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Nue Houjuu
- "Nue" redirects here. For the species, see Nue (Species).
(♫) Nue Houjuu | |
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Nue Houjuu in Undefined Fantastic Object and Ten Desires The Unidentified Fantastic Flying GirlMore Character Titles | |
Species | |
Abilities |
Making objects unidentifiable |
Age |
More than 800 Years old |
Occupation |
Scaring people |
Location | |
Music Themes | |
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Appearances | |
Official Games | |
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Print Works | |
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Nue Houjuu (封獣 ぬえ, Houjuu Nue) is said to be one of the most mysterious and feared youkai in many years, yet has been defeated by humans many times. There are many differing legends according to her appearance because she hides her "true form". At some point she was sealed underground, and because of the events of Subterranean Animism, she resurfaced back in Gensokyo.
General Information
Personality
A very mischievous girl who reacts badly to anyone finding her true form and enjoys some rather malicious pranks. Despite this, when she found out about how Byakuren's followers were friendly to youkai, she did feel a bit of guilt over her actions. After the events of the Extra Stage in Undefined Fantastic Object, she does go to her temple to train. She isn't well-acquainted with the other youkai at the temple, and can apparently be frequently seen near the edges of the property, looking bored.
Ability
- Making objects unidentifiable
Nue is able to conceal the true nature of other objects, an ability she displayed in Undefined Fantastic Object to conceal the nature of the fragments of the Flying Vault. An object that has lost its "identity" will appear to be a different thing depending on who observes it. The observer's brain will then attempt to fill in the blanks itself.
Character Design
Name
Like Satori, her first name is also the name of her species, nue. Nue's family name, Houjuu (封獣), literally means "sealed beast" as written.
Design
Nue has short black hair and dark red eyes, three red metallic-looking wings on the right side of her back, and three blue arrow-shaped tails coming out from her left side. She carries a trident, has a snake on her right arm (which might be the Seed of Non-Identification), and also wears a black wristband on her left wrist. Her dress is all black with blue and white trim in the middle, a red bow on the front, and a small, yin-yang-like tomoe design at the bottom corner of the skirt of her dress. She wears black thigh-high stockings and red shoes with bows on them.
Story
- Undefined Fantastic Object
During the events of Undefined Fantastic Object, she found out that Minamitsu and the other youkai who were also sealed underground made it above ground and were planning something. Not knowing exactly what, she decided to have some "fun" by putting Seeds of Unknown Form in the fragments of Tobikura, one of the elements needed to revive Byakuren. The snakes contained in the seeds caused the fragments to scatter into the air; the characters initially believe that the geyser from Subterranean Animism was the cause. These become the iconic UFOs that the player encounters during the game
During stages 4 and 6, she sees the heroine collecting them and decides to secretly follow her, either helping or getting in her way. She eventually realizes what the plan of the other youkai is, and figures that it would benefit her, so she settles on helping the heroine achieve that goal. She appears in the Extra Stage during the heroine's investigation of the Seeds of Non-identification.
- 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
After Sanae B's scenario, it is implied that she and Sanae have their picture taken by Aya Shameimaru.
Based on one of Reimu's quotes in Touhou Hisoutensoku, as well as chapter 12 of Oriental Sacred Place, she is currently living with Byakuren in her temple.
- Ten Desires
A multitude of divine spirits start to appear. Reimu goes out to investigate the events.
Relationships
Nue appears to have known Minamitsu Murasa and Ichirin Kumoi before the events of Undefined Fantastic Object.
She is also currently living at Byakuren Hijiri's temple near the Human Village, because Byakuren was too nice to ostracize her.
Mamizou Futatsuiwa is her friend.
Spell Cards
Name | Translated | Comments | Games | Stage | ||
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Total: 20 | ||||||
妖雲「平安のダーククラウド」 | Ominous Clouds "Heian Dark Clouds" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
正体不明「忿怒のレッドUFO襲来」 | Unidentified "Red UFO Invasion of Rage" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
鵺符「鵺的スネークショー」 | Nue Sign "Mysterious Snake Show" | UFO GoU |
St. Ex — | |||
正体不明「哀愁のブルーUFO襲来」 | Unidentified "Blue UFO Invasion of Grief" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
鵺符「弾幕キメラ」 | Nue Sign "Danmaku Chimera" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
正体不明「義心のグリーンUFO襲来」 | Unidentified "Green UFO Invasion of Justice" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
鵺符「アンディファインドダークネス」 | Nue Sign "Undefined Darkness" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
正体不明「恐怖の虹色UFO襲来」 | Unidentified "Rainbow UFO Invasion of Terror" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
「平安京の悪夢」 | "Nightmare of Heiankyou" | UFO GoU |
St. Ex — | |||
恨弓「源三位頼政の弓」 | Grudge Bow "The Bow of Genzanmi Yorimasa" | UFO | St. Ex | |||
正体不明「紫鏡」 | Unidentified "Purple Mirror" | DS | St. 12 | |||
正体不明「赤マント青マント」 | Unidentified "Red Cloak, Blue Cloak" | DS | St. 12 | |||
正体不明「厠の花子さん」 | Unidentified "Ms. Hanako of the Toilet" | DS | St. 12 | |||
「遊星よりの弾幕X」 | "Danmaku X from a Wandering Star" | DS GoU |
St. 12 — | |||
アンノウン「軌道不明の鬼火」 | Unknown "Will-o'-wisps in Unidentified Orbit" | TD | St. Ex | |||
アンノウン「姿態不明の空魚」 | Unknown "Skyfish with Unknown Shape" | TD | St. Ex | |||
アンノウン「原理不明の妖怪玉」 | Unknown "Youkai Orb of Unknown Mechanics" | TD | St. Ex | |||
神星符「正体不明の怪光人だかり」 | Divine Star Sign "Unidentified Ghost-Light Crowd" | Co-owner with Mamizou | VD GoU |
Nightmare Thursday - 1 — | ||
緋星符「正体不明の落雷」 | Scarlet Star Sign "Unidentified Lightning Strike" | Co-owner with Iku | VD | Nightmare Thursday - 4 | ||
輝星符「正体不明のドンドコ太鼓」 | Shining Star Sign "Unidentified Dondoko Daiko" | Co-owner with Raiko | VD | Nightmare Thursday - 6 |
Additional Information
- Similar to Kogasa, she tends to scare off people by using the fear of the unknown, or the fear of her true form.
