Characters / Game of Touhou: Sea of Demons

This page covers all noble characters from the desert region of the Sea of Demons in Game of Touhou. For the rest of the characters, see this page. For the wildlings from the Sea, see this page. POV characters will be noted with asterisks.

The Sea of Demons is an arid desert in the north-west of Noros, with two major cities on each major side, north and south. In the middle lies a great expanse of desert populated by nomadic 'savages' known as wildlings. It is ruled by House Hijiri, and as a whole worships the God of Renewal. Bastards of this region has the surname 'Sand' similarly to bastards of Dorne.

The Sea of Demons in General

• The Hero: A deconstruction. They start out rather heroic, but soon become ineffectual.
• La Résistance: Against Mad Queen Eiki, with the exception of House Okazaki.
• Qurac: In general, with the exception being the seat of the Okazakis, the Alchemical Fortress.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The rebellion faction (all but the Okazakis) consist of: a group of people that believe in an unorthodox renewing God, a city that is effectively a death cult, and a group that doesn't believe in surnames and has an idiosyncratic, antiquated way of doing things. Despite this, they are highly successful at overthrowing the Sanzus, though less at actually ruling.
• Thirsty Desert: In a group, one generally stands a chance in the Sea of Demons, but on your own it's a sweltering, dangerous desert.

House Hijiri

The ruling noble house of the Sea of Demons, ruled by Lady Byakuren Hijiri in Chatra. They are beloved by the people, and the majority of their vassals. Their sigil is a pink lotus on pollen orange, and their motto is 'We Embrace The Empowered', due to their apparent past making friends with enemies. They seem to have trouble making friends with the Shotokus, though. They also worship the God of Renewal.

In General

• Cycle of Revenge: Against the Shotokus.
• Enemy Mine: The premise of their motto. Occurs less in practice, though they do have one with the Kazamis.
• Feuding Families: With the Shotokus, due to Myouren Hijiri and Setsu Shotoku's deaths. Myouren started it.
• Flower Motifs: Their sigil is a lotus, and they are among the most gentle-hearted of the noble houses.
• Good Is Not Soft: The reason why the Hijris ultimately fail is due to this trope being in play.
• Reincarnation: Their religion believes in this. Byakuren believes Ichirin Kumoi to be a reincarnation of Myouren because of it.
• The Rival: To House Shotoku, due to conflicting religions. Have become outright Feuding Families due to Myouren Hijiri's death.

Lady Byakuren Hijiri*

The Lady of Chatra and Paramount Lady of the Sea of Demons. A kindly, grief-stricken woman with a melancholic, kind, yet spineless demeanour. Becomes a POV character from Chapter 61.

• Adaptational Wimp: Compared to Canon Touhou Byakuren. As well as the obvious lacking in magical powers, she has far less emotional fortitude than her Canon counterpart.
• Angst: She seems incapable of NOT angsting over a recent death.
• Big Good: Treated as such by the rebellion and the tone of the story earlier on. Is the Big Bad to the loyalists, and later becomes an ineffectual queen, thus deconstructing this trope.
• Designated Hero: A deconstruction and in-universe example. People love her and praise her for leading a rebellion that overthrew the regime of the Mad Queen, however to do this she had to overthrow her perfectly decent successor and since coming into power became a kind, but incompetent ruler.
• Driven to Suicide: Upon realizing she's thrown the realm into the hands of Yuyuko Saigyouji, Byakuren once again proves her neglectful nature by abandoning the realm by smothering herself.
• Five Stages of Grief: Is permanently stuck in denial about her deceased brother, Myouren, to the point where she thinks Ichirin is him reborn. Once Ichirin dies, she launches fully into depression.
• The Fundamentalist: Is unwaveringly obsessed with the God of Renewal, though clearly a less extreme sect than the Fujiwaras. She believes Ichirin Kumoi to be her brother reincarnated because of this faith, a belief she is mocked for.
• The High Queen: Tragically subverted. Though a war was fought to put Byakuren in power, she turned out to be too spineless to effectively rule a chaotic, post-rebellion nation. Her inability to be this takes its toll.
• It's All My Fault: Byakuren's POV shows that she has this attitude to almost everything, both things out of her control and the rebellion that caused so many people to die for her queenship.
• Rank Up: From Lady of Chatra and the Sea of Demons to Queen of Noros.
• Revenge: Is largely motivated by this in starting the rebellion, as the Sanzus had Lady Ichirin killed.
• The Savior: Considered to be this by House Houjuu due to her deflecting a Shotoku attack on Titan's Head. Despite this, after her suicide, Queen Nue Houjuu admits Byakuren was too weak for the world.
• Self-Harm: In her fits of grief, Byakuren has a tendency to starve herself.
• Sympathetic P.O.V.: Averted. When in her POV, she comes off as just as whiny and ineffectual as when she wasn't.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Subverted. Too Weak For This Sinful Earth is more accurate.
• Wangst: In-universe. Several characters point this out as her core weakness.

Ser Shou Toramaru*

A knight in Chatra who acts as Byakuren's right-hand woman and POV character from Chapter 14. During the rebellion she acts as The Ishmael to the rebelling Queen Byakuren, and also is the one to kill Queen Eiki Shiki. Has a loyal, easily surprised, brash nature.

