Order of Messiah


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 Note: This article contains spoilers for the Shin Megami Tensei series.
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The Order of Messiah (メシア教, Meshia kyou) is a recurring group that appears in the Shin Megami Tensei series.

Messians typically believe in assisting the weak, and egalitarianism, but at the cost of a collectivist social order. They are generally considered representative of the Law alignment. This often puts Messians at odds with members of the Ring of Gaea, who represent the Chaos alignment.

Messians bear a strong resemblance to followers of Christianity and Jehovah's Witnesses, as they are piously religious, and regard prayer and following the will of their god as being of the utmost importance.

Megami Tensei II
The Messians, who have their church set up in Nakano, are exactly like their incarnations in future games. The religion was said to have arisen in 2011. The protagonist and his friend first encounter Messians in the tunnels of Shinagawa, where they request their aid in slaying the Jabberwocky. Afterwards, they declare that the two are the Messiahs and give them the Soloman's Ring. Later, the hero visits their church in Nakano, and learns the code needed to enter the Intelligence Building in Shibuya.

Shin Megami Tensei
After the nuclear holocaust of Tokyo, the Messian Order became a prominent religion among the survivors. Living in a world where gods and demons walk among them, many people flocked to the Order, which preached safety and protection in exchange for piety. The Law Hero is drawn towards their ideology early on, and after his death, his soul is reincarnated by the Messian leaders to be the Messiah himself, sent to lead the followers. The dream of the Messians is to build the Cathedral - a structure from which they can begin God's vision of the Millennium Kingdom - a paradise in which all pious people are saved. In truth, this Kingdom would only allow a small number of single-mindedly devoted followers to be saved, forsaking all others. Indeed, when the Cathedral is completed, the Messian leaders harness God's power to bring forth a second great flood to destroy Tokyo, leaving alive only the inhabitants of the Cathedral (a small number of Messians and Gaeans, ironically). The leaders of the Messians are revealed to be the high-ranking angels Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael.

During the section of the story concerning Tokyo Destiny Land and the Shingawa, Haniel in Shinagawa represents the Messians and the Law alignment, while Echidna represents the Gaeans and the Chaos alignment in Tokyo Destiny Land. If you kill Haniel and then choose to help the Gaeans, you will be locked into the Chaos alignment. If you kill both Echidna and Haniel, you end up in the Neutral path, and if you kill Echidna and then choose to help the Messians, you will be locked into the Law alignment.

Shin Megami Tensei II
The events of Shin Megami Tensei II take place in a time where the Millennium Kingdom sought after by the Messians actually came to pass. The neutral society created by the protagonist at the end of the first game, where both demons and humans could worship freely, was taken over by the Messians through a coup d'état and changed into a theocracy. Built upon the remains of the Cathedral after the great flood, the Tokyo Millennium Center greatly resembled the Messians' ideal Kingdom, with only a small number of followers granted peace and salvation. The Messians are lead by a Pope in the Central Tower of Tokyo Millennium. He follows the orders of the Messian Elders, who have prophesied the coming of a Messiah who will lead the devout. However, some regions of Tokyo Millennium had inhabitants who did not follow the Messian creed, and so the leaders of the Messian Order attempted to further prune the population of their ideal Kingdom. Following the prophecies of the Elders, there appeared three Messiahs. The first possible Messiah, Gimmel, appeared in the area of Arcadia, a region cut off from the others and so this Messiah, accepted only by the Arcadians, went unchallenged. The second and third Messiahs appeared after a recent Tournament in which a young fighter from the Valhalla area won his citizenship into the lofty ranks of the Central Tower. The young champion, Aleph, met with the Pope who claimed him to be the Messiah they were looking for, when the third contender, Daleth, appeared claiming to be the 'real' Messiah and that Aleph was the 'Anti-Messiah.' According to the prophecy, such an Anti-Messiah was indeed supposed to appear and that the 'true' Messiah would be able to best the imposter in battle. The Pope decreed for their battle to occur, and Aleph emerged victorious, becoming the widely-accepted Messiah. With their Messiah chosen, the Messian Elders enact their plan to create their exclusive Kingdom.

The Tournament and various Areas of Tokyo Millennium were used as a selection ground to determine which inhabitants were 'truly' devoted to YHVH. Even the three Messiahs themselves had been artificially created by Messian scientists for their prophecies. The Messians enlist the aid of a demon to destroy the neutral region of Valhalla. They had also been running tests on a virtual-reality paradise known as Arcadia that would necessarily control its inhabitants and grant them an everlasting paradise within the confines of their minds. This simulated paradise is the true final form of the Messians' plan for the Millennium Kingdom. It is revealed that Messian Elders are once again the angels Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael. Three of them (sans Gabriel) were so devoted to the ideal of God's Millennium Kingdom that they planned to fulfill the prophecies on their own, and their absolute faith in the rightness of their plan even created a fake incarnation of YHVH who sanctioned them. Gabriel, who was contacted by the true YHVH, distanced herself from the other elders and after their defeat at the hands of their own creation, Aleph, she helped to guide him down God's true path in the Law Alignment.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
The Order of Messiah make brief appearances before and after the Conception.

Early in the game, a number of Messians and Gaians are slain by a group of demons summoned by Hikawa at Yoyogi Park. Both factions had tried to stop Hikawa's plans, but instead wound up becoming sacrifices to bring the Vortex World into creation.

After the Conception, within the Amala Labyrinth, the souls of the slain Messians and Gaians can be seen preaching their respective beliefs.

Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE
After the Great Cataclysm, the Messians established a new base of operations in Arcadia, and continue to strive towards establishing the Millennium Kingdom of the gods. Their leader is Lord Judah, one of the Seven Philosophers.

Shin Megami Tensei NINE
The Messians are revealed to be ones responsible for creating Idea Space. They created it because they were tired of waiting for God to send the Messiah so they decided to use technology to bring salvation. An artificial goddess named Maria was created to administer Idea Space to support the creation of the Thousand Year Kingdom. In the Law route, Maria and the protagonist decide to end Idea Space and free everyone trapped inside, with the protagonist joining the Law based regime ruling Tokyo Millennium afterward.