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Fujiwara no Mokou
Fujiwara no Mokou (♫) Huziwara no Mokou, Mokou Fuziwara | |
|---|---|
 Fujiwara no Mokou in Imperishable Night 蓬莱の人の形More Character Titles | |
| Species | Human |
| Abilities | Ability to the extent of neither ageing nor dying |
| Age | Currently ageless, but has existed for over 1300 years. |
| Occupation | Rescues lost people, Bamboo forest guide, Claims to run a yakitori stand |
| Location | Somewhere in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost |
Music Themes | |
| Show Music Themes | |
Appearances | |
| Official Games | |
| Show Official Game appearances | |
| Print Works | |
| Show Print Work appearances | |
Fujiwara no Mokou (藤原 妹紅) was formerly an ordinary human as she became an immortal being after drinking the Hourai Elixir about 1300 years ago. Now she is never able to die, though she still feels the pain of injuries as normal. She's considered to be very powerful because she has lived for many years and earned that power, and because she doesn't die and can therefore keep fighting until she can no longer stand the pain.
Contents |
Concept
Name
The characters for Fujiwara literally mean "Wisteria field", and Mokou "Scarlet (younger) Sister". According to ZUN, however, Mokou can also mean "Paint me red" and her name has no connection to Flandre Scarlet. In the right context, Kou can also be translated as "female phoenix bird", which is fitting, while Mo can be translated as "mourning". Her name would mean something similar to "Mourning female Phoenix bird", a name somewhat fitting for her exiled life and events of her past.
Considering Mokou's surname and her back story as a daughter of an aristocrat charmed by the Kaguya-hime of legend, she is supposed to be the daughter of Kuramochi no Miko (車持皇子), who was given the quest for the Jeweled Branch of Hourai by Kaguya. His model is speculated to be Fujiwara no Fuhito, the factual founder of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful clan of regents during the 9th to 13th centuries.
Another note is at that time it was common for aristocrats to have the hiragana character の (no) between their surname and first name or their title and name. Thus the English equivalent of her name would be "Mokou of the Fujiwara Clan".
Appearance
Mokou has red eyes and ankle-length light violet hair. She wears a light brown shirt that appears as if it has been discolored from fire, and dark red overalls that are randomly decorated with paper charms. Her hair is tied with these same red and white paper charms.
The paper talismans on Mokou's pants and hair ribbons might be wards to protect them against being burned by fire. Her shirt, which lacks those talismans, appears to have been burnt repeatedly, while the ribbons and pants show no such wear.
In Cage in Lunatic Runagate, she is shown as having had short, dark hair when she was mortal. No explanation of this is given.
Mokou is one of the few people in all of Gensokyo to wear pants. This, along with her somewhat forceful way of speaking, often leads to her being depicted as something of a tomboy (perhaps why her parents kept her out of public view). However, because conditions in Gensokyo still resemble those of feudal Japan, pants are hard to come by and must be made by a skilled tailor or imported from the Outside World, and presumably are much more expensive than skirts. This may make pants a status symbol, and given Mokou's status as a daughter of the old Japanese aristocracy and her rugged lifestyle, it is likely it would be only natural for her to insist on wearing them.
Personality
Perhaps due to her solitary lifestyle, she prominently has a characteristic of having a difficult social disposition. In her time within the Bamboo Forest of the Lost she gives help to lost humans she may find, giving herself a job similar to that of a bamboo forest guide, but generally after guiding them to the human village she quickly departs without saying a word. Nevertheless, to those whom she's acquainted with, she says things bluntly (in a good way) with a sociable personality.
She is commonly thought of as having an androgynous style due to using phrases like "~na no kashira?" and "~na no yo?" which are considerably women's language, all the while using a belligerent tone and wearing pants, which is commonly thought of as unusual among Touhou characters. Within her in-game sprite, she also keeps her hands in her pockets.
She has presently undertakes escorting people in the Bamboo Forest of Lost, and though this may allow her a wider opportunity to socialize with other people she may find lost, she still remains very reticent about herself. For example, when asked about her past, she does not answer with anything other than "I'm an ordinary health mania who runs a yakitori stand" (it is unclear whether she truly does run a yakitori stand). However, she seems to happily listen to the others' talking. Thus, even if one does not lose one's way, it would be possible enough for her to be enlivened by a conversation.
She presently seems to be very content with her life contrary to being commonly thought of having a pessimistic lifestyle. With an unageing, undying body she and Kaguya kill each other every day, and Imperishable Night text even emphasizes this with the line "and she is alive to enjoy it, how magnificent!"
Abilities
- Ability to the extent of neither ageing nor dying
- Ability to the extent of not dying
Mokou's inability to die allows her body to receive an indefinite amount of punishment. No matter whether she's decapitated, incinerated, or has taken any other form of strike, she will always revive without exception. Mokou will recover within few day's time if she takes a nonfatal blow. Due to the nature of the elixir of immortality she drank over a thousand years ago, she is also incapable of contracting any form of disease or illness. This includes the natural process of growing old.[1] It is said she can completely recover even if a single hair remained[2], although it seems redundant because those who taste the elixir can recover regardless.