• Action Girl: As an effective combatant knight who is female, she almost certainly is this.
• The Everyman: A noted personality trait of hers, with her POV having no particular quirks or oddities, complete with her utter surprise at the antics of House Houjuu.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Through the neck no less, and not even in her own POV chapter. Prince Miko Shotoku witnesses her being backstabbed by Gengetsu Barren for the 'crime' of potentially kill-stealing Prince Miko's death from Elly Kazami.
• The Ishmael: A third-person variant, similar in style to the source material. She acts as a POV of the Hijiri side of the rebellion without the reader knowing what is going on in Byakuren's mind.
• Lady Macbeth: Surprisingly is the one to convince Lady Byakuren to start the rebellion by telling her to take vengeance for the death of Lady Ichirin.
• Parental Substitute: To Jaime and Nazrin, or so it seems.
• Shield Bash: A favored attack strategy of hers: charging with her shield, knocking an opponent down, and stabbing them with her spear.
• Shipper on Deck: For Jaime and Nazrin.
• Throwing Your Spear Always Works: Surprisingly played straight, but lampshaded with Shou's various mental self-berations. When Shou throws her spear, she manages to hit Queen Eiki in the head, breaking the Sanzu morale and causing the rebellion to gain the upper hand.
• Unexpected Successor: Is made to be Byakuren Hijiri's successor when Ichirin Kumoi dies. A shame she dies in the very rebellion avenging the former successor's death.

Lady Ichirin Kumoi*

A landless petty noble of Chatra. Lady Byakuren Hijiri believes her to be her deceased brother, Myouren, reborn, and has been named Byakuren's successor. She herself has doubts about this. Is a POV character from Chapter 3.

• Action Girl: Despite not being a trained knight, she is surprisingly good at fighting. She puts up an admirable fight against Ser Komachi Onozuka during her trial by combat, but ultimately loses.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Has brown hair instead of her Canon counterpart's blue.
• Decoy Protagonist: In a much more abrupt, more obvious manner than her A Song of Ice and Fire equivalent, Ned Stark. A midpoint between Waymar Royce and Ned Stark.
• The Fundamentalist: Subverted. Though Byakuren thinks of her as just as devout as herself, Ichirin has doubts about Byakuren's claims that she's Myouren Hijiri reborn.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Unzan.
• Never Bareheaded: Wears a head-dress, which apparently makes her look like some sort of priestess for the God of Renewal.
• My Greatest Failure: Regards Unzan's death as this.
• Nice Girl: Unlike Byakuren, who comes off as kind, yet whiny, Ichirin comes off as a strong, goodhearted woman who shows care and compassion for her old, mute bodyguard, Ser Unzan.
• Rank Up: From petty, landless noble to third in line to the throne, or so Lady Yuyuko plans. Subverted on two counts as she dies before it can happen and as it turns out, Lady Yuyuko never planned on her doing so anyway.
• Sacrificial Lamb: For Yuyuko. While Lady Yuyuko clearly has qualms about allowing her to die for the greater good, she is still effectively a means to begin a rebellion from the Hijris with her death.
• Smart People Play Cyvasse: Subverted. Yuyuko builds her up to potentially become an influential politician in the Royal Court, but in actuality is merely using her as a Sacrificial Lamb to incite a war.
• Trial by Combat: How she meets her end.
• Unexpected Successor: Yuyuko intends to use her as one by killing Seiga and replacing her with Ichirin. Subverted as it turns out her death was entirely intentional.
• Unwitting Pawn: Yuyuko is clearly just using her as a vehicle for political reform to remove Seiga's influence on the crown. Turns out the rabbit hole goes deeper, and that Yuyuko not only intended for her to die, but intended on using her death to start a war to destabilize the nobility of Noros.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Built up as a potential vehicle for political reform in House Sanzu, but has a grand total of two POV chapters and is introduced and killed within ten chapters in total.

Ser Unzan*

An elderly knight in service as Lady Ichirin's bodyguard. A devoted man, but mute as he lost his tongue after snarking about the former king. Becomes a POV character from Chapter 4.

• Back Stab: How he dies at he hands of Yoshika.
• Cool Old Guy: Generally relevant and all-round awesome.
• Covert Pervert: Lady Yuyuko teases him with her body, and he has a tough time not looking.
• Deadpan Snarker: When he had his tongue. It's what caused him to lose it.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Ichirin.
• Old Soldier: Managed to hold his own against Seiga's undead bodyguard, only losing due to her unexpectedly reviving. He also surveys the capital despite the last time he was there he lost his tongue.
• Parental Substitute: To Ichirin. Ichirin even outright calls him her father at one point.
• Reduced to Ratburgers: Buys some rat from a peasant to appear like one while spying on Tojiko.
• Real Men Love Jesus: In his case, Real Men Love The God Of Renewal because he is a good, hardworking, devoted man, and his last moments have him praying to the God of Renewal to protect Ichirin.
• Silent Snarker: Due to him not having a tongue.
• The Speechless: Due to his lack of a tongue, again. His POV shows him to be rather eloquent... in his mind.
• Tongue Trauma: Part of his backstory. He lost his tongue for snarking about the last king.

Ser Fujin

A cousin of Ser Unzan that works for the Hijiris. Sparingly mentioned every now and then, sometimes working the guard duty for Chatra.

• Original Character: And surprisingly for a Fanfic, entirely in the background.

