Exploring the vast mythology of the Persona series

When I played Persona for the first time, I was immediately enamoured of the game’s diverse cast of eponymous personas. Heroes and horrors, bravehearts and behemoths, deities and demons; how could I ever choose just one persona to lean on? However, the more I played, the more familiar faces I recognised in the fray. And that’s when I understood the majority of the series’ personas are directly derived from actual mythology.

What’s intriguing about this is it’s not just a singular mythological cycle. The most recent God of War game draws heavily from Norse mythology, whereas Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is directly influenced by the Grecian myths found in Homeric poetry. Persona, on the other hand, draws from a plethora of cultural and mythological sources from all over the world. It’s got everything from Japanese folk beasties to legendary Celtic heroes.

That’s where I found my entry point into Persona’s curious mythological multiverse. When I saw the illustrious Cú Chulainn (pronounced coo-cullin) from Irish folklore, I saw a character I was already familiar with. In Persona, very little information is provided about the hero, as is the case with almost every other persona in the game. Cú Chulainn merely has a sprite, a moveset, and a short description about their origins.

In Ireland though, we grow up hearing tales of the fabled warrior. His name – Cú Chulainn – is actually his name “as Gaeilge,” which means in Irish. If translated, his title would be “Hound of Culann”. A seemingly odd name at first, but as is the case with the best mythological stories, one derived from a fabulous tale.