The New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium!

Come to think of it, her ability to adapt spells might just be her power, since otherwise she doesn't really have any.

That's an interesting thing: given the presumed godly origin of Devil's Recitation, does that mean that it is possible to turn a Divine spell into an Arcane spell? Or should Byakuren be considered a dual-class wizard/cleric for those purposes? And more importantly: can Marisa turn it into a Great Magicannon that shoots Master Sparks?

Maybe but Byakuren was originally a Buddhist monk so she was probably midway between normal magic and Divine magic anyway.

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Yeah, she's pretty much a Cleric/Wizard in the first place. In fact, wasn't there some overpowered Prestige Class that combines the two...

Probably because magicians are the only people who study magic, rather than just doing it. It's their job to know how it works, and they can only use it because they know how it works. Magicians prepare spells. Everyone else uses innate spell-like abilities.

Anyway, one part of Marisa that I don't see emphasized very often is that she's a collector. She isn't just stealing things for the heck of it, magical items are a large part of her repertoire. She uses a broom to fly. She uses the Hakkero mini-reactor to shoot lasers. In the fighting games she throws magical exploding jars. And of course there's her hat, for whatever reason.

As far as I know, she's the only Touhou character whose powers are directly attributed to items that she happens to have, rather than her own powers  ^*

. Basically, she's Batman. She's a Badass Normal who keeps up with the superheroes by using her cunning and a utility belt. While I couldn't say whether or not she'd be completely powerless without the items, she certainly relies on them a lot.

edited 3rd Mar '11 12:25:50 PM by Clarste

A possible counter would be Reimu's purification needles, ofuda, gohei, and yin yang orbs but I certainly see your point.

Oh, and Tenshi's keystones are items that her family can use.

edited 3rd Mar '11 12:29:43 PM by Bocaj

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Right, of course. Devil's Recitation started as divine-magic-from-a-divine-spellcaster, but what is it now? Divine-magic-from-a-hybrid-spellcaster, or hybrid-magic-from-a-hybrid-spellcaster? And in the latter case, could a sufficiently skilled spellsmith take it the rest of the way into arcane-magic-from-an-arcane-spellcaster?

It's probably for the best if she couldn't. I don't think the world needs a spell that shoots four Master Sparks. That's more power than any one person ought to have.

The Mystic Theurge, yes.

edited 3rd Mar '11 12:32:39 PM by SuperDimensionman

Doesn't really matter if her powers are artificial or innate, as long as they achieve the same effect in the end. She might even be more powerful than those with innate powers through sheer versatility.

Like this?

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

edited 3rd Mar '11 12:39:42 PM by Bocaj

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The number of times that she's practiced Master Spark must be getting up there. Who's to say that you can't practice 10,000 kicks once and one kick 10,000 times?

Bomb spamming so much? Marisa isn't very good at grazing I guess.

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I didn't mean to imply that she was somehow weaker for it. It's just part of her character. I'd call it something like a spellcard theme, actually.

Before we talk too much about magicians copying, remember the the champion copier is a youkai

I mentioned Satori on the previous page.

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Indeed, if there's one thing that I've learned from RPGs, it's that if anything, having more equipment makes you more powerful.

edited 3rd Mar '11 1:09:48 PM by SuperDimensionman

She's Already There

The humans who look down on Marisa have the wrong idea. They see a cackling thief, racing through the night sky with a bag of ill-gotten booty and razing the landscape with golden power beams. (That isn’t strictly fair, but it’s easy to see where they’re getting it.) Determined to judge her as a crazed, despicable human, most people don’t realize that they’re actually looking at a happy and well-adjusted youkai.

Her body may be human, but Marisa rejected human society long ago and has lived as a youkai ever since. And what is youkai society built on? Predation! It’s less lethal with the advent of the spellcard rules, but no less true. By robbing the homes of powerful youkai, getting into scraps and kicking fairies around, she’s actually just integrating herself into the local culture! (This isn’t to say that she doesn’t have other motives of course.) Occasionally, when they don’t want to deal with her, her marks will leave out little presents to appease and make her move on; could this mean that she’s a youkai’s youkai?

And even physically, whatever Marisa’s plans are, it won’t be long now. She breathes the spores of demon mushrooms day and night, lets unfathomable arcane power roar through her body, cavorts with gods and monsters and buries herself in forbidden eldritch tomes. Despite having a miko for a best friend, she makes little effort to preserve her physical or spiritual purity. She could hardly avoid becoming another sort of creature at this rate, so it’s good that she’s getting the hang of things now.

Fortunately for the few humans in her life, Marisa’s probably pretty chill when you get to know her. Does this sound like the theme of a violent madwoman? I suspect that she has a gentle side, and it might not even be that hard to find if you catch her in the long, hazy months between Incidents. Spending a rainy evening with her over tea and tomes would probably be pretty pleasant, so long as you were sure to check your pockets afterward.

edited 3rd Mar '11 7:43:41 PM by Durazno

Ya know, I wonder why (ZUN hijinks aside) Marisa hasn't just stolen that one spell which would turn her into a 'proper' magician. Doesn't seem to be too difficult if Alice can do it.

edited 3rd Mar '11 11:32:25 PM by Recon5

Why would she want to? There's certain value in being human.

I guess if she was that keen on remaining human she would be a bit more careful about what magic she explores. This being Gensokyo, it might be possible for her to lose her humanity by accident (again, ZUN hijinks aside).

Well, Reimu isn't that much of a prude herself. Each has probably introduced at least one seedy pastime to the other.

Hell, it was Marisa who convinced Reimu to let Kasen hang around the Hakurei Shrine. And I believe the reason was to wrest the secrets of a long hermit life out of her. So, I definitely think Marisa is interested in surpassing the human lifespan but she's exploring her options. And the Magician spell might not be anything written down. It might just be a natural consequence of a person pursuing their own form of magic far enough. Or if you want to get into arc welding, Alice might have been turned into a Magician by using the Grimoire of Alice and it may either be bonded to Alice or unable to replicate the feat.

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Immortality is possible by arcane or divine means, but I really can't see Marisa managing to achieve the latter. She's about as pious as the devil.

PMiSS does say that there's a specific magic that can turn one into the post-human kind of magician (which Byakuren presumably did). If it was possible to join the species via magic exposure alone Marisa would be in already since she deals with magical BF Gs on a more regular basis than the other two. For that matter, Reimu with her nigh constant barrier hax should be closer to Yukari than Marisa (or closer to Kanako and Suwako with her channeling).

edited 4th Mar '11 6:31:26 AM by Recon5

Thats what I thought too when I remembered that hermits have lengthened lifespans through good deeds and meditation and having to recite sutras thousands of times a day.

Its not really the best way to be immortal. On the scale of effort to payout, its better to become a celestial through nepotism.

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That's a question: if it is possible through magic exposure alone, then could she become a magician inadvertently and just not notice? Depending on whether or not a human-turned-magician would stop wanting to eat even though she doesn't have to, it could take until it became obvious that she had stopped aging for her to find out. (Even though it seems like neither she nor Reimu has aged at all since their respective first appearances anyway.)

edited 4th Mar '11 6:45:56 AM by SuperDimensionman