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List of Touhou Project characters

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This is a list of the characters that belong to the Touhou Project, a series of games by ZUN from Team Shanghai Alice. Most Touhou characters reside in a fictional realm called Gensokyo, where humans and yōkai coexist. Though the yōkai do often prey on the humans while the humans try to exorcise them, no racial animosity actually exists between the two. Many characters also have unique abilities. Since the PC-98 games (from Highly Responsive to Prayers to Mystic Square) are relatively obscure, the characters in and after Embodiment of Scarlet Devil are more widely recognized and popular.

Major characters

File:Reimu UFO.jpg
Reimu in Undefined Fantastic Object.

Reimu Hakurei (博麗 霊夢, Hakurei Reimu)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Mainly able to fly in the sky
  • Residence: Hakurei Shrine
  • Theme Songs
    • Mystic Oriental Love Consultation (PoDD, IaMP, SWR, Touhou 12.3)
    • Maiden's Capriccio (LLS, IaMP)
    • Dichromatic Butterfly ~ Ancients (Shuusou Gyoku, Touhou 12.3)
    • Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle (IN, SWR)
    • Small Color of Spring ~ Colorful Path (PoFV)
  • Also known as: Shrine Maiden of Paradise
Reimu is the main character of Touhou games 1-12. She is the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, a remote building far in the east where the boundaries of Gensokyo and the human world overlap. Reimu is very easygoing—some would say lazy—and hates training. As such, even though she's naturally talented, her offensive and magical abilities are only average. However, she has a strong sense of duty, and if it's for the sake of Gensokyo she can overcome almost any obstacle through sheer perseverance. Her main abilities are flying in the sky, good intuition, and getting along with everyone; even those who were once her enemies. In the games, she is characterized by her homing amulets and yin-yang orbs. In addition to being in all of the Touhou games (save Touhou 9.5), she is featured in Graffiti Kingdom as "Flying Maiden", along with appearing as the Extra Boss #2 in Seihou's Shuusou Gyoku.
File:Marisa UFO.jpg
Marisa in Undefined Fantastic Object.

Marisa Kirisame (霧雨 魔理沙, Kirisame Marisa)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: High-powered magic
  • Residence: Forest of Magic
  • Theme Songs:
    • Love-colored Magic (SoEW, IaMP)
    • Dim. Dream (PoDD)
    • Vessel of Stars ~ Casket of Stars (LLS, SWR)
    • The Witches' Ball ~ Magus (Shuusou Gyoku, IaMP)
    • Love-colored Master Spark (IN)
    • Oriental Dark Flight (PoFV)
  • Also known as: Ordinary Sorceress
Marisa is the secondary main character of Touhou games 3-12, although she makes her first appearance in the second game (Story of Eastern Wonderland) as an enemy. Marisa is a human magician who lives in a cluttered house in the Forest of Magic. She is friends with Reimu and visits her often, but otherwise is solitary and spends most of her time researching magic. She is also an avid collector stuffing her house with various items, and would go "borrowing" things from others without returning them. She is selfish, sometimes violent, and has a disagreeable manner. Underneath, though, she is honest and a hard worker. This makes it strange that she is friends with Reimu, whose powers are purely from talent while she had to work very hard to get her own to the same level. Her ability is high-level destructive magic. In the games, her attacks are characterized by stars and lasers. Consistent to her "borrowing", many of her spells are lifted from other characters, such as her signature "Master Spark" which was originally Yuka's, or her "Nondirectional Laser" attack, which was originally Patchouli's attack. She has appeared in Seihou's Shuusou Gyoku, as Extra Boss #1.

New characters

Highly Responsive to Prayers

Shingyoku (しんぎょく)
  • Theme Song: The Positive and Negative
The stage 5 boss. A gate keeper that has three forms: as a yin-yang orb, a female priestess, or a male priest.
YuugenMagan (幽玄魔眼, Yūgenmagan)
  • Theme Song: Angel's Legend
The stage 10 boss of the Makai route. A hovering set of evil eyes, connected by electricity.
Elis (エリス, Erisu)
  • Species: Devil
  • Theme Song: Magic Mirror
The innocent devil, stage 15 boss of the Makai route.
Sariel (サリエル, Sarieru)
  • Species: Angel
  • Residence: Fallen Shrine
  • Theme Song: Now, until the moment you die, Let's die all together
The Angel of Death, final boss of the Makai route.

Mima (魅魔)
  • Species: Demon
  • Residence: Hakurei Shrine
  • Theme Song: Angel's Legend (Highly Responsive to Prayers), Complete Darkness (Story of Eastern Wonderland), Reincarnation (Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream)
First appearing as the stage 10 boss of the Jigoku route, Mima returns in later PC-98 games with much greater roles. She is a Ghost that haunts the area around the Hakurei Shrine. She is very confident in her abilities, and even boastful of them. Although she claims during Story of Eastern Wonderland to want revenge against the entire human race it's not known what Mima's motivations for that are. She is also attempting to revive herself. Although she is often called a ghost, during Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream, Mima denies being dead and tries to explain herself as being "just a soul."
Kikuri (キクリ)
  • Theme Song: Magic Mirror
Stage 15 boss of the Jigoku route. Alternately named the "Hellish Moon", she is a bronze moon-like orb surrounded by a sickly purple aura and engraved with the image of a young girl.
Konngara (こんがら, Kongara)
  • Theme Song: Swordsman of a Distant Star
The Astral Knight, final boss of the Jigoku route.

Also present:

Story of Eastern Wonderland

Genjii (玄爺)
  • Species: Turtle
  • Ability: Flight
Reimu's pet turtle that she caught during her training. As he had lived for a very long time, he gained many mystic powers, one of which is to fly. Reimu rides on him to fly, for Touhou 2 to 5, but after that she learned to fly by herself, and Genjii has not been seen since then.
Rika (里香)
  • Species: Human
  • Theme Song: She's in a temper!!
An engineer in Gensokyo that is the boss of stage 1 and the extra stage. She pilots the "Flower Tank" on stage one and "Evil Eye Sigma" on the extra stage. Unlike many other scrolling shooters where mechs are the primary enemy, Rika is the only character in the series to pilot vehicles in a boss fight.
Meira (明羅)
  • Species: Human
  • Location: Forest of Magic
  • Theme Song: Power of Darkness
A female samurai who seeks the power of the Hakurei family. Stage 2 boss.

Also present:

Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream

Ellen (エレン, Eren)
  • Species: Witch
  • Ability: Inability to grow old
  • Theme Song: Tabula rasa ~ The Empty Girl
Ellen is a witch who is eternally young. In fact, she has lived so long she never remembers anything. Has a cat named Socrates. She is a cameo from the manga Hatarakimono by Izumi Takemoto, who ZUN is a fan of.

Kotohime (小兎姫)
  • Species: Human
  • Theme Song: Maniacal Princess
A princess who claims to be a police officer. She does not act as befits her rank, and is known to be a collector in things where other people find no interest in.

Kana Anaberal (カナ・アナベラル, Kana Anaberaru)
  • Species: Poltergeist
  • Theme Song: Vanishing Dream ~ Lost Dream
A one-sided poltergeist created by a mentally unstable girl. As the inhabitants of her house have stopped taking any notice of her, she is looking for another place to haunt.

Rikako Asakura (朝倉 理香子, Asakura Rikako)
  • Species: Human
  • Theme Song: Visionary Game ~ Dream War
One of the few believers in science in Gensokyo. However, she is also a considerably powerful magic user. Though she does not like magic much, science alone won't get her anywhere, so she mixes both. She may be the same as Rika from Touhou 2. She is the only meganekko in the Touhou series.

Chiyuri Kitashirakawa (北白河 ちゆり, Kitashirakawa Chiyuri, alternate spelling Tiyuri Kitashirakawa)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Artificial Magic
  • Residence: Dream Ruins
  • Theme Song: Sailor of Time
Yumemi's assistant who acts overly familiar towards her. It seems their relationship is not simply boss/subordinate. Although she looks too young to be an assistant professor, it's because she earned her Ph.D. (in comparative physics) at the age of 15. Speaks rather strangely, especially for a young girl. Most of her mannerisms were later adopted by Marisa.

Yumemi Okazaki (岡崎 夢美, Okazaki Yumemi)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Artificial Magic
  • Residence: Dream Ruins
  • Theme Song: Strawberry Crisis!!
Professor of comparative physics at an unnamed university in a world beyond Gensokyo. In this world, a grand unification theory has been developed; when Yumemi presented an expanded theory that included magic to her academic society, she was laughed at. She came to Gensokyo to do research and make her case infallible.

