YHVH's History
History
YHVH is the most common transliteration of the Hebrew name of God. The name itself is a reference to the Tetragrammaton, which represents the four letters of the name of God: Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh (or simply "YHVH"). Each of the letters corresponds to a world and a soul and stands for the four basic stages of the process of creation. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "�?�?�?�?" ("to be"), modified into a variant form with a masculine prefix. Its meaning and implications have been a source of contemplation and debate for thousands of years, which still continues today. By Hebrew tradition, it is not to be pronounced aloud, and is typically substituted with "Adonai" ("my Lord") in prayers. In speech, Hashem ("the name") is used in its place.
He is the creator god and one true god of Abrahamic faiths, common to Judaism, Christianity, Islam and many other religious denominations, some consider the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda and the Egyptian god Aten to be the same figure or to have served as an inspiration for it.
YHVH is often conceived as a genderless, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent deity, an uncreated creator who created the universe out of nothingness, who is also responsible for the creation of angels, humans and all living and spiritual beings, among them creatures such as the jinn.
His deeds change throughout the many religions that worship him, however, the three main monotheist religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) tend to portray similar events, such as Adam and Eve's banishment from Eden and the covenant made by YHVH with Abraham and the people of Israel, they differ, however, in their view on important figures such as Jesus Christ and the prophet Muhammad:
Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, seem to be the main source of inspiration for the Megami Tensei version of YHVH, however with a remarkably more negative point of view. Christians conceive God as an entity of pure good that is composed of three different identities that are, at the same time, one and the same: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. this is known as the Holy Trinity, with Jesus Christ the messiah being the Son. Christians await the return of Jesus Christ and Judgement Day, when the devil will be defeated and the Millennium Kingdom of God will come to Earth (an inspiration for the Messian faction of Shin Megami Tensei). Other figures from Catholicism are Maria, the woman who chose to bear Jesus and ascended to Heaven, and the four archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, and Lucifer as a fallen angel rebelling against god with his army of demons.
Some later interpretations, especially the one from Gnostic Christians, differ in many ways from the view of YHVH as a benevolent entity, instead, they portray him as a Demiurge, a false god who wants to control humanity, an enemy to the true God. Despite inspiring the Megami Tensei YHVH, the gnostic interpretation of God is heavily influenced by Greek philosphy and a partial reading of the Old Testament, and was thus rejected by the ascending Christian Church.
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
Although YHVH doesn't appear in the novel, Loki appears to use the letters of God to hypnotize the students of Jusho High School, chanting: "Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh..."
New Digital Devil Story 6: Bonds of Reincarnation
While not directly called YHVH, he is referred to as "God". Michael and Gabriel is his subordinates in the story. In the final novel he, with help of Cerberus, strikes a meteor to Earth, bringing a Great Cataclysm to it.
Megami Tensei II
YHVH is encountered in an underground corridor in Ginza after defeating Satan. It is revealed that he ordered Satan to start the nuclear war that devastated the world and lead the demon invasion to wipe out humanity.
He speaks to the protagonist while he's walking through the final hallway, condemning him and Lucifer for their actions and telling them that the world will be destroyed if he falls, trying to coerce them into retreating. When the hero meets YHVH, he is offered a chance to betray Lucifer and become a divine being or battle YHVH, for a total of two possible endings.
If the hero chooses to fight against YHVH, he claims that the hero will burn in hellfire until the end of the world. After fighting against them and losing, however, YHVH starts disappearing, shocked at being destroyed by his own creations. Before vanishing completely, YHVH reveals that he is only a small part of the Great Will which oversees and controls infinite universes, and that his vast consciousness will allow Him to reform, warning the hero that he has chosen the harshest path for his future. All demons vanish with his death, granting humanity a reprieve.
If the hero chooses to side with YHVH, Lucifer is immediately struck down with the eternal flame, and the hero and his companion are invited to YHVH's Millennium Kingdom. The epilogue mentions that the world infested with malice disappears, while the hero and his companion are transformed into godly beings.
Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible New Testament
YHVH appears as the 2nd final boss of the game, the final being Nakajima.
Shin Megami Tensei
The protagonist can choose the Lawful alignment in Shin Megami Tensei, where he aligns with YHVH. YHVH's plan is to create the Thousand Year Kingdom, a utopia consisting of new angels and ruled by YHVH. To do so, however, YHVH decides to cleanse the world and sent Thor as an agent to destroy Japan.
