Character Analysis: Raidou (Feat Lousy)

 

Note: This was done with the help of Lousy, who provided most of the notes due to me being so busy. A few things may be slightly outdated, since its been awhile since he's looked into the character.

Before we begin...

 

1. There is no official layout of Shin Megami Tensei’s timeline or cosmology. However, it is confirmed, be it through recurring characters such as Stephen, references to events from previous games, ETC that most of the stories take place in the same collective multiverse. Raidou’s games specifically take place in an alternate 1930s Japan, and predate The Great Cataclysm, a disaster that occurs in several games (such as the original SMT) to make their apocalyptic settings. The villain of Raidou’s first game actually does what he does because of the Great Cataclysm (I’ll get to that later). 

Another example would be the protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei If, who makes multiple appearances in the Persona games, even playing a support role in Persona 2. They are actually one of the key story connections that confirms the Persona series and Shin Megami Tensei are part of the same continuity (to the disdain of SMT purists everywhere). Multiple protagonists, or ‘Messiahs’, are also pulled from their respective universes in the Messiahs in the Diamond Realm DLC, confirming what we already knew about the nature of the series. 

What does all this mean? Basically, feats and abilities demons demonstrate in one game can be applied to their counterparts in other games. There are exceptions, such as Lucifer being a different entity and having a different origin in SMTIV Apocalypse, but those will be noted, or not be relevant.

2. I will be counting Raidou’s appearance as a recruitable party member in Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne, and his appearance as a boss in the Soul Hackers remake. Some argue their canonicity, but these appearances aren’t like how Nocturne originally featured Dante from the Devil May Cry series (™). Raidou is part of the same series and multiverse as Nocturne and Soul Hackers, has a narrative explanation for his presence in these games (the Akarana Corridor), is referenced by other NPCs prior to his recruitment in Nocturne, and he even has an epilogue scene if recruited. 

And regardless of their inclusion, Raidou was able to defeat and recruit Lucifer in his own game, who is the ultimate final boss of Nocturne. Meaning Raidou’s accomplishments in his own media would let him scale to everything done in Nocturne and Soul Hackers, regardless of whether his appearances in them are canon.

Backstory

Real Name: Jōhei

Age: Late Teens

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 65 kg

Kuzunoha is a clan of Summoners who have acted as defenders of Japan’s Capital since the Heian Era under the guidance of the Herald of Yatagarasu. Within the Kuzunoha family are four titles taken up by each head of the clan.

The 14th successor to the title of ‘Raidou’ - real name Jōhei - was raised to be a Devil Summoner from an early age, undergoing grueling training and a series of trials. Shortly after inheriting the title, he went to work at the Narumi Detective Agency, in order to take ‘odd’ cases and protect Japan’s capital. All while still attending high school.

One particular series of cases led Raidou into conflict with the Soulless God Oumagatsu. Who was, in fact, one of Raidou’s successors, Raidou Kuzunoha XL from the year 20XX. Knowing of the Great Cataclysm that occurred in the future, Raidou XL sent his soul back to Raidou XIV’s time, possessed a high school girl, manipulated a god-possessed military general into making an army of zombie super soldiers, and built a radio tower that manifested the negative emotions of humans in the form of demons called, Hirukos. 

Why did he do all of this? To fuse the Hirukos, himself, and an imperial warship into a giant, transforming, zombie-piloted battle mech, of course! Why did he do that? Because Radiou XL thought if he destroyed Japan’s capital in the 1930s, it would, somehow, prevent the Great Cataclysm in the future. But Raidou XIV didn’t like that idea of The Capital he’s tasked with protecting getting destroyed. So he put the axe-er-sword to XL’s convoluted plan.

With nowhere to go, Raidou XL escaped into the Akarana Corridor, a place that transcends time and space, in hopes of attacking the capital from a different time period. Raidou XIV also didn’t like that idea, and chased him into the Akarana Corridor before finishing off the Soulless God for good, exorcising Raidou XL’s soul from the girl he possessed, and banishing him to aimlessly wander the Akarana Corridor for the rest of eternity.

Pretty bum deal for Raidou XL, but depending on how you interpret Shin Megami Tensei’s incredibly convoluted canon, their actions may have indirectly led to the creation of the timelines with the Devil Summoner and Persona games. Where the Great Cataclysm (presumably?) doesn’t happen. So, in a way Raidou XL might have succeeded? Mind you, this part is pure speculation.

Several months later, Raidou returned to The Capital to take on a new case. Bad luck and misfortune had begun spreading across The Capital. The people were losing hope, and in the midst of it all, mysterious locusts began appearing. Through a series of leads, Raidou discovered all the misfortune stemmed from ‘Luck Locusts’. These Luck Locusts were being utilized by several rogue assassins from a group called the Tsukigata clan. Led by Dahn, the son of the clan’s chief, these assassins were quite literally stealing the ‘luck’ of The Capital’s populace.

For what reason? Long story short, the Tsukigata clan was reliant on a race of deformed mutant bug people called the Tento Lords to supply them with Luck Locusts. Because of their mutations, the Tento Lords could not reproduce among themselves, and needed a human ‘host’. Thus, the Tsukigata clan and Tento lords reached a mutual agreement: The Tento Lords supply the Tsukigata clan with Luck Locusts, and the Tsukigata clan sacrifices one of their women every generation to ‘repopulate’ the Tento Lords… The results of which are… Ugh. Dahn’s sister, Akane, was chosen to be that sacrifice in the newest ‘Marriage Ritual’. Understandably not wanting his sister to be sacrificed in a creepy bug-sex ritual, Dahn crafted a plan.

He would steal his clan’s Luck Locusts, and amass all of The Capital’s luck into a large nest of pure fortune called the ‘Pojitrawn’. Why did he do this? Well, a certain blonde stranger, who is definitely not Lucifer, said it would open a path to the Abysmal Realm. Once this path was opened, Dahn would rule over the ‘Destroyer Insects’ that were unleashed by it, gaining the most Shonen-sounding title ever of King Abaddon. With the new control over the destroyer insects, his clan could sever their ties with the Tento Lords, and refuse the Marriage Ritual while still having access to Luck Locusts.

The first part of what Lucifer told him was true. The Abysmal Realm was indeed opened. Everything else… Didn’t quite work out as Dahn planned. 

Realizing the apocalyptic shit-fest Dahn had just unleashed, Raidou got himself a sword to combat the Destroyer Insects, and used a really hungry sheep demon to yoink the Abysmal Realm’s gateway to the Pojitrawn’s nest. This act reunited the embodiment of The Capital’s fortune and misfortune, and opened a pathway to the ‘Infinite Abyss’.

