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Reimu Hakurei

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博麗 (はくれい)  霊夢 (れいむ)
hakɯɽeː ɽeːmɯ (♫)
Reimu Hakurei
Reimu Hakurei
Reimu Hakurei in Double Dealing Character
Shrine Maiden of Paradise
More Character Titles
Species

Human

Abilities

Ability to Float
Aura Manipulation
Powers as the Shrine Maiden of Hakurei

Occupation

Shrine Maiden of Hakurei

Location

Hakurei Shrine

Music Themes
Appearances
Official Games
Print Works
Music CDs
Miscellaneous Works
Other

Reimu Hakurei (博麗 霊夢 Hakurei Reimu) is the main character of the Touhou Project along with Marisa Kirisame. As the shrine maiden of Hakurei, she manages the Hakurei Border of Gensokyo and exterminates troublesome youkai.

General Information

Personality

Her personality is straightforward, optimistic, and a bit curious. She is quick to anger if offended, but just as quick to offer help to those in need. According to Komachi, Reimu has an innocent heart that can't truly hate anyone.[2] While rather lazy in her free time, she is highly devoted to her duties as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, resulting in a "shoot first and ask questions later" attitude to youkai extermination.

It's been stated that Reimu treats everyone the same, whether they're humans, youkai or gods, giving them no particular respect or disrespect. This habit has caused her to inadvertently befriend many youkai she defeats. While she tries to keep youkai away from her shrine, this is because it makes it harder to do her job rather than because she dislikes them. At the end of the symposium in Symposium of Post-mysticism, when Reimu goes to break it up, Miko notes that though Reimu says she wants to eliminate all the youkai, she actually just wants to attain a peace in Gensokyo that doesn't require violence, like the others present wish.

Abilities

Ability to float

While flight is extremely common among inhabitants of Gensokyo, Reimu's ability extends beyond that; she is capable of phasing in & out of existence, or as described in The Grimoire of Marisa, floating away from reality. Reimu can use this power to teleport short distances, but rarely seems to be aware that she is doing so. The ultimate expression of this ability is Fantasy Nature, which renders her completely intangible while active; this ability was considered too powerful for use as a spell card until Marisa gave it a name and time limit.

Aura manipulation

It's stated in the omake.txt (おまけ.txt) of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil that Reimu can control the natural spirits of living things, an ability which is not listed in any source afterwards. No clear instance of this ability has been displayed in canon.

Powers as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden

As the Hakurei shrine maiden, Reimu can handle the Hakurei Yin-Yang Orbs, and is trained in youkai extermination techniques as well as standard duties like performing blessings. Reimu is also capable of invoking Gensokyo's native gods into her body, but she isn't well-trained enough to do so reliably.

Barrier techniques

Reimu displays great aptitude with magical barriers (beyond that normally associated with shrine maidens), presumably related to her work in maintaining the Great Hakurei Barrier. Among her techniques are barriers that explode, push enemies (or herself), or act as portals for her other attacks. Reimu is capable of dismantling barriers and seals too complex for Marisa Kirisame[3] and Patchouli Knowledge[4] to understand, with what Marisa calls her "cheat technique".[5]

Occupation

Reimu is the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, and one of the main "incident solvers" in Gensokyo. She and others characterize the time she spends at the shrine to be largely boring and uneventful. While she is sometimes serious about her duties, she can't seem to get many worshipers at her shrine. It appears that her youkai extermination is her only method of earning even a meager salary. Kanako Yasaka has stated that if she was to acquire a tremendous amount of faith, she could become a goddess, but at the moment she acts more like a youkai.

Possessions

In most of the Touhou games, Reimu uses the Yin-Yang Orbs in combat. In Subterranean Animism they also functioned as communicators with people above the surface. In addition, she usually carries a gohei, sometimes referred to as her purification rod, originally prepared by Rinnosuke Morichika.

She also possesses a great amount of ofuda, sacred paper charms with anti-youkai properties that she uses to fight, seal or exterminate youkai of any kind. Apparently, she can also use them to create barriers and even clones of herself.[6] Like the Yin-Yang Orbs, she uses them in most, if not all, games she has appeared in, either as a normal shot (usually with homing properties) or as bullets for her spellcards.

Machinery

In PC-98 canon, she possesses a robot called Ruukoto, given to her by Yumemi Okazaki as a reward for defeating her. She has not been seen outside of Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream.

Backstory

Not much is known about Reimu's history prior to the events of the games. ZUN does mention in one of his Shanghai Alice Correspondence documents that there was a previous Hakurei Shrine Maiden, and it is generally assumed that there is a line of them.

Character Design

Origin

Reimu Hakurei as a Shrine Maiden in Highly Responsive to Prayers is based on the character Sayo-chan, who is the protagonist of KiKi KaiKai.[7] The Bakebake are also based on this game.

Name

Reimu's full name is Reimu Hakurei (博麗 霊夢). The characters for Reimu's last name Hakurei (博麗) literally mean something along the lines of "esteemed companion". The first word Haku () means "wide" or "exposition" while Rei () means "lovely", "graceful", or "beautiful". Her first name Reimu (霊夢, lit. "spirit/soul dream") is a relevant Japanese word that refers to a "divine revelation made through dreams".

In the PC-98 game era, her name was written with a slight difference. 博麗 was changed to 博麗 from Shuusou Gyoku and onwards. is simply the historical form of , which is identical to the former in terms of meaning. In the Japanese community, 博麗靈夢 is used to refer to Reimu in the PC-98 era specifically. Incidentally, Chinese (Taiwanese) fans who use the traditional Chinese characters also adopt this style to refer to Reimu in general (old Japanese kanji form and traditional hanzi are basically identical).

Design

Reimu is of moderate height. She has brown-black hair which varies in length and style between games (tending towards long and loose in later works), though she always wears a large red ribbon at the back of her head, and red tubes on her sidelocks. She is usually seen in her "miko uniform", but it bears little in common with the standard uniform beyond the red-and-white colour scheme (which ZUN has acknowledged[8]). This uniform consists of a red skirt (rather than the standard hakama), a sleeveless red top with a white collar, tied with a yellow ribbon (a red ribbon in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Perfect Cherry Blossom, a blue one in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Subterranean Animism and Hopeless Masquerade), and a pair of white detached sleeves which expose her armpits and sarashi. Because of the color scheme she is occasionally called the "red-white miko"[9]. Her miko clothing and her purification rod came from Rinnosuke Morichika, but it's unknown who designs them. In chapter 7 of Strange and Bright Nature Deity, she used chopsticks with her left hand, and it was stated that she was left-handed (this statement was deleted in the collected edition), but she held a pen with her right hand in Subterranean Animism. It has been speculated by fans that, assuming this wasn't an art error, she may be ambidextrous or just used to writing with her right hand.

Story

Games

Highly Responsive to Prayers

A lone shrine sits Far East: the Hakurei Shrine. The powerful seal placed there has worn away, and many strange creatures are starting to come out. Now Reimu, seeking revenge (or possibly just to sate her curiosity), and armed with the shrine's treasure, the Yin-Yang Orbs, goes to the gate to face the non-human creatures inside. The gate will lead to either Makai or Hell depending on which route the player chooses.

Story of Eastern Wonderland

Reimu is training intensely in the harsh extremities of a mountain (or taking it easy), but when she returns to the shrine, she finds it infested by youkai, ghosts and other non-human creatures. With her faithful turtle Genjii and her trusty Yin-Yang Orbs, she sets out to find the one who caused the trouble. Her journey leads her to Rika, the culprit, as well as Mima, who has broken the seal placed on her in Highly Responsive to Prayers, and desires the power of the Yin-Yang Orbs for herself. Reimu is victorious in battle and learns the truth behind the Yin-Yang Orbs.

Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream

Things have been peaceful lately so Reimu has time to kill. When some old ruins appear near the shrine, promising a reward for whoever can manage to make it inside, she decides to enter a sort of tournament to decide who will go in. Assuming she is the player character, she defeats all six opponents and makes it inside to confront Chiyuri Kitashirakawa and Yumemi Okazaki, who have come from the real world in search of proof of magic. As a reward for defeating her, Yumemi gives Reimu the housekeeping robot Ruukoto.

Lotus Land Story

Reimu mulls over on how quiet things have been, but soon enough, youkai and spirits start flooding out into Gensokyo again, putting her shrine in danger. She confronts a few, then realizes this must have been the work of something bigger, and decides to go straight to the source of the issue. She makes her way through to the Dream World, where she finally meets Yuuka Kazami and defeats her.

Mystic Square

A large outpour of demons are appearing throughout the land from Makai, and Reimu sets out to exterminate them. She reaches the creator of Makai itself, Shinki, and defeats her in battle. Afterwards, she learns that the youkai and demon overflow in Gensokyo is the fault of some kind of Makai travel agency. Shinki promises to do something about it, but the demons make their way back to the shrine anyway.

Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil

A scarlet mist covers the sky of Gensokyo. Reimu who is annoyed by the mist, sets out to stop the incident. Her travels lead her to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, whose owner, Remilia Scarlet, has spread the mist to try and block out the sun's rays, as she is a vampire. After defeating her, Remilia soon comes to visit her at the shrine, but Reimu has to return to the mansion when an odd rain suddenly appears over it, in order to deal with Flandre Scarlet.

Perfect Cherry Blossom

Even though it is May, spring shows no signs of coming, leaving the inhabitants of Gensokyo in a cold winter weather that only got worse. Reimu, noticing cherry petals blowing from the Netherworld, decides to set out and stop the perpetrator from holding spring hostage. After making her way into the Netherworld, she comes to Hakugyokurou, where the ghost Yuyuko Saigyouji spends her time administrating the spirits of the dead. She was gathering the essence of spring to try and make the Saigyou Ayakashi bloom, but Reimu stops her before she completes it. Later on, Yuyuko asks Reimu to go deal with her friend Yukari Yakumo, as she is the one who has been weakening the boundary between Gensokyo and the Netherworld, and she does so, after fierce combat. Yukari then restores the strength of the boundary.

Immaterial and Missing Power

As Reimu makes preparations for an upcoming feast, both humans and youkai are drawn to the feast and are unable to stop partying. Reimu is suspicious of a strange mist that covers Gensokyo and goes to investigate. She roams around, beating up various characters she suspects to be the culprit. She cannot find them; but on the day of the feast, Suika Ibuki finally makes herself known, and Yukari Yakumo shows Reimu to her. Suika soons becomes attached to hanging out at the Hakurei Shrine.

Imperishable Night

Yukari is not able to sleep and discovers the full moon is nowhere to be found; it has been replaced with a fake moon, and the night appears to have stopped. She convinces Reimu into investigating the cause with her. After dealing with a few youkai, and Marisa Kirisame in particular, who demands to know why they've created this eternal night, they reach Eientei, a house hidden in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Once there, they either confront Eirin Yagokoro or Kaguya Houraisan. Eirin explains that she actually sealed the Earth away from the Moon in order to prevent the Lunarians from taking Kaguya back. Kaguya, however, has tired of hiding, and so challenges Reimu and Yukari to complete her five impossible requests. Once they are defeated, they undo the seal (and thus "return" the real moon to Gensokyo). Afterwards, they all decide to have a moon viewing. Later on, Kaguya sends them into another part of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost as a "test of guts" - but her true intentions are revealed to be trying to annoy Fujiwara no Mokou, another immortal human, and her eternal rival.

Phantasmagoria of Flower View

Reimu, who is usually easy-going, is disturbed by the amount of flowers blooming and, not to be the one who shrugs off her duties, goes on to search for answers. She fights through many opponents, including news reporter Aya Shameimaru, in search of the truth. Eventually she reaches Muenzuka, where the shinigami Komachi Onozuka, who appears to have been slacking off on her job to manage said spirits. Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu appears after Reimu beats Komachi up, and explains what's happening - an awful lot of spirits of the dead suddenly arrived from the Human World, and they're having trouble accomodating all of them. After a lecture, they do battle, and Reimu emerges victorious. The three of them have a flower viewing later on, where it's explained that as the spirits of the dead cross the Sanzu River, the flowers' blooming will settle down.

Mountain of Faith

Reimu's shrine has become a hotspot for youkai, so she doesn't get many human visitors to do patronage. She receives a foreboding threat from a mysterious human visitor, who demands that the Hakurei shrine be shut down and submit to another god. Reimu, always the optimist, decided to go to Youkai Mountain to face the goddess who is making these threats. She fights her way up to the Moriya Shrine and defeats its shrine maiden, Sanae Kochiya, as well as its resident god, Kanako Yasaka, thus saving her own shrine. Afterwards, Reimu summons everyone to the shrine to watch the autumn leaves, where she vouches for Sanae and Kanako and tells Nitori and Aya that they should invite them over for drinks sometime and generally get along. Sanae also tells Reimu that youkai are a good source of faith. A while later, Marisa brings Reimu the rumor that a second god is actually living at the Moriya Shrine, and she goes to check it out. She then meets Suwako Moriya and defeats her.

Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

The Hakurei Shrine is suddenly destroyed by an earthquake, but upon consulting with Marisa, Reimu finds out that no one else felt it, so there must be something odd going on. She goes around to various suspicious characters, including Komachi Onodzuka, who Reimu initially suspects. However, it's not her, so Reimu ends up making her way towards Heaven, where the celestials Iku Nagae and Tenshi Hinanawi reside. Tenshi reveals she started the incident simply because she was bored watching everyone else getting involved in incidents and wanted to start her own. She also claims she destroyed Reimu's shrine so Reimu would be motivated to resolve the incident; Reimu promptly resolves the incident by defeating Tenshi. Afterwards, Tenshi has a legion of celestials help rebuild her shrine.

Subterranean Animism

A geyser appears behind Hakurei Shrine, and at first Reimu is happy, because its heat will alleviate the cold of winter. However, evil spirits begin emerging from the earth and loitering about Gensokyo. Reimu is sent to investigate with either Yukari Yakumo, Suika Ibuki, or Aya Shameimaru, depending on what shot type the player chooses. She communicates them throughout her trip via her Yin-Yang Orbs. She heads straight to the Underworld, and fights her way deeper and deeper until reaching the Palace of the Earth Spirits. There she meets Satori Komeiji, whose two pets apparently have something to do with it. Reimu defeats Rin Kaenbyou, then reaches Utsuho Reiuji, who, with her newfound powers, is maintaining the hellfire that heats the Underground, and is responsible for the geysers that let the evil spirits leak out. She defeats her as well, then returns to the surface. Rin starts frequenting the shrine, though mostly for food, and eventually they make the geyser behind the shrine into a hot spring. Utsuho later explains how she came to possess such power, and it seems to point straight towards Kanako and Suwako, so Reimu sets off for the Youkai Mountain again. When she gets to the shrine, however, she meets Koishi Komeiji, who was apparently also looking for who gave Utsuho those powers. Suwako comes out to meet them after they fight and explains it's all part of their "industrial revolution project".

Touhou Hisoutensoku

A humanoid giant is trampling about Gensokyo. Three residents have a few theories on what that could be. Reimu has a fight with a couple of people, then reads about it later on in the newspaper.

Undefined Fantastic Object

When the treasure ship appears in the skies of Gensokyo, Reimu decides to go after it. She forces her way into it only to discover that there's no treasure inside. However, Minamitsu Murasa tells her they're headed to Makai to revive a "saint" of some sort. She follows them there and meets Byakuren Hijiri, a Buddhist monk that loves youkai and humans equally. That certainly won't do, so Reimu beats her up. She and Byakuren later fly around the skies on the ship, but afterwards the ship is landed and renovated into the Myouren Temple. A little later, she follows up on the strange light that was following her during the journey, and it turns out to be Nue Houjuu, a straggler from Byakuren's group. Reimu defeats her and persuades her to visit the temple.

Ten Desires

A large number of divine spirits appear, threatening the flower viewing, so it's up to Reimu to figure out what's causing it. She visits the Netherworld first; while Yuyuko Saigyouji isn't the culprit, she points the shrine maiden towards the Myouren Temple. After forcing her way to the graveyard, she discovers the spirits all flocking to the Hall of Dreams' Great Mausoleum. Once inside, she defeats the newly resurrected Mononobe no Futo and Toyosatomimi no Miko in battle.

Literature

Curiosities of Lotus Asia
Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

Shortly after the events of Perfect Cherry Blossom, Aya Shameimaru attends a flower viewing at the Hakurei Shrine, where she meets Reimu, who is in a foul mood because no one wants to help her clean up after event. Aya plies her with sake and questions her about the incident, commenting in the article that "Reimu just seems to be a laid-back drunkard". In the follow-up interview, Reimu claims Aya's paper is full of lies and insists her account of the incident is true, though Aya still doesn't recognize Reimu's deeds.

Silent Sinner in Blue
Eastern and Little Nature Deity, Strange and Bright Nature Deity, and Oriental Sacred Place
Symposium of Post-mysticism
Wild and Horned Hermit
Forbidden Scrollery

Relationships

Although Reimu often shows up as the main character, she doesn't participate in mundane activities to the extent Marisa Kirisame does, limiting her familiarity with most of Gensokyo's population. Nevertheless, she has interacted with almost every other character that has ever made a physical appearance, with a few exceptions such as the Giant Catfish, Renko Usami, and Maribel Hearn.

Marisa Kirisame

Reimu's best friend is likely Marisa Kirisame, who spends a lot of her time at the shrine. They are there together the majority of the time in various print works, prologues, and extra stage prologues, hanging out together and discussing or attending the latest events in Gensokyo. Reimu has known Marisa since Story of Eastern Wonderland, where Mima had Marisa fight Reimu. Their friendship may have started soon after that, as in all of the bad endings, Marisa decides she needs to train more, and drags Reimu along to train with her, much to Reimu's chagrin.