Mokou's immortal nature however, does not prevent her from being susceptible to fatigue. Though she may be incapable of dying, she still feels pain when injured just as a normal human does. It is said that since she doesn't die, feeling the sting of death when she reaches the brink of oblivion brings her a great deal of pain and fatigue when she immediately revives. For this reason, she can be defeated in spell card matches with danmaku even though she is invincible.
- All sorts of sorcery
According to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, in her long life it seems she has mastered various kinds of sorcery to the point in which she can handle youkai lightly. She uses all kinds of spell cards in addition to her ability of manipulation of flames, which may also be a kind of sorcery she has mastered. (However, it has never been stated exactly what kinds of sorcery she has mastered.)
Story
- Imperishable Night
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- Main article: Boundary Team Arc
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- Main article: Imperishable Night/Story/Magic Team's Extra
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- Main article: Imperishable Night/Story/Scarlet Team's Extra
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- Main article: Imperishable Night/Story/Ghost Team's Extra
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- Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red
When Aya Shameimaru happened to notice a mysterious fire in the bamboo forest near Eientei she decided to investigate. Two girls, Fujiwara no Mokou and Kaguya Houraisan, were already present fighting the fire to put it out. Shortly after Aya began asking what had started the fire, Mokou suggested it might have been a cigarette butt from kids while Kaguya suggested it was yakitori (that is made from chicken). In her interview, Mokou used Kaguya's yakitori rumor to frighten Aya to running with no further questions. Aya ended the article in wonderment over the true cause of the fire.
During her interview with Mokou, Aya comes to the conclusion that it must have been Mokou who did it. However, Mokou first repeats that a cigarette butt caused it and then later insists that there never was a fire and threatens that Aya may just end up as yakitori if she keeps saying there was.
Backstory
She has hated Kaguya ever since the moon princess humiliated Mokou's father by turning down his marriage proposal after he failed her trial of the Impossible Requests. Even though it has been over a thousand three hundred years since that happened, she continues to detest Kaguya, knowing full well that she can never get her revenge, nor can Kaguya ever put a permanent end to her. When not fighting with Kaguya, though, she aids the nearby villagers by exterminating youkai and will even guide them safely to Eientei for medical treatment. She is a loner by nature and chooses not to socialize with humans or youkai, and has a dubious personality that can easily switch from friendly to threatening and back again, but her actions seem to indicate she may be a good person.
Mokou's backstory in its near entirety can be read in the fourth chapter of Cage in Lunatic Runagate.
Relationships
Mokou has despised Kaguya for reasons mentioned in her backstory. When she surprisingly found Kaguya in Gensokyo after so many years of exile, and so close to where she lived, she was ecstatic that Kaguya was in the same mess she was. The two spent about 300 years slaughtering each other on a daily basis; Mokou described those days as "the joys of killing each other over and over" in Cage in Lunatic Runagate Chapter 4. Mokou's official profile also describes those days as "wonderful days", but judging from her attitude in the scenario in Imperishable Night's Extra Stage, she's grown to rather be annoyed at Kaguya's persistent attempts of trying to kill her, assassins or otherwise.[3][4] When Mokou suspects Kaguya is returning to the moon in Cage in Lunatic Runagate, she is initially worried that the only other immortal person who was in the same situation she was would no longer be on Earth.[5], although she does eventually come to terms with the possibility.
Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth shows it can take the form of other competitions, from food fights to drinking to fishing, though this may be due to the lighthearted nature of the author.
- Other Residents of Eientei
She has a good relationship with Eientei despite her feud with Kaguya, working with the rabbits to stop that forest fire, and is known to lead people to and from Eientei. In Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth, she brings lost rabbits back to Eientei.
Mokou seems to have befriended Keine Kamishirasawa, describing her as the one of the few people who can understand her in the fourth chapter of Cage in Lunatic Runagate. Keine's sense of duty to protect all humans is no exception to Mokou, as she proclaimed to Kaguya's assassins in Imperishable Night's extra stage that she won't allow them to lay a hand on Mokou. Keine also traveled together with Mokou to see a flower viewing at the Hakurei Shrine in the continuation of Chapter 0 of Eastern and Little Nature Deity at the end of chapter 3.
