Atma Avatars of Digital Devil Saga EXPLAINED: SMT Lore (ft.
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- Patreon: / tony4you
Twitter: @Tony4YouYT
0:00 Intro
0:51 Serph / Varuna
4:02 Heat / Agni / Vritra - Nyarly
6:51 Argilla / Prithivi
9:56 Cielo / Dyaus
12:10 Gale / Vayu
15:30 Sera / Varnani
18:24 Roland / Indra
20:57 Seraph / Ardha
23:06 Outro
Footage from: Buffmaister and Jetstream Gaming
#smt #dds #atlus
Digital Devil Saga is a fantastic spin-off duology of the Shin Megami Tensei series. The games set themselves apart from the others in that you don’t recruit demons to fight on your behalf, you are the demons. The demons the party turns into however have their own fair share of lore and significance to the plot, more than you might first think. In fact, my first time around I didn’t give much thought as to the demons, or atma avatars, at all, and I bet not many others did either. We all know the party members of Digital Devil Saga, but we don’t know much about their demonic representation. Let’s change that now by diving into the lore, relation to the character, and design of these hand picked atma avatars representing the party members we share an adventure with. A special guest is covering their personal favorite character as well so stay tuned and spoilers ahead. The story of smt digital devil saga and smt digital devil saga 2 are going to be completely laid bare and the video will assume you already have an understanding of digital devil saga story and characters. The video will go into detail in a sort of digital devil saga story summary and character analysis and synopsis. Every main character from smt digital devil saga and digital devil saga 2 will get their time in the sun and discussed in detail. Shin megami tensei being my favorite series I have a hard time figuring out what smt lore video to do next, but the atma avatars video was requested by some commenters and it helps that digital devil saga and digital devil saga 2 specifically are some of my favorite games narratively in the entire series. Each character holds a special place in my heart and the narrative weight each of them have on the story is something worth celebrating. Through this character synopsis you'll learn a good amount of Hindu mythology from mother earth Prithvi to god of war Indra. Special thanks to Nyarly for being a part of the video and I hope you enjoy. The link to Nyarly will be in the pinned comment below. Check out Nyarly if you haven't already as he also makes great shin megami tensei videos. 
Игры
Check out Nyarly: ruclips.net/user/Nyarly
Join the Discord: discord.gg/KfEKUZDnpn
Can you do other Atma avatars, such as Rahu, Camatzotz and Ravana?
@@Dahaka-rd6tw that would be interesting.
Little more info: yes Brahman is the surpeme divine power in Hinduism, but the divine power is not worshipped since everything is Brahman every universe is Brahman
Yes, I am researching more about this for upcoming videos. Hindu belief is so interesting
Shiva sometimes is viewed as the supreme being. He was more worshipped to.
The interesting question is whether Krishna, Vishnu, or Shiva is supreme among the divinities. Krishna seems to be winning on the popularity front, but it's still anyone's race.
@@Tony4You It really is honestly if I had to adhere to any religious belief system it would be hinduism
@@Migerthor that's for the sect of Saivites
Brahman can be Ishvara in all manners of forms for all manners of devotees
Some find themselves declaring that Kali is the Supreme Being, like Ramakrishna, some Krishna, some Vishnu, some Shiva, some an emotional aspect of an avatara of Vishnu
"... With his role being breathing, the most mechanical and automated part of out bodies aside from maybe blinking"
And now im breathing and blinking manually
Lol yeah I knew I'd get people writing that part in. Sorry!
Fun fact: Dolphins breathe manually so they are capable of committing suicide
The death scenes for Gale, Jenna, and Cielo always get me. I didn't realize how much I cared for these characters.
you and marsh’s backs must hurt from carrying smt youtube
It ain't much, but it's honest work
Haha, “Cielo” also happens to mean “Sky” in Italian, so Atlus were quite explicit in their Diespiter archetype inspiration
It's worth noting that the very purple pattern that is all around Indra could be a reference to a curse placed on him by the sage Gautam. Indra had taken Gautam's form and laid with his wife Ahilya (Ahalya) while the real Gautam left to bathe in the river.
As Gautam came home and saw the imposter, he cursed Indra to have many eyes decorating his body (originally something worse depending on the origin) and cursed Ahilya to turn to stone until Vishnu's incarnation Rama would later free her.
I find DDS so refreshing because being a hindu, you don't often see the gods have pretty respectable references to them. It's generally christianity or norse mythos that gets the big Hollywood treatment, but it's partly why I enjoy the largely hindu influence this game series has! Amazing video btw, I can't wait to see more!
