Yusei Fudo: Jaden, did you see how he just summoned the Malefic version of that Dragon?
Jaden Yuki: Uh-huh. Just by banishing the regular version of Cyber End to the graveyard. That's all it took.
Yami Yugi: In other words, by destroying a monster's good version, he can give life to its bad. It seems Paradox truly does see only the dark side of Duel Monsters.
Jaden Yuki: Uh-huh. Just by banishing the regular version of Cyber End to the graveyard. That's all it took.
Yami Yugi: In other words, by destroying a monster's good version, he can give life to its bad. It seems Paradox truly does see only the dark side of Duel Monsters.
— Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time, English dub
In the Mons genre, one might be inclined to focus on stats or powers or strategy when deciding what mons to bring into battle. But that would be a waste of a perfectly good opportunity to characterize a mon-user without having to spell it out for the audience. So, a character's choice of mon will often make some deeper statement about their character, its abilities and appearance being reflective of its wielder's true nature.
In settings where having more than one mon is the norm, their Signature Mon will be the most true reflection of its wielder. Even if none of the other mons they use tie into their character, that one certainly will. The reason for this is obvious. It's a lot easier to have just one mon make a statement about their character than to design a whole crew of mons themed around their owner's character.
Particularly popular in the card battle anime genre, where it was popularized by the Genre Popularizer Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Sub-Trope of Uncatty Resemblance.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- Bakugan Battle Brawlers:
- Shun, being the resident Gratuitous Ninja, tends to use the wind Attribute Ventus, with all his partners being strong, silent types.
- Spectra's partner Helios becomes more and more mechanical as he forcibly evolves to become stronger, matching how Spectra threw away his morals to become the best Brawler among his people. After Spectra has a Heel–Face Turn, Helios likewise evolves into a more organic form naturally.
- The Vexos, sans the aforementioned Spectra and Gus, switch to entirely mechanical Bakugan with no mind of their own, fitting their mindset that the Bakugan are just tools to conquer their enemies.
- Emperor Barodius' partner Dharak resembles a dark mirror of Drago, matching Barodius's status as an Evil Counterpart to Dan.
- Wiseman doesn't have a set partner at any time, instead favouring switching out the Nonets. In his true identity of Coredegon, he doesn’t see the Bakugan as individual beings, but as a single problem preventing him from being free, hence his desire to wipe them all out.
- Cardfight!! Vanguard
- Aichi Sendou uses a Royal Paladin deck and later a Gold Paladin deck, both clans focused around The Power of Friendship, which ties into his arc about learning to be more confident in himself through the bonds he creates while playing Vanguard. His Signature Mon "Blaster Blade", a peerless hero who wields a sword that can convert courage into power that allows him to rival Physical Gods despite being only human, could not be more Aichi's polar opposite at the start of the series. By the end, it's a perfect reflection of him in every sense of the word.
- Kamui Katsuragi uses a Nova Grappler deck, the clan's balls-to-the-wall aggressive playstyle tying into his hot-blooded nature and tendency to act before thinking.
- In Digimon Adventure, the Chosen Children are partnered with a type of Digimon. Some of them are the exact opposite of their personalities, but others are pretty much the same as their human counterparts. One example: Matt/Yamato's partner is Gabumon, who digivolves into Garurumon, a large blue-furred wolf. This represents Matt's lone wolf nature.
- Future Card Buddyfight is rather light on this trope for a card game battle anime, since often the mons are characters in their own right. Instead, the Buddyfighters will usually be characterized by the items, which are weapons equipped by the player so that they can fight alongside their monsters, they use instead.
- Gao Mikado primarily utilizes cestuses or a BFS.
- Tasuku Ryuenji uses rapiers, as well as laser guns after coming to terms with the loss of his parents following The Disaster, which robbed him of his childhood.
- Gaito Kurusu favors scythes.
- Kanata Oroza uses cleats that generate energy blasts for him to kick at his opponents. He also uses a lot of Soccer/Association Football-themed cards.
- Pokémon: The Series: Each of the lead character's main partner serves as a vehicle for their development across the series.