Ruukoto (るーこと, Rūkoto)
  • Species: Robot
  • Residence: Hakurei Shrine
A nuclear-powered maid Reimu requested in the ending of Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream. She's the only non-controllable and non-fightable Touhou character to have appeared in an official Touhou game.

Also playable:

Lotus Land Story

Orange (オレンジ, Orenji)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Location: Mountain Path
  • Theme Song: Decoration Battle
A very minor yōkai who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the game, her name appears as two question marks, and "Orange" is only revealed in the character profiles of the game.

Kurumi (くるみ)
  • Species: Vampire
  • Residence: Lake of blood
  • Theme Song: Scarlet Symphony ~ Scarlet Phoneme
Kurumi is a vampiress that lives on an island in the center of the lake of blood. She guards the lake and prevents others from passing by unhindered.

Elliy (エリー, Erī, alternate spelling Elly)
  • Species: Unknown
  • Residence: Mugenkan
  • Theme Song: Spirit Battle ~ Perdition crisis
Elliy is the gate guard of Mugenkan. Though seemingly powerful, the mansion rarely has any visitors, and thus she's out of practice as far as danmaku is concerned.

Yuka (幽香, Yūka, alternate spelling Yuuka)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Residence: Mugenkan
  • Theme Song: Sleeping Terror, Faint Dream ~ Inanimate Dream
Yuka is a powerful yōkai who lives in a mansion, Mugenkan, on the boundary between the dream world and the real world. In Lotus Land Story, an unknown act of hers radiated magical power across the worlds, sending the evil spirits in Reimu's shrine into a frenzy and attracting Marisa's notice and curiosity. She is often seen carrying a parasol, which is capable of firing the "Kyokutai Laser". This laser is later adopted by Marisa as her signature "Master Spark".
For her later appearance in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, see Yuka Kazami.

Mugetu (夢月, Mugetsu, alternate spelling Mugetsu)
  • Species: Demon
  • Theme Song: Illusion of a Maid ~ Icemilk Magic
A human-looking, blonde-haired girl in a maid uniform. Younger sister of Gengetu. Although she is dressed like a servant, she tells the player characters that the area in which they fight is her world; it doesn't seem she works for Yuka or anybody else.

Gengetu (幻月, Gengetsu, alternate spelling Gengetsu)
  • Species: Demon
  • Theme Song: Cute Devil ~ Innocence
A blonde girl in pink with red bows and white, insect-like wings. Older sister of Mugetu. Seems to be the stronger of the two.

Also present:

Mystic Square

Sara (サラ)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Residence: A mountain cave that holds a doorway to Makai
  • Theme Song: Magic Formation ~ Magic Square
The gatekeeper of Makai, but she was easily downed. Her name comes from the Sara from Izumi Takemoto's short manga Crystal Egg.[1]

Luize (ルイズ, Ruizu)
  • Species: Demon
  • Residence: Makai
  • Theme Song: Spiritual Heaven
A resident of Makai, she attacks the main characters as they are invading. Her name comes from the character in Izumi Takemoto's short manga Downtown Stories: Rooftop Serenade.[1]

Alice (アリス, Arisu)
  • Species: Unknown (Human or Magician)
  • Ability: Magic
  • Residence: Pandæmonium
  • Theme Song: Plastic Mind, the Grimoire of Alice
A girl whose powers come from the forbidden "Grimoire of Alice" and is quite powerless without it. She first appears in stage 3, trying to stop the protagonists but fails eventually, she then returns in the extra stage. She is a reference to the Alices of Shin Megami Tensei, Asura Blade: Sword of Dynasty, and Alice in Wonderland.[1]
For her later appearances in the Windows games, see Alice Margatroid.

Yuki (ユキ)
  • Species: Magician
  • Residence: Makai
  • Theme Song: Crimson Maiden ~ Crimson Dead!!
A black witch who appears with Mai on the fourth stage, and is angered when Mai is defeated before she is. Specializes in fire magic.

Mai (マイ)
  • Species: Magician
  • Residence: Makai
  • Theme Song: Treacherous Maiden ~ Judas Kiss
A white witch who appears with Yuki on the fourth stage, and fights more seriously when Yuki is defeated before her. Specializes in ice magic.

Yumeko (夢子)
A sword-throwing maid who serves Shinki, she is ranked in the top class in the Makai.

Shinki (神綺)
The creator of Makai. Because she is the maker of everything in Makai, the residents of Makai see her as God. As the final boss, she personally rains the punishment on the four intruders of Makai.

Also present:

The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil

Rumia (ルーミア, Rūmia)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Ability: Manipulation of darkness
  • Residence: Unknown
  • Theme Song: Apparitions Stalk the Night
  • Title: Yōkai of the Dusk
Boss of Stage 1. A minor yōkai who has the physical appearance of a young girl with blond hair and red eyes. She doesn't have a significant impact on the story. She merely gets in the players' way as they travel to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Her ability is to create a sphere of night around her, but as it impedes her own vision significantly, it is not useful in combat. She usually spends her days fluttering around aimlessly. Fans speculate that her hair ribbon, an amulet which she can't touch, seals her true power.

Daiyousei (大妖精, Daiyōsei)
  • Species: Fairy
  • Ability: N/A
  • Residence: Misty Lake
Stage 2 mid-boss. An almost inconsequential character who received no character profile in the game; fans named her Daiyousei (lit. "Big Fairy"). ZUN later attributed her as bright, playful, and full of expressions. Sometimes appears in dōjinshi with Cirno.[2]

Cirno (チルノ, Chiruno)
  • Species: Ice fairy
  • Ability: Manipulation of chills
  • Residence: Misty Lake
  • Theme Song:
    • Tomboyish Beloved Daughter
    • The Adventures of the Tomboish Beloved Daughter
  • Title: Ice Fairy of the Lake
Stage 2 boss. An ice fairy that lives on the lake surrounding the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Although she's weak from the players' perspective, she is one of the strongest of her kind in Gensokyo. However, she is not very bright, and is a joke character second only to Meirin. Her hobby is freezing frogs and watching them revive as they thaw, but she tends to shatter them instead by accident. Unlike Letty Whiterock, she radiates cold air year-round, and can stay awake even in spring and summer.
She is often called "⑨" by fans, and the character "⑨" is regarded as a symbol of "Baka" (Stupid), since ZUN labeled her as such in the manual of Phantasmagoria of Flower View.

Hong Meirin (紅 美鈴, Hon Meirin, alternate spelling Hoan Meiling, Hong Meiling)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Ability: Manipulation of qi
  • Residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion
  • Theme Song: Shanghai Alice of Year 17 of Meiji
  • Title: Chinese Girl
Stage 3 boss. A Chinese girl serving as the door guard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Canonically, she is known to be a very humanoid yōkai who practices martial arts, but is generally friendly towards humans. However, as Japanese fans find it hard to remember her name, she is often referred to just as "Chūgoku" (meaning China) and became a very popular joke character. In dōjinshi, she is usually portrayed as a rather pitiful character, abused by the other residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. In terms of popularity, though, she defeated all characters from TH6-8 to win the second Touhou Saimoe popularity contest, and was added as a playable character in a patch for Immaterial and Missing Power, despite not having a story of her own. Recurring jokes with Hong Meirin in dōjinshi usually involve her being stabbed with Sakuya's knives, usually due to Meirin's clumsiness or inability to keep unwanted visitors, such as Marisa, out of the mansion. However, Sakuya does care for Meirin's well-being, as demonstrated in Eastern and Little Nature Deity / Strange and Bright Nature Deity. In Touhou 12.3, she is reintroduced as a playable character, this time with her own storyline.

Koakuma (小悪魔)
  • Species: Devil
  • Ability: N/A
  • Residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion
Stage 4 mid-boss. Similar to Daiyousei, she received no character profile in the game and was named Koakuma (lit. "Little Devil") by fans. However, she is quite popular considering her status, more so than some of the lesser liked stage bosses. ZUN later described her to be like Daiyousei — whimsical, enjoys pranks, and doesn't think before doing. He also added that while devils are powerful as vampires and magicians, Koakuma is a rather weak one, therefore, she is a Koakuma (Little Devil).[2]

Patchouli Knowledge (パチュリー・ノーレッジ, Pachurī Nōrejji)
  • Species: Witch
  • Ability: Magic, especially elemental magic
  • Residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion
  • Theme Song: Locked Girl ~ The Girl's Secret Room
  • Title: The Girl of Knowledge and Shadow
Stage 4 boss, and a playable character in Immaterial and Missing Power, and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. A scholar who is a friend of Remilia Scarlet's. She resides in the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and is the de facto librarian. In fact, she rarely leaves it and is somewhat of a hikikomori. She has command over the seven elements (which the Japanese days of the week are named after, making her the "One-week Wizard") and is in theory an extremely powerful magician. However, her constitution is very poor and asthma often prevents her from reciting her spells. She has a tenuous relationship with Marisa, who tends to carry off her books without asking.

