The New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium!

I don't consider the PC98 games canon, either, but I'm tickled by many of the characters from that era, so for me, it's a little fun slotting them in innocuous roles that don't contradict the Windows canon.

That's why I appreciate ZUN's lack of comment towards the games' canonicity. They're probably not canon, and he hasn't shown any interest in incorporating them into the modern series (besides an odd character or two), but since he hasn't explicitly said they aren't canon we can still play with them and imagine how they'd fit into the current continuity.

There's some fun stuff there, and it'd be a shame to chuck all of it just because the series has come so far since then.

Nyet, you already used one of your votes on Kotohime. Same reason I didn't count Duranzo's Rikako vote to put Kotohime in the lead.

Yeah, that's my line of thought about the PC-98 era.

If ZUN were to start making statements about the PC-98 games from his own perspective he might have to deal with responses from the people he was working with back then. I don't think he wants the trouble.

I know this is bailing out a sinking ship, but I'll throw in a vote for Minamitsu.

Well, you've bumped the Captain up to tie for fourth place with Yuuka. Wanna cast your other two votes in a way that might affect the stalemate between Tojiko and the PoDD contestants? Or maybe advance Shou to make it a three-way tie?

I'm trying to avoid having to use my Constitutionally-mandated tiebreaker vote, in other words.

I vote for Nue instead of Rikako.

If possible I'd cast my other two for the good captain as well, but I'll make it Minamitsu and Shou instead.

Shou, Tojiko - 6 Kotohime - 5 Youkai Mountain - 3 Yuuka, The Captain - 2 Shinki, Mima, Rikako, Nue - 1

I'll put a vote in for Shou.

I vaguely recall that we've already done her though.

I think we did Nazrin, and it got onto Shou for a bit, because linked characters and all.

Shou'nuff, a last-minute upset.

Shou Toramaru

Theme: "The Tiger-Patterned Vaisravana "*

Stage: The Red and Black Seal of the Underworld ~ Makai (above Hokkai)
bgm: "Rural Makai City Esoteria"*

Spellcard Motif: The Jeweled Pagoda | Justice | Treasure | Buddhism | Tigerism
Notable spellcards: UFO, DS
Jeweled Pagoda "Radiant Treasure Gun," Light Sign "Absolute Justice" (for average/great justice!), Buddha's Light "Vajra of Perfect Buddhism," Tiger Sign "Hungry Tiger," Treasure Sign "Dazzling Gold"

Write-up:
A youkai disciple of Byakuren Hijiri and avatar of the god Bishamonten, the deity Byakuren herself follows... making the three's relationship kind of a weird circle.

Byakruen, when she was still a practicing monk, followed Bishamonten, but didn't have any luck getting the god of war and treasure to make an appearance at her temple. At the same time, the monk realized that the local youkai were keeping their distance from the place, which Byakuren put down to fear of divinely-mandated extermination. To solve both problems, she picked the most honest and straightforward of the local youkai, a tigress, and introduced her to the faith.

Shou was given a rodent "helper" that quietly evaluated how well the new avatar performed her duties, but these concerns proved unfounded, and Shou fulfilled her sacred duties admirably. Unfortunately, when Byakuren was imprisoned, Shou was powerless to act since doing so would reveal her youkai nature to templegoers. But hundreds of years later, after her temple had become run down and neglected, Shou saw some of Byakuren's other followers newly freed from the underground, and joined them to rescue their mentor. Since then the tiger-cleric has stuck around the Myouren Temple, and her promises of good fortune are perhaps the main reason humans ever come by the "youkai-infested" temple.

On the job Shou is described as composed and dignified but gentle, though she's said to loosen up and potentially lose her temper around friends, especially if liquor is involved. Despite her ceremonial spear and deity's portfolio, Shou isn't much of a warrior, which doesn't really matter when you have a laser pagoda. The fact that she managed to lose said laser pagoda before the events of UFO leads to one popular fanon characterization of her as a forgetful klutz dependent on Nazrin to find her pants in the morning, while her mother/daughter/partner/partner? relationship with the mouse youkai leads to another.

Relations

• Bishamonten/Vaisravana - deity
• Byakuren Hijiri - mentor, fellow follower of Bishamonten, shipping target
• Nazrin - "helper," secret supervisor, bacon-saver, shipping target
• Myouren Temple Crew - roomates, friends, fellow disciples of Byakuren

Alternate Character Interpretations

The Once and Future Youkai
by Antimatter 625

edited 8th Mar '13 12:15:09 AM by Tacitus

Of Note

Shou has the stated power of gathering treasure. This seems to be a passive granted by Bishamonten. Worshipping her as an avatar of Bishamonten will give you increased economic fortune.

Shou is stated to have been the most honest and straightfoward Youkai on the mountain (not Youkai Mountain).