- Ash Ketchum's very first partner, Pikachu, started out the series stubborn and disobedient, much like Ash was when he first began his journey. Over time, Pikachu would mellow out and become not just Ash's most loyal partner, but his most powerful one, as the two simultaneously grew to become the strongest team in the entire Pokémon world. Likewise, each of his aces from the various series—Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Greninja, and Lucario—all started out as battle-hungry Pokémon who were eager to get stronger in the same way that Ash wanted to, and wind up growing strong enough to power through against tough opponents most folks would have trouble with.
- Misty's entire team consists entirely of Water Types, as they're her personal favorites on account of her love for all things oceanic. Of note is her Gyrados, whom was once a Magikarp she had performed in an underwater ballet with while she was dressed as a mermaid. However, it was once very short-tempered and prone to violence, much like she was during her early travels with Ash, but she was able to mellow it out like she did, and the two have grown powerfully strong.
- Brock's first partner was an Onix, and both he and it were introduced in the series as exceptionally powerful. After joining Ash, both got hit with The Worf Effect and were the subject of constant defeats, but once both had been Put on a Bus, they managed to make a spectacular comeback and demolished all in their path. It helped that Onix had since evolved into a Steelix, and gained Mega-Evolution, in the same way that Brock had evolved from wanting to be a breeder to becoming a doctor instead. Some of his other Mons, like Marshtomp and Ludicolo, picked up on his girl-crazy habits, but others like his Geodude are often Out of Focus like he tended to be in comparison to the rest of the group.
- May's Torchic was very much like her—a Butt-Monkey that was under-confident in his own abilities and constantly getting slapped around. As the two grew together, Torchic evolved into a more skilled and confident Combusken before it ended its run as an all-powerful Blaziken, similar to how May was able to grow even more powerful and confident herself. The same case could be made of her Squirtle, although it was much more of a crybaby than May.
- Dawn's team consists entirely of "cute" Pokémon (excepting Mamoswine), including her Signature Mon, Piplup, befitting that they're all performers by nature and place a heavy emphasis on being well-presented. What's especially of note is that none of them have changed since Diamond and Pearl ended, even by the time of Journeys, similar to how Dawn has remained a Static Character (unlike the rest of Ash's companions, who have had some evolutions since last seen).
- Iris's partner is an Axew that acts a lot like her—he's very fond of Pikachu, he calls Ash a "kid" (even though he's still a baby himself), he wants to get stronger and evolve, and he tends to fumble through a lot of silly situations. By the time of Journeys, he had evolved into a Haxorus, growing just as strong as Iris, who had become the Champion of Unova.
- Cilan's partner is a Pansage that shares his flamboyance and his green color, though it, along with his Crustle and Stunfisk, are Out of Focus like their owner in terms of Character Development between the Unovan Group.
- Serena's Sylveon was once a shy Eevee, that, like her trainer, was unsure of what path she wanted to take in life and had little confidence in her own abilities. But with some patience, the help of her friends, and the kindness and understanding of the most important person in her life, she would evolve into a much more confident person, similar to Serena.
- Clemont's Bunnelby is the Straight Man to the Comic Relief that is Chespin, as both it and its owner have to temper down the squirrel's tendencies to wander off, get distracted by other Pokémon, or handle Chespin's voracious appetite.
- Bonnie's Dedenne is as equally cheery and fond of cute Pokémon as its owner, though it fortunately doesn't share Bonnie's desire to find her brother a wife.
- Lillie's partner is an Alolan Vulpix named Snowy, whose color of white is the same as its owner. Both are very shy and afraid of Pokémon (in Lillie's case, other Pokémon making contact with her, while Snowy stubbornly brushes off other Pokémon), but the two both overcome their initial fears and are able to better sync with one another to grow stronger.
- Mallow's Bounsweet is just as equally sweet as its owner, but it can be just as dangerous when it's pissed off, especially as it evolves, just as much as Mallow can be. The two are also not very battle experienced compared to the rest of their classmates and get handily eliminated when the Alolan League comes around.
- Lana and her Popplio are big lovers of the sea, and bound together by a deep desire to explore it. Both are also a little odd (though the seal is more of a goofball and she has a surprisingly dark side to her).
- Kiawe and his Alolan Marowak are stubborn, hardheaded, and fierce battlers bound in raging fire, and never ones to back down from a challenge.
- Sophocles and his Togedemaru are both round, portly characters with a finesse for electricity and a great deal of excitement for whatever comes their way.
