Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Characters / TouhouMainCharacters

Go To

1[[center:[[WMG:''Franchise/TouhouProject'' [[Characters/TouhouProject characters index]]\
2[-'''Main characters:''' '''Main Characters'''\
3'''PC-98 Era:''' [[Characters/TouhouPC98 PC-98 Games]] (''Highly Responsive to Prayers'', ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'', ''Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream'', ''Lotus Land Story'', ''Mystic Square'')\
4'''Windows Era -- Main Games:''' ''Characters/TouhouKoumakyouTheEmbodimentOfScarletDevil'' | ''Characters/TouhouYouyoumuPerfectCherryBlossom'' | ''Characters/TouhouEiyashouImperishableNight'' | ''Characters/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView'' | ''Characters/TouhouFuujinrokuMountainOfFaith'' | ''Characters/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism'' | ''Characters/TouhouSeirensenUndefinedFantasticObject'' | ''Characters/TouhouShinreibyouTenDesires'' | ''Characters/TouhouKishinjouDoubleDealingCharacter'' | ''Characters/TouhouKanjudenLegacyOfLunaticKingdom'' | ''Characters/TouhouTenkuushouHiddenStarInFourSeasons'' | ''Characters/TouhouKikeijuuWilyBeastAndWeakestCreature'' | ''Characters/TouhouKouryuudouUnconnectedMarketeers'' | ''Characters/TouhouJuuouenUnfinishedDreamOfAllLivingGhost''\
5'''Windows Era -- Other:''' [[Characters/TouhouSideGames Side Games]] | [[Characters/TouhouOtherOfficialWorks Other Official Works]]-]]]]]
6----
7This page is for Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame, the overall main characters of the ''Touhou'' franchise.
8----
9[[foldercontrol]]
10
11[[folder:Reimu Hakurei]]
12[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_413160343401a91d24d8e006d72ffeb4.png]]
13
14::[--[PC-98]--]
15::''Shrine Maiden Who Protects Dreams and Tradition''
16::'''Reimu Hakurei'''
17
18::[--[Windows]--]
19::''Shrine Maiden of Paradise''
20::'''Reimu Hakurei''' [[labelnote:*]]"Reimu" is spelled 靈夢 in the PC-98 games. In the Windows era this was changed to 霊夢, using a more modern ''rei'' kanji with the same meaning.[[/labelnote]]
21
22-->''"I am the shrine maiden of paradise, Reimu Hakurei! I'll protect the Barrier, no matter what! And I'm not gonna let some human die stupidly right in front of me!"''
23
24\
25''The all-too-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.''\
26
27The main protagonist of the ''Touhou'' series in general, Reimu is the [[{{Miko}} shrine maiden]] of the Hakurei Shrine, built on the border of the Great Hakurei Barrier which surrounds [[FantasticNatureReserve Gensokyo]]. Apart from her traditional miko duties, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden also acts as a sort of sheriff, protecting Gensokyo's native humans by resolving disturbances and "incidents" caused by {{Youkai}}. She is the official author of the Spell Card system, a type of {{Wizard Duel}}ing which allows most such conflicts to end nonlethally, though she does not appear to have been its sole inventor.
28
29[[BrilliantButLazy Reimu is extremely talented, but hates training and is very lazy]]. She's a fair, honest person who acts the same way around everyone, regardless of social status and whether they're a friend or enemy. [[AmbiguousInnocence Unfortunately]] that usually just means she's a cynical jerk to everyone equally. This [[FriendlyEnemy passive attitude towards monsters]] doesn't sit well with most of the humans in Gensokyo either, which means her shrine is unpopular and receives few donations.
30----
31* AchievementsInIgnorance: Zanmu's plan in ''Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost'' is for Reimu to take on Biten, Enoko, and Chiyari before facing her, but Reimu getting a tip-off from Suika allows her to bypass all of that and face Zanmu directly without any true understanding of what's going on.
32* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Despite all being written by ZUN, each of the official manga often focus on different aspects of Reimu's personality. In ''Manga/TouhouSangetsusei'', she's a laid-back CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass who's often the StraightMan to the Three Fairies' {{Zany Scheme}}s. In ''Manga/SilentSinnerInBlue'', she's [[OnlySaneByComparison "sane" compared to everyone else in Remilia's invasion group]]. In ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'', she's an unintelligent UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist obsessed with [[GetRichQuickScheme get-rich-quick schemes]], and in ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'' she's a dedicated PragmaticHero who struggles with the weight of her position.
33* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
34** Notably, despite being the main character of the series, there has never been a story told from Reimu's perspective. According to ZUN this is deliberate, and even in-universe everyone from the fairies to the humans has a different idea of just who she is.
35** PlayedForLaughs in a chapter of ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'', where she gets jealous of Sanae and starts acting like her ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'' self in front of Kosuzu. Kosuzu is completely unable to reconcile this with her existing image of Reimu, and dismisses it as a joke. Inverted by ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'' itself, where Kasen is caught off-guard by [[LetsGetDangerous how efficient Reimu can be when she's taking the situation seriously]].
36* AmbiguouslyGay: Some fans believe Reimu's at the very ''least'' bisexual because of her flirtatious conversation with Meira in Story of Eastern Wonderland. While that moment could tenuously be interpreted as Reimu mistaking Meira for a man, this is actually pretty unlikely given the full context, especially considering that once Meira clarifies that she is a woman, Reimu's immediate reaction is not to back down, but to make "Meira carries me off" to be ''her own'' victory condition.
37-->([[https://www.reddit.com/r/touhou/comments/72jntt/meira_be_like/dnk8ob0/ Source]])\
38'''Meira:''' And to make myself perfectly clear, I am a woman!!\
39Disgusting!!\
40'''Reimu:''' So☆ If I win... then\
41Yeah, that works for me,\
42were there any conditions you wanted to add..?\
43'''Meira:''' Do you even listen to people talking to you!!?
44* AmbiguousInnocence: Reimu is consistently described as carefree at heart, guileless, and simple in her thinking. She also just plain doesn't see things quite the way everyone else does. It never seems to occur to her that her way of doing things can cause people a lot of unnecessary grief before the resolution, or that what seems straightforward to her might be a mind-bending trick to others, or that her own natural gifts can be an unfair advantage in some things... And as the flip side to her impartial view of others, ZUN says, she's not particularly ''attached'' to anyone either; no matter how popular she is, "[[AloneInACrowd she's actually alone in her heart.]]"
45* AncestralWeapon: Reimu's main weapon are the Hakurei [[DragonsUpTheYinYang Yin-Yang Orbs]], which ''Unconnected Marketeers'' reveals was originally created by Misumaru.
46* ArtEvolution: Reimu's appearance has [[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Reimu_Hakurei changed]] particularly often and dramatically since the start of the series -- after all, she's been in all games but two. Most infamous in ''Mountain of Faith'', where an oddly jaundiced skin tone led to the joke that Reimu had become an undead zombie.
47* BadassNormal: [[EmpoweredBadassNormal While she possesses the powers of channeling gods now]], back then in the PC-98 era she had absolutely zero powers and only relied on her giant [[HolyBurnsEvil yin-yang orb]] (which she used like a soccer ball) and her generic [[PaperTalisman [=Ofuda=]]]; she also had to use her turtle Genji in order to fly. Despite that, she managed to beat, in order of status: A realm-warping human with magical powers, an absurdly powerful evil [[PerfectlyCromulentWord spiritess]] who even had Marisa as a henchwoman, the supposedly strongest youkai of all, the angel of death, and a [[PhysicalGod god that creates worlds]].
48* BadLiar: Whenever she tries to lie, it's so painfully, obviously forced that it's practically impossible to not realize it immediately. She is really that incredibly bad of a liar. An excellent example is when she disrupts the meeting in ''Symposium of Post-Mysticism''. She ''claims'' it's to protect humans beyond all else, but it does ''not'' take long for other elements to slip out--not just her being a SlaveToPR, but that she's doing this on behalf of ''the weaker youkai as well''. One can usually see the [[https://cdn.awwni.me/10e5l.png exact moment]] she realizes she's been caught in a lie.
49* BarrierWarrior: Only actually seen in the fighting games, but while not at Yukari's level she's pretty good at barrier magic.
50* BeingPersonalIsntProfessional: It's Reimu's job to exterminate youkai (which she does quite aggressively), but that doesn't mean she dislikes them. She will make half-hearted attempts to stop them from loitering around her shrine, though, [[SlaveToPR as otherwise she would lose the Human Village's trust]].
51* BerserkButton: ''Forbidden Scrollery'' demonstrates that [[MagicEnhancement turning yourself into a youkai]] is a good way to get yourself exterminated by Reimu. [[spoiler:'''[[KilledOffForReal Horrifically literally]]'''.]] She tolerates beings such as magician youkai though, who used to be humans, so presumably what infuriated her was the method of the transformation, or the specific type of youkai. Or alternatively, it could be the fact that it was a human from the village who did this. Like, for instance...
52* BewareTheNiceOnes: In [[WhamEpisode chapter 25]] of ''Forbidden Scrollery'' it's revealed that [[spoiler:a man from the human village set up an elaborate plan to become a youkai. When Reimu confronts the human-turned-youkai he claims that with his goal accomplished, he intends to live a peaceful life far away from humans, so there's no reason for the "youkai shrine maiden" to pretend to exterminate him. Reimu responds by unflinchingly ''splitting his head in two with her gohei, killing him'', and states that a village human turning into a youkai is "the greatest sin there is"]].
53* BornLucky: Reimu is downright notorious for her luck and incredible intuition. It's why her default method of problem-solving seems to be to pick a direction and go, since she'll always manage to end up headed towards the BigBad eventually.
54* BornWinner: As the Hakurei shrine maiden, she was born with enough raw power to put her head and shoulders above her closest competition despite having never worked for it. In fact, she outright abhors working.
55* BrilliantButLazy: As noted above. Indeed, fans have noticed that [[Characters/TouhouOtherOfficialWorks Watatsuki no Yorihime]] owes her InvincibleVillain status to essentially being a version of Reimu who [[LadyOfWar takes everything seriously]].
56* BrutalHonesty: The idea of lying often never even comes across Reimu's mind, and she'll bluntly, unabashedly say exactly what she thinks no matter who she's talking to or what the situation. This is in fact one of the major contrasts between her and Marisa - while Marisa will often lie just for the heck of it, Reimu is simply far too honest to even attempt it. Her sheer honesty is one of the reasons that Oni such as Suika and Yuugi take a liking to her, as honesty is a favourable trait to Oni. Parodied in [[https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/724296 this]] fan comic.
