Satanael Persona Guide: Joker’s Ultimate Persona Explained

Hundreds upon hundreds of demons and Personas exist in the Persona universe. Across each of the mainline games, players have so many options for how to fill out their companion list.

I’ve played every game in the series at least once and can attest that few Personas out there strike fear and impress with the maximum power than that of Satanael. I aim to show you why that is in this Satanael Persona guide.

Satanael is one of the terrifying Personas in the entire series, not just because Satan is in the name. The old devil is one of the most fearsome Personas that you can find and an absolute juggernaut in battle. With a long history in the series, Satanael is one of the most powerful and helpful Personas you could pick.

My New Game Plus playthrough of Persona 5 Royal was an insane breeze with him on my team. Do you want to know how to add Satanael to your party? Here’s exactly how to do it in our Satanael Persona guide.

Bottom Line Up Front

When it comes to Personas, there is none in Persona 5 that can stand up to the might of Satanael. Regarded by many, including myself, as the very best companion that you can get in the game, there is almost no reason to use anyone else at all.

Satanael is a version of Satan, a devil character with some ties to all of Heaven, Hell, and Earth. He is also the ultimate Persona of the lead character in Persona 5, Joker, signifying the breaking of his chains forever. The immense power and utility of this ultimate Persona make him one of the hardest to unlock and fuse.

See also: Comprehensive Joker Persona 5 Guide.

Satanael Persona Overview

Many of the Personas in the popular JRPG series are based on religion, mythology, lore, legends, and even real people. In the case of Satanael, this is a character who is firmly rooted in many different religions and beliefs.

Though not necessarily one and the same as the devil himself, Satanael has a lot of meaning to different people. In some beliefs, he is simply the same thing as Satan, the devil. In other beliefs, though, he is the original name for Lucifer while he was still an angel in Heaven before being struck down.

Then there are still other beliefs that set the two as entirely different people. Still more that find him to be a benevolent person as a representation of God. There are so many different possibilities for this character, but the Persona version certainly lays its claim.

It appears that the Persona version of the character is at least rooted somewhat in the idea of Lucifer. We see this in Persona 5, with the ultimate Persona helping the Phantom Thieves to break free from the chains of the god that is trying to take over the world.

There are few games that Satanael is available in, with Persona 5 being the most notable one and the only JRPG that I have used the Persona in before. This does not diminish just how powerful and valuable this character is in battle. There is an unbelievable level of strength that he has.

Unfortunately, with great power comes excellent requirements for unlocking Satanael. He is one of the trickiest Personas to command since it takes quite a bit to unlock him. In the end, though, it is worth it for what I believe is one of the best Personas ever created.

Appearance

There are a couple of different appearances for Satanael. There is his original appearance in Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers that is getting an upcoming sequel game many years later.

While I do like this game and think it is the most underrated in the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series, that is not the focus of this guide.

Furthermore, the appearance of Satanael in that game is pretty lame. On the other hand, the character’s look in Persona 5 is highly detailed and extravagant. There is nothing like the character in the JRPG. Sure, you have hundreds of Personas, but they are generally pretty simple.

You have characters like Jack Frost, who looks like the same jester snowman he has been for decades. However, Atlus went all out for some of the newer Personas like Arsene and Satanael. The latter has an appearance that is so detailed and intriguing.

To start with, we have an overview of the character. The overall idea seems to be mixing this theme of a military leader with that of a demon. This is seen in the outfit that the Persona is wearing. Interestingly enough, he has what looks to me like a service uniform on.

It is like that of a higher-ranked official or commander in an army from more than 100 years ago. There are the broad fans on his shoulders, giving a regal look, and the lance that he wields. What is notable to me, though, about the outfit is the red sash across his torso.

Couple this with the golden horns that Satanael has, and there is something kingly about the Persona. It certainly gives me the idea that Satanael is like a prince of darkness, which is understandable if he is roughly based on Satan.

But the most prominent part of the character is the wings. These are also my favorite part, as you can see the high-quality detail that Atlus can do when it flexes its creative juices. Not being based on any previous design before, Satanael can have these sophisticated wings with intricate lines and markings throughout.

Overall, the Satanael design is so fascinating. I’m honestly not in love with the look, but I cannot deny how well-done it is. The level of detail is unmatched in Persona 5, and the theme of evil and royalty together is impressive.