- Goh's Galarian Starters (Cinderace, Inteleon, and Grookey) each represent the character's own personality; Grookey his child-like excitement and curiosity, Cinderace his can-do attitude, and Inteleon his cleverness.
- Chloe and her Eevee both start out the series as being unsure of what they want to do in life, and both take various journeys to find that path, but both decide they're happy just being who they are for now and aren't in any rush to change that.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! is particularly fond of this trope, to the point where it's become the norm throughout the entire card battle anime genre. Some particularly notable examples:
- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds
- Yusei uses a deck full of cards that rich people threw away and combines them in strategic ways to achieve victory, reflective of his belief that everything has value. His Signature Mon '"Stardust Dragon's" ability to tribute itself to protect others from destruction by card effects is reflective of him being self-sacrificing to the point of his own detriment.
- Aporia uses a "Machine Emperor/Meklord" deck, full of machines that have effects that counter Synchro Monsters. This is reflective of his belief that Synchro Monsters were the cause of humanity's downfall in his group's Bad Future.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: Yuma's final ace after he and Astral go their separate ways in the final episode, Future Number 0: King of the Future, Hope/Utopic Future, is an Xyz Monster with 0 ATK Points, but which cannot be destroyed in battle, nullifies any damage Yuma sustains from its battles, and its effect causes Yuma to gain control of the monster it battled. This is representative of Yuma's true strength, which lies in his ability to make anyone his friend through dueling, even his most bitter enemies. It even looks like him.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V:
- Shingo/Sylvio Sawatari switches decks rather frequently in Season one but eventually settles on an "Abyss Actor" deck, which are a group of dark-fiend type monsters themed around the medium of Theatre. This is reflective of his status as the Foil to Yuya and how he seeks to entertain others purely for the praise and admiration he receives as a result.
- Sora's regular monsters all look like cute and cuddly plush toys, but his Signature Mon Frightfur Bear looks like a Frankenstein version of them with a pair of scissors added to its jaws and another to its joints. Its effect is also displayed as a Cannibalism Superpower via Eating the Enemy. This monster displays how Sora was Evil All Along, but also how much he and the other soldiers suffered at the Academia.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS: Roa Kirishima uses a Royal Demon's deck, which is an archetype of light-fiend type monsters that often requires using even your ace monsters as sacrificial pawns. This is reflective of his narcissism and abusive behavior born of being showered with too much shallow attention for someone so young and as a result not knowing how to have meaningful relationships, and as he matures out of this behavior he begins to treat his monsters with more respect. The high-level monsters are also all based on Heavy Metal Lead Singers, which reflects his status as the lead vocalist of a popular indie band.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds
Fan Works
- Pokémon:
- As Fate Would Have It: The two main characters use Pokémon that match their personalities almost to a "T".
- Nate's two most commonly used Pokémon are Lucario and Braviary. The former reflects his status as a hero, namely his status as a superhero movie star, his stopping of Team Plasma in the past, as well as his status of being the (former) Unova League Champion. The latter, on the other hand, reflects his love for Pokémon battling, as well as the fact that he's willing to risk his own life to save those he cares for.
- Reflecting her status as a Rose-Haired Sweetie and the fact that she's Living a Double Life, Yancy's team of Pokémon is composed entirely of the Fairy type, known for their aura of mystery and many of them having a pink or feminine theme to them. Her Signature Mon in particular is Mawile, better known as the Deceiver Pokémon, which helps to reflect that she has to look and act completely different on TV.
- Hard Enough: The protagonist Self Inserted into Brock has a Tyranitar as his starter, not only reflecting his chosen type specialty, but also his Dark-type Aura caused by his unresolved parental issues. In addition, a significant chunk of his Pokémon stable are Water-types, reflecting his mother Lola's chosen type and by extension Brock's issues with her.
- Pokémon Crossing: Benedict/Holly, the main protagonist, has a well-rounded team with mons that reflect on different aspects of their personality. For example, their Gardevoir symbolizes their growing confidence in expressing femininity, their Gyarados represents recklessness and their Blaziken reflects their battle-happy nature and fire motifs.
