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Byakuren Hijiri
(♫) Byakuren Hijiri Byakuren Hiziri More Alternative Spellings | |
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Byakuren Hijiri in Hopeless Masquerade The Sealed Great MagicianMore Character Titles | |
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Abilities |
Magic (specialization in magic that increases her physical abilities) |
Occupation | |
Location | |
Music Themes | |
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Appearances | |
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Byakuren Hijiri (聖 白蓮 Hijiri Byakuren) is a Buddhist nun and magician who was sealed away by humans because of her kindness towards youkai in the outside world. During the events of Undefined Fantastic Object, the youkai she has saved reappear to break her free from the seal. She is now the head priest at the Myouren Temple, which is populated mostly by youkai.
General Information
Personality
Byakuren is a monk who is kind to both humans and youkai. However, it is somewhat difficult for her to befriend humans because of these views, as well as the fact that she doesn't drink alcohol and is a vegetarian. She is mild-mannered and has never been seen to be overly angry. Youkai that don't desire conflict flock to her, while those that do are repulsed by her.
Abilities
- Magic
Originally derived from Buddhism, Byakuren then began using dark magic derived from aiding youkai to retain her youth, after her brother's death. Now, Byakuren specializes in "buffing" magic which increases her physical abilities, including strength, speed, and the five senses. Normally, however, she's only as strong as a normal human. Ultimately, though she is called a saint, these powers are demonic in nature.
Occupation
Byakuren is the chief priest at the Myouren Temple. As the chief priest, she teaches the dharma to anyone willing to listen. She also manages funerals and the graveyard. Once a month, she performs an "overnight sutra-chanting live concert", where she sings a song in monotone while keeping rhythm with a wooden fish. The event attracts both youkai and humans.
Possessions
- Sorcerer's Sutra Scroll
Created while Byakuren was in Makai, the Sorcerer's Sutra Scroll is unique to her. The sutras Byakuren needs in order to use her power are written on it. It has an automatic mode, which will cause it to recite spells on its own. Compared to a regular paper scroll, the amount the Sorcerer's Sutra Scroll holds is limitless. It is also said that this scroll won't deteriorate over time. Lastly, because it has a "will" of its own, no one except for Byakuren is able to handle it.
Backstory
Once a human, Byakuren was a nun who worked with her younger brother, Myouren Hijiri. However, when her brother died, she began to fear death. This fear prompted her to search for some way to maintain her youth. Eventually she did find it; however, its origin was not in the Buddhist art she had dedicated her life to, but rather a kind of black magic.
No longer fully "human", she soon came to fear losing her power. Because of the nature of the world of Gensokyo, the magic that she wielded would only be lost if humanity came to reject it as a whole; and because of that, she needed to ensure the prosperity and longevity of youkai. Thus, she came to honor and protect the youkai for her own benefit while simultaneously making herself out to be a great youkai exterminator. People came to look up to her and started fearing the youkai less and less.
However, after some time, Byakuren started to realize the struggle youkai faced in the outside world. Eventually, rather than protecting them out of her own selfishness, she began to honestly consider the youkai as beings that needed to be helped.
At one time, Byakuren was sent to exterminate the ghost on the seas, Minamitsu Murasa, who had gained much renown for sinking ships. Rather than vanquish Murasa as she had been sent to do, Byakuren confronted the spirit as a normal human, and Murasa easily capsized her ship. However, Byakuren rose from the sea, riding atop a shining ship like the one Murasa had fallen from. By granting Murasa this ship, she freed the spirit from the cursed oceans and earned her gratitude.
At some point she also welcomed Ichirin Kumoi and her nyuudou companion Unzan, gaining their trust as well. The two of them lived at her temple.
The temple that she lived in was in the mountains; a temple to the god Bishamonten. In order to gain the trust of the youkai living on the mountain, she decided to appoint a youkai to serve under the god. This youkai was Shou Toramaru. Shou excelled at her duties, and it is implied that in doing so, Byakuren came to be liked by the youkai living around the area.
Eventually, her desire to help youkai rather than exterminate them was exposed to humans such as with her encounter with Murasa. She was ostracized for being a "demon in human form", and eventually was sealed away into the depths of Makai.
Character Design
Name
Byakuren Hijiri (聖 白蓮) is her name. Hijiri (聖) can mean "Saint" or "Virtuous Monk" or "Itinerant Monk" and Byakuren (白蓮) "White Lotus" or "Purity". So it literally can be read as "Saint of the White Lotus", "White Lotus Saint", drawing upon the cultural reading of the white lotus as a symbol of purity: "Pure and Saintly" or "Saint of Purity", or drawing upon the modern definition of 聖 (read as Hijiri, meaning a world-trekking Buddhist monk), "Roaming Monk of the White Lotus" or "The Pure and Itinerant Monk".
