History Fridge / Touhou

* Stage 3 of ''Ten Desires'' supposedly shows the cemetery of the Myouren Temple. The temple was founded only two years before. Why are there so many graves?

* All those cakes and tea and sweets that fanart likes to show the Scarlet sisters enjoying? If you read Flandre's profile provided in [=EoSD=], it pretty strongly suggests that they all contain human blood.

* All those cakes and tea and sweets that fanart likes to show the Scarlet sisters enjoying? If you read Flandre's profile provided in [=EotS=], it pretty strongly suggests that they all contain human blood.

* In ''Silent Sinner in Blue'' Yorihime sends Sakuya's knives back towards her, and she ends up boxed in by them and has to surrender. This is doubly funny if you've played [=EotSD=] - boxing you in is what almost all of Sakuya's attack patterns are ''designed'' to do.

* About half of the characters' inferred backstories aren't exactly nice. Medicine was abandoned, Reimu was abandoned, Reisen is a traitor to the moon people, Alice may have wiped out a lot of people/youkai...

* At first I didn't give it a lot of thought about why the MegaMan parody, MegaMari, has Marisa as the protagonist. After all, she is the protagonist in many other games of this sort. Then it hit me: Marisa has a tendency to, ahem, "[[KleptomaniacHero borrow]]" techniques and magic from enemies she fights. What does that remind you of? Yep, MegaManning. -@/{{Fubu72}}

* Parsee's PointyEars can be justified as [[InvokedTrope body modification or simply fakes]]-- she's jealous of the cooler-looking inhuman youkai, and trying to imitate them. -@/{{Yuihime}}
** Also, it's common for people studying new languages to learn stories from the same culture, in the language. Hence why Parsee, a foreigner, uses spellcards based on Japanese fairy tales. (for bonus brilliance, they're stories in which the villain's main motivation is ''jealousy for the hero's kindness and good fortune'') -@/{{Yuihime}}
* Satori not being very good at fighting makes perfect sense because of her mind-reading power; she'd sense the pain her enemies were in when she hurt them. -@/{{Yuihime}}
* Yamame looks so much more human than most animal-based youkai in Gensokyo... because tsuchigumo are traditionally shapeshifters, and often take human form in stories to lure or trick human victims. She's had a lot of practice. -@/{{Yuihime}}
* ''Subterranean Animism'''s notorious difficulty relative to other ''Touhou'' games? Makes perfect sense considering that the youkai banished to Hell were the ones that scared everyone else ([[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil even other youkai]]) with their powers. -@/{{Yuihime}}

* The ''{{Touhou}}'' series is overflowing with this trope, and the main reason DarkFic for it is so prevalent.
** Or they could just fall afoul of one [[RealityWarper Yukari Yakumo]], who has a habit of bringing people she likes into Gensoukyou. And if they don't manage to find the only human village before they are discovered, they ''will'' be eaten. No exceptions.
** Yuyuko intended to steal the essence of spring from Gensoukyou and use it to awaken the Saigyou Ayakashi. While true that she didn't know the Ayakashi was an EldritchAbomination, she couldn't have missed that stealing the spring would have plunged Gensoukyou into eternal winter, killing all of the plants and dooming the inhabitants to starvation. And she was EasilyForgiven, just like everyone else.
** Utsuho was essentially a [[ILoveNuclearPower living star]] that intended to TakeOverTheWorld and convert the surface into a blasted hellscape. And even she was EasilyForgiven.
*** Utsuho has an excuse though, since she was [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity driven temporarily mad by the power]] she was given. She wasn't a threat any more once sense was knocked back into her by the player character. The real problem comes with the person who made her this way, [[JerkassGods Kanako]], who originally intended to use her to create a power plant. While that goal in itself isn't really bad, it doesn't change the fact that the events of Subterranean Animism wouldn't have happened if she hadn't tried to turn Utsuho into a living nuclear battery, and she never gets called out for it.
** About half of the characters' inferred backstories aren't exactly nice. Medicine was abandoned, Reimu was abandoned, Reisen is a traitor to the moon people, Alice may have wiped out a lot of people/youkai...
* All those cakes and tea and sweets that fanart likes to show the Scarlet sisters enjoying? If you read Flandre's profile provided in [=EotS=], it pretty strongly suggests that they all contain human blood.

