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Hi, I want to bring up something that may have been heavily overlooked in the creation of Asura's profile, and that's the assumption that Shin Megami Tensei 1's and Strange Journey's Asura are the same being which I admit seems like an odd distinction, but bear with me here.
First of all I find it very strange that not once in the profile is the Zoroastrian religion even mentioned, which is weird as Asura in Megami Tensei 2/Shin Megami Tensei represents the demonized form of Ahura Mazda, the God and YHVH equivalent of Zoroastrianism. Proof of this is in Megami Tensei 2 when Asura evolves to Ahura Mazda, his true form. Now as for Strange Journey's Asura, he's honestly not even all that special (besides the supposed 2-C stuff). He simply represents the violent demon race present in Hindu mythology (as seen here):
Asura's Demon Profile in Strange Journey
Now I won't be sneaky and ignore the part where it mentions that Ahura Mazda was one of the Asura. But that's the thing, he's only one of them. They straight up imply there is more than one Asura in existence, and that Ahura Mazda in particular was special. It would explain why Asura in Shin Megami Tensei 1 was so powerful/important to the plot (he's the final boss of the Law route for God's sake), and why every other Asura is a mere mid-game tier demon at best.
Now you might ask, "But where's the proof they are actually different beings?" and you would raise a valid point. Power in plot/gameplay has never been consistent among the SMT games (unless your name is YHVH) so I admit that line of thinking is out, and it doesn't help that Asura in SJ mentions that "I was once worshipped by humans" (though in all fairness he could have easily meant his hindu/buddhist incarnations), but I think I may have fairly decisive evidence to support my argument. Whereas Asura in Megami Tensei 2 ascended to the form of "Ahura Mazda" (his true form in that game), Asura in Strange Journey's true form (VERY much emphasis on true form) is revealed to be, well...this:
Asherah
A Goddess from a semitic pagan religion, nothing to do with Asura or Ahura Mazda at all. If this isn't proof that these Asuras aren't two completely separate incarnations, then I don't know what to say. I say you could either interpret this as SJ's Asura being a default hindu Asura rather than the God himself, or that Asherah simply chose a semi-suitable form to suit her needs.
Anyways this is why I propose that the profiles of Asura be split for this reason. Strange Journey's Asura can sit comfortably at Low 2-C/2-C while the Asura version of Ahura Mazda should remain at 2-A. It would be far more logically consistent with Strange Journey's power scaling anyways. If all that didn't convince enough people, then may I ask that the profile be edited to mention Zoroastrianism and Ahura Mazda at the very least? And sorry if I made too any errors, I was dead tired while making this.
First of all I find it very strange that not once in the profile is the Zoroastrian religion even mentioned, which is weird as Asura in Megami Tensei 2/Shin Megami Tensei represents the demonized form of Ahura Mazda, the God and YHVH equivalent of Zoroastrianism. Proof of this is in Megami Tensei 2 when Asura evolves to Ahura Mazda, his true form. Now as for Strange Journey's Asura, he's honestly not even all that special (besides the supposed 2-C stuff). He simply represents the violent demon race present in Hindu mythology (as seen here):
Asura's Demon Profile in Strange Journey
Now I won't be sneaky and ignore the part where it mentions that Ahura Mazda was one of the Asura. But that's the thing, he's only one of them. They straight up imply there is more than one Asura in existence, and that Ahura Mazda in particular was special. It would explain why Asura in Shin Megami Tensei 1 was so powerful/important to the plot (he's the final boss of the Law route for God's sake), and why every other Asura is a mere mid-game tier demon at best.
Now you might ask, "But where's the proof they are actually different beings?" and you would raise a valid point. Power in plot/gameplay has never been consistent among the SMT games (unless your name is YHVH) so I admit that line of thinking is out, and it doesn't help that Asura in SJ mentions that "I was once worshipped by humans" (though in all fairness he could have easily meant his hindu/buddhist incarnations), but I think I may have fairly decisive evidence to support my argument. Whereas Asura in Megami Tensei 2 ascended to the form of "Ahura Mazda" (his true form in that game), Asura in Strange Journey's true form (VERY much emphasis on true form) is revealed to be, well...this:
Asherah
A Goddess from a semitic pagan religion, nothing to do with Asura or Ahura Mazda at all. If this isn't proof that these Asuras aren't two completely separate incarnations, then I don't know what to say. I say you could either interpret this as SJ's Asura being a default hindu Asura rather than the God himself, or that Asherah simply chose a semi-suitable form to suit her needs.
Anyways this is why I propose that the profiles of Asura be split for this reason. Strange Journey's Asura can sit comfortably at Low 2-C/2-C while the Asura version of Ahura Mazda should remain at 2-A. It would be far more logically consistent with Strange Journey's power scaling anyways. If all that didn't convince enough people, then may I ask that the profile be edited to mention Zoroastrianism and Ahura Mazda at the very least? And sorry if I made too any errors, I was dead tired while making this.