Yukari Yakumo

Despite her antagonistic personality, Yukari Yakumo mentors Reimu by pushing her to increase her spiritual powers, such as learning how to invoke the gods in Silent Sinner in Blue. She also occasionally seeks Reimu's assistance in resolving incidents in Imperishable Night and Subterranean Animism.

Rinnosuke Morichika

Reimu is familiar with Rinnosuke Morichika, a shopkeeper who owns Kourindou, who she sometimes visits to hang out or for wares (and sometimes shoplifts). She apparently has a large unpaid tab for requested items and services, but denies it since Rinnosuke "never accepts money" (which he denies being the case). Rinnosuke was also the one that originally prepared her purification rod for her use.

Sanae Kochiya

Despite being the priestess of a rival shrine, Sanae Kochiya is on friendly terms with Reimu and appears frequently in Wild and Horned Hermit alongside Reimu and Marisa. She came on a bit strongly when she and Reimu first met, but she really thought she was helping the Hakurei Shrine out by attempting to get it to switch gods to Kanako Yasaka. After Mountain of Faith, Sanae offered to help Reimu as a fellow miko to gather faith for the shrine, and appears to have been friends with Reimu since then.

Genjii

In the PC-98 canon, Reimu used a turtle as a means for flight until the end of Mystic Square; that turtle was Genjii. Reimu calls him "gramps".

Three Fairies of Light

Reimu is often the target of pranks by the Three Fairies of Light, and Reimu tends to exterminate them on sight whenever she catches them (unless Marisa is escorting them). As of Oriental Sacred Place, the three fairies moved into a tree near the Hakurei Shrine and become Reimu's neighbors, increasing the amount of pranks even more. Reimu aims to evict the fairies, but cannot find their treehouse, which is actually located on the Hakurei Border. Eventually, in an attempt to befriend Reimu so she'll no longer threaten them, the three fairies challenge her to a battle, reasoning that Reimu tends to befriend many youkai after fighting them. After an intense battle, Reimu finally defeats the fairies (instantly), and points out that their line of reasoning is utterly ridiculous. Despite this, Marisa finds that Reimu befriended the fairies after all, and as of the end of Oriental Sacred Place, the fairies now happily openly spend time at the shrine while helping Reimu out with various chores.

Byakuren Hijiri

Reimu views Byakuren Hijiri and the Myouren Temple as a rival of sorts to herself and the Hakurei Shrine. In Ten Desires, Toyosatomimi no Miko points out that Reimu is friendly towards Byakuren. Although Reimu says they're religious rivals, she does not seem to deny it. In one of her Undefined Fantastic Object endings, Reimu is depressed at how quickly Byakuren's temple is picking up followers compared to her own shrine. By the time of Strange and Bright Nature Deity, Reimu is angry at the temple for stealing away her shrine's followers (ignoring that her shrine never had (m)any followers in the first place), but Byakuren seems unaware of this.

Kasen Ibaraki

Kasen Ibaraki is a regular at the shrine and acts as a mentor (and sometimes guardian) of Reimu, whom she fears is too concerned with worldly desires.

Unnamed kitsune & Unnamed kuda-gitsune

In Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 8, The Unnamed kitsune offered to help Reimu gain worshipers after being caught disguised as Marisa during a party at Hakurei Shrine. She was, however, deceiving Reimu by letting her use the powers of her kuda-gitsune. Using her ability, they gathered worshipers. Kasen Ibaraki discovered that these fox youkai had been consuming Reimu's willpower and wealth as payment for their help. However, they managed to walk away from the Hakurei Shrine with all her wealth.

Minor Relationships

The Hakurei God

Reimu knows next to nothing about the god dwelling in her shrine, making her unable to provide it with faith despite her efforts. Byakuren stated in one of the endings for Undefined Fantastic Object that the god is mad because of this.

Ruukoto

In the PC-98 canon, she obtains a robotic maid named Ruukoto as a servant at the end of Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream though no reference has been made to it since.

Mima

In the PC-98 canon, Mima is an Akuryou who haunts the surroundings of the Hakurei Shrine, after many confrontations and being resealed by Reimu, she decides to spend her days making fun of the miko.

Suika Ibuki

Suika Ibuki, who often freeloads her shrine after the events of Immaterial and Missing Power is also is her ally during Subterranean Animism. Reimu saw Suika's presence as a nuisance at first, but never really bothered with driving her away.

Aya Shameimaru

Aya Shameimaru, the tengu reporter was also her ally during the events of Subterranean Animism.

VIVIT
Note: This section is part of the Seihou Project by the Doujin circle "Shunsatsu sare do?".

VIVIT first met Reimu Hakurei at the Hakurei Shrine in Gensokyo during the Extra stage of Shuusou Gyoku, where Reimu attacked her before she could explain what she was doing. After Reimu lost, VIVIT told her that she was looking for the Holy Grail, causing Reimu to become confused and start asking questions.

Gallery

Spell Cards

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 81+1
霊符「夢想封印」 Spirit Sign "Dream Seal" Alternatively translated as: Spirit Sign "Fantasy Seal"
Related: Divine Spirit
"Dream Seal"
EoSD
PoFV
UFO
TD
HM
DDC
ULiL
LoLK
AoCF
WBaWC
Use
Use
Use
Use
Use
Use
Use
Use
Use
Use
夢符「封魔陣」 Dream Sign "Evil-Sealing Circle" Related: Divine Arts
"Omnidirectional Demon-Binding Circle"
Divine Arts
"Omnidirectional Dragon-Slaying Circle"
EoSD
PCB
IN
IaMP
Soku
GoM
Use
Use
St. 4A: E/N
Use
Use
霊符「夢想封印 散」 Spirit Sign "Dream Seal -Spread-" Related: Scattered Spirit
"Dream Seal -Worn-"
PCB
IN
Use
St. 4A: E/N
霊符「夢想封印 集」 Spirit Sign
"Dream Seal -Concentrate-"
Related: Migrating
Spirit "Dream Seal -Marred-"
PCB
IN
Use
St. 4A: E/N
夢符「二重結界」 Dream Sign "Duplex Barrier" Related: Dream Land
"Great Duplex Barrier"
PCB
IN
GoM
Use
St. 4A: E/N
霊符「夢想妙珠」 Spirit Sign "Dream Orb" Related: Divine Spirit
"Dream Seal"
IaMP
IN
SWR
Use
Use
Use
神霊「夢想封印」 Divine Spirit "Dream Seal" IaMP
SWR
GoM
Use
Use
神技「八方鬼縛陣」 Divine Arts
"Omnidirectional Oni-Binding Circle"
IaMP
IN
SWR
GoM
Use
St. 4A: H/L
Use
宝符「陰陽宝玉」 Treasure Sign "Yin-Yang Treasured Orb" Related: Holy Relic
"Yin-Yang Kishin Orb"
IaMP
SWR
Use
Use
宝具「陰陽鬼神玉」 Holy Relic "Yin-Yang Kishin Orb" IaMP
SWR
GoM
Use
Use
符の壱「夢想妙珠連」 Sign I "Dream Orb String" IaMP Story
符の弐「陰陽散華」 Sign II "Yin-Yang Scattering" IaMP Story
符の参「魔浄閃結」 Sign III "Exorcising Border" IaMP Story
力符「陰陽玉将」 Power Sign "Yin-Yang King Piece" IaMP Story
夢戦「幻想之月」 Dream Battle "Illusionary Moon" IaMP Story
無題「空を飛ぶ不思議な巫女」 Untitled "Flying Mysterious Shrine Maiden" IaMP
GoM
Story
神霊「夢想封印 瞬」 Divine Spirit "Dream Seal -Blink-" IN
IN
Soku
GoM
Use
St. 4A: N/H/L
Story
夢境「二重大結界」 Dream Land "Great Duplex Barrier" IN
SWR
St. 4A: H/L
Story
散霊「夢想封印 寂」 Scattered Spirit "Dream Seal -Worn-" IN St. 4A: H/L
神技「八方龍殺陣」 Divine Arts
"Omnidirectional Dragon-Slaying Circle"
IN
HM
ULiL
AoCF
St. 4A: L
Use
Use
Use
回霊「夢想封印 侘」 Migrating Spirit "Dream Seal -Marred-" IN St. 4A: H/L
境界「二重弾幕結界」 Boundary "Duplex Danmaku Barrier" Related: Great Barrier
"Hakurei Danmaku Barrier"
IN
GoM
St. 4A: E/N
大結界「博麗弾幕結界」 Great Barrier "Hakurei Danmaku Barrier" IN St. 4A: H/L
「夢想天生」 "Innate Dream" IN
SWR
GoM
HM
LW
Use

