Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins (七つの大罪, Nanatsu no Daizai)^? are a recurring plot device in the series.

Appearances[]

• Shin Megami Tensei: if...
• Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse
• Megami Ibunroku Persona
• Persona 2: Innocent Sin
• Persona 5 / Royal
• Persona 5 Strikers
• Persona 5: The Phantom X

History[]

The seven deadly sins, or capital vices, are a list of moral offenses deemed to be prime motivations for sin and sins which lead to other sins. Based on their initially described name, they are commonly misinterpreted as entirely seriously immoral offenses. While some manifestations of these sins could qualify as "mortal sins," they are not always worthy of eternal damnation, according to some Christian branches. The first list was originally created by Evagrius of Pontus, and contained eight sins: lust, gluttony, avarice, acedia/spiritual sloth, "sadness", wrath, vainglory, and pride. This sin of "sadness" has been interpreted as "sorrow at having to achieve good" or "sorrow at the prosperity of others." Pope Gregory the Great would later revise this list and establish it as an important concept of Catholic moral theology. Envy was added to the list, while sadness and acedia were combined into sloth, and vainglory later listed as a direct product of pride. Each of these sins has the potential to be taken too far and could be considered seriously immoral.

The sins can be defined in the following manner based off the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Summa Theologica: 1. Gluttony: excessive love/indulgence in food or drink 2. Sloth: excessive desire for ease and aversion to difficulty, often to the neglect of good practices 3. Avarice or Greed: the excessive desire to possess something, including wealth, position, and knowledge 4. Wrath: misplaced or excessive anger, usually followed by an unhealthy interest in revenge 5. Lust: unlawful and voluntary sexual desires and practices 6. Envy: resentment and sorrow directed at another's good or success, rooted in the belief that it is taking away from one's own reputation or image 7. Pride: overestimated self-worth and excessively high self-esteem.

In Binsfeld's classification of demons, each sin is paired with certain high-ranking demon:

• Asmodeus: Lust
• Beelzebub: Gluttony
• Mammon: Greed
• Belphegor: Sloth
• Satan: Wrath
• Leviathan: Envy
• Lucifer: Pride

Profile[]

Shin Megami Tensei: if...[]

When the protagonist heads with their companion into the Expanse, they must navigate selected regions themed around most of the seven deadly sins on their quest to stop Ideo Hazama's vengeful rampage. At the entrance of every region, Hazama will appear as a statue to lecture the protagonist on how humans are sinful creatures. The entrance to each dungeon is unlocked by a ring that embodies a virtue that is opposite to the sin it represents.

• World of Pride: Ruled by Vine. According to Hazama, the protagonist and their partner are the prideful ones by thinking that they can save the school by themselves.
• World of Gluttony: Ruled by Orcus, who's actually Karukozaka High School's principal transformed into a demon thanks to a Parasite. The principal is the glutton whose transformation into a demon is the punishment for his sin.
• World of Sloth: Ruled by Balam. As most students of the school did nothing and just stayed put after the school was transported to the Expanse, they were captured and forced into slave labor as punishment for their laziness.
• World of Envy: Visited only in Yumi and Reiko's routes. The envious one is actually the protagonist themself who feels that towards Yumi or Reiko after they're taken away by a handsome man at the entrance of the dungeon. At the end of the dungeon, Tamaki fights Lilith, who is the embodiment of their envy.
• World of Wrath: Visited only in Charlie's route. Ryuuichi, Akiko's boyfriend, is the one representing the sin. Hazama forces the protagonist to do a series of trials in order to free Akiko while forbidding Ryuuichi to help, all in order to irritate him. When Ryuuichi loses his temper and tries to attack Hazama directly, he is turned into stone.
• World of Greed: Ruled by Chefei. Chefei tries to trick the protagonist into giving in to their greed by placing many chests with valuable items on the way to his chamber and he becomes stronger for each chest opened.

Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse[]

The Tokugawa Mandala is powered by Aether infinitely siphoned from the Expanse embodied by five of the sins in a different Jar. The Four Heavenly Kings and Marici guard these Jars. Only the most purest or well trained of souls can endure them, leaving Toki as the only one capable of sealing each jar. The sins that are used for the Mandala are:

• Wrath
• Sloth
• Gluttony
• Lust
• Pride

Megami Ibunroku Persona[]

Enemies of the Karma race are themed after six of the seven deadly sins (with Gluttony being omitted). The Karma race demons appear as common enemies in the Alaya Cavern. Stronger boss versions of them also appear at the end of the Mikage Ruins.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin[]

Lucifer's profile in the PSP port of the game identifies him as ruling over the sin of Pride. Before his boss fight alongside Ixquic, Belphegor also identifies himself as the ruler of Sloth. Three other demons associated with the deadly sins appear in the game (Leviathan, Satan, and Beelzebub), but their profiles make no mention of the fact.