- To Be a (Miraculous) Master: Everyone's teams reflects their personalities and the Miraculous transformation and/or akumatized form they have in Miraculous Ladybug, since the Miraculouses themselves don't appear. For example, Marinette has a Leavanny to reflect her sewing capabilities and to mimic Ladybug's yo-yo, and Lila uses a Ninetales and a Zoroark that pretends to be it with Illusion, like Volpina's illusions. The only nicknamed Pokémon are the ones matching kwamis: Tikki the Ledian, Plagg the Liepard, Wayzz the Torterra (for Fu), Trixx the Delphox, and Pollen the Vespiquen.
- My Hero Pokedamia: Most characters have Pokémon that fit with their personalities and Quirks.
- Izuku has Eevee, who represents his gentle nature and boundless potential; Pikachu, who represents his growing strength and power; Combusken, who represents his protective strike towards his friends and loved ones; and Froakie, who represents his willingness to fight.
- Bakugo has Cyndaquil/Quilava, Charmander/Charmeleon, and Gyarados, who reflect his powerful Quirk and his Hair-Trigger Temper and Pride.
- Ochako has Minior and Dottler, who reflect her Zero Gravity Quirk; Kirlia, who represents her gentle nature and hidden strength; and Pikachu, showing the side that wants to catch up to Izuku.
- Serena Mariella has Piplup, Brionne, Milotic, and Buizel - all of them water Pokémon, much like her Quirk, Hydro.
- Todoroki has an Alolan Ninetales, a Kantonian Vulpix, a Galarian Darmanitan, and a Drizzile. The former three represent his dual Quirk, Half-Cold Half-Hot, and how he both rejects his fire side while instinctively using it when he finds himself in danger.
- Tsuyu has Politoed and Croagunk, both being frog-like Pokémon like her Quirk. Similarly, Tokoyami's Pokémon are Corviknight and Honchkrow, raven-like Pokémon.
- Jirou has Noibat and Loudred, both being Pokémon that tend to make a lot of noise, which she also does with her Quirk. She also has a Jigglypuff that represents her talent for singing.
- Hitoshi Shinso, who has the Brainwashing Quirk, has several psychic Pokémon in his team like Malamar, Hypno, or Galarian Slowpoke.
- As Fate Would Have It: The two main characters use Pokémon that match their personalities almost to a "T".
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Cards of Remnant: Being a Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover, a lot of characters' decks and playstyles reflect their personality and fighting style from canon.
- Ruby's deck has a lot of lower-level effect monsters as well as spells and traps that disrupt her opponents' plays, reflecting her intelligence and love of the game itself rather than simply overpowering everything.
- Weiss wields her family's Blue Eyes White Dragon as a symbol of her pride and power, and has plenty of support for it to allow her to more easily overwhelm her opponents' defenses. This fits well with the fact that she has impressive skills and is very intelligent, but is (initially) rather inflexible.
- Jaune's Onomatopoeia deck is comprised of many childish-looking cards that nevertheless have a variety of useful effects for both defense and Xyz summoning (albeit he can't do the latter on his own initially). This reflects that despite his bumbling personality, he clearly has potential and can be a surprisingly effective strategist when he's given a chance to think.
- Adam's Six Samurai deck works to lock down his opponents' use of spells and traps, reflecting his controlling nature hidden behind the veneer of an honorable warrior. In-Universe, it's mentioned that such a deck was designed to counter the Pendulum cards favored by Faunus, underscoring how despite claiming he's fighting for them, he has no problems oppressing his own people in the name of what he believes he deserves.
- Cards of Remnant: Being a Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover, a lot of characters' decks and playstyles reflect their personality and fighting style from canon.
Films — Live-Action
- Searching: In Margot's video chat with fish_n_chips, she says that her favorite Pokémon is Uxie, while fish_n_chips says her favorite is Kecleon. Margot says she likes Uxie because it has the power to erase memories, alluding to her own struggles with dealing with the grief of losing her mother. As for Kecleon, it's a Pokémon that can change its own type, alluding to how fish_n_chips is really Margot's stalker Robert hiding his identity.
Video Games
- Doodle World: Mister Riffraff has a Dramask as one of the Doodles on his team, further influencing both the Duality Motif set up by his two-toned appearance and his Large Ham nature.
