‘Noun: Lepidopterophobia

An extreme or irrational fear of the Lepidoptera order of insects, including skippers, moths, and butterflies’

An artwork of Pandora, the final boss of Persona 1, from the Persona franchise. Making this one was fun, up until I realised that my colour settings had been incorrect for 99% of the piece and I had been drawing it with incorrect colours. Needless to say, I was ‘mildly’ panicked for about an hour until I managed to fix it.

This is the first part out of many in a long-term project I’m planning to do. The Persona franchise is one that I really love due to how it explores themes and messages that resonate strongly with issues and dilemmas relevant to society and the human mind today, and part of that comes from the final bosses of each game. Thus, throughout the next however-many months, I’ll be working on creating artworks of the final bosses and looking at how they are represented thematically.

This first piece is of the final boss of Persona 1, Pandora. While most should recognise the origin of the name, it is actually the motif of the butterfly that is more important. In many cultures, butterflies are associated with the soul, as well as change, life and death, and rebirth. These concepts are featured quite heavily throughout the Persona franchise, and I hope to be able to elaborate on how their nuances are explored and played with as I continue to make these pieces and proceed along the series.