This page is for theories about the main characters of Touhou Project, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame.
Reimu
The Hakurei Shrine is for REAL on our side of the Fourth Wall.
Same as above—only this is the origin of Touhou itself. Just replace the Moriya Shrine crew with Reimu and "faith" with "donations."- Confirmed...in a manner of speaking. Strange and Bright Nature Deity has Reimu explaining that the Hakurei Shrine is the Wall between the Outside World and Gensokyo. A Wall belongs to neither side; and both at the same time.
- Oriental Sacred Place has the Hakurei Shrine receiving mysterious offerings that include wine. Presumably ZUN knows the true location of the Shrine, and converts some of his "donations" into things that Reimu can use, since modern Japanese Yen has no trade value inside Gensokyo.
Reimu is totally inept in fighting, and wins only through cheating.
In the shooting games (where you can clearly see a spell-card based duel), Reimu has never, ever lost, for being able to rig the competition into her inevitable victory. However, in the fighters (where you clearly see that the combat is real), she hasn't won even a single battle in canon, and is the Rock bottom of the matchup table in SWR.- Well, nobody wants to attack her at full power due to fears that her defeat might trigger the Hakurei border's collapse, placing Gensokyo back in Japan. Nobody wants this, except possibly Sanae.
- Nobody isn't correct - [[Baka Cirno, Rumia, Mystia]] or similarly stupid characters might not even know that part about the Hakurei barrier. Flandre might even "accidently" kill her.
Despite how she seems to act, Reimu's turned into a Blood Knight.
In both of her scenarios in Unidentified Fantastic Object, she acts like she's bigoted towards Youkai when she's talking to Byakuren, but we all know she's made friends with a good number of them. It's possible that she just wanted a good adrenaline rush, and thought that Byakuren would give her the challenge she needed, so she essentially trolled her into a conflict.- On the other hand, Reimu may have serious identity issues about being both the Hakurei Maiden as well as a growing girl, because her emotions may get in the way of some of the harder parts of her duty (although this may not be a problem at the moment in the currently peaceful Gensokyo). Danmaku play may be something she can really identify with herself, as her identity role while in danmaku combat is very simple. Therefore, she developed an addiction to danmaku play to escape from any possible conflicts between her life and her duty.
- It should be noted that for all the Yokai Jesus or Martin Luther King jokes we make; Hijiri focused on peace for Yokai more than for humans. Marisa and Reimu mention that humans still need protecting; and that will result in conflict with Yokai.
Reimu acts like a jerk to deliberately try and put distance between her and Youkai; as she's supposed to balance humanity and them. She is the Balance. (Yin Yang). She's failing, and is turning into a Youkai or possibly a Goddess/Celestial
She does view Yokai and humans equally; however, more yokai like her than humans do. She deliberately comes up with Superdickery to try and distance them, but humans continue to avoid her, and the Yokai like her more and more (and she gains more and more of them as friends). Hijiri horrifies her because she sees this as her fate. Attempting to balance humans and yokai, but ultimately only have yokai as her friends and family. Not that this would be too cursed a fate, but it is a failure of her attempt at being Neutral.- This is why donations are so important to her. It's not the monetary value; it's the connection she has with the rest of humanity. Literally their investment in her. It's not Reimu's fault; btw. She is doing her best. But it is inevitable unless the human population in Gensokyo open up to her. (It's a two-way street.)
- That doujinshi where she dies peacefully as an old woman with humans and yokai filling the shrine is possible future where she is successful.
- This theory gels pretty well with Symposium of Post-Mysticism. In the end, Reimu basically barges in and behaves like a dick towards the three big-name youkai, but Miko senses her inner desire for peaceful coexistence, and tries to persuade her to join her cause. It nearly works, too.
- There has also been many instances where Reimu is referred to as a very youkai-like Shrine Maiden. If she'd heard this she may be becoming more and more gung ho about extermination out of fear she may really become one, possbly believing that if she keeps opposing youkai she can't become one herself. The youkai's continued attraction to her may be evidence of the change already starting.
Reimu is the Goddess of the Hakurei Shrine.
She even hints at it
in Oriental Sacred Place. Specifically she's the Nameless, the Miko Goddess who was summoned by Watatsuki no Yorihime against Reimu. (Canon has shown you can summon a god against itself.) Reimu pretended to be puzzled on who that Miko was. She gets her Faith from the other side of the Barrier.- In canon, Reimu comments that she "doesn't know the name of the god of the Hakurei shrine." This is technically true; she doesn't have a deity name.
