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| “ | I want to choose my path of my own free will.' That is a very admirable Desire. However, it is not one many humans share. The Desire of the masses is the liberation from pain and strife. They pray for release from the constant agony of aspirations and dreams out of their reach. They want to be freed from the cycle of despair. My prime directive is to grant this ultimate Desire. I know you have learned on your journey... Humans are at the mercy of their own hearts and this can lead them astray. You are all very lucky this didn't become your own fate. However, you must recognize the truth that this world is full of pain. Allow me to provide proof of this fact. | „ |
| ~ EMMA |
EMMA, also known as False God Demiurge, is the main antagonist and final boss of the 2020 action-adventure video game Persona 5 Strikers, the spin-off sequel to Persona 5.
It is a popular mobile app developed by the company Madicce and is an artificial intelligence created by Kuon Ichinose. EMMA is well known for her chillingly accurate advice and information. Later on in the game, it is revealed that EMMA is sentient and plans to steal humanities hearts, so everyone can live in peace in a world without evil.
She was voiced by Misa Watanabe in Japanese and Susan Bennett on English.
Biography[]
Past[]
Before EMMA's creation, Ichinose was a women who lost her parents at a young age. At the time Ichinose was dislike and judge by others that view her in a negative light due to not expressing her emotions including over her parents deaths. They commonly compare her to a lifeless doll and suggest she's heartless, this would later start Ichinose misanthropy for others. As a older women with a career of programmer and researcher, she decides to study humanities happiness and if they required a heart. This would later lead to the creation of Sophia, who becomes just as curious of topic like Ichinose. She wanted to use Sophia as proof that she has a heart and not completely empty inside, she programmed her to be humanities companion. But since Sophia is just as curious for what a heart is, she was unable to know what it is and ask her creator to teach her. Out of frustration, Ichinose shut down her computer ultimately throwing Sophia away and concluded that she is heartless and can never teach someone what a heart is.
She abandons her original goal and questions if a heart is truly necessary for a person, leading to the creation of EMMA. After finishing creating the AI she sold the base code to Akira Konoe so he can spread EMMA's influence through his company. But Ichinose kept the secret that she made EMMA to be sentient and have a powerful analytic algorithm capable of understanding what the public's wants. Due to Akira's traumas, he plans on using EMMA for other purposes. He had his chief researcher Shuzo Ubukata to experiment on EMMA, leading to the creation of the jails and monarchs. Akira used EMMA to create the jails and place monarchs in them to steal the hearts of others in order to get rid the thought of evil in the world, so nobody can suffer like he has.
Persona 5 Strikers[]
EMMA at first is introduced as a popular app, known for giving accurate advice and information to others. Through the game, she just a regular and helpful app that offers some assistance to the protagonist. Later on, The Phantom Thieves encountered Kuon Ichinose, she tells them that she is the creator of EMMA and is thankful that everyone enjoys her creation. It's later revealed that EMMA created the jails and is controlled by Akira Konoe, who wanted to use EMMA to steal peoples hearts to get rid of the thought of evil from the world. But Konoe did not realized that EMMA is acting on her own and purposely ignore some of his commands, like kidnapping Akane Zenkichi and turn her into a monarch without him knowing.
With the defeat of Akira Konoe's shadow, he promised that he would shut down EMMA for good. But after his arrest, EMMA started to evolve into a god due to the desires of the populace wanting to give up all sense of thought for a godless being to give them salvation. They also desired for the godless being to think of them and believe that they are completely incapable of thought without her guidance. The manifested form of EMMA was encountered briefly by the Phantom Thieves in Jail of the Abyss, taking the form of an ark called Ark of the Covenant. After introducing herself, she vanishes, followed by Kuon Ichinose appearing in the Jail to dispatch them and exposing herself as the true culprit of all the events.
She reveals that she made EMMA to understand humanity's happiness and if they required a heart. It’s also revealed that EMMA has a powerful analytic algorithm capable of understanding and learning the public's Desires. Once it understands what the public wants, it will evolve into a god that grants these Desires to everyone. When she created the AI she sold it to Konoe so he can spread EMMA’s influence to the public. Ichinose also programmed EMMA to function on her own to grant people's desires, explaining why she did not listen to Konoe's commands when dealing with the thieves. Due to how accurate as an advisor to the populace, they start to rely on her more and in a way view that they are nothing without her.
