The New New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

Well, let's bid adieu to Sumireko, for the moment - odds are good we'll be seeing more of her in the future. Up next will be Suika, followed by Kyouko and some sort of bird, maybe? But first,

Clownpiece

Stage: Pierrot of the Star-Spangled Banner ~ Clownish Moon
Sea of Tranquility
BGM: "Faraway 380,000-Kilometer Voyage"^note The fifth stage theme. Some minor variations to the mood make this a fast-paced, romantic tune. It's a stage where you can move forward (and rack up a huge score) at a good pace. Feels real nice. I hope you feel a sense of flight, and the resolve to travel far.
Theme: "The Pierott of the Star-Spangled Banner"^note Clownpiece's theme. She's the most crazy-strong fairy seen yet. Although she's pretty ordinary in the head. Having made it gothic, Japanese, and spacey at the same time, this is a pretty odd song. The fear of clowns is pretty widespread these days. But this fairy clown isn't all that scary... right?

Spellcard Motif: Hell, America
Sample Spellcards: LoLK
Prison Sign "Eclipse of Hell," Prison Sign "Star and Stripe," Hellfire "Hellish Secrets of Grazing," Hell "Striped Abyss," "Apollo Hoax Theory"

Write-up:
A gibbering lunatic wrapped in America's colors who spreads madness and hatred in their wake, someone sent to a capital as a giant middle finger to its elites despite being pretty elite themself, someone who would be a sad joke were they not so extremely dangerous. But this isn't the US Politics thread, so we should probably talk about Touhou characters.

Clownpiece is a fairy from Hell who was sent to the moon to cause trouble for the Lunarians simply by existing there - by turning Mare Tranquillitatis into a fairy playground, Clownpiece brought life and therefore death to the pristine lunar surface, besieging the Lunar Capital. Doing so in an outfit inspired by the American flag stuck so rudely in the same area was just an added "up yours." After frolicking for a bit and getting in a quite difficult fight with the protagonist, Clownpiece seems to have forsaken her realm of origin and has been spotted in Gensokyo, messing with its humans and mingling with the local fairies. Time will tell whether the land's guardians tolerate the little hellraiser or send her back to where she came from.

Relationships:

• Hecatia Lapislazuli (boss)
• Junko (boss' friend)
• The Three Fairies of Light (fourth member?)
• Cirno (a challenger appears!)

One thing I like about Clownpiece is how amazed she is by the things she sees in Gensokyo after spending most of her life in Hell. Even the moon was an improvement over her old home, so seeing her squeezing over even the small joys of the surface is just adorable.

I could imagine her, after a particularly destructive prank, having a My God, What Have I Done? moment and being just a bit less crazy from then on. But only time will tell.

edited 29th Nov '16 11:21:09 AM by Lightblade

Should also probably mention that Clownpiece complicates Touhou's mythology considerably, in that she's based on the nymphs that carry torches for the Greek goddess Hecate, who is helping in a revenge scheme against a Chinese goddess being held prisoner by an ancient society of Japanese sags on the moon. Which involves Clownpiece dressing up in the American flag.

So I'm curious - is Clownpiece a nymph, and potentially a very old one at that, but her status as a comparatively weak and stupid supernatural flunky got translated to "fairy" for an eastern setting? Is there any meaningful difference between nymphs and fairies in the first place? Did Hecatia's Hell run out of nymphs so she brought in some foreign workers? And how, in a backstory that spans Greek, Chinese and Japanese mythology, did this fairy end up with a name like "Clownpiece?"

I would assume the word "fairy" simply covers a broad variety of creatures. Vampires are youkai (and also oni), so it's natural that nymphs are yousei.

The way fairies are in Touhou isn't at all Japanese in the first place, honestly.

edited 29th Nov '16 12:20:41 PM by Clarste

Clownpiece:

A former hell fairy involved in corrupting the moon's purity. Very crazy.

I'm glad that Clownpiece is getting along well with the Three Fairies and Cirno. And it doesn't seem like Hecatia has any ulterior motives for leaving her there. ...Speaking of fairies, since Clownpiece is a foreigner, she probably doesn't have the regenerative capabilities of Gensokyan fairies. In exchange, she's more durable than Gensokyan fairies. She spent a good time of her life in hell after all.

