The Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

At least 2300 years old... you have to wonder what type of goddess Suwako was in her prime, back in the days when most mythologies were full of bloodthirsty, oversexed nutters people prayed to to placate, not praise. How much has the lil' froggie goddess mellowed? Did she threaten to unleash her tamed Mishaguji on those who displeased her? She opposed the Japanese gods' attempt to unify the country, perhaps indicating a possessive streak?

...I'm trying to imagine a sinister, sadistic Suwako and failing spectacularly. It's the hat. Nothing evil could wear a hat like that.

I've always entertained the theory that Suwako ages her appearance based on how she's interacting with others. She's settled into a childish form as a sort of default state due to her carefree outlook, but if a serious threat faced her the goddess who battled Kanako would reappear. I also like the idea of how this affected Suwako's interactions with Sanae - adopting a mature, motherly form when the girl was a baby, changing to a Cool Big Sis as Sanae aged, and now a childish persona to stimulate Sanae's maternal instincts. Not that I have any canon to back this up with.

I don't see Suwako as fatalistic so much as wise. She's been around long enough to learn that nothing lasts forever, even gods, and that at some point people will move on without her. Rather then spend her time fighting this truth or moping about it, she's committed to having as much fun as possible. If Kanako's plan works out, super, if not, c'est la vie. Though now that she's hanging out with a descendant, Suwako may have more incentive to stick around.

...I'm trying to imagine a sinister, sadistic Suwako and failing spectacularly. It's the hat. Nothing evil could wear a hat like that.

At the risk of annoying people with repeat links, here's one. May be cheating though, as it is after the hat gets knocked off.

I dunno about sinister, but this is pretty badass.

At the risk of sounding like a double post, I dunno about sinister, but this◊ is pretty badass.

Do not mess with Suwako's kid.

Seriously. As another example, the one that I posted was part of basically revenge for a serious injury to Sanae.

There may be something to the "Hat makes the Suwako" theory.

Consider that Suwako can look both cute◊ and awesome◊ with the hat, but she does not really have a "I'm gonna make you bleed." expression unless it is off.◊

Perhaps its a Power Limiter of some sorts? Perhaps it is the seal on the Curse Gods?

Does it really have a tongue?

Not in canon I think, no... Just the eyes.

The eyes... the eyes... THE EYES

The gritty doujin I keep talking about, which I only really dislike for one particular thing omg rape, shows Suwako when she was still an active goddess... It's an interesting take. She's aloof, bored, she just accepts her role as a goddess who takes tributes from her people and protects them for it and stuff, sitting on her chair and staring blankly forward. That is, until she noticed her people forging some fine steel, at which point she realized that humans aren't just simple animals that can talk. She followed this train of thought up to the conclusion that humans and gods are practically on the same level, as both need each other to live.

So, yeah. Just spent an hour reading this thread. Really nice work, guys! I'd like to help out too, if you'll have me.

Suwako...wow. She's one of those characters I see as kind of...Yukari-ish, for lack of other terms. She's playful and loving most of the times, but she's enigmatic at the same time. I don't see Sanae or really any other character besides Kanako knowing a whole lot of concrete info about her.

And then there are those moments where something she treasures is -hurt-, and then you get a cursed tree shoved up somewhere the sun doesn't -think- of ever shining. I guess that's kinda why she was a 'curse' goddess, in the vein of Cursed With Awesome/Blessed With Suck. She seems to be nice and all, and she genuinely is most of the time, but I imagine she's obtained a vicious reputation for doing very, very cruel things in order to remind people that what she cares for should not be touched. -At all-.

(I also see her as Kanako's seme, but that is neither here nor there...)

^ Don't worry, we'll have you! We'll have you all the way to Mexico, haw haw haw!

So my sister's just watching Gilmore Girls and I started thinking, man, those characters are all so quirky, they'd fit right into Touhou and then I just- I kinda- ... I'll just leave you with this: Sanae as Rory Gilmore, Suwako as Lorelai and Kanako as her mom.

Rinnosuke as Luke, the other protagonists as Rory's friends...I can totally see that happen.

^ I'm half-awake, and I know what you're really talking about, but now I can't stop thinking of Rinnosuke as Luke Skywalker.

Suwako's definitely a real scary Mama Bear if you threaten Sanae seriously.

I stand corrected. She can look menacing with the hat on.

Always did like the thought of the Touhou characters in a sitcom.

'Everyone Loves Hijirin?', anybody?

Ah, the cast of UFO would be great for that, I think. It's pretty much the only Touhou game where all the bosses, even the early ones, all know each other somehow.

So, who's next?

Yuka? Elly? Byakuren?

^^ Does Kogasa know the others? I thought she was just a random youkai that happened to be in your way, and then after her you started running into people responsible for the incident again.

There's a doujin that portrayed her as Byakuren's umbrella before she got sealed, and she became a youkai after abandonment of Byakuren's temple.

Ah, here it is! Title: Rain, rain, raining down.

Canonically, Kogasa has no relationship to the other characters. Fanon has taken steps to correct that, though.

Byakuren it is~!
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Byakuren Hijiri

Traits:

• Friend to All Living Things
• Cloudcuckoolander

Relationships/Shipping:

• Ichirin, Shou (loyal followers)
• Minamitsu (saved youkai)
• Nue (living at her temple)

Write-up:
Newcomer: Jesus Christ Byakuren is now up for debate! She was born the sister of a famous buddhist monk who mastered wondrous buddhist magic, which she learned from him. However, he died in her early years, leaving her afraid of death. She developed a dark magic to keep herself young, but in order to not lose this magic, she was forced to help the youkai. She pretended to be a youkai exterminator, yet secretly helped them out. While her endeavor was fueled by her fear and her greed for life, she came to genuinely respect youkai and wish for a world where they and humans can live in harmony. However, the humans feared her for siding with the monsters, and sealed her for a millenium, until the events of UFO took place and she was unsealed by her loyal followers.

That alone is already quite the load to swallow in terms of characterization. Fandom apparently likes to combine her harmonious personality with cloudcuckoolander-type behaviour, perhaps due to her long imprisonment, or perhaps because Good Is Dumb...

Nonetheless, let us honor the vague Jesus analogy for what she is. Discuss, my friends, and prosper!

One interesting thing I need to get out of the way right off the bat: A Values Dissonance note from her paragraph on the character sheet! "(Something not readily apparent to Western viewers. Byakuren was originally motivated by fear; then love; (the two extremes) and used deception to favor the yokai she loved over the humans who would be afraid of her. She's an extremely lapsed Buddhist. The Japanese are also critical of the Western take on "equality"; if you treat the strong and the weak the same way, the strong will have an advantage.)"

Rather interesting.

Aside from that, the wiki states that her fate depends on the heroine chosen, so can anyone shed light on that?

And finally, I'd once again really like some material on this lady! The only time I've come across her was in a yuri doujin and it had no plot whatsoever and contrary to popular belief that didn't make it very interesting at all!

edited 4th Jul '10 6:28:50 AM by Fawriel

Byakuren's first appearance in Touhou Tag Dream. Savior to all youkai!

Tangentally related: I'd love to see Byakuren's response to one of Kaguya's Impossible Requests. Specifically, Buddha's Stone Bowl.