The Persona series is full of intriguing enemies and bosses for you to take on. Heading straight into spoiler territory, one of the most intimidating and unique bosses that you can take on is Izanami. She is the final boss of Persona 4 and someone that challenges everything you’ve learned up until that point. Find out how to deal with her in this Izanami Persona guide.
Izanami is one of the many Personas that have been implemented into the Atlus series. Personas are generally based on various religious, mythological, and folklore characters from history.
Izanami is no such exception, being one of the most prominent Japanese figures from history to appear in the series. Unfortunately, she has only shown up a few times so far. See all of her appearances and how to defeat her in this Persona Izanami guide.
Bottom Line Up Front
Izanami is the final boss you must take down in Persona 4. She is the enemy behind essentially everything that happens in the beloved JRPG and its Golden variant. She is based on the goddess from Japanese lore, the counterpart to Izanagi, the Persona that the main character summons first in Persona 4.
In addition, Izanami has made a few other appearances in the Persona series so far, but they are few in number, especially for the games where you can fuse her for your team.
Persona Izanami Overview
I want to be clear from the start that this Izanami Persona guide will be full of spoilers from this point forward. This is mainly for Persona 4 where she plays the most central role in that game. If you don’t want to know anything about this intriguing figure from Japanese history and her role to play in Persona 4, turn away now.
Otherwise, continue on. Izanami is one of the most intriguing figures from Japanese lore, being such a central part of the history of Japan and the Shinto religion that is home there. She is known as the head goddess of the Shinto religion and someone who is present throughout literature and Japanese media.
If you played other games like Smite, you likely saw her there. Of course, a series like Persona that is all about Atlus implementing various religious and mythological figures into Persona form will include her at some point. Oddly enough, though, for how central she is to Japanese culture, she doesn’t appear all that much.
Izanami is mostly a background character, only appearing a few times in both the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games. That said, when she made her splash in Persona 4 and Golden as a primary villain character in the TV World, she didn’t shy away from having a phenomenal role central to the storyline.
Here’s everything you need to know about Izanami, from who she truly is to how to fuse her together to her appearance in the game. Let’s begin with her boss fight.
Izanami Persona 4 Boss Fight Explained
Spoiler alert ahead for the duration of this boss section. As the final boss of this game, Izanami is one of the most formidable opponents you’ll ever face in the fantastic JRPG. This is considered one of the most challenging bosses fights in this entire game (excluding the optional endgame ones), so you are in for a doozy.
Thankfully, I’ve got your back when it comes to taking down Izanami once and for all. Here is everything you need to know about this fight. From the stats she has to the skills she’ll use against you to the tips I have as someone who has beaten her twice now, here’s what you need to know.
Keep in mind that I am going over this mainly from the perspective of Persona 4 Golden. There are only a few differences between the original Persona 4 and Golden in terms of this boss battle, but worth noting just to be safe.
After all, this is the far superior version of the JRPG and the one available on modern systems, so it is the version of the boss fight most players will experience.
Where to Find Izanami
First and foremost, before you can even tackle this Izanami final boss fight, you need to go about the main story in a certain way. To do this, you’ll need to reach the true ending of Persona 4, which involves not giving up after Nanako is (spoilers alert) hospitalized and finding out that the true killer is Adachi.
Once you do that and expose him, it will lead you to the final dungeon of the game, Yomotsu Hirasaka. On the final day of the game, March 20, it is time for Yu to leave and go back home. However, if you choose not to leave just yet and walk around town, you’ll eventually run into the gas station attendant you met on the first day who is Izanami no Okami.
Meet up with her and then you’ll find out who she really is and unlock the Yomotsu Hirasaka dungeon in the TV World. Head there and start this final dungeon of the game. Reach the ninth floor of the dungeon, which is almost entirely linear, and you’ll be able to face off against her.
Stats and Resistances
Before we start the fight, let’s begin by talking about Izanami from a top-level perspective. She is the game’s final boss and is featured in the Yomotsu Hirasaka dungeon, which is the final dungeon in the game. This is where you face her on the final day after Yu Narukami has taken down Tohru Adachi once and for all.