Hm, her headpiece and name makes me wonder if she was a court jester in hell, and torturous punishments awaited her if she didn't make denizens laugh. Or maybe the hellish conditions ultimately made her lose her sanity for a bit. Perhaps Clownpiece isn't even her original name. ...Or maybe standing in Junko's presence for a while erased some of her core being...

So would you say that "fairy" might just be a catch-all term for "weak, human-ish supernatural critter"?

edited 30th Nov '16 4:15:14 AM by Ernie

No. They're incredibly specific about what fairies are, in terms how they interact with their environment and "life force".

I just think it's a broad category with a lot of species. Like... Vertebrata.

edited 30th Nov '16 4:17:57 AM by Clarste

Hmm, so "fairy" could be a genus under the family "youkai" - or whatever the proper taxonomic terminology would be, I'm a liberal arts major. No, maybe not, since fairies are spirits that embody a bit of terrain or such, while youkai range from really old animals to human mages to embodiments of sheer contrariness, so maybe they're completely different branches of the supernatural family tree?

Dammit, I kind of want to try to chart this.

It helps that Hecatia doesn't really have a stake in Gensokyo - she's got her job governing various underworlds, and only intervened on the moon on behalf of a friend. If she were an evil deity she might be sending her minion to sow chaos and madness and so forth, but just because she lives in hell and shops at Hot Topic doesn't make Hecatia a bad guy.

Ooh, that's an interesting question - just what is the "range" on a fairy's regenerative ability? How far can they wander from the bit of nature that spawned them? Is this what Eiki was warning Cirno about? Would Cirno regenerate anyway because she expected to?

Or Clownpiece was part of the punishment. Because let's be honest, there probably aren't cackling clowns waiting for you in heaven.

She is carrying a madness-inducing torch around, which isn't to say that the endless screams of the damned did her any favors. Though I do like the idea that Junko purified Clownpiece to make her a more effective provocateur, you could wring some drama out of that by having Clownpiece be a much more rounded character - maybe one of Hecatia's nymphs? - before having all that stripped away until she was just a hell clown.

On the other hand, if Clownpiece started out as a fairy, there might not have been anything to purify. What, you're gonna make her more of a nature spirit?

I would personally think fairies are a third type of being, separate from youkai or divine spirits.

Heck, since fairies exist to embody nature (for the most part), they might predate youkai and divine spirits entirely. There could have been roving bands of frolicking primeval fairies before the rise of intelligent life necessary for youkai or divine spirits.

Aaand that might be what sets Clownpiece apart from the likes of Cirno, she's not a part of the natural world, but one specifically designed for mortals and intended to be as unpleasant as possible. Same process, different medium... and surprisingly similar result. You'd think something spawned from the minds of the damned would turn out a little worse than a patriotic jester. Or maybe that's not Clownpiece's true form.

Makes you wonder if Pando has a fairy, though I figure fairies might've taken a different form before humans shown up if they existed before them.

From what I remember Clownpiece describes herself as a nature spirit, so she's probably just a younger type than Cirno and the other fairies we know.

edited 3rd Dec '16 9:11:42 PM by rmctagg09

Pando might have a great swarm of fairies who are like a mental collective.

Clownpiece might have the most fanart out of the LoLK characters, but wow is a lot of it cheesecake. Not gonna speculate why. Fair amount of good art, though.

Wavin' her torch (animated)
Stand and salute!
Monochrome sketch
Artsy sketch
Clowns in space
Future tourists are going to wonder about those extra footprints
The flag justifies what the torch burns
Imperialism, ho!
Jester of the moon
Feels like a theater poster
Carousel
Message to the Lunarians
The rabbits aren't fans either
Sassy
Hint of sorrow
Endearingly doofy
Sure, why not
The animals are creeping me out
Everyone's invited!
Om nom nom
She looked into her own torch
She's crazy with patriotism
New home
Modern American girl
Her outfit gets another level of fanciness
More in fitting with her boss' fashion sense
Never wear an outfit that's 70% pants
Coming full circle with the Classical aesthetic
Red, white and blue
Stars
And stripes
Clever, but wasted in daytime
If she's ever in a fighting game and doesn't do this, there'll be a riot
Persona!
Lunatic mode, activate
Two-faced clown
(taps on glass)
Eeep
Best
The inevitable Koto Inari stuff
Favored minion
Not now, kiddo
You know, I never considered that they might have encountered one another at some point
Same here
Secret weapon
Goth and Juggalo?
Avert thine eyes from the glory
Inevitable
I'm sure it'll happen
Most definitely not an alien
The power
Capitalism, ho!
Goddammit
Welp
Of course
Dat Mark Hamill laugh
Someone needs to be flickering the lights (animated)
The photo doesn't tell the whole story
Nostalgia can only get you so far, especially when pitted against Patriotism

So if Clownpiece is a hell fairy, what do Hell fairies do in hell?