- In Final Fantasy XIV, The brutish and money-grubbing Daguza is accompanied by a menagerie of equally brutish lions, peistes, and cyclopses. After watching in awe of the red chocobo's destructive power, he goes on to train dozens of them for use against the Bozjan Resistance, including one particularly destructive chocobo named "Red Comet II", after the red chocobo whose rampage is compared to the second coming of Dalamud.
- Mega Man Battle Network: The NetNavis are customizable computer programs with highly advanced AI, so a Navi theme, appearance, and personality will generally either match their operator's, or complement it. For example, The Big Guy Dex's Navi is the Dumb Muscle GutsMan.EXE, the dark, no-nonsense ninja ShadowMan.EXE is operated by the serious Consummate Professional Dusk, while Princess Pride is the operator of KnightMan.EXE and Yai's Navi Glyde.EXE acts like a distinguished valet.
- Persona series:
- Persona 3:
- The protagonist's initial Persona is Orpheus, the Greek poet known for his descent to the underworld to rescue his wife. He later gains Thanatos, the Greek god of death, and Messiah, representing Messianic Archetype figures across all myths but has several traits of the biblical messiah. All of these hint at his eventual Heroic Sacrifice to save all humanity from death.
- Akihiko and Shinjiro's initial Personas are Polydeuces and Castor, twin brothers in Greek mythology, representing their sibling-like bond from growing up at the same orphanage. In addition Polydeuces was immortal while Castor was not, and Castor later suffered a tragic death. This hints at Shinjiro's Plotline Death later in the story and Akihiko's survival.
- Aigis' initial Persona is Palladion, based on a statue of the goddess Athena, fitting with her nature as a robot merely imitating humanity. Once Aigis undergoes Character Development and starts experiencing true human emotions, Palladion evolves into the real Athena.
- Ken's initial Persona is Nemesis, the Greek goddess of divine retribution, reflecting his desire to avenge his mother's death on Shinjiro.
- Of the antagonists, Strega, Takaya's Persona is Hypnos, the brother of Thanatos in Greek myth, hinting at his role as the protagonist's Evil Counterpart; the Dark Messiah to their Messianic Archetype. Jin uses Moros, the Greek personification of doom, fitting for The Fatalist who co-founds an Apocalypse Cult. Chidori uses Medea, known for betraying her father after falling in love with the hero Jason. This hints at her Defecting for Love for Junpei.
- Persona 4: Fitting with the theme of "truth" and "accepting yourself for who you are", the running theme of all the teammates' Personas are folk heroes and gods who are famous for embodying things the Investigation Team feel shameful about, showing that their flaws can become strengths.
- Yu's initial Persona is Izanagi, one of the progenitor deities of Japan, reflecting his role in his teammates awakening to their respective Personas. It also reflects his destined showdown against the True Final Boss, Izanami.
- Yosuke admits to having Small Town Boredom, to the point his Shadow accuses him of treating the deaths of his friends as an excuse to go on an adventure. His Personas are Jiraiya and Susanoo, famous for going on typical action-hero adventures, showing that Yosuke's desire for excitement can be a force for good.
- Chie was secretly insecure about her tomboyishness and jealous of Yukiko's femininity. Her Personas are Tomoe and Suzuka Gongen, famous female samurai, showing that Chie's athleticism is something to be praised, and does not make her less of a woman.
- Yukiko, meanwhile, was frustrated by how her life seems prearranged for her, with the expectation she take over the family inn. Her story arc has her eventually accept her role, not out of obligation, but out of love of her home. Her Persona, fittingly, is Konohana Sakuya, who is revered for her sacrifice, and Amaterasu, Japan's greatest mother goddess.
- Kanji struggles with ideals of masculinity, as people deride his arts and crafts, causing him to overreact and style himself as a delinquent. His Personas are Takemikazuchi and Rokuten Maou, powerhouses of mythology, showing that Kanji has nothing to fear about being a man.
- Rise had grown disillusioned about her job as a pop idol, feeling she's valued less as a person than she is as a symbol, or sex appeal. Her Personas are Himiko and Kanzeon, a shaman queen and Buddhist goddess, respectively, affirming that she can draw strength as an icon that leads others.
- The happy-go-lucky Teddie eventually develops an existential crisis over his unknown nature. When he resolves to focus on living in the here and now, and accepts that he isn't alone, he gains the Personas Kintoki-Douji and Kamui, showing that while he may be different from humans (or, with Kamui, "typical" Japanese gods), he is still valuable as an individual.