Ah, so this is what happens when the Law and Chaos rep work together...
Sometimes law and chaos has to join forces
@@Tony4You When god becomes too much of an asshole, even for law to tolerate.
The thing I like most about the Avatars is they don't have eyes. They look bestial and without intelligence because of this. They're like anti-Personas. Kaneko had amazing range, being able to make humanoid designs that reflected the greatest aspects of what dwells inside the human heart, and then, in DDS, humanoid designs that looked bestial and fucking weird. And then, of course, the hundreds of demons he drew.
This also leads to the really strange quirk that Heat's Vritra form is the only one to have eyes. Even though he is now a rampaging monster far more dangerous than before.
(Then again, he does have moments of clarity where he actually ENCOURAGES his comrades to take him down.)
Very interesting yeah. Kanekos genius really can't be overstated
I choose to believe it’s because they’re literally designed to blindly kill and consume each other, would also explain the large toothed mouths and integrated weapknr
13:29 "In order to know Brahman, one must know Vayu". I kinda like that when you consider Gale was dead set on negotiating with God/Brahman in the story, and how Gale seemed to come the closest of the Embryon before their deaths to understanding just what God/Brahman is and how he must think. Just a small detail, but I really like that one.
Yeah the effort put into making the characters make sense alongside the lore is amazing
Wait vritra is the personification of drought and heat said he ate serf who’s avatar is Varuna the god of bodies of water I I think that’s the connection
Oh shit, he actually did the intro correctly!
Looks like Kali Yuga is coming to an end, fellas!
Ayo smt lore is back and with one of my favorite megaten games
The phrase agni Kai in avatar makes alot more sense now thanks nyarly
One detail I really like about Serph's human design is that his eyes are a grayish-blue color after his personality awakens. Since the characters' eye colors are supposed to represent their personality, Serph's eyes could represent how he is meant to be a mirror for the player and how his personality is determined by the player's choices throughout the story.
6:22 my guess is that heat claims that he ate serph whos atma avatar is a deity of oceans and lakes vritra causes droughts by eating said body of water so I say it makes sense
Last time I was this early, I wasn't caught up on all the SMT titles released internationally.
This one's for you early king!
I’m playing through the first one rn, it’s actually so fun. The mood and presentation of the story and world are 🔥
Oh yeah these games are great! Hope I didn't spoil much lol
I love a fucking massive Vasuki is in that boss battle.
Digital Devil Saga is a great underrated game!
I highly agree.
I bought the deluxe box of this game on the first day of release 🧐
I think it should also be noted with Seraph and Ardha that there's also Abrahamic undertones with their depictions here. For one thing, Seraph's name is obviously supposed to be shorthand for Seraphim, one of the Nine Heavenly Orders of Angels, which fittingly enough, are depicted as burning entities who's light is bright and hot enough to cleanse sin from Man, almost like the very Sun Seraph themselves is trying to reach.
Speaking of angels, it also should be noted that Ardha themselves looks less like how they would expectedly be depicted, and more like an Angel in of themselves. It certainly doesn't help that the climax of DDS2 revolves around Seraph themselves coming to God specifically to ask for humanity to be given a second chance. In fact, you could say in this very situation, *Seraph is acting as a Messenger for the Lord.*
Nyarly and Tony4You in one video?! SIGN ME UP! :D
I hope people like the collab. It was nice to have him on
@@Tony4You As someone who watch both of your and Nyarly's SMT content, I am elated to see what you can concoct. Hope to see more collabs from both of ya! :D
adding my 2 cents here since it is kinda relevant,
Cielo in italian means Sky
Argilla in italian means Clay
Oh that's a cool bit of Trivia. I should have known since I'm Italian
Agni and Ardha are my most favorite avatars and my 2nd favorite RUclipsr after you Tony Nyarly!
Thank you legend! Ardha is such a fantastic character, and Nyarly did a good job making Agni cool
@@Tony4You It's actually you!!
DDS is probably my favorite megaten so this video was a joy to watch and learn the mythos behind the main cast.
It's one of mine as well.
The moment I finished DDS2 I had so much fun learning about the lore behind the Atma Avatars. I loved the idea and loved learning about the choices even more. So happy this video was made!
Do you think you'll ever do a Part 2 for other avatars, such as the unique enemy boss ones like Camazotz, Ravana, and Meganada?