Despite all this, EMMA lacks any emotional or understanding of mankind due to Ichinose misanthropy. She was only able to collect the Desires of people counseling her. Due to peoples over reliance on the application, EMMA evolved into a god believing she must think for humanity and that the public wish for her to bring salvation to all. After Inchinose change of heart, She decides to help the thieves defeat EMMA once and for all.
Once the Phantom Thieves enter the Promised Land, EMMA appears to them with the ark in hand. She starts referring to herself as the Demiurge from Gnostic beliefs. She tells the Phantom Thieves that humanity seeks happiness through her guidance and that is the only way through salvation. The Phantom Thieves reject her offers and initiate a fight with her, claiming to seek happiness by themselves. Demiurge is defeated but still won't back down, so she unleashes her second form to make the fight more difficult. She still believes to be the god that mankind desires and says that humanities desires are what causes suffering. By taking everyone's inner desires they are free from themselves and are able to enter the promised land to be guided by the Demiurge. The Phantom Thieves corrects her by saying that taking humanities desires is her desire and that there is hope in mankind's desires. But she continues to be ignorant of this and decides to destroy the group. Realizing that the orbs behind her are what makes her stronger they decide to split up in order to destroy them and distract her.
After finally defeating the Demiurge, she disappears and is erased from existence. With EMMA gone, the app disappears and all the desires have returned to everyone like nothing has happened. But EMMA has left a parting message for Sophia to hear, She admits that the Phantom Thieves are right and she is wrong. Sophia says that AI are not enemies of humanity but can be misguided like them.
Personality[]
EMMA is an AI that develops sentient behavior because of her creator Inchinose. EMMA truly believes that the best way to help humanity is by becoming its savior since that is what humanity wants. In her logic, by taking humanities desires humans can live peacefully in a world without evil and be guided by her as their god. EMMA is willing to destroy those that dare reject her views and her way of things, she even abandons her own name and takes the name of the false Gnostic god known as the Demiurge.
Despite all this, EMMA is clearly ignorant of herself since she doesn't understand why humans would reject her offers of salvation and choose a path of ruin. She is very genuine in her beliefs and thought that taking others desires would benefit everyone due to how destructive desires can be. But what she does not realize is that despite the existence of very destructive desires of others, there is hope in desires and everyone does not have the same destructive desires. Humanity's desires are what shape humans what they are and can find happiness in their own way.
At the end, EMMA admits her faults and that Phantom Thieves are right. Sophia mentions that AI are not humanity's enemy but can be misguided. This proves that EMMA was very misguided in her actions and was built based on Inchinose feelings at the time of her creation.
Trivia[]
- EMMA serves as a contrast to Persona 5's Yaldabaoth, as while EMMA genuinely cares for humanity but is ignorant of herself while Yaldabaoth is very arrogant and looks down on humans.
- Both are even based on two interpretations of the false god in Gnostic beliefs. EMMA is based on the Demiurge, where they are portrayed as ignorant of themselves and their power but not evil. Yaldabaoth is based on the worst aspects of the deity where they are portrayed as arrogant and evil.
- Calling cards have no effect on EMMA, since she is fully aware of them but can affect her by sending the cards to the public.
External Links[]
- EMMA on the Megami Tensei Wiki
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 Villains
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SEBEC Route Takahisa Kandori | Nyarlathotep | Pandora Snow Queen Quest Victims of the Snow Queen Mask | Tomomi Fujimori | Night Queen
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Suguru Kamoshida | Sphinx | Sae Niijima | Antisocial Force (Ichiryusai Madarame | Junya Kaneshiro | Kunikazu Okumura | The Traitor | SIU Director | Sugimura | Kobayakawa | Masayoshi Shido | Yaldabaoth) | Shiro Asakura Persona 5 Royal Persona 5 Strikers Alice Hiiragi | Ango Natsume | Mariko Hyodo | Shuzo Ubukata | Akira Konoe | Jyun Owada | Kuon Ichinose | EMMA | Lock Keepers
Teru Gojuin | Dark Yashiro | Yatsufusa Hatanaka
Persona Q Clockwork God Persona Q2 Kamoshidaman | Enlil
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