Sakuya Izayoi (十六夜 咲夜, Izayoi Sakuya)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Manipulation of time
  • Residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion
  • Theme Song:
    • Lunar Clock ~ Luna Dial
    • Flowering Night (PoFV)
  • Title: Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion
Stage 5 boss, and a playable character in Touhou games 7-9, 10.5 and 12.3. Sakuya is the only human living in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, yet she is also the head maid. The official fanbook suggests she had been a vampire hunter before she began working in the mansion, but she was defeated by Remilia Scarlet who pitied her and gave Sakuya her current name. Though she looks about sixteen like the other girls, Sakuya has the ability to slow, stop and possibly reverse time. She seems to have been serving Remilia for a long time and may be far older than she looks. Socially, she interacts mainly with the others in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Her talents are cooking, knife throwing and time manipulation. The latter two abilities characterize her appearances in-game, and led to frequent parodies in reference to Dio Brando of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, who also controls time and throws knives. This reference goes so far as Sakuya using some of his poses in a game. She is often associated with dogs by other characters because she is serving as a demon's "faithful guard dog" even though she is a full blood human. Due to the inconsistent artwork depicting her bust between games, dōjinshi often make fun of her by indicating that she pads her breasts.
Her name "Sakuya" literally means "Flowering Night", the same as her background music theme in Touhou 9 and later appearances.

Remilia Scarlet (レミリア・スカーレット, Remiria Sukāretto)
  • Species: Vampire
  • Ability: Manipulation of fate
  • Residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion
  • Theme Song: Septet for the Dead Princess
  • Title: Eternally Young Scarlet Moon
Final boss, and a playable character in Touhou 7.5, 8, 10.5 and 12.3. Remilia is the vampiric mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion who claims to be descended from Vlad III Dracula although she is not. She is known as the Scarlet Devil as when she feeds, the blood of her victims stains her dress red. Apart from her unpleasant needs, she's hardly malicious enough to deserve such a title; merely childish, even though she's over five hundred years old. Although being a vampire is normally a lonely life, she has a good relationship with her many employees (including Sakuya and Meirin). Reimu is one of the few humans who tolerates her, and Remilia seems quite fond of her in turn. Marisa also gets along with her in exchange for access to her library. Her power is the control of fate (which has never been overtly demonstrated in the games). She prefers melee fighting to danmaku, but when she does resort to the latter, she is fond of red round bullets.

Flandre Scarlet[3] (フランドール・スカーレット, Furandōru Sukāretto, alternate spelling Frandre Scarlet,[4] Frandle Scarlet)
  • Species: Vampire
  • Ability: Destruction of any and everything
  • Residence: Scarlet Devil Mansion
  • Theme Song: U.N. Owen Was Her?
  • Title: The Devil's Little Sister
Extra stage boss. Remilia's little sister, sealed away in the basement of the mansion for 495 years because of her destructive power. Despite this, she likes her sister and doesn't usually try to escape. Most vampires hold back somewhat when fighting humans, as they plan to keep them alive and feed from them later, but Flandre was always fed prepared dishes and does not know her food comes from humans. Thus, when fighting them, she does not hesitate and incinerates them without a second thought. In dōjinshi, she is very fond of Marisa and is often portrayed as somewhat crazy for being locked up for so long.
Her theme music, "U.N. Owen Was Her?", is a popular Internet meme and has inspired hundreds of remixes, most notably a video which has Ronald McDonald sing the song using clips from Japanese McDonald's commercials.[5]

Also present:

Perfect Cherry Blossom

Letty Whiterock (レティ・ホワイトロック, Reti Howaitorokku)
  • Species: Yuki-onna
  • Ability: Manipulation of the cold
  • Theme Song: Crystallized Silver
Stage 1 boss. A yōkai who only appears during winter. In her own words, spring is for hibernation, summer is for sleeping, and autumn is for napping, thus winter is her only time for activity. She enjoys herself in the extended winter, and thus gets in the protagonists' way as they seek to end it; however, she seems to accept the fact that winter must end someday, and doesn't attack them seriously.

Chen (橙)
Stage 2 boss and extra stage midboss. She is a nekomata who was made Ran's shikigami, which makes her a shikigami of a shikigami. She is able to summon powerful oni, but her powers are somewhat limited because of her secondary status. As a cat, she is afraid of the water and cuddles in a kotatsu during winter. She is often depicted as a childish catgirl.

Alice Margatroid (アリス・マーガトロイド, Arisu Māgatoroido)
  • Species: Magician
  • Ability: Magic, especially puppetry
  • Residence: Forest of Magic
  • Theme Song: Doll Judgement ~ The Girl who Plays with Peoples' Shapes
Returning from Mystic Square, Alice is the first PC-98 character (besides the main characters) to make an appearance in the Windows games. She now lives in the Forest of Magic. She is superficially similar to Marisa; they live alone nearby one another, are both magicians, and both of them love to collect things. Alice, however, is quite different in personality. She is aloof, rarely caring much about others and often attacking them for her own amusement. However, Immaterial and Missing Power states that she is actually a coward at heart, which made her into the most abused character in dōjin; there she is a fragile and oversensitive girl who desperately seeks Marisa's affection, nearly the inverse of her in-game character.
Though she still carries the grimoire around, Alice now manipulates dolls to create her danmaku, and is perhaps the most skilled puppeteer in Gensokyo. Of special note is a doll named Shanghai, who is the most prominently featured doll among the games and derivative fanworks. In the official fanbook Perfect Memento of Strict Sense, it is stated that Alice was originally a human who became a magician through training. However, this seems to contradict her background from Mystic Square.

Lily White (リリーホワイト, Rirī Howaito, alternate spelling Lilywhite)
  • Species: Fairy
  • Ability: Reporting spring's approach.
A fairy that heralds the arrival of spring. However, since she expresses herself with danmaku rather than words, her announcement is usually seen as a hostile attack. She is the first midboss to receive an official character profile. In the "Muenzuka" stage of Phantasmasgoria of Flower View, a black version of Lily White shows up instead of the normal version. Fans have named her Lily Black, and gave her a darker character as opposed to the cheerful Lily White.

Prismriver Sisters (プリズムリバー三姉妹, Purizumuribā San-shimai)
  • Species: Poltergeists
  • Ability: Playing musical instruments without physical contact
  • Residence: Poltergeist Mansion
  • Theme Song: Ghostly Band ~ Phantom Ensemble
Bosses of stage 4. They are poltergeists in the shape of three sisters. They were originally daughters of a human noble, but an unfortunate event caused his four daughters to separate. The fourth daughter, Layla Prismriver, was unable to leave the mansion that held so many of her memories. Using her power, she conjured poltergeists with the appearance of her older sisters, then slowly became forgotten along with the mansion and the poltergeists. Even though the humans died with the passage of time, the poltergeists continue their noisy lives in that mansion to this day. The three Prismriver Sisters, now musical performers of some note, were employed by Yuyuko Saigyouji to provide entertainment for the upcoming flower-viewing. The protagonists encounter them at the gate to the netherworld.

Lunasa Prismriver (ルナサ・プリズムリバー, Runasa Purizumuribā)
  • Ability: Playing notes of melancholy
The eldest of the Prismriver Sisters. She plays the violin and prefers solo performances. Honest to a fault, she is perhaps the most well-adjusted of the sisters.

Merlin Prismriver (メルラン・プリズムリバー, Meruran Purizumuribā, alternate spelling Marlin Prismriver)
  • Ability: Playing notes of excitement
The middle child of the Prismriver Sisters. She plays the trumpet. Her magic is the strongest of the three sisters, but her technique is not very good. Despite this, she is cheerful and tends to obsess over things.

Lyrica Prismriver (リリカ・プリズムリバー, Ririka Purizumuribā)
  • Ability: Playing notes of fantasia
The youngest of the poltergeist Prismriver Sisters. Although skilled with all instruments, she prefers keyboard and percussion. She is clever and manipulative, usually goading her older sisters into doing her fighting rather than engaging in battle herself.

