The New New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

Well now I'm curious what you said.

In part, I'd wager. Youmu strikes me as someone who, in RPG terms, dumped all their skill points and whatnot into Sword (and maybe Cooking), plus she probably doesn't get to go out much. So she probably has limited knowledge of how the world works. The complicating factor is that as Clarste mentioned, Youmu doesn't really try to understand things, instead waiting to be told what to do.

Maybe with enough adventures in Gensokyo proper, Youmu will learn enough through osmosis to graduate from "clueless" to... I dunno, what's between "The Ditz" and baseline intelligence? "Doofus?" "Half-wit?"

edited 29th Oct '15 6:35:05 PM by Tacitus

That does explains a lot of things about the character, Youmu is clueless and doesn't go out much yet is a swordswoman/martial artist who can garden and cook. Youmu would make a great JRPG protagonist.

A half-baked, half-human half-wit?

It'd be interesting if we saw her after a time skip and she turned out to be wickedly clever.

I wouldn't be surprised.considering the company she keeps.

Youmu's apparently relatively young so I'd guess her elders are gonna start rubbing off on her at some point.

Well, probably not too much. If Youmu gets too sharp, Yuyuko won't be able to have as much fun.

Since things have been quiet lately, any final thoughts on the half-phantom before we move on to the little devil?

Youmu takes her job seriously. Prepare for brutal slashing!

Phoenix Slash
Defend the Temple
Green Swordsman
Temple Crusher!
Crimson Temple
Invincible Slash
Wake up and run
Otherworldly Temple
Swordsman of the Dead
Temple of Tranquility
Ancient Sword

I heard that Youmu's sword can cut through anything but is that just a badass boast?

Like with most Touhou power feats, the cutting abilities of Youmu's swords haven't truly been tested in-universe. However, there's no real reason why Youmu's boasts wouldn't be genuine. After all, one of her swords has demonstrably cut down ghosts, so it would make sense that they could cut through a lot of other things as well.

I'd wager that they could cut everything except each other and Yuyuko's appetite.

The number of things it can't cut are really quite few.

Like bad jokes.

Or soccer/footballs.

Speaking of keeping things rolling, I'm going to go ahead and put up Koakuma's profile now, but if anyone has post-last-minute thoughts to share about Youmu, don't be shy.

After this will be - ah, it was Nue Houjuu all along! Followed by Yuugi Hoshiguma, and another location, Youkai Mountain. But first,

Koakuma

Stage: Mansion of Darkness ~ Save the Mind
BGM: "Voile, the Magic Library"^note Stage 4 theme. From here, the game moves indoors, so it's composed with indoor atmospheres in mind. Its tone shifts to something more ominous halfway through the song, where you would normally meet the mid-stage boss. Other than that, there's nothing special about this theme, but really, it's not a shooting game piece :)

Write-up:

The character who probably helped convince ZUN to stop using generic enemies for stage Midbosses, and instead give such combatants names and profile entries and everything. At least until he did the Ten Desires' stage one midboss.

All we know for certain about Koakuma is that she's a little devil encountered in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library - even her "name" is a generic term for devils of her class, i.e. weak and unimportant to the story. But Touhou fans more or less invented a character for her and decided that Koakuma is Patchouli Knowledge's obedient servant, if not the magician's familiar. Or a succubus. Even the wings on her shoulders are a fandom invention, though they've since appeared in official illustrations.

ZUN has since commented that he imagines Koakuma to have a flighty, mischievous personality, something some fans have incorporated into their interpretations of her. But since she's more or less a blank slate, you should feel free to imagine her however you feel like.

Relations

• Patchouli Knowledge (master?)

See also the first two compendiums.

edited 3rd Nov '15 9:07:54 PM by Tacitus

She and Daiyousei are best buds, and they go on Mario And Luigi type misadventures all the time, seeing as neither of them quite fit in with their immediate associates, for varying reasons.

In her case, though, it's because the maids give her headaches, Flan is too hot to handle, Remi is distant, Meiling is always busy, and Sakuya is kind of a dick.

As for her relationship with Patchy, it's a rocky relationship filled with George Jetson Job Security in its original, cyclic form.

You see, while the stupidity of most fairies really gets on Koa's nerves, she's just as prone to playing pranks as they are, and the lady in purple ain't having none of that...

At least until she's too ill to manage the library properly, when she suddenly remembers why the little devil was hired on to begin with.

Koakuma:

A lesser demon who is a part of the great library's security system. Said to be mischievous, but she is loyal to Patchouli.

...Hm, the pranks Koakuma pull off must be very calculating and trolling in nature. On a different level than those fairy maids. Perhaps she's the main ingredient in Patchouli being head troublemaker.

She assists Patchouli in managing the library. And if Patchy's under the weather, Kou can manage stuff by herself just fine. A great boon.

Maybe Patchouli has also been teaching her some of her magic. Who knows, Koakuma might become the new One-Week Spellcaster if Patchy were to retire from blasting enemies into the void. On the other hand, she's just teaching Koakuma the basics. Can't let the girl get too powerful, though. She is a devil. You can never tell if she's secretly plotting a hostile mansion takeover, after all.

They are of course heroines to Noroiko, Matenshi, Rengeteki, and all those other lesser midbosses who never get any screentime.