Use-LW
霊符「陰陽印」 Spirit Sign "Yin-Yang Sign" PoFV Use
夢符「幻想一重」 Dream Sign "Fine Line Fantasy" Not from a game, but
contributed by ZUN to the
doujin card collection
"Touhou Last Word Collection" in 2004.
Touhou Last Word Collection
霊符「博麗幻影」 Spirit Sign "Hakurei Illusion" PoFV Use
珠符「明珠暗投」 Jewel Sign "Orbs of Light, Cast into Shade" SWR Use
神技「天覇風神脚」 Divine Arts "Sky-Conquering Wind God Kick" Throwback to Highly Responsive to Prayers SWR Use
祈願「厄除け祈願」 Prayer "Disaster-Dispelling Prayer" SWR Story
宝符「踊る陰陽玉」 Treasure Sign "Dancing Yin-Yang Orbs" SWR Story
光霊「神霊宝珠」 Light Spirit "Divine Spirit Orbs" SWR Story
「境界の内側に潜む霊と不思議な巫女」 "Lurking Boundary Spirits
and the Mysterious Shrine Maiden"
SWR Story
夢符「退魔符乱舞」 Dream Sign "Wild Exorcism Dance" Dream Sign inferred from Persuasion
Needle/Evil-Sealing Circle
UFO Use
結界「拡散結界」 Barrier "Expanding Barrier" Soku Use
御守「妖怪足止め守り」 Amulet "Youkai Repelling Charm" Soku Story
霊符「夢想封印 円」 Spirit Sign "Dream Seal -Circle-" Soku Story
「最も凶悪なびっくり巫女玉」 "Most Evil Surprise Miko Orbs" Soku Story
お札「新聞拡張団調伏」 Talisman "Exorcism of the Newspaper
Subscription Solicitors"
Only Spell Card
with a character's portrait.
DS St. Ex
結界「パパラッチ撃退結界」 Barrier "Paparazzi-Repelling Barrier" DS St. Ex
夢符「夢想亜空穴」 Dream Sign "Dream Dimensional Rift" DS St. Ex
宝具「陰陽飛鳥井」 Treasure "Yin-Yang Asuka'i" HM
ULiL
AoCF
Use
Use
Use
御札「神社繁盛祈願札」 Charm "Shrine Prosperity Prayer Talismans" HM Story
御札「夢幻の高速祈願札」 Charm "Fantastic High-Speed
Prayer Talismans"
HM Story
御札「対妖怪方位除」 Charm "Anti-Youkai Houi-Yoke Prayer" HM Story
「信仰心増大祈願の儀」 "Faith-Augmentation Prayer Ceremony" Co-owner with Miko HM Story
「二大宗教九字護身法」 "Main Two Religions'
Nine-Syllable Self-Defense"
Co-owner with Byakuren HM Story
「面霊気大調伏」 "Great Menreiki Expulsion" Co-owner with Miko
and Byakuren
HM Story
「最後のトリニティリリージョン」 "Trinity Religion Finale" Co-owner with Miko
and Byakuren
HM Story
妖器「無慈悲なお祓い棒」 Bewitched Weapon
"Merciless Purification Rod"
DDC Use
神籤「反則結界」
「反則結界」
Mikuji "Rule Violation Barrier"
"Rule Violation Barrier"
ISC
GR
GoU
St. 8
"St. Ex"
「パスウェイジョンニードル」 "Persuasion Needle" ISC St. 8
「天国にいちばん近いお賽銭」 "The Donation Closest to Heaven" GR "St. Ex"
「だんまく長者」 "Danmaku Millionaire" GR "St. Ex"
*あんな隙間に巫女がいるなんて!* *To Think There'd be
a Shrine Maiden in That Gap!*
ULiL
AoCF
Use-LW
Use-LW
結界「至る所の青山」 Barrier "The Home Where One Lays to Rest" Related: Yukari Yakumo's Home
is Where One Lays One's Head (SWR)
ULiL Story
針符「月卿を封じる針」 Needle Sign "Needles to Seal the Lunar Nobles" ULiL Story (Extra)
結界「乱暴な世界の裂け目」 Barrier "Seams of the Tumultuous World" ULiL Story (Extra)
結界「幻想バウンダリークラック」 Barrier "Fantasy Boundary Crack" ULiL Story (Extra)
霊鷹符「鷹による夢想封印ハンティング」 Spirit Hawk Sign "Dream
Seal Hunting Done by a Hawk"
Co-owner with Kasen AoCF Story
風霊符「磐舟かわらけ封印」 Wind Spirit Sign "Iwafune Kawarake Seal" Co-owner with Futo AoCF Story
星霊符「スプリンクルスター封印」 Star Spirit Sign "Sprinkle Star Seal" Co-owner with Marisa AoCF Story
針星符「月卿を封じる針スパーク」 Needle Spark Sign "Needle Spark to Seal the Lunar Nobles" Co-owner with Marisa AoCF Story
「この何度目かの命、夢想封印されるまで」 "Until This Life, Repeated
Countless Times, Gets Dream-Sealed Away"
Co-owner with Mokou AoCF Story
雷霊符「務光の雷弾夢想封印」 Thunder Spirit Sign "Mukou's
Thunder Shot Dream Seal"
Co-owner with Kasen AoCF Story
龍蹴符「ドラゴンズ飛鳥井キック」 Dragon Kick Sign "Dragon's Asuka'i Kick" Co-owner with Kasen AoCF Story
霊符「夢想封印 夢限」 Spirit Sign "Dream Seal -Dreamfinite-" Used by Reimu's
Dream World self
AoCF Story
「完全憑依と夢想封印」 "Perfect Possession and Dream Seal" Co-owner with Yukari AoCF Story
憑坐 (マスター) 神霊 (スレイブ) の境界」 "Boundary of Spirit Medium (Master) and Divine Spirit (Slave) " Co-owner with Yukari AoCF Story
「最強最良の異変解決巫女」 "The Most Powerful and Fortuitous
Shrine Maiden of Incident Resolution"
AoCF Use-Story Final
霊符「夢想桜花封印」 Spirit Sign "Dream Cherry Blossom Seal" Related: Spirit Sign
"Dream Seal"
HSiFS Use
「盗撮者調伏マスタースパーク」 "Sneak-Photographer's Exorcism Master Spark" Co-owner with Marisa VD Nightmare Saturday
- 2
「背後からの盗撮者調伏」 "Sneak-Photographer's Exorcism From the Back" Co-owner with Okina VD Nightmare Saturday
- 3
「許可無く弾幕は撮影禁止です」 "Unauthorized Danmaku Photography
is Strictly Prohibited"
Co-owner with Yukari VD
GoU
Nightmare Saturday
- 6
霊符「理由無き無差別調伏」 Spirit Sign "Indiscriminate
Exorcism Without Reason"
SFW Story
霊符「理由無き陰陽玉乱舞」 Spirit Sign "Wild Yin-Yang
Dance Without Reason"
SFW Story
霊符「至極不条理な無差別調伏」 Spirit Sign "Extraordinarily Absurd
Indiscriminate Exorcism"
SFW Story
石油「汚染された陰陽玉乱舞」 Petroleum "Polluted Wild Yin-Yang Dance" SFW Story
血呪「無差別呪殺調伏」 Blood Curse "Indiscriminate
Curse-Killing Exorcism"
SFW Story
血呪「血まみれた陰陽玉乱舞」 Blood Curse "Bloodstained Wild Yin-Yang Dance" SFW Story
「旧血の池地獄に暴力の蓋」 "A Lid of Violence Atop the
Former Hell of Blood Pools"
SFW Story
「満員御礼 弾貨大入り袋」 "Full House Amulets: Bullet Money Bonus Packets" 100BM 4th Market