Design
In Undefined Fantastic Object's official art, Byakuren has long, wavy, light brown hair that fades to purple at the top, with hazel or light brown eyes. She wears a black and white dress with long strips of black fabric going across the middle and white fabric across the arms. Along with this dress, she wears a long cape. She also holds a giant, magical scroll called the Sorcerer's Sutra Scroll.
The gradient in her hair has been confirmed by ZUN to be natural.[1]
Story
- Undefined Fantastic Object
In Undefined Fantastic Object, she is unsealed thanks to the combined efforts of Shou's group of youkai and the heroine. Her fate depends on which heroine is chosen by the player, but in canon, she settles down near the Human Village with the intentions of building a temple there. By Sanae's request - the shrine maiden had vouched for Byakuren's character - Kanako Yasaka and Suwako Moriya constructed it for her relatively quickly.
- Main article: Reimu A Arc
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- Main article: Reimu B Arc
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- Main article: Marisa A Arc
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- Main article: Marisa B Arc
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- Main article: Sanae A Arc
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- Main article: Sanae B Arc
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Relationships
Being the final boss of Undefined Fantastic Object, Byakuren serves as the common ground for the character relationships.
Ichirin Kumoi is a youkai who used to live at Byakuren's temple hundreds of years ago. By showing kindness to both her and Unzan, even though she was human, she earned their trust.
Byakuren saved Minamitsu Murasa from her grim fate of haunting the oceans and capsizing ships. Minamitsu became one of Byakuren's strongest allies, and she used the flying object in Gensokyo to retrieve the treasures needed to revive the nun.
Shou Toramaru was a disciple of Bishamonten that lived at Byakuren's temple. Byakuren had used her to gain more trust from the other youkai living on the mountain at the time, and in order to show her kindness towards youkai.
It is also known from both Touhou Hisoutensoku and Oriental Sacred Place that Nue Houjuu is currently living at the temple she built. Nue, after learning from the heroine during the extra stage of Undefined Fantastic Object of Byakuren's kindness to all beings, including youkai like her, went there, most likely after a bit of time had passed and nervous because she was attempting to ruin the plans to unseal the nun in the first place.
She also had a brother named Myouren Hijiri. However, her brother eventually died.
Kyouko cleans the Myouren Temple.
While they have not been seen interacting, Byakuren is highly disturbed by Seiga's activities and claims that she can sense great evil from her.[2]
Miko targets Byakuren.
Nue calls in her friend Mamizou Futatsuiwa from the outside world to become a youkai ally. After being suggested by Youmu Konpaku in her respective Extra stage, she decides to take up residence at Myouren Temple with Nue.
Byakuren believes that Koishi's present "thoughtless" state is close to enlightenment, and wants her to join the temple.[3]
During the events of Hopeless Masquerade, Kokoro stays at Myouren Temple in order to learn how to control her emotions in order to prevent another berserk at the end of Byakuren's storyline.
Spell Cards
Name | Translated | Comments | Games | Stage | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total: 38 | ||||||
魔法「紫雲のオーメン」 | Magic "Omen of Purple Clouds" | UFO | St. 6: E/N | |||
吉兆「紫の雲路」 | Good Omen "Cloudy Way in Purple" | UFO | St. 6: H | |||
吉兆「極楽の紫の雲路」 | Good Omen "Nirvana's Cloudy Way in Purple" | UFO | St. 6: L | |||
魔法「魔界蝶の妖香」 | Magic "Mystic Fragrance of a Makai Butterfly" | UFO | St. 6: E/N | |||