57* ButtMonkey: A fair number of manga poke fun at her shrine's lack of visitors, with the bad publicity sometimes coming either from Aya's sketchy journalism or Reimu's own reckless entrepreneurship. ''Wild and Horned Hermit'' in its entirety could even be considered a full-blown roast of Reimu's general practices, given how often she makes a fool of herself.
58* CameraAbuse: One of her victory animations in ''Hopeless Masquerade'', ''Urban Legend in Limbo'', and ''Antinomy of Common Flowers'' has her throwing a seal at the camera. In ''Hopeless Masquerade'', it reads "No religious solicitation!", while in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'' and ''Antinomy of Common Flowers'', it reads "Occult Dispersed!"
59* CanonImmigrant: Reimu's [[SmartBomb signature attack]] ''Fantasy Seal'' originates from her appearance as a {{superboss}} in ''VideoGame/MagicPengel''; its name is derived from that game's keyword system.
60* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Reimu's values and views of the world are... different from everyone else's, a trait that's frequently brought up both by ZUN and Rinnosuke. This is most often shown by her occasional strange comments and the abnormal conclusions she tends to draw.
61* ColourCodedCharacters: Reimu and Yukari form the "Border team" in ''Imperishable Night''. It's rather convenient that the colors of their outfits correspond to the borders between visible and invisible light.
62* CostumeExaggeration: She wore a realistic {{Miko}} outfit in the PC-98 era, but in the Windows era she switched to a more stylized version of a miko's traditional wear.
63* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Her eyes and hair are purple in the PC-98 era.
64* DefeatMeansFriendship: Almost everyone she defeats tends to end up at her shrine for a wild drinking party. {{Deconstructed}} in that Reimu [[DropInCharacter has trouble keeping her new "friends" away]], and since officially most of them are [[FantasticRacism enemies of mankind]], this [[AllTheOtherReindeer leads other humans to distrust her]].
65* DemonicPossession: Fell victim to this accidentally by Fujiwara no Mokou in Reisen's story mode, due to the "Perfect Possession" incident.
66* DependingOnTheArtist:
67** Reimu's hair varies in length and can be either black or brown, while her eyes vary between grey, brown, blue, or red. In the PC-98 games, her hair and eyes were both ''purple.''
68** Her ultimate spell card ''Fantasy Nature'' looks different in every appearance, ranging from a SuperMode that grants temporary invincibility + {{Roboteching}} attacks (''Imperishable Night''), to a continuous [[DeathInAllDirections omnidirectional]] MagicMissileStorm which [[LimitBreak must be charged up before use]] (''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody''), to a CounterAttack which traps her opponent inside a barrier that bombards them with {{Ofuda}} before exploding (''Hopeless Masquerade''). [[JustifiedTrope Then again]], it's less of a technique and more of [[DontThinkFeel a state of mind]].
69* DependingOnTheWriter: Her characterization in the manga can fluctuate from series to series, changing how grumpy she is, how tolerant she is of youkai, and [[PerpetualPoverty how desperate she is to make money]].
70* DesperationAttack: In ''Highly Responsive to Prayers'', her bombs can damage bosses when she's out of extra lives.
71* DetectEvil: As shown in ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'' chapter 16, she's able to tell when youkai have been active in an area from their lingering auras.
72* DontThinkFeel: Reimu's powers seem to be tied to her impressive instincts; some of her most powerful spell cards have her enter a trance where she hands control over to them entirely.
73* EarlyBirdCameo: Reimu's Windows appearance first shows up (Alongside Marisa) as the Extra Boss of ''[[VideoGame/{{Seihou}} Shuusou Gyoku]]'''s Extra stage; almost a full year before ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'' came out.
74* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Although some characteristics in Reimu's design aren't consistent, she has purple hair in the Platform/PC98 era. Afterwards, however, she has blackish hair instead.
75* EmpoweredBadassNormal: As of the Windows canon she's attained the ability to fly and summon gods.
76* EveryoneHasStandards: Despite her notoriously lazy nature, Reimu refuses to abuse [[SuperMode Fantasy Nature]] even though it would make her [[InvincibleHero unstoppable]] as well as implicitly [[CompleteImmortality immortal]], treating it as a DangerousForbiddenTechnique and [[WillfullyWeak putting a time limit to its use whenever she does perform it]]. The reason is never given, but it might tie into her ultimate desire to remain [[IJustWantToBeNormal relatively normal]].
77* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: This little exchange.
78-->'''Shou:''' You're the human who gathered the flying treasure? You look a lot more scrawny than I imagined.\
79'''Reimu:''' How rude.\
80'''Shou:''' I'm sorry, you're quite right. I simply thought that if you'd made it this far, maybe you were some sort of ascetic scholar.
81* FaceFault: Has one when talking to Rika in ''Story of Eastern Wonderland''.
82* FamedInStory: By ''Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost'' Hisami and Zanmu, who normally live in Hell, are aware of Reimu by reputation alone.
83* FantasticRacism:
84** Zig-zagged. While she ''is'' a youkai exterminator, she'll generally beat down anyone who gets in her way, no matter who or what they are, whether they're human (as Marisa, Sakuya, and Sanae can attest to) or gods (Kanako, Suwako, Hecatia, Okina, Misumaru, and Chimata). And afterwards, she'll sit down and have tea with them without the slightest malevolence whatsoever. Outside of duty, she treats youkai the same way she treats humans, with vague disrespect. ZUN has said that she doesn't particularly care about humans or youkai, and [[PretendPrejudice she personally considers everyone the same]], neither negatively nor positively. This is supposedly part of why powerful youkai tend to be drawn to her.
85** ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'' has given a motivation to her "jerkass" behavior. Youkai [[ShapedLikeItself by definition]] oppose humanity; and they are opposed by humanity. If they didn't do this, they wouldn't be youkai. (What would happen isn't stated, but it would likely be bad.) Pranks and "youkai extermination", softened by spellcard rules, [[LoopholeAbuse give some pretense to following this paradigm]].
86* FinalBoss: She's the last character you fight in the regular final boss's Story Mode of ''Immaterial and Missing Power'', ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'', ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'', ''Hopeless Masquerade'', and ''Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost''.
87* FlechetteStorm: Her main projectile weapons besides her {{Paper Talisman}}s are long throwing needles. She claims they do less spiritual damage, but have better penetrative power and aren't as affected by wind and rain.
88* FlunkyBoss: As the TrueFinalBoss of ''Hopeless Masquerade''. The flunkies being [[FinalBoss Byakuren and Miko]], just to drive the point home how hard it is.
89* FriendToAllLivingThings: Not shown often, unless you count the whole DefeatMeansFriendship routine, but animals seem to really like Reimu. She's been seen [[PetTheDog feeding wild rabbits by hand]], summoning birds with a whistle, and crossing a river ''without noticing it'' because '''fish rose up to form a bridge under her feet'''.
90* GoodIsNotNice: Not nearly as bad as the [[{{Flanderization}} fans (or Kasen) believe]], but when duty calls, she's a bit of a jerk.
91* GuestFighter: Has made appearances in ''VideoGame/{{Seihou}}'', ''VideoGame/MagicPengel'' (as a boss) and ''VideoGame/GraffitiKingdom'' (as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORpB26JlF0k a playable character]]) due to ZUN being involved in their development. She also shows up in the {{Massive Multiplayer Crossover}}s ''Lord Of Vermilion'' and ''Nendoroid Generation''.
92* HatesEveryoneEqually: Noted for being equally rude to humans, youkai and ''[[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu gods]]''. She does, however, seem to have [[FriendToAllChildren a soft spot for children]], or at least wants to avoid setting a bad example for them (most notably in her interactions with [[Manga/ForbiddenScrollery Kosuzu]]). And then there's [[HeterosexualLifePartners whatever's going on between her and Marisa]]...
93* HeartIsAnAwesomePower:
94** Reimu's ability is ''the power to float in the sky'', which every girl in the series is capable of doing already. Except then you reach [[{{Superboss}} Fantasy Nature]]. ZUN's description: "Supreme Master-Art. With Reimu's ability to float, she [[{{Intangibility}} floats away from physical reality]] and becomes invincible. If it wasn't [[HoldingBackThePhlebotinum just for play]] (with time limit), no one could beat her by any method". She can't be hurt, and the only way to win is to wait for her timer to run out while she's free to bombard her opponent at her leisure.
95** One of the [[FlightStrengthHeart laughably mundane]] "powers" of the Hakurei Yin-Yang Orb--the power to eat sweets and never get fat--is believed to give her the smallest hitbox.
96* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Marisa. Hard to see it in the games, because Reimu and Marisa are mutually exclusive characters, but the two are practically inseparable in the official print works.
97* HimeCut: As a miko, her traditional haircut is sharply cut bangs with long sideburns. She's depicted with a lot of different hairstyles throughout the series (from shoulder- to waist-length, with or without a ponytail, with or without hair tubes), but the early games and ZUN's art leans towards this more often than not.
98* HolyBurnsEvil: The Yin-Yang Orbs. Before Reimu was able to use their powers properly, she {{exploited}} this trope by physically kicking them at enemies.
99* HolyHandGrenade: Post PC-98, Reimu is a ''walking'' one due to her holy powers. Implied to come with the territory of being the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.
100* HomingProjectile: Her signature ability in most games.
101* HyperDestructiveBouncingBall: The Yin-Yang Orb in ''Highly Responsive to Prayers'', when it was used as a bludgeoning weapon and not an orbiting AttackDrone. One of her moves in the fighting games gives a nod to this.
102* HyperspaceArsenal:
103** Played straight in the games, she can fire hundreds if not thousands of [=ofuda=] and sealing needles over the course of a given incident and never run out.
104** {{Averted}} in ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'' chapter 27 due to GameplayAndStorySegregation: Reimu's stock of needles is small and they have become bent and rusted from overuse, forcing her to have them repaired.
105* HyperspaceHolmesHat: A common gag for Reimu in the manga.
106* IdiotBall: Grabs it in ''Wild and Horned Hermit'', Chapter 35. After running around the entire day investigating the mysterious disappearances and reapparances, she eventually fingers Yukari as the apparent culprit. While the truth is more complicated than that, in-universe she chides herself for not seeing the obvious clues from the start.