As if the story couldn’t get any more convoluted, throughout it all Raidou was plagued by trippy dreams of the Tsukigata’s god, Shinado, the real being to take the title of King Abaddon. Seeing the despair The Capital had fallen into due to their misfortune, Shinado, in typical RPG god fashion, decided the only way mankind could attain salvation was to pull everyone into the endless abyss that was the Abysmal Realm. 

Depending on Raidou’s alignment, certain characters live or die, but the core ending remains the same: Raidou heads into the Abysmal realm, shatters his cohorts’ feelings of despair, confronts Shinado within the Sphere of God, and ultimately triumphs over King Abaddon. Convinced that Raidou presents hope for humanity’s future, Shinado took his L, and left, though not before saying he may return should the people lose hope again (or if Atlus decides to make another Raidou game).

Raidou’s adventures would continue in Raidou Kuzunoha VS. The Lone Marebito, where he faces off against a group of evil summoners. Long story short, some Onmyoji (old mystics), disgruntled that they had no place in a rapidly industrializing world, were manipulated by an eldritch alien god called Clarion to start messing with and corrupting people into demons. Accumulating power from this, Clarion revived himself and attempted to absorb all of planet Earth. He did this in order to, you guessed it, bring humanity ‘salvation’. Which Raidou once again stopped using a sword bestowed to him by the princess Kushinada. There is also a prequel story, Raidou Kuzunoha VS. The Messenger of Death, which… Unfortunately only has its first chapter translated.

And in the middle of it all, Raidou took all sorts of insane side cases, went time and dimension hopping through the Akarana Corridor, and on occasion, battled it out with the Prince of Darkness himself.

Equipment

Muramasa: Raidou’s sword in the prequel novel. It’s stated to be able to ‘sever ill luck and curses’, and is capable of preventing demonic entities, such as Gashadokuro, from reviving themselves.

Mal Fortuna Kuzunoha: Raidou’s sword in the Lone Marebito manga. It’s specifically designed to kill demonic entities, and banish evil spirits. This power was potent enough to purge the Sword God, Futsunushi, of the hundreds of souls he had taken over the years. Unlike Raidou’s swords in the main games, it can manifest the power and form of demons that have been fused with it. Raidou specifically fused the lingering Magnetite and emotions of Futsunushi and Yoshitsune into the sword. It has also been used to counteract beings such as the snake god, Ouhanshin, which derived its power from malice, killing intent, and grudges, making it theoretically impossible to kill, as any violent action carried out against it would simply make it stronger.

Sword Types

In Raidou’s games, he has access to a myriad of swords with differing buffs and powers, all of which can be made by fusing his weapons with different demons and materials. These buffs typically consist of things like: Immunity to death curses, boosted elemental affinity, passive healing, a once per-battle revival, immunity or resistance to mind attacks, ETC. Raidou can also channel his magnetite into each weapon to form energy constructs to use in attacks. Of his many swords, there is a particularly useful one Raidou forges.

Youmetsutou: A sword forged from the Shukukon-Seki, a stone made of compressed souls. This sword was designed to fight the Apollyons: Monstrous bug creatures from the Abysmal Realm, whose cellular differentiation allowed them to heal themselves faster than Raidou could damage them. Essentially, it’s a sword that nullifies healing factors. The surge of power it induces into its foe should presumably be able to cancel out any healing factor that functions on a cellular (potentially greater) level.

The full list of the weapons and their buffs can be found here, but all fall into one of 3 archetypes.

Sword-type: Swords that can form an energy construct of… Well, a sword. Raidou can use these constructs to extend his range, increase the power of his attacks, and create a flurry of slashes.

Spear-type: Swords that can form an energy construct of a spear. These constructs can be used for a rapid flurry of jabs.

Axe-type: Swords that can form an energy construct of an axe. This construct is unique in that it is charged and swung down on the opponent in a powerful, single attack that produces a shockwave.

Revolver: A 6-shot revolver Raidou carries at all times. In the prequel novel, Raidou’s gun is described as a custom made Colt Lightning Revolver: A double-action handgun that can fire bullets in rapid succession. It was popular in his era due to its unlikeliness to jam. It’s unknown if this is the same firearm he uses in his games. Regardless, accompanying this gun are numerous mystical bullets and enhancements.

Aurora Clip: A magical clip of ammo that grants Raidou an endless supply of standard bullets. Though he still needs to manually reload said ammo.

Heavy & Fatal Bullets: Ammunition that is stronger than Raidou’s standard bullets.

Elemental Bullets: Bullets that have the affinity and power of various elemental spells in the Shin Megami Tensei series. Specifically: Fire, Ice, Wind, and Lightning.

Death Bullets: Bullets that have the affinity found in Dark/Mudo spells. Specifically, that of a death or insta-kill curse.

Stone Bullets: Bullets capable of petrifying foes into stone.

Mind Manipulation Clips: Bullets capable of inflicting mental effects on the opponent, in this case, ‘Charm’, which causes infatuation, and ‘Panic’, which induces effects similar to that of the ‘Confused’ status ailment.

Mute Clip: Bullets capable of sealing away, or ‘silencing’ an opponent’s magic.

 Summoning Tubes: Enchanted steel tubes that hold demons Raidou can call upon. The max number of tubes Raidou is known to carry is 20. Raidou can use them to capture and confine demons, though he seems to prefer negotiating with demons first and foremost. 

It’s worth noting the act of summoning demons in Raidou Kuzunoha VS. The Soulless Army can be done even when Raidou is silenced. This is presumably because the act of summoning them does not actually utilize magic, just opening the seal on the tube, and using Raidou’s magnetite. This is consistent with other summoners in SMT, like Aleph, who can summon demons even with the 'Close' status effect (I.E sealed magic). Though confining a demon within the tube does require magic, and can’t be done when silenced.

Mystic Eye: A mirror that reveals the abilities and weaknesses of hostile enemies Raidou encounters.

Amatsu Kanagi: A sacred relic powered by people’s emotions that can create rifts through space and time to different dimensions. Raidou uses this relic both to get back to his own reality, and to create a gateway to the Akarana Corridor. The Akarana Corridor transcends time and space, and has been used to move to different points in time by other characters, so Raidou should be able to time travel with the relic as well. He technically has in his Soul Hackers appearance. Raidou returns the item to Yatagarasu after the events of his first game, but he gets it back for a side quest in the second game, and keeps it.

Lockpick: Magic bullets, dimension-traversing relics, and tubes that can hold Satan are nice and all. But every now and then, a detective needs a good ole’ fashion lockpick to do proper sleuthing, and Raidou has one.