Given the point in the story in which you face Izanami, it shouldn’t be a surprise that she is a whopping level 90. Yes, Izanami is near the max level of the game, so you will need to be quite a high level to take her on.
However, here are the other stats that she has, including her health and battle stats:
- Level 90
- 3500 health
- 3000 SP (don’t expect her to run out of the ability to use her skills anytime soon)
- 86 Strength
- 87 Magic
- 92 Endurance
- 80 Agility
- 70 Luck
Those are generally some high stats. Her Luck and Agility are at least relatively low, but she packs a punch with both physical and elemental attacks, and she can undoubtedly endure some hits, too. This makes her quite the formidable foe and worthy of being a final boss.
In addition to those stats, she has a couple of resistances that you should know about. For starters, she is resistant to physical attacks. They will still hit her in battle and deal some damage, but it will be severely reduced compared to what the damage would typically do. So, I would say that physical attacks are generally off the cards here.
In addition to that, she is utterly immune to light and dark elemental attacks. That isn’t too surprising since the majority of those elemental attacks in this game are insta-kill skills anyways, which would make this fight way too easy. Thankfully, that is it for her elemental resistances. Pretty much every other element is fair game here.
How to Prepare
The main thing you want to do to prepare for this fight is to level up as much as you possibly can. If you can be max level at this point in the game, fantastic. If not, though, don’t worry about it all that much. It is possible to win this fight at a much lower level, like in the 80s range, but I still recommend matching her at level 90, if possible.
This will make the final boss fight a lot more manageable than otherwise, especially if you aren’t on a New Game Plus run. In addition, this is the end of the game (minus the extra dungeon that was added), so feel free to spend all of your money and gather up as many items as you can. And then feel free to use up all of them over the course of this battle to stick around and win it.
Unfortunately, she has the ability to use all of the main elements in battle, so it is challenging to prepare for all of them. That said, I recommend at least equipping Yu with some of the better Personas that have at least two resistances to the core four elements used in combat.
Skills to Watch Out for
As already teased, the skill set that Izanami has is unbelievable. She has access to pretty much the most potent versions of every skill type imaginable. Almighty? She’s got it in the most severe form. The four elements? It’s here. Light and dark insta-kill hits? Also available.
If you can avoid the instant kill attacks, that would be fantastic and take a lot of the RNG nature of this fight out. However, there is still God’s Judgment that you need to worry about. This one will have a chance of cutting someone’s health in half. It isn’t the end of the world since it won’t kill the character, but you’ll need to recover soon after.
You also need to worry about the silence and poison status ailments she can inflict that will make your job more challenging. Last but not least, don’t even worry about buffing here, as she will take care of that in short order. She is also capable of charging up her magical skills to make them stronger on the next round. When she uses Mind Charge, that is your cue to heal up and/or defend.
How to Defeat Izanami
The critical twist with the Izanami battle is that there are two main phases to this. The first part is up against the regular Izanami, where you only have to worry about a straightforward fight. She will use her elemental skills plus the Almighty attack and occasionally charge up.
Phase 1 Explained
Izanami doesn’t have a ton of health at this point in the game, which is why it is only the first phase of the fight. The goal you have is to reduce her health enough to begin phase two. To do this, use your most powerful skills, preferably ones that are single-target, or you may waste SP.
You also want to heal up as much as you can during this part to keep ready for when the second phase begins. Once you get Izanami low enough, it will say she is “impervious.” This is when you are almost ready for the next phase of the fight, and there is no point in attacking from here on out until the next part.
What you should do is guard against her attacks and heal up to prepare for part two. This can take a few turns of her attacking and talking to the player, but it will eventually switch to the second phase against Izanami-no-Okami.
Phase 2 Explained
This is where she changes up a lot and adds the ability to drain electric attacks, so don’t use Zio or members like Kanji who specialize in this skill type, as it will not only do no damage but heal Izanami. She will throw everything she has at the party, and the goal is to have some party members heal while others deal damage.
