Persona 5 wasn’t my first time encountering Yaldabaoth because Persona 5 wasn’t the first time he’s appeared in Atlus’s games. He was the ultimate boss of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.
He had a terrifying resistance to everything that constantly switched every turn. When he showed up in Persona 5, I got war flashbacks from a boss that took me 12 different tries. Thankfully, he took a much different form.
I found that in Persona 5, Yaldabaoth is the final boss of the good ending. He was the final battle in the game until Persona 5: Royal came out, and Maruki replaced him in the added 3rd semester. Technically, Yaldabaoth is fought three times throughout a normal playthrough.
Twice in the form of the Holy Grail at the bottom of the Depths of Mementos and twice again at the top of the Qliphoth World. Regardless of when you fight him, Yaldabaoth is an imposing enemy that brings loads of unique tricks to the table.Â
Yaldabaoth Persona 5 Guide: Bottom Line Up Front
Yaldabaoth is another name for the Demiurge and originates from early Jewish and Christian sects. In Gnosticism, it’s believed that there are two gods. The evil creator god of the physical world, and the good spiritual god.
The Demiurge is believed to be the false god of the physical world. Yaldabaot is proposed as the evil god of the old testament, while the good spiritual one takes control in the new testament.
In Persona 5, Yaldabaoth acts as one of the final bosses. During the scenes where Sae interrogates Joker, you must refuse to sell out your friends. Doing this will prompt the beginning of the true ending, where you’ll go through Shido’s palace, the Depths of Mementos, and finally, the Qliphoth world, where you’ll fight Yaldabaoth as the final boss.
Role in the Games
In Shin Megami Tensei
Most of the time, Yaldabaoth appears under the name “Demiurge,” More often than not, he plays the role of an extremely difficult extra boss like in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and Shin Megami Tensei IV.
The design used for him is different from what’s in Persona 5. Yaldabaoth is depicted as a humanoid figure with large rainbow feathered wings, standing in a pose similar to the Christ The Redeemer statue.
In Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers
In Persona 5 and Royal, Yaldabaoth is seen from the start of the game. He splits Lavenza into Caroline and Justine and takes the place of Igor. It’s not until the Holy Grail defeats the Phantom Thieves in the Depths of Mementos that the truth of the matter is revealed. The Holy Grail-Â Yaldabaoth-Â is a creation of humanity’s collective desire.
After analyzing the public’s wishes, they concluded that they no longer wanted free will and acted to stop Igor before he could rear a worthy challenger. He does his best throughout Persona 5 to rig the game and prevent the protagonist from ever realizing their full potential, but the ruse is broken when Lavenza is fused back together.
Finally dropping the charade, the Holy Grail fuses the real world with Mementos to form the Qliphoth world. In the Persona 5 Royal version of the game, this fusing of the physical world with the cognitive world lets Takuto Maruki awaken to his Persona Azathoth.
Joker frees the rest of the Phantom Thieves from their cells, reawakening their rebellious spirit as they step out into the Qliphoth World.
This dungeon is the most straightforward in the game but challenging due to the myriad of bosses blocking the way. At the top of the temple, you finally face down Yaldabaoth in the form of the Holy Grail.
You will get a special action to sever the supply tubes that let the grail use Will of the People (but if you’re doing this fight solo, Will of the People will only happen three times), allowing the boss to be defeated.
From there, an anime cutscene will play out where the real final boss emerges, showing the true form of the Holy Grail: a giant mechanical angel. Fittingly for one of the final bosses, Yaldabaoth can be one of the more brutal fights in the game.
The boss will grow extra arms equipped with their own health bar and terrifyingly powerful attacks. Eventually, by harnessing the renewed wishes of humanity, Joker conquers Yaldabaoth using his ultimate persona Satanael, putting an end to the false god and its plans for humanity.
In Persona 5 Strikers, you face another Demiurge. Unlike Yaldabaoth, who was created from the collected wishes of humanity, this Demiurge created from the program EMMA has assumed a similar goal.
Despite the similarities between the two, being mechanical angels who wish to enslave humanity to their desires, Yaldabaoth and EMMA manages to be different enough to be separate characters.
Inspirations behind Yaldabaoth
Let’s start with Yaldabaoth’s first form: the holy grail. The holy grail originates from Arthurian literature, where it was said to be the cup that caught Jesus’ blood after the roman soldier Longinus pierced his side.
It was said to bestow eternal life to anyone who drank from it. Descriptions for the grail’s appearance vary. While it’s often depicted as a golden chalice, some sources say it was made of stone, and others think it was more of a bowl than a cup.