Skills & Abilities

Magnetite Manipulation: Magnetite is the main energy source in the Shin Megami Tensei series. It’s a naturally occurring substance found in all living things, particularly in humans, that ‘reacts to will and desire’. It’s also what manifests demons. While much less potent, demons can also produce magnetite to manifest other supernatural creatures. For example, in Shin Megami Tensei II, the Archangel’s belief in God and the plan he had for humanity was so great and twisted, they actually manifested a fake (but still very powerful) YHVH.

It should be noted that Magnetite and Magic are NOT the same thing, though the former is sometimes the fuel source for the later. The demons Raidou summons are typically fueled by his Magnetite, and use that Magnetite to form their own magic spells.

Raidou can manipulate this magnetite for...

Demon Summoning: Being a Devil Summoner, Raidou’s bread and butter is in summoning and commanding demons. Raidou normally has one or two demons summoned at a given moment, but should the situation call, he can summon more. His alternate reality self summons 3 in his Soul Hackers boss fight, Raidou himself summons 9 at once during the manga’s finale, and is implied to be able to summon 8 at once in both of the openings to his games. 

Magnetite Absorption: Raidou is capable of absorbing the Magnetite of enemies he harms. Typically this is done after hitting the opponent with an attack they’re weak against, but he can also absorb Magnetite from foes who have been killed, or just significantly harmed.

Combination Attacks: Raidou can perform various combination attacks with his demons, including...

               Elemental Weapon Imbuement: Raidou can use a demon to imbue his sword or gun with the affinity of any traditional element. Specifically Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Wind. 

               Magic Projectiles: Raidou can use demons to harness these same elements into magical projectiles such as fireballs, thunderbolts, and hurricanes.

               Magic AOE Attacks: Raidou can use demons to manifest a powerful elemental AOE attack, typically large enough to span most of the in-game battlefield.

               Barriers: If Raidou doesn’t have a pre-existing resistance or immunity to a specific element, he can defend against it by using a demon to create a barrier around him. These barriers can negate everything from mind attacks to elemental damage.

               Astral Burst: A powerful AOE attack that utilizes the Almighty element to deal damage to enemies, and bypass barriers and special defenses.

Expert Swordsman: Raidou is a naturally skilled swordsman, talented enough to go toe to toe with Futsunushi, the literal God of Swords, and regularly best his peers at his school. He utilizes several sword techniques. Such as…

Mal Fortuna Kuzunoha: a finishing move named after Raidou’s own sword, meant to purge and exorcize demons and evil spirits.

Tekisatsu: A lunging stab that, strangely, bypasses conventional defenses and inflicts Almighty damage with a chance of an insta-kill.

Hurricane Sword: A spinning slash Raidou uses in the Lone Marebito manga.

Hassou Tobi: A move Raidou learned from Yoshitsune’s memories. A powerful sword attack that strikes in rapid succession.

Energy Swords: While not given a name, after fusing his sword with Futsunushi, Raidou gained the ability to fire energy constructs of swords as projectiles. Basically Vergil’s Summon Swords.

Expert Marksman: Raidou is a crack shot with his revolver as well, capable of shooting down a winged beast holding a hostage by shooting through the hostage’s clothes, to avoid harming the hostage herself. In addition, There’s his deadliest move of all, Boogie Woogie where he… Takes out his gun… And shoots you.

Demon Sealing/Magical Containment: Raidou can perform a magical incantation to capture and seal supernatural creatures in tubes, typically after hitting them with their weakness. Though if the demon is too powerful for him (I.E, a higher level), they can resist being captured.

Spiritual Awareness: Demons in the Devil Summoner world are invisible to ordinary folk. Being a Devil Summoner, this isn’t an issue for Raidou, who can ‘see what cannot be seen’. He can use this power to both perceive demons, and commune with the dead for investigative purposes.

Spiritual/Intangible Interaction: Raidou can interact with and cut apart intangible beings. 

Raidou The Aeon: Also called Raidou The Eternal. A passive ability that multiplies Raidou’s attack power, and makes his physical attacks bypass any resistance, nullification, or absorption of physical damage that demons have, save for Repel.

Mind Control Resistance: Throughout his appearances Raidou has shown resistance, sometimes immunity, to mind manipulating status ailments such as Charm, Panic, ETC.

Transmutation Resistance: Likewise, he cannot be petrified into Stone in Nocturne, or transmuted into a bomb in Soul Hackers.

Illusion Resistance: Similar to ‘Messiahs’, Raidou and his more powerful demons should have some pretty high resistance to illusions. The Strange Journey protagonist managed to dispel an illusion cast by Maya, the literal goddess of illusions, whose power and illusions were strong enough to completely distort the entirety of Sector Grus. Other protagonists such as Aleph can overcome illusions cast by Belphegor (something that does show up in-game, and requires a high enough 'INT' stat to bypass), and entities the likes of Lucifer should have magic and illusory abilities even stronger than this.

For Raidou himself, in the Lone Marebito manga he quite literally shattered an illusory mirror world created by Alice, a demon even more powerful than Maya and Belphegor.

Curse Resistance: In Episode 7 of the Soulless Army, Raidou intentionally let a curse that had been inflicted on a Navy Admiral be transferred to himself in order to track the demon that created said curse. Despite the curse completely immobilizing the Navy Admiral, Raidou was able to continue moving while under its effects, then track down, and defeat the entity that made said curse. That entity being Hitokoto-Nusi, the God of Words.

Raidou is similarly unaffected by Death Curses such as Mudoon and Expel spells such as Mahama, which ordinarily insta-kill anything they’re casted upon, regardless of their durability.

Elemental Magic Resistance: In Nocturne, Raidou is resistant to all forms of elemental magic, including: Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Wind.

Time Stop resistance: While Raidou has never directly resisted a time stop or time manipulation, other characters such as the Strange Journey protagonist have, and entities such as Lucifer should be considerably more powerful than time manipulating entities such as Norn. Considering that, and the fact that he fought in a place where time quite literally did not exist, it can be inferred he could resist a time stop (or at least his most powerful demons could).

Dimension Traversal: While working the Soulless Army case, Raidou had multiple run-ins with one, Grigori Rasputin... Who was actually an android terminator from the future… It’s a long story. During one of these run-ins, Rasputin banished Raidou to a ‘rift between space and time’ which he was meant to be trapped in for all of eternity. However, Raidou somehow managed to escape by ‘concentrating on his memories of the real world’, allowing him to exit the rift.

This did not bring him back to his true reality, but a world parallel to his own. He would return to his own world later with the Amatsu Kanagi. Nonetheless, this ability alongside the Amatsu Kanagi shows Raidou has answers to simply being BFR’d by an opponent. 