Youmu Konpaku (魂魄 妖夢, Konpaku Yōmu, alternate spelling Youmu Kompaku)
  • Species: Half-human half-ghost
  • Ability: Swordsmanship
  • Residence: Hakugyokurō
  • Theme Song: Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When?
Stage 5 boss and stage 6 midboss, in addition, she is a playable character in Touhou 7.5-9, 10.5 and 12.3 as well. Youmu is the gardener of the netherworld pagoda, Hakugyokurō. She comes from a very rare breed, the half-ghosts; in this strange combination, the human half and ghost half exist in physically separate bodies, but are always close by one another. Youmu is very young for a half-ghost, under 60 years; her exact age is unknown. While straightforward, focused and loyal to her mistress, Yuyuko, Youmu is still rather immature, and tends to be a target for teasing by the other girls of Gensokyo (particularly her mistress Yuyuko). Paradoxically, she is afraid of ghosts (the imaginary sort). Her talents are swordsmanship and speed. In the games, she is characterized by creating powerful danmaku with her sword slashes, and slowing time (this is not due to magic as one might expect, but because of time slowing around her body as she goes past at unimaginable speeds).

Yuyuko Saigyouji (西行寺 幽々子, Saigyōji Yuyuko, alternate spelling Yuyuko Saigyouzi)
  • Species: Ghost
  • Ability: Invoke death
  • Residence: Hakugyokurō
  • Theme Song: Bloom nobly, cherry blossoms of Sumizome ~ Border of Life
Final stage boss, also a playable character in Touhou 7.5, 8, 10.5 and 12.3. Yuyuko is the princess of the netherworld pagoda, Hakugyokurō. She is a ghost, but unlike most of her kind, looks entirely human. Living in the netherworld, she doesn't socialize much with the rest of Gensokyo. Her only friend from outside is Yukari. Her family name Saigyouji suggests relations with the famed poet Saigyo. Yuyuko, at first appearance, is a ditz; her mental processes seem to be dedicated mainly to teasing her gardener and servant, Youmu, and anticipating her next meal. However, her usual manner conceals a sharp mind and an almost prenatural depth of insight. For instance, she was the only one to perceive what sort of being Huziwara no Mokou was at first sight. Yuyuko has the power to invoke death in any mortal; however, she uses it rarely and with discretion. Her danmaku are characterized by butterfly-shaped bullets.

Ran Yakumo (八雲 藍, Yakumo Ran)
  • Species: Shikigami (Kitsune)
  • Ability: Control shikigami
  • Residence: The boundaries of Gensokyo
  • Theme Song: A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-Fantasy
Extra stage boss and Phantasm stage midboss. A nine-tailed fox yōkai whom Yukari Yakumo made her shikigami. She is considerably powerful even without her master's support; among other things, she uses this power to maintain her own shikigami, Chen. Since Yukari sleeps twelve hours a day, she handles the work during these times. In dōjinshi, she is often depicted as a harassed servant, doing all the work for her lazy master.

Yukari Yakumo (八雲 紫, Yakumo Yukari)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Ability: Manipulation of boundaries
  • Residence: The boundaries of Gensokyo
  • Theme Song: Necrofantasia
Phantasm stage boss, and playable in Touhou 7.5, 8, 10.5 and 12.3. Yukari is an elder yōkai who dwells on the border of Gensokyo, and may predate the existence of the realm itself. A good friend of Yuyuko's and an acquaintance of Reimu's. She is the self-appointed stewardess of the seal between Gensokyo and the outside world, but doesn't do a particularly good job of it. Most of the time, she is asleep, leaving all the work to her shikigami Ran and Ran's shikigami Chen. When she isn't, she tends to amuse herself by pulling in unprepared humans from the outside world and stranding them in Gensokyo. A very irresponsible yōkai. Her calculation and mathematical skills far exceeds that of Ran, being Ran's master. Her ability is the manipulation of boundaries, and this is in terms of the physical and metaphorical. And such boundaries distinguish her spell cards. Often, though, she just summons her shikigami and various others to create her danmaku for her.

Also present:

Immaterial and Missing Power

Suika Ibuki (伊吹 萃香, Ibuki Suika)
  • Species: Oni
  • Ability: Manipulation of density
  • Residence: Unknown
  • Theme Song: Onigashima in the Fairyland ~ Missing Power
A girl who insists that she is an oni, even though Gensokyo supposedly doesn't have any. Suika and Yugi Hoshiguma were once part of the four devas of the mountains, long ago before the oni retreated underground. As an oni, she loves drinks, feasts, and competition. Despite her small size, she is strong in strength, speed, and mystic powers; she is also several hundred years old. Using her ability to control density, she can gather people to form a banquet, or she can scatter herself to become mist. In Immaterial and Missing Power, she made the residents of Gensokyo have feasts one night after another, intending to draw the joyous oni from hiding.
In Japanese, the pronunciation of her name is the same as watermelon, so this word becomes her common nickname.

Also playable:

Imperishable Night

Wriggle Nightbug (リグル・ナイトバグ, Riguru Naitobagu)
  • Species: Yōkai firefly
  • Ability: Manipulation of insects
  • Residence: Various thickets
  • Theme Song: Stirring an Autumn Moon ~ Mooned Insect
Stage 1 boss. Insects collect around her, and so she often can be seen in the middle of a swarm of insects. With her powers, she can manipulate the flickerings of fireflies with timed synchronicity, or summon swarms of poisonous insects to kill an enemy. Like insects, she is afraid of pesticides and the cold.

Mystia Lorelei (ミスティア・ローレライ, Misutia Rōrerai)
  • Species: Night sparrow
  • Ability: Drive humans berserk by singing
  • Residence: Road of Monsters
  • Theme Song: Deaf to all but the Song
Stage 2 boss and playable character in Touhou 9. A night sparrow that dwells on a road near a human village. She conceals herself by blinding travelers who walk along the road at night, then lures them astray, upon which they disappear without a trace. She is carefree, innocent and loves to sing- considering her nightly activities nothing more than a game. An incident in Imperishable Night in which she was apparently eaten by Yuyuko made her a popular joke character. However, she returned in Phantasmagoria of Flower View.

Keine Kamishirasawa (上白沢 慧音, Kamishirasawa Keine)
  • Species: Were-hakutaku
  • Ability: Consume, conceal, and create history
  • Residence: Human Village
  • Theme Song: Plain Asia
Stage 3 boss. Although half-human and half-beast, she appears perfectly human except during the full moon, when she grows horns. She was not born with therianthropy, and only became a were-hakutaku due to an unknown incident. She loves humans, and considers it her duty to protect the human village, by consuming the village's history to hide it when malicious yōkai pass by; her special ability. However, she is trigger-happy and sometimes mistakes ordinary travelers for such malicious yōkai. Keine opened a terakoya in the village and spends her time teaching children and compling historical records. She seems to have a special relationship with Huziwara no Mokou.

Tewi Inaba (因幡 てゐ, Inaba Tei, alternate spelling Tei Inaba)
  • Species: Yōkai rabbit
  • Ability: Bring fortune to humans
  • Residence: Eientei
  • Theme Song: Lord Usa's White Flag
Stage 5 midboss and playable character in Touhou 9. Based upon the "White Hare of Inaba" story of the Kojiki, she evolved into a yōkai from a rabbit due to her longevity. She is the leader of the earthly bunnies of the Eientei, despite her deceitful personality. She is also a lucky charm—humans who get lost in the forest can always depend on her fortune to find their way, though the humans often don't realize they could have used her fortune for greater things. On the scale of luckiness, hers is equivalent to a 40-leaf clover (compared with only a four-leaf clover).

Reisen Udongein Inaba (鈴仙・優曇華院・イナバ)
  • Species: Moon rabbit
  • Ability: Manipulation of lunacy
  • Residence: Eientei
  • Theme Song: Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon
Stage 5 boss and playable character in Touhou 9, as well as 10.5 and 12.3. A moon rabbit, she came to Gensokyo about 30 years ago to escape a war between the Earth and the Moon. Since then, she has been an apprentice to Eirin, a pet to Kaguya, and a caretaker to Tewi. She has the power to drive people mad with her eyes — mainly in the form of hallucinations — as well as communicate telepathically with her kind. She also has control over waves of all kinds, such as light waves, brainwaves, electromagnetic waves, as well as sound waves, demonstrated during her story in Phantasmagoria of Flower View. "Udongein" and "Inaba" are both nicknames, the first given her by Eirin and the second Kaguya; the latter is what Kaguya calls all rabbits. Despite her power over insanity, Reisen is portrayed as one of the most level-headed and serious characters in the series.
Since her bullets look like suppositories, this makes her a minor joke character. Also according to a series of yonkoma comics approved by ZUN entitled Inaba of The Moon and Inaba of The Earth, despite the care she generally got, Reisen is often abused by her mistress Kaguya and teacher Eirin, mostly by knocking her out for a long time or subjecting her through 'punishment times'. She is also often the subject of many pranks made by Tewi.