- Other Minor or Unknown Meetings or Associations
- Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, Sakuya Izayoi, Yukari Yakumo, Remilia Scarlet, Alice Margatroid, Yuyuko Saigyouji, and Youmu Konpaku
Some humans and youkai that were tricked by Kaguya into fighting Mokou during the extra stage of Imperishable Night. Mokou doesn't have any particularly notable feelings towards most of them (besides being impressed with Alice's knowledge of the Hourai Elixir), but she was flabbergasted with the humans crazy enough to go to the bamboo forest the night of a full moon. Cage in Lunatic Runagate shows that Mokou thinks Sakuya, Reimu, and Marisa are airheads. Mokou was one of the (many) attendants at Remilia's rocket party in Silent Sinner in Blue. When Alice fell into the three fairies' trap in the continuation of Chapter 0 of Eastern and Little Nature Deity at the end of chapter 3, Mokou and Keine together ignored Alice's plea for help while passing by.
An outsider that a girl who seems to be Mokou rescued several hundred years ago from a mouse or rabbit youkai in Changeability of Strange Dream's 9th section. She ran away and hid after "a girl entirely on fire" chased the youkai away without a word exchanged between the two.
Additional Information
Trivia
- Mokou appears on the cover of Imperishable Night, silhouetted against the moon beneath the silhouette of Kaguya.
- It is unknown exactly when Mokou came to Gensokyo, but she and Kaguya have been killing each other in Gensokyo for at least 300 years, and apparently Maribel's trip to the Bamboo Forest implies Mokou makes an appearance[6] several hundred years ago as well.
- Mokou's character title is a pun on the title of ZUN's music CD, Dolls in Pseudo Paradise. She also uses a spellcard named Hourai Doll. Doesn't Alice have a Hourai Doll too?
- Spellcard #199 is "Forgiveness: Honest Man's Death", which also seems to be a reference to the story in Dolls in Pseudo Paradise (where several honest men die).
- Although Mokou can't die, she can still probably enter the Netherworld, since Eirin, who has also taken the Hourai elixir, once did so.
- Mokou can actually be observed resurrecting after each spell card in Imperishable Night. More information can be found on her in Hourai Elixir and Perfect Memento in Strict Sense.
- The fact it took the combined efforts of her, Kaguya, and several rabbits to put out a forest fire in her Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red article implies that while she's capable of starting and increasing fire, she might not necessarily be able to extinguish it.
- Chapter 11 of Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth contains the first canonical depiction of a confrontation between Kaguya and Mokou. In it, they seem to have a danmaku fight with food.
- In Canon, the Spellcard 199 in Imperishable Night might refer to Iwakasa, as she implied she felt regret over causing his death.
- In the fourth chapter of Cage in Lunatic Runagate, it is shown that her immortality was derived indirectly from Iwakasa as well, as he saved her life prior to her immortality.
- Mokou was planned to be a playable character in Touhou Hisoutensoku, but was scrapped due to a lack of time to balance her move set; ZUN stated in an interview she would have been overpowered and would unbalance the game (the same problem was encountered with plans to add Kaguya to the playable roster as well).
Fanon
- Due to her power of resurrection and ability to control fire, Mokou is often depicted as having the same powers as the mythical phoenix (She even has spell cards called "Possessed By Phoenix" and "Immortal Flying Bird Phoenix"), even occasionally generating what appears to be a phoenix-shaped aura. Fans like to depict this as "wings of fire", but in canon, she only controls the flames of the phoenix in her spells. The phoenix is probably more of an aura depicting her immortality.
- Fandom is divided as to whether or not Mokou actually is possessed by a phoenix; it would seem redundant, as she is already immortal.
- Whenever Mokou is present within something or joins anything or in some other way shows up, sometimes one phrase that pops up is "Moko-tan in shitao!" (もこたんインしたお！), meaning "Mokotan has come in," a phrase that originated from a message board discussion.
- Because she claims to run a yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) stand, she is occasionally shown in fan works to be at odds with bird youkai Mystia Lorelei—or ironically, as a romantic interest. She has also used this occupation to scare Aya Shameimaru after insisting there was no fire in the bamboo forest in the interview with Mokou.
- Fan works occasionally depict Mokou smoking because of her mentioning cigarettes in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red.
Spell Cards
Show spellcardsOfficial Profiles
- Imperishable Night - キャラ設定.txt
Official Sources
Show sourcesReferences
- ↑ Magic Team's Extra "One taste, and you'll never grow up."
- ↑ Perfect Memento in Strict Sence: Mokou
- ↑ Boundary Team's Extra "No matter how much Kaguya tries to kill me, it's impossible. But she KNOWS it, and keeps sending assassins... how irritating."
- ↑ Scarlet Team's Extra "Always trying to kill me... Always sending assassins... She KNOWS that I'll never die! Didn't Kaguya make the Hourai Elixir? She should realize this is nonsense."
- ↑ Cage in Lunatic Runagate Chapter 4 "The terror of immortality is eternal solitude. An endless reality tormented by the consciousness of one's sins. The only one who could sympathize with that was my old immortal enemy."
- ↑ Changeability of Strange Dream's 9th section, the fire rising in the shape of a bird from the girl, which is a theme in many of Mokou's spell cards.