107* IJustWantToBeNormal: When she breaks up the gathering in ''Symposium of Post-Mysticism'', she brings as evidence of the problematic nature of youkai some newspaper articles. Very few of which suggest anything baleful, no matter how much she fears Aya might have downplayed them--and how can anyone claim Kyouko and Mystia were guilty of anything worse than disturbing the peace? What many of them ''are'' is ''strange''. Add in her equivalent of HairTriggerTemper whenever an incident manifests, and it's strongly suggested that she (and more than a few other humans) desperately want life to be ''predictable''. She's just more...pro-active...about ensuring it. Her irritated comment about how the outside world must be barbaric in her B Extra Stage in ''Double Dealing Character''--just from Raiko commenting on how taiko drummers prize unthinking enthusiasm--further seals it in.
108** It probably doesn't help that in traditional Shinto thought, misfortune ''presupposes'' impurity of some sort. A world with strange, startling occurrences, or otherwise not placidly predictable, is thus, by definition, defiled by something. The disturbing the peace from Kyouko and Mystia's new band? Chimeric ''because'' it jars others' routines.
109** In a way, this serves to further differentiate her from [[IJustWantToBeSpecial Marisa]].
110* ImprobableWeaponUser: In the fighting games and in ''Double Dealing Character'' she can use her ''gohei'' as a melee weapon.
111* {{Intangibility}}: When using her Last Word from ''Imperishable Night'', Fantasy Nature, she actually temporarily flies away from ''reality''.
112* {{Irony}}: And quite a bit of it:
113** Even though Reimu is Gensokyo's main youkai-exterminator, her shrine is often regarded as a "youkai shrine" that is often plagued with youkai, something that often prevents her from getting donations. While this is mostly exaggerated by the human villagers and others, the shrine is home to Shinmyoumaru Sukuna, who tried to start an incident (though it could be argued it was as much for her own protection, and she became friendly as a result of being given food and shelter), Aunn Komano, a komainu-turned-youkai (though she's also friendly), and 4 fairy pranksters: the Three Fairies of Light (who live in a Mongolian Oak directly on the border behind the shrine) and Clownpiece the hell fairy (who lives directly under the shrine). Suika Ibuki, a perpetually drunk oni, also lived with her for a while before moving into Bhava-Agra.
114** While she isn't the type of person one can befriend easily, a combination of DefeatMeansFriendship and OppositesAttract make her attractive, in a non-romantic sense, to strong/friendly youkai, particularly those who have served as either the FinalBoss or {{Superboss}} of a ''Touhou'' game. The best examples of this in action are Remilia Scarlet, ''Touhou's'' first Windows-era final boss and partly the reason why the Spell Card System was first created, Yukari Yakumo, Reimu's on-and-off mentor/employer and occasional MysteriousBacker, and the aforementioned Three Fairies of Light, who were initially nuisances but after invoking DefeatMeansFriendship (by [[CurbStompBattle getting instantly destroyed]] by her) are now on much better terms despite their pranks.
115** Despite being a {{miko}}, her powers and way of thinking are far more [[UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} Taoist]] than UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} (coming particularly close to the Taoist ideal of ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei wei wu wei]]''), to the point where she's been compared to a [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers hermit]]. She possibly acts ''more'' Taoist than the actual hermits introduced in ''Ten Desires'', who only achieved their status through {{Soul Jar}}s (and one of whom has Shinto-based powers). Her use of yin-yang-themed weapons doesn't help.
116* JackOfAllStats: Her attack and speed are just barely adequate, and she has no real glaring flaws, as far as standard gameplay goes. Her attacks are highly flexible and she's good for just about any situation. Reimu A is usually a homing type, and sacrifices power for range and accuracy. Reimu B is usually the forward-focus type, similar to Marisa's gameplay, but not quite as strong; in exchange, her attacks have a wider range, making it easier for her to hit the targets. Finally, she consistently has the smallest hitbox and longest deathbomb period, making her ideal for survival play.
117* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She beats up youkai she suspects of stealing, fights and insults multiple characters solely because they annoyed her, and even fights ''[[MessianicArchetype Byakuren]]'' out of sheer annoyance. Also, Kogasa lampshades the "Jerk" part once. However, she does have her [[PetTheDog nicer moments]]. Also, ''Symposium of Post-Mysticism'' reveals through [[{{Telepathy}} Miko]] that despite how she acts, she truly desires a peace that doesn't require violence.
118* {{Leitmotif}}: She has a couple, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdAyCWh0238 "Maiden's Capriccio"]] (and its remix [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMdGSTE4-Zk "Maiden's Capriccio ~ Dream Battle"]]) is her most iconic.
119** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwPUjQmTVRY "Eastern Mystical Love Consultation"]] from ''Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream'', later remixed for the fighting games.
120** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iVplhDGeNs "Witching Dream"]] from ''Lotus Land Story''.
121** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFovQWYiJEw "Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Ancients"]] from her cameo as a {{Superboss}} in ''[[VideoGame/{{Seihou}} Shuusou Gyoku]]'', remixed for ''Touhou Hisoutensoku''. Also has a variant, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bS0Y2if3wU "Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Red and White"]] on the ''Dolls in Pseudo Paradise'' music CD, which got [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDlVSDiMIs remixed]] for ''Urban Legend in Limbo''.
122** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wNx_C25BYg&spfreload=1 "Spring Lane ~ Colorful Path"]] from ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGsz9PpHVu4 Remixed]] for ''Hopeless Masquerade'' as a [[AutobotsRockOut more hard rock theme]].
123** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PMdjMiKzSo "The World is Made in an Adorable Way"]] from ''Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost''.
124* LetsGetDangerous: In the final story of ''Urban Legend in Limbo'', upon realizing that Sumireko is being used by Lunarians, she discards her usual attitude and becomes really pro-active, going straight after Sumireko with little patience to anyone else getting her way. ZUN even compares it as her overcoming her "final boss" side and showing her true character.
125* LightEmUp: Her signature attack ''Fantasy Seal'' creates [[EnergyBall large balls of light]] around her in different colours, which then [[{{Roboteching}} home in on enemies]] and explode.
126* MacrossMissileMassacre: Can pull this off by firings loads of [[PaperTalisman [=Ofuda=]]].
127* MeaningfulName: "Reimu" can be interpreted to mean "[[DreamingOfThingsToCome prophetic dream]]".
128* {{Miko}}: She lives and works as one at a traditional Shinto shrine, and in the PC-98 games she wore a traditional miko's outfit (white haori, red hakama). In the Windows games she wears a much more customized and non-standard outfit, though it still keeps the traditional red and white colours. Job-wise, she has all the usual duties a real miko would have (keeping the shrine clean, collecting donations, etc.) while also dealing with incidents.
129* MoodSwinger:
130** Tends towards this in her off-hours, having a tendency to switch from placid to irritated at the drop of a hat. When she's actually [[SlaveToPR trying to seem professional]] she can come across as outright {{Tsundere}}.
131** According to Reisen in ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'', people with short wavelengths to their personality are energetic while those with long wavelengths are carefree. She describes Reimu's as alternating between the two extremes, "a voice that matches with no one and clashes with no one".
132** PlayedForLaughs in a chapter of ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'' set during the events of ''Hopeless Masquerade'', where a kappa is taking bets on a duel between Reimu and Byakuren. Kasen enthusiastically cheers an embarassed Reimu on... while betting against her.
133--->'''Kasen:''' "Reimu always screws up when she gets cocky.[...]There's no safer bet anywhere."
134* MsViceGirl: Lazy and greedy, but ultimately a good person who's [[LetsGetDangerous devoted to her job]].
135-->'''Komachi:''' "That shrine maiden didn't have any evil thoughts to begin with. [...] Just about all humans have that level of worldly desires. Working hard despite that amount of desire isn't evil, it's innocent. Among the innocent ones, you get [[GoodIsNotNice people like that shrine maiden]]."
136* MythologyGag: In the FightingGame spin-offs, a portion of Reimu's moveset is taken from ''Highly Responsive to Prayers''.
137* NearDeathExperience: Nearly dies after eating some spoiled leftovers in ''Wild and Hornet Hermit''. Her soul even ends up in Shigan briefly before returning to life.
138* NinjaLog: Reimu's ''Instant Dimensional Rift'' skill in ''Hisoutensoku'' switches her with a double that explodes into a shower of damaging [[PaperTalisman [=Ofuda=]]] if struck.
139* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: While Reimu is considered the strongest human in Gensokyo, she has racked up some losses:
140** In ''Silent Sinner in Blue'', she gets defeated for perhaps the first time in-canon by Watatsuki no Yorihime, who interpreted her presence on the moon as an invasion.
141** She canonically loses to both Yuuma and Flandre in ''Gouyoku Ibun'' and Marisa in ''100th Black Market''
142** [[spoiler: She loses to Zanmu in ''Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost'' after she refuses Zanmu's plan and the latter decides to "stop letting her win".]]
143* NunTooHoly: While she's a {{Miko}} who defers to gods and treats youkai as enemies, she only does so because it's her job; she doesn't discriminate by such things personally. As multiple characters have commented, Reimu's attitude would be great for a hermit ([[EnlightenmentSuperpowers in the Taoist sense]]) but doesn't really fit a shrine maiden. She also has some gaps in her training, to the point where she didn't know until ''Double Dealing Character'' that tsukumogami should receive prayers to becalm them, and she ''doesn't even know what god she's serving''. Part of this may be due to [[Characters/TouhouYouyoumuPerfectCherryBlossom Yukari]]'s influence.
144* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Kosuzu goes missing in the middle of a storm during the "Let's Not Go Out On Purple Days" storyline, Reimu is uncharacteristically serious and starts acting like herself during an Incident. After learning that Kosuzu went missing because she was heading to the Shrine, Reimu asks the gods to help her find Kosuzu, something that Reimu almost never does. More seriously Marisa discovers Reimu as she was about to attack Youkai Mountain by herself, and barely stops Reimu by physically dragging her off as she's readying her weapon to fight Aya.
145* OppositesAttract: Reimu is rather serious by Gensokyo standards and has no tolerance for mischief, yet her closest friends tend to be extra-strength weird, such as the maniacal Marisa, the gregarious Suika, the whimsical Yukari, or the erratic Aya. Topping all of them except Yukari would be Remilia, who swings between serious NobleDemon and childish little girl.