Bishamonten sent Nazrin to keep a watch on Shou as her subordinate. I've mentioned before that the hierarchy between Shou, Nazrin, Byakuren, and Bishamonten is confusing, right? Well... if I didn't Akyuu did.

She resembles a statue of Bishamonten, not in appearance, but in design. This is because she is supposed to be accruing faith in his place, essentially a living statue. This seems to have enabled her to live among humans for hundreds of years.

Bishamonten's Pagoda, which she wields, is powered by gemstones and can reduce organic matter to ash. It also apparently fires gamma rays that change the atomic make-up of the earth they hit to more gemstones.

Shou is not an actual tiger. She a youkai of what the people of Japan imagined a tiger to be. She made the transfer from full-time Youkai to Youkai who's an avatar of a god before enough people learned about tigers to make her disappear.

Music

The beginning is notably fast-paced and uses few actual instruments. The next sections slows down and adds trumpets building up to a climax, at which point it replays the opening, but louder and with the inclusion of the trumpets. The song continues to function this way, adding a piano, then removing the trumpets. There's a chaos to it that suits a State 5 battle, but I'm not sure it fits Shou as a character.

Overview

So, Shou...You can see her stripes, but you know she's clean. Waxing lyrical aside, she's clearly a trustworthy individual. She was the most trustworthy in the past and she's the most trustworthy now. While she is a fixture of the temple, I think there's a lack of emphasis on her loyalty to Bishamonten compared to Byakuren. Her duties to Bishamonten kept her away from the group while they were being sealed underground. While the moment her friends returned via geyser (apparently these are very common in Gensokyo), her role at the temple is being the avatar of Bishamonten. That's her job.

As for her weapon, it certainly also deserves mentions. It makes shiny diamonds, like the eyes of a cat in the black and blue. I feel that this places Shou within the current ongoing theme of mixing faith and science. Her's is a weapon handed down to her from a War God turned God of Fortune that is powered by gemstones and shoots gamma rays.

The avatar of a god. Lacking in true strength, but augmented through gamma rays and fortune. Trustworthy to many, and honest to all. You can feel her heart but you know she's mean, but that's just when she's drunk.

edited 6th Oct '12 5:25:21 PM by Horselesshorseman

Edit: Whoops! Forgot to refresh; ignore this.

edited 2nd Oct '12 9:48:57 PM by EDog19

It's Shoutime.

oh god why

Because someone had to.

Such a noble sacrifice I made.

Anyway, music dump will come later, at a time when I am not learning and etcetera. Although I think I did a Rural Makai City Esoteria dump a few weeks back, so if I can find that, that's half my work done.

So Shou, do you think she'd be suprised to see what a real tiger looks like? Since she apparently isn't one.

Worth noting that Shou apparently has no idea how to use that spear of hers (Super Touhou Wars LIES!).

You might say it's just... for show. (YEAAAAAH)

edited 3rd Oct '12 6:49:18 AM by Prime32

Shou is a youkai of good fortune, and not one of combat. It's a thing worth noting.

Because of this, she is kinda sucky in combat. Luckily (for her, anyway), she has the Laser Pagoda, which is not sucky in combat. It's kinda hard to gauge how strong she really is, since the Pagoda is apparently even more powerful than normal in Makai.

Shou shou is there, huh?

I never really had any real thought on Shou. She was always just the one who was...just kinda there. I think I had initially even more of a opinion on Nazrin.

I do think that out of all the Buddhists, she is probably the most loyal to Byakuren. However, Byakuren is also loyal to her, since she is an avatar of Bishamonten, Byakuren's divine sponsor so to speak. Must make policy discussions kinda awkward.

She attracts humans to the Myouran Temple with the promise of wealth and good fortune that Bishamonten can give, and Byakuren keeps them there with her preaching. I think they work well together. She also takes care of the temple when Byakuren is busy with other things.

I do see Shou as someone who acts completely differently when "on the job" being composed and serene when working, but getting emotional and easily irritable when off duty. She also is a bad drunk.

According to the Touhou Wiki (I know, not the best source) the reason Bishamonten is associated with Not!Tiger tiger creature is because, supposedly, Bishamonten backed Prince Shoutoku and the Soga against the Mononobe on the tiger hour of tiger day of tiger year. So...if this is true, Miko and the Taoists really do have their hands in all the pies?

According to Akyuu, she uses her spear as a walking stick mostly. How amusing.

edited 3rd Oct '12 7:57:38 AM by Otherarrow

Thats what we call versatility. I mean, it would be if she used it to also poke holes in things. A pointy walking stick is fine too. You can use it to pick up trash. Or agitate a bear.

Also, I wonder if that tiger day thing still happened in Touhou since the buddhism ruse was a distaction.

Well Miko genuinely was promoting Buddhism and its ideals, even if it was for selfish reasons. I don't see why Bishamonten would want to stop her.

All the temple burning she was present for?

You can't prove that was her.