YHVH plays a minor role towards the end of the game. In the Law alignment, the protagonist destroys the demons and helps YHVH institute his Thousand Year Kingdom. In the Chaos alignment, the protagonist can choose to align with Lucifer, where the protagonist destroys the angels and restores the old gods. Lucifer thanks him for doing so, but warns him to be careful, as the "true enemy" still exists. In the Neutral alignment, the protagonist destroys both angels and demons, hoping to create a new, free world raised by mankind.
Shin Megami Tensei II
YHVH appears as a respected figure in Shin Megami Tensei II, he is worshiped by the people of Tokyo Millennium. They are foretold that a savior will descend from God, and show the citizens salvation. Since the Messians running Tokyo Millennium are angels, and because the aforementioned 'savior' has yet to arrive, they began fearing that YHVH has abandoned them. They believed that, if they carried out the plans as YHVH foretold, YHVH would once again appear before them. In order to do so, they need a savior they could control. That savior is Aleph.
In ancient times, YHVH created Lucifer and Satan respectively. Satan was used as an instrument to judge the world, humans, angels and demons alike. However, Lucifer's pride allowed him to revolt against God and was banished from heaven.
In the Neutral and Chaos alignment paths, Satan is ordered by YHVH to use the Megiddo Ark (a powerful laser weapon within Eden) to destroy all life on the planet as his judgment. He is killed by Aleph before he can carry out his plans, and his death prompts the appearance of YHVH. In the Law alignment, Satan will turn on YHVH to punish him for committing the sin of genocide; however, he crumbles to dust after defeating his creator. Should Aleph choose to align with Lucifer, after defeating his creator, Lucifer will return to his angel form.
In the Chaos and Neutral alignments, prior to Aleph's battle with YHVH, he is forewarned that by defying God's will, Aleph will suffer a never-ending cycle of punishment, as YHVH would torture Aleph, kill him, reincarnate him and continue torturing him until the end of time for committing the 'Ultimate Sin': Deicide. However, interestingly enough, in the Law alignment, YHVH never mentions sending Aleph to Hell, instead only mentioning punishing Satan.
After being defeated on the Neutral route, YHVH states that humanity is weak and needs someone to rely on, feeling that humans can't live on their own, and states that as long as people wish for his salvation, the Great Will of the universe will recreate him. On the Chaos route, YHVH will state that he can't stand seeing a confused world, not under his control, question who will rule the confused world, and asks if Aleph and Hiroko's names will be worshiped as saviors, before stating that he'll be recreated. On the Law route, YHVH will state that they have rejected his salvation by being judged and punished by his creations, question if humans can find their own paths without him guiding them, before stating that the Great Will of the universe will recreate him.
Shin Megami Tensei 20XX: Devil's Colosseum
YHVH is here referred to as the more general title of God. He is the leader of the 5 Secret Spirits and the only level 99 demon in the game. He is the last to be faced in the game. After the protagonist returns the orphanage to its right place, he will find the same Magic Box that contained the other four Secret Spirits (True, Lie, Sin and Sanctity). Unlike the previous spirits, God can only be faced the first time that the box is found, otherwise, nothing will be inside the box.
In battle, God will constantly use the Megidolaon spell. If the hero decreases his health to less than half, he will cast Mediarahan and fully recover. The only way to defeat him is by using one of the two most powerful weapons in the game: the "Chaos Sword" or the "Law Bearer" (which inflict 1 to 6 critical strikes to any demon that doesn't share its alignment), and having both Michael and either Alice or Huang Long in the party.
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
YHVH has an important role in the backstory, but his actual presence is only seen in a New Game+. In the distant past, God trampled the mother goddesses and subjugated humanity on Earth. Before the main events of the story, worship of God falters and causes him to weaken his seal on the mother goddesses. In that moment of weakness, God is attacked and shattered by the mother goddesses of the Schwarzwelt. The goddesses attempt to restore the original state of the world and eliminate human civilization through the Schwarzwelt due to humanity having wasted the world away. Several of YHVH's fragments were sealed in the Schwarzwelt itself.
YHVH first appears as a human in a Demonica, and later, after being partially restored, as Metatron and requests the help of the protagonist to defeat Alilat and Demiurge. After the protagonist defeats the Demiurge, YHVH attempts to absorb Demiurge's power and restore himself, but the protagonist can shut him off and seal him by canceling the fusion midway through. A voice warns the protagonist not to release the "Arrogant God" - referring to YHVH. If the fusion is successful, YHVH takes the Demiurge's appearance, becomes known as "Refined Voice" and says that he's slowly returning to his true form "full of light." The Refined Voice says that the true enemy is the spirit of the Earth itself, and promises to help and protect humanity as long as humanity is obedient to the holy spirit. If the protagonist chooses to follow the celestial feminine voice, Metatron will be sealed away and the protagonist will gain the same reward from the mission.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
The unleashing of the demons from the Yamato Perpetual Reactor 25 years ago is used as a means to justify God's wrath by the angels, who seek to unleash nukes that will devastate the Earth and wipe out mankind. In Blasted Tokyo, should mankind not die out then Pluto will finish them off. In Infernal Tokyo, this is avoided by killing the angels before their plans could be achieved.
The "Ancient One of the Sun" DLC Challenge Quest reveals that God wishes to cleanse the remnants of humanity clinging to life in Blasted Tokyo so the innocents taken aboard the cocoons (also called Arks) can return to a new Earth. The Ancient of Days, an aspect of God that maintains the order of the universe, is sent to exterminate the few Blasted Tokyo survivors and herald the return of the Arks.
When Flynn comes close to beating the Ancient of Days, Kiyoharu will come speak to the Ancient of Days and desperately ask if he is here to save them. The Ancient of Days explains to Kiyoharu that he's here to cleanse the world of the remaining humans and begin a new generation of humanity because Kiyoharu and the other survivors are no longer necessary.
Kiyoharu becomes horrified and explains to God that his entire family and his friends have all died. He prayed to God in the ignorant hope that he would save them because it was all he had left. Kiyoharu raises his head towards the sky to reminisce on the fact Kenji was right in his desire to destroy the angels. Akira comes to take Kiyoharu back to shelter. Kiyoharu informs Akira of what God has told him. Akira urges Kiyoharu to come back home with him.
Upon defeating the Ancient of Days, God's voice reveals that Flynn has defeated only one form of many, that the next generation of humanity will still inhabit the world, and that order will still continue. Despite this, Akira thanks Flynn and states that he's given them hope to co-exist with the new humanity of their world.
Flynn is taken back to the White world and the White ponder on why Flynn doesn't despair. The White mention that YHVH is able to return because humanity believes in God as they are too weak-willed to live in the world otherwise. Humanity keeps making the mistakes of falling back and forth between Law or Chaos, falling into God's scheme, expectations and resulting in the endless war between the two factions and giving into despair. This despair gives rise to the White, who embody man's despair over the eternal conflict and being trapped in God's world.
In "The Voice of Arrogant Evil" Challenge Quest, the Demiurge claims to be an avatar of YHVH, although he only pretends that he's in such a position and is in fact, merely a highly powerful Vile Demon formed from a fragment of YHVH.
Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse
YHVH, also known as the Creator God, is revealed to have become extremely tyrannical and unfit for rule during the events of both Apocalypse and IV's universes. He controlled both halves of Satan (Lucifer and Merkabah) and the forces of Chaos and Law to perpetuate an eternal war that will never have a true winner to make sure that he will forever be in power. His madness had made him an enemy of the Great Will, who had been creating and incarnating messiahs to oppose him, with two messiahs, Flynn and Nanashi, needed to bring humans and Demons true freedom from YHVH's grasp. Furthermore, his sheer tyranny made himself the main target of the Divine Powers, who were competing with Dagda and Nanashi to take his place. He acts as the game's true final boss on both of its true ending routes, as the game's Law and Chaos routes are bad endings.
On the Bonds Route, YHVH is defeated by the two godslayers (Nanashi and Flynn) and their friends, but not before implying he will return one day. The Great Will, mankind, the two messiahs and demons will live together until the day that they must all oppose him again comes. On the Massacre Route, he is slain by the godslayers and Dagda's powers and, with no followers and the creation of a new universe removing everything of the old universe, YHVH is permanently killed, freeing humanity from his tyranny forever.
