Touhou/Characters/Other Official Works

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Ever since the Touhou series was rebooted for Windows-based computers, a number of characters have been introduced solely through side stories in the form of manga, prose fiction, and music CDs with liner notes.

This page is for Touhou characters who debuted in these non-game spinoffs. To see the characters who debuted in the PC-98 games, go to Touhou PC 98. For the Windows characters, go to Touhou Windows One and Touhou Windows Two.

Wherever possible, character images come from portraits not drawn by ZUN used in official games and print works. Images of characters without quality official portraits are labeled "(fanart)".

Please remember to only use examples that are either canon or have undergone mass Memetic Mutation so that the page doesn't become overcrowded with tropes that only occur in one person/circle's works.

Concerning the romanization of names

First, there are two principal methods for transcribing Japanese names into Latin letters: the Hepburn System and the Kunrei-shiki System. In general, ZUN favored the Hepburn System before Phantasmagoria of Flower View, but changed to the Kunrei-shiki System afterward. This page uses the Hepburn format for the sake of argument, as it is the most widely recognized and makes the pronunciation obvious to English speakers.

Debuted in Curiosities of Lotus Asia

Rinnosuke Morichika

Store Owner of Kourindou
(fanart)

The owner of the shop Kourindou, he uses his power to identify strange objects with True Names and figure out their function. Thus, his shop deals with objects from outside of Gensokyo that won't be easily identified, like his own oil-burning heater, a Gameboy (which he mistook for an Artifact of Doom) and various knick-knacks that Marisa gathers from time to time.

Tropes exhibited by Rinnosuke include:


Tokiko

(fanart)

An unfortunate book-reading Youkai who was beaten up by Reimu, who mistakenly assumed she had stolen some books.

Tropes exhibited by Tokiko include:


  • One-Scene Wonder: She appeared in one scene in one chapter of one series which half the fans don't bother to read, with no name and a small appearance in the background of the cover image. She spent that time getting beaten up twice and complaining about it. She's not incredibly popular, but yes, even Tokiko has a following.
  • No Name Given: Canonically, Tokiko has no actual name. If we were to get technical, she'd be listed here as "unnamed book-reading youkai", but that doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely. "Tokiko" translates to "little crested ibis", and was given to her after fans noted her resemblance to the bird in question.
  • Winged Humanoid

Debuted in Ghostly Field Club

Maribel Hearn

(fanart)

A human from outside the border, she is one of the members of an Occult Studies Club. She has the power to sense and possibly cross boundaries, and has entered Gensokyo in her dreams. Maribel and Renko apparently come from Twenty Minutes Into the Future, where some foods such as bamboo shoots and strawberries are only available as synthetics. Not only are many edible plants extinct, but it is a world where "children do not smile". Probably has some sort of connection to Yukari Yakumo, though when asked by fans ZUN has declined to elaborate.

Tropes exhibited by Maribel include:


