The New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium!

I'll save Hylarn the bother - have we [insert Shou-related pun here]'d all out of conversation now? Are we ready to move on?

Remaining subjects are as follows: Miko, Tojiko, Nue, the Captain, Youkai Mountain, Eientei, the Netherworld, Shinki and/or Yumeko; Yuki, Mai, Luize and Sara; Yuuka and/or Elly; Mugetsu and Gengetsu and/or Kurumi and Orange; Yumemi and Chiyuri; Rikako, Kana, Kotohime and Ellen; Meira, Rika, and Genji; Konngara, Kikuri, Sariel, Elis, YuugenMagan, and Shingyoku; and Mima.

Remember, Yuki through Sara, Rikako through Ellen, Meira through Genji, and Konngara through Shingyoku are package deals, so a vote for any one of them is a vote for all of them (but you can only vote for the "package" once). Other PC-98 characters come in pairs (Yumemi and Chiyuri) or probable pairs (Shinki and her satellite character Yumeko), with the exception of Mima.

edited 14th Oct '12 11:27:04 PM by Tacitus

Miko, Nue, Youkai Mountain

I shall cast my vote Toramaru.

Oh dear.

Yuuka, Tojiko, and how about Youkai Mountain? Sure?

Toramaru's out, huh? I guess I'll Shou her the door.

That said, my vote's for the Captain.

NOOOOO! I'VE BEEN OUTPUNNED!

I'll vote for perennial favourite Soga no Tojiko.

Has Nazrin been done since SoPM?

edited 15th Oct '12 10:51:34 AM by Prime32

Yes

Nue, Cap'n Murasa, The Mountain-Currently-Known-as-Youkai-Mountain.

Seconded.

Nue, Cap'n, the mountain that almost got blown up by kappa.

Eh... Nue, Cap'n Murasa, and... Shinki?

Nue: 4 Youkai Mountain: 4 Minamitsu: 4 Tojiko: 2 Miko: 1 Yuuka: 1 Shinki: 1

I cast my second vote for the Houjuu then. Let the merry pranksters abound!

Also, didn't we already do Miko?

edited 15th Oct '12 4:41:04 PM by asterism

We did her mentor and one of her closest confidants, but not the prince herself, no.

Nue Houjuu

Theme: "Heian Alien"*

Stages: Unidentified Flying Fantastic Object ~ The Night Sky
bgm: "UFO Romance in the Night Sky "*

Raise the Flag of Rebellion! ~ Myouren Temple
bgm: "Youkai back Shrine Road"*

Spellcard Motif: Atmosphere | Fear | UFOs | Ghostly Lights and Will o' Whisps
Notable spellcards: UFO, DS, TD
Ominous Clouds "Heian Dark Clouds," Nue Sign "Mysterious Snake Show," Unidentified "Rainbow UFO Invasion of Terror," "Nightmare of Heiankyou," Unidentified "Hanako-san in the Toilet," Unknown "Will-o'-wisps in Unidentified Orbit"

Write-up:
A... well, nue. Historical accounts of the legendary nue can't agree on its appearance, and different sources paint it as a chimeric blend of different creatures. This is because these accounts are all of the same youkai, one with the power to rob creatures or objects of their identity, so that they will be perceived as different things depending on the observer. Nue used her ability to cause pranks and panic among humans before growing bored and moving underground.

This lasted until the events of Subterranean Animism released the youkai followers of Byakuren Hijiri, and for a prank Nue followed them to the surface and planted her Seeds of Unknown Form on the fragments of the treasure they were seeking. This made them appear as the UFOs encountered by the protagonists over the course of the game. Once Nue figured out Murasa and the others' plan and realized she had inadvertently hindered the return of a pro-youkai monk, she decided to follow Byakuren for a while out of a sense of remorse. She remains on the periphery of the Myouren Temple, however, and has gone back to playing pranks and frightening the humans of Gensokyo. Even so, when she heard of the Taoist threat facing Byakuren, Nue took it upon herself to summon reinforcements, a powerful tanuki she had befriended a long time ago.

In fanon Nue gets compared to both Flandre Scarlet (must be the weird wings) and Koishi Komeji (because they're both EX-bosses?), and even some complaints about being too similar to the former. Her personality tends to be distinctly different, however, and Nue's usually portrayed as a mischievous prankster, or even a seductress for whatever reason. Some artists do play up her gothic/creepy nature a la Flan or Koishi, while others of course go the opposite route.