Hey thanks a lot! I was thinking about it, but thought it might be too niche. I don't expect this video to do amazingly well and the bosses are even less well known lol. I might it the future though
@@Tony4You that would be cool to see more lore about these two games.
@@Tony4You Please get to it someday, I don't expect anyone else to!
Aaaah Thanks for the video!! Digital Devil Saga has some of my favorite characters and story.
My favorite characters are Serph, Gale, and Cielo. They have very interesting stories and personalities. It was nice to learn more about their Vedic/Hindu inspirations for their Avatars. Seraph's Ardha is also extremely fascinating to me.
Always happy when people learn from the vids!
Ah yes, DDS1 was my first SMT game and oh boy, it did give me a shock with that bloody introduction. My personal favorite avatar was Varuna, because the crown and the shell theme was so nicely executed (and symetrical). After playing theses games I took some time to read the stories and myths and oh boy, it was a learning experience. I wish they would remake/remaster these games because I feel they got overshadowed by Nocturne and Persona 3 on the ps2, and they offer such a different perspective when compared to the other SMT games.
To be fair, one thing that kept me in check in the beginning was the whole devour mechanic and how it was such a impactful thing in the early story, but got kicked to the backside as the story progressed and focused more on the Nirvana project. I was pretty shocked the main characters had to literally eat their enemies, quite a violent way to level up I guess.
What a game to start with, good choice. I hope a remake is coming soon aswell
@@Tony4You I don't want a remake, HD remasters, yes, a 3rd game in the franchise, yes.
Seraph had a really good Almighty attack. I used it a lot.
Seraph always a legend
@@Tony4You It was stupid expensive though it was 100 MP or something
@@eyalamit5120You mean Reincarnate, Hari-Hara's original exclusive?
@@kichiroumitsurugi4363 uhhh I think? I forgot what it was called. It was a heavy almighty attack to all foes with a steep cost of 100 MP.
@@eyalamit5120 Yeah, defo Reincarnate, it's the skill Hari-Hara had back in DDS1
In Christianity, they are not becoming one, but working together as one. Man and woman are smaller depictions of how the godhead operates, separate beings but one in purpose. Another depiction is the church and Christ, married through baptism and working toward the common goal. I think there is a distinction as you can commonly find hermaphroditism or duality in paganism because of the common Eastern mystery school teachings, whereas Judeo-Christianity, ancient Judaism are devoid of this philosophy looking at how Adam and Eve come about.
My culture integrate a lot Hindu myth. It's so awesome playing the game blind for me
Great video Tony! We haven't heard from you in a long while now. Dad and mom are worried, please call us back okay?
Keep it up, we're so proud of you
What about the atma avatars of the bosses, like usas or hari hara?
Usas is the daughter of Dyaus and Prithivi (the Atmas of Cielo and Argilla) as well as the sister of Agni (Heat’s Atma). Known for welcoming birds and warding evil spirits. Probably representing how Jinanna invited the Embryon againt the Solids. As for Harihara, he’s the union of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara). Shiva is a destroyer god who represents feminine qualities (despite being a male god) while Vishnu is a preserver god representing male qualities. Harihara represents the sacred ultimate power of the universe which fits Jenna being a hermaphrodite and parent of Sera, who we know would fuse with Serph to become Seraph.
Interesting as always. Varuna is such a good design. I'd love to see it again in upcoming games.
Thanks for watching! Hindu gods definitely need some more love in the franchise
Would be cool to see these characters as optional bosses.
@DragonKingX78 Yeah. Perhaps they start in human form, but once you use an active skill or they hit Gun immunity, they swap to their demon form, only reverting again if they notice a Gun weakness, and if you are immune to everything they have, they'll opt for Almighty, be it via items or skills
cielo, the best, definitely. That first time wee see hin saving sera in dds1 and after a lot of adventures, his last flight, giving us the opportunity to start the final part in dds2. unfortunatly I played both games once, never had the chance to fight demifiend and satan.
Hot take I like Roland more than heat it's why I chose him over heat in the final battles
Legend and indeed a hot take. Honestly one I can get behind though
@@Tony4You thanks you'd of laughed seeing me face brahma with seraph cielo and roland
Omg, literally haven't encountered a fellow Roland-enjoyer like this.
Personally it's cuz I'm a sucker for his history with Lupa - what happens when the *very real* heroism of leading a resistance camp clashes with the gnawing guilt of how he ended up leader at all? Roland, Gale, and Fred all have their lives permanently changed from Lupa's kindness & honour.