- Naoto dresses and pretends to be a man to deal with the male-dominated world of law enforcement, but is starting to resent such sexism and being a woman. Her ultimate Persona is Yamato Takeru, who famously dressed as a woman in order to ambush his enemies, showing that she shouldn't be ashamed of her gender or consider it a weakness.
- Tohru Adachi's Persona is Magatsu-Izanagi, reflecting his status as a dark mirror of the protagonist.
- In Persona 4 Golden, Marie isn't a teammate, but the ultimate Persona unlocked through her Social Link is Kaguya Hime, which she goes on to use when playable in Persona 4: Arena Ultimax. Kaguya's legend foreshadows how Marie is also an "alien" with a human appearance, being an amnesiac splinter of Izanami.
- The Personas Margaret uses in her Optional Boss fight all resemble attractive young men like Yoshitsune and Oberon, as a hint to her attraction to her Wild Card.
- Persona 5:
- Joker's ultimate Persona Satanael is the gnostic version of Lucifer, who in their version of Christian Theology is a heroic figure who seeks to free humanity from the clutches of Yaldabaoth, who is the gnostic version of the Abrahamic God and a tyrant who seeks to enslave humanity via physical existence. This is a reference to how the final boss of vanilla P5 is Yaldabaoth, and how Joker is the Trickster destined to defeat him.
- Morgana's second Persona is Mercurius, the Roman god of luck, trickery, and thieves (among many other things), which befits the team's mentor of supernatural origin.
- Ryuji Sakamoto's initial Persona is Captain Kidd, after the historical figure who served as a successful privateer (i.e. state-sanctioned pirate) for England until politics brought about his downfall. This refers to how Ryuji was a rising star in Shujin's track team until Kamoshida ruined his leg and his reputation.
- Ann Takamaki's initial Persona is Carmen, the eponymous villain protagonist of a 19th-century novel by Mérimée. She is a gypsy femme fatale, which alludes to how Ann is seen as a slut and a foreigner in her own country due to being half-white.
- Makoto Nijima's initial Persona is Johanna, based on the (probably) fictional Pope Joan who, according to legend, pretended to be a man and rose through the ranks of the Catholic Church all the way to the papacy, before her true sex was revealed when she gave birth during a precession and then she died shortly after. This is a reference to how Makoto is an extremely bright and talented young woman but will face an uphill battle gaining success in any highly respected profession due to her gender.
- Futaba Sakura's initial Persona is Necronomicon, which is a Tome of Eldritch Lore that features in various books written by H. P. Lovecraft. This is a reference to her strong interest in otaku culture as well as the fact that her Persona's abilities revolve around gathering information for the Phantom Thieves rather than combat.
- Goro Akechi's Persona is Loki, a trickster god from Norse mythology and a Satanic Archetype in the mythos. This is a reference to how he was Evil All Along and tricked the whole world into believing he was a hero of justice.
- Kasumi/Sumire Yoshizawa's initial Persona is Cendrillon, based on Cinderella. It is a reference to the delusion imposed on her by Dr. Maruki, who fulfilled her wish that she was her dead sister Kasumi, similar to how the Fairy Godmother used her magic on Cinderella to create the illusion that she was a fabulously wealthy princess to impress Prince Charming.
- The party members' upgraded Personas follow the same general theme: their Ultimate Personas are figures that either defied or stole from the gods (see Joker's entry for why that's relevant), while their new 3rd Tier Personas in Royal are the real names of their original Personas, representing them dropping their metaphorical "masks" and finally feeling comfortable as their true selves.
- Caroline and Justine in their Superboss battle use Com Mons and other weak-looking Personas like Slime and Kelpie, but with endgame-level stats and skills. This shows them as much, MUCH stronger than their child-like appearance suggests.
- The Personas appearing in each Palace Ruler's dungeon are always fitting to their personality or distortions:
- Kamoshida's Palace features Incubus, Succubus and Angel (in its Bondage Is Bad Shin Megami Tensei design), reflecting his sexual abuses.
- Madarame's Palace uses mythological figures that often feature in cultural art, such as Mokoi (Indigenous Australian), Shiisa, Ame-no-Uzume, Koppa and Kurama Tengu (Japanese), fitting with his reputation as a traditional artist.