魔法「マジックバタフライ」 | Magic "Magic Butterfly" | UFO | St. 6: H/L | |||
光魔「スターメイルシュトロム」 | Light Magic "Star Maelstrom" | UFO | St. 6: E/N | |||
光魔「魔法銀河系」 | Light Magic "Magic Milky Way" | UFO GoU |
St. 6: H/L — | |||
大魔法「魔神復誦」 | Great Magic "Devil's Recitation" | UFO GoU |
St. 6: E/N/H/L — | |||
「聖尼公のエア巻物」 | "Amagimi Hijiri's Air Scroll" | UFO | St. 6: N/H | |||
超人「聖白蓮」 | Superhuman "Byakuren Hijiri" | UFO ULiL |
St. 6: L Story (Extra) | |||
飛鉢「フライングファンタスティカ」 | Flying Bowl "Flying Fantastica" | UFO | St. 6: E/N | |||
飛鉢「伝説の飛空円盤」 | Flying Bowl "Legendary Flying Saucer" | UFO | St. 6: H/L | |||
「遊行聖」 | "Yugyou Hijiri" | DS | St. 12 | |||
習合「垂迹大日如来」 | Syncretism "Manifestation of Mahavairocana" | DS | St. 12 | |||
「スターソードの護法」 | "Star Sword Apologetics" | DS | St. 12 | |||
天符「三千大千世界の主」 | Heaven Sign "Master of the Great Trichiliocosm" | HM ULiL AoCF |
Use Use Use | |||
天符「大日如来の輝き」 | Heaven Sign "Brilliance of Mahavairocana" | HM ULiL AoCF |
Use Use Use | |||
天符「釈迦牟尼の五行山」 | Heaven Sign "Five-Element Mountain of Shakyamuni" | HM ULiL AoCF |
Use Use Use | |||
「アーンギラサヴェーダ」 | "Angirasa Veda" | HM | Use-LW | |||
杵符「ヴァジュラパーニの呪文」 | Pestle Sign "Vajrapani's Incantation" | HM | Story | |||
超人「ガルーダの翼」 | Superhuman "Garuda's Wings" | HM | Story | |||
「ハリの制縛」 | "Binding Laws of Hari" | ISC | St. 10 | |||
「ブラフマーの瞳」 | "Eyes of Brahma" | ISC GoU |
St. 10 — | |||
*100キロで空を駆けろ!* | *Race Through the Sky at 100 kph!* | ULiL AoCF |
Use-LW Use-LW | |||
超音速「老婆のスプリント」 | Supersonic Speed "Old Lady's Sprint" | ULiL | Story | |||
*ハイウェイターボエアターン* | *Highway Turbo Air Turn* | ULiL | Story | |||
*ターボババァ走死走愛* | *Turbo Granny Rides for Her Life* | ULiL | Story | |||
光符「インドラのヴァジュラ」 | Light Sign "Indra's Vajra" | ULiL | Story (Extra) | |||
超人「大追跡!ブディストライダー」 | Superhuman "Hot Pursuit! Buddhist Rider" | ULiL | Story (Extra) | |||
光撃符「君を導く王道のヴァジュラシュート」 | Light Strike Sign "Vajra Shoot of the Noble Path that Guides You" | Co-owner with Miko | AoCF | Story | ||
撃拳符「スカンダの怪雲拳」 | Strike Fist Sign "Skanda's Strange Cloud Fist" | Co-owner with Ichirin | AoCF | Story | ||
撃光符「スカンダの王道の威光」 | Strike Light Sign "Glory of Skanda's Noble Path" | Co-owner with Miko | AoCF | Story | ||
蹴斬符「ガルーダの聖徳斬」 | Kick Slash Sign "Garuda's Shoutoku Slash" | Co-owner with Miko | AoCF | Story | ||
光仙符「日出ずる国の僧侶と道士」 | Light Hermit Sign "Monk & Taoist of the Land of the Rising Sun" | Co-owner with Miko | AoCF | Story (Overdrive) | ||
光拳符「インドラのヴァジュラ怪雲拳」 | Light Fist Sign "Indra's Vajra Strange Cloud Fist" | Co-owner with Ichirin | AoCF | Story | ||
撃符「スカンダに追われる正夢」 | Strike Sign "Prophetic Dream of Pursuit by Skanda" | Used by Byakuren's Dream World self | AoCF | Story | ||
星神符「十七条の超人」 | Star Divine Sign "Superhuman of Seventeen Articles" | Co-owner with Miko | VD | Nightmare Sunday - 2 | ||
紅星符「超人ブラッディナイフ」 | Scarlet Star Sign "Superhuman Bloody Knife" | Co-owner with Remilia | VD | Nightmare Sunday - 3 | ||
紅星符「超人カタストロフ行脚」 | Scarlet Star Sign "Superhuman Catastrophe Pilgrimage" | Co-owner with Flandre | VD | Nightmare Sunday - 6 |
Additional Information
- Byakuren was one of the candidates for the extra boss of Ten Desires, along with Kasen Ibara.
- Myouren, Byakuren's younger brother, was a real Buddhist priest born in Shinano Province, which is ZUN's hometown, and trained at Chougosonshi Temple (朝護孫子寺) on Mount Shigi (信貴山). He appears in several stories, but the most significant one is Shigisan Engi, which is one of the most popular emakimono. In its third volume, there is an unnamed Buddhist priestess who wants to meet Myouren, who is her younger brother. She is the inspiration for Byakuren. The priestess is looking for Myouren because she is worried about him not coming back, so she stays at Toudaiji, where Myouren had made the vows for priesthood. Daibutsu tells her in a dream that there is a purple cloud over the side of the mountain southwest from where she is. She goes there the next morning, and finally she is able to meet and live together with him.