Eirin Yagokoro (八意 永琳, Yagokoro Eirin)
  • Species: Human (Lunarian)
  • Ability: Creation of any medicine, natural genius
  • Residence: Eientei
  • Theme Song: Gensokyo Millenium ~ History of the Moon
Boss of Final Stage A and midboss of Final Stage B. A genius pharmacist who once lived on the moon. Kaguya persuaded her to produce the forbidden Hourai Elixir—the elixir of life—and consumed it. They were found out, and Kaguya alone was punished and was sent to the Earth, a fact which Eirin always felt guilty about. Some time later, the moon court pardoned Kaguya's sins and summoned her back. Eirin and a handful of emissaries were sent to retrieve her, but Eirin found out that Kaguya didn't want to return to the moon. Acting out of her past guilt, Eirin betrayed and murdered all the other emissaries under the eyes of the earthlings who had fostered Kaguya. Eirin bribed the earthlings with the Hourai Elixir, in order to keep them silent, and went into hiding with Kaguya in Gensokyo. She is based on the Japanese goddess Omoikane.

Kaguya Houraisan (蓬萊山 輝夜, Hōraisan Kaguya)
  • Species: Human (Lunarian)
  • Ability: Manipulation of eternity and temporality
  • Residence: Eientei
  • Theme Song: Flight of the Bamboo Cutter ~ Lunatic Princess
Final boss of Imperishable Night, Kaguya is actually the Princess Kaguya from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. A princess of the moon, after consuming the forbidden Hourai Elixir and becoming immortal, she was punished by being exiled to live on the Earth. Later, she was pardoned and ordered to return to the moon. However, she preferred her common life on Earth to that as a princess on the moon. Eirin helped her escape the emissaries, and the two went into hiding in Gensokyo. Recently, she has been selling Yagokoro medicine and hosting exhibitions showing various items from the moon. In dōjinshi and fanworks, she is often portrayed as a NEET or unemployed slacker who lays around Eientei all day.

Huziwara no Mokou (藤原 妹紅, Fujiwara no Mokō, alternate spelling Fujiwara no Mokou)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Eternal youth and immortality; Manipulation of fire
  • Residence: Bamboo Forest of Lost
  • Theme Song: Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
Extra Stage boss. Mokou was the daughter of a nobleman (assumed to be Fujiwara no Fuhito), one of Kaguya's suitors during her initial exile on Earth. When he was humiliated by Kaguya's impossible request, Mokou came to hate her. She wanted to take revenge, but Kaguya disappeared before she was able, so she consoled herself by stealing the Hourai Elixir that Eirin had bribed the other humans with, and drinking it to become immortal.
No longer able to fit into human society, she lived as a wanderer and eventually found her way to Gensokyo. There, she was amazed to find that Kaguya was also a fugitive. The two still detest each other, killing one another and reincarnating in a daily ritual. However, Mokou is ecstatic that her eternal enemy is a fugitive like her, and that one who can never die is not such an unspeakable abomination in Gensokyo (though she still leads a solitary life.) Indeed, she has found her paradise. Mokou is able to reincarnate indefinitely, even if her body is destroyed — though she still feels pain. She has control over the flames of the phoenix.

Also present:

Phantasmagoria of Flower View

The characters of PoFV.
Left column:
Reimu, Sakuya, Reisen, Lyrica, Lunasa, Tei, Medicine, Komachi.
Right column:
Marisa, Youmu, Cirno, Marlin, Mystia, Aya, Yuka, Sikieiki.

Aya Syameimaru (射命丸 文, Shameimaru Aya, alternate spelling Aya Shameimaru)
  • Species: Crow tengu
  • Ability: Manipulation of wind
  • Residence: Yōkai Mountain
  • Also known as: Traditional Genso Reporter
  • Theme:
    • Wind God Girl (There are two versions to this song. The version played in Phantasmagoria of Flower View is the short version. The full song is played in Shoot the Bullet)
    • Yokai Mountain ~ Mysterious Mountain
Playable character in Touhou 9, main character of Touhou 9.5 (the only one to be the sole main character of a Touhou game other than Reimu), main character of the fanbook Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, stage 4 boss in Touhou 10, and playable character in Touhou 10.5, as well as 12.3. Aya is a reporter and photographer who runs Gensokyo's one-woman newspaper, the Bunbunmaru Shinbun. She has a serious character, at odds with her reporting; she loves rumors and her newspaper is filled with gossip about the girls of Gensokyo, sometimes on the verge of being a tabloid. To Reimu's irritation, however, she rejects the stories of a certain miko saving Gensokyo as unverifiable. Not one to show off, she rarely fights of her own volition, though she has contempt for those she thinks are weak. As a tengu, she has power over the wind and is the most skilled flier in all of Gensokyo. Her bullets are extremely fast compared to most.

Medicine Melancholy (メディスン・メランコリー, Medisun Merankorī, alternate spelling Medicin Melancory)
  • Species : Doll
  • Ability : Manipulation of poison
  • Residence : Nameless Hill
  • Also known as: Little Sweet Poison
  • Theme: Poison Body ~ Forsaken Doll
An abandoned doll who turned into a yōkai after years of exposure to the poisonous lily-of-the-valleys. She advocates for doll emancipation (despite the fact that she's the only one capable of free will) and dislikes humans because of their manipulation of dolls. For this, Sikieiki judged her to be "too narrow in outlook". Perhaps affected by this statement, she made friends with Eirin Yagokoro, though she still wishes for the liberation of dolls. Her name may originate from A Medicine for Melancholy by Ray Bradbury. In addition to her attacks, she also spews poisonous mists on the battlefield, slowing the player's movement when the player comes in contact with the mists.

Yuka Kazami (風見 幽香, Kazami Yūka, alternate spelling Yuuka Kazami)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Ability: Manipulation of flowers
  • Residence: Garden of the Sun
  • Also known as: Flower-master of the Four Seasons
  • Theme: Past and Present Gensokyo~ Flower Land
Returning from Lotus Land Story, she is the second PC-98 character to appear in the Windows Touhou games, after Alice Margatroid. She loves seasonal flowers, so throughout the year she moves to the respective places where the flowers grow. She has lived long enough to witness several major flower-blooming outbreaks, an event that only occurs once every sixty years, leading Sikieiki to comment that she "had lived a little too long". Similar to the PC-98 Yuka, she is the slowest playable character in the game.

Komachi Onozuka (小野塚 小町, Onozuka Komachi, alternate spelling Komachi Onoduka)
  • Species: Shinigami
  • Ability: Manipulation of distance
  • Residence: Sanzu River
  • Also known as: Guide of the Sanzu River
  • Theme: Higan Retour ~ Riverside View

A shinigami who provides passage across the Sanzu River, Komachi has a role akin to that of Charon of Greek mythology. Despite her rather important job, she doesn't always take it seriously and ends up being scolded by her boss, Sikieiki Yamaxanadu. Her name is thought to have originated from the famed beauty Ono no Komachi. Her attacks come in the form of holed coins, in reference to the "price" one needs to pay to cross the Sanzu River. She re-appears as a playable character in Touhou 10.5 and 12.3.

Sikieiki Yamaxanadu (四季映姫・ヤマザナドゥ, Shikieiki Yamazanadu, alternate spelling Shikieiki Yamaxanadu)
  • Species: Yama
  • Ability: Judge clearly as black and white
  • Residence: Higan
  • Also known as: Highest Judge of Paradise
  • Theme: Touhou Judgement in the Sixtieth Year ~ Fate of Sixty Years
Final boss of the game, Sikieiki is one of the judges of the underworld. It is her job to judge the deceased and decide whether they get sent to Heaven or Hell, or somewhere else. As a part of her job, she can be rather moralistic and would go on and on on her lectures on morals. "Siki Eiki" is her real name; the "Yamaxanadu" part of her name is actually her title, a combination of her status as "Yama" and "Xanadu", the place she is in charge of. "Yama" means that she is a judge of the underworld, and "Xanadu" means paradise.

