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I mentioned a few days ago that I plan on taking a break from Persona threads for a while. And I still do, mind you. I can't lie when I say that Persona threads have given me worse burnout than anything I've ever done on the wiki since joining, so I don't plan on regularly coming back onto many Persona threads. At least, for a little while longer. However, this was just something that's been bugging me too much for a while now, and it's something I think I've finally concluded, so if possible I'd like to discuss it here.
A while back, on the Persona Low 2-C revisions threads, Makoto's feat of surviving Nyx's Death while at minimal health was discussed. I personally suggested the idea that it should be considered a form of Empowerment, which was later agreed upon and implemented. But it didn't take long for me to start having some doubts about my own suggestion.
Empowerment of Durability, by the wiki's standards, should also scale to AP (since the two are always connected by laws of "action and reaction", unless there is explicitly some way that it is shown this is not the case). In this situation, Makoto having the durability to survive Nyx's attack, regardless of whether it was due to his abilities or not, would also mean having the AP to defeat Nyx, yet we see quite clearly this is not the case. Makoto is able to tank Nyx's hits, yet doesn't have the AP on his own to kill Nyx. Since there's nothing here that would make this an exception to the aforementioned rule, it doesn't seem like this could possibly just be a durability boost.
TL;DR for this section. A character can essentially have "haxxed Durability" through things like Regenerationn and Immortality, since these things make them more difficult to kill than a normal person of the same tier. But a direct boost to Durability, regardless of the means, would also increase AP. As such, Empowerment of Durability does not explain Makoto surviving Nyx's attack, due to not having the equivalent AP.
Also, it doesn't seem like it was explicitly caused by Willpower either. While it is undeniable that Makoto was very determined in his final fight against Nyx, it's clear that most of his determination came from the rest of SEES cheering him on. But this doesn't even begin until after Makoto has tanked Nyx using Death twice, so it doesn't seem like that was the catalyst for him to survive at all.
This has been bothering me for quite a long time, as I mentioned before. So, I decided to look into it, moreso than I did when I suggested Empowerment. I have a copy of Persona 3 on hand, and an emulator for PS2 games. This emulator makes editing and looking through the games files for hacking quite easy, so I decided to take a detailed look at what was happening in the final fight.
What I discovered is a skill called "Infinite Endure". Technically, the code itself does not actually call it Infinite Endure, as this is moreso a dubbed name given by other people who have looked into the code as well. However, the skill's function tells us exactly what's happening here. Infinite Endure is a passive skill Makoto upon getting the Universe Arcana. What it does it that whenever he is killed by reaching 0 HP, regardless of the means, he will instantly revive with 1 HP every time.
While this may be considered game mechanics, I'd be inclined to disagree. There is little more information in the battle against Nyx as to what allowed Makoto to survive Death repeatedly, especially since the Empowerment argument I've previously suggested doesn't really work here. Also. the only reason it is not visible in the final battle is because it is a passive skill. This is by far the best way we have of determining what actually let Makoto survive in the final battle.
With this in mind, we can finally determine what ability this should be considered: Resurrection. What happened in that battle, according to the skills used by the Universe Arcana in the final fight, is that Nyx did succeed in one-shotting and killing Makoto repeatedly, but that Makoto resurrected himself each time.
This is perfectly consistent with what we know, as it answers the question in a way that is not at all contradictory, while also ensuring that little to no assumptions are made, and using evidence straight from the game itself regarding how Makoto survived Death.
Another point I would like to bring up is Makoto being able to nullify Death part way through the battle after showing no resistance to it beforehand. I won't go on a long tangent about this one, this is a pretty cut-and-dry case of Reactive Evolution. Makoto gains the power to nullify Nyx's Death attack through having been hit by it several times, it's a textbook example of Reactive Evolution.
Note that I am not suggesting that Empowerment necessarily needs to be removed. All Persona users have Empowerment in some way, as discussed many times before, so it's not unique to Makoto's feat. This is rather just an ability addition for Makoto, as Empowerment does not explain what allowed Makoto to survive in the battle against Nyx, and we now have an official answer within the game itself.