146* PaperTalisman: Her main weapon, usually thrown as {{Homing Projectile}}s. DependingOnTheArtist, the only thing Reimu writes on her ofuda is 大入[[note]]''ooiri'' ("full house"), normally written on envelopes of money[[/note]] - Marisa suggests that this was intended as [[SchmuckBait some kind of trap]], but can't understand why Reimu's ofuda still ''work'' when she does this.
147* ParentalAbandonment: Despite the importance of her bloodline, it's unknown exactly what happened to the rest of the Hakurei clan, just that Reimu has been living alone for as long as we've seen. In ''Literature/CuriositiesOfLotusAsia'', Marisa outright says that Reimu is an orphan.
148* PerpetualPoverty: Reimu doesn't get donations, and the Hakurei Shrine is often described as "shabby-looking", though she has no problems providing for herself. Apparently Yukari secretly provides some food donations.
149* PersonalityPowers:
150** Reimu is rather distant from other humans (both socially and in [[BornWinner her level of ability]]); she fittingly has two powers which make her "untouchable". Her ability to float matches her habit of drifting from one emotion or idea to another without being truly attached to them, while her "treat everyone the same" attitude and concern with maintaining the balance likewise fit her use of yin-yang-themed weapons.
151** Her disposition fittingly [[EmpathicEnvironment manifests]] as [[CueTheSun sunny weather]] in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody''. [[LightIsGood Bright and pure]], but [[MoodSwinger easily obscured by anything that passes]].
152* PetTheDog:
153** In contrast to her infamous attitude during incidents, in a chapter of ''Manga/TouhouSangetsusei'' she kindly warns a fairy (who resembles Daiyousei) to find shelter before she gets blown away by the upcoming storm. Later on she even allows them to stay near the shrine.
154** During ''Manga/TouhouBougetsushou'' when an injured [[MoonRabbit "Earth" rabbit]] comes by the shrine she takes care of her and even (grumpily) informs Eientei of what happened.
155** Letting Shinmyoumaru stay with her after the events of ''Double Dealing Character'' until the Lucky Mallet recharges, and actually treating her quite well.
156** During ''Symposium of Post-Mysticism'' she breaks apart the meeting not just because [[SlaveToPR the villagers were asking/nagging her to]], but because the weaker youkai were afraid of some of Gensokyo's most powerful political entities all being together in one place.
157** In ''Lotus Eaters'' she chooses to let a wayward otter spirit stay in Gensokyo rather than forcibly send it back to the Animal Realm.
158* PortalCut: Basically how her [[LimitBreak Occult Last Word]] seems to work in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'', creating a "gap" in her opponent by slashing them with her gohei.
159* PreFinalBoss: She's the penultimate boss of Flandre's ''Gouyoku Ibun'' scenario if going down the C4 route, making her effectively one for the entire game.
160* PunchClockHero: Reimu tends to only get involved in incidents out of duty, rather than out of an actual desire to help others. While she's not completely selfish, she's also far from an ideal heroine.
161* PurpleIsPowerful: She plays this straight in the PC-98 era via being a powerhouse with [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow purple hair and eyes]].
162* RedEyesTakeWarning: Her actual eye colors aren't consistent, [[DependingOnTheArtist even in official works]], but they are sometimes drawn red. If you are a {{Youkai}}, and you start causing trouble when her eyes have been drawn red, this certainly applies.
163* ResignedToTheCall: A bit hypocritical about it though, in that while she'll complain about there being an incident to solve and handle it begrudgingly, she'll get bored if there ''aren't'' any incidents for her to resolve.
164* RoundhouseKick: In the fighting games, her ''Ascension Kick'' is a backflipping ''vertical'' roundhouse which sends enemies flying upwards. She also has a HurricaneKick upgrade ''Divine Arts "Sky-Conquering Wind God Kick"''.
165* RunningGag: In the manga a common running gag is Reimu's ignorance when it comes to subjects pertaining to the outside world. For instance, in ''Forbidden Scrollery'' when Mamizou tells a ghost story about a car with GPS, Reimu imagines a street cart being led by a spirit.
166* {{Sarashi}}: It's rarely seen, but she wears wrappings underneath her clothes.
167* ShoutOut: Reimu's infamous [[LimitBreak Last Word]] "Fantasy Nature"[[note]]"Fantasy Heaven" in older translations[[/note]] is a homonym to Kenshiro's Musou Tensei of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''. In ''Hisoutensoku'', using said spell card under certain conditions even causes a ''[[OneHitKill Fatal KO]]'' remix of Reimu's theme, "Mystic Oriental Love Consulation", to override the current music. For bonus points, if the opponent is stupid enough to actually let it activate, only a couple of characters even have the capability of dodging it long enough to avoid instant death without haxing off borders, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLvjXdhc_Kg#t=1m48s only one can counter it]]. ''You are already dead'' indeed!
168* SignatureHeadgear: She's well known for her large red-and-white bow and her "hair tubes". While her design has gone through several changes over the years and she'll sometimes be drawn without the hair tubes, she's worn the bow since the very first game in the series.
169* SignatureMove: Her ''Spirit Sign "Fantasy Seal"'' spell card, which has her send homing, multicolored balls of light at any and every opponent. Also ''"Fantasy Nature"'' - a FinishingMove which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an expression of Reimu's nature]] and can't be used by anyone else, though [[DependingOnTheArtist its effect varies heavily between appearances]].
170* SlaveToPR: Later works have also started to emphasize the pressure she feels from the human village - most humans cannot accept the idea of a shrine maiden associating with youkai, and [[NeverAcceptedInHisHometown either don't know or don't care about the times she has protected them in the past]]. In ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'' it reaches the point where Reimu can't point out a disguised Mamizou even to foil her current scheme, since she'd have to reveal she knows her. ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'' reveals that Reimu's "youkai shrine maiden" reputation has even spread to the ''Moon''!
171* SteppingStonesInTheSky: In ''Hopeless Masquerade'' she can [[BarrierWarrior create barriers]] in midair and kick off them to launch herself at enemies.
172* {{Superboss}}: The last extra boss of ''Shuusou Gyoku'', the first game of ''Touhou'''s sister series, ''Seihou''. She also shows up in ''VideoGame/MagicPengel''.
173* TeleportSpam: One of the many applications of her power is to allow her to teleport short distances, often in rapid succsesion. Initially she needed the help of Yukari to pull it of but eventually learned to do it herself.
174* ThouShaltNotKill: Subverted, one can think this is the case due to the Spellcard Rules, but they are only in place to maintain Gensokyo's balance in the general sense, not in the individual sense. In fact she is not above "needless" killing, and she will if she finds reason to. The Jinyou from ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'' made the mistake of thinking she was under this rule, and it cost him dearly.
175* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: She's simultaneously the tomboy to Yukari's girly girl, and the girly girl to Marisa's tomboy.
176* TrueNeutral:[[invoked]] In Gensokyo's political climate she is supposed to be of neutral standing. [[spoiler:Aya takes advantage of this in ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'', forcing Reimu's back against a wall and thus allowing the tengu to use Suzunaan as a means to spread their newspapers.]]
177* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Her portrayals in ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'' tend to show her as a greedy blowhard whose [[GetRichQuickScheme get-rich-quick schemes]] tend to blow up in her face.
178* VagueAge: Information provided in [[AllThereInTheManual print works]] and the passage of seasons in the games suggest that at least six years have passed between ''The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'' and ''Hisoutensoku'', so Reimu should probably be over 20 years old by now -- more if the PC-98 games still count. However, [[NotAllowedToGrowUp official artwork usually depicts her as looking somewhere in her teens]]. For what it's worth, the publishers of the official comics can get away with showing her drinking alcohol fairly often, so it's plausible that she's "officially" in her twenties.
179* WindsOfDestinyChange: Reimu's ultimate technique ''Fantasy Nature'' simply turns [[BornLucky her natural ability to go with the flow]] up to eleven for a few minutes, to the point where [[{{Roboteching}} her projectiles aim themselves]] and [[{{Intangibility}} any attack passes through her without harm]].
180* WrapAround:
181** Her entire gimmick for her boss fight in ''Imperishable Night''. For her spell cards, she creates borders around and inside the battlefield to shoot danmaku through. Those shots will eventually reach around to aim at the player character from various directions. Her last spells involve flying off one end of the screen and coming out of the other while shooting at you.
182** Her support power for her A type shot in ''Subterranean Animism'', since [[RealityWarper Yukari]] is [[TeleportersAndTransporters her partner]].
183** Her gimmick in ''Hopeless Masquerade'', where performing a backdash while up against either side of the stage will allow Reimu to move to the opposite corner.
184* YourSizeMayVary: Not herself, but her gohei, which is shown to be [[ExaggeratedTrope wildly]] different lengths across the title screens of several games. In the title screen of ''[=EoSD=]'', it's about the size of her hand, while in those of ''[=SoEW=]'' and ''[=WBaWC=]'', it's longer than she is tall.
185* ZigzagPaperTassel: She wields a gohei (as is typical of miko), which has two of these attached to it.
186[[/folder]]
187
188[[folder:Marisa Kirisame]]
189[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_90de9ca67ee2d9125600db9a44e7d3b9.png]]
190
191::[--[PC-98]--]
192::''A Being of Magic and Red Dreams''
193::'''Marisa Kirisame'''
194
195::[--[Windows]--]
196::''Ordinary Black Magician''
197::'''Marisa Kirisame'''
198
199-->''"Move and I'll shoot!! I messed up. I mean, shoot and I'll move. In a flash."''
200
201\
202''An ordinary magician living in Gensokyo. She has a mania for collecting things.''\
203
204A magician who lives in the Forest of Magic, Marisa first appeared as the Stage 4 boss of ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'' and became a playable character in every game afterwards, eventually becoming the secondary protagonist of the ''Touhou'' series. In the Windows games Marisa is established as Reimu's best friend and FriendlyRival, with the two being inseparable in the manga. In contrast to Reimu, who was [[BornWinner strong from the day she was born]], Marisa is a completely normal human with no innate supernatural abilities... not that she let that slow her down. Nowadays she takes pride in her status as an "[[BossSubtitles Ordinary Magician]]" who earned her spot in Gensokyo's list of notables [[SelfMadeMan through nothing but persistence and hard work]].