Also playable:

Also present:

Shoot the Bullet

Shoot the Bullet does not introduce any new characters.

Characters present:

Mountain of Faith

Top row: Shizuha, Minoriko, Hina
Middle row: Nitori, Momizi, Aya
Bottom row: Sanae, Kanako, Suwako

Shizuha Aki (秋 静葉, Aki Shizuha)
  • Species: God of red leaves
  • Ability: Manipulation of red leaves
  • Location: Foot of the Yōkai Mountain
  • Also known as: Symbol of Loneliness and Death
Stage 1 midboss. She and her younger sister Minoriko control the season of autumn together. Of the opinion that red leaves are the best part of autumn, she feels tremendously proud when showing the beauty of her leaves to Minoriko. Disappears when winter comes.

Minoriko Aki (秋 穣子, Aki Minoriko)
  • Species: God of abundance
  • Ability: Manipulation of abundance
  • Location: Foot of the Yōkai Mountain
  • Also known as: Symbol of Wealth and Abundance
  • Theme: Because Princess Inada Will Scold Me
Stage 1 boss and the younger sister of Shizuha. As a harvest goddess, she is invited as a special guest to the harvest festival in the Human Village every year. If she isn't invited then a good harvest cannot be guaranteed for that year. The fragrance of the harvest is her perfume, and with it she feels superior to her elder sister . Like her sister, she disappears when winter comes.

Hina Kagiyama (鍵山 雛, Kagiyama Hina)
  • Species: Curse god
  • Ability: Storing curses
  • Location: Yōkai Sea of Trees
  • Also known as: Nagashi-hina of the Hidden God
  • Theme: Dark Side of Fate
Stage 2 boss. Hina is the head of the Nagashihina army, where Nagashihina refers to the dolls being drifted down the river in a ritual to cast away one's sins and misfortunes. As such, Hina is surrounded by curses and those who encounter her will run into misfortune. Despite this, Hina has good intentions and does not wish to have misfortune befall humans again. She is often spinning and her attacks are characterized as spirals.

Nitori Kawashiro (河城 にとり, Kawashiro Nitori)
  • Species: Kappa
  • Ability: Manipulation of Water
  • Location: Untrodden Valley
  • Also known as: Super Youkai Warhead
  • Theme: Akutagawa Ryuunosuke's "Kappa" ~ Candid Friend
Stage 3 boss. An engineer with an interest in humans, she believes that the kappa and the humans were ancient allies. The kappa of the Touhou universe are described as a race with advanced technology, demonstrated when the shy Nitori uses optical camouflage to conceal herself from the humans. As an engineer, she likes to take things apart and reassemble them again, so her clothes are packed with tools for this purpose.

Momizi Inubashiri (犬走 椛, Inubashiri Momiji, alternate spelling Momiji Inubashiri)
  • Species: White wolf tengu
  • Ability: Seeing great distances
  • Location: Waterfall of Nine Heavens
  • Also known as: Lowly Patrolling Tengu
Stage 4 midboss. A loyal tengu who patrols the Yōkai Mountain and can see great distances. She attempts to scare intruders off with simple attacks before reporting them to her superiors. When not on duty, she plays dai shogi with the kappa who live nearby. During the events of Mountain of Faith, she failed to scare Reimu and Marisa away, so she was assigned under Aya Syameimaru to continue surveillance on the intruders. Her report led to the peaceful resolution of the tension between the tengu and the Moriya Shrine.

Sanae Kotiya (東風谷 早苗, Kochiya Sanae, alternate spelling Sanae Kochiya)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Power to work miracles
  • Location: Moriya Shrine
  • Also known as: Deified Human of the Wind
  • Theme: Faith is for the Transient People
Stage 5 boss and priestess (miko) of the Moriya Shrine. Though she is human, she is Suwako's descendant and has the power to create miracles due to her divine blood. In the past, people began to worship her as a living god due to these miracles, despite the fact that she was the priestess of another god and most of the miracles were her god's. As the outside world changed, though, faith in both Sanae and her god Kanako declined and they chose to move their shrine to Gensokyo. Wanting to gather the faith of Gensokyo's residents, she threatened to close down the Hakurei Shrine, which resulted in a resounding defeat for her and her gods. It was then she understood that she is no longer a living god in this land of miracles, but only a normal human being.

Kanako Yasaka (八坂 神奈子, Yasaka Kanako)
  • Species: God
  • Ability: Power to create qian
  • Location: Wind God's Lake
  • Also known as: Avatar of Mountains and Lakes
  • Theme: The Venerable Ancient Battlefield ~ Suwa Foughten Field
Stage 6 boss. Officially, a goddess of mountain who inhibits the Moriya Shrine. But in reality goddess of wind and rain. she is based on the Japanese god Yasakatome no Mikoto. As faith in gods in the outside world declined, she decided to move the Moriya Shrine to Gensokyo's Yōkai Mountain, rather than simply be forgotten and fade away. She quickly acquired faith from the yōkai on the mountain — though some would just call it friendship. To acquire the faith of the humans and yōkai living elsewhere in Gensokyo as well, she sent her priestess Sanae to the Hakurei Shrine. She wears a snake-patterned shimenawa as her trademark, symbolizing her victory over Suwako long ago, in addition to removable pillars on her back. In the events before Touhou 11, she was the one that sent the Yatagarasu to Utsuho Reiuzi so Kanako and Suwako could start their Mountain Industrial Revolution project using nuclear fusion power with the kappa. The project was a complete success.

Suwako Moriya (洩矢 諏訪子, Moriya Suwako)
  • Species: God
  • Ability: Power to create kun
  • Location: Moriya Shrine
  • Also known as: Highest of Native Gods
  • Theme: Native Faith
Extra Stage boss, a girl with a frog motif. She is the true goddess of the Moriya Shrine, and was once the leader of Mishaguji, but was later defeated by Kanako. However, the people of her kingdom still feared Mishaguji and were unable to accept Kanako as their new goddess. The two created a false god, "Moriya", from which they could both gather faith. And thus Kanako borrowed Suwako's powers, and silently ruled as the goddess of mountain.　Already long forgotten in the outside world, Suwako was untroubled as her faith slowly declined, but accompanied Kanako to Gensokyo nonetheless - despite their history, and their frequent disagreements, the two are good friends.

Also present:

Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

Iku Nagae (永江 衣玖, Nagae Iku)
  • Species: Yōkai oarfish
  • Ability: Able to read the atmosphere
  • Location: Sea of Abstruse Clouds
  • Theme Song: Crimson in the Black Sea ~ Legendary Fish
Sub-boss of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. An ambassador from the Dragon Palace who came to warn Gensokyo of an upcoming calamity. She is a lightning user, and most of her combat abilities center around lightning and her long scarf.

Tenshi Hinanai (比那名居 天子, Hinanai Tenshi, alternate spelling Tensi Hinanawi)
Boss of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. A girl who, through no virtue of her own, ascended to Heaven with her family. Having lived a sheltered life in Heaven, she became selfish and arrogant. Bored with her life in Heaven and envious of yōkai creating incidents on earth, she decides to create an incident in Gensokyo by using her powers, along with stealing the Hisou-no-Tsurugi ("Scarlet Disposition Sword"), which has the ability to excrete the disposition of others in the form of a mist, manipulating the weather. Shows masochist tendencies. She is adept at the manipulation of rock and earth; she can throw rocks like a projectile, and raise the earth around or in front of herself.

Also playable:

Subterranean Animism

Kisume (キスメ)
Stage 1 midboss. A bashful yōkai who likes confined spaces, and suddenly drops from high places to attack.

Yamame Kurodani (黒谷ヤマメ, Kurodani Yamame)
  • Species: Tsuchigumo
  • Ability: Manipulation of illness
  • Location: Fantasy Wind Cave
  • Theme Song: The Sealed-Away Youkai ~ Lost Place
Stage 1 boss. A cave-dwelling spider yōkai who has a cheerful and combative personality despite her despised ability.

Parsee Mizuhashi (水橋パルスィ, Mizuhashi Parusi)
  • Species: Hashihime
  • Ability: Manipulation of jealousy
  • Location: Deep Road to Hell
  • Theme Song: Green-Eyed Jealousy
Stage 2 boss. A guardian of the link between the underground and the world above. Her jealous nature makes her try to hinder the people going to and fro the underworld and fan the flames of jealousy in others.