Also imo Heat O'Brien being moral & upstanding was a a decent "twist", it just kinda necessitated Digital-Heat being an asshole long enough to irreversibly grate on my nerves 😅 so I'm with you there all the way
Very cool. I'm glad to see DDS and the Eastern faiths get more attention!
The etymology for Jupiter seems to fit perfectly with Dyaus Pita (from as far back as Proto-Indo-European) which itself just translates to "Sky Father". Who knew!
Recently played dds 1/2 and despite the sometimes annoying encounter rates and grindy nature of the game, I absolutely loved it so I'm happy to see video on it, also Nyarly's here and that's pretty cool
Some of the best games in the series deserves some love on the channel. Thanks for watching!
@@Tony4You yeah, top tier smt imo
I agree, DDS 1 and 2 are top tier SMT games.
NO WAY NYARLY IS HERE!!! LETS GO
People have been waiting for this fated collab!
This channel is just so awesome, I never thought someone would do it but I’m so happy you’re analyzing the Atma forms, this channel never ceases to amaze and even when you make a mistake your always open to correction, thank you for an open space for the SMT community
How about a video on the avatars for bosses/antagonists?
DDS 1/2 were amazing! I still need to finish the final dungeon in 2 to this day. Hope I get around to it
Finishing off a series is always sad, but these games are so well done its worth it
Interesting stuff, love these games, always interested to find out more about them.
Appreciate it, this is one of my favorite vids honestly
@@Tony4You these are two of my favorite games.
Now do a collab with Marshal 😳
Way ahead of you brother. I had him on my persona 3 meaning behind the persona video. Check it out!
I love that there was a game centered around Hinduism and Buddhism because most are generally convey mostly ambrahamic religion ideals/demons etc.
The only thing that I noticed is that most plot points/characters and developments barely appear in the sequel, and most that do go through barely matter like Lupa's death. Still great video !
It is very rare to see games based on Buddhism and/or Hinduism.
Cool. How about all of the Atma Avatars / demon forms of the other major characters / bosses? I would love to know how they match their humans.
Could be interesting, but we'd be really getting niche lol
@@Tony4You as if your content wasn't niche enough, but you do you, this video is already pretty fine!
Always down for some more DDS content. Thanks Tony and Nyarly!
It's about time I gave this beloved series some lol
@@Tony4You I think everyone should give this one some love eventually.
Fun fact, both agni and ardha are based on ultraseven, with ardha being based on the titular hero and agni being based on the final boss kaiju of that show, pandon who also has two heads, don't believe me, look them up yourselves
Ah, it's like your 'Meaning Behind Persona' but with SMT. I see what you did there, good 👍
Ay, this guy got it
Similar format and everything
Did you also mention that Serph sounds like surf, another name for oceans? Might have blanked out when you said it.
No I didn't mention that one lol. Surf the water crown bro
Serph is also similar to Seraph without the a, denoting an imperfect angel
This game is the reason why back in the mid 2000s I fell in love with Indian culture and faith, also as Arab I’ve noticed there are many words we have shared with each other, such as Dayus
I am so glad you make this video! I Both DDS are my favorite SMT games, I am going to enjoy this so much, thanks!!
Edit: My favourite Atma User must be Gale, he is clearly hiding hi emotions from the start, but when Lupa died, you could feel how he truly was. He has great importance in the game and all his plot is just amazing!
So many great character development moments with Gale, great choice. Thanks for watching!
Finally! I've been asking for this for god knows how many times
This one is for you king!
@@Tony4You yay!
Okay, now I'm hungry
There is no other way to survive.
Time to eat
I love Shin Megami Tensei!
Shoji Meguro Tonsils
@@TheKHC 🤯🫨
I'd love an analysis like this, but for the main bosses
I love the facts that no one of the Atma designs has got eyes.
Edit: Ardha has those yellow 'eyes' that, considering the inspiration of the design, are part of a 'visor'
Ooh exciting!
Glad Hindu myth has people interested!
May Jod bless you this fine day Tony✝️
Thank you my brother in Christ!
Still one of my all time favorite SMT related games.
Actually, Indra isn't the Zeus parallel in Hinduism. It's Dyaus. Zeus, Dyaus, and other equivalent Indo-European deities such as Dagda, Jupiter, and Tyr are descended from the original Dyeus Phter, the Sky Father.
Shiva is more chad, though.
Okay this is very informative but... I do not comprehend.
Me neither honestly. Thanks for watching though lol
Some things must be felt, not comprehended
We where not but on this world to "get it".