205
206Marisa is rude, loud-mouthed, and a notorious liar and thief, [[LovableRogue but also a very straightforward person]]. Despite her rough edges, between her and Reimu she's portrayed as the friendlier and more sociable main character, with enough connections in town and elsewhere to always know the latest gossip. She is also more sentimental than Reimu, and tends to worry more actively about the safety of the human village [[IWasJustPassingThrough even if she doesn't admit it]]. Due to the amount of research and experimentation required for her spells, she can be surprisingly knowledgeable about science and magical substances (albeit as a resident of Gensokyo, her understanding of Outside World science tends to be distorted at best).
207----
208* AcquiredPoisonImmunity:
209** In ''Manga/WildAndHornedHermit'' Marisa ignores a sign warning of toxic fumes, since she's been exposed to so many poisonous substances as part of her research. It's implied that she's even become resistant to ''mercury poisoning'' in this way.
210** Her response in Chapter 33 when Kasen notes that the false morel Marisa mentions as an excellent magical ingredient is poisonous?:[[note]]You can actually eat false morels, but you need to dry and parboil them before cooking to remove the poison.[[/note]]
211--->'''Marisa:''' Sure, it's poisonous. Still edible, though.
212* ADayInTheLimelight: Touhou 18.5 has Marisa as the sole playable character. [[spoiler:It also confirms her as the canonical heroine in ''Unconnected Marketeers''; and gives Marisa her first canonical victory over Reimu.]]
213* AllWitchesHaveCats: While she doesn't have a cat, her apron in ''Wily Beast and Weakest Creature'' has a small silhouette of one in the corner.
214* AlwaysSecondBest: Next to Reimu. In fact, Marisa has admitted several times that she is the second-best in Gensokyo, a fact she seems to, surprisingly, hold pride in. Given that Reimu can and, canonically, ''has'' kicked everyone's ass there, Marisa's pride is probably justified.
215** [[spoiler:Marisa ''finally'' gets a canonical victory over Reimu in ''100th Black Market''.]]
216* AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: The Mini-Hakkero, a pocket-sized octagonal magical furnace which Marisa uses for many things... including her [[KamehameHadoken Master Spark]].
217* AscendedExtra: After her initial appearance as a villainous minion with no real backstory or motivation, she went on to become the second main character of the series.
218* AssKicksYou: An attack in the fighting games, known as the "Flying Doombutt" for its surprisingly high damage and range. As it makes Marisa immune to projectiles, it has given rise to an obscure meme known as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Marisa's Bulletproof Bloomers]].
219* AudienceSurrogate: In her profile in ''Strange Creators of Outer World'', ZUN explicitly calls her "the player/reader stand-in character" in the series, since her presence allows him to explain things that he couldn't/wouldn't if Reimu were the sole protagonist. He credits this to her straightforward nature, saying it makes her easy to understand but at the same time occasionally makes her "un-Touhou-like".
220* BadassBookworm:
221** Despite her apparent unconcern for obtaining anything honestly, all of her abilities were gained by either studying the necessary magical texts or inventing them herself. Although considering ''The Grimoire of Marisa'', and the fact that Reimu assumes that she's looking to steal someone's magic when Marisa is trying to exterminate whatever is living in the Three Fairies of Light's house, it's fair to say that she does at least get her inspiration from other people.
222** Doujins and fanvids take this further: one common and recurring storyline is her finding the secret to Alice's dolls, [[StuffBlowingUp only for it to blow up in an accident]]. She didn't just steal the spellcards; she's practically ''remaking them''. This justifies how she learned Master Spark from Yuka, and how she got the Non-Directional Laser from Patchouli and used them in later games.
223* BadassNormal: At least by Gensokyo's standards. While yes, she is a powerful magic user - making "normal" a bit of a misnomer - this means very little in the setting, where almost everybody who is anybody is a [[{{Yokai}} powerful magical being]] or has signature magical abilities unique to them. For instance, her fellow main protagonist Reimu has unique powers through her bloodline as a Hakurei Miko, with [[BarrierMaiden the very survival of Gensokyo hinging on her existence]]. She [[BrilliantButLazy boasts amazing powers without having to work much for them]] and [[{{Intangibility}} can phase out of reality]] to become completely unbeatable by conventional means. Sanae, another recurring playable character, [[DivineParentage is the child of a deity]] and something of a living goddess herself. Marisa, meanwhile, is an average human with no special talent, no [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]] status, no signature skill other than "using magic" (again, in a setting where '''basically everyone''' does), nothing to really set her apart - she learned magic solely through [[BadassBookworm hard work]] and [[SelfMadeWoman determination]] and she's proud of it, boldly proclaiming herself to be an "Ordinary Magician".
224* BadLiar: There are times Marisa lies to someone which doesn't fool them. For instance, she lies to Flandre in ''Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil'' that she was Reimu. Flandre clearly didn't fall for it.
225* BigEgoHiddenDepths: She's very loud and proud of her status as a self-made magician despite being a mere human, but it's something she only achieved after putting in considerable effort. In truth she [[BadassBookworm actually studies day in and day out on how to keep getting stronger]], and goes to great lengths to never show how hard she's actually worked to others.
226* BlackMagicianGirl: Specializes in offensive magic.
227* BloodKnight: Marisa enjoys beating people up a bit too much. Although her true love has always been kleptomania.
228* BreakingTheFourthWall: Nearly the entire Alice scenario in ''Subterranean Animism''. Oddly enough, however, [[WrongGenreSavvy they're treating the game as an RPG]]. In ''The Story of Eastern Wonderland'' Marisa is aware of how many continues you used, and in the trial version informs Reimu that the game ends on the third stage.
229* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: In ''Undefined Fantastic Object'', Marisa's apron has a noticeable "M" stitched on it.
230* BrutalHonesty: Unless she's trying to cover up TheMasquerade, Marisa is actually ''even more'' outspoken in her honesty than Reimu is, mythomania not withstanding. According to ZUN himself, this makes Marisa a very bothersome character to write for since her lack of concern for common social etiquette and readiness to just plain say things outright makes her very "un-Touhou like."
231* CampingACrapper: Invoked with her last word in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'' where she slams her opponent to a bathroom stall from where Hanako-san grabs the victim and pulls them in.
232* TheCharmer: How she performs her infamous bookthefts from the SDM: She goes there acting like she's doing a friendly visit, and is charismatic enough most of the residents let it slide or actually hide her from Patchouli.
233* CompositeCharacter: Spell attacks and books aren't the only things she's stolen from people. In the transition from PC-98 to Windows, she's picked up Mima's habit of lying and her general personality, Chiyuri's speech patterns and Ellen's 2P costume[[note]]Or Yuki's costume. Or Yumemi's 2P costume. It's a design ZUN liked.[[/note]].
234* ConsummateLiar: When she's not this, she's either being a BadLiar or engaging in BlatantLies. When the judge of the dead [[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Phantasmagoria_of_Flower_View/Story/Marisa%27s_Scenario#Marisa_vs._Shiki_.28Episode_Final.29 tells you]] that you're going to hell for lying too much and your immediate response is that [[RefugeInAudacity you've never told a single lie in your life]], you just might have a problem.
235* CoolBigSis: Acts as one to the fairies, as highlighted through ''Sangetsusei''. Ironically, she's actually ''younger'' than them [[OlderThanSheLooks by quite a significant amount]], but fairies in ''Touhou'''s nature as effectively eternal children means Marisa pretty much always takes the role of the more mature one whenever they're hanging out.
236* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: In her debut, she has {{red eyes|takewarning}} and red hair. In her other appearances, however, she has blonde hair and {{yellow eyes|ofsneakiness}} instead.
237* CuteWitch: Self-styled as such.
238%%zce* DidntThinkThisThrough: When Marisa begins her research into the various other character's spell cards for her book; there are two things she didn't plan for: spell cards are designed for a target and most Touhou characters are extremely fickle. Cut to Marisa's image gallery for the book and you'll sometimes see Marisa as being on the receiving end of spellcards. Some of which include seeing Marisa in the middle of Sakuya's FlechetteStorm, being knocked over by Tenshi's earthquakes, or being chased by a giant Suika looking to stomp on her.
239* DarkIsNotEvil: She's heroic and wears dark-colored clothing.
240* DependingOnTheWriter: The finer details of her characterization tend to be different in the various manga. ''Wild and Horned Hermit'' emphasizes her kinder side, as she's often more affable and cheery, bordering on GenkiGirl at times. ''Forbidden Scrollery'', on the other hand, has her lean more into DeadpanSnarker and emphasizes the JerkWithAHeartOfGold side of her.
241* DifficultButAwesome: Compared to Reimu, though games with more than two player characters sometimes have more extreme examples.
242* TheDitherer: It's not always obvious due to her being a ConsummateLiar, but Marisa has issues with long-term commitment. This can be seen in things like her [[SelfMadeMan running away from home to set up a "magic shop" in the middle of nowhere]], her [[ImmortalitySeeker desire to become immortal]] but reluctance to use any of the methods she knows of, and her [[SecularHero half-hearted attempt at invoking Kanako]] in one of the endings of ''Mountain of Faith''. In ''Hidden Star in Four Seasons'' she even admits privately that the idea of becoming Okina's servant sounds interesting, but she doesn't have the courage to give up her current lifestyle.
243* DoesNotLikeMagic: No, not Marisa herself. Despite this being a setting in which most characters can use magic, her father refuses to keep magic items at his shop and there's implied to be [[FantasyForbiddingFather a wedge between them]]. Marisa considers it a private matter, so the exact details have never been explained.
244* DoppelgangerAttack: For her final attack phase in ''Shuusou Gyoku''.
245* TheDragon: To Mima in ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'', where she stands in Reimu's way before she can face Mima. While ''Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream'' is a free-for-all and that naturally includes Marisa fighting Mima, she's implied to still be this, as Mima tells her to train harder in her victory quote. This aspect of her is dropped from ''Lotus Land Story'' onwards where she starts operating on her own.
246* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: While some aspects of her design are inconsistent, she has {{red eyes|takewarning}} and [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow red hair]] in her debut. However, she has {{yellow eyes|OfSneakiness}} and [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow blonde hair]] elsewhere. This was eventually reversed starting around ''100th Black Market'', and since then she has had red eyes again in ''Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost'' and later covers of ''Lotus Eaters''.