I think the head and shoulders look a little derpier than they should, but the wings are phenomenal and make this entire design worthwhile in the end.

Key Moments in the Persona Series

Just a quick spoiler warning before this next section, so be warned. Before Satanael would grace us with his presence as the best Persona in Persona 5, believe it or not, there was another Atlus RPG that he appeared. The underrated Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers spin-off game saw Satanael play a significant role there.

There is a significant boss fight near the end of the Soul Hackers storyline that sees one of the characters transform into Satanael. This is far different from what happens with Joker later on, as this is an evil villain who must be taken down.

With the upcoming Soul Hackers 2 surprise sequel to this game, there is even a chance that Satanael will again make an appearance in the futuristic world. While that is a solid enough appearance for the character, the most memorable moment for Satanael is in Persona 5.

At the end of the story, the world’s fate is on the line, as is no surprise in a JRPG like this one. The entire world watches as the Phantom Thieves take on the difficult task of trying to defeat the false god Yaldabaoth who is behind everything in that game.

It takes the people around the world finally acknowledging the Phantom Thieves and supporting them, leading to Joker’s primary Persona, Arsene, transforming into Satanael.

With this, Satanael goes from the bad guy to the good guy and helps the team finish off Yaldabaoth once and for all and save the world. At least until the events of the third semester when everything falls apart again, that is.

Abilities Explained

Satanael is undoubtedly the best Persona that you can get in both Persona 5 and even its expanded version, Royal. Despite the new shadows added in the better version of the game, the king remains the same: Satanael. This comes from the overwhelmingly powerful stats and abilities that he has.

When it comes to my follow-up playthroughs of Persona 5 Royal, there is no one that I use more these days than Satanael. It is a steep level to unlock this Persona (though you can unlock it slightly earlier), but it is worth it for the fact that it has no weaknesses whatsoever.

Even better than that, it both blocks bless attacks and completely absorbs curse ones. Still not enough for you? What if I told you that it even gets better than that? Satanael is capable of resisting every single other elemental skill, except for almighty, including:

• Physical attacks
• Gun skills
• Electric
• Ice
• Fire
• Wind
• Psychic
• Nuclear

Nothing will hit you for the total damage possible unless it is almighty or the enemy uses a special skill. This is a godsend for players looking to master the game on the hardest difficulty level. And that is all before bringing up the actual skills that Satanael for going on the offensive.

Here are the skills that you can get, plus some of my thoughts on each of them:

• Maeigaon – Available from the moment you summon Satanael: Deals heavy curse damage to every enemy. Decent enough ability, but there are better ones later down the line.
• Megidolaon – Immediately available: Deals serious almighty damage to all enemies. Very good and a cheat sheet for almost every enemy in the game.
• Riot Gun – Available immediately: Deals serious gun damage to all enemies. I find that gun skills are not always the most useful in Persona 5, so a little bit unnecessary but still welcome.
• Cosmic Flare – Unlocked at level 96: Deals serious nuclear damage to all foes. The Nuclear element is underrated and powerful, so this is a great addition.
• Heat Riser – Unlocked at level 97: This boosts a party member’s attack, defense, and agility stats for three turns. This is lame since it only affects one party member—a throwaway skill, in my opinion, when there are much better out there.
• Unshaken Will – Unlocked at level 98: This passive skill will automatically make you immune to the mental ailment status. This is useful against a few enemies but nothing too special here.
• Victory Cry – Unlocked at level 99: The final skill; gives you back all your health and SP after every single fight you win. This is unbelievably useful and necessary for difficulty runs, but it sucks that it only helps out Joker.

Fusion Unlock Requirements

If it was not clear enough already, Satanael is a literal god and for a reason. There is almost no other Persona that you need in the game once you unlock him. That is, of course, in the event that you are able to unlock and fuse together this ultimate Persona.

Unfortunately, doing so is much easier said than done. The process of unlocking Satanael is one of the more annoying parts of Persona 5. For one, there is no way to have access to him at all, barring the story moment, on your first playthrough.

Since he appears at the last minute in the main story, you cannot access him until you play the game again. Once you do, though, you can pretty much use him throughout the entire game, so long as you meet the other equally harsh requirements.

One of the requirements that will stump some players, including even those who have beaten the game, is the level 95 fusion requirement. If you are not level 95, you will need to have Caroline and Justine’s Confidant maxed out. This allows you to fuse demons higher than your current level.

And even if you can bypass this issue, the problem is still not over. There are a whopping six Personas that you must fuse together to make Satanael. The worst part is that four of them will require you to max out the Confidant ranks with four different characters in the story.

Those Confidants are Ann Takamaki, Goro Akechi, Hifumi Togo, and Mishima. All but Hifumi are pretty easy to max out, but they are not required in the main story, so be sure to complete them on your first run. With that done, you are finally ready to do the “easy” part.

How to Fuse Satanael

If you have followed all of the above steps and finally completed the prerequisites, you are ready to fuse for Satanael whenever you want. You can even do this as soon as you unlock the Velvet Room and fusion if you prefer on your second playthrough.

At this point, all you need to do is bring up the six required Personas that you must fuse together to make Satanael. These are the six Personas that you need:

• Anzu
• Arsene
• Ishtar
• Lucifer
• Michael
• Satan

As you can see, Satanael is the perfect blend of everything in the game, from Joker’s signature Persona, Arsene, to the Heavenly side with Michael to the demonic side with Satan. Some of these Personas are quite a high level but nowhere near the level 95 that Satanael requires, so you should be fine if you can summon him.

The one issue you may run into here that I think is worth noting is that Satanael is not a cheap fusion. Understandably, you may not have all of these six Personas in your party right now. In that case, you may have to fuse for them for the first time or resummon them from the Compendium.

The problem is that this costs some moolah and a whole bunch. I find that you are looking at around 1 million yen or even possibly more to resummon all these Personas from the Compendium for this fusion. This is due to the high level of some of them.

And it can even get worse than that if you have never fused some of them before and need to summon their ingredients, too.

It is possible that you have much more money than that since this will be your second playthrough but possibly not if you’ve been blowing it on other items. As such, I recommend saving as much money as possible.

Fun Facts about Satanael

Here are some fun facts about Satanael that you may not have known about previously:

• For starters, many players will likely know Satanael from his time in Persona 5, which made him famous. But he appeared long before then in the Sega Saturn JRPG known as Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.
• What is interesting are the two perspectives of Satanael in his two prominent appearances in the series to date. In Soul Hackers, he is viewed as a villain whereas, in Persona 5, he is the savior for the world and the Phantom Thieves.
• The dual nature of how Satanael was handled in the two Atlus JRPGs to date could be a reference to the varying beliefs and religions surrounding the character. Some see him as a tragic or even benevolent figure, while others see him as a dark angel who has fallen far from what he once was in Heaven.
• In Persona 5, Satanael is the ultimate Persona of the Fool Arcana, which is the one that represents the protagonist, Joker. However, this was not the case before. In Persona 3, the ultimate Fool was Susanoo, while in Persona 4, it was Loki. It will be exciting to see what happens in Persona 6 with this Arcana.
• Despite being the ultimate Persona in all of Persona 5, it is far from the most extensive fusion process ever. After all, Satanael only requires six Personas to fuse in Persona 5. This is far from the most fusion requirements of all time, which goes to Izanagi-no-Okami in Persona 4 with a whopping 12 Personas required to create. That is double that of what Satanael needs.

FAQs

Conclusion

Satanael remains the most extraordinary Persona that you could ever use in Persona 5. There is no demon who is as helpful or powerful as him, and it helps, too, that he is a thematic fit for the game as well when it comes to breaking chains.

I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of the design as the parts of the Persona other than its fantastic wings leave something to be desired in terms of shape and detail.

However, there are few Personas out there that can compare to the sheer skill that Satanael has going for it. At least, that is in terms of Persona 5, at least. Outside of Persona 5, though, there are games like Persona 3 that have demons like Thanatos that are the ultimate ones there.

If you would like to learn more about Thanatos and how extremely powerful and valuable he can be in battle, then check out my previous Persona 3 Nyx guide and Persona 3 Thanatos Guide. 

Believe it or not, Nyx and Thanatos are more intertwined than you might expect. You’ll have to check out that guide to find out how exactly that is the case. 

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Cody Perez

Cody is a writer who discovered the Persona series about 10 years ago. As a huge Pokemon fan growing up, he was recommended to check it out on his PSP. He started with the very first game and when in sequential order before catching up with Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden cemented his love for the series. He was proud to be able to eventually spread his passion into the Shin Megami Tensei series and be there in time for the launch of Persona 5, which is one of his favorite games of all time.

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