I’ve always been interested in this game. Hope we can get a remaster of the duology for Steam eventually 👍 only thing I’m not keen on experiencing again is Nocturne’s freaking random encounters 😩
The remaster of the PS2 era SMTs is a dream I will never give up on
@@Tony4You I agree, would love remasters for PS2 era SMT games.
7:50 I suddenly wouldn't mind seeing Demi-Fiend punching Brahma right in his four faces. Old times had different standards, but that is still one hell of a dick move.
Demi-Fiend would crush Brahma. He's not like Brahman, who's kagutsuchi level. Brahma is just another random demon in SMT.
May as well add Pixie slapping him, because she would be just as. If not more pissed off!
@@jackour8167no? He's the literal universe
@@RocketSlime Big deal, so was Kagutsuchi.
@@jackour8167 Kagutsuchi was weaker than Yaweh Pretty Sure also Brahman is insane in dds he's a conceptual being (he's only ever appeared like 2 other games and even there he's OP)
Can you do the origin of the name of the spells in the games.
That could be really interesting! Would take a lot of work, but it's something I've thought of a lot too
@@Tony4You I also see the soma used for some of the healing items in the games.
@@tremassicotte3172 soma is the beverage of the gods in hinduism I think
these games are so good
YES
This one's for the early gang!
Technically speaking in dyaus death he fell out of the sky just like in mythology
Oh yeah lol
good video
Gotta respect og smt for goin in on Hinduism. Even tho they hate for it.
The story to this game is amazing! Definitely Shakespearean.
I agree, great story, great game play.
Bring the games back !
Atlus PLEASE!
Yes Atlus, please bring these games back.
Amazing Video Tony, also godlike Ost. Top 5 easily 😎
Thanks king. Only the best for DDS
What's the song that play's for Serph's/Varuna's section?
Will you also do the Upanishads and the other bosses?
That would cool.
Smt is alot into hinduism
Big time. I plan to cover more of Hindu culture in the future
Nyarly!😱
I wish you went into the atma avatars of some of the antagonists but still good video
I was thinking about it for sure. It was getting long though so I might make it into its own video
@@Tony4You hopefully you will make such a video one day.
@@Tony4You ☺︎
disappointed, no shenanigans at the start of the video
Didn't think many people liked it, but a lot of people miss it lol
I wonder if they will ever make a game for the quantum devil saga novels? if not, translating them.
Stupid question, but could seraph give birth at will?
Praise God Agni!
0:16 NO JOHN
Varbius
What game does your intro come from?
Persona 1 when traveling to see philemon
12:26 and you just turned of my auto breathing as well as auto blinking
Can any one explain to me digimon's in digimon frontier?
Long before the events of the series, the 10 legendary warriors defeated lucemon at the cost of most members's death, excluding Ancient Greymon and Ancient Garurumon, wich later defeated ornismon and died like the others. Upon death, each one gave his power to adetermined species of digimon, and divided his own power into 2, the human and beast spirits. The human spirit, while being inferior in strength to the beast spirit, is easier to control, whilst the beast spirit has more power but if the user loses control of itself it will leave they exhausted. Each protagonist in frontier gained the power to wield an element and it's respective spirits. Takuya inherited the power of fire of Ancient Greymon and was able to transform into Agunimon, the human spirit, and vitramon, the beast spirit. Takuya also could harness both the human and beast spirits to create aldamon, and later on with the power of the ice, wind, wood and earth spirits created kaiserGreymon, wich fused with MagnaGarurumon to create susannomon, One of the most OP digimon in existence
Lord knows I wish I could have 1 & 2 on my ps5 😂
That would be the absolute dream
@@Tony4You not just PS5 but also PS4, Switch, PC, etc.
Tony 4 whom?
🫵🏽
Big biggest complaint about these games is I just don't like Seraph's demon form...especially when compared to Serph's(and Sera's) demon form(s).
I heard of the Supreme Being,but was from Gnostic Religion, I guess the Hindu Religion and Gnostic one are connect. Also, these Religions might have had a similar ancestry.
Technically this isn't SMT
It's true name in Japan is simply "Digital Devil Saga Avatar Tuner 1 and 2"
And its cus of people like you saying this out loud is why we don't have a DDS DLC for SMTV-V or that DMC crossover
the nerd voice guy brigns this video down so much, hes presenting it as if its so funny gameshow, i like the boring guy more
I really hate this game, mainly for the INSANE AMOUNT OF AMBUSH that happen to me across the dungeons, great game nonetheless but for me atleast is one of my least favorite spin-off.