  • Astral Projection or Teleporters and Transporters?: In the Trojan Green Asteroid CD liner notes, she begins seeing an abandoned space station at one of the Earth-Moon Lagrange points in her dreams, and also has the ability to take Renko there as well. She's attacked by a chimera and ends up with a wounded arm back on Earth. It's unclear whether she actually teleported there, or whether it's astral projection and Your Mind Makes It Real is in effect.
  • Captain Ersatz: That hat looks like Yukari's and they both wear a purple dress in the same fashion. Conveniently, Yukari is known for being a heavy sleeper during the day, a time when Maribel would most likely be awake. Renko believes that Maribel's ability to sense boundaries is somehow evolving into the ability to manipulate boundaries (the same ability as Yukari), while Yukari is often known for recognizing Outside World technology. In Symposium of Post-mysticism, Yuyuko (Yukari's best friend) is depicted visiting the Outside World invisibly and teasing a confused Maribel. Finally, Maribel mentions wanting to visit the moon and thought of "another way to get there" while looking at its reflection; Yukari mentions that long ago she once travelled to the moon using its reflection, just to look around. Make of that what you will.
  • Meaningful Name: Lafcadio Hearn, a famous horror writer who translated tales of youkai into English, eventually became a Japanese citizen and took the name Koizumi Yakumo. Following the Yukari theory, Hearn would correspond to Maribel and Yakumo would correspond to Yukari after her naturalization in Gensokyo.
    • In addition, it's been suggested that Mary's first name is a corruption of "mulberry", a fruit that turns dark purple when it's ripe. Yukari means "violet".
  • My Name Is Not Mary: Type D/F - Renko can't pronounce Maribel's full name and calls her "Mary".
  • Non-Specifically Foreign
  • Schrödinger's Butterfly: Whether or not she's Yukari, Maribel does have a dual existence in Gensokyo in her dreams.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Her first name is occasionally romanized as "Maryberry" or the like, and her last name is occasionally seen as "Han".
    • More specifically, the katakana for her name is "maeriberii haan". "Han" and "Hearn" are both reasonable transliterations for her last name, though "Hearn" is a bit closer and has the bonus of being an actual western name. "Maribel" is only sort of similar to how her first name is pronounced, but is an actual name. "Maryberry" is much closer, but not an actual name.
  • The Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer: Maribel's personality seems kind of meek. Yukari on the other hand...
  • Time Travel: A message Maribel left behind on one of her trips to Gensokyo was discovered by the natives... hundreds of years ago. The running theory is that she will eventually become Trapped in the Past.
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Fanon has made many interpretations of the above "Maribel = Yukari" theory. It is also even harder to dismiss the fact that her appearance is practically Yukari but younger.

Renko Usami

(fanart)

Maribel's friend, who lives outside of Gensokyo, and the other member of the Occult Studies Club. Renko initiates most of their activities. She has the ability to determine her exact position and the current time by looking at the moon and the stars respectively. Some fanworks have her sense coordinates in imaginary numbers whenever she tries to sense her location in Gensokyo.

Tropes exhibited by Renko include:


  • Agent Scully: A notable subversion. Renko is the scientific, logical, objective one of the pair and shoots down some of Maribel's odder notions, but she's also much more enthusiastic about their occult activities, driving their investigations and efforts to find another world.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Changeability of Strange Dream, Renko feared that one day Maribel would permanently become a part of Gensokyo and illusion. Nevertheless, she decided that Maribel would be happier there than in their world. This has also been interpreted as something of a third option, since Renko is unabashedly jealous of Maribel's dream adventures and fully hopes to come along with her.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In Trojan Green Asteroid

"Right now I'm almost like the protagonist of a shooting game!"

  • Required Secondary Powers: Played with. Renko claims her ability can only tell the time in Japanese Standard, but Maribel points out that she should only need basic math to get other timezones.
  • Schedule Fanatic: Subverted - she can be late, but she'll always tell Maribel down to the second how late she was.
  • Unusual Ears: As an Incredibly Lame Pun on her family name, Usami, Japanese fanartists sometimes draw her wearing bunny ears (usamimi).


Debuted in Eastern and Little Nature Deity

The Three Mischievous Fairies

Three fairies who love playing pranks on others and go treasure hunting, and often get punished for their practical jokes. Each fairy possesses a different power and are able to combine their talents. Though, while they are known for their teamwork, it is often haphazard, and they are often unsuccessful at pulling off their pranks. In Eastern and Little Nature Deity and Strange and Bright Nature Deity they lived in the Forest of Magic like Alice and Marisa, but as of Oriental Sacred Place they've moved their home behind the Hakurei Shrine.

