The New New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

A storm of blades protects her! Its slashing chords will show mercy to no one!

Temple of the Great God
Dead Cold Steel
Obelisk Judgement
Final Judgement Arise
Doll Edge
Doll Edge: Reflections
My Last Judgement
Sorrowful Doll

I submit that Alstroemeria Records makes extremely good remixes, even if they can only barely resemble their source material. I also submit that "The Last Judgement" is one of the best songs in the franchise, something that does a great job of preparing you for an apocalyptic battle with a demon queen at the end of the world, even if you don't actually fight Shinki until the next stage.

Thirdly I submit a grimdark interpretation of Yumeko's character, a way of reconciling her extreme devotion toward Shinki as well as her willingness to overstep the usual bounds of her position as a servant. Shinki's claim to have created her is as hollow as the "goddess"' claim to have created Makai - instead, Yumeko is one of the realm's previous inhabitants, one who vigorously resisted Shinki's attempts to conquer it. Although Shinki was able to subdue Yumeko, she was impressed with her fighting prowess, and worked to turn her from a foe into an ally. This involved altering Yumeko in both body and mind, and led to a strange quirk - Yumeko kept a rebellious streak, but overall the programming held, and she regarded Shinki as her master. So she seethes with resentment and looks for opportunities to lash out, yet she remains fanatically devoted to her Lady Shinki and channels all her frustration into serving her, never suspecting that her mistress is the one responsible for her situation.

Of course, Shinki would have to be pretty evil for this to work, and she's not that bad, right?

I could get behind that kind of darker interpretation of Shinki and even Makai in general. If that's what constitutes the Doll of Misery then what happened to everyone else? Was the whole Dimension essentially Mind Raped into obedience by Shinki?

Makes this image seem more than a little plausible if you ask me, with Yumeko as the poor victim that had to be eliminated beforehand regardless of her tragic backstory.

I'm not sure Mind Rape is the best way to describe it, maybe more like a Loss of Identity from having their personalities and memories rewritten just like how Shinki reshaped the rest of Makai to suit her whims. All the other characters we see in Mystic Square might come across as well-adjusted because the procedure worked and Shinki made them happy, loyal citizens of her new realm. But Yumeko was just too strong, so some measure of her old self continues to try to rebel against her new master, even if this means being overly-eager to defend her.

Yumeko, and maybe Alice as well? Is that why she left Makai?

A plot bunny for later. At any rate, it's probably getting time to move on, so if anyone has any last Yumeko-related thoughts, feel free to share them.

If what you are saying is true then Alice could had just been some fell into the Makai who became Shinki's followers through magical mind control.

And if that's true, who knows how many others have ended up like that? Maybe that's why all those magicians that go there to train never return. At first they're training hard every day, but as the magic in the air gets to them they slowly lose their way and before anyone realises there's one more worshipper in town, one more citizen of peaceful Makai.

And Shinki just watches...and smiles...

If you think of Makai's miasma as just a gaseous form of the world of demons itself, and if Shinki has the power to shape that world of demons, then it follows that taking in too much miasma gives Shinki more and more power over you. Guess that's part of those magicians' training, using the miasma to fuel their magic without losing themselves to the plane's ruler.

So if Byakuren spent a thousand years in Makai, is she extremely strong-willed? Or Shinki's puppet-

Huh, this "puppeteering-via-miasma" angle really adds a lot to the "ex-Makai Alice" character interpretation, doesn't it? Either she's trying to be just like mama or trying to outdo her mama by properly creating life instead of just controlling it.

Well, I'd say that was some productive speculation. Now let's get some distance between us and Yumeko so she doesn't feel we're offending her master. Coming up will be Rinnosuke, Kyouko Kasodani, and an advance scout. But first, a character who needs no surname, it's

Chen

Stages:

Black Cat of Mayohiga
It wavered in the village in which people are not. Mayohiga, village of apparitions, has always refused humans.
BGM: "The Fantastic Tales from Tono^note This song is a weird one. Yeah. My original intent with this was to make it highly folkish, but since it's too calm, it ended up half-folkish. I composed this with the image of Tōno village in mind. The melody is a bit nostalgic and makes you imagine that there used to be old villages like this in Japan, too.
Theme: "Diao Ye Zong (Withered Leaf)"^note I composed this title with the image of an energetic youkai girl in mind. This song is based purely on improvisation, because I found that if I think too much while composing the music tends to end up strange. Well, with the help of more than a little booze... All in all, this is an honest song (^^;

Shikigami of the Shikigami of the Youkai
The cherry trees were already in full bloom. Yet the Japanese hearts were not yet satisfied.
BGM: "Youkai Domination"^note A high-paced theme (?) which is unusual in the Touhou series. It's obvious from the stage that the tempo and feel are the keys to this song. The tone turns around about 112 degrees in the middle of the song which is where Extra really starts (heh).

