Ok. ONE LAST The Magnus Archives post. Serious Season 2-3 spoilers below the cut for thoughts on a P4 crossover (and also some thoughts on the Fire Emblem lords).
Quick explanation for those who don’t care. The Magnus Archives is a cosmic horror podcast. There are essentially god-like manifestations based on fears of people and animals. There are 14 entities (well maybe 15) in total. People can be aligned with a certain entity (not always willingly). That means you can have a fun time sorting random characters into those alignments.
In relation to the P4 cast, I’d say the Investigation Team as a whole have strong associations with The Eye. That’s related to the fear of having one’s secrets exposed, and also being watched and followed as well as being driven to find knowledge that might destroy you. I mean, there whole thing is REACHING FOR THE TRUTH even if it’s painful. That’s the most The Eye shit ever. Yu, naturally, has the strongest association with The Eye, being the leader of the group. And he’s pretty driven to understand what’s going on even if it is dangerous.
Yosuke - You can make the case for a few entities. First one that comes to mind is the Lonely since it is literally the fear of isolation and being disconnected. And his shadow says that verbatim. But you can also make a case for The Desolation. That’s fear of loss, of having something/someone torn away from you for cruel or unthinking reasons. And that sums up a lot of his feelings relating to Saki. Also, it fits his shadow’s general demeanor quite well. After all, he does want to destroy anything that bores him. But associating him with The Hunt also makes some sense. The Hunt is the fear of being preyed on. Now, he isn’t really afraid of that, BUT he does have a strong desire to hunt down the culprit. And his shadow argues that he cares more about the thrill of doing that over anything else. And in P4A, he definitely wants to go back to those days of the investigation. (Also, playing Hunt!Yosuke sounds like fun, just saying).
Chie - So The Web doesn’t fit her personality much. The Web is the fear of being trapped and not knowing it and of being manipulated/controlled. But I think that’s pretty fitting considering her shadow’s thoughts on her friendship with Yukiko. The Desolation is also a solid fit though. I mean, The Desolation is all about taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune, and Chie kinda does that with Yukiko for her own ego. Lastly, there is the Vast. That’s the fear of huge open spaces, but also the feeling of insignificance. And it seems like Chie struggles with that a lot in life. She does say that she feels like she doesn’t matter next to Yukiko.
Yukiko - The Web does have associations with being trapped, BUT I like her for the Buried. The Buried is the fear of closed tight spaces, of being buried, and of being trapped. And I think her being buried and trapped by responsibility and expectations works well with that. I feel like she could relate to the other name of The Buried: Too Close I Cannot Breath.
Kanji - Kanji probably has some of the strongest Eye associations outside of Yu. His whole fear revolves around being exposed and judged. Maybe some associations with the Spiral though too. The Spiral is fear of madness and deceit. And Kanji’s whole thing is building an outward persona, so people don’t figure out that he enjoys things associated with femininity. The Hunt is probably more fitting with his outward personality though. Avatars of The Hunt rely a lot on strength and intimidation, but they use that to hunt down monsters… usually.
Rise - I love The Stranger for her. The Stranger is the fear of something not being right, of the uncanny. But I’m more choosing the Stranger since its other name is “I DO NOT KNOW YOU”. It’s also about pretending to be something that you’re not. And that encapsulates her feelings about herself perfectly. But I guess you could also say she has strong associations with The Eye since she is a navigator and SEES EVERYTHING. Possibly also The Buried due to the pressures of being an idol and feeling buried under the weight of that.
Teddie - Hm… Tough one. The Lonely works. He desperately desires connections with other humans. So much so that he changed his own shape to be more friendly and approaching. So does The Spiral though. The Spiral has associations with doors, and he basically guards the door to the TV World. Also, Spiral avatars tend to be less human, and Ted isn’t entirely human. And you could see his amnesia of his origins is his own mind deceiving him. His bear form is pretty uncanny so you could say Stranger too though.
Naoto - I really like The Vast for her since her main fear is being insignificant. Of not being treated with respect. She is a detective though, so The Eye works very well. And she is willing to do anything to find the truth. I mean, she could’ve died by trying to get the murderer to go after her. And that’s some serious The Eye shit. Like you understand the logic behind it, but it’s completely reckless. The Hunt also works for detectives though. The thrill of pursuit and all, and she does seem to get a lot of satisfaction out of her job. (Also, Naoto and Yosuke being aligned with similar entities lets me continue to ship Shiromura regardless of AU.)
Adachi - THERE’S A LOT THAT WORK HERE. The Lonely because he’s incredibly isolated. The Dark (which is as it sounds) because he obfuscates the truth, and The Dark and The Eye don’t mix too well. The Desolation because of cruel violence. The Spiral because of deception. The Web because he’s manipulative. The End (fear of death) since he kills people. Also, The Extinction, which is debatable whether that entity exists, but I’m gonna bring it up. That’s fear of complete annihilation of life, and he does try to bring about the end of the world.
Namatame - The Lonely. That’s the only thing that works in my mind.
BONUS ROUND TIME, Fire Emblem: Three Houses lords:
Claude - The Web. He’s a guy who likes to scheme and play long games. And he gently nudges people in a certain direction, but no one actually thinks he’s manipulating them. Perfect avatar of the Web.
Dimitri - The Slaughter. The Slaughter is more dispassionate than the Desolation; unmotivated violence. And Dimitri yelling “Kill Every Last One of Them” on the battlefield captures that so perfectly. It’s the fear of not knowing how pain will come but only that it will. That last bit screams Dimitri to me. Strong war associations.
Edelgard - Torn between The Spiral and The Eye. The Spiral because of her great deceit. The Eye because she has a better idea of what’s going on compared to everyone else.