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So, there might be some people reading through who are thinking, "Man, there's not enough Persona-fusing going on here in a game called Persona!" That's valid, because really, I'm not the best Persona-player out there. However, thread-regular and all-around cool person Tactless Ogre has been posting analyses for Personas available throughout the game, and with their permission I'll be occasionally collecting these analyses into big posts for archival purposes. Along the way I'll also be providing mythological notes on each Persona. Their original posting is left intact, while I'll add commentary in italics. Now then, let's begin volume 1 of Persona Pitstop!
Maso
Maki's initial persona, Maso, a priestess who protected Chinese fishermen. Doesn't come close to Ogun the war god in terms of awesome origins; but Maso is a damn dapper persona. Ice immunity at a time you're likely to start seeing that magic become common and the holy immunity is nice albeit un-needed for this point. The dark magic weakness isn't even something to fear yet as(the one to fire is negligible-ish). we really won't start seeing Mudo and Eiha until a bit later, so she's great to have around. Multi-Bow is her best ability as it can hit multiple times in a row, effectively eliminating a need for her bow. SP is nice and cheap for some easy healing. With this skillset and the bows, the game's subtly telling you "Back row jackass!" with Maki; so the handguns feel like a waste on her really. She'll hit hard as hell with them after an upgrade or two; but the only time you're gonna see her shoot anything is probably in one or two boss battles where the backrow isn't safe for her (almost never). Usually, when jumped, most players just spend the turn defending and reclaiming their proper formations.
In the PSX version, Multi-bow was ungodly devastating to the point where Maki could experience hog so damn much early. Priestess my ass; she was pure 
Airgetlam
Airgetlam, a level 12 Emperor persona is useful for Sebec as certain enemies in there succumb easily to his sleep spell. Emperor arcana know how to blast the shit out of things and perform status magics on occasion. He also refines into a Claimh Solais for Kei, which you'll want if you can't win at gambling for shit as if you can't gamble, he's not getting a decent sword until Deva Yuga. Doubly so in the PSP version as they did some dick things we'll see later 
If you don't put him on Naoya, he's a good choice for Brown, as the natural strength of the emperor more than compensates for Brown's lack of own power.
Airgetlam, the epithet for Nuada that means "Silver Arm," was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He first lost his arm in the battle of Mag Tuired while waging war with the Fir Bolg for control of Ireland, but had it replaced with a silver one.
Ame-no-Uzume
Ameno-Uzume is another Priestess persona that can easily coast the player for a while if they don't have Phaleg. I find myself using her more than Phaleg because I'm not blasted to kingdom come time for death magic (it's still a two hit kill though). However, I can see why you'd go with Phaleg. Ameno-Uzume is also hard to fuse easily in the sense of you're probably going to want to add either bullets someone's not using (Masao) to add a little extra oomph to her one and only one attacking spell (two if the pixie is likely used in her fusion). Phaleg usually outclasses her (doubly so since they share a weakness to dark magic anyway) and Phaleg has Tetraja to help protect from those spells.
Ame no Uzume is the goddess of dawn and revelry in Shintoism. She is most famous for her involvement in an event in which the sun goddess Ameterasu hid herself away in a cave, where Uzume then coaxed her out with an erotic dance that the gods delighted in.
Mokosh
Mokosh (and by extension the entire Empress class) are those persona who look like they have lame skills; but have high damage output if you;re good at fusions and are willing to throw in either extra bullets or get another spell in the mix. For what it's worth. Mokosh suffers a bit of redundancy in her spell lineup (again, if they're weak to one element of gravity, blast, nuclear, electricity, odds are good they're weak to the others as well) but that rank 7 spell hurts like a fucking truck. I've summoned her constantly and always get a good use out of her.
Mokosh is the Slavic goddess of women's work and women's destiny, including spinning, weaving, and the shearing of sheep. She has been worshipped as both a force of fertility and the ruler of death.
Fuutai
Fuutai is odd. He does lack some magical oomph despite a decent spell selection; but he's not entirely useless. Even though the women have the better compatibility with him; they've all got better persona to use, so he's still not bad on the men. It's a slog to reach him to rank 8 for his return item. He (and usually Hermit personae) give the DX/TEC stat such an amazing boost that it's disgusting. A bonus to him is the reflection of mind and nerve magic, which protects you from status effects. That's not too helpful here, but one down the line is much better for that.
Fuutai is a tiger-tailed god who supposedly lives in the mountains in China's Henan province. He has the ability to move the heavens and earth, and can cause storms.
Urvashi
Urvashi is admittedly a bit boring but she knows her role, which is to blast the fucking shit out of everything with ice magic. Magician arcana personae are usually one trick ponies (but by the gods, they're good at that one trick) and they're really easy to score blue arrow fusions with, allowing you to both add a spell and bullets to their lineup for extra damage to their repertoire. I forget the other monster needed at the moment, but you can fuse her with the Ghost monster to get her with some dark magic.If the fusion is blue arrow or circle, her M.ATK is usually around 171 by rank 7. A good choice for Masao which while it takes away from his Axe power, gives him additional speed and the lack of his own DX is supplemented by the M.ATK of this arcana.