Hand to Hand: Even without any weapons or demons (or clothes), Raidou is able to handily dispatch a couple Yakuza thugs.

General Demon Abilities 

While many demons have powers unique to them, there are a lot of common spells and passive abilities that every demon does, or can learn with the right set-up and inheritance.

Elemental Magic: All demons are capable of learning the elemental spells already covered: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Darkness, Light, ETC. It’s worth noting the strongest ice spells in other SMT games have been referred to as absolute zero attacks.

Magical Buffs: Demons can also buff the Strength of themselves and their allies with Tarukajoan, Magic with Makakajoan, and Defense with Rakukajoan.

Magical Debuffs: They can lower the same stats of opponents.

Magical Buff & Debuff Negation: They can negate amps given to opponents with Dekaja, and negate debuffs inflicted on themselves with Dekunda.

Physical and Magic Barriers: Special barriers that can be placed around the user or allies for a time that deflect either Physical or Magical attacks. This is normally done with the Tetrakarn and Makarakarn spells.

Mind Manipulation: Demons are capable of inflicting targets with infatuation, confusion, and other mind manipulative elements via various spells.

Transmutation: Demons can petrify enemies to stone with Petra as well.

Death Curses: The aforementioned deadly (and reeeaaally annoying) insta-kill curses. Typically, these spells are casted in the form of a sigil on the floor beneath the victim. So it should in-theory be dodgeable, though that’s often easier said than done.

Almighty Magic: The parameters to Almighty magic are vague, but generally they are attacks of pure power and energy that bypass traditional defenses and shields. This extends even to characters who are capable of reflecting or absorbing every and any other magic, energy, or physical attack. In short, it forces the opponent to tank the damage with their raw durability.

Even beings such as Lucifer, who can manipulate fate and causality itself, cannot normally defend from this phenomena.

Disguise and Appearance Manipulation

It is common for demons to take up disguises, as humans or otherwise, in order to blend in with and trick normal folk. Victor’s demon assistant Ippon-Datara for example enjoys disguising himself as a maid.

Size Manipulation: Many demons such as Oumitsunu, have shown the ability to alter their size. This is presumably how demons such as Mada, who is stated to be able to grow large enough to devour the universe, and Sandalphon, who is stated to become larger than a star, are able to take on smaller appearances.

Intangibility: Even demons that aren’t ethereal in nature can become intangible when summoned by Raidou in order to avoid damage.

Illusion Resistance: Like Raidou, many of his demons have broken free of mind illusions and mind control. Both Scathach and Cu Chulainn for example overcome the Kimon Tonkou Divination (basically an illusory spell) in the Lone Marebito manga.

Healing Magic: All demons can learn or inherit magic, which extends to healing magic such as Diarahan, and passive healing sigils such as Dia Aura.

Resurrection: All demons can learn or inherit resurrection spells such as Recarm and Samrecarm. These spells don’t just revive someone from being knocked out. They’re proper resurrections from the dead.

Dimensional Rift Creation: Even relatively weak, common faire demons are capable of pullingpeople into the Dark Realm.

Energy Absorption: All demons are able to learn and inherit Life and Soul drain, which absorbs spirit, and vitality respectively. Additionally, one of the most common negotiating acts in Shin Megami Tensei is to let a demon absorb part of your energy or Magnetite. This negotiation option is available even for demons that specialize in physical skills.

Spiritual Invisibility: Most demons in Raidou’s games are invisible to the human eye, requiring spiritual awareness in order to perceive them.

Resurrection and Conceptual Existence: To some extent, every demon in Shin Megami Tensei is brought about through the power of Observation. To greatly simplify the concept, it’s power brought on by human belief that gives ‘structure to the formless’. This is incredibly useful as it means it’s very difficult for demons to truly ‘die’. They can, of course, still be killed, or at least temporarily put down, but most will simply end up being reincarnated some time down the line. And for many of the top tier entities such as YHVH, it lets them exist and continue to exist across different realities so long as humans continue to hold belief in them, and what they represent.

To use Lucifer’s own words…

“Everything has a back and a front. This is true for all matters. You may have thought that you killed YHVH, but on a larger scale, that is just for an instant, a mere blink of an eye. Don't get me wrong, you definitely did kill him, but one could also say that it's impossible to kill him as well. This is the flow of time, the front and the back.

Using YHVH as an example, existences like my own...in a way I always exist, and YHVH also exists everywhere. The end result for this time around...well, let's just say I remain inside you. It feels kind of good here. I think I'll stay here, just for a little bit. Oh, don't worry, I won't be here forever. It'll be just an instant, a mere blink of an eye.

Soon the next main player will appear. And so will I...”

Order Abilities

There are 11 ‘Orders’ or groups of demons in Raidou’s games, some of which have special abilities. Most of these abilities are for investigative purposes, but they do have combat uses as well.

Ignite: A Pyro Order ability that utilizes fire to manipulate the emotions of the target by ‘igniting their soul’. Essentially, it makes them more passionate and motivated. It can also be used to destroy ice blockades and shield Raidou from cold environments.

Cool Down: A Frost Order ability that utilizes ice for the opposite effect of ‘Ignite’, making the target more calm and docile. It can also destroy molten barriers, freeze rivers, and shield Raidou from fiery environments.

Inspect: A Volt Order ability that creates an omnidirectional pulse of electricity to detect hidden objects.

Light Up: A Volt Order ability that brings light to areas shrouded in darkness.

Scout: A Wind Order ability in which the demon surveys an area for hidden objects and treasure.

Kamikaze: A Wind Order ability that lets the user ride designated ‘wind paths’ to move from area to area.

Use Force: A Fury Order ability in which the demon destroys blockades, or moves large objects.

Read Mind: A Pagan Order ability that lets the user read the thoughts of the target.

Transform: A Skill Order ability in which the demon can transform Raidou into any human or animal, provided he has the DNA (usually a strand of hair) of the life form in question.

Summons

In total, Raidou has access to over 140 demons. I will be focusing on demons Raidou fights as bosses (and become fusible), demons he gains the ability to fuse via side quests, demons with unique abilities, and demons Raidou is shown to use in spinoff material. But theoretically any of these demons and the abilities they have should be available to him. The full list of demons he can use can be found here and here. 

Poltergeist

Mischievous spirits known mostly for haunting houses. While weak relative to other demons, Raidou will use them for reconnaissance work. Though much like unpaid interns, they are known to get a bit drunk on the job.

