#and that's also why yosuke has a hard time excelling at something? because the majority of inaba want him to fail?

[kationella]

The Power of Belief in Persona

Where the phrase "Believe in yourself and go for it" is the best life advice.

It's common knowledge by now that the Persona world is pretty different from our own. When have you seen teens fighting gods with magical powers in the street? Never, because magical and mythological beings don't exist in our world.

Even so, the Amala universe has plenty of supernatural elements that make the perfect recipe for a Young Adult Fantasy Adventure.

Then, what makes their world so special?

There are two answers: The Sea of Souls and the Collective Unconscious. One created by a higher being and the other one man-made. With the help of the Sea, the souls of every being become connected to each other. Their emotions, dreams and hopes are chained together by one single place of origin. This link manifests in the form of the Collective Unconscious.

This wouldn't do much, except for one little thing that sentient beings have: Belief. Yeah, no Power of Friendship or Raw Power. Just Belief.

Across the series, we have seen how extraordinary events have occurred just because enough people believed in them. Once a certain number of people believe in something, the collective realm basically goes: "Uh, the majority of people believe this, so that means it must be true."

And poof! The belief becomes reality in the Collective Unconscious. Once something materializes in the Collective Unconscious, it is only a matter of time before it spreads to every corner of that realm and materializes in the real world.

Every single shadow, god and supernatural event has come to being just because enough people thought they already did. This is the true "power of humanity" that Philemon, Igor, the Velvet denizens and Morgana talk about all the time. Humans are on top of a food chain that even they don't know exists, which causes them to become victims of the very things they created.

When you become closer to a person, your understanding of them helps to strenghten the link that bonds all humans together. Your goals and dreams align to accommodate the new person in your life and it becomes easier to believe in the same things they do.

This is how I think that the "power of friendship" works in the Persona world. Most of the people who know you believe that you are capable of taking down a god. Their belief manifests in your Persona, the manifestation of your unconscious power, which in turn helps you to believe in yourself as well. Their dream becomes fact. You will take down this random god because you can. You will protect your loved ones because you can. You always could.

I also think that Nyarlathotep simply messed with this already existing power to create the rumor system. Or that this power helped Yaldabaoth and Maruki to shape reality to their liking.

I wonder if the reason Persona users have more control over the whole belief thing is because they're unconsciously aware of it?