The elemental type doesn’t matter, so use the right mix of Agi, Bufu, and Garu attacks to deal the most damage possible to her. Guard when you have to, and use as many items as you want to heal up. I recommend using items to heal HP and SP since you want to save SP for your attack skills. This way, you won’t use your physical skills that are less useful.
Occasionally, she will also reduce your health all the way down to 1. At this point, you need to instantly spend an entire turn healing everyone up so you can get back into the fight. After all of this is said and done, a set moment will begin when you’ve won the battle.
Izanami will use the skill Thousand Curses. It is a powerful skill, and it will look like you are about to lose this fight. However, this is all part of a set event that happens in the fight once you have pretty much reduced her health to nothing. After a few more turns, she will attack and not deal any damage, resulting in your ultimate victory and the end of the JRPG.
Izanami Appearance
The Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series are known for changing up the appearances of demons and Personas from game to game. Izanami is an even worse example of this, literally changing her appearance in almost every single mainline game she has appeared in.
That said, when it comes to the Persona games, she shows up in the Persona 2 titles with two distinct appearances. In Innocent Sin, she appears quite shrine maiden-like with a nice anime touch. Still, she is entirely different in Eternal Punishment with a more alarming and terrifying evil style to her.
However, her appearance was entirely blown out in Persona 4 with her arrival as the final boss in that game. Though her appearance changes some during the last sections of that game, her general look involves a terrifying and gigantic creepy being who is wearing a white dress.
Underneath her is a web of horrifying spider-like arms and legs that are sticking out from underneath her. She is the prime example of how a final boss should look.
Origins
Izanami comes from Japanese lore, history, and the Shinto religion which is the central belief system in the island nation. She is known officially as Izanami-no-Mikoto or the “woman who invites.” She is one of the most famous goddesses in Japanese history, being the woman behind creation and death alike.
As such, she is seen as the mother of the Shinto religion and the entire island of Japan. She is one of the final gods to appear in history, being the wife and sister to Izanagi. Izanami gave birth to the other famous Japanese gods who you might have seen in the Persona series before, including Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi.
Key Moments in the Persona Series
I should mention once more that you are going to get intense spoilers below for all of the events that happen with Izanami in the Persona series. Her primary role in the series comes in Persona 4 and Golden where she is the final villain behind everything in those games.
Oddly enough, players will only encounter her if they deduce the serial killer behind the murders in the town of Inaba and reach the true ending of the game. If they do, they find out that Izanami was behind everything that happened throughout the events of the beloved JRPG.
It all started the moment that Yu Narukami arrived in the town, where he met Izanami under the guise of the gas station worker at the beginning. It is because of her that he is able to awaken to his Persona and summon Izanagi, the brother, and husband of the main villain.
She is also behind the serial killer, Tohru Adachi, gaining his Persona as well. She pitted the two against one another to see who would come out on top. At the end of the game, the main character has to use Izanagi-no-Okami, the proper form of his Persona to take her out once and for all. The game ends with her losing the fight and vowing to never harm humanity or use them as an experiment again.
Featured Games
Izanami, despite her beauty and importance in Japanese culture, hasn’t shown up in that many Atlus games. This includes both the main Shin Megami Tensei series that Persona branched off of and the Persona games themselves. Here are all of the core games that she has been featured in up until the point of writing this article:
- Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (the original Megami Tensei game)
- Megami Tensei
- Megami Tensei II
- Shin Megami Tensei II
- Devil Summoners: Soul Hackers
- Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
- SMT NINE
- SMT IV
- SMT IV: Apocalypse
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
- Persona 4
- Persona 4 Golden
- Shin Megami Tensei Dx2 Liberation
That might seem like a lot of games that she is in, but what you may not realize is that most of these are just cameo appearances or playing a role in that game’s story for a bit. At best, she might be a boss that you can take on, but that is still about it.
There are very few games where she is even able to be summoned, added to your party, or fused together in the Velvet Room or Cathedral of Shadows. Those games are very few in number.