Dormarth

A canine from Celtic mythology that acts as a guard to the gateway to the afterlife. While commonly portrayed as an actual canine, this is Shin Megami Tensei we’re talking about. So instead, Dormarth takes the form of an anthropomorphic, furry, dog waifu. Raidou summons her in the prequel novel. Along with being a skilled tracker, Dormarth’s howl is capable of stunning and binding any enemy that hears it.

Orthrus 

A two-headed guard dog from Greek myth, who Heracles encountered during his 12 labors. Raidou utilizes the creature in the Lone Marebito manga, usually as a steed. The creature consistently specializes in fire magic across the SMT games.

Gozuki & Mezuki

Two animal-headed demons from Chinese & Buddhist myth, who act as gatekeepers to the afterlife. Raidou typically summons these two as a duo to act as muscle in fights. While physically quite strong, they’re also pretty dumb when Raidou isn’t providing them guidance.

Alraune

A cursed spirit from Norse mythology who takes the form of a naked woman covered in vines (kinky). This spirit can feed off the blood of enemies, mess with their minds with charm, and create an entanglement of vines strong enough to stop a speeding train.

Ippon-Datara

One-legged, one-eyed monsters of the forge, said to live in the mountains of Kumano Japan. It’s theorized they are the degraded form of the Blacksmith god, Ame no Me-Hitotsu no Kami. When not disguising himself as a maid, this demon can use his hammer for physical attacks, and spells to buff allies. 

Okay Boomer...

Though his most noteworthy ability is creating and removing enchanted barriers. These barriers typically need to be hit with a specific elemental attack in order to be destroyed. Some will keep regenerating. Others just straight up won’t let you pass them unless you meet the specific qualifications (such as being a demon). Yet Ippon-Datara can just… Disregard all that, and create and remove the barriers.

Jack Frost

The frost fairy and Atlus’ 4th wall breaking Hee-Homeboy mascot. Capable of using frost magic (doi). While hee is typically a low-level demon ho, Jack Frost and Pyro Jack have both technically defeated Alice, one of the most powerful demons in the series (we’ll get to her later). 

Pyro Jack

The fire parallel to Jack Frost, based on the fabled Jack O’ Lantern. This little devil can fly, shoot and absorb fire, and in Raidou’s prequel novel, had a special ability known as Searching Flame, which lets Raidou track anyone ‘marked’ by this fire. It is unknown if other Pyro Order demons can use this ability, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say they can.

Mokoi

A spirit from Murngin Mythology, born from the shadow of a deceased’s soul, and known for kidnapping and eating children. Pretty dark background for a demon who looks like a rolled up wad of sushi, and talks like an old geezer. He can attack from afar with a boomerang, put people to sleep with Dream Fist, and inflict panic.

Tsuchigumo

An ‘Earth Spider’ from Japanese folklore. Capable of lightning magic, pulling people into the Dark Realm, and in Nocturne, can summon Almighty magic. Raidou encounters one of these creatures early on in his first game, and defeats and later summons it.

Nue

A creature from Japanese Mythology with the head of a monkey, arms and legs of a tiger, the body of a racoon, and the tail of a snake. He’s typically oriented towards physical attacks.

Moh Shuvuu

A Siberian Demoness that takes the form of a humanoid bird. Capable of flight, healing magic, creating cyclones, and negating any debuffs inflicted on allies.

Oumitsunu

A demi-god and grandson of Susano from Japanese Mythology. Said to be capable of moving  large chunks of land and reshaping the geography of Japan itself.  He is able to use lightning magic, and manipulate his own size. He typically fights in this small form in the games, but in the Lone Marebito manga, Oumitsunu’s larger form is shown off. In his larger form, he should be at least 13 meters tall and weigh over 560 short tonnes.

Cu Chulainn

The hero of Irish Myth. Stated to be capable of single handedly defeating an entire army. He typically carries the spear Gae Bolg, which he can control telekinetically.

Scathach

The famed warrior woman from Irish Myth, and teacher to Cu Chulainn. She’s skilled in magic (typically Wind magic), as well as stat buffs, and needle-based attacks.

High Pixie

A high ranking pixie typically tasked with protecting and guarding entrances to the world of the Faerie. The specific one Raidou fuses is a High Pixie once used by a fellow summoner, Nagi. This pixie can use powerful lightning and fire magic, and teleport foes across long distances.

Arachne

The famed spinstress from Greek myth who the goddess Athena turned into a spider. In Shin Megami Tensei, she can invade minds and possess individuals.

Susano-o

The God of Storms in Japanese Mythology. Capable of lightning and wind magic, weather manipulation, binding attacks, and powerful physical strikes.

Kohryu

The giant golden dragon of Chinese lore. Capable of Almighty Magic, resurrection via Samrecarm, and acts as Raidou’s transportation method later on in his 2nd game.

Mada 

The Hindu deity of ‘intoxication’ (read: Drunkenness). Said to be able to grow so large he can consume the Earth, the heavens, and all the Hindu gods in a single bite.

Decarabia

The 69th (nice!) spirit of the Ars Goetia, an occult book that SMT takes a lot of design inspirations from. While typically appearing as a star (in SMT’s case, a starfish), the creature can change its form should it be commanded to.

Hitokotonushi

The aforementioned God of Words, who is,

“Said to proclaim good and bad in a single word. All words uttered by him come true.”

Alongside Wind magic, this demon can inflict death and immobilizing curses on foes, and is said to be able to make the words it utters come true. It can also alter its appearance to take on the form and abilities of other demons.

Mishaguji

 Uh, yeah, if the very questionable design didn’t give it away, this is the Shinto God of Sex, normally associated with stone pillars, and the white Japanese rat snake. In the first Raidou game he stood as the final opposition at the top of Waden One. Beyond the typical demon powers, this god can also teleport foes, mess with their minds with Cursed Bolt, and bind them with… Uh, ‘Cursed Emissions’ (*Shudder*).

Atavaka

Originally a child-eating demon, who would eventually become the Buddhist God of Warfare. This demon can nullify physical damage, and inflict death curses.

Futsunushi

The Shinto God of Swords. He can wield, levitate, and fire dozens upon hundreds of swords at once, and absorb the souls of enemies he has defeated.

Yoshitsune

A historical military general from the Heian Era, noted for becoming popular after his death due to the tragic circumstances of his story. In Raidou’s game, he guards one of the floors to the training tower. As a summonable demon, he can utilize a variety of sword techniques, revive himself from death once per-battle with his Vengeance Seal ability, and has armor that reflects Gun damage and nulls Light and Dark curses.

Tao Tie

Referred to as one of the Four Ancient Evils of Chinese Mythology. This gluttonous sheep-man was sealed by a former Geirin Kuzunoha. Despite this, he was surprisingly chill when Raidou and the present day Geirin Kuzunoha needed him to move the gate to the Abysmal Realm. So much so that he created a huge whirlwind that sucked the Abysmal Realm all the way to the Pojitrawn, Kirby-style.