- Nue is the first(?) character ZUN himself has drawn with thigh-highs, and she seems to appeal to "zettai ryouiki" fans, referring to the area of bare skin between a skirt and thigh-highs. There is a slight shadow of doubt over this since Suwako's sprite in Mountain of Faith clearly shows her wearing thigh-highs while her drawn portrait shows her wearing socks long enough to be thigh-highs but are slightly folded down to where her knees should be. Mystia also seems to be wearing stockings reaching above her knees in her drawn portrait in Imperishable Night.
- Nue's spell cards are heavily reminiscent of other characters', such as Flandre, Yukari, Rumia, and Hina. Specifically, they tend to act as combinations of spell cards, often using one element from one, and one from another.
- Nue is the only Extra Stage boss to appear as a midboss in multiple stages. Ran Yakumo has been a midboss in one stage.
- Nue's appearance as a ball of light midboss on stages 4 and 6 is similar to the stage 2 midboss of Mystic Square. Yuuka also turned into a ball of light during her battle in Lotus Land Story.
- However, she bears the most similarity to the extra stage midboss of Lotus Land Story's. Their appearances are identical, and both drop items when leaving the screen, each ending with an extra life.
- Nue has the tag "Heian" on her song and a couple of her spell cards. Heian may be referring to the Heian period (794 AD to 1185 AD) of Japanese history (traditionally depicted as a Golden Age in Japanese History) and/or to a former capital city of Japan (794 AD to 1868 AD), 平安京 "Heian-Kyo", which is now the city of Kyoto. Her age of approximately 800 years also places her origins at the end of or during the Heian period.
- Her theme song's name might refer to 平安京エイリアン "Heian-Kyo Alien", a game developed in 1979.
- The bass line on the first part of her theme music is borrowed from UFO, the best hit song of Pink Lady.
- Nue's "Danmaku X from a Wandering Star" spell card in Double Spoiler has danmaku in shapes resembling that of the PlayStation's button logos.
- In Kyoto, the streets are laid out in grid-like pattern. Her spell card "Nightmare of Heiankyou" refers to this.
- Nue is the first Extra stage boss in the Windows series to have not met the final boss prior to the start of the game in which she first appears.
- Nue's first non-spell card attack resembles Vivit's (Erich's daughter) first attack in her second form in Shuusou Gyoku.
- Nue is the first character to appear as a boss in the extra stage of two different Touhou games.
Fandom
- Due to her character design, theme song, and the fact she is an Extra stage boss, some fans have compared her to Flandre Scarlet. This has led to her fan nickname, "U.F.O-wen." She sometimes shows up with her and Koishi (Both also extra bosses).
- She is generally drawn in fanart as being more slim-figured compared to some of the other characters (Byakuren, Shou, Ichirin).
- She is often shown with a mischevious if not seductive nature, though there are some innocent Nue portrayals.
- Due to her "Danmaku X from a Wandering Star" spell card in Double Spoiler, she's occasionally featured with the PlayStation button shapes. (×, ○, ∆, □)
Official Profiles
Official Sources
- 2009/08/15 Undefined Fantastic Object - Extra Stage dialogue; Settings and Extra Story.txt (official profile)
- 2009/08/15 Touhou Hisoutensoku - Reimu's VS dialogue with Marisa
- 2009/12/25 Interview on Undefined Fantastic Object with Chara☆Mel
- 2010/03/14 Double Spoiler - Stage 12 spellcard comments
- 2010/12/25 Oriental Sacred Place - Chapter 12
- 2011/08/13 Ten Desires - Extra Stage dialogue; Settings and Extra Story.txt (official profile)
- 2011/11/25 Wild and Horned Hermit - Chapter 9 (cameo)
- 2012/04/27 Symposium of Post-mysticism
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. |