- Written in ZUN's hand on her final cut-in is 南無三! (Namusan!), which is short for 南無三宝 - roughly, "Hail to the three treasures of Buddhism" (the Buddha, dharma, and the clergy). It's used to request salvation in a moment of danger. Byakuren also uses this term at the very end of her dialogue with the heroine.
- Byakuren appears on the cover of the Undefined Fantastic Object case.
- During her second-to-last (fourth) spell card on Easy, the stars under the health bar show she has two lives left. She does, but only on higher difficulties.
- The same spell card looks like one of Shinki's attack patterns.
- Byakuren's Lotus Butterfly seems to act similar in appearance (and in two or three attack patterns) to YuugenMagan.
- In Undefined Fantastic Object, the player can touch Byakuren and not lose a life, but only during specific times.
- In Oriental Sacred Place chapter 12, Byakuren's hair is lighter on the top and gets darker towards the bottom.
- With Miko's appearance and revealed conflict with Byakuren with their use of Buddhism they show signs of being a reference to Hokuto No Ken where Byakuren is Toki, a peace loving pacifist that wants only to help people and hates violence when it can be avoided, Miko is Raoh in this case.
Fandom
- Similar to how Yukari is called "Yukarin", it has become common to call her 「ひじりん」 or "Hijirin".
- Because of her and Minamitsu Murasa's relationship and character designs, some fans have described them as newer versions of Yumemi Okazaki and Chiyuri Kitashirakawa.
- Because she is a bit more mature-acting, and possibly because she is a Stage 6 boss like Eirin and Kanako (who are often portrayed as much older than the norm for the Touhou girls), some fan artists portray her as being an "old lady", or lumped into the same grouping as such. This is perhaps a bit ironic in Byakuren's case, considering how her profile states that she became a Magician to retain her youth.
- Though in various fanarts, she's shown to have a mix of youthfulness and motherliness (including figure)
- She's often shown as a mother figure to various temple residents and a few others.
- Some fans have suggested that Byakuren's clothes are similar to Rozen Maiden's Suigintou's.
- She is considered something of a saint among some fans, especially when compared to the ruthless and self-centered nature of the heroines, who reject her ideals for peace. Other fans have argued that from the point of view of someone from a world where humans are oppressed, her appeals for human-youkai equality wouldn't make much sense. Others insist that Gensokyo is very close to if not exactly like her dream of a co-existence between humans and Youkai.
- There's the fact that things were just a misunderstanding, and that she ends up building a temple (perhaps with helps from the heroines) afterwards, which is sometimes said to be very popular with humans and Youkai alike.
- Some western Touhou fans compare her to Jesus Christ because she fought for youkai but got sealed away for their sins. Because of this, fans have affectionately dubbed her "Youkai Christ" or "Youkai Jesus".
- Before Byakuren's gradient hair color was confirmed to be natural, it was somewhat up in the air. Most fans depicted it as it appears (purple on the top, fading to brown), but other fans believed her hair is entirely brown, and it was the lighting of the stage or her scroll glowing that made it appear purple.
- Some fans did NOT take her usage of Shinki's attack pattern very well at all, most expecting Mima or Shinki to make an appearance in the Windows games after being practically forgotten about. The sight of Byakuren filling Shinki's attack stroked these fans the wrong way.
- Whether it was from the attack pattern or being in Makai, some fans speculate she has a relationship or acquaintance with Shinki and is shown in artwork, sometimes suggesting that Shinki taught Byakuren some of her attacks.
Official Profiles
Official Sources
- 2009/08/15 Undefined Fantastic Object - Stage 6 dialogue; various stage dialogue; all endings; Settings and Extra Story.txt (official profile)
- 2009/08/15 Touhou Hisoutensoku - Reimu's VS dialogue with Marisa
- 2010/03/14 Double Spoiler - Stage 12 spellcard comments
- 2010/12/25 Oriental Sacred Place - Chapter 12
- 2011/11/25 Ten Desires special and two-part interview with ZUN
- 2012/04/27 Symposium of Post-mysticism - Byakuren Hijiri
- 2013/05/26 Hopeless Masquerade
References
- ↑ Comment on Yamu's blog (NSFW) on 2009/09/24 at 18 o'clock―俺的というか、神主的に髪の毛自体の色って言ってた。(夏コミ直後に話す機会があった時、真っ先に聞いたw)
- ↑ Symposium of Post-mysticism: Part 5
- ↑ Symposium of Post-mysticism: Part 4
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