Lots of symbolism is used in persona 3, from the evokers to summon persona to the coffin’s of the dark hour. This topic is to discuss that imagery

So, you guys might have a question about that butterfly.

He has a name, actually. Hang on, this is going to go off-track for a minute.

In Persona and Persona 2 (IS & EP), the primary force for “Good” (sort of) was a being name Philemon. For those following along at home, that name comes from Jung, just as the concepts of Personas and Shadows do. Philemon would awaken Personas in select people (ie your party), as part of the plot. At the end of Persona 2, he… steps down, somewhat, when it comes to direct intervention in the affairs of man.

Thus, in Persona 3, as well as Persona 4, he appears only as a butterfly, and his name is not used.

Igor is his servant – he does all of the work now.

Obviously, this is all tangential to Persona 3, but it explains where the butterfly came from. See, Philemon largely took the form of a human wearing a mask (masks: personas/shadows), but his, I guess totem, was a butterfly and he sometimes appeared in that form.

He appeared as a butterfly because the original Persona opened with the ages-old quote about the man who dreamed he was a butterfly who dreamed he was a man. This quote was of significant relevance to Persona and Persona 2 (other worlds formed of the self, and so on), and thematically still applies to a lesser extent in Persona 3 and Persona 4 (are you the mask, or the person beneath it, etc).

Secondarily, he is a butterfly because the manner of his involvement in the plot of those games involved only awakening the heroes, and no other assistance – so he was, in essence, the butterfly that flapped its wings a hundred miles away to create a storm here, if you follow me.

So, that’s the secret history of that.