So, my suggested changes:
Makoto Yuki (Universe Arcana): Should have Resurrection, Type 4 Immortality, and Reactive Evolution, due to his abilities demonstrated in the battle against Nyx.
A while back, on the Persona Low 2-C revisions threads, Makoto's feat of surviving Nyx's Death while at minimal health was discussed. I personally suggested the idea that it should be considered a form of Empowerment, which was later agreed upon and implemented. But it didn't take long for me to start having some doubts about my own suggestion.
Empowerment of Durability, by the wiki's standards, should also scale to AP (since the two are always connected by laws of "action and reaction", unless there is explicitly some way that it is shown this is not the case). In this situation, Makoto having the durability to survive Nyx's attack, regardless of whether it was due to his abilities or not, would also mean having the AP to defeat Nyx, yet we see quite clearly this is not the case. Makoto is able to tank Nyx's hits, yet doesn't have the AP on his own to kill Nyx. Since there's nothing here that would make this an exception to the aforementioned rule, it doesn't seem like this could possibly just be a durability boost.
TL;DR for this section. A character can essentially have "haxxed Durability" through things like Regenerationn and Immortality, since these things make them more difficult to kill than a normal person of the same tier. But a direct boost to Durability, regardless of the means, would also increase AP. As such, Empowerment of Durability does not explain Makoto surviving Nyx's attack, due to not having the equivalent AP.
Also, it doesn't seem like it was explicitly caused by Willpower either. While it is undeniable that Makoto was very determined in his final fight against Nyx, it's clear that most of his determination came from the rest of SEES cheering him on. But this doesn't even begin until after Makoto has tanked Nyx using Death twice, so it doesn't seem like that was the catalyst for him to survive at all.
This has been bothering me for quite a long time, as I mentioned before. So, I decided to look into it, moreso than I did when I suggested Empowerment. I have a copy of Persona 3 on hand, and an emulator for PS2 games. This emulator makes editing and looking through the games files for hacking quite easy, so I decided to take a detailed look at what was happening in the final fight.
What I discovered is a skill called "Infinite Endure". Technically, the code itself does not actually call it Infinite Endure, as this is moreso a dubbed name given by other people who have looked into the code as well. However, the skill's function tells us exactly what's happening here. Infinite Endure is a passive skill Makoto upon getting the Universe Arcana. What it does it that whenever he is killed by reaching 0 HP, regardless of the means, he will instantly revive with 1 HP every time.
While this may be considered game mechanics, I'd be inclined to disagree. There is little more information in the battle against Nyx as to what allowed Makoto to survive Death repeatedly, especially since the Empowerment argument I've previously suggested doesn't really work here. Also. the only reason it is not visible in the final battle is because it is a passive skill. This is by far the best way we have of determining what actually let Makoto survive in the final battle.
With this in mind, we can finally determine what ability this should be considered: Resurrection. What happened in that battle, according to the skills used by the Universe Arcana in the final fight, is that Nyx did succeed in one-shotting and killing Makoto repeatedly, but that Makoto resurrected himself each time.
This is perfectly consistent with what we know, as it answers the question in a way that is not at all contradictory, while also ensuring that little to no assumptions are made, and using evidence straight from the game itself regarding how Makoto survived Death.
Another point I would like to bring up is Makoto being able to nullify Death part way through the battle after showing no resistance to it beforehand. I won't go on a long tangent about this one, this is a pretty cut-and-dry case of Reactive Evolution. Makoto gains the power to nullify Nyx's Death attack through having been hit by it several times, it's a textbook example of Reactive Evolution.
Note that I am not suggesting that Empowerment necessarily needs to be removed. All Persona users have Empowerment in some way, as discussed many times before, so it's not unique to Makoto's feat. This is rather just an ability addition for Makoto, as Empowerment does not explain what allowed Makoto to survive in the battle against Nyx, and we now have an official answer within the game itself.
So, my suggested changes:
Makoto Yuki (Universe Arcana): Should have Resurrection, Type 4 Immortality, and Reactive Evolution, due to his abilities demonstrated in the battle against Nyx.