Urvashi is a nymph in Hindu lore who is infinitely charming but always elusive. She was considered to be the most beautiful nymph and resided in Indra's court as a celestial maiden.
Gozu-Tennoh
Glass Cannon de-jour. Chariot Arcana are pretty much what you expect out of Masao: Going last four times out of five; but they're usually sweeping up the remnants with obscenely high powerful magic. The drawback to this arcana though is that Chariots are usually frail and Gozu-Tennoh is no exception. Low M.Def combined with common weaknesses may get him killed before you can launch nuclear hell on the enemies. By the flipside though; endure or go first and whatever he dishes out will absolutely fucking hurt if not kill. Not counting the nuclear magic; even his physical techs hurt pretty nicely. Chariots also usually gain great bonuses from Fairies and Jaki fusions as well as Drake and Raptor fusions. You can pair him up with a speedy Naoya or even Maki. Brown can't use them though which is one drawback.
Gozu-Tennoh, whose name means "Ox-Headed Heavenly King," is a protector deity in Japanese Buddhism. He has had many different names and purposes in different religions, but his chief feature is that of a relation to epidemic disease - either spreading it or protecting his followers from it.
Pyro Jack
Lovers arcana persona in this game are all low-leveled persona specializing in Luck (Pixie can outright shoot your luck stat to the moon) and one element. They're all utterly forgettable and this one is no exception. Yoma and Jirae are your optimal choice for fusion with them. He's not bad if you need a fire-starter as fire is a nice strength to have; but keep in mind his weakness to all the secondary elements.
Pyro Jack (known as Jack o'Lantern in Japanese) comes from the will-o'-the-whisp phenomenon, in which a distant person carrying a lantern would appear to be a spirit. He may also be based off of the tale of "Stingy Jack," in which a person who could not get into heaven was doomed to wander the earth as a pumpkin-headed soul.
Lilim
Lilim is one of two Moon Arcanum persona. These personae are surprisingly defensive but their key defensive trait is that they absorb all magic except for holylight and are weak to almost all forms of attack. This is a godsend at this stage in the game considering you're really likely to get blasted for dark instead of light magic. Don't mind the physical weakness. Provided you keep up with armor, physical attacks will not kill you. The two drawbacks to this arcana is the lack of real offensive presence and the spell card fusions for making them tend to be underwhelming when making them alone. Feel free to get a blue circle fusion (Raptor and Grave) with them and throw in a stone of your choice.
Lilim are daughters of the succubi queen Lilith and the god of death Samael. They were said to tempt men and kidnap children.
Janus
Alternate between Eternal White and Eternal Black and you're guaranteed a nuke every time. He's got fantastic elemental coverage and he's VERY easy to fuse with Jaki and Jirae or Grave and Foul cards for a blue arrow fusion. He hits hard and returns for Masao's Mandau spoon. This axe jumps his attack power from Guten Tag's ~45 to a 181. He's not getting another good axe until the endgame. The only drawback to him is more present on Persona's hard mode in that SP doesn't regenerate as fast, so you may need to start carrying around SP regenerating items. Use him and use him well; then return him when he's done.
Janus is the Roman god of gates, doorways, duality, beginnings, and endings. He is often depicted as having two faces on each side of his head, as he looks to the future and the past.
Brahma
This is one of three early game personae that should only be made if you bought the respective totem at the casino in the first world. He's not too bad. He'll blast the shit out of everything with ice magic and a good fusion gets you some high power with it; much like Urvashi. He actually absorbs physical attacks, like an inverse moon arcana; but the tradeoff is that unlike absorbing magic which is the bee's knees; absorbing physical isn't as helpful as you'd like it to be. Still, he's damn good on Bufula and Mabufula alone.
Brahma is the Hindu deity who creatured the universe and is part of the trinity of Devas known as the Trimurti. He is responsible for granting blessings to humans, gods, and asuras alike, as well as even creating demons. He is thought to represent the concept of Brahman, the ultimate reality.
Vidofnir
Sun arcana persona. There was one before this one, but he sucked in terms of defensive ability and timing of arrival (bad to have a gun weak persona at a time when guns are flying everywhere). Sun arcana persona are fast. God damned fast. Like, even Masao will be going first in combat if given one of these. If you can stop laughing at the fact that your other self is a giant chokey chicken, Vidofnir is pretty nifty. They're easy to fuse up and I'd use a Cath Palug monster to get Baeiha for rank 2 or Divine (Angel) + Raptor class + Bullets for a regular Vidolfnir with a high speed Media at rank 2. Vidofnir returns for a Papageno which is a decent bow for Maki not for raw power's sake; but a good chance to inflict charm status. It's worth putting him on Reiji, Masao or Nanjo if they're dragging their feet in trying to gain EXP in a battle.
Vidofnir, whose name means "tree snake," is a rooster who sits atop the Mímameior tree in Norse mythology. He is the symbol of fire and the sun, and his crowing at dawn signifies the victory of light over darkness