- Kaneshiro's Palace mainly consists of Oni, not only representing his mob henchmen but also the tattoos of Japanese organized crime, and female Personas like Yaksini and Leanan Sidhe, which alludes to his Sex Slave business.
- Futaba's Palace, fittingly for its Build Like an Egyptian theming, features figures from Egyptian and other ancient mythologies.
- Okumura's Palace is populated by Personas that look like robots (Arahabaki) or resemble celestial bodies (Kaiwan, Decarabia, Mithras), fitting for its sci-fi theme. A very large number of them are weak to Psi skills, representing his daughter's rebelling being the key to taking down his corporate empire. It's also notably the only Palace to feature non-Persona enemies, the Corporobos. They're implied to be Cognitive Beings, the fact they're combat-capable means Okumura genuinely expects his workers to fight and die for him.
- The Shadows in Sae's Palace are ostentatious-looking (Unicorn, Ose, Norn), fitting with the gaudiness of a casino.
- Shido's Palace continues the ostentatious theme, one of its earliest encounters being Narcissus, along with the Evil Overlord of the Jacks, King Frost, and some Obviously Evil looking Personas like Baphomet and Forneus. This should tell you all you need to know about its ruler.
- The Depths of Mementos and Qliphoth World make heavy use of orders of angels, such as Dominion and Throne. Because the Palace's ruler is the evil Demiurge Archetype mentioned above. However, violent or outright evil deities from other mythologies also feature, such as Orochi, Mara and Mot. This could represent the Obviously Evil nature of this Epiphanic Prison, and the public's willful ignorance of this in favor of Freedom from Choice.
- Maruki's Palace has a heavy focus on the Cthulhu Mythos, with Byakhee and Hastur as common encounters and Azathoth as his initial Persona. According to Word of God, these represent the artificial nature of their reality, as they're gods derived from fiction rather than a real religion or mythology.
- Persona 3:
- Pokémon: Type specialists will often have characters that tie into the type they specialize in, for example Fighting-type specialist Bruno is a super-jacked martial artist and Psychic-type specialist Sabrina has psychic powers herself.
- Pokémon Gold and Silver: When you battle The Rival in Kanto in the postgame, his Golbat has evolved into a Crobat. Golbat evolves via happiness, which implies their Character Development from a Jerkass into a trainer who genuinely cares for their team.
- Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire:
- Tate and Liza are twins who are able to psychically communicate with each other and specialize in the Psychic-type. They face you as a tag team in a double gym battle, and their signature mons are Solrock and Lunatone, two closely associated Pokémon based on The Sun and The Moon respectively.
- Wallace (and Juan in Emerald) is a water specialist who preaches about the elegance and beauty of the water type. Surprising nobody, his Signature Mon is a Milotic. His team as a gym leader of course is based around beauty and performance, using Pokémon that tend to benefit from Rain Dance or with more "Beautiful" sounding moves like Aurora Beam and Water Pulse. In the Emerald version, Juan's team is a copy of Wallace's — while Wallace has Taken A Level In Badass but still keeps his Signature Mon and Pokémon that use Swift Swim and/or Rain Dance.
- As with the Gold and Silver Rival, Archie and Maxie both own Crobat; indicating that, despite their roles as Big Bads, they have close bonds with their Pokémon and aren't all bad.
- Pokémon Black and White:
- Clay is a ground-type gym leader who also works a second job as the head of a tunnel construction company. His Signature Mon Excadrill is explicitly stated to be capable of helping in tunnel construction.
- N believes that keeping Pokémon in Poké Balls is abhorrent. As a result, he uses a different team every time he battles you, and his team is made up exclusively of Pokémon found in that area (with the exception of his final team, as it takes place in Team Plasma's Castle after it emerged from the ground around the Pokémon League). This implies that he likely caught his entire team minutes beforehand for the sole purpose of battling you, then releases them after you beat him.
- Ghetsis in Black and White 2 uses a Hydreigon with Frustration, a move that gets stronger the more the user dislikes its trainer. And it's at max power. Not only does Ghetsis view Pokémon as nothing more than tools, this move choice implies he outright abuses them.
- Pokémon Conquest:
- The Hero of the story starts out with an Eevee as a partner, reflecting their flexible potential. Their Rank III partner can potentially be Arceus, continuing the trend.
