons are these. When you try to reenter, a member of your party will bark at you to stop goofing off or say that they don't need to go there.
  • One Degree of Separation
  • One Steve Limit: Subverted. To the Western eye, Tatsuya Suou reads a lot like Tatsuya Sudou. That aside, The two characters couldn't be more different.
    • Maya Amano shares the same name as Maya Okamura. Unlike the above example, this factors into the plot.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: Joka/The Wang Long.
  • Out-of-Clothes Experience: Tatsuya, Maya and Lisa in the PSP Innocent Sin's opening video.
  • Party in My Pocket: Mostly. Party members do appear as NPCs in dungeon "rooms", but everywhere else, it's just the main character running around.
  • The Password Is Always Swordfish: To buy weapons at the ramen shop, Eikichi "orders" the password "Banana Ramen". Unfortunately for Eikichi, he then has to eat it.
  • Pillar of Light: Sumaru Castle fires one through its roof, opening a Swirly Energy Thingy which swallows the city whole.
  • Pokémon-Speak: Aside from their contact response, the "Maskist" enemies communicate using only the word "kamen" (Japanese for "mask") in exactly this fashion.
  • Police Are Useless: Katsuya's the only Reasonable Authority Figure in sight, and even HE'S an obstinate jerk in the first game.
  • The Power of Rock: Eikichi and Ulala in their respective games. Both of them Summon Backup Dancers as part of their Contact options: Eikichi bursting into an off-key rendition of "Luv Beam" with Tatsuya on electric guitar and Jun on synth; Ulala performs the Flamenco, with Katsuya and Tatsuya on guitar.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: "Whoop-ass time!", "Don't underestimate me, you *bleep!* bastard!", "I feel sorry for you.", "You're all under arrest!", "Fools, begone!", etc.
  • Prophecy Twist: The Oracle of Maya has a killer twist.
  • Prophetic Names: Two characters named "Maya", an important being in Hinduism.
  • Psycho Lesbian: Noriko Katayama.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Well done! You beat Nyarlathotep, and he's laughing all the way to the bank: your surrogate sister's dead, your planet's wreathed in the flames, and the only way to reverse it is to sacrifice your newfound friends. And then, there's the added insult of him being left free to engineer Earth's destruction all over again... Of course, this means all they did during the game was for no reason at all, and it's pretty much just a big Game Over, please load your latest save (which was 10 years ago).
  • Quintessential British Gentleman: The LONDON clothing salesman.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Masked Four, plus Ixquic.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Both games, but particularly Eternal Punishment. Ordinarily, these people wouldn't be seen within ten miles of each other.
  • Reality Bleed: What started this whole mess.
    • With the "rumors become reality" effect going around, everyone capable of spreading rumors becomes this. Both the good guys and the bad guys utilize this; late in the game, one party member laments not being able to tell what's real anymore.
  • Reality Writing Book: A non-book example. Rumors become true if enough people hear about them (this is due to a demon dicking with humanity). No writing needed, just word of mouth. Mostly this results in Urban Legends becoming true, but at one point, the player characters themselves take advantage of it.
  • Red Armband of Leadership: The Nazis -- and their other-world equivalent, the New World Order -- both sport these.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: The metal knockoffs you encounter inside Xibalba/Ameno Torifune.
  • Refuge in Audacity: Some of the Contact options: why is Tatsuya making motorcycle noises at that demon?
  • Replacement Goldfish: The Masked Four were formed as an Expy of the group that Jun played with as a child.
  • Ret-Gone: Getting turned into a shadow-person by Joker causes most people to forget they ever existed, while they stand in one spot, eternally drowning in self-pity for not being able to pursue their dreams.
  • Retconjuration: The ending to Innocent Sin. The simplest way to make everything right is for the original Masked Circle to never meet each other.
  • Revolving Door Casting: Igor is the only true consistent in the whole Persona series; while Philemon appears from time to time, he doesn't play a crucial role outside of Persona.
  • Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Both Tatsuyas in Eternal Punishment.
    • The Time Castle guy in Eternal Punishment is aware of it when you use a rumor to make his shop sell and duplicate spell cards. Actually, he's Nyarlathotep, chilling with you, selling you the stuff you need, invites you to relax... and talk a bit about your next moves...
  • School Newspaper Newshound: Chika "Chikalin" Ueda is a reporter for Sevens' school newspaper. She operates out of Peace Diner as a rumormonger. In the NA version of Eternal Punishment, Chikalin makes a habit of saying "Roger-dodger!".
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: "Grab your asses and run!", "We'll wait for backup!", "You were lucky this time!", "I don't have time for you.", "This is an honorable retreat!"
  • Sealed Evil in a Can
  • She's All Grown Up: Applies to the entire Innocent Sin cast, most notably Lisa -- who was often teased about her looks as a child, and grows up to be the most envied girl in Seven Sisters -- and Eikichi, who starts out as a pudgy, shy loser. This also applies to Maya, whose appearance has changed so drastically that no one from the party recognizes her.
  • Shout-Out: The proto-Masked Circle is a group of kids who love Phoenix Corps Featherman (a shout out to Choujin Sentai Jetman).
  • Smoking Is Cool: Baofu celebrates his kills by lighting up. The Shiraishi Ramen Lady also has a ciggie dangling from her mouth.
  • Sound Effect Bleep: Ulala's rather... spirited speech. The bleeping is a bit inconsistent though. It seems to pick up a good deal whenever it's a part of a voiced cutscene or a battle quote (main offender being the scene with the crazy stalker with a chainsaw in the television studio), but text-only scenes get away with only some minor Symbol Swearing.
  • Sprite Polygon Mix
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Tatsuya and Maya. Since she's Destination Host Unreachable and all...
  • Storming the Castle: Done literally with Sumaru Castle.
