Persona (Japanese: ペルソナ Hepburn: Perusona), also known 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, and was originally based on the high school setting of Shin Megami Tensei If.... The first entry in the series, Revelations: Persona, was released in 1996. There have since been nine further console titles (five main entries and four spin-off titles), with the latest, Persona 5, being released in 2016. The series takes its title from the beings used by characters in battle, manifested from a character's personality.