* All those cakes and tea and sweets that fanart likes to show the Scarlet sisters enjoying? If you read Flandre's profile provided in EotS, it pretty strongly suggest that they all contain human blood.

!!FridgeBrilliance

!!FridgeHorror
* In Phantasmagoria of Flower View, each character has their own unique ability, such as Reimu's smaller hitbox and Tewi's autobomb when she can only take one more hit. [[LivingToys Medicine's]] is that she won't get hurt if she collides with a spirit. You later find out in her final stage that spirits who do not realise they've died are still trying to use her and possess her. They won't hurt her, because [[NightmareFuel they're trying to do]] [[DemonicPossession something a lot worse.]]

I'm doing a terrible thing here. Oh, and touhou r teh suck

!!FridgeBrilliance
* Day stages won't work in ''Immaterial and Missing Power'' if someone is playing as Remilia. Think about that for a second. [[spoiler:[[CaptainObvious She's a vampire]]]].
** Same thing in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' and ''Hisoutensoku'', but even better in the latter: day stages won't work unless Remilia has a parasol (her unique system card, which provides a projectile-eating shield when activated) in her deck.
** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stage versions due to the weather system. When either (or [[MirrorMatch both]]) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. [[FridgeLogic Strangely]], Remilia can't fight on Iku's sea of clouds stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight (or visible weather effects) there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi is allowed to fight on yet another stage without the aforementioned parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a [[InsaneTrollLogic nuclear fusion reactor core!]] [[FlatWhat What?]]
*** So she can't handle the sun over the earth, but she can handle the one under the earth. [[FlatWhat Double what.]]
**** Vampires can't handle sunlight when it's a sign of life. However, "scientific" UV radiation often doesn't affect thematic vampires who sunlight is anathema because it represents life. Plus, the artificial solar power is from a dead god consumed from a hell raven. No thematic opposition there.
***** Remember, OurVampiresAreDifferent.
****** Well, in her win quote against Okuu she states that she ''rather dislikes the sun'', and both Okuu ''and'' Remilia have their beaten-up portraits shown. So while it's possible that UV radiation ''might'' be harmful for her, it's likely that the radiation from the core is not enough compared to the true sun. Still makes little sense why she would be allowed to play on this particular stage, but yeah, OurVampiresAreDifferent.
* Nue Houjuu's Theme [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMXaJvxGAxo Heian Alien]] almost sounds like Flandre Scarlet's Theme [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyC5eWJhCr8&feature=related U.N Owen]]. I didn't really understand why it almost sounds like Flandre's, than it hit me - she's a Nue, that's what she want you to hear. It's an Illusion of Flandre, just like Nue makes the heroines ''think'' those flying objects are shaped like flying plate styled [=UFOs.=] Even the Extra Stage theme [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUDqOIBY9FA UFO Romance in the Night Sky]] can be an Illusion too. -@/PMiller1
** So Nue is {{Troll}}ing the players. [[BreakingTheFourthWall Surprised?]] [[spoiler:Kogasa just broke the fourth wall with the word "Surprise" on the screen when she showed up earlier as the midboss. Nue took advantage of the break to play Flan's theme.]] -{{@/Sk8torchic}}
* When I think about it deeply, Suwako's childishness in both behavior and appearance as according to fanwork portrayals nets some serious FridgeBrilliance points. She no longer has a kingdom to look after, and Kanako's taken over the shrine. As gods are capable of at least partial control over their appearance, and it's probably likely that reducing your physical form to that of a child saves on divine power, she chooses to downsize her body. Furthermore, as she was content to fade away as according to her profile, she probably let herself go in terms of seriousness and responsibilities, so she becomes more childish as a result. Chances are that if she feels the need to get serious, she'll suddenly stop goofing around childishly and bring out her full divine might. -@/AceOfScarabs
* Another piece of delicious Fridge Brilliance I have concerns [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Flandre]] [[TykeBomb Scarlet]]. Comparing various pieces of canonical information on her, I have understood why she willing stays at home in the SDM. Basically, Flandre is able to understand that she may lose control over her temper or passions and end up destroying things she actually cares for, so she's willing to stay somewhere safe where things won't upset her easily. This is remarkable maturity for an unstable little vampire girl, which shows that she may yet become more stable! -@/AceOfScarabs