Additional Information

  • Reimu seems to be scared before and after the boss battle with the Five Magic Stones, making this the only ever time that Reimu was scared and/or afraid of a boss before and after the battle.
  • Reimu is known for exterminating youkai indiscriminately, regardless of how much of a threat they represent to her or others. The most notable example of this was Tokiko, who was ambushed by Reimu while she was, in Reimu's own words, "reading and minding her own business".
  • Most of her theme from Lotus Land Story sounds similar to Elis and Kikuri's theme from Highly Responsive to Prayers, "Magic Mirror".
  • It is originally stated that she lives alone at the shrine, but other rarely seen characters (Mima and SinGyoku) are known to stay there or near there as well. Even then, she claims that most youkai visitors are nuisances, and she'd prefer to be left alone. Marisa Kirisame seems to be one of the few who she wouldn't drive away.
  • In Imperishable Night, Reimu is the only one whose partner doesn't mention the danger of the full moon.
  • Reimu's ultimate technique Fantasy Nature (夢想天生 musou tensei, "innate fantasy gained at birth") is homophonous with the ultimate technique of the Hokuto Shinken school in Fist of the North Star, Musou Tensei (無想転生 musou tensei, "nil-thought rebirth"), and has much the same effect.
    • In Touhou Hisoutensoku, if you activate Fantasy Nature successfully in a 3rd round, a remix of "Eastern Mystical Love Consultation" will play which resembles Ai wo Torimodose, the opening theme of the Fist of the North Star anime (an instrumental version of which usually plays whenever Kenshiro is about to win a fight).
  • In Touhou Hisoutensoku, one of her alternative palettes looks similar to VIVIT, the heroine of the Seihou Project. Also, one of her palettes seems to be another maid homage, Ruukoto, or possibly Sanae Kochiya's colours. The palette also seems to resemble Mima from Highly Responsive to Prayers. Her white/light gray palette seems to resemble Toki from Hokuto no Ken and possibly somewhat similar to her white outfit from the fangame Concealed the Conclusion.
  • When playing Yukari's story mode in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Reimu breaks down in tears in the ending after Yukari defeats Tenshi and reduces the Hakurei Shrine to rubble for the second time, with Sakuya and Youmu looking on helplessly (although Suika offers to help rebuild it). This marks the first and only time where she is seen crying in a storyline scenario.
  • The shrine maiden at the end of Dolls in Pseudo Paradise is probably Reimu. She has Reimu's title, "Shrine Maiden of Paradise" (and her personality), and according to Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red's Music Column, the shrine maiden in the song that accompanies the ending section is Reimu (so basically, this shrine maiden has Reimu's song and title). However, only the shrine maiden at the end is referred to as the shrine maiden of paradise. Thus it is possible that the shrine maiden seen in the first half of the story is a different person altogether.
  • A "13th Shrine Maiden" signs off the Gensokyo Record in Perfect Cherry Blossom's prologue. ZUN has stated in an e-mail that the Gensokyo Record is unreliable (for one thing, the writing style of each section shows it was written by a different person each time), thus "there is a high possibility that Reimu is not the 13th Hakurei shrine maiden." (technically, this also means there is no proof that the person who wrote that section of the record is a shrine maiden at all).
  • It is shown in Oriental Sacred Place that the shrine sometimes gets various donations (including wine) from unknown sources (implied to be from the outside world, as the Hakurei Shrine lies on the border) and Yukari is shown in Oriental Sacred Place to sneak yen donations into the offering box when Reimu isn't looking.
  • Although Reimu has successfully resolved the incidents in each major Touhou game, it's possible that her win rate throughout the actual events of the games was not 100%. Perfect Memento in Strict Sense states that Reimu likes to request rematches until she finally wins. In essence, Reimu apparently has had to use a few continues every once in a while, but she still manages to get a good ending.

Fandom

Reimu turns out to be a widely popular character among the fanbase. She is usually chosen as the playable character on a lot of fangames, or at least appears on a high number of fangames. Unlike most characters, Reimu has been compared to a lot of characters, especially some of the cast from the Seihou Project. Although Reimu is known to be the same character as her PC-98 form, some fans still depict both versions as different people, sometimes even been next to each other.

Reimu in most fangames is often a middling character better used for healing/buffing than offense. Perhaps this is done in protest to her "overpowered heroine" status in the canon.

Destitute

In Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, it has been said that pretty much nobody goes to the shrine. Thus, it has been a common interpretation that she gets 0 donations. Due to this, she is called 貧乏巫女 (Binbou miko, lit. "destitute shrine maiden"). As a side effect, she is also frequently portrayed by fans as being greedy or obsessed with getting money.

Armpits as a necessity

Because of how she dresses in the Windows Touhou games, her exposed armpits are sometimes a target for jokes and memes. Due to this, she is commonly called "waki miko" (腋巫女, lit. "armpit miko"). Upon hiding her armpits, anyone would notice at once, and before her back, chest, or feet, her armpits are always the first thing appealed to.

Heretic

Other than the idea that "money is dirty" related to the "destitute" meme, in canon her personality is comparatively severe (in youkai extermination, she has no mercy), so she is sometimes called "Yakuza miko". Furthermore, upon facing off with Watatsuki no Toyohime in Silent Sinner in Blue, she used the words, "if one doesn't shoot down and slay without one remaining, if there is impurity on the moon, then danmaku shall be scattered," said to be a little severe and without mercy, so she occasionally does not spare using unfair measures.

Zombie Reimu

The drastic change in the color of Reimu's skin tone over the course of the Windows games (most noticeable in Mountain of Faith, in which her skin appears yellowish and almost jaundiced) raised eyebrows and led to a number of jokes and dubious theories, the most common of which is that she is actually an undead zombie.

Miscellaneous
  • Taoreimu, Dareimu, etc.: a defeated Reimu is sometimes called "Taoreimu" (from 倒れる), a hit Reimu is sometimes called "Dareimu" (from ), and an angry Reimu is sometimes called "Buchigireimu (from ぶち切れる), thus giving her shiritori-like names.
  • Concerning the god enshrined at the shrine: Rinnosuke knows who the god enshrined at the shrine is. However, since Reimu is completely uninterested in whatever god is enshrined, he did not say at all. Because of this, it has been fanon to interpret this to mean that the enshrined god is Mima, Gensokyo itself, etc.
  • Oni Miko: When she shows her true strength, she becomes "Oni Miko" (鬼巫女).
  • Flight on Genji: Although Reimu is able to fly independently, she is still shown in a number of fanworks to still be sitting on Genjii, presumably either to be a show off or to have "extra power". The most notable fanwork to feature this is Touhou Soccer Moushuuden.
  • JoJo association: In the trend of JoJo associations, it appears Reimu is paired with Josuke Higashikata, the reason here being that Josuke's name has the characters for Touhou in it (東方仗助 for Josuke, 東方 for Touhou) although, personality-wise, he could be more similar to Marisa.
  • Silent Reimu: Sora No Amagumo has made a comic series most centered around Reimu with a few major changes: She's a silent, kind, adorable girl, a contrast from the more common surly Reimus out there. This rendition is pretty popular on both sides of the fandom.

Official Profiles

Reimu Hakurei   ★ 主人公 ・・・ 博麗 靈夢

     博麗神社の巫女、生まれ付き霊力はあるが修業不足。武器は最強の
    陰陽玉だが、思うように操れずよく振り回される。
    それでも霊力があるので、かなりの腕前。
    お札による攻撃と、霊力の放出による‘霊撃’、体術。など今回の敵
    に対して無効だったので、ちょっと困りもん。
     現在、この神社は彼女一人でもっている。
Heroine, Reimu Hakurei

Shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, She has some spirit-power by nature, but lacks training. Her weapon is the mighty Yin-Yang orb, but her control is somewhat unstable.
But anyway, with her spirit-power, she got quite some skills.
Her usual attacks -namely amulet-attacks, spirit-power discharging (霊撃 -Spirit strike-), melee skills- are useless to current enemies. She's in some trouble.
Currently, she is the only person in the shrine.

Reimu Hakurei   ★ 主人公 ・・・ 博麗 靈夢

     博麗神社の巫女、生まれ付き霊力はあるが修業不足。お札による攻撃と、霊力の放出による‘霊撃’。それに、‘陰陽玉’の力で妖怪を退治している。

     性格は楽天家で、今回の様な非常時でも全然心配などしておらず、自分の霊力で何とかなると思っている。

     今回は、(なぜか)亀に乗ってたたかう。

Heroine
Reimu Hakurei

A shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine, who possesses natural-born spiritual power but lacks training. She exterminates youkai by attacking with amulets, firing her spiritual power called Spiritual Attack and releasing the power of Yin-yang Orb.
She is such an optimist that she doesn't worry at all even in this emergency, and believes she can solve all incidents with her power.

This time, she (somehow) fights riding on the turtle.

Reimu HakureiAlternate outfit   ★ 夢と伝統を保守する巫女 ・・・ 博麗 靈夢

    博麗神社の巫女、生まれ付き霊力はあるが修業不足。お札による攻撃と、霊力の放出による‘霊撃’。それに、‘陰陽玉’の力で妖怪を退治している。

    性格は楽天家である。靈夢の周りでは変なことが色々起こるが、本人はそれを楽しんでいる。
    例によって、(なぜか)亀に乗ってたたかう。

    今回もいかがわしいと思いつつ、ついわくわくしてしまう。

Shrine Maiden who Protects Dream and Tradition
Reimu Hakurei

A shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine, who has the natural-born spiritual power and lacks training. She exterminates youkai by attacking with amulets, firing her spiritual power called Spiritual Attack and releasing the power of Yin-yang Orb.
She's an optimist. She faces some strange incidents, but still she enjoys them.
As usual, she (somehow) fights riding on the turtle.

This time, she feels somewhat suspicious, yet she's excited about the incident.

