One thing gamers love about fantasy JRPGs are the ties to mythology and folklore that proliferate the gameplay and storyline. The Persona series is one franchise of games that does this the best, and the newest title in the series, Persona 5 Royal stays true to this notion. Mesopotamian, as well as the closely related Babylonian, mythology is included quite heavily in Persona 5. Many deities, demons, and mythical creatures originate out of the ancient and rich culture of the Middle East. One such figure, the demonic and giant lion-headed eagle named Anzu, appears as a persona in this legendary role-playing game.
In Mesopotamian myths, Anzu was said to have stolen the sacred tablets of destiny from the wind god, Enlil. Accordingly, this winged beast has many mighty Wind-type skills, as well as one that decreases enemy resistance to them for even bigger damage. As a level 25 summon, there are quite a few relatively cheap fusion recipes of Anzu, which can grant players easy access to powerful Wind skills early on. Alternatively, if one has Anzu on their side, they can use them to fuse even greater personas! Albeit, at a steep cost for some of the better ones.
10 Black Ooze & Matador (Recipe) - $25,255
Contrary to the fusion mechanics in many other games, the merging system in P5R doesn't always follow the lore of the source material, opting to instead prioritize in-game reasons for combining personas. Black Ooze is as generic a monster as one can find in a video game. Their mundane appearance allows slime-like monsters to fit in with many different mythologies and folklores.
Despite a lackluster facade, Black Ooze has access to one of the lesser-seen skills, Brain Jack, which allows them to apply the brainwash status affect to foes that force them to heal and support Joker's allies while attacking other foes. Matador, a skeletal bullfighter, is proficient at Psychic skills as well as a few Physical ones. Though, all of their skills are rather weak after the early-game, making Matador a great candidate to become fusion material for Anzu.
9 Legion (Result) - $32,284
By merging Anzu with Shiisaa, players can summon another demon, though one of very different origin and appearance. Legion, mentioned in the Christian bible, is an amalgamation of many demons who combined their spirits and bodies into one grotesque being before taking to the Earth and possessing a mortal man. That is, until Jesus Christ himself encountered the possessed man and exorcised Legion. Mercifully, Jesus did not banish the beast back to hell, instead allowing them to live in the filth of a pigpen.
As their multiple, hideous faces imply, Legion has a versatile skillset. They can hit foes with Physical damage and inflict fear, which makes enemies less likely to attack in combat. Although, this demon is more proficient with their Eigaon skill that unloads heavy Curse damage onto a single target.
8 Flauros & Nekomata (Recipe) - $26,380
Here's a relatively suitable fusion in regards to the lore of the lion-headed Anzu with two feline-like personas. Flauros is a demon from the occult grimoire known as The Lesser Key of Solomon, who specializes in burning to ash all those who his summoner directs him to. Surprisingly, his incarnation in Persona 5 Royal does not have any Fire skills, instead focusing on moderately damaging Physical ones.
The feline other half of this fusion, Nekomata, was said to be a kind of cat in Japanese folklore that could turn into a powerful spirit if it lived long enough or grew a sufficiently long tail. Their skills pertain the most to delivering light Physical and Wind damage to adversaries along with reduces the damage taken by Electric attacks, Nekomata's one weakness.
7 Kushinada (Result) - $33,247
By combining Anzu with Suzaku, one can fuse the Japanese goddess Kushinada. In eastern legends, she was once one of many sisters, daughters to a couple who was cursed to give their children every year, one by one, to the monstrous many-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi. After all her sisters were sacrificed, it was Kushinada's turn to feed the beast, though she was rescued by the storm god Susano-o, who temporarily disguised her as a comb and hid her in his hair while he slew Yamata no Orochi.
Kushinada does not have any worthwhile attacks to speak of, however, she has a plethora of great healing and support skills that can defend and recover one's party in dire times. Her trait, Savior Bloodline, grants her added capacity in this regard by reducing the SP cost of her healing skills by a momentous 50%.