Tropes exhibited by the Three Mischievous Fairies include:


  • Badass Boast: Parodied when the fairies introduce themselves to Cirno and brag about how their powers make them unbeatable... at hide-and-seek. Cirno is, of course, genuinely impressed.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Their ambition is to terrorise humankind and prove that fairies, like the other youkai, are not to be taken lightly. The most they manage is to mildly annoy people with their pranks.
  • Canon Immigrant: With Fairy Wars, they're the first expanded material characters to be put into a game.
  • Fisher King: By putting their home in a dead tree, they actually brought the tree back to life. This is actually pretty important, as the tree is part of the Gensokyo Border. Just As Planned by Yukari.
  • New Year's Resolution: Every new year they plot to cause a major incident that will get Reimu's attention. Then they get drunk and forget all about it the next day.
  • Power Nullifier: Reisen Udongein Inaba's abilities can cancel out all three of the fairies' powers.
  • Screwy Squirrel
  • Spell My Name with an "S": "Starsaphire" was presumably just a misspelling, "Sunnymilk" isn't much of a difference, but "Lunarchild" is trickier, especially since all three fairies tend to call each other by the first part of their names.
  • Theme Naming: All three are named after heavenly bodies.
  • Winged Humanoid: All three of them have wings that do not appear to be directly attached to their bodies.

Sunny Milk

Prank-loving Sunlight

Self-proclaimed leader of the Three Mischievous Fairies. Sunny can manipulate light via refraction. She is at her strongest during the day when the sun is out, but is weakened if the weather is cloudy.

Tropes exhibited by Sunny include:


Luna Child

Silent Moonlight

Luna can manipulate sound, dampening it so she can sneak around. She is at her strongest when the moon is out, but is weakened if the weather is cloudy.

Tropes exhibited by Luna include:


Star Sapphire

Pouring Starlight

The smartest member of the Three Mischievous Fairies. Star can sense any moving animate thing in a wide area, making her sort of a living radar. Unlike Sunny and Luna, she is unaffected by the time of day or the weather.

Tropes exhibited by Star include:



Debuted in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense

Hieda no Akyuu

Memory of Gensoukyou
(fanart)

The ninth reincarnation of the Child of Miare, who is born with the memories of each of the previous incarnations. She is the author of the Gensokyo Chronicle, an anthology of Gensokyo's history (published in Real Life as Touhou's Universe Compendia, Perfect Memento in Strict Sense and Symposium of Post-Mysticism), which she updates each time she is reincarnated.

Tropes exhibited by Akyuu include:


"If there are any opinions you'd like to present, please stop by the Hieda residence. If you come to help tidy the place up, then even youkai are most welcome."

Ryuujin / The Dragon God

The Highest God of Illusion
(fanart, appearance is completely speculative)

The highest-order god of Gensokyo. Was last seen at the creation of the Great Hakurei Barrier. It has the power to create and destroy anything.

Tropes exhibited by Ryuujin include:


Debuted in Silent Sinner in Blue

Reisen

(fanart)

An apparently ordinary Moon Rabbit who's gotten herself deeply involved in the events of Silent Sinner in Blue. Reisen is just a literal pet name given her by the Watatsuki sisters, in honor of the other Reisen, their previous pet, but her original name is unknown. Commonly called "Reisen II" in Western fandom.

Tropes exhibited by Reisen include:
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: First seen on Earth wearing a dress similar to Tei's, probably as a disguise. On the moon, she wears a suit and tie similar to Reisen Udongein Inaba's.
  • Little Bit Beastly: Lunar rabbit.
  • New Meat: Recently recruited into the Lunar Defense Corps.
  • One Steve Limit: This Reisen's name is written in katakana (レイセン), while Reisen Udongein Inaba's is written in kanji (鈴仙).
  • Unwitting Pawn: She unknowingly draws the Watatsuki sisters into Yukari's Xanatos Gambit when Eirin convinces her to go back to the Moon and warn the Watatsukis that Yukari was about to invade them. Though if Eirin hadn't warned them, then they would have been caught even further off-guard. The only difference is that because they were forewarned, both of Yukari's decoys were needed, whereas if they hadn't been, Yukari herself might have been able to successfully invade instead of ending up as decoy #2. Eirin was sending Reisen II to offer support against a rumored invasion that Eirin herself had spread the rumors for.