Lotus Land Story - 幻想郷.TXT
Reimu Hakurei   ★ 夢と伝統を保守する巫女 ・・・ 博麗 靈夢

    博麗神社の巫女、生まれ付き霊力はあるが修業不足。お札による攻撃と、霊力の放出による‘霊撃’。それに、‘陰陽玉’の力で妖怪を退治している。
    性格は楽天家である。靈夢の周りでは変なことが色々起こるが、本人はそれを楽しんでいる。
    ちょっと感情的で単純なので、よく魔理沙におちょくられている。

Shrine Maiden who Protects Dream and Tradition
Reimu Hakurei

The shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine, who possesses natural-born spiritual power but lacks training. She exterminates youkai by attacking them with amulets, firing her spiritual power in a Spiritual Attack and releasing the power of the Yin-yang Orb.
She's an optimist. She faces some strange incidents, but still she enjoys them.
Due to her slightly emotional and simple character, she's always made fun of by Marisa.

Mystic Square - 怪綺談.TXT
Reimu Hakurei       博麗 靈夢(はくれいれいむ)  ・・ 巫女さん

    博麗神社の巫女、生まれ付き霊力はあるが修業不足。お札による攻撃と、霊力の放出による‘霊撃’。それに、‘陰陽玉’の力で妖怪を退治している。

    性格は楽天家である。靈夢の周りでは変なことが色々起こるが、本人はそれを楽しんでいる。
    ちょっと感情的で単純なので、よく魔理沙におちょくられている。

Shrine Maiden
Reimu Hakurei

A shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine, who possesses natural-born spiritual power but lacks training. She exterminates youkai by attacking them with amulets, firing her spiritual power in a Spiritual Attack and releasing the power of the Yin-yang Orb.
She's an optimist. She faces some strange incidents, but still she enjoys them.
Because of her slightly emotional and simple character, she's often made fun of by Marisa.

Shuusou Gyoku - 創曲幻想.txt
Reimu Hakurei  ・永遠の巫女  博麗 霊夢(ハクレイ レイム)


  博麗神社の巫女さん。才能はあるが修行不足。もともと修行は好きでない。強力な霊力でいままで幾多の魔法使い、悪霊、妖怪、そして神と闘ってきたらしい(理由、なんとなく)
いつも何か変な事に巻き込まれてしまうが、その半分は陰で魔理沙が引き起こしているらしい。霊夢は気づかないふりをしている。そんな魔理沙をしょうがない奴と考えている。

Eternal Shrine Maiden
Reimu Hakurei

The shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine. Talented, but lacks training. Basically, she doesn't like to train. They say she has fought plenty of magicians, evil spirits, youkai and even gods with her strong spiritual power (for no particular reason).
She's always involved in some strange affairs, though she seems to be dragged into most of them due to Marisa. Reimu pretends not to notice this. She sees Marisa as essentially a hopeless case.

Reimu Hakurei  ○永遠の巫女 博麗 霊夢(ハクレイレイム)

  博麗神社の巫女さんで主人公。のんびりしてるようで、実にのんびりしてる。
  人がほとんどこなくなった神社に住んでいて、本人は世間離れしすぎている。
  本人は降りかかる火の粉を払っているだけなのだが、結果としてそれは、幻想郷の住人が人里に行かないように、また人間が幻想郷に迷い込まないように、という役目になっているらしい。

  武器は御札と陰陽玉。あとは、空を飛ぶ程度の能力を持つ。

Eternal Shrine Maiden

Reimu Hakurei
Shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, and protagonist of the Touhou series. She appears quite carefree on the outside, and indeed deep down, she really is carefree. She lives in her shrine and is rarely visited by anyone, which causes her to be out of touch with current social norms. Even though she only extinguished certain sparks of conflict because they seemed to befall her without warning, her actions have generally resulted in preventing the residents of Gensokyo from visiting human settlements, and keeping outsiders away from wandering into Gensokyo.

Charms and the yin-yang orb are her weapons. Additionally, she has the ability to fly in the air.

Reimu Hakurei  ○永遠の巫女
  博麗 霊夢(はくれい・れいむ)

  能力:空を飛ぶ程度の能力、霊気を操る程度の能力


  主人公です。

  時間的な流れでは前作から大して経ってなく、年齢も変化ありません。

  意味も無く巫女さんです。というか東方は巫女さんSTGなんで巫女さ
  んです。本末転倒気味。
  今回の衣装は巫女さんらしいゴテゴテ感もなく、非常にシンプルな上に
  巫女さんっぽくないです。本当に巫女さんなんでしょうか?

  まさに「そこの紅白」って感じです。
Eternal Shrine Maiden

Reimu Hakurei

Abilities: Flying in the air, manipulating auras

The protagonist.

Chronologically, this title is not too far from the previous title, thus her age stays the same as before.

Unintentionally, she is a shrine maiden. Or rather, she is a shrine maiden only because the Touhou series has become the "Shrine Maiden Shooting Game" series. It feels like the cart has been placed before the horse to me.

This time, her outfit is not overly intricate like typical shrine maiden clothing, but has become quite simple and only remotely resembles that of a shrine maiden. Is she really a shrine maiden?

She's more like "You, red-white!" in my opinion.

Reimu Hakurei PCB  ○楽園の素敵な巫女 博麗 霊夢(はくれいれいむ)

  博麗神社の巫女さんで主人公。頭が普通そうだが、実は春満開。
  神社は常に妖怪が跋扈していて、霊夢も妖怪達に馴染まれている。
  割と巫女としての機能を持ち合わせていない。
  修行嫌いでもちろん修行不足のため、そこそこの腕前である。
  全ての物事に対し、一生懸命取り組むことを嫌う。
  努力が報われることなど信じていないからである。
  その為、博麗神社のおみくじには末吉はない。

  武器は御札と陰陽玉。あとは、空を飛ぶ程度の能力を持つ。

   当たり判定が小さく、低速移動も非常
   に精度が良い。
   霊符の「博麗アミュレット」は使い勝手
   が良い。弾避けに専念するための武器。
   一方、夢符の「エクスターミネイション」
   は最高クラスの破壊力を持つ。
   ボスを瞬殺出来るが、ボムの無敵時間
   は全キャラ中最短。攻撃範囲も威力も
   無い。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise, Reimu Hakurei

Hakurei Shrine's shrine maiden, and the protagonist. Her mind might appear normal, but in fact it is full of spring thoughts.
The shrine is always haunted by youkai, and they are very friendly to Reimu as well.
She is hardly performing the role of a shrine maiden at this point.
She hates training, and because of this, lacks ability. So her skill is quite so-so.
She hates to do her very best at anything that falls upon her.
That is because she does not believe that effort will be rewarded.
Because of that, the Hakurei Shrine's paper fortune doesn't have "末吉(Least luck)"
[Typically, a shrine's paper fortune has 大吉 (Best luck) / 中吉 (Medium luck) / 小吉 (Little luck) / 末吉 (Least luck) / 凶 (Misfortune) / 大凶 (Worst misfortune). 末吉 is usually interpreted as "You will get exactly as your effort"]

Charms and the yin-yang orb are her weapons. Additionally, she has the ability to fly in the air.

She has a smaller hit box, and her focused movement allows player to dodge very precisely.
Spirit Sign's "Hakurei Amulet" is quite easy to use. It allows you to focus on dodging bullets.
On the other hand, Dream Sign's "Extermination" wields destructive power of the highest class.
Bosses are killed quickly, but the invincibility duration of her bombs is the shortest of all characters. It is also lacking in both effective radius and damage.
Perfect Cherry Blossom - キャラ設定.txt
Reimu Hakurei PCB  ○楽園の素敵な巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれいれいむ)

  主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力を持つ。

  基本的に巫女さん。幻想郷の境にある博麗神社の巫女さん。博麗神社自体は、幻想郷と人間界の両方に位置する。
          ・・
  その境が博麗神社境内である。どちらからみても、人里離れた山奥に存在し、大きさもさほど無いし、御利益もゆかりも何も無い小さな神社なので、どのみち参拝客は殆ど来ない。
  この神社の中では、殆どの結界は無効化される。それだけ、幻想郷と人間界の境、博麗大結界の力は大きいのである。

  幻想郷で唯一、博麗の者だけが規律を持つ。その為、霊夢は一応制服のような物を着用している(他にも規律はあるはずなのだが・・・)紅白の服を着て、幻想郷の端っこから、幻想郷の空を見つめつつ、お茶でも飲むのが日課である。

  元々、霊夢は不思議な力を色々使えるが、それを活用したり自慢したりはしない。すべては在るがままに、である。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

She possess the ability to mainly fly in the air.

Basically, she is a shrine maiden. The shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine, which is located on the boundary of Gensokyo.
The Hakurei Shrine exists in both Gensokyo and the world of humans at the same time.
The boundary is the home territory of the Hakurei Shrine. From both sides, it is located at a very remote place from human villages, and is also kind of small, and has no known history or benefits. So it's no wonder that it rarely gets any visitors.
Inside the shrine, almost all foreign boundaries will be nullified. That alone should say that the Hakurei Boundary, the boundary between Gensokyo and the world of humans, is amazingly powerful.