  • Story Reset: Technically with both games. With Innocent Sin where you play one protagonist and get the Bad Ending, and Eternal Punishment where you play the other protagonist and get the Good Ending.
  • Stupid Jetpack Hitler: Somehow, the Nazis got ahold of Spider Tanks, Humongous Mecha and a Shiny Looking Spaceship the size of Rhode Island.
  • Stylish Protection Gear
  • Subliminal Seduction: The Satami Tadashi pharmacy jingle. As a returning character, Kei is the one who's been most exposed to the song and is greatly unnerved by it.
  • Suicide Attack: Yet another dick move by some of the Nazi/Tenchu troops.
  • Summon Magic: The Personas.
  • Surfer Dude: The Aki Dude at Bikini Line.
  • Take It to the Bridge: The decisive moment with Lady Scorpio and Shadow Yukino takes place on a stone bridge inside Caracol.
  • Take My Hand: In Innocent Sin's Sky Museum, either Maya or Tatsuya will plummet from a ledge, only to be caught and hoisted back up by whoever didn't fall.
  • Talk to the Fist: Jun a.k.a. Joker from the alternate reality interrupting JOKER's diatribe by shoving him into an open pit. Oh, irony, you are delicious.
  • Tarot Motifs: Continued from the previous game, tarot symbolism is everywhere.
  • There Are No Therapists: Absolutely IGNORED. There's actually a very effective therapy clinic in both games that goes for a very cheap price and is so wonderfully effective that it's enough to heal physical wounds of any degree just by talking to the therapist. Needless to say, it does nothing for the gigantic buttload of issues faced by every member of the cast in either game. Just heals their wounds, yup. Gameplay logic has never been so fridgey.
  • This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Some party members have to complete some personal quest without assistance from Tatsuya and company in order to unlock more powerful versions of their Persona.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: Who get resurrected alongside Hitler in Innocent Sin.
  • Tome of Eldritch Lore: "In-Lak'ech", a great big book of conspiracy theories ranging from Hitler's secret base in Antarctica to hibernating genocidal aliens. Naturally, releasing this book in a place like Sumaru City is... not a good idea.
  • To Serve Man: The cryogenically frozen aliens inside Xibalba have been asleep a long time, and you look like breakfast.
  • Train Station Goodbye: Inverted with Tatsuya and Maya in the ending. It's not a goodbye, but a greeting -- only Maya does not remember who he is.
  • Transsexualism: Sumaru Gypsy, and a woman in Innocent Sin who has Joker grant her wish for a penis.
  • The Triads and the Tongs: The Taiwanese mafia is prominent in Eternal Punishment.
  • Unexpected Gameplay Change: Steering a hovercraft down the Amano River. It's a bit of a breather and not really difficult; you still fight random encounters and occasionally pick a direction to turn, similar to Final Fantasy VI's Serpent Trench.
  • The Unintelligible: Zig-zagged with the negotiation system to some degree. Certain demons (in Eternal Punishment, it's the demons that talk about the cosmos or yog-sothoth) will talk about absolutely random things with the player having to give random responses that may or may not piss off the demon. However, in the terms of basic negotiation, what worked once is almost always going to work again when used repeatedly.
  • Unreliable Narrator/Sympathetic POV: In Innocent Sin, Katsuya acts more strict, as it's told from Tatsuya's point of view. However, he doesn't quite act the same in Eternal Punishment, where the story is told from Maya's point in view.
  • Updated Rerelease and Video Game Remake: With a few changes, including a cleaned up battle system, redrawn portraits, and a new Climax Theater mode.
  • Verbal Tic: The cashier at PEACE Burger speaks in an antiquated style of Japanese, a condition caused by a unkind rumor. The effect is sadly lost in the English localization; there, they say she "talks like a ninja", but this doesn't really come across in text.
    • Both the fan and official translations of Innocent Sin retains the effect far better by giving her speech a Shakespeare-ish dialogue range, which give the impression she is trying overly hard to be formal, which, given the limitations of the English language, is a fair analogue to the original.
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Xibalba.
  • Victory Quote
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can kill Principal Hanya by spreading a rumor.
  • Video Game Settings:
  • The Villain Makes the Plot
  • Warmup Boss: Principal Hanya in Innocent Sin. At the start of Eternal Punishment, the JOKER fetches a Wolfpack Boss on you, which isn't quite as dramatic.
  • Weapon of Choice
  • Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Chiropractor Tomi got his medical degree in the states and returned a hardcore Americophile. It's probably not humanly possible to be wearing more USA apparel than Dr. T. is.
  • We Didn't Start the Fuhrer: Hitler in Innocent Sin. He has the Spear of Longinius, for crying out loud!
  • Wham Level: Mt. Iwato in both games, which offers a lot of plot twists.
  • When the Planets Align: The ultimate Harbinger of Impending Doom in Innocent Sin.
  • When Things Spin, Science Happens: The giant rings surrounding Sumaru City when it takes flight.
  • White Mask of Doom: Joker, the Masked Four, the rank and file in the Masked Circle, and (in Eternal Punishment), anyone who becomes possessed by JOKER.
  • Wind Is Green
  • Wistful Amnesia: In the Beginning Dungeon of Innocent Sin, the gang cry in presence of Maya - their unconscious memories of her triggered the event. Also, what Jun, Eikichi and Lisa experience in the ending of Eternal Punishment.
  • You Can Panic Now: Maya instructing a roomful of schoolchildren to "GRAB YOUR ASSES AND RUN!".
  • You Can't Thwart Stage One: The Joker/New World Order manage to unearth their spaceship and release the Sealed Evil in a Can.
  • Zeppelins from Another World: The (supposedly) model blimp on the roof of the Sky Museum. The cutscene where it takes flight is a pivotal moment in both stories.
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