247* EdibleAmmunition: The projectiles in her Stardust Reverie spell card might be some kind of candy (likely [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konpeitō konpeitō]]), as we learn in ''Manga/SilentSinnerInBlue''. During the futile series of battles on the moon, Yorihime nonchalantly dodges Marisa's star bits and even takes a bite out of one, noticing their sweet taste.
248* EnergyWeapon: Both Master Spark and the mini-ones. Fanon says she copied this from Patchouli.
249* EveryoneHasStandards: Despite her lack of integrity in... literally everything else, Marisa's surprisingly forthright when it comes to her job, only taking payments for a successful work done and refusing otherwise.
250* EvilRedhead: In her original appearance in ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'', she has red hair and serves as Mima's henchwoman. Her hair was [[EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference changed to blonde]] in the next game, though.
251* FaceFault: She does a bunch of these in the print works, usually whenever she finds out Reimu's done something silly again. She and Reimu share a few in Forbidden Scrollery.
252* FlyingBroomstick: Almost always shown riding her broomstick in the games. Oddly, she uses it for attacking but not for flight in the fighting games (though this was changed in ''Hopeless Masquerade'', where fights take place entirely in mid-air). WordOfGod states that she rides the broom because she feels it's essential for a magician, in ''Lotus Eaters'' Marisa implies that she can't fly without it, since she's shown to be envious of Reimu's ability to effortlessly fly over a crevasse while she has to climb since she left her broom behind; however, this contradicts with ''[[VideoGame/YouseiDaisensouTouhouSangetsusei Great Fairy Wars]]'', where she ''does'' fly without a broom, this being her only aversion of the trope outside of her boss appearances in the PC-98 games (where she either flies atop a big flower, or with illusionary wings).
253* {{Foil}}: While she's most obviously one for Reimu, she also has the interesting talent of being the opposite of pretty much anyone she's paired up with. She can even play both [[StraightManAndWiseGuy The Straight Man And The Wise Guy]] with equal ease, depending who she's talking to.
254* FourIsDeath: If Marisa is a boss in the game, she will ''always'' be the fourth boss in the game, and always rather tough. In addition, she is different in nature every time. In ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'', she is also the [[TheDragon Penultimate Boss]]; in ''Lotus Land Story'', she is a normal boss. In ''Imperishable Night'', she is also a midboss, and in ''Great Fairy Wars'', which only has three stages, she is the [[{{Superboss}} Extra Boss]], making her, again, the 4th boss in the story.
255* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The plot of her A path in ''Double Dealing Character'' emphasizes just how powerful her bewitched mini-hakkero is... but the flamethrower is ''weaker'' than her alternative shot, and Dark Spark is exactly the same as Master Spark used to be. Particularly egregious because in the same game, not using it makes her shot type [[GameBreaker the most powerful in the game.]]
256* GenreSavvy: Sometimes the [[WrongGenreSavvy wrong genre]], like the Alice scenario in ''Subterranean Animism'' where she treats her adventure in Former Hell like it's an RPG instead of a BulletHell game.
257** She doesn't even bother asking more than one question to Yuugi, figuring that as a city NPC, she'll pull a WelcomeToCorneria on her.
258* GlassCannon: She often has high firepower and speed compared to other characters in the Windows danmaku games. Of course, as with any other ''Touhou'' character, she'll [[OneHitpointWonder instantly die]] if just one bullet touches her hitbox.
259* GreenEyedMonster: Despite her eyes not being green, some works hint that she was (is?) jealous over how [[BrilliantButLazy Reimu]] never had to expend any effort to become strong while [[HardWorkHardlyWorks she had to work hard to even reach her level]], and in ''Antimony of Common Flowers'' her Dream World self ([[BeneathTheMask which states your true feelings]]) reveals that she secretly resents how Reimu and Yukari are always the ones saving the day and not her.
260* GuestFighter: Shows up alongside Reimu in ''VideoGame/{{Seihou}}'' and ''Nendoroid Generation.''
261* HardWorkHardlyWorks:
262** Played straight when compared to Reimu, but she's still extremely powerful thanks to her training, quite possibly the next strongest human in all of Gensokyo.
263** In ''Symposium of Post-Mysticism'', Byakuren explains the Six Buddhist Perfections. Marisa dismisses the first two (Generosity and Discipline) but...
264--->'''Byakuren:''' "Forbearance" is to withstand humiliation or pain from others. "Diligence" is the effort exerted to continue training.\
265'''Marisa:''' Everyone does that, not like you have a choice.
266* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Reimu. While they seem to work alone in the games (or as momentary opponents), in the official print works, it's rare to see one without the other. The Hakurei Shrine is essentially Marisa's second home with how often she sleeps over.
267* {{Hihiirokane}}: According to ''Curiosities of Lotus Asia'', the mini-Hakkero is partially made out of the material.
268* HomeRunHitter: Her last word in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'' has her spin around before smacking her opponent with her broom, sending them flying into a toilet, where several demonic arms grab the victim.
269* ILetYouWin: Sort of. She goes easy on Cirno during the extra stage of ''Fairy Wars'', using variant lasers that don't actually kill her, instead chipping away at her motivation gauge. However, multiple times during the battle, she finds that Cirno is stronger than she thought, and so steps up the complexity of her attacks. At the end, she thinks that Cirno might have been a problem even if she ''was'' going all out, and the effort from the battle is still enough that she has to go home and lie down afterwards. On the other hand, it's ''Cirno'' rather than Marisa who gets a "beaten up" portrait after the fight.
270* ImmortalitySeeker: On-and-off, since old age is still a fairly distant concern for her. While there are theoretically a few methods open to Marisa, she's yet to find one she likes enough to commit to:
271** The standard route of becoming a {{youkai}} magician would mean giving up her humanity. Not only would this [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody affect her personality]], Marisa is proud of her underdog status compared to youkai. There is also the way Reimu reacts to Humans-Turned Youkai in ''Forbidden Scrollery''; specifically ''killing them'' that means Marisa would certainly have to surpass Reimu before even attempting this; as Reimu would likely try and kill her for such an action.
272** Becoming a [[CompleteImmortality Hourai immortal]] would require the disturbing act of cutting open an existing immortal and eating their liver (possibly against their will). The process is also completely irreversible, meaning that she wouldn't be able to die [[WhoWantsToLiveForever even if she later wanted to]].
273** Becoming a [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers hermit]] requires devotion to Taoism (and/or a dangerous SoulJar ritual), and Marisa [[SecularHero has little interest in religion]].
274* InsistentTerminology: [[BlatantLies She's not stealing! She's just borrowing stuff until she dies!]] (Of course, that's not mentioning the fact that she's also looking for a way to be immortal...)
275* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Subtle example. While she's proud of her AlwaysSecondBest status, canon occasionally hints at her [[GreenEyedMonster insecurities]] about it.
276* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
277** Her motivations in resolving the incidents vary from simply [[KleptomaniacHero wanting to loot the mansions she visits]], to being bribed to solve the incident (''Imperishable Night''), to just having nothing else to do at the time. In ''Undefined Fantastic Object'', however, she raises the fair point of humans being unprotected from youkai to [[WellIntentionedExtremist Byakuren]]. On the minus side, she's rude, condescending, arrogant, and a notorious thief; on the plus side, she's hardworking, straightforward, and has ChronicHeroSyndrome (although mostly, she solves incidents just to beat [[TheRival Reimu]] to it).
278** In some of the later games, like ''Subterranean Animism'', ''Hopeless Masquerade'', and ''Double-Dealing Character'' (Scenario B), she publicly acts like a jerk that solves incidents for wholly selfish reasons, but in private moments, [[HiddenHeartOfGold it is revealed that she does care about the well-being of Gensokyo and its people when she sets out to solve an incident]]. In her ''Subterranean Animism'' Alice scenario, she says she wants to make the incident worse to spite Alice for stringing her along without explanation, but when Satori reads her mind, she reveals that she's actually just as concerned about the incident as Alice. In ''Hopeless Masquerade'', she shows deep concern for the people in town when nobody's looking, but once the cause of the incident shows up, she goes back to being her usual rowdy, snarky self. In ''Ten Desires'', she even downplays her skills and abilities, insisting with a sincere face that she is entirely ordinary, while Seiga insists that she must be someone special to make it as far as she has. Marisa responds by changing her title to "Amazingly Ordinary Magician."
279* JumpedAtTheCall: In contrast to [[ResignedToTheCall Reimu]], though mostly it's only because she either wants to beat her rival to the punch or she sees some sort of gain to be had from resolving an incident.
280* KamehameHadoken: One of her attacks in the fighting games.
281* KillItWithFire: Adapts that mindset in her A path of ''Double Dealing Character'', due to her possessed hakkero messing with her head.
282* KleptomaniacHero: Marisa is well known for her hoarding and stealing tendencies. In fact, her desire to collect all the ability cards is explicitly stated to be her motivation for getting involved in ''Unconnected Marketeers'' and ''100th Black Market''.
283* KungFuWizard: Mild example. Marisa is a lot more physically fit than [[SquishyWizard most spellcasters of the setting]], and in the fighting games she has a larger number of physical attacks than fellow magicians Alice and Patchouli. Even in the BulletHell games she has some attacks where she tries to [[RammingAlwaysWorks ram into her opponent on her broom]].
284* {{Leitmotif}}: More so than any other character. Marisa has ''seven'' themes so far with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cgiEa74RPs "Love-Colored Magic"]] / [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RBJ4NMOBV0 "Love-Colored Master Spark"]] being the most recognisable.
285** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBtSp1EZdI8 "Dimensional Dream"]] from ''Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream''.
286** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLzTvn4U014 "Vessel of Stars ~ Casket of Star"]] from ''Lotus Land Story''.
287** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KqVdSnuEWQ "The Witches' Ball ~ Magus"]] from her cameo as a {{Superboss}} in ''[[{{VideoGame/Seihou}} Shuusou Gyoku]]''.
288** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEtTy-LEEko "Oriental Dark Flight"]] from ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View''.
289** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI1gNmUnD_M "Magus Night"]] from her appearance as the {{Superboss}} of ''Fairy Wars''. Apparently started as a "Witches' Ball" remix that got out of hand. It later got [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dHMVmhBogk remixed]] for ''Hopeless Masquerade''.
290** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmcz1C6WHjw "Magical Beast Scramble"]] from ''Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost''
291* LethalChef: In ''Wild and Horned Hermit'' Chapter 34, Marisa decides to cook a meal for Reimu to cheer her up. But unfortunately for Reimu, Marisa's cooking skills are exotic, and her palate even more so due to shameless exploitation of her aforementioned AcquiredPoisonImmunity. One of her main dishes is a Hemlock Salad (aka the poisonous plant used to kill Socrates), and her other dishes include Fire Belly Newt soup (which is poisonous), and pickled Narcissus (which is also poisonous). Marisa attempts to assuage Reimu's fears by telling her she cooked out all the poison only for Reimu to question how she managed to cook the poison [[NotHelpingYourCase out of a salad]]. The rest of Marisa's meal was pixelated.
292* LethalJokeItem: Magic Absorber. Horrible range, low damage, and the only bomb in the series that has a shorter invincibility duration than attack duration. It also turn bullets into Ps, which, combined with ''Double Dealing Character'''s gimmick, allows a savvy player to turn it into a perpetual motion machine of lives and bombs.
293* LightEmUp: Light and heat magic are her specialty. Interestingly, she has a stronger affinity for [[MakingASplash water]]; she just isn't particularly interested in using it.
294* LoveableRogue: She's a [[ConsummateLiar compulsive liar]], a borderline {{Blood Knight}}, and a frequent [[PowerCopying spell]] and [[KleptomaniacHero book thief]]. Despite this, she still has a large number of friends and acquaintances in Gensokyo, and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold one of the most good-natured and likable characters in the series.]]
295* MadBomber: Less villainous than usual examples of this trope, but Marisa's personal motto is that BulletHell means nothing if it isn't flashy and explosive. She's also a borderline BloodKnight and self-described as "insane."
296* MagicMissileStorm: ''Perfect Memento in Strict Sense'' states that while she is quite a powerful magician, she exclusively relies on offensive spells when fighting due to a lack of magical skill in other areas and a desire for extremely powerful and flashy spells above all else. Marisa even agrees with this statement, in her own grimoire Marisa writes that she is unable to create effective slave projectiles (remote controlled danmaku) and as such her slave projectiles merely rotate around her and not much else.
297* MagicMushroom: Marisa uses phantasmal mushrooms as a common ingredient/fuel source for her magic. The Forest of Magic where she lives is known for being full of them...but even better known for being full of [[MushroomSamba "magic" mushrooms]].
298* MagicWand: Carries one in ''Undefined Fantastic Object'' and ''Story of Eastern Wonderland''.
299* MakingASplash: Despite relying mostly on [[LightEmUp light-based]] magic, Marisa's best elemental affinity is actually with ''water''. So far, this has only come up in ''Mountain of Faith'' (where she can use the water-based shot ''Cold Inferno'') and ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' (where her associated weather is Drizzle) while her affinity with water is mentioned by Patchouli in ''Immaterial and Missing Power'' and Futo in ''Antinomy of Common Flowers''. Of course, her weather is also just a pun on her name (Kirisame meaning "drizzle").
300** Comes up again in ''Hidden Star in Four Seasons'' where Marisa is the representative of Winter, with an ice-themed shot... frozen water.
301* ManaDrain: Her B shot in ''Double Dealing Character'' is flavoured as such. Given that the game doesn't have MP, this just results in lots of power items.
302* MoreDakka: Everyone's danmaku attacks are like this, but Marisa is notable for constantly looking for ways to get bigger firepower from her magic.
303* MouthfulOfPi: In ''Mountain of Faith'', Marisa gets impatient while travelling across levels and wonders if she could finish reciting pi by the time she got to her intended destination.
304* MundaneUtility:
305** One of the abilities of the mini-Hakkero is to blow cold air, so it can be used like an air conditioner during the summer.
306** She also runs a side business of creating summer fireworks displays using her very flashy and destructive spells if she is paid for it, she even offers refunds if her spells do not go off as planned.
307* MythologyGag:
308** Marisa's Player 2 colour scheme in ''[=Phantasmagoria of Flower View=]'' is purple like her PC-98 color theme.
309** Also one of her color palettes in ''Hopeless Masquerade'' is a reference to her PC-98 color theme.
310* TheNapoleon: Very outgoing and energetic, and also unusually short for her age.
311* OjouRinglets: Back in the PC-98 days. Ultimately morphed into the side-braid of the Windows games.
312* OneHitPolykill: Her most common shot type, ''Illusion Laser'', fires straight ahead at high speed and is usually capable of passing through multiple enemies.
313* OppositesAttract: The BrilliantButLazy, blunt, dispassionate Reimu, passive and tricky in her fighting style, popular despite her lack of active socialising, associated with sunshine and spring—and then the hard-working, energetic, dishonest, excitable Marisa, who lives by brute force, bothers people everywhere she goes, and is associated with [[MeaningfulName rain]]. They're competitors and rivals. They're also best friends who spend a ''lot'' of time just hanging out.
314* PaletteSwap: In ''Hopeless Masquerade'', one of these makes her look like she does in earlier games (that is, her dress is black and white). Another one makes her look like Alice (if she wore a red hat rather than red hairband).
315* ParentalAbandonment: It's notable that Marisa is one of the few ''Touhou'' characters to have a still-living family; AllThereInTheManual mentions she has a father who runs a second-hand shop in the human village. It's also notable that she's apparently cut off all contact with him; it's hinted [[FantasyForbiddingFather Marisa's father's stance on magic]] is the reason. In ''Curiosities of Lotus Asia'', when Rinnosuke brings up her father, Marisa responds that she [[ICantHearYou can't hear him]], and it's unclear whether she's lying or not.
316* PintSizedPowerhouse: She's noted in ZUN's e-mails to be one of the shorter characters, and in ''Forbidden Scrollery'', she's [[https://i.imgur.com/RtTgkL5.png even shorter]] than ''Akyuu''. Her fighting style based around raw power suffers none because of it.
317* PowerCopying:
318** She has stolen several spells from other characters she has fought over time. Even her signature Master Spark was originally held by Yuuka Kazami. The whole point of the ''Grimoire Of Marisa'' is her cataloguing the spell cards of everyone she meets, with the stated plan of using them to learn more magic.
319** Then in ''Ten Desires'', her shots have picked up the explosive abilities of Sanae's Cobalt Spread, while Sanae herself ends up with something resembling Marisa's Super Shortwave. A con job rather than theft this time, it would seem.
320* PowerGivesYouWings: She sports a demonic pair of wings for her boss attack in ''Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream'', and a pair of angelic ones in ''[[VideoGame/{{Seihou}} Shuusou Gyoku]]'''s Extra stage. The latter case has made some question whether she's still human in the timeframe/universe of ''Seihou''.
321** If one looks closely at her wings in ''[[VideoGame/{{Seihou}} Shuusou Gyoku]]'''s Extra stage they actually appear to resemble Flandre's.
322* PowerOfLove: The description of the aforementioned ''Love Sign: Master Spark'' includes the instructions "Mutter the spell to the Mini-Hakkero tenderly; aim at someone you don't like; now unleash your annihilation of love!" What exactly that ''means'' is still a matter for debate.
323* PowerUpMagnet: [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration Fitting with]] her StickyFingers habits, Marisa often has an expanded hitbox for collecting PowerUp items, and[=/=]or a lower Point of Collection (the invisible line above which PowerUps fly towards the player automatically). In ''Imperishable Night'' she's the only character who can use the Point of Collection at all times, rather than needing to be focused or at full power.
324* PromotedToPlayable: She starts off as the penultimate boss of the second game. Afterwards, however, she's a PlayerCharacter in most other games. Granted, she has appeared as a boss in several of her other appearances.
325* PurpleIsPowerful: Her bows are purple in ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'' and ''Ten Desires'', she wears purple in the PC-98 era, and she's a powerful magician.
326* RammingAlwaysWorks: Marisa's final spell card, ''Comet "Blazing Star"'', consists of her [[RecoilBoost firing a Master Spark backwards]] and trying to ram her opponent repeatedly.
327* RedBaron: Played with. "The Ordinary Magician" doesn't sound very impressive at first... but carries the implication that instead of having her power handed to her by fate, Marisa learned her magic through sheer willpower and hard work, making her very proud of this title.
328* RedEyesTakeWarning: Her eyes are red in her debut in ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'' and ''100th Black Market'' onward. She's also a powerful fighter, with Genji once even {{lampshad|eHanging}}ing the "Take Warning" part.
329* {{Roboteching}}: In ''Hopeless Masquerade'', her "Nano Spark" makes a sharp turn mid-flight if she is using a Shinto-aligned set.
330* RunningGag: While she isn't aware of it herself, in the manga series various youkai tend to transform into Marisa when trying to trick or outsmart Reimu. This isn't restricted to a single species as Youkai foxes and Tanuki have at one point or another turned into Marisa. This rarely ever works due to [[HeterosexualLifePartners how extremely close]] the two women are, as Reimu usually notices the imposter almost immediately.
331* SecularHero: While she's experimented with religious methods once or twice, it doesn't carry much deeper meaning for her. In ''Hopeless Masquerade'', a story about representatives of different religions, Marisa is considered the ''human'' representative. More implicitly, she is also the moderator of the debates between various priests and deities in ''Symposium of Post-Mysticism''. Her motto in ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'' is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturm_und_Drang "Sturm und Drang"]].
332* SelfMadeWoman: Not in the wealth sense, but Marisa is quite proud of her status as a self-sufficient "Ordinary Magician" who can stand toe-to-toe with {{Youkai}} despite not being a {{Youkai}} herself, having no [[BornWinner innate powers]] like Reimu does, and being mostly self-taught.
333* TheSevenMysteries: Her occult theme in ''Urban Legend in Limbo'', specifically of the "seven school mysteries" variety.
334* ShootTheDog: In ''Forbidden Scrollery'' Marisa exterminates a kutsutsura not really guilty of anything more than stealing some melons so that it could become a complete youkai. She kills it because it was formed from Kosuzu's lost shoe, and it would've been bad for her reputation for word to get out that she was in any way responsible for a new youkai being created inside the Human Village. This is something she never tells Kosuzu or Reimu about.
335* {{Shoryuken}}: Her Miasma Sweep move in the fighting games.
336* ShotoClone: Her default skill set in the fighting games include a KamehameHadoken, a {{Shoryuken}}, and a [[HurricaneKick flying horizontal attack]], all with the traditional button inputs to use them.
337* SignatureHeadgear: She's almost never seen without her comically oversized witch's hat, befitting of her CuteWitch motif.