Only those of the Hakurei have rules to follow in Gensokyo. Therefore, Reimu always wears clothes that is apparently some kind of uniform (she is supposed to have many other rules too, though...). Her daily routine consists of wearing red-white, staring at Gensokyo's sky from the edge of Gensokyo, and drinking tea.

By nature, Reimu can use various mysterious powers, but she does not use them to boast about them. Everything is, as is, after all.

Immaterial and Missing Power - 上海アリス通信.txt
Reimu Hakurei  ○楽園の素敵な巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれいれいむ)

  種族:人間
  住処:博麗神社
  能力:空を飛ぶ程度の能力

   いつもの博麗神社の巫女さん。何も考えずその場のノリで毎日を生きている。巫女さんらしい行動といえば、縁側でお茶を飲んで日和る位。

   非常に単純な思考の持ち主で、怒る時は怒り、笑う時は笑う。裏表のない性格は、人間妖怪問わず惹き付ける。その為、神社はいつも色んな者が集まるのである。

   体術にしても妖術にしても、修行は不足気味(というか殆どしない)だが、余りある天性のセンスでカバーしていて、もの凄く強い。それはもう、人とは思えない位に。ワープしていたり、ホーミングしていたりするが、本人はまっすぐ動いているつもり。ずるい巫女さん。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Species: Human
Location: Hakurei Shrine
Ability: Flying in the air

A typical shrine maiden from Hakurei Shrine. She always lives on ideas off the top of her head, and doesn't consider something seriously. The only thing she does that actually resembles a shrine maiden's duties is enjoying tea and life on the veranda.

She is quite simple-minded, thus when she's angry she's angry, and when she smiles she smiles. Her open personality makes her well-liked by both humans and youkai. Due to that, many people stay close to the shrine.

She lacks training in both melee and spells (or rather, she rarely does them), but she covers that up with the numerous talents she's born with. So she's quite tough, enough to make you wonder if she's really a human. While she warps or uses guided shots, it's all straight from her perspective. What a mean shrine maiden.

Reimu Hakurei IN  ○楽園の素敵な巫女 博麗 霊夢(はくれいれいむ)

  博麗神社の巫女さん。
  境界に住む人間。空を飛ぶ程度の能力を持つ。

  幻想郷の境にある(恐らく)由緒正しき博麗神社の巫女さん。
  感情的で騒々しく、どんな場所でも存在感があるのだが、すぐに馴染む。
  彼女の能力は空を飛ぶこと、つまり無重力。
  地球の重力も、如何なる重圧も、力による脅しも、彼女には全く意味が無い。
  身も心も、幻想の宙をふわふわと漂う不思議な巫女である。
  相手がどんなに強大だとしても、彼女の前では意味をなさない。
  相手の肩書きを平坦化する彼女は、時として人間、妖怪、種族を選ばず惹きつける事もある。

  武器は御札と陰陽玉。虫にも刺されやすい。

    備考
    今回は八雲紫と組む。
    低速移動は単独使用時のみの性能である。
    威力が若干劣る事もあるが基本的に使い
    やすく、敵の場所を覚える必要も少ない。
    かなり(雑魚に対しては特に)強い。
    一言で言えば、卑怯。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise, Reimu Hakurei

Hakurei Shrine's Shrine Maiden.
A human that lives on the boundary. She has the ability to fly in the air.

She is the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, which is located at the edge of Gensokyo and (possibly) has ancient and honourable origins.
She is emotional and noisy, and has a presence wherever she is, but she merges into her surroundings quite easily.
Her ability is being able to fly, that is, being weightless.
The gravity of Earth, any level of stress, and threats of power all mean nothing to her.
Both her mind and body float in the sky of fantasy, a mysterious shrine maiden.
However powerful the opponent is, that means nothing in her presence.
As she evens out whatever status one has, she tends to attract anyone regardless of species, human or youkai.

Her weapons are amulets and a Yin-Yang orb. She is also preferred by mosquitoes.

Notes
She teams with Yukari this time.
Focused speed only applies when she is used as a solo character.
She lacks a bit in damage, but is quite easy to use and doesn't need much memorization.
She is quite strong, especially against smaller enemies.
In a word, dastardly.
Imperishable Night - キャラ設定.txt
Reimu Hakurei IN  ○楽園の素敵な巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)
  Reimu Hakurei

  種族:人間
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力


  毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。幻想郷の境にある博麗神社の巫女さん。
  博麗神社自体は、幻想郷と人間界の両方に位置する。

  何者に対しても平等に見る性格は、妖怪の様な普段畏れられている者からも好かれる。逆にいうと、誰に対しても仲間として見ない。周りに沢山人間や妖怪が居たり、一緒に行動を行っても、常に自分一人である。実は冷たい人間なのかも知れない。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Species: Human
Ability: Mainly flying in the air

As usual, the shrine maiden you all know. She lives in the Hakurei Shrine located at the boundary that separates Gensokyo from the outer world. The shrine simultaneously exists in both worlds.

She treats everyone fairly and equally, which makes her well-liked by even the most terrifying youkai. On the flip side, she does not anyone as a comrade. Since there are a great number of humans and youkai around her, there are instances where she works together with someone else, but even so, she usually does things by herself alone. She might just truly be a cold-hearted kind of human...

Reimu Hakurei  ○4面ボス 楽園の素敵な巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)
  Reimu Hakurei

  種族:人間
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力

  毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。

  普通に寝ていたが幾ら寝ても夜が明けない。幾らなんでもこれは異常すぎると思って、神社を飛び出してきた。夜中の出動は珍しくないが、十分すぎるほど睡眠を取った後の夜中の出動は珍しい。でもこの暗さはなんとなく眠く感じるものである。この騒動に決着がついたら、また一眠りしよう、と考えながら強い妖気を目指して竹林まで来たのだが、そこで見た犯人は良く見知った人間と妖怪だった。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Species: Human
Ability: Flying in the air

As usual, the shrine maiden you all know.

The morning that she was expecting to see after a full night's sleep did not greet her. She thought that something very strange was going on, so she left the shrine to investigate. It's not unusual for her to go out at night, but going out at midnight just after having taken a full night's rest was most unusual. Anyway, nights always make her sleepy, so she'll be going back to bed once the issue is resolved. She followed a trail of power into a bamboo forest, and what she found were very familiar faces...

Reimu Hakurei  ○楽園の素敵な巫女 博麗 霊夢(はくれいれいむ)

  博麗神社の巫女さん。
  境界に住む人間。空を飛ぶ程度の能力を持つ。
  のんきなのか何も考えていないのか、そういう巫女さん。
  異変が起こるとすぐに駆けつけ解決しようとするが、彼女の周りには異変が絶えない。
  むしろ、異変を呼び込んでいるのではと疑わしい。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

The Shrine Maiden of Hakurei Shrine.
A human living at the boundary. She possesses the ability to fly in the air.
She's the kind of shrine maiden that is ever-so-carefree and doesn't think about anything.
Whenever a disturbance occurs, she would immediately rush to resolve it. Nevertheless, she would never manage to rid herself of all disturbances around her.
Rather, it might be the case that she attracts disturbances to herself.

Phantasmagoria of Flower View - キャラ設定.txt
Reimu Hakurei  ○楽園の素敵な巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)
  Hakurei Reimu
  種族:人間
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力


   毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。幻想郷の境にある博麗神社の巫女さん。博麗神社自体は、幻想郷と人間界の両方に位置する。

   いつも異変は勘で解決できる彼女だが、何故か花の異変は全く見当が付かなかった。
   今回の様なプレイヤーが多いゲームだと、何が主人公なのか判らなくなってしまう。でも、霊夢だけは目立たなくても主人公っぽいのは何故だろうか。

Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Race: Human
Ability: Flying in the air

The miko we are all familiar with. She's the miko of Hakurei Shrine, located on the boundary of Gensokyo.

She has always been able to bring incidents to closure with her intuitions, but she hasn't the slightest idea of the cause of this flower incident.
In multiplayer games such as this installment of the Touhou Series, it's hard to pinpoint which character is the main character. However, even though Reimu doesn't stand out at all, why does she always look like one?

Reimu Hakurei MOF  ○楽園の巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)
  Hakurei Reimu

  種族:人間
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力


  毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。博麗神社の巫女さん。

  何者に対しても平等に見る性格である。ただ、仕事は妖怪退治である為、妖怪に対しては厳しいポーズを取っているが、実際は人間にも妖怪にもさほど興味はない。

  ただ、今回は神様を巡っての騒動である。神様の代弁者としても、ただの妖怪退治とは勝手が違って、戸惑い気味。

  攻撃性能は、全体的に無難な挙動で安定感のある装備となっています。

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise - Reimu Hakurei

The now-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.

