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Relationshipping

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Revision as of 01:14, 13 October 2008 by Rukaroa (talk | contribs) (There is Genji and also a few mentioned but never shown males in Gensokyo. Undo revision 52262 by SuddenFrost (talk))
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Romantic and/or sexual relationships between characters are an extremely popular subject in Touhou doujinshi and fanart. Of course, since almost all of the characters are female, "everybody in Gensokyo is gay" is itself a meme. Jokes aside, ZUN himself does acknowledge the idea of his characters getting romantically involved.

This is intended to be a list of the couples most commonly seen in fanon and excludes "crack pairings". Brief explanations of likely canon origins, or at least excuses, are also welcome.

Main Character Harems

As the protagonists, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame are frequent subjects of shipping speculation, both with each other and with enemies they've defeated. Marisa, however, is often considered to have a larger "harem".

Reimu and Marisa appear as playable main characters, usually both in the same game, in all Touhou games except Shoot the Bullet. They are also shown to be acquainted in several places in the games, sharing a sort of on-again-off again camaraderie. This is a rather popular pairing with fan authors, mostly displaying the contrast between Marisa's sassy, easy-going and spontaneous attitude, and Reimu's more unabashed, laid-back and level-headed demeanor. Artists like Rocket Fuel 21 and Asian Big Brother Generation like to portray an affectionate and aggressive Reimu and a bashful Marisa (or Marisa crushing painfully on her in the second case), but those need to be taken into account as very personal interpretations those authors chose.
In one of the endings of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, it is mentioned that Remilia often visits the Hakurei Shrine to have tea with Reimu. Naturally, this was taken further.
Reimu and Yukari — the border's shrine maiden and the youkai of the border — made up the Border Team of Imperishable Night. Their relationship in fanworks is usually identified by Yukari playfully teasing or flirting with Reimu (as Yukari does poke fun at her a lot in the game), who often acts irritated or impatient with the advances but may become receptive to them eventually.
With no home to go after the events of Immaterial and Missing Power, Suika was taken in at the Hakurei Shrine. It's plausible to think the oni can get very affectionate at times.
Could be said that it simply comes from the fact that the two are both shrine maidens, but the Mountain of Faith dialogues might bear some leads for it.
Alice and Marisa make up the Magic Team of Imperishable Night, and as the two are both witches living in the same forest and have occasional quarrels, they are often shown to be friends. In fanworks the pair is depicted as being somewhat troubled, with Alice hiding her feelings for the often-oblivious(?) Marisa and getting exasperated by her attitude. Some works portray a "worst case scenario" in which the anxiety put upon her can become deadly, as she begins to develop obsessive and jealous tendencies that may end up in her harming Marisa or herself. This pairing is popular among fans, bolstered by the popularity of Marisa Stole The Precious Thing.
One of the endings to Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, plus articles from Perfect Memento in Strict Sense and Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, all make reference to Marisa stealing books from Patchouli's library in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. It is assumed that there is a reason Patchouli tolerates this. In fanworks, Patchouli is often shown sharing her books reluctantly with Marisa in order to have a reason to spend more time with her.
Upon defeating Flandre in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Marisa suggests for Flandre to get married, with Reimu for example. At times fans will couple the young vampire with Marisa (actual Flandre x Reimu pairing is very uncommon, almost never seen), though. But the latter is still the one who gave her the hint.
Rinnosuke has known Marisa since she was a child, and the two are occasionally portrayed as harboring affections towards each other.
This pairing was inspired by the option of choosing Nitori as Marisa's youkai partner in Subterranean Animism's Marisa type C firing mode.

Masters and Servants

The suffering and frustration experienced by serious-minded servants at the hands of their exasperating, capricious masters is a frequent source of humor in both official works (especially Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth) and fanworks.

Koakuma is believed to be a demon that Patchouli summoned and bound to serve her as assistant librarian.
This doesn't actually quite fit the trend, as they're either usually seen in a mother/daughter relationship, but also a romantic one at times.
Ran is usually the only one keeping the Yakumo household running because Yukari is asleep most of the time.
Ran is often depicted alternatively displaying a motherly or a lolicon attitude towards Chen.
In their case, it's Sikieiki who's serious and and Komachi who's the flaky servant.
Kanako is dominant over Suwako, having taken control of Suwako's shrine by force, and Sanae is often depicted as being a level-headed shrine maiden who tries to keep both of her goddesses' antics under control.

General Pairings

Keine appears in Imperishable Night's Extra stage to protect Mokou.
Canonically, Tewi often plays practical jokes on Reisen, or frames her so that Eirin can punish her (see below under "Domination or Rape").
Patchouli is a close enough friend to Remilia that Remilia has allowed her to live in her house, probably for centuries. In fact, as seen in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, they call each other by their abbreviated names. This suggests some level of intimacy.
Comes from Cirno's ending in PoFV which features her and Aya.
The doll maker and the living doll.
Yukari is a longtime friend of Yuyuko, having known her even before her death.
In Curiosities of Lotus Asia, Yukari is seen to visit Rinnosuke's shop, and they have a common interest in artifacts from the outside world.
Their stages are next to each other. It is only a minor connection, but enough to make it popular enough that it is almost the only pairing that features Hina.
The similarity of Nitori's hairstyle to that of PC-98 character Chiyuri led to jokes about them forming a "Twin-Tail Alliance". Their shared interest in science only furthered their pairing status.
The only two individuals known from the world past Gensokyo's border. In a night-activities club that consists of only them.
Often features the two acting as "parents" for Sanae.
Kind of an obscure pairing, as Yuka is incredibly powerful so it wouldn't make sense for her to pay attention to lower-level youkai. But Wriggle is a bug. Bugs pollinate flowers, and Yuka is a flower youkai. ANGELTYPE's depiction of this pairing (in Nightbug and Flowerland) features Yuka acting as protective big-sister for Wriggle, or alternatively showing her affection by tormenting her.

Domination or Rape

As often seen, but may also be depicted in romantic and consensual contexts.

Usually involves Meiling having an unrequited crush on Sakuya, and Sakuya frequently stabbing Meiling in the head for not doing her job as door guard.
Similar to the previous pairing, but usually depicted with more extreme circumstances. Popularized by Sougetsu-Tei, after which "Fangirl Youmu" became a meme unto itself, with pictures of Youmu being photoshopped with a lovestruck expression wherever possible.
An extension of the meme about Yuyuko trying to eat Mystia.
Eirin is frequently shown, even in the canonical Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth, to subject Reisen to medical experiments and corporal punishment. As a side note regarding Kaguya, Reisen's occupation as seen in the profile is "Kaguya's pet".
Canonically, both of them continually fight each other with deadly force, even though they're immortal and regenerate all damage.