** On another tangent, there's a pretty good reason why Flandre and Koishi are often partnered in fanart - Koishi's power is manipulating the subconscious, which is why she can minimize Flandre's urges to destroy. ~ @/{{Nitramy}}
* ZUN's observation that Sakuya Izayoi must be able to control space as well as time makes perfect sense, [[DidNotDoTheResearch even if his reasoning is highly suspect]]. Since her main power is freezing time, she'd have to be able to control space to do little things like [[RequiredSecondaryPowers move and breathe]] when time is stopped and everything else, including the air around her, is frozen in place. This also justifies her [[KnifeNut knife-filled]] {{Hammerspace}}.
* In ''Silent Sinner in Blue'', Reimu provides an exposition that explains that Shinto gods are able to infinitely split their spirits, but in the cases of Suwako and Kanako - gods who still retain their earthly bodies - the spirit can split while the original body stays the same. Fast forward to 12.3, in which Sanae can call upon Suwako as an assist against ''Suwako herself'', and suddenly what would normally be FridgeLogic makes ''perfect sense.''
** Of course, for those who don't really know much beyond the games, Suwako herself confirms this in her win dialogue against herself. -@/{{TARDISES}}
* Parsee's PointyEars can be justified as [[InvokedTrope body modification or simply fakes]]-- she's jealous of the cooler-looking inhuman youkai, and trying to imitate them. -@/{{Yuihime}}
** Also, it's common for people studying new languages to learn stories from the same culture, in the language. Hence why Parsee, a foreigner, uses spellcards based on Japanese fairy tales. (for bonus brilliance, they're stories in which the villain's main motivation is ''jealousy for the hero's kindness and good fortune'') -@/{{Yuihime}}
* Satori not being very good at fighting makes perfect sense because of her mind-reading power; she'd sense the pain her enemies were in when she hurt them. -@/{{Yuihime}}
* Yamame looks so much more human than most animal-based youkai in Gensokyo... because tsuchigumo are traditionally shapeshifters, and often take human form in stories to lure or trick human victims. She's had a lot of practice. -@/{{Yuihime}}
* ''Subterranean Animism'''s notorious difficulty relative to other ''Touhou'' games? Makes perfect sense considering that the youkai banished to Hell were the ones that scared everyone else ([[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil even other youkai]]) with their powers. -@/{{Yuihime}}
* The name of the one-man team ZUN formed, Shanghai Alice, describes the nature of Gensokyo - It's a fantastic wonderland set in the far east.
* At first I didn't give it a lot of thought about why the MegaMan parody, MegaMari, has Marisa as the protagonist. After all, she is the protagonist in many other games of this sort. Then it hit me: Marisa has a tendency to, ahem, "[[KleptomaniacHero borrow]]" techniques and magic from enemies she fights. What does that remind you of? Yep, MegaManning. -@/{{Fubu72}}
* When Flandre is introduced she breakes the fourth wall. She breaks the fourth wall thanks to her power to break anything. -@/{{matteste}}
* When listening to Flandre's Theme, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV16HghvnC4 The Centennial Festival for Magical Girls]], I always assumed the sudden switch in mood, and chimes, were due to the title. And then I suddenly realized... Flandre's crystal wings would sound like chimes. And you're going through her basement. She's stalking you throughout the entire stage, and only appears to you once she thinks you're weak enough to kill and eat. -RenaTheArchmage
* Most of the characters in this series wear hats. Somewhere in Gensokyo there must be a [[AliceInWonderland haberdasher, and he's probably quite insane]]. ~@/{{Specialist290}}
* At first, I like many other fans thought that Kaguya and Mokou should've gotten over their rivalry a long time ago. After finally learning what Kaguya's ability was actually capable of doing, it's entirely possible that Kaguya used her powers on Mokou in order for Mokou's hatred of her to last forever. -@/{{raigakuren}}
** If true, this would make Kaguya the biggest jerkass in the series.
*** She's gotta do SOMETHING for "fun", as would Mokou. That rivalry was suiting them just fine!
* The title of the extra stage theme from Imperishable Night is "Extend Ash ~ Hourai Victim". The first part can seem a bit nonsensical, at least until you think about it. What word flashes over the screen when you get an extra life? ''Extend''. And phoenixes gain life from their ''ashes''. -SoneAnna
* This might be a stretch, but in Letty's theme, "Crystallized Silver" in intervals there occurs a bleep sound that sounds like a cat. Who is the next stage's midboss and boss? Chen! She was watching you from afar.