And how would Patchy kick her out, anyway? It's a huge library in a huge mansion, and the magician doesn't devote much time to security. If she ever gets mad at Koakuma, the little devil can just fly off and lay low for awhile until Patchy realizes she needs a gofer, or gets so absorbed in her work she forgets what she was angry about.

Stealing trinkets is fairy stuff, Koakuma has to prove the advantage of a truly diabolic intellect. Like by... um, misshelving books? Fetching Patchy the wrong edition of a reference, so that she only realizes she has the wrong text after an hour of work?

She'd need a good bit of help to handle the pair of devils currently running the joint, though. Maybe that's what the dummied-out "EX-Koa" was doing during the EX-Stage, taking advantage of the Flanpage to time her coup?

She is a devil, though. Not a demon from Makai. So where did Koakuma come from? Is she another foreign devil (ha!) like Remilia or Elis? How'd she end up in the SDM?

Where did Koakuma come from...?

1. Patchouli created her. She always thought that Remi and Flandre were cool, and so wanted to have a devil assistant. So she created a homunculus with that image in mind.
2. Patchouli held a library assistant competition, and Koakuma won just by being different from the rest of the competitors(fairies, in case you're wondering).
3. Koakuma's the original owner of the SDM, but then Remi did a hostile takeover, reducing poor Koa to mere library assistant. She'll have her vengeance!!! But hey, Remi spruced up the place. That's cool.
4. Koakuma is the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The true Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. A secret well hidden.

edited 5th Nov '15 5:07:24 PM by Diamite

Number four sounds awesome and interesting. Maybe the Mansion was built on a ley line and developed its own slightly mischievous personality to interact with its masters.

If the SDM were some kind of Genius Loci and Koakuma its avatar it would explain her name. I'd guess that The Little Scarlet Devil Mansion was a bit of a mouthful so everyone shortened it.

That being the case it also makes sense for her to help out in the most cluttered part of the mansion, the Library.

As for why... Well maybe Patchy or even Remi performed a sanctum invocation and got the spirit of the Mansion 'on side' so to speak.

Hey now, there are much better candidates for Alfred than Koakuma. Suwako is already reasonably close to a Genius Loci. And if anyone's the Warden it's Reimu, or maybe Satori.

edited 6th Nov '15 5:40:02 PM by Prime32

Devils are from hell. Gensokyo is located above a former hell.

Koakuma said screw y'all i'm going upstairs.

Made contract with Patchy in exchange for... sanctuary? Clothes? As much magician hair as she can brush? There are many good reasons to live in a library with a grouchy purple potato

I do like the idea of the SDM as a genius loci, and Koakuma is pretty much a creature of chaos...

I have another notion that's a bit of a spoiler for what I'm writing, but I figure it'll be long enough that anybody who cares will have forgotten this post. I have Koakuma as a person who tried to do the ritual to become a youkai magician and failed. "I burned up my will," she says, "But Patchy lets me use hers."

Well, Satori does have all of those underground ... Er... Roommates. Then again the SDM's got one to, also Reimu would make a hilarious Warden, but that would make Alfred Genji or something.

edited 6th Nov '15 11:37:40 PM by Shiroimahotsukai

Whether or not she's a Genius Loci, I like the idea that Koakuma is a mascot of sorts for the SDM. If she wasn't spontaneously generated by the place, maybe she was another wayward supernatural creature who joined the household. Either Remilia gave her a new name to help her fit in after they moved to Japan, or maybe she was adopted at a young age, everyone called her "little devil" for lack of a better moniker, and the name stuck. And eventually the rest of the Mansion more or less forgot about her, and she hangs out with Patchy, because seriously her other options are terrible.

Although my personal headcanon is that she's a refugee from the Great Offscreen Makai War, one of the devils who tried to seize the magical world for themselves only to be ousted by Shinki and her demons. Hey, that kinda sounds like the Blood War.

Given the other names in the mansion, Remilia must have had an off day.

"You're the little devil"
"But you're smaller than me."
"I'm also scarletier than you."
"But you're not!"
"Shhh shh shhhh. the sleep time is now."

Not at all impressed by what passes for highest-rated Koakuma fan art - most of it's cheesecake or repetitive. Still, there's always a few gems if you look long enough. Or lower your standards slightly.

Bowakuma
Poutakuma
Stareakuma
Enthusakuma
Smileakuma
Naughtakuma
Kissakuma
Tiredakuma
Readakuma
Cardakuma
Candlakuma
Darkakuma
Berserkakuma
Wingsakuma
Smallakuma
Leanakuma
Contemporarakuma
Snowakuma
Cuddleakuma
Boobakuma
Hugakuma
Multakuma
Concealakuma
Bakeakuma
Shelfakuma
Meetakuma
Storyakuma
Hatakuma
Megakuma
Hairakuma
Monochromakuma
Holycrapakuma
Embellishedakuma
Graceakuma
Giseleboncomicakuma
Cocoakuma
Cuppakuma
Flapakuma
Rudeakuma
Fallakuma
Velmakuma
Shadowfaxakuma
Onozukakuma
Drop the KoAkuma
Swarmakuma

edited 9th Nov '15 5:57:51 PM by Tacitus

In fanon Koakuma is portrayed as a loyal servant of Patchoulli however in canon is notorious trickster who bothers everyone. Where did the lyal servant thing come from?