Persona 5 is easily one of the greatest modern JRPGs of all time, meeting all the hype and then some after being delayed for what felt like ages. However, it seems the extra time was definitely put to good use by Atlus, who created what is easily one of the best games the studio has ever released.
The story of Persona 5 is easily one of its biggest highlights, prompting the player to delve into the minds of shady individuals... before exploring the collective psyche of the masses in order to figure out their deepest desires and identify the source of all the mass cognitive changes that have been happening.
This leads the heroes to the Holy Grail, which is one of the most confusing aspects of Persona 5. There are several aspects of this particular enemy — if one can even call it that — that most people simply don't know about, so here everything that a self-respecting Persona 5 fan needs to know about the Holy Grail.
10 The Myth Surrounding The Holy Grail Is Quite Extensive
It goes without saying that a religious figure like the Holy Grail would have a ton of mythology attached to it. Aside from it obviously being the last cup that Jesus Christ drinks from that supposedly grants immortality, there are other myths associated with this grail as well.
Aside from this, there's also the legend of King Arthur, who supposedly tasked Galahad to seek out this relic. The Holy Grail is often mistaken to be Dagda's Cauldron from Celtic myth as well.
9 The Holy Grail Is The Manifestation Of The Antisocial Force's Will
The Antisocial Force is a moniker coined in Persona 5 Scramble, referring to the collective that wishes to overthrow the regime governing Tokyo and turn it into a fascist government. After taking care of most of the people who form a major part of the Antisocial Force, the heroes believed that this collective was gone for good.
However, it turns out that the will of the Antisocial Force manifested in the form of the Holy Grail, which leads to the climactic finale of Persona 5.
8 The Grail Actually Forms Yaldabaoth's Head Before His Big Reveal
People with a keen eye would've noticed that the main body of the Holy Grail resembles the head of the final boss, Yaldabaoth.
This is because Yaldabaoth's body is actually contained in the Grail itself, and it's only after damaging this structure that the final encounter can commence.
7 The Holy Grail Stops Using Will Of The People Too Much If Only Joker Is Participating In The Final Battle
An interesting thing to notice in the final fight is the occurrence that might happen if Joker is the sole person fighting the Holy Grail in the final battle.
Normally, a party member needs to be sent to cut the ties of the Holy Grail to society, preventing it from healing itself by using the Will Of The People technique. However, with Joker being the only party member, this is pretty much impossible. So, the game decided to take this into account by making the Holy Grail stop using Will Of The People after the third time.
6 The Main Antagonist Has A "Holy Grail" Attack In Persona 2
Persona 2 pitted the main party against the Fuhrer himself, which is as amazing an antagonist as can be.
What makes the encounter with this boss even more exciting is the fact that he actually has a move by the name of "Holy Grail," which grants him invincibility for a few turns.
Quite befitting, given the fact that the Holy Grail is impervious to damage in the first encounter that the Phantom Thieves have with him.
5 The Grail Also Makes A Appearance In Another Shin Megami Tensei Game... Kinda
While this might be a bit of a stretch, the Holy Grail is also mentioned in Shin Megami Tensei IV.
During one of the challenge quests in the game, Brigid tries to use a Dagda's Cauldron to revive Denu. Similar to the misconception discussed before, Dagda's Cauldron is actually a part of Celtic mythology... but is mistaken to be the Holy Grail for angels by the main party.
4 The Section Of Mementos That Contains The Holy Grail Could Be A Reference To Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon
The panopticon is a creation by Jeremy Bentham, which basically describes a disciplinary institution where the ambiguity of surveillance means that people will maintain strict discipline at all times.
While descending to the lowest depths of Mementos, the area housing the shrine with the Holy Grail seems oddly similar to the instruction of a panopticon, which is a nice touch by Atlus.
3 The Seven Deadly Sins Are Written On The Shrine's Floor Where The Grail Is Found
Of course, the resemblance to a disciplinary institute isn't the only thing of note in the lowest depth of Mementos. Another thing to be noted is that the floor of the shrine where the Grail resides has the seven deadly sins written in Latin.
The seven words mentioned are as follows — Superbia (Pride), Pigritia (Sloth), Invidia (Envy), Ira (Wrath), Avaritia (Avarice), Luxuria (Lust), Gula (Gluttony), and Irritium (Vanity).
2 The Grail Was Posing As The Fake Igor From The Get-Go
When Persona 5 was released, a lot of people instantly noticed that Igor's voice actor was changed up. While this was chalked up as nothing more than a change in voice casting, Atlus actually had a proper reason from doing so — the Igor that players interact with for the majority of the game was nothing more than a fake.
In fact, this fake Igor was actually a by-product of the Holy Grail's malice and served as nothing more than an elaborate manner to keep tabs on the protagonist's journey.
1 The Holy Grail Is A Treasure That Was Bestowed With The Will Of God
All of these points about the Holy Grail point to one absolute fact — this object was nothing more than a run-of-the-mill treasure... before it was imbued with the will of God to become something truly frightening.
After all, the Grail was cognitive enough to pit the will of Goro Akechi against the protagonist himself... even though it never fulfilled its promise of supporting the protagonist if his will turned out to be stronger (which happened to be the case after all).