Nazrin

Ser Shou's squire. Originally an urchin who escaped from the City of Flowers. Is a capable fighter and has a Puppy Love romance with Jaime.

• Action Girl: Especially compared to Jaime, who is one-handed, and she protects him.
• Action Survivor: Not that she cannot fight, but she has no notable achievements, merely surviving each battle. Until she doesn't when her surrounding army is completely outnumbered.
• Ascended Extra: From start to finish of her arc, she becomes more prominent. It is not without coincidence that this change begins to occur when Jaime starts having POV chapters.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Is paranoid that Jaime would prefer the older and more attractive (but considerably monstrous) Gengetsu Barren. She has no need to be paranoid, as Jaime notes.
• Heartwarming Orphan: Downplayed. She's hardly the most cheerful, but she is surprisingly well-adjusted for an orphan, given she once lived in a place renowned for their torture with acid.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Downplayed. Jaime is one-handed, and thus unable to fight, while Nazrin is rather skilled for her age with a sword.
• Puppy Love: With Jaime.
• Tag Along Kid: To Ser Shou. Jaime's POV places noticeably more importance on her.

Maester Hasu

A reclusive old man and the scholar of Chatra.

• Dying Alone
• He Knows Too Much: Is killed by Merlin Prismriver to ensure that he doesn't tell Queen Byakuren about the letters Yuyuko is hiding.
• Hikkikomori: The setting's equivalent.
• Ineffectual Loner: He's ineffectual with everything other than organizing letters. By trusting Yuyuko, he failed even at that.
• Killed Offscreen
• Loners Are Freaks: Byakuren tries not to think this of him, but likely does.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Does this to Yuyuko by complimenting her on what a kind young woman she is while Yuyuko knows she has to kill him.
• Original Character
• Rambling Old Man Monologue: Fond of them whenever someone visits him.

House Houjuu

A bizarre noble house founded by immigrant Braavosi, ones that follow the Faith of the Many-Faced God, a God of Death which the Faceless Men of the original worship. Their leader is always named 'Nue Houjuu', and the new leader replaces the old by wearing the same face as the last. Their motto according to supplementary material is 'A Man Serves His Saviour', and their sigil is a black snake-helm with a red trident in the middle, on a red field. Their seat is a city shaped like the Head of the Titan of Braavos, aptly called 'Titan's Head'.

In General

• Blue-and-Orange Morality: To them, death is a 'gift' which one can bestow upon oneself, but giving a gift to others is a special thing not to be taken lightly. They do not grieve, and consider death to be a good thing in general.
• Dead Person Impersonation: Some of them do. Nue Houjuu admits to being the last of many, and Kokoro Hata dies, and it is not long before another is in her place.
• Due to the Dead: Believe in this strongly.
• Faceless Mooks: A rare heroic example. Houjuu soldiers never show their faces.
• Glamour: Nue Houjuu and Kokoro Hata have both shown the ability to change their faces with ease. Nue acknowledges she is not the first 'man' to take up the face and moniker of Nue Houjuu.
• The Grim Reaper: Their combatant men worship the God of Death, and given the city plaza of Titan's Head has a euthanasia fountain, a lot of their smallfolk do too.
• Mercy Kill: What they believe all death to be. Titan's Head even has a euthanasia fountain in its plaza.
• Paranoia Fuel: They intend to invoke this in-universe with their glamours and in theory could be anyone.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Subverted. While certainly the darkest house in the rebellion until the Kazamis join, they are more Blue and Orange rather than Black and Grey.
• Third-Person Person: Most of their members speak with the dialect of Jaqen H'gar. They refer themselves as 'a man'.
• Token Evil Teammate: Are clearly a far cry from the idealistic fighters against tyranny the Hijiris are, and are only in it to serve their 'Saviour'. Subverted in that they have standards.

Lady Nue Houjuu

The Lady of Titan's Head. A Faceless Man and mostly apathetic noble. She commands an incredibly dangerous army devoted to the God of Death. When Byakuren Hijiri becomes queen, she is named her successor in the absence of anyone better. Following Byakuren's suicide, she turns out to be as apathetic a queen as she was a lady.

---

• Actually, I Am Him: Whenever she pretends to be one of her foot-soldiers to an important guest, it ends in this.
• Glamour: She changes her face for fun sometimes, occasionally turning herself into a skull underneath a helmet to give people a fright.
• Balancing Death's Books: Believes very much in this. If lives are saved, someone has to die to her.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Doesn't care about the large death toll of the war, but raising the dead? Unforgivable.
• Colonel Badass: To Byakuren.
• Dead Person Impersonation: Is wearing the face of the preceding Nue Houjuu.
• Everyone Has Standards: Generally couldn't care less about murder, but does not inflict suffering and considers necromancy (and thus abuse of the dead) as abhorrent. Hence why she likely breaks the former taboo and makes Yuyuko (a necromancer) suffer psychologically before she dies.
• Informed Attribute: Her tendency to favor the trident in battle. Also, her badassery until she organizes a terrifying death for Yuyuko.

• Just Toying with Them: Implied to be doing this by taking her time with killing Yuyuko.
• Lack of Empathy: Shou and Yuyuko note that she seems to lack empathy regarding death, though this could simply be due to her Blue-and-Orange Morality.
• Mercy Kill: Considers Byakuren's suicide to be this.
• Me's a Crowd: Uses a bunch of Faceless Men to achieve this illusion when she kills Yuyuko.