338* SignatureMove: Her famous ''Love Sign "Master Spark"'', which takes the form of a massive, rainbow-colored laser. In addition to the standard version, she's come up with a number of variants:
339** ''Magicannon "Final Spark"'' - a Master Spark fired at maximum power, making it larger and stronger but harder to aim. Usually serves as Marisa's FinishingMove.
340** ''Comet "Blazing Star"'' - Marisa fires a Master Spark backwards and [[RecoilBoost uses the recoil]] to [[RammingAlwaysWorks ram into enemies at high speed]]. When Final Spark isn't Marisa's FinishingMove, Blazing Star usually will be.
341** ''Loving Heart "Double Spark"'' - [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin two Master Sparks fired at the same time]]. Like the original, Marisa almost certainly copied this version from Yuuka.
342** ''Star Sign "Dragon Meteor"'' - Marisa fires a Master Spark towards the ground while hovering in midair. Usually [[PowerfulButInaccurate more powerful but easy to avoid]].
343** ''Narrow Spark'' - a downgraded version from ''[[MascotFighter Scarlet Weather Rhapsody]]'', which is usable as a normal attack rather than a Spell Card.
344** ''Perverse Love "Easy-Harvest Master Spark"'' - a weak, narrow beam which [[SchmuckBait enlarges into a huge Master Spark after a few moments]].
345** ''Love Sign "Wide Master"'' and ''Love Sign "Machine Gun Spark"'' - alternate firing methods which Marisa uses against Seija in ''Impossible Spell Card''.
346** ''Bewitched Weapon "Dark Spark"'' and ''Love Sign "Master Spark Frozen"'' - PaletteSwap versions of Master Spark created due to the influence of [[EvilWeapon Marisa's possessed Hakkero]] (in ''Double Dealing Character'') and [[AnIcePerson the power of winter]] (in ''Hidden Star in Four Seasons'').
347** ''Love Sign "Master Spark-like Flashlight"'' and ''"Blazing Star-like Tag"'' - joke versions of Master Spark and Blazing Star used against Cirno in ''Fairy Wars''. Instead of her mini-Hakkero, Marisa [[NerfArm powers them with a literal flashlight]].
348* SkySurfing: Surfs on her broom for her "Sungrazer" [[LimitBreak Last Word]] in ''Hopeless Masquerade'',
349* SmarterThanYouLook: Marisa rarely draws attention to [[TrainingFromHell how hard she trains/researches]], either because she doesn't want [[ThinkNothingOfIt the attention]] or she doesn't want people like Reimu [[DontYouDarePityMe taking pity on her]].
350* SpamAttack: Marisa's modus operandi in spellcard duels or youkai extermination is to overwhelm with extreme firepower and not much else, she leaves any technical aspects such as sealing or exorcism to Reimu.
351* StarPower: Marisa loves watching stars and meteor showers, she even has a large observatory built into her house in ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'', and therefore, most of her spells are themed after space or heavenly bodies.
352* StickyFingers: In terms of items and skills. Her presence in both ''Lotus Land Story'' and ''The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'' is explicitly due to her searching for new theft victims, and in ''Imperishable Night'' she introduces herself to the Eientei staff as a thief, much to Alice's exasperation. She figures that human lifespans are so short compared to those of Youkai, that the Youkai can have their stuff back after she's dead, so they shouldn't mind.
353* {{Superboss}}: In both ''Shuusou Gyoku'' and ''Fairy Wars''. Granted, in the latter case she's the {{superboss}} for ''[[SmallNameBigEgo Cirno]]''.
354* SweetPollyOliver: In ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'' chapter 17, she ([[HumiliatingWager reluctantly]]) disguises herself as a boy as part of a plan to catch a youkai that's been controlling the men of the village.
355* ThrowDownTheBomblet: In the first-gen fighting games, she has a number of attacks involving explosive flasks.
356* {{Tomboy}}: Marisa speaks roughly for a girl (while she is notably ''not'' a {{Bokukko}}, she does use [[UsefulNotes/GenderAndJapaneseLanguage other masculine grammar]]) and has a fighting style based around brute force.
357* ThouShaltNotKill: Much like Reimu, Marisa subverts this. If the situation calls for it, she won't hesitate to use lethal force. In Chapter 13 of ''Forbidden Scrollery'' Marisa was able to track down a fledgling youkai that was on the cusp of turning into a Kutsutsura. Because it being born in the Human Village would cause problems for Kosuzu if anyone found out it was born from her lost shoe, Marisa immediately stomps on it, killing it before it could do anything.
358* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Despite her tomboyish traits, her wardrobe seems to consist entirely of frilly dresses (when forced on one occasion to wear male clothing she found it uncomfortable), and she's been shown to {{Squee}} at cute things. Her ''Manga/ForbiddenScrollery'' design also features [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics more prominent eyelashes]] than Reimu. [[spoiler:Her good endings in ''Lotus Land Story'' additionally reveal her "best clothes" (according to the illustration) include ribbons, pink, and a dress]].
359* TooFastToStop: Compared to Reimu, Marisa's high movement speed and large hitbox can lead players to overshoot while dodging and run into another bullet by mistake. [[DifficultButAwesome However, in skilled hands this makes her superior at grazing, meaning she's usually the better option when going for a high score.]]
360* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Apart from her affinity for {{Magic Mushroom}}s, chapter 33 of ''Wild and Horned Hermit'' reveals that mushrooms are her favorite food in general.
361* TrashOfTheTitans: Her house is a real mess, crammed with everything she has stolen but hasn't yet bothered to sort. Legendary treasures have actually been found in her junk piles, completely unknown to her.
362-->'''Marisa:''' ''(flying through Eientei)'' It'd take one hell of a janitor to clean a hall that long.\
363'''Alice:''' Still easier than cleaning your house, Marisa.
364* TrueBlueFemininity: Quite downplayed. She sports dark blue in some of her appearances and she's a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak.
365* UnskilledButStrong: By a degree of "unskilled", anyway. Her personal philosophy is that danmaku is all about power, so her basic attacks are usually very dense and unstructured. And when push comes to shove, she will throw all pretense of finesse out the window and just start Master Sparking half the screen and/or trying to ram her opponent, which is borderline breaking the Spell Card rules, as lampshaded by ZUN himself. Ultimately, this is Downplayed as her skill from is all the hard work she put into her magic to be on par with everyone.
366* UselessUsefulSpell: The laser shot-type that hits the top of the screen instantly and [[OneHitPolykill pierces through enemies]] has no particularly great uses and is invariably weaker than the game's forward concentration shot-type[[note]]Except in ''Lotus Land Story'', where it ''is'' the forward concentration shot-type[[/note]]... except in ''Undefined Fantastic Object'', where there's actually enough things to hit at one time for piercing to be ''really useful''. This is generally to balance the fact that her laser shot-types also tend to have the most powerful bomb(s).
367* VagueAge: Like Reimu, she always seems to be in her mid-teens, regardless of the passage of time.
368* VerbalTic: Marisa tends to end her sentences with the [[UsefulNotes/GenderAndJapaneseLanguage masculine, informal and assertive "ze" particle]].
369* VillainousBreakdown: She loses some of her cool in her debut after Reimu beats her, though she later drops the "Villainous" part.
370* WaveMotionGun: ''[[ThePowerOfLove Love Sign]] "Master Spark"'', her signature attack. ZUN's [[WordOfGod comments on the spell]] literally translate to "a freaking huge magical laser".
371* WeakButSkilled: Compared to most of Gensokyo's inhabitants, who rely on innate abilities and rarely improve upon them, while Marisa has none and is constantly seeking new spells. ZigZagged in that she mostly just studies ways to blow stuff up with maximum firepower and minimum finesse. Marisa's skill in magic is also somewhat of an inversion, while she does possess very destructive spells she isn't capable of using technically complex danmaku so most of her spells end up being either giant lasers or rudimentary patterns that overwhelm with numbers.
372* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:In her ending in ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'', Yukari shows up wanting to see the Lunar Capital orb. Marisa proceeds to chew out Yukari for seemingly ignoring both the crack in the barrier and the invasion. Yukari simply states that they weren't worth her attention and that even Gensokyo is capable of change, a remark that leaves Marisa uneasy.]]
373* WitchClassic: Aside from not having a cat, Marisa is an example in both the modern Windows games and the (completely different appearance-wise) PC-9801 era Marisa with her witch's hat and flying broomstick.
374* WolverinePublicity:
375** Has been in every Touhou game since her debut in ''Story of Eastern Wonderland'' except for ''Shoot the Bullet''... where she appears as the game's logo anyway. Furthermore, she has been the game logo for every ZUN-made Touhou game made in the Windows era except for ''Double Spoiler'' and ''Fairy Wars'', even though she does appear in both games.
376** Marisa is a playable character in ''Sunken Fossil World''. Her storyline is also entirely non-canon and is pure {{Filler}}; she is literally playable in the game because she is Marisa.
377* WrongContextMagic: Oddly for the deuteragonist of the entire franchise. The constantly building mythology of the series will explain many sources of magic and faith-gained powers. Marisa is none of these things, or perhaps a little bit of everything. So far, she's the only human magician to have made an appearance, so if others exist, we don't know about them.
378* WhyDidntIThinkOfThat: This dialogue from ''Perfect Cherry Blossom'':
379-->'''Marisa:''' Well, will you open the door?\
380'''Prismriver Sisters:''' This door does not open.\
381'''Marisa:''' Don't you go through it now and then?\
382'''Prismriver Sisters:''' We just fly over it.\
383'''Marisa:''' ... Oh.
384* TheWorfEffect:
385** Is on the receiving end in ''Antinomy of Common Flowers'', being one of the first to fall for the Yorigami sisters's slave-switching strategy, causing her and Koishi to defeat each other.
386** She suffers this in ''Sunken Fossil World''; where the only time she is fought is as the initial boss of Reimu, Murasa, and Yuuma's stories, and canonically loses every matchup. This gets even worse when you add that characters generally seen as rather weak such as Yamame and Kogasa are fought after her. Marisa ''does'' claim in Reimu's route that it's an off-day for her, but that doesn't explain her loss in Yumma's route, which occurs some time after.
387* YellowEyesOfSneakiness: Has yellow eyes, fitting for her habits of lying and stealing. Averted in her debut and post ''100th Black Market'' media, in which she has {{red eyes|TakeWarning}}.
388[[/folder]]

Top