Every journey must come to an end, and for the traditional tarot deck, that ending is represented by the World card. Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal present the player with the World card after different events (given their diverging final acts), but the result in both games is similar. The major arcana represents Joker's triumph over all the challenges laid before him. The infinite possibilities of the wild card have coalesced into reality. It is important to note the World arcana is not only the culmination of the Fool's journey, but the totality of it. The good, bad, and everything in-between. In this respect, it is value neutral. For this reason, Persona 5's handling of the World is unlike any other major arcana.
While the Fool represents limitless potential, the World represents completion. And with completion, there comes a pause between journeys. In some respects, the final arcana's dualistic nature represents equilibrium and perfection to the point of stasis: all is one, one is all; as above, so below; the masculine meets the feminine. Given these contradictory and all-consuming themes, it is easy to understand why Atlus didn't portray the arcana with a traditional social link arc. That said, the unity and completion of the World is represented, in part, by the return of the true Igor, and the creation of Lavenza caused by the reunion of the Strength arcana's Twin Wardens.
The most striking departure from the other arcana, is that it plays host to only one persona, exclusively available in Royal. To wit, it is a DLC-only persona at that, borrowed from the protagonist from the preceding title in the series. The figure from myth that is chosen is an interesting one, however.
Scion of the Seven Divine Generations
Readers may recall that Izanagi, the DLC persona borrowed from Persona 4's Yu Narukami, is a member of the Fool arcana, like all Persona protagonists' starting demons. However, the only persona in the World arcana is the perfect form of Izanagi; Izanagi-No-Ookami. Ookami means "great deity" and refers to an entity born in the last generation of the Kamiyo-Nanayo, or the Seven Divine Generations from the age of gods. Izanagi and Izanami were a male and female pair of married siblings who were responsible for the creation of the Japanese archipelago. Together, they birthed several of the most important gods in the Shinto pantheon, including Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi.
Just as Satanael is Joker's trump card against the Demiurge, Izanagi-no-Ookami is the awakened form of Izanagi. He is also the counterpart against the villainous Izanami-no-Ookami, who is the arch antagonist of Persona 4, and one of the hardest boss fights in the series.
The Undead Sister-Wife
In life, Izanami was Izanagi's cherished lover and companion. But she perished when birthing Kagu-Tsuchi, the incarnation of fire. Stricken with grief, Izanagi traveled to the underworld, Yomi, to reunite with his bride. Unfortunately, like Persephone from Greek myth, Izanami had already eaten the food of the dead, looking her into Yomi forever. She begged her former husband not to look at her. And like Orpheus (represented by the protagonist's starting persona in Persona 3, and a DLC persona in Persona 5), Izanagi violated this command, lighting her comb on fire to cast away the shadows that concealed her.
Free of the glamour, Izanagi beheld the rotting corpse of his once-beautiful wife, shaming her beyond reproach. Her hideous form is represented in the final boss form of Persona 4. Infuriated by her husband's transgression, Izanami chased after him, setting demons from the underworld to pursue him. At this point, Izanami was no more. She became known as Yomotsugami: Queen of the Realm of the Dead. To seal their divorce, Izanami vowed to kill 1,000 of Izanagi's followers a day, to which he (rather petulantly) replied: "for every 1,000 you kill, 1,500 shall be born in their place."
An Interlude Between Journeys
Even though he was not responsible for the creation of the universe, and he was originally part of a matched set with his sibling/wife, Atlus uses Izanagi-no-Ookami to represent the totality of creation. In the end, the World does not only encompasses all the other major arcana, but also stands apart from them, as an interlude between journeys.
Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal are available now for PlayStation 4.
