The New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium!

I like to imagine that if you give the sake worms long enough, they'll produce sake that's stronger than drinking a cup of straight-up alcohol.

Depends on whether Kasen turns out to be an Oni, now doesn't it?

Fermenting alcohol? Only the oni, amirite?

edited 13th Jun '11 10:38:11 PM by Horselesshorseman

I have no horse, and I must ride. I accomplish unlockments.

Strictly speaking, Kasen is hermit regardless of what she started as. In the original myths, becoming a hermit was the one really way for an oni to sober up and stay sober

This part made me smile.

So.

Who's stronger, Suika or Yuugi?

What, so a Sake Worm can make physically impossible booze that's more than 100% beyond pure ethanol?

The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!

We're talking Oni here. It's conceptually impossible for there to be a limit on the proof of their booze.

That must make ordinary alcohol taste awfully watered-down to them.

The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!

Hmm, guess it's too early for a power-level discussion.

Now, something I forgot to address:

Is that so? I was under the impression that the whole drunk aspect is artistic license on ZUN's part. I consulted Wikipedia, and it doesn't say anything about alcohol, either.

I'd be interested to know in how far the Touhou oni correspond to their traditional portrayal.

Indeed it does. Apparently, sake quality goes something like this:

Regular Sake < Ibuki Gourd Sake < Worm Sake

They probably only drink the last one, since it's apparently very potent and fresh/tasty.

If I recall correctly, it's supposed to be the Joestar birthmark. Which means that somewhere down the line, a descendant of Jonathan must've had sex with an oni.

edited 14th Jun '11 3:24:43 AM by Fluid

Why would Yuui paint a star on her horn? I think the answer to this is: Why do Flandre's wings look like fairy lights?

Because they just do?

Song of the Sirens

I actually have a theory about Flandre's wings, but that's for another time...

There has to be a mythological or JJBA (or etc.) explanation for every single feature a Touhou has. A pity that most of ZUN's influences are lost in translation even to the hardworking folks at the wiki.

edited 14th Jun '11 3:43:17 AM by Recon5

I really know next to nothing about Jojo's Bizarre Adventure other than the meme stuff (Za Warudo!), but I am pretty sure it isn't canon to Touhou.

As for the "oni strength is proportional to their sobriety level" idea, I'd like to think this is true: when sober they could be strong enough to destroy Gensokyo, but won't because they'd spend all of their efforts finding saki so that they can get drunk again.

I still think the saki bugwormoni was a stupid idea. It seems like a halfhearted attempt to do in the wizard...in a magical setting where you otherwise wouldn't question such things like Suika's gourd having magic booze powers.

(in before "no one cares about what you think")

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We all care what you think.

Touhouwiki says that Yuugi was supposed to be a reference to that fellow according to ZUN. It's why her sake don't even drop. Could be the reason for the star.

My question is why she only has one horn.

you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped

I recalled reading somewhere (don't remember if it was the translation of Perfect Memento or just unverified Touhou Wiki prabbling about folklore), that oni can have one, two, or even no horns. I think it is a sign of power, although I don't recall if more horns or less horns are stronger. A brief skim of Perfect Memento seems to disprove the "no horns" bit though (as Akyuu mentions that all oni have horns)

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Phallic symbolism.

I don't really see it as "doing in the wizard" at all, since the explanation is still magical. At most, it seems like it kind of slightly depowers the already pretty over-the-top powerful Suika. I mean, she's absurdly strong, being one of the strongest of the strongest youkai race, thus making her one of the most powerful characters in the setting, has an extremely powerful ability with a wide variety of uses in and out of battle, you cannot turn down an offer of sake from her, and she has that gourd that never empties. If at least that gourd isn't as special as it sounds at first, that's one point off the list.

edited 14th Jun '11 6:58:20 AM by Fawriel

...

Anyone else want to make that joke?

you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped

Nah, I'm good.

In regards to oni power levels, I think I heard somewhere that the power is inversely proportional to the number of horns. One horns are the strongest and four horns are the weakest. But I also heard that based on the legend that Suika and Yuugi are derived from, Suika was the strongest. One of the four devas from the legend also lost its arm and went around looking for it, which sounds vaguely like an oni-suspect that we know.

edited 14th Jun '11 7:22:04 AM by Bocaj

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I think I heard pretty much the same thing, but again, I don't really remember where I heard it. However, with Suika having two horns and supposedly being the strongest, we might have to take it with a pinch of salt. (That, or Suika isn't as strong as her mythical counterpart in Touhou)

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Its kind of funny because Suika can turn into a mist. Yuugi can control ill winds. I'm pretty sure someone could rules lawyer that to let Yuugi control Suika when she's in mist mode.

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But I'm pretty sure Suika isn't ill, she's completely healthy!

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Oh, is she?

Danbooru. It has ads. NSFW ads.

edited 14th Jun '11 8:02:19 AM by Bocaj

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That is....really depressing.

So, in the miniverse of that comic, all oni are basically screwed? Wow.

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It was actually a follow-up to this comic.

Warning: Danbooru ads. Also, some coarse language.

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