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi's partner being the Chimchar line is based on him being nicknamed kozaru, or little monkey. A Wi-Fi event allows him to partner with Reshiram, the counterpart to Nobunaga's Zekrom, which alludes to him becoming Nobunaga's historical successor.
- Nobunaga's initial partner is Hydreigon, reflecting his Demon King Nobunaga reputation.
- Pokémon Sun and Moon: Lusamine's team of traditionally "cute" and "feminine"-looking Pokémon reflect her nature of a traditional "mother" figure, but also her obsession with beauty and aesthetics. As the overbearing mother, she of course includes Bewear in her team. In Sun and Moon, Lusamine's team includes a Mismagius — befitting of her role as an antagonist in that game — whereas Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon don't have her perform this role, thus her Mismagius is replaced with a Lopunny.
- Pokémon Sword and Shield:
- Besides his starter, Hop's early team members are humble Com Mons Wooloo and Rookidee, which are also found near his hometown. When Hop begins to struggle with self-doubt, he swaps out his entire team besides his starter, and leads with something other than Wooloo for the first time. The next time you fight, he's changed the entire team again, showing that he's still highly conflicted about who he wants to be. He gets his act together before your next encounter, where he brings back his Wooloo and Rookidee (now in their final forms), but keeps the Snorlax he had during his doubting phase, showing that he still took something away from that experience. He sticks with this team for the rest of the game.
- Oleana has a team of elegant and feminine Pokémon... and one walking trash heap, Garbodor, which signifies different things depending on how you approach it. On the surface, it emphasizes how she's a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and covered in filth once you get beyond the pretty appearance. However, you're later told that Garbodor was a childhood friend that she's had from before she adopted her glamorous image, showing her softer side as she remains loyal even in spite of it clashing so badly with the way she's chosen to present herself.
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus: Volo uses a team that's almost identical to that of his descendent Cynthia in Pokémon Platinum. However, his Signature Mon is the peaceful Fairy/Flying type Togekiss while Cynthia's is the violent Dragon/Ground type Garchomp, with Fairy-types being a counter to Dragon-types and Flying-types being a counter to Ground-types. One of the Pokémon found on Cynthia's Platinum team, the Water-type Milotic, is not available in the Hisui dex, so Volo has it replaced with a Fire/Rock-type Hisuian Arcanine. This alludes to how Volo is the Big Bad of his game while Cynthia was the Big Good of hers.
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet:
- Arven, who is a talented cook seeking out cooking ingredients, gradually builds up a Pokémon team based on food products and cooking, such as Garganacl (based on salts) and Scovillain (based around the pepper). He also has a Greedent, which is known for its love of berries and being a Big Eater in general. The sole exception is his team's ace, Mabosstiff. Not only is Mabosstiff Arven's Signature Mon, but it is also a family-oriented Pokémon, which is fitting for someone who has been disconnected from his own family for much of his life.
- Penny loves Eevee, so not only does she have a huge Eevee backpack, her team consists of only Eeveelutions. Also, the two Eeevelutions she doesn't have reflect her reclusive tendencies. Espeon only evolves during the day, and getting an Ice Stone for a Glaceon would be too far out of her way.
- History teacher Raifort is a firm believer that Older Is Better. As such, her roster is comprised of Pokémon from the first four regions. The sole exception, an Unovan Zoroark, has an ability that changes it into other Pokémon.
- Larry the salaryman is an interesting case, as he actually has two teams; a Normal-type team as a Gym Leader, who he associates with because he himself is "as ordinary as you can get", and a Flying-type team as a member of the Elite Four, which he uses at the Top Champion's insistence. Although he doesn't express any connection with the latter team, the diverse range of Flying-types he brings shows that he's unwilling to do things by halves, even if it means more work for himself.
- Kieran constantly swaps his roster, benching his earlier Com Mons and acquiring rarer ones. This reflects his pursuit of power and the rift it creates between him and his loved ones. Additionally, his ace as the Blueberry Champion is Hydrapple, a Pokémon that evolves from Dipplin (a shy Pokémon that hides in an apple) and has become a five-headed beast that's only sporadically helped by its four additional heads- reflecting how his Elite Four chafes under his regime.