Yugi Hoshiguma (星熊 勇儀, Hoshiguma Yūgi, alternate spelling Yuugi Hoshiguma)
  • Species: Oni
  • Ability: Control of the supernatural
  • Location: Former Streets of Hell (Ancient City)
  • Theme Song: A Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt. Ooe
Stage 3 boss. One of the "Four Devas of the Mountain" along with Suika Ibuki, she is referred to as "Yugi the Powerful" within the four. Originally from the Yōkai Mountain, she and the other oni moved underground when humans began to shun the oni. Yugi continues her cheerful sake-drinking life in the Ancient City of Former Hell.

Satori Komeiji (古明地 さとり, Komeiji Satori)
  • Species: Satori
  • Ability: Ability to read others' minds
  • Location: Palace of the Earth Spirits
  • Theme Song: Satori Maiden ~ 3rd eye
Stage 4 boss. The master of the Palace of the Earth Spirits who is despised by all for her power, despite being a generally nice person. Thus her attention has turned to her numerous pets who appreciate Satori's power to know what they are thinking.

Rin Kaenbyou (火焔猫 燐, Kaenbyō Rin, nickname: Orin)
  • Species: Kasha
  • Ability: Ability to carry off corpses
  • Location: Remains of the Blazing Hell
  • Theme Song: Corpse Voyage ~ Be of good cheer!
A two-tailed cat who shows up as a midboss in stage 4 and 5, and turns into humanoid form when she is being the stage 5 boss and Final Stage midboss. Since Satori no longer had the time to manage the Hell of Blazing Fires, Rin, as Satori's pet, took over and kept Hell burning by ferrying corpses to burn. Alarmed by her friend's sudden transformation, she sent out vengeful spirits through the geysers to the world above ground as a cry for help.

Utsuho Reiuzi (霊烏路 空, Reiuji Utsuho, nickname: Okuu, alternate spelling Utsuho Reiuji)
  • Species: Hell raven with Yatagarasu
  • Ability: Manipulation of nuclear fusion
  • Location: Deepest sector of the Underground City
  • Theme Song: Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion
Final Stage boss. Another one of Satori's pets, living in the deepest hell with her friend Orin. One day, through the temptations of Kanako Yasaka, God of the Mountain, Utsuho swallowed a yatagarasu and gained the power of nuclear fusion. With this newfound power, Utsuho naively plotted to revive Hell's downscaled fires and make the world above ground a part of Hell.

Koishi Komeiji (古明地 こいし, Komeiji Koishi)
  • Species: Satori
  • Ability: Manipulation of the subconscious
  • Location: Moriya Shrine
  • Theme Song: Hartmann's Youkai Maiden
Extra Stage boss. Like her elder sister Satori, she was born with the power to read other people's minds. However, Koishi knew this power of hers would make people feel uneasy around her, so she deliberately closed off this power. She sealed away her own heart to others in doing so, and even her sister would not be able to read her heart. Satori took pity on her, and gave some pets to Koishi, hoping that the animals would open Koishi's heart to others. The plan worked, and Koishi started to care for her pets, and would one day set out to seek the god who gave Utsuho that power so that her own pets could use it too.

Also present:

Undefined Fantastic Object

Nazrin (ナズーリン, Nazūrin)
  • Species: Mouse yōkai
  • Ability: Power to find lost objects
  • Location: The Road of Lingering Snow (Stage 1), Makai (Above Houkai, Stage 5)
  • Theme Song: A Tiny, Tiny, Clever Commander
Stage 1 boss and stage 5 mid-boss. Being a leader of mice and a natural dowser, Nazrin was commanded by Ichirin to search for the shards that fell from the sky, but her dowsing rods brought her to the humans instead.
Kogasa Tatara (多々良 小傘, Tatara Kogasa)
  • Species: Kasa-obake
  • Ability: Power to surprise humans
  • Location: Skies of Gensokyo
  • Theme Song: Beware the Umbrella Left There Forever
Stage 2 boss and extra stage mid-boss. Kogasa was once an umbrella who was forgotten for a long time and thus became an obake. Being bored and lonely, she tries to perfect the art of scaring humans.
Ichirin Kumoi (雲居 一輪, Kumoi Ichirin)
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Ability: Power to use nyūdō
  • Location: Palanquin Ship
  • Theme Song: The Traditional Old Man and the Stylish Girl
Ichirin is the stage 3 boss who is accompanied by Unzan, similar to Youmu Konpaku and her ghost-half in that Unzan can also participate in battle. Ichirin, by her own accord, is the guard of the large ship in the sky. She seems to be collecting UFO-shaped shards to revive Byakuren Hiziri, her master, whom she refers to as "sister."
Unzan (雲山)
  • Species: Nyūdō
  • Ability: Power to shift size and form
  • Location: Palanquin Ship
Ichirin's companion in stage 3. Unzan is a nyūdō made out of clouds. He is a stubborn, quiet old man who is gentle at heart.
Minamitsu Murasa (村紗 水蜜, Murasa Minamitsu, alternate spelling Minamitu Murasa)
  • Species: Ship ghost
  • Ability: Power to cause shipwrecks
  • Location: Inside the Palanquin Ship
  • Theme Song: Captain Murasa
Murasa is the stage 4 boss, who is the spirit of a human who fell off a ship and drowned in the past. As the humans feared her, their fears turned her into a yōkai. She pledged herself to saving Byakuren, riding the ship she created.
Syou Toramaru (寅丸 星, Toramaru Shō)
  • Species: Tiger yōkai
  • Ability: Power to attract treasures
  • Location: Makai (Above Houkai)
  • Theme Song: The Tiger-patterned Bishamonten
Syou is the stage 5 boss, representing good fortune. She was chosen by Byakuren to have the mountain yōkai gather faith in exchange. When Byakuren disappeared after a few hundred years, the temple was in great disarray, and all of her friends who were sealed into the Earth returned. Syou, not wanting to run away or have any regrets, told Murasa and the others how to lift the seal.
Byakuren Hiziri (聖 白蓮, Hijiri Byakuren)
  • Species: Magician
  • Ability: Magic
  • Location: Houkai
  • Theme Song: Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind
Byakuren is the stage 6 boss. She had a younger brother, Myouren Hiziri, who taught her Buddhist magic, but died earlier than her. This made Byakuren fear death greatly, and obtained the power to regain her youth. However, it was considered Black Magic rather than an art of Buddhism. Ichirin was her servant, while Murasa pledged herself to saving Byakuren. Fans think Byakuren is a thief-type like Marisa because of near duplication of spell cards used in previous Touhou games and completely copying Shinki's penultimate attack.
Nue Houjuu (封獣 ぬえ, Hōjū Nue)
  • Species: Nue
  • Ability: Power to hide her true form
  • Location: The Night Sky of Gensokyo
  • Theme Song: Heian Alien
Nue is the extra stage boss, also appearing as a sphere of light in stages 4 and 6. She is a very mysterious yōkai who flies through the night sky. Despite being non-human, she was defeated by humans many times in the past, but the accounts of her appearance vary. However, those were all made up, because her form is never seen to anybody but herself. She merely enjoys frightening humans and their imagining of strange things from afar.

Also present:

Touhou Hisōtensoku

Unnamed Giant Catfish
  • Species: Namazu
  • Location: Hong Meirin's Dream
  • Theme Song: Unknown X ~ Unfound Adventure
Final Boss in Hong Meirin's scenario. He is the villainous avatar of Taisui Xingjun, a God of Calamity, who, in a dream Hong Meirin has, sends assassins (disguised as familiar characters) to attack her. His objective as he claims is to drain her of her power so that he can move the Earth and return to this world once again. He also speaks quite strongly of his plans to cause various disasters to Gensokyo.

Playable characters:

Other characters

Rinnosuke Morichika (森近 霖之助, Morichika Rinnosuke)
  • Species: Half-human half-yōkai
  • Ability: Determining the name and the purpose of unknown items
  • Residence: Kourindou
Rinnosuke is a half-human who runs an antique and collectibles shop known as Kourindou in the Forest of Magic. He is the main character of Curiosities of Lotus Asia, and the only active humanoid male character in the Touhou series. He is also one of the few characters who seem to have no fighting ability. Marisa calls him Kourin, and that is the name he is usually known as. Despite his ability, he does not know how to use the unknown gadgets. Hence, he makes many false theories of his own about the foreign objects from the outside world. For example, he called a Game Boy a device that allows the user to control humans and possibly destroy the whole world. Later, Yukari corrects him that it is a device that allows the user to control imaginary humans and possibly destroy the whole imaginary world in any place. With few customers, other than some persistent loiterers like Reimu and Marisa, Rinnosuke spends most of his time pursuing his hobby of researching the world beyond Gensokyo. Much of his stock comes from the outside world, and he seems to have a close business relationship with Yukari, who procures the items for him.