• The Prankster: She likes to use her glamours to trick the unfamiliar.
• Queen Incognito: She often pretends to be one of her subordinates despite being a noble.
• Rank Up: From Lady of Titan's Head to Queen of Noros.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: As Lady of Titan's Head you'd expect her to command while her soldiers do all the work. You'd be wrong. As Queen, she actually kills the 'Big Bad', Yuyuko Saigyouji.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She is mostly a side character, however she becomes Queen of Noros, however briefly and ultimately kills the resident Big Bad Yuyuko.

• Unexpected Successor: Some Faceless Man who happens to work for Lady Byakuren, but she ends up succeeding her as Queen of Noros.

Ser Kokoro Hata (I)

A pink-haired Faceless Man claiming to be Tyroshi. Has a bizarre predilection to Glamour her face into masks, not faces. It is implied she was the Faceless Man Miko hired to off Myouren Hijiri to avenge her father. Her seeking asylum in Titan's Head caused the Shotokus to attack the Houjuus and left the Hijiris to save them, leading to Nue's moniker for Byakuren as "The Savior".

• Due to the Dead: When she dies in battle, another Faceless Man takes her true face and name in honor of her.
• Face Death with Dignity: Accepts she could die in battle. She does.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Shou certainly fears her.
• Revenge: Wants revenge against Prince Miko Shotoku for commanding her to kill herself after killing Myouren Hijri. Her refusal and seeking of asylum in Titan's Head. She ends up dying before she can kill Miko herself.
• Seeking Sanctuary: Her backstory involves her taking refuge with the Houjuus.
• Third-Person Person
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She was part of the reason why the Shotoku-Hijiri rivalry re-erupted into the Feuding Families they are at the moment.
• White Mask of Doom: One of her faces.

Ser Kokoro Hata (II)

A Faceless Man that replaces the first Kokoro Hata after she dies in battle. She does not don masks for faces like her namesake.

• Dead Person Impersonation: Impersonates the dead Kokoro Hata to honor her memory.
• Demoted to Extra: Not that the original was a major character, but she's this compared to the original Kokoro Hata.
• Rank Up: From knight to Lady Castellan of Titan's Head.

House Makai

The oldest noble house in the Sea of Demons, with idiosyncratic practices such as not having surnames and the knights being given titles of 'Master', depending on their specialties. Their seat is in the North of the Sea, and is known as Pandemonium. They are very pro-equality according to supplementary material, and their motto is 'A Name Means Nothing'. Their sigil is a set of four purple demon wings surrounding a red oval and two purple blades on a red field.

In General

• Alchemy Is Magic: Like the Okazakis, their alchemists consider it more a science, hence subverting this.
• Doorstopper: In Pandemonium they keep a written history of Noros. Various knights and Nobles of House Makai have contributed throughout the generations.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: Of the Sea of Demons Houses, they form fire and ice with their Masters of Fire and Ice. House Okazaki provides the lightning in time.
• Impractically Fancy Outfit: Their elite soldiers' helmets have four long demon wings sprouting from them.
• Only One Name: A tradition of theirs. Even Lady Shinki is referred to as 'of House Makai' when noble house is required, as opposed to 'Shinki Makai'.
• Our Founder: The deceased Lord Sariel, supposedly the first noble in the Sea of Demons.
• Status Quo Is God: In-universe. So far, of all the Sea of Demons houses, House Makai has been the most successful by losing the least during the war.
• Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Supposedly part of the reason their knights specialize in one field: to ensure there's always some way to beat the enemy.
• Token Evil Teammate: In a different way to the Houjuus. They are far more willing to use 'dishonorable' means of getting what they want. It is this that enables them to successfully deflect the loyalists of the Woodlands, and also what enables them to be the least crippled after the war.

Lady Shinki

The Lady of Pandemonium. Rarely seen as she tends to send her 'Master' underlings out as envoys.

• Old Maid: Has no husband or family, and unlike most old maids of that setting, doesn't really seem to care.
• The Quisling: Seems to go along with Queen Remilia's claim enough that she's made Master of Laws in her Royal Court.
• Rank Up: From Lady of Pandemonium to Master of Laws under Queen Remilia's regime.
• The Unseen: For the most part, though does show up to Byakuren Hijiri's delaration of war and later Remilia Scarlet's coronation.

Ser Yuugenmagan*

The Spymaster of House Makai, holding the title 'Master of Eyes'. Is an affable man with a talent for plotting, making him a good envoy. Becomes a POV character from Chapter 22.

• Affably Evil: Willing to strip and torture people for information... but will be kind and polite the entire time.
• Anti-Hero: Is certainly acting in the interests of the relatively heroic side of the rebellion, but resorts to torture and deceit to further their aims.
• The Chessmaster: His specialty is this. His setting up of House Makai as a common enemy of the (actually allied) House Kirisame and the rest of the (Loyalist) Woodlands Houses in order to set up a large, on-field betrayal is probably his best plot yet.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a certain snarky quality to his speech from time to time.
• Dissonant Serenity: When taking Iwakasa Fujiwara hostage and torturing him. From Iwakasa's point of view, he's unsettlingly calm and polite. Yuugenmagan's own POV shows it's an act and that he actually feels a little bad for the guy.
• Exalted Torturer: He certainly is unafraid of using torture, but is also genuinely affable.
• Foil: To of all people, Ser Shibou Taida. While neither show each other any ire, both are men who actually spurned the advances of Lady Marisa Kirisame, and both the reason Marisa came onto them and the reason they refused differ. Yuugenmagan is young and handsome, duplicitous by nature and is only an interest of Marisa's for potential political gain. Yuugenmagan refuses due to sex being 'bad for business'. Meanwhile, Marisa comes onto the ugly, aged, and fat Ser Shibou because she genuinely loves the man and is confused about whether the love is romantic or paternal. Shibou refuses due to being a touch more certain it is a parental love he feels. Yuugenmagan is entirely political, while Shibou is entirely sentimental.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: To Lady Shinki.
• Morality Pet: Alice, surprisingly. While the woman is clearly insane, most people treat her with disdain or outright hate her, even members of House Makai like Yuki and Mai. Yuugenmagan seems to be the only one who pities the girl that became the monster Alice is now.
• Mouth of Sauron: A non-villainous, or at least, slightly less villainous flavor of the trope. He acts as an envoy for Lady Shinki more often than not, and even enforces plots to further her standing.
• Mr. Exposition: Also functions as a historian and scholar as well as The Spymaster and an envoy.
• Non-Action Guy: Officially a knight, but works as The Chessmaster and The Spymaster rather than a Knight in Shining Armor.
• Not-So-Badass Longcoat: He wears a long, purple cloak with eyes all over it. He also has no combatant skill whatsoever, relying on plots, not physical power.
• Pragmatic Hero: Comes across as this.
• Shout-Out: Yuugenmagan wears a purple cloak covered in eyes. In the games, Yuugenmagan is nothing but a collection of eyes.
• The Spymaster: Has a spy network composed of people called 'Eyes'. They are also akin to a small private militia, and are trained at least in archery.
• Token Evil Teammate: From his POV, he certainly doesn't seem it, but he is certainly a far cry from the honorable Hijiris, especially his arrangement for the torture and 'rescue' of Iwakasa to set up a much larger backstabbing on the scale of an entire army.
• Undying Loyalty: Though he tricks various houses along the way, Yuugenmagan is unflinchingly loyal to House Makai's interests.
• Verbal Tic: Referring to fellow males as 'brother'.

Ser Elis

Master of Arrows to Pandemonium and as such head archer and producer of arrows. Is a bit of a psycho by reputation but rarely appears.

---

• Ax-Crazy: By reputation. Yuugenmagan thinks of her as 'the Innocent Devil', but also notes there is nothing inocent about her. Yuugenmagan threatens to have her use one of his prisoners as live target practice.
• Cold Sniper: Implied to be this.
• Red Baron: Her nickname, 'the Innocent Devil'. Doubles as an Ironic Nickname.
• Rank Up: In Chapter 125, it's revealed she's been promoted to being one of Queen Remilia's queensguard.
• Recurring Extra
• Shout-Out: Yuugenmagan refers to her as 'the Innocent Devil', her actual title in Canon.
• Token Evil Teammate: Even more so than Yuugenmagan.

Ser Yumeko

Master of Swords to House Makai and thus head of both smiths and training in swordplay. Ends up severely injured due to a battle during the rebellion.

• Demoted to Extra: Compared to her Canon counterpart, who was Shinki's Number Two.
• The Ghost
• Red Shirt: A non-fatal variant, though she's never fighting again.

Ser Yuki

Master of Fire of the Makais. An alchemist that specifies in producing wildfire, never seen without Ser Mai.

• Alchemy Is Magic: Averted. It is a mundane creation process to her, no different from modern chemistry.
• Deadpan Snarker: She and Mai make a snarky duo whenever on-screen.
• The Dividual: Forms the Syndividual variant with Mai. They are never seen one without the other, and play off each other verbally constantly.
• Greek Fire: What she creates.
• Ironic Name: The same as in Canon: her name is 'snow' in Japanese/Old Norosian, but she deals primarily in fire.
• Kill It with Fire: Her job. She's surprisingly less pyromaniacal than the likes of Mokou Fujiwara, and seems quite professional about the matter.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: She and Mai do not waste any time talking about how insane Alice was following her death.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Averted. Unlike her Canon counterpart, her demeanor is just as Blue an Oni as Mai's, instead of being Hot-Blooded.
• Shout-Out: Whenever she and Lady Marisa Kirisame are in the same room together, their similarity in looks are noted, a reference to their near-identical looks in Canon.

Ser Mai

The Master of Ice to the Makais. An alchemist just like Ser Yuki, except specializing in Winter Wind. She is never seen without Ser Yuki.

• Alchemy Is Magic: Averted. Just like Ser Yuki, her production process is treated as mundane.
• Deadpan Snarker: While both are snarky, Mai is noticeably the more sarcastic of the two.
• The Dividual: Forms the Syndividual variant with Yuki. They are never seen one without the other, and play off each other verbally constantly.
• Ironic Name: The same as in Canon: her name is 'fire' in Japanese/Old Norosian, but she deals primarily in ice.
• Kill It with Ice: Her primary job is producing Winter Wind, some sort of cryo-bomb equivalent.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: She and Yuki do not waste any time talking about how insane Alice was following her death.

Ser Alice Margatroid

Former Master of Mind to House Makai, was sent off as a marriage prospect to Ser Robar Kirisame. When she found him in a whorehouse with another man, she already latent insanity bloomed into outright madness. Currently occupies the self-exiled Robar's old wooden keep on the border of the Sea of Demons and the Woodlands.

• Adaptational Villainy: Oh so much. Alice Margatroid in Canon is an Ineffectual Loner, a mostly sympathetic character, but in this is an Ax-Crazy madwoman who tortures people into non-identity.
• And I Must Scream: Induces this by sowing up her 'dolls' mouths.
• Ax-Crazy: Of all the crazy characters in the series, she probably counts as the lowest functioning without being completely dysfunctional (though Gengetsu Barren may be as bad). She takes pride in her ability to break and mutilate men to the point where they're husks free of will that work suicidally for her, and takes advice from the Ambiguously Evil Medicine Melancholy without really caring. It is her uncontrollably insane nature that gets her killed, as she is unable to wait around and starve the City of Flames, instead attempting to storm the city and getting burnt by wildfire for her trouble.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Calls her mutilated, castrated, psychologically tormented soldiers 'dolls'.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: More fond of this than Yuugenmagan, to the point where it's simply part of becoming her personal army. Even Yuugenmagan is disturbed.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Alice is described as having grown into a shapely, beautiful woman. She is also utterly insane.
• Fallguy: Agrees to pretend to be a common enemy of the Kirisames, the Fujiwaras, and the Lunas to assist in the Kirisame betrayal. Notably the only time she shows guile (likely because she is simply following Yuugenmagan's orders).
• Groin Attack: She castrates all the people who are to become her 'dolls'.
• Miles Gloriosus: Has an inflated opinion of herself, to say the least.
• Obviously Evil: Though her physical appearance is outright beautiful, her banners are black, with red blood spatters. This should clue one in that she's not a nice person.
• Only One Name: After being knighted in her own right and becoming an independent landed knight, she becomes one of the few knights hailing from House Makai to have a surname, thus averting the trope for once.
• Psychopathic Womanchild: Is incredibly childish in her complaints.
• Rank Up: From bargaining chip and the shame of House Makai to an independent landed knight with a surname.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Her personal banner is a black field with red blood spatters.
• The Resenter: Is this to a tee. She considers her use as a marriage prospect as a slight against her, as an attempt to 'get rid of her', and being given Robar's old keep is also seen as a slight by her. As a result, she hates both House Kirisame and House Makai, and has clearly been nursing her grudges.
• Token Evil Teammate: Possibly the most evil person on the side of the Hijiri Rebellion.
• Shout-Out: The mutilated eunuchs that serve as her soldiers are called her 'dolls'. In Canon, she is a Marionette Master.
• The Strategist: Fancies herself this, but is FAR from intelligent.
• Torture Technician: To her own men.
• 2 + Torture = 5: If there's anything it's good at, it's this. She has a near-industrially efficient method of torturing her would-be soldiers into being husks that simply follow commands and accept their role as 'dolls' despite outnumbering Alice quite easily.
• The Unfavorite: No-one but Yuugenmagan has any sympathy for her.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Yuugenmagan seems to think so, and grieves for the child she was.
• Too Dumb to Live: Characters in-universe consider her suicidal attempt to storm the City of Flames to be a case of this.

Medicine Melancholy

A disgraced former Royal Maester who is obsessed with poisons and experiments one would consider ethically unpleasing. Currently serving as an adviser to Ser Alice.

• Deadpan Snarker: Tends to be rather sarcastic in nature.
• Evil Genius: Serves as this to Alice.
• Evil Old Folks: Is old, cold, and generally evil.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She is the major naysayer to Yorihime's Hot-Blooded decision to send Selenion to chargrill the Rainbow Fort. As it turns out, she was completely right to have her doubts.
• Mad Scientist: Considers those who looked down on her for her ethically unsound practices as being anti-intellectual, and was once a Maester.
• Master Poisoner: Supposedly one of these.
• Morality Chain: Is surprisingly this to Alice, keeping her relatively sane and composed while discussing matters with her allies.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Wears a black robe with red stitching.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Switches loyalties whenever her current recipient of advice looks likely to die. She abandoned the Makai/Kirisame camp the moment Alice charged to her death, and stayed behind in the City of Flames likely knowing Yorihime has made a fatal error.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Is gently-spoken, enough so that she can successfully calm the psychotic Alice, but undoubtedly evil.
• Sole Survivor: When Yorihime takes over the City of Flames, it's revealed she fled the preceding siege the moment Alice broke into a suicidal charge, and turns up very much alive to give Yorihime advice.
• Unexpected Character: Not to the series as a whole, but certainly it is a surprise to see her very much alive and asking if she can serve Yorihime after she takes over the City of Flames.

House Okazaki

An oddball compared to the already strange region of the Sea of Demons. Their seat, the Alchemical Stronghold rarely opens its doors, and is a massive tower built around a hot spring. It is not lit by the sun, but rather braziers, and as its name suggests, has a culture heavily centered around academia, especially alchemy. It is a mostly isolationist noble house. It's motto is 'Enlightenment, Application and Extinguishing' according to supplementary materials, and its banners are yellow with an orange conical flask filled with green wildfire and black smoke. They also have a small navy commanded by Ser Chiyuri Chitashirakawa.