According to Gouto, this demon did this feat by eating the space between the Pojitrawn and the Abysmal Realm. It’s possible he’s simply referring to the air that was sucked up when Tao Tie created his giant whirlwind. However, if we take this to mean he was literally eating the space, he would also have spacial hax.

Raiho

A Jack Frost who became a huge Raidou fanboy, and decided to cosplay as him. It’s his goal to one day become the one and only ‘Raiho the 15th’. He has the regular Jack Frost’s ice magic, but can also summon forth the (REALLY fucking annoying) Samurai Frost: A giant Jack Frost automaton in samurai armor that charges forth to attack enemies. And while he’s never done so as a summonable ally, being a Devil Summoner in training, Raiho can technically summon other demons to assist him. That’s right, one of Raidou’s demon summons can also summon demons.

Mara

The embodiment of evil and great tempter in Buddhist Myth… And because ‘Mara’ is apparently slang in Japanese for dick, he’s also a giant penis chariot… Questionable design choices aside, Mara is undoubtedly one of the hardest (huehuehue) bosses in the series, and one of the best summonable demons.

Alongside Charm and Healing spells, Mara has several… ‘Unique’ abilities such as the powerful physical attack… ‘Hell Thrust’, and the binding… ‘Cursed Emission’.

Mara’s power is so great, his mere presence will often distort time and space. For example, in the 2nd Raidou game, Raidou’s alternate universe self, ‘Raido Kuzunoha’ fought Mara before being pulled into Raidou’s reality due to Mara’s space distorting abilities.

Asura 

The Great Sun God of Buddhist lore. In the original Shin Megami Tensei, he is described to be, “The universe himself and exists within the smallest of things”. In the 2nd Raidou game, he’s also stated to be the one who ‘holds up the universe’. To the extent that when Asura decided to travel back to the past, the Herald of Yatagarasu feared the impact it would have on the balance of their own universe, and thus sent Raidou to stop him. 

Asura is normally one of the physically strongest demons in a given Shin Megami Tensei game, but can also use Almighty Magic, and has a special stat buff known as Agni’s Blessing.

Nebiros

The Black Baron, General of Hell, and 24th demon of the Ars Goetia. He’s immune to almost all forms of physical damage, something reflected in his ability to block any physical damage (and his own statements). He’s also a master of death curses, knowledgeable about ores, plants, and animals, and is said to be the most skilled soul manipulator in Hell. Beyond simply being able to remove the souls of people from their body, Nebiros also utilizes the Staff of Death, a weapon capable of taking and containing someone’s soul. This is how he was able to contain Alice’s soul after Raidou defeats her. In the original Shin Megami Tensei, Nebiros’ soul manipulation was potent enough to revive and reanimate a town’s worth of corpses in order to create a localized paradise.

To top it off, Nebiros possesses a powerful Almighty attack known as Calamity Cycle, which also inflicts a random status ailment.

Belial

The Red Count, companion to Nebiros, and 68th demon of the Ars Goetia. Alongside Nebiros, he helped create the undead district of Roppongi. He’s one of the most powerful demons of the Chaos alignment. With Will of Flame he can grant a fire affinity that ignores conventional resistances to allies, and with Fire of Lethargy he can inflict an incredible amount of fire damage while also debuffing his opponents. He also has a passive Curse ability, which will randomly send damage inflicted on him back at his opponent.

Alice

Speculated to be the ghost of a girl who died tragically, or the manifestation of a writer’s demented imagination.

Regardless, Alice is one of the most powerful demons in the series. Her side story in the 2nd Raidou game revolves around Nebiros and Belial chasing her across reality because even they had difficulty tracking her, and are implied to actually be weaker than Alice, despite being her caretakers.

Among her unique abilities are her many death curses such as insta-kill Hell’s Eyes, and her trademark Die For Me!, a darkness-based attack that, if it doesn’t insta-kill, will still severely damage most opponents. In addition, she can absorb energy, petrify foes with Petra, throw cards as energy projectiles, summon card-themed knights, teleport, move through mirrors, duplicate herself, and create and trap foes in iron maidens.

Astaroth

The hedonistic 29th Demon of the Ars Goetia, and one of the 4 Dukes of Hell. In SMT lore, he was originally the goddess Ishtar and god Ashtar, who were forcibly fused together by a certain dickish, floating head, becoming the naked, snake-riding Hell Duke that is Astaroth. Aside from simply being one of the big-wigs of Lucifer’s alignment, Astaroth possesses the ability to freely travel through time.

Sandalphon

Brother of Metatron and one of the great angels of Judeo-Christian lore. It’s stated his true form is so large, a human would need 500 years to walk the length of his body.

Beelzebub 

The Right-Hand Man of Lucifer, and one of the most powerful demons in the SMT series, often taking the role of the ‘super boss’ for whatever game he is in.

Being one of the top dogs of Hell, he’s naturally capable of powerful curses, and magic. He can poison foes, transmute them into flies with the Curse of Bael, Reduce all foes’ HP to 1 with Demonic Sigil, induce Ultra Death Damage through Skeptic Crush, and use Death Flies to create a huge eruption of deathly insects that inflict immense Almighty damage and insta-kill anything that doesn’t have immunity to death curses. If we go off of the (really fucking annoying) cursed space that permeates Hell’s Hall, Beelzebub can extend all of these attacks much further than what is shown in battle.

Metatron

The Right-Hand Man and voice of God. Regularly acting as one of the toughest, sometimes the toughest, boss in a given game. Being aligned with the Capital G God, he has incredibly powerful Light and Almighty magic. He can hit foes with devastating almighty magic using Fire of Sinai, and instantly kill most foes with the Light curse, Holy Wrath.

Masakado

Another real-life historical figure from Feudal Japan. He declared himself the country’s emperor and fell in battle, but was enshrined and deified as a Protector God. He is also one of the most prevalent and powerful demons in SMT, typically being found after defeating the Four Heavenly Kings. 

In Flynn’s universe (SMT IV), Masakado defended Tokyo from the ICBM missiles that started the Great Cataclysm by erecting a large stone barrier around the city. A barrier that, for context, none of the other demons in SMT IV could remove. In Raidou’s games, all the crazy shenanigans going on in The Capital causes Masakados’ anger-side to go a bit haywire. Raidou naturally knocks some sense back into him, returning Masakado to his normal self.

