, formerly marketed in Western territories as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, is a series of role-playing video games developed and primarily published by Atlus. The series is a spin-off from Atlus' Megami Tensei franchise. The first entry in the series, , was released in 1996. There have since been eight further titles (four main entries and four spin-off titles), with another (Persona 5) in development. The series takes its title from the beings used by characters in battle, manifested from a character's personality.