She treats everyone basically the same way. However, since her job is hunting youkai, she takes a fairly strict stance against youkai, but she's actually equally uninterested in humans and youkai.

This time, there's a conspiracy surrounding her gods. She may be their spokesperson, but her circumstances as a youkai hunter are different, so she feels a bit lost.

Her weapons are amulets and yin-yang balls. Her piety seems light.

Her fighting style generally relies on equipment that lends a sense of stability.

Reimu Hakurei 博麗 霊夢
種族 : 人間
職業 : 巫女さん
住家 : 博麗神社
能力 : 空を飛ぶ程度の能力
性格 : 呑気で感情豊か。浮世離れしている。
Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei


Race: Human

Occupation: Shrine Maiden

Place of residence: Hakurei Shrine

Ability: Flying in the air.

Personality: Carefree and sentimental. Not too attached to the world of the living.

Subterranean Animism - キャラ設定.txt
Reimu Hakurei SA  ○楽園の巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)
  Hakurei Reimu

  種族:人間
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力


  毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。博麗神社の巫女さん。

  何者に対しても平等に見る性格である。ただ、仕事は妖怪退治である為、妖怪に対しては厳しいポーズを取っているが、実際は人間にも妖怪にもさほど興味はない。

  地底よりは高いところの方が好き。

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Species: Human
Ability: Flying in the air.

The now-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.

She treats everyone the same. However, since her job is youkai-hunting, she acts particularly strict with youkai, but she doesn't really care much about humans or youkai.

She prefers high places compared to the underground.

Undefined Fantastic Object - キャラ設定とエキストラストーリー.txt
Reimu Hakurei UFO  ○楽園の巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)
  Hakurei Reimu

  種族:人間
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力


  毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。博麗神社の巫女さん。

  何者に対しても平等に見る性格である。ただ、仕事は妖怪退治である為、妖怪に対しては厳しいポーズを取っているが、実際は人間にも妖怪にもさほど興味はない。

  宝船と言えば七福神。神様と言えば彼女の出番と思っているが、七福神の殆どが日本の神様ではない。本当の目的は金銀財宝。

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Species: Human
Ability: Flying in the air

The now-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.

She treats everyone the same. However, since her job is youkai-hunting, she acts particularly strict with youkai, but she doesn't really care much about humans or youkai.

Where there's a treasure ship, there has to be the seven gods of luck. She figures that where any gods are involved, it's a job for her, but most of the seven gods of luck are not Japanese gods. Her true goal is the treasure.

Wild and Horned Hermit official website
Reimu Hakurei 博麗霊夢
自由奔放な人間

おなじみ博麗神社の巫女さん。神
社に参拝客が増えないか、今日も
思案中の様である。欲の塊という
わけではなく、基本は天衣無縫な
人柄。人間にも妖怪にも分け隔て
ない。

Reimu Hakurei

The freewheeling human

The shrine maiden of the Hakurei shrine. She appears pondering, like every other day, of how to get more visitors of her shrine. It's not that she's a clump of greed, but that she's only acting natural. She doesn't differentiate between humans and youkai.

Ten Desires - キャラ設定とエキストラストーリー.txt
Reimu Hakurei TD  ○楽園の巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)   Hakurei Reimu

  種族:人間   能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力

  毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。博麗神社の巫女さん。

  何者に対しても平等に見る性格である。ただ、仕事は妖怪退治である為、妖怪に対しては厳しいポーズを取っているが、実際は人間にも妖怪にもさほど興味はない。

  神霊にしちゃあ随分とちゃちで雑多な霊に何らかの危機感を感じ、調査に出かける。放って置いて何か起きた時に神社の所為だと思われると困る。

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Species: Human
Ability: Flying in the air

The now-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.

She treats everyone the same. However, since her job is youkai-hunting, she acts particularly strict with youkai, but she doesn't really care much about humans or youkai.

She goes off to investigate after being alerted by the odd divine spirits, that seemed far too shabby and numerous than they should. It would be troublesome if she just left them alone and something happened, in which event her shrine would be blamed.

LORD of VERMILION - Card text
DATA


  職業:巫女さん
  出身地:幻想郷
  住処:博麗神社
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力
  趣味:宴会
  最近の夢:妖怪の殲滅

  フレーバーテキスト

遙か東の国の人里離れた山の中。
幻想郷が妖怪の作った結界により外界と隔離されて久しい。
そこにはこの世から忘れたれた物、不要になった物が集まっ
ていた。その性質で幻想郷は妖怪の楽園となる筈だった。
妖怪退治を生業とする博麗霊夢も幻想郷に住む一人である。
「え? 何これインタビュー?
何か言わないといけないの? というかあんた誰?」

DATA


Occupation: Miko-san
Birthplace: Gensokyo
Residence: Hakurei Shrine
Ability: The Ability to Float
Hobby: Feasts
Recent Dream: The Annihilation of Youkai

Flavor Text

It was there, within the mountain distance away from the human village, in the far off country in the East—Gensokyo. It has been a while since it was separated from the outside world by the Barrier, which the youkai made.
Things that were forgotten from this world, things that were no longer needed, have been gathered around at the place. Due to such nature, Gensokyo should have become a paradise for the youkai.
Reimu Hakurei is too, one of the people residing in Gensokyo, who makes her living by exterminating youkai.
"Huh? What's this, an interview?
Do I have to say something? I mean, who are you anyway?"

Hopeless Masquerade official website
Reimu Hakurei HM 八百万の代弁者 博麗霊夢

普段は大人しい人間もいつも元気な妖怪も、
皆一様に興奮しているように見える。
彼らが血気盛んな理由はただ一つ。
これから巫女とそのライバルによる決闘が 行われるというのだ。
この闘いに勝って人気を不動の物とせよ!

特技 万有霊力の法則

霊力ゲージが他のキャラより長くなっており、
霊力最大値がアップします。
射撃攻撃や必殺技をより多く使用でき、
攻撃をガードして多少霊力を減らされても余裕が出ます。

ラストワード 夢想天生

構えを取って相手の打撃を受け止めて隙を作り、
大量のお札で包囲して圧殺する霊夢の最終奥義です。
0距離であれば問答無用にガード不能で発動するため、
カウンターを恐れて萎縮する相手を突き崩すことも容易です。

The Advocate of the Myriad Gods, Reimu Hakurei

The normally calm humans and the always-energetic youkai
are both in a state of excitement.
Their blood is boiling for one reason.
From here on, the shrine maiden and her rivals will be battling it out.
Emerge victorious in this battle, and acquire unwavering popularity!

Special skill: Law of Universal Spirit Power

Reimu's spirit power guage is longer than the other characters',
so her maximum spirit power is increased.
She can use more ranged attacks and special attacks,
and even if she loses some spirit power while guarding attacks, she'll still have more in supply.

Last Word: Fantasy Nature

Reimu adopts a stance, and by taking an enemy melee attack, she creates an opening,
and then surrounds the enemy with massive amounts of ofuda and annihilates them in her most powerful attack.
If it is at point-blank range, guarding against it is impossible,
so it is also easy to wear down and flatten opponents fearful of the counter.

Double Dealing Character trial - omake.txt
Reimu DDC  ○楽園の巫女

  博麗 霊夢(はくれい れいむ)
  Hakurei Reimu

  種族:人間
  能力:主に空を飛ぶ程度の能力

  毎度お馴染みの巫女さん。博麗神社の巫女さん。

  お祓い棒と読んでいるが正式名称は大幣(おおぬさ)。
  勝手に敵をお祓いに行くが、若干追尾速度に難があるので敵の近くま
  で持っていって投げつけてやる方が良い。

  なんかお祓い棒に使われているようで釈然としないが

The Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Reimu Hakurei

Species: Human
Ability: Flying in the air

The now-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.

Her weapon's called a purification rod, but its formal name is the oonusa.
It chases enemies on its own to purify them, but since its homing speed is somewhat bad,
she has more success carrying it up to the enemies and then throwing it.

Somehow, it doesn't seem to be very satisfactory as a purification rod.

Official Sources

Official sources

References

  1. Although it is a stage 1 theme, ZUN's comments in th4_02.txt state that it is her theme.
  2. Wild and Horned Hermit chapter 5
  3. Perfect Cherry Blossom: Marisa's scenario - "This barrier is amazing. There's no way a novice like me can solve its mystery. Is there something I'm missing?"; Reimu's scenario - "You broke the barrier on the way here, didn't you!" "That one opened right up."
  4. Oriental Sacred Place chapter 15
  5. Forbidden Scrollery chapter 7 - "Ah, that gesture is bad. That will dissolve any seal; Reimu's cheat technique."
  6. Scarlet Weather Rhapsody - Skill Card: Instant Dimensional Rift
  7. kikikaikai.gif
  8. ZUN's reply to messages on the former Gensou Bulletin Board 3
  9. Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - Extra stage