Persona 5[]

Each Palace and its occupant represents one of the sins. These sins are stolen by the player as treasure from the individual in order to make them atone for their crimes, viewing death as an easy way out for the criminal in question. The following pairing of the bosses and their sins are told by the trophy titles earned after the player has finished each Palace scenario, except for the eighth and ninth palaces.

• Suguru Kamoshida/Asmodeus: Lust
• Ichiryusai Madarame/Azazel: Vanity
• Junya Kaneshiro/Bael: Gluttony
• Cognitive Wakaba Isshiki/Sphinx: Wrath
• Kunikazu Okumura/Mammon: Greed
• Sae Niijima/Leviathan: Jealousy/Envy
• Masayoshi Shido/Samael: Pride
• The people of Tokyo/Holy Grail in the Depths of Mementos: Sloth
• Yaldabaoth and Satanael: All of the Deadly Sins
• Takuto Maruki/Azathoth: Sorrow

Persona 5 Strikers[]

Much like the Palaces, each Jail represents a specific Sin. All of the Jails bar the last two is mentioned in the trophies for clearing each of them and the names of their bird cages.

• Alice Hiiragi of Shibuya: Lust
• Ango Natsume of Sendai: Greed
• Mariko Hyodo of Sapporo: Gluttony
• Shuzo Ubukata of Okinawa (Deceased): Sloth
• Akane Hasegawa of Kyoto: Wrath
• Akira Konoe of Osaka: Pride
• EMMA of Tokyo (Jail of the Abyss & Tree of Knowledge): Hollowness

Aside from the aforementioned sins, Alice displays signs of Envy, Natsume displays signs of Vanity, Hyodo displays signs of Greed and Konoe displays signs of Sloth in-game. While not a Monarch of a Jail or a directly fought boss, Kuon Ichinose narratively fits the theme of Envy.

Persona 5: The Phantom X[]

Much like the palaces from the main game, each Palace and its occupant also represent one of the sins.

• Takeyuki Kiuchi/Lord Cupid: Lust
• Hiromu Miyazawa/Pan: Vanity
• Kumi Katayama/Kiskil-lilla: Wrath
• Kei Akashi/Demogorgon: Gluttony

Kumi was manipulated by Kei in order to achieve his goal, much like Akira Konoe and the other Monarchs.

Trivia[]

• Most of the demons assigned to the deadly sins in Persona 5 do not match the demons assigned to the deadly sins in traditional demonology. The only ones that match are Asmodeus for lust, Mammon for greed, and Leviathan for envy; meanwhile, in the game, gluttony is represented by Bael, wrath is represented by the Sphinx, and pride is represented by Samael, while sloth has no major boss associated with it due to the sin being represented by the general public. Only the sins with non-matching demons have their true representative demons available as Personas, namely Beelzebub for gluttony, Satan for wrath, Lucifer for pride, and Belphegor for sloth (although Bael and the demon Beelzebub may both share a common origin in Baal). Also, only Lust, Envy and Pride are in the correct positions of the order of the sins.
  • In Strikers, Lust, Sloth, Wrath and Sorrow are placed in the correct order, while Greed, Gluttony, Pride and Envy have their orders reversed.
• While Shadow Futaba is identified with Sloth in the Phantom Thief letter that solidifies Futaba's Treasure (this later revealed to have been a translation error on part of the localization team), she actually seems to be the part of Futaba that wishes to break out of her despair and disaffection at the time of her Palace being formed, later providing vital help when snapping Futaba out of the depressed haze that was fueling Cognitive Wakaba's power. Thus, it is just as valid to say that while the real Futaba has become associated with Sloth, it is a consequence of the Wrath she had been a victim of in real-life (her abusive family-members after Wakaba's death because they were jealous of her success) and mentally as part of her palace's Distortion (Cognitive Wakaba, the misplaced guilt over believing herself responsible for her mother's death).
• In Persona 5, there is a sin called Emptiness which is never assigned to a Palace owner. However, it is believed that the one representing that sin is Goro Akechi as large parts of his personality are just a facade he presents to others, while his true self claims to desire vengeance for 'perceived' wrongs; which is ultimately seen as a Hollow and meaningless lashing out due to there being nothing beyond its achievement and a general apathy towards consequence.