!!FridgeHorror
* In Phantasmagoria of Flower View, each character has their own unique ability, such as Reimu's smaller hitbox and Tewi's autobomb when she can only take one more hit. [[LivingToys Medicine's]] is that she won't get hurt if she collides with a spirit. You later find out in her final stage that spirits who do not realise they've died are still trying to use her and possess her. They won't hurt her, because [[NightmareFuel they're trying to do]] [[DemonicPossession something a lot worse.]]

** Of course, for thsoe who don't really know much beyond the games, Suwako herself confirms this in her win dialogue against herself. -@/{{TARDISES}}

** So Nue is {{Troll}}ing the players. [[BreakingTheFourthWall Surprised?]] [[spoiler:Kogasa just broke the fourth wall with the word "Surprise" on the screen when she showed up earlier as the midboss. Nue took advantage of the break to play Flan's theme.]] -@/Sk8torchic

** So Nue is {{Troll}}ing the players. [[BreakingTheFourthWall Surprised?]]

** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stage versions due to the weather system. When either (or [[MirrorMatch both]]) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. [[FridgeLogic Strangely]], Remilia can't fight on Iku's sea of clouds stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight (or visible weather effects) there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi can fight on yet another stage without the aforementioned parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a [[InsaneTrollLogic nuclear fusion reactor core!]] [[FlatWhat What?]]

** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stage versions due to the weather system. When either (or [[MirrorMatch both]]) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. [[FridgeLogic Strangely]], Remilia can't fight on Iku's sea of clouds stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight (or visible weather effects) there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi can play on yet another stage without the aforementioned parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a [[InsaneTrollLogic nuclear fusion reactor core!]] [[FlatWhat What?]]

** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stage versions due to the weather system. When either (or [[MirrorMatch both]]) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. [[FridgeLogic Strangely]], Remilia can't fight on Iku's sea of clouds stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight (or visible weather effects) there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi can play on yet another stage without aforementioned parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a [[InsaneTrollLogic nuclear fusion reactor core!]] [[FlatWhat What?]]

** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stages due to the weather system. When either (or [[MirrorMatch both]]) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. [[FridgeLogic Strangely]], Remilia can't fight on Iku's sea of clouds stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight (or visible weather effects) there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi can play on yet another stage without aforementioned parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a [[InsaneTrollLogic nuclear fusion reactor core!]] [[FlatWhat What?]]

** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stages due to the weather system. When either (or [[MirrorMatch both]]) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. Strangely, Remilia can't fight on Iku's sea of clouds stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight (or visible weather effects) there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi can play on yet another stage without aforementioned parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a [[InsaneTrollLogic nuclear fusion reactor core!]] [[FlatWhat What?]]

** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stages due to the weather system. When either (or [[MirrorMatch both]]) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. Strangely, Remilia can't fight on Iku's sea of clouds stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi can play on yet another stage without aforementioned parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a [[InsaneTrollLogic nuclear fusion reactor core!]] [[FlatWhat What?]]

** Actually in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' there are no day and night stages due to the weather system. When either (or both) players choose Remilia, the match is played on one of the two indoor stages - Patchouli's Library or Scarlet Devil Mansion Foyer, with BGM for chosen stage playing. Strangely, Remilia can't fight on Iku's stage, even though it's dark and there's little to no sunlight there. The situation gets even weirder in ''Hisoutensoku'', where Remi can play on yet another stage without parasol card. Illogically, it's not Yuyuko's garden (turned into night stage in ''Hisoutensoku'' due to some bullets being hard to see with snow in the background in SWR). No, it's another indoor stage...a nuclear fusion reactor core! What?