Welcome to the seventh #ArcanaInPersona article~
#6: The Lovers
First entry after Persona 4 Golden's PC release! So Happy ATLUS finally did it!
The game series Persona is overflowing with symbolism. Even the term Persona is derived from Jungian psychology which strives on symbolism. The most interesting parallel I found in Persona is its usage of Tarot cards & the Major Arcana.
In this article series I'm writing about the Arcana and their corresponding Social Links/Confidants in Persona games from P3 onward. Today's article is about one of my favorites: The Lovers. This Arcanum is usually represented by one of the female party members. Most of them love the protagonist of their respective games in some way.
The Lovers in Tarot Cards
The Lovers is the sixth trump card in Tarot deck. The card usually depicts a man and a woman blessed by an authority figure. Some other depictions is that of a man who has to choose between two women.
The Lovers tarot card is associated with the Star sign: Gemini. I found it interesting because it's called The Twins in some interpretations.
In Tarot divination, The Lovers doesn't necessarily represent love or romance. The Lovers represents choice. Usually an irreversible one. It can also represent two conflicted friends or ideas.
The Lovers in Persona
The Social Links/Confidants of The Lovers Arcana are the first female party members to be shown in each game. Yukari and Ann are the first girls each protagonist meet in their journey. Rise is shown in an ad on the train the protagonist rides to Inaba, this happens before he meets the other party members.
The girls of Lovers Arcana in Persona 3 through 5 are different from each other so it's hard to generalize but they're mostly outspoken girls unlike the shier Priestess Arcana girls.
Personas of The Lovers Arcana usually have support/healing skills. They're fairies or important historical or mythological figures known as spouses of other ones. Other persona's are deities associated with Love and Union.
Persona 3's Yukari Takeba
Yukari is the first person the protagonist meets when he enters the school dorm. She joined SEES just before the protagonist and she's the least experienced in fighting with a Persona.
Yukari is an independent girl, quite kind and cheerful. She's the first to open up to the protagonist and tells him about her past after she learns about his. Yukari also strong-willed as she often heads into danger without fear.
She begrudgingly joined SEES to know more about her father's connection to the Kirijo group and finally learning about it causes a friction between her and the party for a while.
Despite being kind and cheerful on the outside, Yukari is actually lonely. While she's popular in the school, she prevents people from getting close to her in fear they might learn about her past. She only opens up to the protagonist because he too, have lost a parent in such a young age.
Through the story of Persona 3, Yukari character and personality develop and she becomes less distant and more friendly. Yukari faces death head-on
Her Social Link story can only be unlocked after July 27th. Since she doesn't need "rumors to spread" if she went out with the protagonist, he needs maxed Charm stats to initiate the link. Her story revolves around her broken relationship with her mother and her need to become independent. She finally learns that it's okay to let other people in and have a relationship.
Persona 4's Rise Kujikawa
Rise also known as the teen idol Risette, is a first year who transfers to the protagonist's school while taking a break from her idol's job. After leaving the showbiz, she started working in her grandmother's run Marukyu Tofu shop, where she was kidnapped and thrown to the TV world. Making her the 3rd victim to be saved by the heroes. She later joins the party and becomes their navigator.
She's a cheerful, boastful and flirty girl who enjoys living her life. Rise loves to tease her friends, but she's helpful when they need help. She also has a competitive side as she joins contests she won't be able to win (cooking) and loves to turn normal activities between friends into contests.
Despite her cheerful personality, Rise has a big security around her identity. She's not sure if people like her true self, or the persona Risette that the media made up for her. She claims she won't return to being Risette, but she gets upset when people badmouth her other persona.
Her Social Link initiates as a part of the story and can be developed from there. Rise's Social Link story revolves around exploring the town with the protagonist while dealing with her identity insecurity, all while her former manager tries to convince her to return being an idol.
Out of all love interests of Persona 4, Rise declares her love for the protagonist the most, even in the main story regardless of how far her Social Link (romance route) is s developed.
Persona 5's Ann Takamaki
Ann is the protagonist's classmate and the first girl her meets from the school. She has a Finnish blood and both of her parents are fashion designers which made her live out of the country before the story.
After her best friend Shiho attempted suicide because of Kamoshida, she stumbled into the Metaverse and witnessed that teacher's distorted desires. Ann joins the Phantom Thieves to change his heart. After making the abusive teacher pay for what he had done, she along with the group decide to change the hearts of corrupt adults and give courage to people to fight back.
Ann is a sweet girl whose compassionate nature is noted by more than one character throughout the story. She doesn't have many friends and is somewhat withdrawn because of her background but she treasures the few friends she has. She also is shown to be a good judge of character despite her not having good grades at school.
In her Confidant Story she tries to "strengthen her heart" by doing various activities. Her story also covers her modeling job and how her view of it as a hobby changes into something more dedicated.
I find interesting to note that Ann plays the role of the actor/con artist in the group and her acting manages to work despite her being so bad at it.
So, that's all for The Lover Arcana
True to their Arcana, all girls have inner conflict about their choices in life in their Social Link/Confidant stories. Yukari is conflicted in her relationship with her mother, as well as her position in SEES and she comes to terms in both cases in the story. Rise is obviously conflicted in her position as an idol and her true identity. Ann is a mild case compared to both but she too, has a conflict in her modeling work and what she really wants to do.
Interestingly, Yukari of Persona 3 and Rise of Persona 4 are the most girls pushed as love interests for the protagonist out of the romance option in each game. Unlike them, Ann doesn't show love for the protagonist in the main story (at least not more than any other romance option in the game.) Her romance is limited to her Confidant story. I watched an interesting video which discusses the Canonity of Love interests in Persona franchise.
So, What are your thoughts?
I just love The Lovers girls, each one of them have her own kind of charm and they're not what you expect from the types of characters you're first intoduced to them as.
This is the second #ArcanaInPersona in June and it seems I won't be able to write the next one before the end of the month but I hope I at least pick up the pace. The next Arcana is another favorite: The Chariot! See you next then!
This post has been rewarded by [@roadofrich] with support from the Steem Community Curation Project
The INVEN Gaming community is run by the STEEM blockchain Witness @roadofrich team.
Vote for Road of Rich witness
If you want to convert STEEM to USDT, BTC, TRX, try use RFDAX.
https://steemscan.com/convert
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit