The Touhou Original Character Compendium

I think he means you're trying to attract voters in ways which might be unfair, like before when I posted a picture to go with my entry.

Wait, how?

I did the exact same thing I did with Yamako basically. I explained the plot in a way I felt was short yet fairly informative(I can't be too informative because she's not the main antagonist, after all), explained her powers(In a fairly short way), posted what stage it was and posted her theme. That's it.

Unless you're referring to the "As for not knowing the plot...Well, maybe you should vote for her and find out some, hmmm?" part of my post. Which if you want, I'll remove. I'm just saying it would be pretty unfair if I took the time in, say, this post to explain the plot, and that I couldn't fit the plot in the summary obviously. So since I'm not going to spill it out loud to draw in your internet, you can vote if it interests you or vote for somebody else if they interest you more. I don't see how this is problematic?

I was referring to how most poll entries merely briefly describe the character as a character and introduce them to us, which is what the entries should do, while yours seem to forgo siutable description in favor mysteries and hanging threads and such. I know what's going on. You think that by filling your entries with mystery, you pique voter curiosity and get more votes. And you're right, which is why you've won so many polls. This is what I mean by "being political" and "trawling votes". And it is perfectly fair, so long as you follow the other rules. But while your strategy does a good job of winning polls, not knowing much about the characters gets frustrating after a while, and the behavior, when placed next to a lot of us who don't neccesarily play to win, seems unsportsmanlike.

Well...to balance it out his victories are often short-lived, a lot of the discussions die early.

Well, I'm not trying to be unsportsmanlike...

But, isn't generating interest supposed to be a key component of describing a character? Just putting out a character without trying to generate interest seems odd. How about I counter you with a question: What, precisely, would you like me to describe her as? If you want, to help you with this question, I will send you everything I have on this character thus far to you so you can tell me what I should be doing. The closest thing to a hanging thread I left, far as I can tell, is that she isn't the main antagonist. I can't really expand on that any further. I suppose the "truest scope" thing could also be interperted as such, but that was just my way of saying "not as powerful outside it as inside". I can't say more about the game, of course, because 1. The poll isn't about the game and 2. The game was only made when this poll started and has two characters. Again, what exactly should I be doing differently to be "sporting"?

The only other thing I want to know is...you said that all this mystery and such "gets frustrating" and "seems unsportsmanlike". Since only you thus far have brought this issue up, I'm wondering if anyone else feels the same. I suppose it wouldn't surprise me, since apparantly I am quite out of touch with this whole thing, but I at least want to know if anyone agrees and what they think on the matter.

If you truly think I am being unfair or unsportsmanlike in this contest, then feel free to null my entry for this poll and I will await my next polling oppourtunity to get into the fray of things.

And sorry if I'm sounding a bit harsh or rude here, this conversation is just making me a bit...tense, I suppose you could say.

Eh, I really don't notice, and even if I did I find that pointing it out is a bit unsportsmanlike also, like punching someone who punched you, we've all got things to complain about but we shouldn't always voice them, at least I don't to not seem whiny.

One for the Youkai of Frills.

EDIT: I'm beginning to see the need for Xion's game poll idea. After all, a lot of these characters that are embedded in plots we don't know, with important relationships to other characters we haven't met yet. That's definitely one reason we find ourselves being coy and mysterious in the descriptions; we have to assure the reader that our characters make sense in a context that we'll relate if we win.

Aside: I think the idea of a zombie goast Oni is awesome. If Oni are living things and can die, isn't it arbitrary to say that they can't become ghosts while humans can?

edited 27th Nov '10 7:06:14 PM by Durazno

Well, an oni could be a ghost, yes. But not all oni are dead/ghosts.

But yes, an oni could reasonably become a ghost, I believe. Then again, I'm not an expert on lore or mythology.

I guess that it all boils down to the fact that we simply have different design philosophies when it comes to poll entries.

With three entries, each entry has a 1/3 chance of winning. This means that there is a 2/3 chance of them losing. So, even with only 3 entries, any individual entry is more likely to lose than it is to win. This only becomes moreso true as the number of entries increases.

You make entries to win polls. This is perfectly fine and reasonable, and I have no idea why I was getting mad at you about it. I think it had something to do with the fact that these polls are not supposed to be Serious Business, but I was never meaning to accuse you of thinking that they were.

However, I design my entries (and critique the entries of others) expecting them to lose. What I say when making an entry is "Okay. More likely than not, I will lose this poll. Can I put enough information is this entry that people could hypothetically use this character in doujins based on this and this alone?" For usability in Doujin works is the most important aspect of a Touhou character, hands down. When reviewing the entries of others, I mentally grade them by the same critique: could I use this character aptly based on this information alone?

My beef is that when I look at your entries, expecting them to lose, it frequently becomes a confusing mess that is difficult to make anything out of. Maybe not even your entries in general, but this one in particular. That is all.

edited 27th Nov '10 7:38:29 PM by XionGaTaosenai

The Three Heavenly Staff Sergeants mostly because of the promise of a sentai like group.

Ayu Janai. I've always been a sucker for dreamworld type plots, and seeing as she was more or less responsible...

I'll throw a vote to Ayu, because sure, why not. You could say I'm slightly curious. Let it be known that I certainly hope you're right about the Emerald Dream being the only thing you snatched.

I'd be so disappointed if Ayu was secretly the female oni form of Malfurion Stormrage or something.

SPOILERS: NO I WOULD NOT BE, BUT I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE TELLING YOU THAT.

• 1 for Yukine. She has potential and the way you describe her makes me think she'll active and/or physical in her attacks. I might change my for for Wen, Gu, and Jian because they sound interesting, but I need to hear what their theme is.

Also, I apologize. RL was eating up all of my free time. Holiday shopping, family drama bombs, and the possibility of employment will do that you. Now that things have settled down(but still unemployed), I'll finally be able to pay attention to the forums again.

edited 27th Nov '10 9:46:41 PM by SonicGTR

Heh...yeah, I guess it's a design philosophy issue.

Like, to use the 1/3rd example, to me...

Well, I'll use three entries as well. While there's a 66%(67%, whatever) of it not winning, the same goes true for every competitor. So, even though I only have a 1/3rd chance of winning, so does everyone else. An even playing field, so to speak. So, I don't really figure I'll lose by odds.

As for making entries to win...also depends on how you define entries. I've never made a character specifically because I think it'd win: I basically make characters for fun, without regard of their viability(Although if I don't think the character fits in Touhou, sometimes I'll tweak it or move it). The summaries? I generally just kind of write them up whenever, but I do focus on winning, combined with distilling the essence of the character. It's also when I decide the names of theme songs, usually, because I like to always end with a theme song. Sometimes it's where I decide names too.

But I do try to win, yes. =P

Personally, I try to do all of this just for fun. I'd honestly probably never think of or get out the ideas without putting them here since I don't consider myself at a high enough level to adequately place OCs into something like Touhou, so putting them out on this forum to gather ideas, what people think of them and maybe get them used is good I think.

Then again, honestly speaking, I don't think it would be possible to really create a bunch of Touhou-esque Doujins from just the summaries. Or, at least, of any character I've seen, including my own. The closest I think one has come to being able to be Doujin-able in only the summary is Frilly Fancydress, and even then only because her name tells me Touhou doujin creators could make some gag 4komas off it. Honestly, I feel like it's getting to know characters via the profile afterwards that can help spark ideas that would be doujin-able. You could say the summary is like a demo profile and the profile is like the in-game profile.

Ah, also, I'm voting for Frilly Fancydress, if that wasn't obvious.

Oh... oh dear. I just tallied up the votes thus far, and unless I'm mistaken, it's a four-way tie.

If someone doesn't break the tie when the polls close, might I suggest a tiebreaker round of voting?

Polls closed two hours ago. Counting now...

Yes. Yukine, Furiru, Staff Sarges, and Ayu all have 2 votes each. Let me break out a d8...

• 1 or 5: Staff Sargents
• 2 or 6: Ayu
• 3 or 7: Yukine
• 4 or 8: Furiru

• [rolls] 6. Ayu is first.
• [rolls] 3. Yukine is second.
• [rolls] 1. Sarges are third, which means Frilly is fourth.

Alright. Ruki gets the trophy again, as is becoming expected. We await your write-up.

edited 28th Nov '10 8:50:09 AM by XionGaTaosenai

Ah darn I woke up too late, and I was going to vote for the Staff Sergeants. Oh well...

I kind of like these huge ties. It's like a smorgasbord of characters before us!

I like these ties too. It lets ya see a bunch of characters at once.

Anyway, do you mind if I don't go first? I want some more time to tweak my profile whilest writing it up and if I'm the active one it'll delay it.

Personally, I'd obv. like Frilly to take my place, but just put Yukine there since Yukine rolled second.

Actually, I am quite surprised and alarmed that Frilly won.

^^ If you're sure, then I guess I'll get things rolling.

Yukine Genshi (現支　雪猫)
The Twelve-Step Monk

"You'll have no chance of getting past me if you can't keep up!"

Overview

Yukine is a half-youkai monk who practices the "Twelve Forms", which is actually an entire set of twelve different styles, each corresponding to a particular earthly branch in Chinese astrology. While there are many masters of each individual style, and many of them being learned in a handful of different forms, it is rare for an individual to pursue all twelve, and anyone attempting to do so will need almost superhuman levels of dedication. The last known individual to have done so lived several hundred years in the past.

Undoubtedly, to have mastered the Twelve Forms, Yukine has the extreme level of dedication necessary. But knowledge of twelve different styles are useless, if one does not apply each of them when the situation requires it. Yukine is at once persistent and flexible: Once she sets herself to a task or a goal, she will use any means at her disposal to make sure it is accomplished.

Whereabouts

Some kind of passage (or possibly a gate) that she was hired/assigned to guard, which the player character now needs to pass through.

The rest of this section intentionally left blank, so we can fill in the details when we know who she's working for, or what the plot of the game she's in is.

Appearance

White past-the-shoulder-length hair with red-orange highlights in the front, tied in a ponytail at the base of her neck. Wears a white hachimaki on her head with "determination" (or something like that) in kanji written on it. Wears bandages on her right forearm.

As for the rest of her outfit... I don't know. Help me out here, guys!

Spellcards

Finally, the important part. This is the section that really ought to get the spotlight in this profile. (Haven't thought of all the spellcards yet, though. Twelve Signs is a pretty tall order.)

• Rat Sign
  • "Vermin Swarm" (E/N) — short vertical lasers fall at varying speeds all over the screen. Straightforward dodging, for the most part.
  • "Vermin Rush" (H/L) — slightly faster lasers, and instead of straight down, some of them fall at a slight angle, to the left or to the right.
• Ox Sign
• Tiger Sign
  • "Fearful Symmetry" (H/L) — Yukine uses giant tiger paws (not unlike Unzan's fists, or Murasa's anchors) in a swiping motion down and across the screen. If you're not in a safe spot, you're dead for sure.
• Hare Sign
  • "Carefree Ballerina" (E/N) / "Lucky Rabbit's Dance" (H/L) — Yukine summons a couple of familiars that scatter flower petals all over. What makes this challenging is that Yukine keeps hopping around, avoiding you.
• Dragon Sign
  • "Ceremonial Procession" (H/L) — Yukine moves in a twisting path all across the field, trailed by large red bullets (so she looks kind of like a dragon). She scatters danmaku as she moves about, so watch out.
• Snake Sign
  • "Serpent's Trick" (E/N) / "Serpent's Treachery" (H/L) — Yukine splits into three. One of them is not like the other. Only the real one actually gets damaged.
• Horse Sign
• Sheep Sign
• Monkey Sign
• Rooster Sign
  • "Feathered Fan" (E/N) — Yukine throws out five feathers in a wide arc, each of which splits into five, and each of those splits one more time. The final split is aimed.
  • "Pride and Plumage" (H/L) — same, but any feather that hits any edge of the screen bounces back once (and doesn't split or bounce again, thankfully)
• Dog Sign
• Pig Sign

Miscellanea

"Genshi" uses the kanji for "present" (as in past and present) and "branch". The reason for this should be obvious enough.

"Yukine" uses the kanji for "snow" and "cat". Some of you may be familiar with a certain folk tale involving some sort of meeting or ceremony where the twelve animals representing the twelve calendar years were to be chosen. The cat and the rat were intending to go together, but the rat decided not to wake up the cat, so the cat missed out on the chance, and the two became enemies.

The snow bit was just incidental, I just wanted to use a name with the kanji for "cat" that wasn't pronounced "neko", as that would've been too obvious.

edited 28th Nov '10 6:15:45 PM by KylerThatch

Aww, I usually get to talk about a lot of cool stuff while Ruki prepares his write-ups!

Ah well. Hey, you know one thing I did on my Amber write-up (and intend to do with all my write-ups) that I'd like to see others try doing? Tropes associated with X, where X is the character being written about. This is TVtropes, after all.

In other news, having "Aimless" in Amber's title make me want a picture of her dressed in yellow caution tape.

edited 28th Nov '10 7:57:11 PM by XionGaTaosenai

That's a pitfall many tropers fall into though where characters are just list of tropes and not really characters, plus tropes are an after-the-fact measure made by an outside source rather then something you think about during production and the point of a trope is the fresh spin with each iteration, if you don't build off the trope then you won't have a character.

That does open up the possibility of a game of "Spot the Trope", where everyone else calls out tropes they see in someone's writeup. (Also, my own trope-sense isn't all that sharp, in any case. )

On a different note, this character was inspired by Patchouli's concept of a stage 4 boss, but while Patchy works in elements and can sort of mix stuff together, Yukine can't really do the same with her 12 Supernatural Martial Arts styles. But she's still got it covered in terms of variety.

I'm also wondering about each style having its own associated color, which is the color the background takes when she uses a particular spellcard.

So how many of her cards would each PC face?