The grail’s true form, Yaldabaoth, is another name for the Demiurge. The Demiurge is from Gnosticism, a variant of Abrahamic religions that originates and combines elements of early Christian and Jewish sects.
Yaldabaoth is the creation of the immaterial feminine spiritual goddess Sophia. Ignorant of the circumstances of creation, Yaldabaoth assumes that he is the pinnacle and begins to form a world in his image. Only when the Snake in the garden of Eden gets Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of knowledge that they are freed and gain awareness of the spiritual side.
Many of god’s actions in the Old Testament are attributed to the Demiurge, such as Noah’s flood. Sophia or another feminine influence called Providence saved Noah and continued humanity. It’s also said that Yaldabaoth crucified Jesus Christ, an embodiment of Sophia.
How Atlus Interpreted Yaldabaoth
Having the final boss be the holy grail makes a lot of sense. It’s thought that the holy grail was symbolic of Sisyphean goal. If the Phantom Thieves want to win, they don’t need to steal the heart of an artist, gangster, or politician but steal the heart of the entire public.
The boss’s ability to heal itself to full HP could be a reference to the holy grail’s healing capabilities. The detail I like most is how, as you fight the grail, its dark exterior gradually disappears to reveal a golden chalice.
Personality-wise, the Yaldabaoth we see in Persona 5 is very similar to the one shown in Gnosticism. We see a nearly omnipotent being that’s completely unable to comprehend that they could possibly be wrong.
Unlike Izanami in Persona 4, who congratulates the player upon defeat, Yaldabaoth is aghast until the end. The implication of Yaldabaoth being a creation of Sophia is also suggested through Yaldabaoth’s design. Rather than looking like an actual angel, Yaldaboth is made of metal with a distorted mechanical voice. Even its wings are placed far lower than what would expect of an angelic being.
How to Reach Yaldabaoth
Unlocking this ending is pretty easy. You must refuse to sell out your allies whenever the game flashes back to the present with Sae’s interrogation. Be aware that answering one of her questions wrong will set you on the path to a bad ending and that these flash-forwards are interspersed throughout the game.
There’s no singular cutoff point you can make a save at. You’ll have to always deny Sae’s prodding. You know you got the true ending if you get the added scene when the traitor seemingly shoots Joker, but he turns out to be okay.
After that, you’ll unlock Shido’s palace. It’s a complicated dungeon, but nothing too hard. After that is the Depths of Mementos dungeon, it’s surprisingly straightforward but filled to the brim with high-level enemies to give you trouble.
Finally, is the Qliphoth World dungeon. It’s a simple area that isn’t too problematic. You might have difficulty with only the Archangel minibosses: Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael. After you beat all of them, you only have to face Yaldabaoth at the top of his temple.
Yaldabaoth, the Boss
Yaldabaoth is fought three times over the course of the game. Once under the name Holy Grail at the bottom of the Depths of Mementos and then in the temple at the top of the Qliphoth World before it transforms into Yaldabaoth, the God of Control.
The Holy Grail in Mementos
The Holy Grail is a level 75 enemy with 10,00 HP and 999 SP. Its move list is as follows:
- Will of the People – fully recover the Holy Grail’s HP while the supply lines are present.
- Arrow of Light – Colossal Almighty Damage to 1 foe.
The initial encounter with the Holy Grail isn’t meant to be winnable. You’re only real goal in this fight is to do damage. This will prompt the Holy Grail to use Will of the People to heal itself to max HP. After the Holy Grail turns golden from using Will of the People, the battle will forcefully end.
The Holy Grail in Qlipoth World
The Holy Grail’s HP and MP stay the same, but its stats get a decent boost because it’s appearing later in the game. It will still use Will of the People at the start of the battle, but this time it will prompt a special action to sever the supply lines.
Like all of the special actions, it will take three turns, and you have to press the attack; otherwise, the boss will notice. If you don’t have allies for this fight, the Holy Grail will only use Will of the People three times.
Its skill list has been expanded from its first fight, and it goes as follows:
- Will of the People – fully recover the Holy Grail’s HP while the supply lines are present.
- Arrow of Light – Colossal Almighty Damage to one foe.
- Diffraction Arrow – Colossal Almighty damage to random foes. Chance to inflict Forget to the targets.
- Light Edge – Colossal Almighty damage to all foes.
- Gathering Light- Charge for Eternal Light.
- Eternal Light – Colossal Almighty damage to all foes after preparing with Gathering Light.
The danger of this fight comes in the form of Eternal Light. Thankfully, it’s rather basic as an attack. If you keep up your health and be sure to guard, Eternal Light shouldn’t be able to kill you.
The real danger is that this boss has another phase, and the game doesn’t replenish your HP or SP. Try to play this battle conservatively to keep yourself as well-stocked as possible for the much more difficult second phase.
Yaldabaoth, the God of Control
Yaldabaoth is an incredibly difficult fight. He has 15,000 HP and a magic stat of 90! Everything this boss does will hurt more than anything else in the game. Bring plenty of items to this fight, but mostly SP items since you’ll be spending much of it on multi-target spells. Its skill list is long and complicated and goes as follows.
- Arrow of Light – Colossal Almighty Damage to 1 foe.
- Manifest Gun – Summon Gun of Execution. If summoning the weapon a 2nd time, the weapon begins with 50% HP on revival.
- Manifest Bell – Summon Bell of Declaration. If summoning the weapon a 2nd time, the weapon begins with 50% HP on revival.
- Manifest Sword – Summon Sword of Conviction. If summoning the weapon a 2nd time, the weapon begins with 50% HP on revival.
- Manifest Book – Summon Book of Commandments. If summoning the weapon a 2nd time, the weapon begins with 50% HP on revival.
- Dekaja – Negate all -kaja buff effects of all foes.
- Dekunda – Negate all -nda debuff effects of the party.
- Divine Apex – Charge for Rays of Control.
- Rays of Control – Colossal Almighty damage to all foes after
This boss is technically not fought alone because it’ll summon extra arms that come with their own HP bar every so often.
Gun of Execution
Has 1,500 HP and repels gun and wind attacks.
- Distorted Lust – Inflict Lust to 1 foe for one turn. Lust-affected allies may lose a turn.
- Distorted Avarice – Damage and inflict Hunger on one target for one turn.
- Capital Punishment – Damage to 1 foe.
- Shoot Up – Triple-target ranged attack.
Bell of Declaration
Has 1,500 HP and fire and psy attacks.
- Distorted Vanity – Inflict weakness to all affinities to one foe for one turn.
- Distorted Envy – Inflict Jealousy to one foe for one turn. Jealous units attack an ally for assisting another ally.
- Gospel – Damage to one foe.
- Frail Law – Defense down for your whole party.
- Tough Law – Defense up for Yaldabaoth and his summonings.
Book of Commandments
It has 1,500 HP and will repel ice and nuke.
- Distorted Wrath – Inflict Wrath to one foe for one turn. Boost attack power but reduce defense.
- Distorted Pride – Enter counter mode for one turn.
- Wrath of God – Damage to 1onefoe.
- Divine Punishment – Counterattack with SP damage if attacked after preparing with Distorted Pride.
- Agidyne – Heavy Fire damage and low odds of inflicting Burn to one foe.
- Bufudyne – Heavy Ice damage and low odds of inflicting Freeze on one foe.
- Garudyne – Heavy Wind damage to one foe.
- Ziodyne – Heavy Elec damage and low odds of inflicting Shock to 1 foe.
- Psiodyne – Heavy Psy damage to one foe.
- Freidyne – Heavy Nuke damage to one foe.
- Kougaon – Heavy Bless damage to one foe.
- Eigaon – Heavy Curse damage to one foe.
Summon Sword of Conviction
It has 1,500 HP repels phys and elec, and in Persona 5 Royal, it will also repel gun.
- Distorted Gluttony – Doubles the cost of using skills for one turn.
- Sword of Judgment – Damage to all foes.
- Wind Cutter – Damage to one foe.
Yaldabaoth Strategy
The real danger of Yaldabaoth is not the main body; It’s the extra arms it gets. Each has its own actions, so if you let Yaldabaoth get them all out, he’ll get five turns to do as he pleases. He’ll mix and match the damage to create an overwhelming wall of damage.
Combine that with his unique status effects like Lust that robs you of a turn or being able to make a character weak to everything to gain an extra press turn, and he’ll kill you before you can respond.
The best strategy to mitigate his arms is multi-target spells. They target every arm and the main body that needs to go down for the fight to end. When using this strategy, be careful which arms you’re hitting because the damage will be repelled back to you.
Your party members become immune to their repelled magic attacks if you have their 2nd stage persona, making the strategy much more viable.
The boss fight is very long. You don’t get healed as you go from the Holy Grail phase to Yaldabaoth. Bringing SP recovery items, be they stuff like Soul Foods or Haru’s vegetables, is crucial to lasting to the end of the boss.
Somas are with more than gold since they fully heal HP and SP. The best way to get these SP items is Mementos. The regular chests you find have a good chance of dropping these items, especially on the lower floor.
The arm that should be prioritized is, without a doubt, the Book of Commandments. Its ability to cast max-level magic of every element is way too good when Yaldabaoth actively targets weaknesses half the time.
Its ability to turn on a counter move that you can’t get around is also reason enough to put that arm down. The Bell of Declaration is the 2nd most problematic arm because of its ability to make someone weak against everything. It’s just begging Yaldabaoth to steal extra turns from you.
The big move that you need to watch out for is Rays of Control. Thankfully, it’s not a very complicated move and is telegraphed very well due to Divine Apex. Whenever you see him charging it, throw up your guard and don’t let him crack it. Moves like Marakukaja and Rakunda are helpful for boosting your defense and debuffing his attack.
The party I recommend is Ryuji, Morgana, and Makoto. They’re a well-balanced team with weaknesses the player can easily compensate for. Doing these Confidants will make the battle so much easier.
As I said, the 2nd stage personas are immune to their own reflected damage. In addition, Confidant’s Harrison Recovery ability is handy since it is the only way to cure Yaldabaoth’s unique ailments.
Ryuji’s a great damage dealer, and if his attack is boosted enough, Rampage’s ability to hit everything multiple times can pull insane DPS. The only arm he can’t confidently take on is the sword of conviction, which you want to deal with for too long because Yaldabaoth’s main body should be very close to dying. He’s an easy Confidant to do that can be started right away.
Morgana is the best healer you have. He learns every healing spell and should have Samrecarm by this point, allowing you to bring back party members with full HP without items. He comes equipped with wind spells that can cover the sword if Ryuji can’t.
On top of that, he has Lucky Punch and Miracle Punch which can come in clutch for getting critical hits even against bosses. Morgana has the advantage of a story-based Confidant, meaning he’s guaranteed to have the 2nd-level persona, which makes him immune to his reflected magic. His only problem is his low HP pool which is why I suggest you also bring along Makoto.
Makoto is a great secondary healer. She learns Mediarahan at level 65, just in time for the Depths of Mementos. It gives you another way to fully heal your party if Morgana goes down, and she learns Marakukaja, which is helpful in mitigating the damage done to your entire party.
Makoto is an excellent all-purpose character that never runs out of utility. The only difficulty comes in doing her Confidant since it unlocks towards the middle of the game, and you need level 3 knowledge and max charm to finish.
FAQs
Question: What is Yaldabaoth Weak to?
Answer:Â The Holy Grail, Yaldaboath, nor the boss’s arms, have any weaknesses. It makes the fight harder, to be sure, but Miracle Punch is your best bet if you’re looking for extra press turns. Morgana learns the skill giving you an excellent opportunity to gain an extra turn.
Question: How do I Unlock Yaldabaoth?
Answer:Â Yaldabaoth was the final boss of the true ending of the base Persona 5 game. Thus, you have to jump through a few hoops to reach him. You must refuse to sell out your allies whenever you have those flash-forwards to Sae’s interrogation.
Question: How Hard is Yaldabaoth?
Answer:Â Honestly, I wouldn’t say Yaldabaoth is that hard of a boss. If you’re within level 70, the boss should go down without a problem. You’ll have enough HP to survive his more damaging attacks, and your damage will be high enough to quickly put down his arms.
The real problem of Yaldabaoth is how long his fight is. Bring all the SP items you can find, and be sure to heal at Lavenza before you take on the boss.
Conclusion
Yaldabaoth is a perfect boss for Persona 5. He embodies a lot of the central themes of the game that pervade throughout the game. He’s the embodiment of those adults who are too hyped up on their own egos to see their mistakes.
Yaldabaoth is a vainglory god that refuses to accept different outcomes, cheating and rigging the game from the start, so you can’t win.
I love the presentation of everything. He’s grander than grand with his own unique theme. Compared to other final bosses in the series, I don’t think Yaldabaoth lives up to it. Nyx from Persona 3 was foreshadowed as a Sisyphean task that no one was possible. Izanami from Persona 4 is a perfect plot twist when you realize you could talk to them whenever it rained.
Yaldaboth is a nice twist, but it’s the 2nd time Atlus has done a twist villain in a Persona game, so the allure isn’t as strong. Either way, Yaldabaoth is worth the fight. He’s a boss of a grand scale and spectacle, making him the perfect end to a great game. If you’re playing Persona 5, you’ll miss a lot not to go ahead and fight him.
Thank you for reading. I hope this guide explained everything you’d need to know about Yaldabaoth!
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