The Shin Megami Tensei series is pretty popular on its own, but over here in the States (and a lot of the western world), the spin-off series Persona has seen much more prevailing popularity than a lot of the main series games.
Persona is well-known for incorporating a lot of characters from various world mythologies, as can be seen in the Tarot system that exists as a categorization for companions in the game. Chi You is a Persona that appears in the 5th game in the series and a few others, so we'll be digging into the story behind the character.
10 He's Considered A Founding Father Of China
There are a good few mysteries surrounding the history of China, and Chi You specifically. There are varying reports as to whether or not there ever was a Chi You historically, or if it's just an invention of the minds of the people of the nation. One thing's for sure, and that's that Chi You, whether he ever existed or not, is counted among the 5 Emperors, who were legendary men described as having founded China as a nation.
9 He's Half Man, Half Bull
There are plenty of different renditions of Chi You across the ages, but some of the most common of them describe Chi You as a half man, half bull, more or less like a reverse minotaur. The other descriptions of his physical appearance tend to vary from source to source. He's often described as having 4 eyes and 6 arms, and the hindquarters of a bear, considering he doesn't have a normal humanoid shape.
8 He's A Descendant Of The Flame Emperor
Chi You is said to be related to the Yan Emperor, who's also known as the Flame Emperor. He was supposed to be a legendary ancient Chinese leader, who comes from the Sheep's Head Mountains, in Northwest China.
The Yan emperor is credited with fighting tons of important battles in China's history, in addition to helping found alchemy by tasting various herbs to learn more about them.
7 He Fought In The Battle Of Zhoulu
There are a decent amount of mythological circumstances surrounding the Battle Of Zhoulu, which is a battle that took place in ancient China between Chi you and a man named The Yellow Emperor. Basically, they fought each other using all of the elements, from water to fire, until The Yellow Emperor brought out a drought demon which got rid of all the rain which had been making it difficult to fight, leading to Chi You's defeat.
6 He's Worshipped In China To This Day
Chi You is among the deities that are worshipped in Daoism, which is a pantheistic religion that blended with Buddhism back in the day, giving rise to Chan Buddhism, which was the Chinese predecessor to the Japanese Zen Buddhism. He's pretty much relegated to worship as a god of war these days, in addition to being worshipped as an ancestor to certain types of both Chinese and Korean people.
5 There's A Whole Manwha Influenced By Him
For those who aren't familiar with the term, a Manwha is essentially a Korean comic. While most of them come from South Korea, there's also an up and coming scene in North Korea.
The Manwha he's a big part of is called Heavenly Executioner Chiyou and doesn't really have an English translation yet. That being said, it's about a young boy who doesn't have a father, who realizes his dad is none other than a divine executioner.
4 He's Pretty Big In The Ninja Turtles Universe
Chiyou is actually a god who's featured in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, where he's an adversary of our heroes in a half shell. Unfortunately for the Ghostbusters in the crossover edition, he's also an enemy of theirs and a brother to the Rat King and Kitsune. In one of their biggest scraps, he passes through a portal into the world of the Turtles, where he proceeds to take possession of Casey Jones' body.
3 He's Actually Been In Tons Of Video Games
While he's probably best known for appearing in the Persona series, he's also the patron God of the group that the protagonists are opposed to in the cult classic Shenmue series. They seek to raise the spirit of Chi You back into the plane of men.
He's also a major character in La-Mulana and in a PSP game called God Eater, which is an RPG in which the player hunts monsters.
2 Persona 5 Isn't His First Time In The Series
While most recently he's shown up in Persona 5 as a very powerful fusion who shows up once the player makes a fusion after leveling up their relationship with the confidant for the Chariot Arcana, Chi You has also shown up in Persona 3, both Persona Q games, Persona 2, Shin Megami Tensei 4, and even the more niche Devil Summoner series. Wherever he appears in the series, he's nothing if not immensely powerful, despite being one of the lesser-known Personas.
1 He's The Inventor Of Weapons
While there are plenty of things that Chi You is famous for, in Chinese mythology, one of them stands above all others, which is that according to the lore, Chi You is the inventor of weapons. Not just like spears and swords either, but it's pretty much canon that if you can kill someone with it, Chi You invented it. This extends to things like shields and chariots as well.