Akyuu's Tip: Do not taunt the nue with "nyeh-nyeh outcast."

Relations

• Mamizou Futatsuiwa (old buddy old pal)
• Byakuren Hijiri (spiritual leader whose message isn't quite getting through)
• Myouren Temple Crew (neighbors)
• Hatate Himekaidou (tengu journalist who published a picture of her true form)

Alternate Character Interpretations

"Wherein I Struggle to Avoid Making 'New' Puns."
by Antimatter 625

edited 20th Oct '12 9:25:43 PM by Tacitus

I thought Nue was sealed. Its actually an interesting thing about her, her power is unidentification and she has only a limited identity. She is identified by her species, the nue. She is identified by her history, Houjuu means sealed beast. She is the nue that got caught and sealed underground.

Her failure lead to an identity for herself and that identity just keeps expanding. She is the Nue that was sealed that has allied herself with the Myouren Temple and is an old friend of Mamizou. The nue embody the fear of the unknown with the best of them but Nue is becoming more and more known.

Nue.

She be the prankster of the Myouren Temple.

She is buds with Mamizou.

I got nothing.

I like her design at least.

edited 15th Oct '12 9:36:47 PM by Otherarrow

Of Note

Nue's ability is to conceal the true forms of objects by using Seeds of Unknown Form, snake-like objects with no predetermined form. While this will change the way you perceive the objects with your senses, the object will still behave like it's original self, making it seem more like an illusion when under the effect of this ability. She does not appear to be able to choose what the viewer will perceive the object as; Akyuu mentions that birds under this effect will likely be seen as birds.

Her named literally means "Sealed Beast Nue." More of a title than a name. I like the theory that this name is merely to identify the unidentifiable. Her true name is still unidentified.

Nue called Mamizou to Gensokyo to bolster the strength of Youkai. Of course, she didn't consult Byakuren before doing this, and it is likely that Byakuren never intended to go to war should Miko resurrect.

The historic chimera Nue was just a form she used. Her true form is that of a young girl. If you're surprised, you haven't played enough Touhou.

Music

Pure Chaos. With what sounds like a twisted version of U.N. OWEN at the beginning slowing giving way to a strange sounding, but quiet melody. It's perfect for the highly chaotic Nue though, isn't it?

Overview

Gonna' have to take another sleep check on this one. I'll finish it sometime this week.

edited 15th Oct '12 9:58:18 PM by Horselesshorseman

Might want to add that in fanon Nue is usually portrayed as the weakest of all Ex (and post-Ex) bosses at least pre-10D. Besides her apparently rather underwhelming ability most of her danmaku relies on clever patterns and unexpected gimmicks, making her one of the easiest end bosses to learn. In any case, she epitomizes ZUN's shift from 'Ex as masochist's reward' to 'Ex as a way to blow of steam after the climax of the game' that started with Suwako.

I dunno, man. Her wiki page says she was sealed, but her original profile says "Eventually she got tired of that and leisurely spent a long time deep beneath the earth's surface." I suppose the two aren't mutually exclusive and she could have let herself be sealed.

She freaks out at the prospect of being resealed, though

"Anything?" And then Marisa had a Nue maid.

But yeah, I'm leaning towards her having been sealed.

I like the idea that she went underground for a nap and just happened to be there when a bunch of monks or something came by. They just added one more to the count and called it a day, she woke up unable to move and then stuff happened and then there is now.

If she was having a nap in her chimera form (which I assume was the case since she was so distressed about Reimu/Marisa/Sanae & partners seeing her true form), the monks' situation would have been more like: "What a blessing that we caught this beast while it was asleep. Better seal it before it wakes up and eats someone."

ANYWAY. Nue. She was sealed underground because she was disturbing the naptimes of an emperor. I wondered if it was the same emperor who went all emo over Kaguya, or the one who forgot that Miko was a woman, but no.

Emperors have a poor track record in this series. I bet it's because Keine wasn't there to advise them. She's sensible, more or less.

And has a nice chair.

Hmm, given that unidentifying is as easy as applying a little snakey seed, I wonder why Nue was in her true form when Reimu/Sanae/Marisa came calling.