When he’s not shrugging off ICBM nukes, Masakado can cast powerful elemental magic, drain a target’s Magnetite with Grudge Sword, create shadow doppelgangers, fire an ailment inflicting homing blast called Flying Head, reflect back damage taken by Raidou with Capital’s Fury, and manipulate fate and luck itself. The effects of this fate/luck manipulation can extend to anything from reflecting all damage (save for Almighty) back at the opponent, reducing all of an opponent’s stats to 1, nullify all forms of damage (save for Almighty), and just flat-out killing all ally demons.

Lucifer

The Fallen Angel and Demon King himself. He takes many forms, from an old man, to a little girl, to a blonde foreigner, to a demonic six-winged angel. He’s perpetually at war with the forces of Law, often showing himself to be as big of, potentially a greater threat than even YHVH.

He can use the most powerful form of all elemental magics, warp reality, cast curses, distort time, resurrect souls, and basically do anything you’d expect the devil to be capable of. Among his unique moves are High King, the most damaging Almighty move in Nocturne, Root of Evil which removes all buffs from foes and inflicts a random ailment, and a passive buff known as Demon’s Blessing.

Like his Law counterpart, he also exists across the multiverse and transcends time and space itself. As evident in Nocturne’s ending where time and space are quite literally destroyed but Lucifer continued to exist, his many appearances across the SMT multiverse, and an interview with Shin Megami Tensei former lead character designer, Kazuma Kaneko. He is also one of the few demons capable of resisting all forms of attacks, including Almighty.

Other

Outside of his demons, Raidou receives assistance from a few other supernatural creatures during his investigations.

Gouto-Douji

Raidou’s partner and mentor. He is actually the original Raidou Kuzunoha who violated the clan’s law. The specific law he broke is unknown, but as punishment he is now forced to guide all future Kuzunohas, and ultimately see them pass on while he continues to exist.

While not used in combat, Gouto is helpful to Raidou’s investigations, being able to track and detect demonic traces. In addition, typically only Raidou can hear his voice. Though other characters who can perceive and commune with demons are capable of speaking with him.

Luck Locusts

Special insects capable of eating the luck of opponents, while bolstering the owner’s luck merely by carrying them. Raidou can carry up to 14. Along with increasing Raidou’s luck stat, when sacrificed, these insects are capable of undoing the negative effects caused by the fate and luck manipulation of other demons (which takes the in-game form of the ‘Luck Roulette’). Even powerful entities such as Lucifer and Shinado will see their effects undone.

Early on in Raidou’s 2nd game, one of the villains, Tatsumi, was able to siphon an entire town’s luck away with just one Luck Locust, and effectively become untouchable. Anyone who would pursue him would be met with misfortune, while he would keep getting lucky.

Cosmology of SMT

https://i.imgur.com/UBwB7Mu.mp4  

While there is no exact layout to SMT’s timeline, or its cosmology, there are a few things that are pretty reliably confirmed.

-The Amalaverse in Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne contains an infinite set of universes. As backed up in numerous statements, and Lucifer’s monologue.

https://i.imgur.com/FDeKfRd.png 

-According to an interview with several of SMT’s creators, SMT I and II take place in the same universe, while Nocturne is its own separate universe, and IV/Apocalypse are also their own separate universes (albeit, all connected to the same multiverse).

https://i.imgur.com/OAnjCQC.png 

-It can reasonably be presumed that SMT I/II, and IV/Apocalypse’s universes are not part of the Amala Network, considering Kagutsuchi is supposed to be the overseer of it all, but has no presence in any other games outside of Nocturne, and is suppose to be a fragment of The Axiom/Great Will, similar to YHVH in the other mainline games.

-It’s not outright confirmed that SMT I/II, and IV/Apocalypse are their own infinite multiverses, but considering Maitreya traveled to 5.67 billion universes before the events of Apocalypse, and there are implied to be more, the multiverse they are a part of is vast, likely infinite just like the Amala Network.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEkUu1KnV2A&feature=youtu.be&t=755 

-There exist realms and dimensions that are on higher planes of existence than the Amala Network and other universes in SMT. Such as the Expanse, the Akarana Corridor, and the Diamond Realm. All of which transcend time and space, and have been used to move to different parts of SMT’s multiverse.

https://i.imgur.com/Qux4mLy.png 

https://i.imgur.com/LAJ9FCQ.png 

-The human world is actually part of the Expanse in SMT II, being the lowest branch (referred to as ‘Malkuth’). This is worth noting, as there are various higher ‘branches’ modeled after the Sefirot, each of which would presumably be their own planes of existence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefirot 

-It’s argued that each of the Vortex Worlds in Nocturne contains 30 planes of existence, though this part seems to be speculation based on the Miroku Scriptures in Nocturne. 

https://imgur.com/a/cB7wR 

-Existing above all of this is YHVH’s Universe, a place ‘More vague and more infinite than any place you’ve ever been.’ This includes places that transcend time, like The Expanse, which is visited in SMT IV Apocalypse.

https://i.imgur.com/CIL2jJR.png 

-Within YHVH’s universe are 4 ‘branes’ or planes of existence, all of which exist infinitely above one another.

https://i.imgur.com/FFbqMJK.png 

-With YHVH’s throne room existing infinitely above the branes of his universe in non-euclidean space.

https://i.imgur.com/bSrGmfy.png 

-And existing infinitely above all of THAT is the Axiom, or Great Reason, the cosmic force from which all of SMT exists, and that cannot be reached out to, defied, or understood by anyone other than transcendental beings like Stephen.

https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Great_Will 

In short, there are many, many higher planes of existence layered on top of several infinite multiverses. This will be important when discussing some of the higher end feats.

Feats

Strength & Destructive Power

-Using his magnetite as a fuel source, Raidou and Tao Tie pulled the gate to the Abysmal Realm, and a storm that covered The Capital all the way to the San’in region (29.29 Teratons of TNT). https://youtu.be/2ZrGPuLHSdo?t=793 

-Destroyed a pretty large meteor during his final battle with Clarion (Lone Marebito, Volume 6, page 29).

https://i.imgur.com/CUHTFHn.png 

-Raidou destroyed the eldritch god Clarion using an oversized sword (albeit, with a temporary power up). (Lone Marebito, Volume 6, pg 114).

https://i.imgur.com/oNIYOBS.png 

Speed & Agility

-Intercepted and parried multiple swords as they were centimeters away from stabbing a fellow summoner (Lone Marebito, Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 26 & 27).

https://i.imgur.com/PVNpSf8.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tGqxwEm.jpg 

-Early on in his detective career, Raidou could dodge sound waves (Raidou Kuzunoha VS. The Messenger of the Dead, Ch. 1).