6 Oni & Sudama (Recipe) - $27,559
Anzu can once more be fused with the combination of a demon and a spirit, this time exclusively from Japanese mythology. Oni is the representation of the most often seen demon in Japanese lore: the red oni. This demon often wields brutish weapons and possesses a single horn that they use to wreak havoc. As expected, they focus on dealing out Physical damage and potentially countering the same from enemy attacks.
Almost opposite in nature, Sudama is a type of spirit that dwells in trees, rocks, and rivers and never intentionally harms anyone. However, they watch over their natural habitat and all those who venture through, sometimes giving humans the sensation that they are being watched when out in the woods or hiking through the hills. Sudama can hit foes with moderate Psychic damage, though they have quite a few buffs that Joker's party can take advantage of.
5 Belphegor (Result) - $28,972
Another potential fusion resulting in a demon is when the player polymerizes Anzu with Kodama. This will bring about Belphegor from Abrahamic mythology. He is said to embody the sin of sloth and can apparently only be summoned properly while one is on the toilet.
This foul fiend is proficient in deadly Ice attacks. He even has the Concentrate skill, which allows him to charge up a magical attack to do 2.5 times the damage on the next turn. With a high Magic stat and a trait that automatically buffs skill damage done to single targets, Belphegor can annihilate foes who are susceptible to Ice.
4 Nigi Mitama & High Pixie (Recipe) - $29,062
As a combination of floating and flying personas, this one makes a bit of lore-sense for an Anzu fusion. Nigi Mitama comes from Japan's Shinto religion and is the aspect of calm human thoughts, said to aid people in social pursuits. As one would imagine, Nigi Mitama specializes in healing and buffing one's party. Their Divine Grace passive skill increases their proficiency with healing skills by a whopping 50%. Their trait further increases their potential by reducing the cost of support skills by half.
High Pixie, originating from European folklore, is a particularly powerful fairy that is said to guide other, less experienced pixies and is often found in a leadership role. They have versatile skills that lean toward dealing Wind damage to enemies and healing allies.
3 Thunderbird (Result) - $31,375
Fusing Anzu with Inugami leads to a much mightier winged persona: Thunderbird. This storm-wielding sky beast is one of the few figures from North American lore, referencing Native American myths about birds with wings so vast and powerful that each time they beat, a thunderclap is heard.
Understandably, this persona's prime skills are their heavily-damaging Electric attacks. They also have the Electric Bloodline trait, which reduces the cost of lighting-manipulating powers. In addition, they also have some useful passive skills that increase Electric damage as well as one that boosts the chance of inflicting the shock status effect, which can render a foe immobile for a time.
2 Naga & Eligor (Recipe) - $31,798
Vastly different individuals merge this time to form Anzu, although one is at least a demon for the sake of lore. Naga is a mythical half-human and half-serpent being from Hindu mythology. With their battle prowess, likenesses of them are often found near the entrances to temples in the east to ward off threats. In Persona 5, they occupy a similar niche with their well-rounded stats and a focus on Electric and Physical attacks.
As another being who originates from The Lesser Key of Solomon, Eligor holds some interesting powers for a demon. He is a master of warfare, able to gleam the tactics and troops of any adversary on the battlefield. In-game, this is apparent in his handy ally buffs, enemy debuffs, and his potential to inflict the forget status, which renders adversaries incapable of using skills.
1 Kaiwan (Result) - $44,344
Players can summon this Mesopotamian god by fusing Anzu together with Kin-Ki. Due to Anzu's lore as a demonic fiend who stole from a deity of the pre-Abrahamic Middle East, this can be considered one of the more folklore-friendly results. Kaiwan is a sky-god who many worshipped long ago, before more modern religions settled in the region where dedication to him was popular.
This magically-oriented persona is excellent at forcing enemies to forget their skills, which allows them to only use basic attacks or run away. Players can use this to dominate any encounter, particularly against magical adversaries who rely on their skills. While facing foes who have forgotten their tactics, Joker can use Kaiwan's heavy Psychic attack, Psiodyne, to cripple and crush individuals targets with little resistance.