GOD IS EVIL: The Absolutism of a Chaos-Based Universe in Shin Megami Tensei’s Post-Structuralist Simulacrum

"Now, I would like you to know that in Megaten, YHWH is not portrayed as the embodiment of evil." - the shortsighted ex-creator of the series, Kazuma Kaneko. What a silly man.

In Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, YHVH says, "I am infinity. The Supreme Being. The embodiment of law and order." He looks down upon those he considers "Filth," namely the members of your party. However, Gaston wisely retorts, "Your very existence debases humanity! You're the Unclean One!" This proves the viability and superiority of absolute Chaos within the Shin Megami Tensei Multiverse. 

YHVH conforms to non-Euclidian constructs

Most Shin Megami Tensei games begin with this supposition: nature is inherently volatile. This is evidenced by the fact that the demons, one of the core tenets of the series, are bloodthirsty and comprised of various animal-like forms. But a volatile environment means that the human must overcome him-or-herself to overcome it and become its ruler. Shin Megami Tensei, therefore, is chiefly concerned with phenomenology.

Nowhere else is this more evident than in the example of Midori from Devil Survivor. Her struggles in surviving in a demon-encrusted city are emblematic of the will to power. The encroachment of nature, however, is ultimately fallacious to her, as she wields it against itself. Nature is always a synonym for "Chaos" in Shin Megami Tensei; thus, a character like Midori is its proselytizer, fighting back against the ultimately nonsensical and inherently self-contradictory dogma of the Law philosophy, which represents societal constructs so inhumanly inhumane that they would be impossible to sustain in any known mode of the given universe.

Instead, Chaos becomes a way for characters to examine themselves in the most truthful light. In Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Isamu traps himself in the Amala Network intentionally, but even as it becomes his shield and shelter, there is still the guarantee: inherent Chaos. Shin Megami Tensei reveals one of life's truths: no one can be completely safe, and no place can offer perfect protection. But it is here, in this volatile space, that Isamu reflects on his place in the universe and comes to his own conclusion. It is summarized by the words of Jacques Lacan, "he who speaks does not, he who does not speak atones with nature." By internalizing his struggle, Isamu becomes an actor in a play watched by those too afraid to come to terms with themselves, visualized in this metaphor by an audience who would rather see someone else perform a simulacrum of a life or dinnertime meal instead of participating in the nature that surrounds us.

A diachronic reading of Chaos in Shin Megami Tensei leads to the inevitable conclusion that man is a part of nature. The essence of man, therefore, is as bestial as that of a demon. The conclusion of such a mindset is that man is more than man; a human being is a narrowly defined construct manufactured by the limits of cultures and cultural contexts dependent on subjective interpretations of history and myopic worldviews. The goal of all mankind is to break free of these chains, these shackles and become what we are all meant to be: the Overman.

The best representative of the Zarathustrian Overman is undoubtedly Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne's Hijiri. Hijiri, whose name means "Saint," illustrates the totality of the development of the Overman. He is, he sees, he becomes. This is due to his previous identity as Aleph, the Messiah who kills YHVH in Shin Megami Tensei II. Aleph, already an imperfect Overman as he was merely created than made, so to speak, is reborn as Hijiri as part of his eternal curse for killing the god. However, the Overman overcomes god; Hijiri is tasked with observing the universe for eternity, which implies a god-like duration. By killing god, in the specific form of the Judeo-Christian god YHVH, Aleph is reborn as the Overman: an immortal being with complete domination over the divine. In effect, Overman Hijiri casts off the need for religion or dogma, beginning his own schism. This is the meaning behind his name, Saint, as he is the holy founder of a completely new philosophy.
 
Tying this together, of course, is the expansive Shin Megami Tensei Multiverse. In this Multiverse, contrary to other self-contradicting and embarrassing Multiverses that exist in modern media, gods and

The Ouroboros, symbol
of structural positivism

humans can exist both separately and simultaneously in any given universe. For example, in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, an unnamed NPC says, "Thank you. For saving me." Not only does his condition betray a state of duress, it is reflected in countless other universes in the Multiverse. The potential is that this NPC could represent a completely different character in another universe, one whose survival is dependent on your actions as protagonist; indeed, this NPC could even be the protagonist, the messiah--Overman--of another universe. This is a fascinating reversal of the standard JRPG approach to main characters. In Shin Megami Tensei, the possibilities are endless and the explicit connections bountiful and meaningful. 

But even if the Overman is an ideal state, does that mean that he is superior to nature, and that nature, Chaos, can be controlled. Only to a limited degree can this be presupposed. Though a Spinozist approach and therefore, in my eyes, illegitimate, the Overman's role in overcoming god, a non-naturalist construct, must, in order to substantiate and justify its purpose in the universe, hold greater Existentialist views; Kierkegaard more than Kant. In Shin Megami Tensei, Rationalism doesn't apply to the role of the Overman, because that Overman is always the avatar of the player. 

The human's responsibility is to nature

Themes and discussions on God and nature are key elements in Shin Megami Tensei. Shin Megami Tensei rightfully concludes that the Western conception of God is a mere folly, meant only to constrict our true natures. It also teaches us to look around us for the true answers instead of looking backward to systems that in no way stand up to even the poorest logic. The answer, of course, is that Chaos is our world. There is nothing more hostile to life than life itself. Shin Megami Tensei's lesson is that we must become more than ourselves if we are to truly understand the world around us and live in it, free from any conception of God.