How to Acquire Izanami in the Persona Series
There are a couple of ways to acquire Izanami in the Persona series, and it mainly depends on the game. The three Persona games that she appears in are Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, and Persona 4/Golden.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Persona 2: Innocent Sin is one of the only games in the sub-series where Izanami appears, and you are able to add her to your team. How you go about adding her to your team is quite unique, as it is a two-part process that you must know about and complete.
The first thing you’ll need to do is wait until you visit the Abandoned Factory dungeon. While in this area of the game, there is a location known as the Control Room that you’ll visit. In this room, you’ll face off against Izanami as one of the story bosses. Taking her out will earn you a special item.
You’ll then want to take that particular drop from Izanami to the Velvet Room. It will unlock the ability to fuse her together there.
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
The sequel to Innocent Sin, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, also features Izanami as a Persona that you can add to your repertoire. This is a bit different, though, as the situation for unlocking her is slightly changed. But the general idea of having to unlock the ability to fuse her remains.
First off, you’ll need to head to the optional dungeon known as the Bomb Shelter in the game. What sucks about this is that Izanami only randomly shows up in this dungeon, so your chances of encountering her aren’t guaranteed. Once you do, you’ll need to defeat her to gain the special fusion drop item.
With that item in hand, you’ll be able to go to the Velvet Room and then add Izanami to your team.
Can You Fuse Izanami in Persona 4 Golden?
Let’s be honest: most of you reading this probably aren’t going to play Persona 2: Innocent Sin or Eternal Punishment, no matter how good their stories are. In fact, I don’t even recommend it these days as the gameplay isn’t that fun and doesn’t hold up that well today. (Just watch the cutscenes on YouTube).
As such, most are going to be wondering how to fuse together and add Izanami to their team in the more modern Persona titles. Unfortunately, the only one she appears in is Persona 4 and Golden. The suckiest part about this situation is that you can’t fuse Izanami or acquire her in either version of this game.
This is despite the fact that she is a significant boss enemy. Usually, some of the bosses have at least some version that you can add to your team, at least in the second playthrough, if anything else. Unfortunately, that isn’t an option here.
Worse still, Izanami didn’t, oddly enough, appear in Persona 5 as a playable Persona. This is despite the fact that her husband, Izanagi, made an appearance here again with not one but two different forms.
It’s honestly a disgrace that Izanami hasn’t been playable at all in modern games. This is a situation that Atlus desperately needs to fix in the presumed Persona 6 in the future.
FAQs
Question: Is Izanami a Boy or Girl Persona 4?
Answer: Izanami is a girl in Persona 4, from what I can tell. After all, Izanami, the goddess in Japanese history, is generally regarded as a female character. This is the same for even the seemingly female gas station attendant who is the representative of Izanami.
Question: Is Izanami a Villain?
Answer: Yes, I would say that Izanami is a villain in Persona 4. Despite being a goddess with intense connections to the birth of the Japanese culture, she is represented as a villainous character in the Persona 4 journey. She is the final boss and overarching villain of Persona 4 and Golden.
Question: Is Izanami no Okami in Persona 5?
Answer: No, Izanami no Okami nor its original Izanami form aren’t in Persona 5. For whatever reason, the final boss doesn’t get an option for a Persona or boss fight in that game. This is even though her husband, Izanagi, is a Persona you can acquire in Persona 5.
What Persona Boss to Take on Next
Your journey in Persona 4 Golden isn’t over until you take down Izanami in battle and secure the ultimate victory in the game. Though she may not appear in many games and certainly isn’t unlockable in most Persona titles, she still plays such a crucial role in the fifth mainline entry in the series.
Without a doubt, Izanami is one of the most challenging bosses I’ve faced off against in the Persona series. However, she is far from the hardest final boss in the main story of a Persona game.
That honor would go to Nyx, who is much more difficult to take down, especially if you aren’t prepared. Thankfully, I’ve helped you out in the past with everything you need to know to defeat Nyx in Persona 3.
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