Spellcard Motif: Invocations, particularly involving Oni
Sample Spellcards: PCB, GoM, StB
Shikigami Sign "Pentagram Flight," Yin Yang "Large Pentagram Crest," Heaven Sign "Immortal Sage's Rumbling," Child Sign "Dharmapala's Rampage," Hermit Sign "Incarnate Immortal Sage," Oni Sign "Blue Oni Red Oni," Star Sign "Jumping Crossing Scale," Oni God "Rumbling Jikoku-ten," Cat Monster "Chen"

Write-up:
Chen ought to be scary. She is after all a bakeneko, a two-tailed monster cat with sorcerous powers including but not limited to raising the dead. On top of this she gains additional power from being the familiar of Ran Yakumo, who is not only a mighty youkai herself but also the shikigami of the inscrutable and powerful Yukari Yakumo.

But despite her abilities and her link to one of the most feared/respected beings in Gensokyo, Chen herself is not very intimidating. In human form she's not much more than a child with cat ears and tails, and she's still a relatively young and immature youkai. Her shikigami powers short out when she's splashed with water, which is also effective against her cat-ness. You can even distract her with catnip like any other feline. In time, Chen may earn the respect her position and power demand, but for now, most people just find her cute.

Relations:

• Ran Yakumo (master)
• Yukari Yakumo (master's master)
• Inhabitants of the Village of Cats (rebels)

See also the previous two compendiums.

edited 4th Sep '16 7:53:21 PM by Tacitus

Should probably mention a complication when it comes to characterizing our friend Chen here - she's not just a catgirl who serves a nine-tailed fox. Shikigami in Touhou are frequently compared to computers, so it's more accurate to say that Chen is a bakeneko that had a shikigami "program" "installed" onto it. Which begs the question of whether the Chen we meet in the games is the youkai body or the shikigami "program."

Maybe it's both? If we see Chen the Youkai at Mayohiga and Chen the Shikigami during the Extra stage.

I believe Chen's Strange Creators of Outer World profile said that's more or less the case.

Chen:

A bakeneko and shikigami of Ran. Can perform sorcery. Acts like a cat in every possible way.

Hm, looking at the wiki revealed to me that she also has surprising people as an ability. ...Must be as effective as Kogasa's methodology.

Huh, so she managed to create a village for cats. And she tried to be the leader. But even she should understand the fickleness of felines. ...Wait, she's kinda beyond normal cats(and bakeneko, too?) since she's a shikigami. So I guess I can see why she'd try to become their leader.

Hates water, likes catnip to the point of throwing the match, typical cat traits. ...I wonder if Ran is working on eliminating those weaknesses. Of course, Chen would probably still hate water. At least she would still have her sorcery, right?

Chen is no dummy. ...At least, she's not Suzu-tier stupid.

Chen is somewhat interesting character and she seems to be childlike, hyper in contrast than her master Ran and Yukari to an extent. I read in the last alternate character interpretation thread she is a closest thing to a shonen hero and I read from a walfas comic by Spaztique where he interprets her as being a super villain. Chen is somewhat mischievous and a bit of trickster but I don't see her as a villain wannabe,

Maybe not a capital-E evil villain, buuut... she's a cat. Warm and cuddly one moment, then you pet her one time too many and out come the claws. Destroyer of furniture, slayer of smaller animals. Someone who will scratch at your door at four in the morning, then when you open the back door for her, she'll stare out it for a minute before turning and going to curl up on the couch. Not a supervillain, but occasionally a royal pain in the ass.

I can just imagine Yukari having to stifle a laugh when Ran announced she was considering a bakeneko shikigami.

Cats have +14 to Hide checks, +6 to Climb and +6 to Move Silently, Of course they're good at popping out and surprising people. Though we probably shouldn't read too much into this "ability' since Orin's power of "carrying away corpses" comes from owning a wheelbarrow.

Argh, I remembered that at one point we were all surprised by a new interpretation of shikigami, but forgot what the source was. Here's the article in question for those curious.

So, it says "Like Ran, Chen is actually 'the shikigami possessing a bakeneko,' but in her case the possessed bakeneko is a clearly distinct being." This is in contrast with Ran, about whom the article says "since the original fox never shows on the surface at all, there's no problem in thinking of Ran Yakumo as a nine-tailed fox." Which is kind of creepy, but maybe this explains why Chen doesn't have a surname yet - the shikigami process isn't complete. Or maybe a feisty young cat youkai isn't a stable platform for your familiar program, Ran. You need better hardware to run that kind of software.