In General

• Dirty Coward: Are thought to be this when not responding to Byakuren Hijiri calling the banners. Turns out they had bigger fish to fry.
• Enemy Mine: Like all Sea of Demons nobility, they have a distaste for wildlings, but work with them to help fight the Zombie Apocalypse.
• Expy: A partial expy of House Hightower from A Song of Ice and Fire. They have a large tower as their city, are a centre of learning, and act as Team Switzerland for a large part of the story. They also have a similar role to the Night's Watch, down to letting wildlings work with them to fight a common enemy.
• Hidden Elf Village: The Alchemical Stronghold is effectively its own sealed-off world that generally says 'not my problem' to the outside. Until they subvert it by actually helping fight the Zombie Apocalypse.
• Kill It with Fire: One of their tactics for decimating enemy troops without even participating in a battle: loading a battlefield with wildfire. It is also part of their motto and sigil.
• Mystical White Hair: Seems to be a family trait along with purple eyes, though Lady Yumemi dyes her hair red.
• Only Sane Man: As it turns out, they're this to the rest of the Sea. They're the only ones invested in the safety of humanity as a whole, and are actively preventing the Zombie Apocalypse.
• The Ghost: Earlier on in the story, where their only mention is that they're not going to help the Hijiris fight the Sanzus. Eventually they show up.
• Proud Scholar Race: They're very proud of their academia, and Yumemi certainly looks down on the rest of Noros for their lack of investment in smallfolk education.
• Team Switzerland: Plays this role in the rebellion. Turns out they're the Only Sane Man and are dealing with the actual threat of an apparent Zombie Apocalypse.
• Technicolor Eyes: Lady Yumemi is said to have purple-red eyes, and her hair is dyed bright red, likely to bring out the red more. It's implied she's of Valyrian heritage, as her bastard brother, Riron Sand, has purple eyes and white hair.
• The Night That Never Ends: The interior of the Alchemical Stronghold is like this, with its smallfolk incredibly pale compared to the other cities.

Lady Yumemi Okazaki

The Lady of the Alchemical Fortress. She is a proud woman with a respect for learning and the learned, and is trained to be a Maester, hence her nickname 'Lady Maester'.

• Alchemy Is Magic: Like the other alchemists of Noros, she averts this by viewing it as a science.
• The Chessmaster: Seems to be, but her plans only work depending on whether or not the people she helps help back.
• Badass Cape: While her house colors are yellow, orange and green, Yumemi wears red, with a black cape.
• Contemplative Boss: When entering her chamber, she is either at her desk writing or staring out of one of the few windows in the Alchemical Stronghold, observing the sun on the desert.
• Dirty Coward: Is thought of as this by Lady Shinki for not showing up when Byakuren calls her banners.
• Enemy Mine: With the wildlings, to fight the Zombie Apocalypse. She soon comes to regret it.
• Gentleman and a Scholar: Is eloquent and intelligent.
• Hikkikomori: Rarely seen outside her chamber.
• In-Series Nickname: Lady Maester, due to her qualifications.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Begins to wear them as the wildlings she's giving asylum from the undead repay her generosity with tribal skirmishes in the streets.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though she claims to be uninterested in the petty goings on beyond her city's walls, she clearly cared enough about the crippled wildling Ruukoto to heal her and give her prosthetic limbs, showing she does have a heart.
• Ice Queen: Tries to give off this impression.
• Mystical White Hair: Likely her natural hair color.
• Only Sane Man: To most of Noros. She's the first person in power to acknowledge the threat of the walking dead.
• Proud Scholar Race Guy: Considers the rest of Noros foolish for having uneducated populaces, and in general considers herself to be highly intelligent.
• Secret Identity: Calls herself 'Arikana Kyougi' in case the wight in her lab can somehow tell others who's experimenting on it.
• Technicolor Eyes: With a red ting likely from her hair. Likely due to Valyrian heritage.
• They Would Cut You Up: She DOES order the 'cutting up' of a wight to try and find out their weakness.
• Uriah Gambit: After growing sick of harboring savages that bloody her streets, Yumemi sends them off to risk their lives fighting the wights, saving losses of her own troops.

Ser Riron Sand

The bastard half-brother of Yumemi Okazaki. He is a knight and acts as a gate guard to the Alchemical Stronghold.

• City Guards: Acts as one on the outside of the Alchemical Fortress.
• Heroic Bastard: Leads an offscreen campaign against the wights. His fate is currently unknown.
• Mystical White Hair: Likely a sign of Valyrian heritage.
• Original Character
• Rank Up: If Lady Yumemi accepts Queen Remilia's regime, he'll be named as one of her Queensguard.
• Recurring Extra
• Technicolor Eyes: Similar to his half-sister's red-purple.

Ser Chie

A knight who is in charge of the Alchemical Stronghold's gate opening mechanisms.

• City Guards: Is in charge of opening the city gates.
• Original Character

Ser Rikako Asakura

A former wildling who has since got herself an education and is now a skilled alchemist. Is leading the experimentats on finding a weakness to the wights.

• Alchemy Is Magic: Another case to avert it.
• Rags to Riches: From wildling to comfortably living alchemist.
• Secret Identity: Calls herself 'Renkin Tatakau' while in the same room as the wight in her lab in case it can hear who she is and tell the others.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Has extremely little screen time, but has a crucial role as a discoverer of the wights' weakness.
• They Would Cut You Up: Is the one 'cutting up' the living dead to see what their weaknesses are.

Rika

Ser Rikako's squire.

• Demoted to Extra: From the first schmup boss of Touhou and the first extra boss in Canon to... a non-entity that never makes it on-screen.
• The Ghost.

Ser Ruukoto

An exceptionally crippled wildling that was taken in by Lady Yumemi Okazaki and fitted with prosthetic limbs. Is now a knight in her service.

• An Arm and a Leg: Lost two legs, and an arm. Now has a wooden arm with an operable claw, and prosthetic legs with paddle-like feet.
• Artificial Limbs: Has a wooden arm with an operable claw, and prosthetic legs with paddle-like feet.
• Deadpan Snarker: Is fairly snarky.
• Handicapped Badass: Downplayed. While not particularly badass, she still can live in a cold, harsh environment with her former compatriots while having to walk around with prosthetic limbs.
• Hook Hand: Has a crab-like wooden claw for a hand. It can be opened and closed by a mechanism on the arm.
• Rags to Riches: An unconventional sort. She was the daughter of the Chieftain of the Brighthairs, then was an extremely injured cripple, then was a knight.
• Recognizable by Sound: Almost everyone can hear her coming by her wooden feet clacking on the ground.
• Scars Are Forever: Gets scarred by getting mauled by the direwolf Koishi is rapidly waning in control of.

Ser Chiyuri Chitashirakawa

The commander of the Okazaki fleet, and long since missing after going to recruit more wildlings to Lady Okazaki's cause. Ser Iku Nagae is sent to find her. As it turns out, she's been a wight for some time.

• And Then John Was a Zombie: In attempting to recruit wildlings against the wights, Chiyuri becomes one.
• Curtains Match the Window: Has yellow hair and yellow eyes. At least, she did in life, until she became a blue-eyed wight.
• Dead All Along
• High-Voltage Death: Her wight form's final demise.
• In-Series Nickname: 'Ser Sesquipedalian'.
• Sesquipedalian Smith: To the point where her nickname is 'Ser Sesquipedalian'.

Ser Soichirou Ashigara

A knight that takes over leadership of the Okazaki fleet in Ser Chiyuri's absence.

• Ascended Extra: Downplayed. He is only mentioned in the main story, and finally makes an actual appearance in the Epilogue.
• Meaningful Name: His surname, Ashigara, is a reference to a Japanese battleship, fitting with his role as admiral of the Okazakis and Noros as a whole.
• Original Character
• Rank Up: Under Remilia's rule, he is made Master of Ships under her regime.
• Seadog Beard: Has a black, thick beard.

The Sadonese Sea

The sea to the west of the Sea of Demons, and technically a northern branch of the Narrow Sea. Within it lies the sea-faring young noble house of Murasa, and the island of Sado, where a warging clan led by a Faceless Man, Mamizou of Sado.

Lady Minamitsu Murasa

A pirate-turned-noble and technically a vassal of the Hijiris.

• Abnormal Ammo: She and her fleet use anchors as a means of destroying the enemy fleet.
• Anchors Away: Uses anchors as projectiles by firing them with trebuchets.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Likely burnt to death by wildfire.
• Demoted to Extra: In Canon, she is the one who led the movement to unseal Byakuren from Makai. In this she's merely an offscreen seafaring mook.
• Insane Admiral: What else do you call someone who fires anchors in naval battles.
• Killed Offscreen: We see her fleet burning through Futo's POV, but Minamitsu herself is not seen.
• Never Found the Body.
• Nouveau Riche
• Privateer: In service to Lady Byakuren.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Built up as a major ally to Byakuren's cause, but is killed in a mutually destructive wildfire explosion when battling the Sanzu fleet.

Mamizou of Sado

A Faceless Man with a lazy eye and unlike the others, speaks normally. Commands the warg colonies on Sado.

• A Mother to Her Men: When Iku, Parsee, and Koishi visit Sado, it is shown Mamizou gets very eaten up by what happens to wargs who die while still in their animal's bodies, and does them the decency of having them put out of their misery.
• Cool Old Gal: She is said to speak like an older woman, and is certainly cool.
• Fish Eyes: She has a lazy eye.
• Glamour Failure: No matter her face, she always has a lazy eye. This can be used to infer that she was the 'Nue' who personally killed Yuyuko.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: After agreeing to help the rebellion and then doing nothing, Mamizou and her wargs come in from Sado and help secure the victory against the Sanzus after Queen Eiki Shiki dies.
• Mercy Kill: Commands one for Kani after Direwolf!Koishi kills his crab, driving him insane.
• Shout-Out: Her lazy eye is a reference to how she wears glasses in Canon.
• Third-Person Person: One of the few Faceless Men in the series to avert it.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Has it, like all Faceless Men, but doesn't seem to impersonate the dead with it. She does, however, use it to achieve a Me's a Crowd effect while killing Yuyuko.

Kani

A Sadonese warg. Wargs robber crabs.

• Giant Enemy Crab: Wargs a massive land crab that is most likely a robber crab.
• Heroic BSoD: Goes mad from dying in his robber crab after direwolf!Koishi kills it.
• Meaningful Name: Kani is Japanese/Old Norosian for crab.
• Mercy Kill: Is put out of his misery by Mamizou's spearmen after he dies in his animal's skin.
• Original Character