Durability & Survivability

-Survived being impaled by Futsunushi with multiple swords (Lone Marebito, Volume 1, Chapter 4, Page 2 & 3). 

https://i.imgur.com/9tJHXsZ.jpg 

-In the ending to his 2nd game, Raidou survives a full Agidyne spell from High Pixie no worse for wear.

https://youtu.be/3UcekE58yC8?t=1112 

-If recruited in Nocturne, Raidou can face off against Kagutsuchi alongside Demi-Fiend, and will in-turn survive the destruction of the Amalaverse brought on by Kagutsuchi’s demise (Multiversal+ if not much higher).

https://youtu.be/N8nHuI4cK60?t=702 

Skill & Experience

-Gouto-Douji has stated that of all the Raidous he has guided, Raidou XIV is the most skilled and accomplished. https://i.imgur.com/SMqcdKQ.png 

-Defeated Futsunushi, the God of Swordsmanship, and a being who no one else was able to land a strike on in hundreds of years, even amidst the hundreds of battles Futsunushi took part in, and the hundreds of souls he claimed.

https://i.imgur.com/Jqj6w27.jpg 

-Defeated fellow summoner Geirin Kuzunoha, despite Geirin being much older and more experienced. Geirin later goes on to fight and defeat the ‘shades’ of 14 of his 17 predecessors.

https://youtu.be/tAE0Q1chvMc?t=853 

https://i.imgur.com/dUk1Ccw.png 

-Prior to his first case, Raidou underwent an unspecified ‘grueling training’ to become worthy of the title of Kuzunoha.

https://i.imgur.com/zO8pVfi.png 

-Defeated his future successor, Raidou Kuzunoha XL, despite said successor coming from a more technologically advanced future, and fusing with a giant demonic battleship mech to become the Soulless God Oumagatsu.

https://youtu.be/HLk000nbj54?t=2547 

Scaling

Who Does Raidou Scale to?

Raidou should scale to many of the the strongest entities in Shin Megami Tensei on account of being a match for Demi-Fiend in Nocturne, and defeating Lucifer in his own game. Demi-Fiend completely destroyed the Amalaverse after killing Kagutsuchi, and Lucifer proved to be a match for YHVH, the literal Judeo Christian god, going as far as killing him prior to the events of Shin Megami Tensei V. Speaking of which, Lucifer also stated after their fight that Raidou was the only one capable of changing the future already determined by God.

He should also scale above each and every one of the demons he can summon. Raidou consistently matches and fights alongside his own demons often enough to scale, and his magnetite is the fuel source for everything they do. There’s also the fact that he literally cannot summon or command a demon if he isn’t at their level or higher.

Soulless God Oumagatsu

-Caused earthquakes that could be felt across the entire capital.

https://i.imgur.com/TaOVuSf.png 

Scaling justification: Raidou and his demons fight and kill Oumagatsu in The Soulless Army’s ending.

Maitreya

-Threw 5.67 billion punches in under a second (30.56x Faster Than Light).

https://youtu.be/uEkUu1KnV2A?t=826 

Scaling justification: Raidou can hold his own against Demi-Fiend and Lucifer, who should be leagues more powerful than a mid-game boss from Apocalypse.

The 3 Wise Men

-Outsped the Red Sprite as it was traversing the Schwarzwelt’s Quantum Tunnel. (12 to 28 Quadrillion Times Faster Than Light)

Scaling justification: Shekinah is a more powerful version of The 3 Wise Men. Despite this, she is implied to be either the feminine equivalent to YHVH (meaning equal in power to YHVH), or merely a fragment of YHVH that is weaker than the Demiurge, another fragment of YHVH. Either way, Lucifer and other Messiahs such as Flynn and Aleph have fought YHVH, and Raidou scales to all of them.

Lucifer

-Flew to the moon in seconds. (23% the Speed of Light).

https://youtu.be/Ad0WZQRI-5s?t=180 

Scaling justification: Raidou fights and summons Lucifer.

Kagutsuchi 

-Supplies the energy needed to maintain, destroy, and recreate the universes across the Amalaverse, and is destroying and recreating millions upon billions of them at any given moment ( 4*10^78 joules of energy, bare-minimum).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTAze2MAwMQ&feature=youtu.be&t=1441 

Scaling justification: Raidou can hold his own against Demi-Fiend and defeats Lucifer. Both of whom are stronger than Kagutsuchi. If recruited, he can also fight and kill Kagutsuchi alongside Demi-Fiend.

Mada

-Is stated to be able to swallow the entire universe in one bite. (Quintillions of Times Faster Than Light)

Scaling Justification: Raidou can summon Mada, and has battled demons more powerful than him.

Demi-Fiend

-Survived the complete and total destruction of the Amalaverse (at least Multiversal, if not much higher).

Scaling justification: Raidou can hold his own against Demi-Fiend, defeats Lucifer, and can survive the same event.

YHVH

-Exists several orders of infinity above even the vastness of the Amalaverse, multiple other universes outside the Amalaverse, and multiple realms on higher dimensions that transcend time such as the Expanse, the Diamond Realm, and the Akarana Corridor.

-Transcends time and planes of existence that exist beyond the very concept of time (Omnipresent or Irrelevant speed).

Scaling justification: Raidou defeated Lucifer, who helped defeat YHVH in Shin Megami Tensei II’s Chaos Route, and defeated YHVH in Shin Megami Tensei V. Lucifer also stated Raidou could defy and change the future already set in place by YHVH. 

Note: Raidou himself is not omnipresent (obviously) though his speed is likely immeasurable or irrelevant due to matching beings on-par with YHVH, who is effectively omnipresent.

Stephen (Questionable)

Was able to make contact with and understand The Axiom, and should be even more powerful than YHVH (Multiversal+).

Scaling justification: Demi-Fiend and the other messiahs fought with and matched Stephen while he wasn’t holding back. And Raidou safely scales to Demi-Fiend. However, due to the nature of the Diamond Realm, and the revival the messiahs went through, it’s questioned if the power they possessed while fighting Stephen is something they’re all normally capable of. Regardless, it’s something worth considering.

Weaknesses

Despite the immense power and unique abilities Raidou and his demons can use, they are not invincible. His summoning is limited by how much Magnetite he has, which can be depleted with overuse. If he has no magnetite, he can’t call forth any demons. And while his demon allies are all very loyal, they also have… Differing degrees of competence, with some like Mezuki and Gozuki having trouble doing just about anything without Raidou’s commands.

In addition, Raidou needs to have his summoning tubes on-hand to call forth his demons. Should said tubes be taken away, he’ll be out of luck, and have to rely on his own abilities. Though it is worth noting he always keeps one spare tube hidden beneath his pant-legs in case all of the ones he keeps on his vest are taken.