- Welcome to Touhou Wiki!
- Registering is temporarily disabled. Check in our Discord server to request an account and for assistance of any kind.
Benben Tsukumo
Benben Tsukumo | |
---|---|
Benben Tsukumo in Double Dealing Character Tsukumogami of an Aging BiwaMore Character Titles | |
Species |
Tsukumogami (biwabokuboku) |
Abilities |
Making sounds and performing on her own |
Music Themes | |
| |
Appearances | |
Official Games | |
|
Benben Tsukumo (九十九 弁々 Tsukumo Benben) is a tsukumogami, transformed from a biwa. She is the older sister of Yatsuhashi Tsukumo, and appears in Double Dealing Character.
General Information
As a biwa tsukumogami, she carries a biwa, and uses it in her attacks and for her spell cards.
Backstory
Both Benben and Yatsuhashi were once merely an instrument used by others in the outside world, but eventually they came to Gensokyo. When the Miracle Mallet was used, its magical power flooded into them, and they both became tsukumogami at around the same time. However, they quickly learned where their power was coming from – the Shining Needle Castle – and decided to overthrow society as tools, like Seija Kijin did as well.
Character Design
Name
Her family name "Tsukumo" comes from "tsukumogami", her species of youkai. The motif of hers might be derived from "Bokuboku Biwa" (琵琶牧々), a tsukumogami transforming into biwa houshi. Her given name "Benben," likely comes from the name of the goddess Benzaiten, as they both have the kanji "弁" in their names meaning "valve," "speech," or "petal," and because Benzaiten is often depicted holding a biwa. Another possibility is that "Benben" is derived from "ben-ben", an onomatopoeia of deep sound (two sounds in this case; "ben" is repeated) from the lute like biwa or shamisen — "be-be-ben" is seen in the bonus chapter of 1st volume of Forbidden Scrollery when Byakuren is playing the shamisen.
Design
Benben has lilac hair which is short in the front and long at the back, and purple eyes. Her outfit consists of a brown and black dress, with long white sleeves. She is barefooted and wears a small floral accessory in her hair. She also carries a biwa that is chained to her left hand.
Story
- Double Dealing Character
Both Benben and Yatsuhashi appear before the player character in Stage 4, though only one of them fights the player at a time. The fight the player gets is decided by which shot type they choose - if they chose to take their weapon along, they face Benben, and Yatsuhashi earlier on as a mid-boss; if they didn't take their weapon, it's vice-versa. At first, the two of them are under the impression that the heroine is looking to join their side, but it quickly turns violent. After being defeated, she points out the Shining Needle Castle, which is where they're getting their power from.
Between the main game and the extra stage, they were approached by Raiko Horikawa, who explained what had happened - and a way out of their situation. The two tsukumogami had realized that their power was coming from the Miracle Mallet. Not wanting to return to being tools, they successfully replaced the magical power they used to survive as self-aware beings with one from the outside world. The heroine must fight both of them at once.
Relationships
Yatsuhashi Tsukumo
Yatsuhashi is Benben's younger sister, and serves as a hot-headed, energetic counterpart to Benben's cool and collected demeanor. The two of them are both tsukumogami, so they are not technically related by blood; they call themselves sisters because they were both "born" at roughly the same time.
Raiko Horikawa
A drum tsukumogami that approached her and Yatsuhashi, and offered to swap out their source of power.
Minor Relationships
- Seija Kijin, Shinmyoumaru Sukuna
No dialogue is exchanged between these characters; when mentioned by the heroine, Seija appears to realize she's talking about tsukumogami, but no more than that. They all appear to share the same goal of overthrowing society.
Spell Cards
Name | Translated | Comments | Games | Stage | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total: 11 | ||||||
平曲「祇園精舎の鐘の音」 | Heikyoku "Sounds of Jetavana's Bell" | DDC GoU |
St. 4A: E/N/H/L — | |||
怨霊「耳無し芳一」 | Vengeful Spirit "Hoichi the Earless" | DDC | St. 4A: E/N | |||
怨霊「平家の大怨霊」 | Vengeful Spirit "Taira's Great Vengeful Spirit" | DDC | St. 4A: H/L | |||
楽符「邪悪な五線譜」 | Music Sign "Wicked Musical Score" | DDC | St. 4A: E/N | |||
楽符「凶悪な五線譜」 | Music Sign "Malicious Musical Score" | DDC | St. 4A: H | |||
楽符「ダブルスコア」 | Music Sign "Double Score" | DDC GoU |
St. 4A: L — | |||
弦楽「嵐のアンサンブル」 | String Music "Storm Ensemble" | Co-owner with Yatsuhashi | DDC | St. Ex | ||
弦楽「浄瑠璃世界」 | String Music "Joururi World" | Co-owner with Yatsuhashi | DDC | St. Ex | ||
音符「大熱唱琵琶」 | Noise Sign "Biwa of Euphoric Song" | ISC | St. 5 | |||
楽譜「スコアウェブ」 | Score "Score Web" | ISC | St. 5 | |||
両吟「星降る唄」 | Double Chant "Song of Falling Stars" | Co-owner with Yatsuhashi | ISC | St. 5 |
Official Profiles
Official Sources
- 2013/08/12 Double Dealing Character - omake.txt (profile, extra stage profile)
This page is part of Project Characters, a Touhou Wiki project that aims to write proper descriptions for all official characters of Touhou Project. Please keep the character page guidelines in mind when contributing. |
|