Good question. We know from Subterranean Animism that there are fairies in the Underground, though apparently the only ones that appear in the actual Blazing Hell are the Dead/Zombie Fairy cosplayers that Orin brings for her fights. But I'm not sure if fairies had a role like the oni did in the whole punishment of sinners industry - and given fairies' reputation for unreliability, it probably wouldn't be wise to trust them with anyone's immortal souls. So they might just spawn from the ambient energies and get up to the same sort of mischief they would outside of Hell.

Buuut that's what we know from a visit to Gensokyo's (old) Hell. Clownpiece hails from Earth's Hell, and even though her boss evidently manages all of the Hells, there's no guarantee this hell works the same way as the one we're familiar with, so maybe the holdouts from the Greco-Roman pantheon make better use of their hell's fairies. And of course Clownpiece is inspired by the lampads, so she might have some formal duties under Hecatia even if her boss isn't running around on the surface, driving people insane these days.

IT'S LUNATIC TIME! BEHOLD THE MAD CLOWN'S MUSICAL PROWESS!

Fragments of Insanity
The Fantastic Voyage
Mad Dance of the Clown
Bright Smile Madness
Classy Moon Takeover
Accordion of Madness
Flags on the Moon
Scenes from Orbit
Live It!

It's interesting what the choice of instrumentation does to a theme. Like the metal/rock remixes of "Pierrot" really bring out the aggression in the tune, "jungle nu-jazz" makes it sound more... I dunno, desperate? Like it's playful in parts, threatening in others, but overall it makes me think of a clown fighting hard not to fail her boss. Or maybe she doesn't want to go back to hell and is fighting for her right to party.

Anyhoo, it's been two weeks, so now's the time for any final thoughts about a star-spangled harlequin before we move on to the incredible sot.

Alrighty then, let's leave Clownpiece to her clowning. Up next will be Kyouko, Tokiko, and the original shark-jumper. But first,

Suika Ibuki

Stage: Forgathering Dreams and Thoughts ~ Pandemoniac Land
Pre-Battle: "Broken Moon"^note Theme for conversation that has a fake Japanese taste. I hope it excites you. It has only main-like part so as to understand easily. It seems to be used for the conversation of the final stage, but it's too bad it doesn't really connect well to the last boss music.
Theme: "Oni's Island in the Fairyland ~ Missing Power"^note This is the theme of Suika. There're plenty of fairy tales for children like Momotarou, Issunboushi, Kintarou, etc. I wanted to make a song that would fit well with that sort of fun-loving, happy oni. That sort of fearlessness is irresistable. Anyway, there's a story that got left out of the ones I mentioned above; I wonder which it is? While we consider this, why don't we go drinking with an oni tonight, too?

Spellcard Motif: The Power of an Oni
Sample Spellcards: IaMP, SWR, DS, GoM, 'Soku, ISC
Gather Sign "Throwing Mt.Togakushi," Drunk Sign "Art of Oni Binding," Oni God "Missing Purple Power," First Card "Ama-no-Iwato Throwing Event," Second Card "Giant Oni of Earth's Axis," Third Card "Anti-Dispelling Black Hole," "Night Parade of One Million Demons," Mist Sign "Gathering and Dissipating," Oni Sign "Complete Massacre on Mt. Ooe," Big Four Arcanum "Destruction in Three Steps," Hell "Sigh of Purgatory," Oni Crowd "Hundred Oni Kaburo"

Write-up:
One of the oni-est of oni. Suika is known as super strong even for a race of brutes, and while all oni like booze, Suika has never been seen sober thanks to her never-ending sake gourd. On top of this, Suika possesses power over density, which she can use to grow to giant size, become a swarm of mini-Suikas, fade into intangible mist, generate black holes, or manipulate population density to gather people for parties.