Tokiko (朱鷺子, also known as unnamed book-reading yōkai (名無し本読み妖怪, Nanashi hon-yomi yōkai))
  • Species: Yōkai
  • Ability: Unknown
  • Residence: Unknown
Tokiko is a minor yōkai whom Reimu beat up and stole a set of books from. She tracked them to Kourindou, where Reimu had traded them to Rinnosuke, and became a standard fixture there as she argues daily with Rinnosuke, trying to recover her property. Despite appearing frequently in Curiosities of Lotus Asia, she has never been given an official name; Thus the fans gave her the name "Tokiko", which means Crested Ibis, because Tokiko has red wings similar to those of the bird.

Renko Usami (宇佐見 蓮子, Usami Renko)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Telling the time by seeing the stars, determining her location by watching the moon
  • Residence: Kyoto, originally from Tokyo
Renko Usami is a physics student from Japan. She and Merry form the two-person occult circle, the Secret Seals Club, which investigates Gensokyo. She plays the role of skeptic, as Merry is the only one who's actually been inside Gensokyo, but sincerely believes Merry in the end. Although a normal human, with a glance of the sky, she is instantly able to determine her location and the current time to within a second; she has been described as "a human GPS." She is from the short stories that come with ZUN's music collections.

Maribel Hearn (マエリベリー・ハーン, Maeriberī Hān, alternate spelling Maribel Han)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: See Gensokyo's boundaries
  • Residence: Kyoto, originally from outside Japan
Maribel Hearn, nicknamed Merry, is a psychology student and friend of Renko's. She and Renko form the two-person occult circle, the Secret Seals Club, which investigates Gensokyo. Descended from a long line of magicians, she is one of the few humans who can perceive and cross Gensokyo's boundaries. Unused to this ability, she tends to wander through by accident, thinks she's merely dreaming and gets herself into dangerous situations. She is from the short stories that come with ZUN's music collections. There has been no official romanization of her name, so her English name here is an approximation. She also appears strikingly similar to Yukari Yakumo, right down to the clothes they wear, leading people to believe they are connected somehow.

Sunny Milk (サニーミルク, Sanīmiruku, alternate spelling Sunnymilk)
  • Species: Fairy
  • Ability: Control refractions of light
  • Residence: Forest of Magic
A cheerful fairy who likes to play pranks, often called "Sunny" by her accomplices. She manipulates the power of the sun, namely the power to control reflection, with which can make things appear to be invisible. She considers herself the smartest of the three, though she fails often. She is from the manga Eastern and Little Nature Deity and Strange and Bright Nature Deity.

Luna Child (ルナチャイルド, Runachairudo, alternate spelling Lunarchild)
  • Species: Fairy
  • Ability: Silence nearby sounds
  • Residence: Forest of Magic
A fairy who likes to play pranks, often called "Luna" by her accomplices. Her power comes from the moon, and she can use it to silence the sounds around her. She seems to be the most cruel of the three. She is from the manga Eastern and Little Nature Deity and Strange and Bright Nature Deity.

Star Sapphire (スターサファイア, Sutāsafaia, alternate spelling Starsaphire)
  • Species: Fairy
  • Ability: Sense animate objects from far away
  • Residence: Forest of Magic
A fairy who likes to play pranks, often called "Star" by her accomplices and "Saphi" by the fans. Unlike the other two, her power does not wax and wane with the time of day. In reality, she seems to be the smartest of the three, and often escapes punishment while the other two are caught. She is from the manga Eastern and Little Nature Deity and Strange and Bright Nature Deity.

Hieda no Akyu (稗田 阿求, Hieda no Akyū)
  • Species: Human
  • Ability: Never forgets anything she sees
  • Residence: Human Village
She is currently the "Child of Miare" (御阿礼の子, Miare no Ko) who was born in the Hieda family once in every few hundred years with ability to "not forget anything she sees" and records Gensokyo's history. She seems to like black tea. Despite her young age, her memory goes back 1200 years. This is because every "Child of Miare" of the Hieda family is a reincarnation of previous "Child of Miare", who inherits the memories of the previous incarnates. She is the ninth reincarnation in the line, as reflected by her name — a pun of the Japanese word for "nine". Each time she reincarnates, her life span gets shorter and shorter. The "Miare" referred to is the real-life Hieda no Are, who compiled the Kojiki. Also, she is the first "Child of Miare" to be born after the sealing of Gensokyo. She is on the cover of Akyu's Untouched Score, the original soundtracks for the PC-98 Touhou games, and is also the narrator of the book Perfect Memento of Strict Sense.

Shanghai (上海, Shanhai)
  • Species: Doll
  • Residence: Forest of Magic
One of Alice's dolls and has appeared more than Hourai. Despite having appeared in three of Alice's spell cards in Perfect Cherry Blossom and one in Immaterial and Missing Power, she is weaker than Hourai. It is purely coincidental that Shanghai and Alice are the creations of Team Shanghai Alice as all the names of her dolls are named after locations.

Hourai (蓬莱, Hōrai)
  • Species: Doll
  • Residence: Forest of Magic
Another one of Alice's dolls, like Shanghai. She has appeared less than Shanghai, but is stronger than her. Since both dolls' appearances are identical, fans tend to change Hourai's appearance by giving her a bonnet instead of a ribbon. She has no known connection to Kaguya Houraisan.

Reisen (レイセン)
A moon rabbit (not related to Reisen Udongein Inaba) tasked to make the elixir of life for Chang'e, she got tired of her work and fled to Gensokyo with a lunar veil that allows her to take flight. She met Eirin Yagokoro, who gave her a letter to deliver to the two princesses on the moon. She is now a pet of the two princesses, who named her "Reisen" after their previous pet that fled to earth some time ago. She is from the manga Silent Sinner in Blue.

Watatsuki no Toyohime (綿月 豊姫)
  • Species: Lunarian
  • Ability: Linking the Mountain and the Sea
  • Residence: Capital of the Moon
One of the princesses of the moon, she and her younger sister Yorihime are the leaders of the lunar emissaries—the same ones who were in charge of bringing Kaguya back to the moon. As such, their stance should be that of enmity toward Eirin, who betrayed the emissaries; however, as Eirin was once their respected tutor, they harbor no ill feelings toward the exiled Lunarians in Eientei. She is from the manga Silent Sinner in Blue. She is supposed to be the Japanese goddesss Toyotama-hime, otherwise known as Otohime, the princess in the Urashima Taro legend.

Watatsuki no Yorihime (綿月 依姫)
  • Species: Lunarian
  • Ability: Possession by the Gods
  • Residence: Capital of the Moon
The more serious counterpart to her elder sister Toyohime, and is also a princess of the moon. She seemed to absorb everything that Eirin said. Like Reimu, Yorihime can summon Japanese Gods to use their powers. She is from the manga Silent Sinner in Blue. She is based on the Japanese goddesss Tamayori-hime.

References

  • ZUN. Shanghai Alice Signpost. vol.1 2002/8/11 (Embodiment of Scarlet Devil readme file)
  • ZUN. Perfect Cherry Blossom Character settings. 2003/8/17
  • ZUN. Imperishable Night Character introductions and spoilers. 2004/8/15
  • ZUN. Shanghai Alice Signpost. vol.5 2004/12/30 (Immaterial and Missing Power readme file)
  • ZUN. Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red. Ichijinsha. 2005/8/11
  • ZUN. Phantasmasgoria of Flower View Character introductions and spoilers. 2005/8/14
  • ZUN. Perfect Memento of Strict Sense. Ichijinsha. 2006/12/29
  • ZUN. Strange and Bright Nature Deity. Kadokawa Shoten.
  1. ^ a b c ZUN, "OMAKE.txt", Mystic Square, 1998.
  2. ^ a b そそ, ZUN's diary via webarchives. 2004-1-12.
  3. ^ 冬コミお礼その２, ZUN's diary via webarchives. 2004-1-04.
  4. ^ 東方三月精:画像及び本文中の記載間違いに関するお詫びと訂正, Comptiq. Retrieved 2008-6-06.
  5. ^ "Ran Ran Ru (2008)". Know Your Meme. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
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