At any rate, I'm trying to find any differences between Chen the Shikigami and Chen the Bakeneko, but she has all of two lines as the latter. I guess she's more assertive in the ex-stage, whereas in Stage Two she goes from bluster to a halfhearted welcome to surprise at Reimu's naked greed. But it's not a drastic shift or anything. Which makes it odd that the shikigami and bakeneko personas are still different. Or is there no reason for them to merge because they're so alike?

Maybe Ran was pioneering some new symbiotic Shikigami program. One that was supposed to seamlessly melt the monster and the servant but fell flat on its face and left her with Chen.

The problem with tailoring a shikigami program to work on a cat youkai is that it results in a "servant" that is just as controllable and reliable as the average housecat.

So how old is Chen? In youkai terms, I mean. A lot of fan works go for the childish moeblob approach, but her picture◊ in PMiSS is very sassy. But she doesn't look like a teenager yet, either, so that'd make her what, a very cocky middle-schooler? (7th or 8th grade, at least by US standards) Just makes me imagine her becoming an incredible pain in the ass once she's old enough to go to youkai high school.

Which doesn't mean I'm opposed to cute, childish Chen, though. In case of bad day, click link.

edited 9th Sep '16 6:12:19 PM by Tacitus

Chen could be three hundred years old for all we know as she a cat who became a youkai.

Pardon the delay, it's been an inconvenient past few days.

There's a lot of Chen fanart, but not a whole lot of Chen artwork - she shows up in the background of stuff, or part of the Yakumo trio. And then a lot of the stuff that focuses on her doesn't meet my standards. But some stuff did.

Sitting at attention
Rockin' that hat
Either startled or she just spotted a bird at the window
Inverted
That "I live with Yukari Yakumo" thousand-yard stare
Tilted head, closed eyes, smile
Dainty
Tomboyish
Fangs
Flippin'
Crouchin'
Stylin'
Instructing her troops
Cat with kaleidoscope eyes
Pretty kitty
Little cat in a big world
Transformation (animated)
The outfit just looks weird with those two little tails coming out of it
Undead sorcerous monster cat?
Chenvolutions
I love Banpai Akira's character design
Dantewontdie's Yakumos with little Chen
Dantewontdie's grown-up badass Chen
Bakaneko and mega neko
A neat story in which Chen saves the day
More role reversal
Kasha and bakeneko
Cats are good at retrieving rodents
We'll be right back (animated)
Nuzzle
Taking cover
Cat squat
Two stylish ladies
Ran looking awesome, Chen less so
Chen the artist (animated)
Chen the load
Did she just notice her back there?
Heaven
That's not a food
Hate when they do that and you're wearing a light T-shirt
Pow, haha! (animated)
Rawr (animated)
Don't bite, that's attached to you
Boxes are awesome
Water is not
My cats prefer to sit directly in front of the screen
Ride the roomba (animated)
Liquid feline
Triple-barreled Chen
Chen overload

Why doesn't Chen have the Yakumo surname like Ran does?

Hasn't earned it yet?

Chen is her original name, not a name she was given as a shikigami? (the colour thing is a coincidence)

Ran doesn't feel she has the right to bestow the name "Yakumo" on others?

I once read a doujin about this very topic.

It had a flashback about Ran earning the Yakumo name by saving Yukari during a trust-fall-esque thing.

Which she then attempts to do with Chen and Chen just cheerfully watches her fall a hundred feet and crater the ground.

Don't remember the name or circle though.

Might be an ownership thing, like Ran is Yukari's computer, so she has a Yakumo sticker on her, but since Chen isn't, no sticker. And Ran doesn't have a last name or anything to put on Chen.

Or it might be a legal thing, like "the great Youkai of Boundaries" is not affiliated with the cyborg kitty designated "Chen," and is not liable for the bakeneko's actions regarding birds, rodents, or gardens.

Heh, or maybe Ran gets to officially represent Yukari when doing Boundary business, but Chen's around to do wetwork stuff and her lack of the Yakumo name is for plausible deniability. A shame Akyuu published that article explaining the relationship between the two.

Chen's catching some rays of fun right now.

The Fantasy Village
Wakaba Days
Thorns of Sorcery
Fantastic Trap
Village Maze
Voices of Lost Residents
Journey Cat
Leaves on the Road
Fading Leaves

Still hard to beat Floating Cloud's remix of "Fantastic Legend of Tohno," even if it has a surprise Suwako cameo. The style just really suits the song, that airy adventurous feel to it. Shame "Withered Leaf" can't stack up, at least in my opinion.

Well, it feels like things are winding down, so now's the time for any last Chen contemplation before we move on to Kourin.