- This is also why it's easy for her to summon other gods; being the concept of a miko; she's the god of summoning other gods.
- This is also why she's so powerful. Think of how popular miko are in anime and manga. That's a lot of faith.
Reimu is not underaged!
Time line recap PC-98 and Windows have a 1 year gap from each other.
Gensokyo moves about as quickly as our real life. Which means during from Summer and Winter Comiket (And not Retisai) one year passes.
Reimu begins Touhou 1 as a twelve(12) year old. This is very evidant in TH2. Those two game passes, and she is now Thirteen. TH3 and TH4 pass, she is now Fourteen. TH5 passes, and there there is a one year timeskip.
Reimu is 15 and a half by this time. It is now Summer and EoSD takes place, and TH7 takes place. She is 16 by IaMP. Going to TH8 and TH9, TH9.5, she is now 17.
TH10, and TH11 pass, she is now 18.
TH12 comes out during the summer, and there wasn't a touhou game for 2009 Winter Comiket. Reimu is now 19.
- ZUN specifically says that the timeline is wonky, and encourages fans to disregard it.
- ZUN also specifically says he doesn't want to age the girls up, so their ages are deliberately left unclear. But looking at it another way... Reimu is taller than Keine, at least in in-game graphics. Keine is almost certainly an adult or at least an adolescent, because the villagers wouldn't have a kid teaching their kids (IIRC this is cited as one reason why Akyuu isn't the one doing the teaching). QED.
- If My Calculations Are Correct (based on what time of year games probably occurred and which games could have caused which others), then it's been... over 14 years! since Reimu came to the shrine. Aaaand she couldn't have been younger than 9 or 10 even from the start, sope... definitely not underage. But she's stayed looking about a mid-teenager throughout the Windows series, and she and Marisa are the only two girls who don't have a canon immortality. Marisa can be explained because she's researching how to become immortal and may be having more success than she lets on, but Reimu? Aside from the usual forbidden templates, the only explanation is... Kaguya is her mother.
Hakurei Shrine Maidens do not take vows of chastity.
How else is Gensokyo going to survive when Reimu inevitably dies of old age?- Except that the people in Gensokyo don't seem to physically age whatsoever. Everyone in Gensokyo has modified DNA that can replicate without end.
- According to The Other Wiki, Shinto religious professions do not require chastity to begin with, so... duh? Plus, it's canon that Reimu's ancestors served the shrine before her, so logically she wouldn't exist if they were bound to chastity.
The reason to why everyone in Gensokyo can fly is due to Reimu's power.
Well her power is to float and she is the cornerstone for Gensokyo it's safe to assume that her power affects everyone living in there. And by extension all in the Hakurei line inherits this power. Reimu is behind everything in the game-to-game plot.
Who has been in the series THE longest? Reimu! Who has appeared almost always a protagonist? Reimu! Whose shrine has no definite deity? Reimu! Suspicious! Reimu will not have to pay Komachi anything when the former dies somehow.
Reimu's power is to float. The Sanzu river's main methods of barricading things include that nothing besides shinigami and their boats float on it. A few quotes from Patchouli winning on Yuyuko in the fighters imply that the dead gain the ability to use magic sometimes, which implies that magical humans would retain their powers. Reimu's power is to float. Therefore, she just floats over the river like she normally flies and Komachi is deprived of any payment from the Hakurei shrine maiden. While the Yama may get annoyed that Reimu attempted to ignore the system in place and send her to hell for any other sins she'd committed, it still gets Reimu across. The reason for Gensokyou being bound to Reimu's bloodline.
My guess is that the great barrier needs energy to continue to work and it has to get it's fuel from somewhere. That fuel I belive is the shrine maiden. Namely it feeds on her life energy and that would of course mean that it's energy supply would be cut short if she where to die. And as a result of this I also belive that every shrine maiden also suffer from a shortened life span meaning they will most likley have to continue the bloodline as early as possible in order to ensure that the barrier doesn't run out of fuel. It is simply a case of The Needs of the Many outweigh the needs of the few.Reimu's only strapped for cash because...
...she relies on donations. If she were to actively invest in something, her ability to float would keep her in the black by preventing her to sink into the red. She'd at least break even on any investments, maybe even turn a profit, but she just doesn't make any.- On the other hand, Wild and Horned Hermit shows that Reimu is just plain bad at making money, even when actively trying to.
- ...Yukari wants her to rely on Japanese Spirit, rather than play with wonderful toys.
- ...a God of Poverty haunts the shrine.
- ...Suika mooches off her so much.