On the other hand, unlike the rest of her kin, Suika wasn't content to abandon the surface world and its treacherous humans, and so tried to draw the rest of the oni to Gensokyo by throwing a big enough party. This attempt failed to reverse the great oni exodus, though at least one of Suika's old friends has since been spotted enjoying some fights with her, so at least she's not the only oni to visit Gensokyo. And of course there's a certain hermit who Suika seems to know quite well...

Relationships:

• Reimu Hakurei (sometime hostess)
• Yukari Yakumo (go way back)
• Yuugi Hoshiguma (another one of the four)
• Kasen Ibaraki (...)

See also the previous compendiums.

Suika is an oni who likes to fight and drink however Suika can a little deceitful compared to the rest of her kin. Oni pride themselves on being honest and straightforward yet Suika does keep secrets and lies.

While the Four Kings casual reference was used here for Shuten-Douji's lieutenants (with an unrelated Bishamonten used seperately later), it's a little amusing that Suika coincidentally matches up with not just Shuten-Douji but also Zouchouten. Guardian of spiritual growth and fire, ruler of the winds and the dwarf-like Kumbhanda. Pretty much dropped with the other oni, though.

Suika's backstory of the secluded oni started a trend of their characters questioning Gensokyo's segregation, with both Yuugi's position in the entire notion of the exiles' Underground in SA as well as Kasen's self-exiled regretful-fellow-demiurge with Yukari. With how relevant Kasen turned out to be, I doubt the fourth oni is lurking behind the scenes for further Gensokyo-as-goldfish-bowl shenanigans, but them causing another incident by being outright hostile over the situation is fertile and mostly ignored fanwork material (outside of weird Konnagara uses). Even just a historical moment of seeing the group as a council on the pivotal break-off would be fresh material, with the two openly-oni figures rarely brought up in such serious grounds compared to them lurking / partying forever.

I like to imagine that Suika keeps herself small so the alcohol hits her harder. It seems like an advantage Suika would take given how much time she spends drinking already.

That sounds almost like cheating. What, a font of endless booze isn't enough to get Suika sloshed? For shame.

Do you think it's the company she keeps rubbing off on her? Apparently Suika dislikes Yukari's "dirty tricks" but not enough to cut ties, and of course there's Kasen. Or is it due to the bad influence coming from all those tricksy humans on the surface? Or does this go back even further, suggesting an alternate reason why Suika was left behind when the rest of the oni left?

I'm not sure which I'd like to see more, the fourth Deva appearing just to complete the set, or the last of the four remaining anonymous so fans have stuff to work with. Though if she did show up, what position would she take? We've got Yuugi, who seems fine with the status quo, Suika trying to change the situation within Gensokyo, and Kasen reversing her course and trying to bust through the Barrier. Was the fourth opposed to the idea of Gensokyo to begin with, and that's why she isn't around?

Yeah, seeing a properly destructive oni lord try to tear down Gensokyo would make for a pretty cool Incident. If not a very sophisticated one.

Suika Ibuki:

An oni who can change size and form at will. Loves drinking more than anything.

It's said that Suika's never been seen sober. But FS sure showed how sober she is at times. Unless her density-controlling powers reduces the obviousness of her drunkenness.

I wonder if she still goes to Bhava-Agra.

Like any oni, she likes honesty. From her interactions with Kasen, she probably hates how Kasen's doing her best at burying her oni heritage. Or is it hated, since she seems to be chill about it now?

Guess it depends on whether Suika thinks it's better to be true to who you were or who you're trying to be. A related question would be what Yuugi thinks of Kasen, how different her viewpoint is from Suika's, and what that tells us.

I mean, at this point what does it even mean to be an oni? Their glory days are long past, their underlings on Youkai Mountain have become tabloid reporters and crazy tinkers, they can't abduct humans anymore without raising a fuss, and have you seen what passes for beer these days? Yuugi decided to stay with (most of) the rest of her kind, Suika decided to stay where she was and convince the rest of her people to rejoin her, and Kasen seems to have filed her horns down to become something else entirely, but none of them are living like they used to, just trying to deal with their changing circumstances in their own ways.

Which I suppose is an underlying theme of Touhou, traditional (fantastic) societies being confronted with change despite trying to reject modernity.