Watatsuki no Yorihime

The Moon Princess Possessed by Divine Spirits

The younger of the Watatsuki sisters, lunarian princesses and leaders of the Lunar Defense Corps. Yorihime is the more serious of the two. She has the power to channel gods, shared by Reimu, but due to a better work ethic she can use it far more effectively.

Tropes exhibited by Yorihime include:

Watatsuki no Toyohime

The Moon Princess Connecting Mountain and Sea

The older of the two princesses, Toyohime has a more carefree personality than her sister, though she can get serious too. She has "the power to connect sea and mountains", which allows her to move things between the true Moon, the false Moon and Earth.

Tropes exhibited by Toyohime include:

Debuted in Wild and Horned Hermit

Kasen Ibara / Ibaraki

The One-Armed, Horned Hermit
(fanart)

A somewhat mysterious hermit with an association with the Hakurei Shrine and some past connections to the Hell of Blazing Fires. She can extinguish evil spirits by crushing them with her right hand. Widely considered by fans to be an oni.

Tropes exhibited by Kasen include:
  • Ambiguously Human: Refers to herself as human, but she's based on the oni general Ibaraki-douji, her hairstyle covers where an oni would have horns, and she has some sort of past with Suika.
  • Artificial Limbs: When Reimu squeezes the bandages on her right arm, it's shown that there is nothing but black smoke underneath them.
  • Bandage Babe: Her right arm isn't merely covered with bandages, her right arm is, for all intents and purposes, bandages.
  • Buxom Is Better: A lot of fanartists have been drawing her this way.
  • The Beast Master: Her stated power is the manipulation of animals. This includes speaking to birds and keeping things like baby dragons and giant rocs as pets.
  • Chained by Fashion: Has a manacle on her left wrist with a small chain attached, leading to speculation that she's a secret oni.
  • Deader Than Dead: Her right arm doesn't just kill spirits, it removes them from the cycle of reincarnation entirely. Komachi is not happy about this.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Notably averted. She is the only character who's friends with Reimu who has not fought her.
  • Detachment Combat: The outer layer of her dress is apparently lined with some kind of portal through which her artificial arm can pass, reappearing somewhere nearby.
  • Flower Motifs: Strongly associated with roses, as evidenced by her clothing and the translation of her name.
  • Hermit Guru: She's classified as a hermit, which means that she's supernaturally strong, long-lived and youthful, but is also often secluded and must do things like recite proper sutras each day and perform acts of piety, or instantly lose her abilities and her immortality.
    • In practice, this involves Komachi the Shinigami repeatedly popping in to tell her what she has to do to not die.
  • My Species Doth Protest Too Much: If Kasen is an oni, then she's the Blue and Orange Morality equivalent of a Complete Monster. She dislikes the status quo of "youkai attack humans and cause fear, humans exterminate youkai" (even if it's mostly non-lethal nowadays) and believes that youkai should be able to deny their original purpose and choose their own. This may sound good, but Shikieiki's concerns about the characters' sins in Phantasmagoria of Flower View seemed to be mostly about the minor ways in which they had drifted from their purposes...
  • Pay Evil Unto Evil: Prefers to destroy vengeful spirits rather than wait for them to repent. Possibly a case of Eviler Than Thou as well.
  • Rose-Haired Girl: To go with the general rose motif. A possible case of Sure Why Not. Fanartists started drawing her with pink hair after the first chapter was released, and she wasn't confirmed to have pink hair until the second chapter was published with color pages.
  • Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious: Hermits are the favorite food of youkai. Eating one can cause a youkai to ascend to a completely new level of power. And if an ordinary animal were to eat her, they'd become a youkai on the spot. Of course, that's not exactly easy to do, since she's extremely powerful due to being a Hermit.
  • The Unfought: One of the few beings who hang around the Hakurei Shrine and consider themselves friends to Reimu without getting in a fight with her first.
  1. He thinks they are shikigami since they short out on water.