Reimu's parents were killed in the vampire incident
First, I'll note that Reimu's approach to miko-ing is entirely consistent with inheriting the job at a young age— she barely knows what she's supposed to do, but considers it a fundamental part of her identity regardless. That last part in particular suggests the position was inherited, rather than her being somehow chosen, as I've occassionally seen suggested
As for why the vampire incident in particular...
- This was a major incident resolved by youkai despite a Hakurei miko being around. Which would make sense if the only surviving miko was five or so
- The incident caused them to suddenly desire a form of combat that'd be non-lethal and give humans a decent chance. Which kind of speaks for itself
- Said spellcard rules are suggested to have been created by a youkai and then approved by the miko. Again, something that makes much more sense if the miko is a distraught child
- I always considered that the Hakurei miko dies when their service time is up and then their child takes over.
Reimu is/becomes pregnant before or as a result of the events of Wily Beast and Weakest Creature.
The main points of this theory are gathered from the Reimu's picture in the game's title screen:
- The darker paint strokes seem to be drawing out a round shape right around her stomach.
- The position of her hand almost seems to be caressing her stomach, as if she was expecting something.
- While this last one may just be a coincidence, her dress is only flaring up at the front, and is pressed against her back, whereas most (canon) dress flares in Touhou are either from the back or are evenly spread around the girl's body. The odd flare almost makes it seem like there's something holding it up.
- Non-title-screen related, but why is it that the posessing spirit(s) seem to have a stronger bond with Reimu than the other two girls?note If they really are just spirits, then wouldn't their strongest bond be with Youmu? That is, unless the spirits had an unborn child to bond to, allowing them to communicate with Reimu far more directly.
Marisa's supposed insanity...
Remember in Imperishable Night Marisa says she's immune to the full moon's madness effects because "she's already insane to begin with"? I think I might have discovered what she means... Marisa fuels her magic with "phantasmal mushrooms", right? Do you know what's a "magic mushroom" in real life? Marisa must probably consume a lot of those during her travels to keep her magic level high...
Hence, she must be in a permanent state of... well... you know. Which is pretty much like temporary insanity. It's just a wonder how she manages to dodge all those bullets while being in such a state...
Whoa man, I'm trippin' out man... WHOA! Shiny colors! Whoa man, that's really coo... OUCH! THEY HURT!
- And her Master Spark is just the physical projection of her mind/what she has in mind. OMG RAINBOW POWER !
The Master Spark is powered by shipping.
This is why Marisa is paired up with so many people.- It's powered by love... that is sucked out of the universe a little bit at a time
- All right, who HASN'T Marisa stolen from?
Marisa is part (half?) Dutch.
It's the simplest and most logical explanation for the name and hair color. Ignore the Youkai with similarly western names and blonde hair, they are stated to be thought impossible by the outside world.- Sanae. Green hair. Sure, she's part god, but only a bit (and Suwako is blonde).
- I've always thought that it was a reaction to the magic of Gensokyo that made Sanae's hair green. As for Marisa, I blame the mushrooms, if not her own magical training, as the cause.
Marisa is trying to develop a controlled Elixir of Life.
She doesn't want to become a Youkai Magician; and she doesn't want eternal life that can never be taken off like the Hourai Medicine. She wants to be able to lengthen her lifespan at will...and should she decide she's ready for the next life; be able to switch it off.- Perfect Cherry Blossom does say that the problem she is having in her research is that it's "too big for consumption." This could mean it's a pill the size of a house; or it could mean it would make her too immortal.
Marisa has eaten her own bullets on more than one occasion.
Watatsuki no Yorihime ate part of a star bullet that was pretty much not moving and it was implied to taste sweet by her comment. Who says some of the less obviously weapon danmaku projectiles can't be an edible dessert in addition to a hail of bullets? Marisa was abused as a child
while her choosing to live in a dangerous forest with little contact with her parents back in the human village could be chalked up to Marisa just being Marisa the fact she specificlly cut ties with them implies there is actually bad blood between them, hoarding is also a common trait among abused children, especially those who have been neglected or actively denied food or other necessities, her extreme fondness and praise for Mima could also come from a complete lack of any sort of positive parental figure in her life till Mima came along Marisas pickiness about her method of immortality is because she wants to share it
specifically with Reimu, thus she needs to find a method that Reimu is capable of(so no turning into a magician) and would accept(so no Elixir) the reason she herself wants to take that same kind of immortality is so they have the same limits, if Marisa becomes completely immortal while Reimu is merely ageless she will still have to eventually watch her friend die and never be able to join her in the afterlife