Aigis

Origin

Creation

Aigis (アイギス, Aigisu) is a main character from the Shin Megami Tensei series of games and specifically the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 video game for the Playstation 2. It's the third game of the franchise and was developed as a supernatural-mystery RPG with deep social aspects. It was developed by ATLUS in Japan, directed by Katsuro Hashino, and character design by Shigenori Soejima. It was released in Japan in July 13, 2006, and in the U.S. on August 14, 2007.

The series was later adapted into a manga written and illustrated by Shūji Sogabe, and began serialization in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Maoh magazine on September 19, 2008, then to Atlus's official Persona Magazine in November 7, 2011. Her first first manga appearance is in Persona 3 Volume 1 CH. 1 "Le commencement de la fin",

Character Evolution

Aigis was partially created for the series as a reminder of such robots and androids in manga and science fiction, and her color scheme of blue, yellow, and red was to symbolized classic anime heroes. As Shigenori Soejima was designing characters for the game, he was reluctant to be adding an android to the game. This was partly becasue such sophisticated robotics do not currently exist in the world.

Major Story Arcs

Powers & Abilities

Persona

Aigis is a character from The Chariot Arcana, Her initial Persona is Palladion, but later evolves into Pallas Athena. Her abilities lie in instilling status augments to herself and the team and physical attacked to enemies.

Initial Persona: Palladion

Ultimate Persona: Pallas Athena

For some time, Aigis held the power of the Fool Arcana and the Wild Card. She then has the power to summon Minato's Orpheus as well as the ability to summon multiple persona. However, she loses Orgia Mode.

Weapons & Equipment

Firearms

Aigis' weapons of choice are primarily those built into her robotic systems. They include machine guns, rockets, robot punches, and other various firearms.

Stats

Other Media

Games

Persona 3 (2006)

In the Persona 3 PS2 game, Aigis is a non-playable character that can be selected as a party member.. She is voiced in the Japanese version by Maaya Sakamoto, and the English version is performed by Karen Strassman. She acts as a bodyguard for the protagonist as she joined the cast as a student at Gekkoukan High. Even she doesn't understand her own motivations until her memories are restored.

Persona 3 FES (2007)

Persona 3 FES is an add-on disc for Persona 3 that contained both updates for the original game and a new epilogue story titled "Episode Aegis", called "The Answer" in the U.S. edition. Persona 3 FES was released in Japan on April 19, 2007 as both a stand-alone, and with the directors cut edition of Persona 3. The U.S. and other overseas releases published the game as a whole. The North American release was April 22, 2008. This was also eventually released digitally on the PlayStation Network. Maaya Sakamoto and Karen Strassman both reprise their roles to voice Aigis. Original Persona 3 players had the option of transferring their original saved data.

Aigis can actually be dated in this version of the game through the Aeon Arcana. She will fall in love with the protagonist upon maxing out this Social Link. Aigis is also a playable character during The Answer portion of the extended epilogue. During this time, she holds the power of the Fool Arcana and the Wild Card

Aegis: The First Mission (2007)

Aegis: The First Mission is a cellphone game that was only released in Japan. In this game Aigis is the main protagonist, but her name is spelt as "Aegis". The story is set ten years before the events of Persona 3 and Death being sealed away. Aegis: The First Mission had two separate release dates depending on which of the two mobile platforms it was made for. These were on October 27, 2007 for the NTT DoCoMo mobile platform, and November 14, 2007 for the Softbank mobile platform.

Persona 3 Portable (2009)

Persona 3 Portable is the republication of the Persona 3 FES game for Sony's PSP handheld system. Persona 3 Portable was released in Japan in November 1, 2009, and released in North America on July 6, 2010. Added content included the option to play as a female protagonist option, and this altered some story and relationships. Part of this alteration is that it's suggested that Aigis falls in love with the female protagonist, as she laments on not being a boy. Maaya Sakamoto and Karen Strassman both reprise their roles to voice Aigis.

Lord of Vermilion Re: 2 (2011)

Lord of Vermilion Re: 2 (ロード・オブ・ヴァーミリオン Re:2, Rōdo obu Vāmirion Re:Tsū) is the follow up to the Lord of Vermilion arcade-based fantasy card game developed by Think Garage and distributed by Square Enix. Collectible cards are literally placed onto the playing field of the arcade machine, and the character artwork for the cards is done by multiple artist. It as released in July 26, 2011 to arcades, and it included characters from other game franchises, such as Final Fantasy and BlazBlue. Persona franchise characters such as Yu Narukami, Aigis, and Elizabeth have cameos in this game. This collaboration is partly due to Square Enix assistance to Atlus in bringing Persona 4 to PAL territories. Aigis has two appearances in this game as both her standard appearance and Aigis EXO (アイギスEXO) mode. Maaya Sakamoto continues to voice the character in this game.

Persona 4 Arena (2012)

The game Persona 4 Arena is originally titled in Japan as Persona 4 The Ultimate In Mayonaka Arena. This is the only Persona game that wasn't exclusive to the Sony platforms and was also available for the X-Box 360. It's the first fighting game that Aigis appears in. The Japanese version is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto, and the English voice is still performed by Karen Strassman. It was released in August 8, 2012, The story is set three years after Persona 3 and two months after the events of Persona 4.

Mitsuru has taken the S.E.E.S. members and reformed them to the Shadow Organization. After an airport hijacking, the Labrys android, an earlier generation Anti-Shadow Weapon than Aigis, has gone missing. The investigation leads the Shadow Organization to the small town of Inaba, where Persona users can enter the TV to another realm. Mitsuru, Aigis, and Akihiko enter the TV to find Labrys and find themselves dragged into a fighting tournament.

Drama CD

Persona 3 Original Drama: A Certain Day of Summer (2007)

A Certain Day of Summer is the title of one of the Persona 3 Original Drama CDs that was released in Japan. These drama CDs all contained three parts, they were voiced by the original cast, and give additional story content to the Persona series. A Certain Day of Summer is set shortly after S.E.E.S. returns from their trip to Yakushima. It was released on April 25, 2007.

Aigis is the main focus of this Drama CD in the first part. The story revolves around Aigis touring the city before she enrolls in Gekkoukan High. She is dressed in Yukari's clothing to hide her robotic joints since their body types are similar, but Yukari stops Aigis from explaining in detail the differences between their sizes.