Junko

純 (じゅん) 狐 (こ) d͡ʑʲɯ̹̃ŋko̞ Junko
Junko in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom
Species	Divine spirit
Abilities	Purifying anything
Location	Senkai
Music Themes
ピュアヒューリーズ　～　心の在処 (Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom)
Appearances
Official Games
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom (Final Boss, Extra Stage Co-Boss) Violet Detector (Week 3-6)
Print Works
Visionary Fairies in Shrine (Chapter 2 Cameo, 5 cameo, 15 cameo) Wild and Horned Hermit (Chapter 34 Cameo) The Grimoire of Usami (Section 2-6) Whispered Oracle of Hakurei Shrine (Fortune Slip No. 88)

"Though she now lives on another heavenly body, and I am unable to meet with her... Even if we are unable to dwell together under Heaven, my hatred alone will be refined. Now, show me! Just what an earthling risking her life is capable of! And behold! This pristine spiritual force that rejects life and death!"
— Junko to Reimu Hakurei (Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom Stage 6.)

Junko (純狐, Junko) is the main antagonist of Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom. She's a sagacious spirit, sworn enemy of Lunarians, and orchestrated the invasion to the Moon for the sole purpose of killing Chang'e.

General Information

Junko appeared as the Final Boss and Extra Boss helper in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom.

Personality

As a Sagacious Spirit who has purified her grudge towards Chang'e, Junko is described to be a being made out of pure fury. Her hatred is strong enough to persist after she murders Houyi, her first grudge and the person responsible for her son's death, to the point where she currently targets all of her animosity towards Chang'e and the Lunarians despite having nothing to do with her son's death. Junko doesn't seem to care for intricateness, preferring to do things with a straightforward attitude. This is shown through her spellcards as they are purely designed for murder, instead of beauty, which is the standard factor for spellcards. Because of her antagonism and ruthlessness to achieve her goals and desires, she has been described to be unique compared to many of Gensokyo's inhabitants.

Despite all of her intense, uncontrolled wrath, Junko has demonstrated a variety of surprisingly good cognitive functions. She can be calm and level-headed, have a willingness to be crafty to complete her objectives, can adapt to unfavorable situations, and can even be reasoned with and forgo plans without much issue. Junko also has standards to some degree, not wanting Gensokyo to be caught up in the crossfire, and calls the Lunarian's method of taking Gensokyo captive "inhumane".

Junko is also shown to be melodramatic, comparing her feud with the Lunarians to a "revenge drama" and being boastful when displaying her Danmaku, Exclaiming lines like "Are you watching Chang'e?" before fighting the protagonists.

Abilities

Ability to purify anything

Junko's power to purify anything, not to be confused with the Lunarian and Shinto concept of purity, refers to the refining of substances to remove impurities, such as in the refinement of metals. She used this power on her own grudge, strengthening it such that she became the embodiment of her resentment as a divine spirit, without even a need for an identity anymore, and on Clownpiece and other hell fairies, transforming them into beings of pure lifeforce that would threaten the Lunar Capital. She also claims to be able to kill the heroines unconditionally if they didn't use Eirin's drug and got hit at least once before facing Junko.

The terms used to refer to Junko's ability, junka (純化) or junsui (純粋), differs from the terms for the Shinto concept of kegare (穢れ) referred to as "impurity", and kiyome (清め), its "purification". So, they can be understood to mean two different things. In fact, Junko refining the hell fairies into pure embodiments of life supercharged their capacity to spread impurity.

According to ZUN, Junko's power of purification is actually an ability to bring things back to their godly nature, before they had names, so it could be almost considered an ability to give birth to gods. The nature of nameless objects and how giving names to gods makes them manifest only one of their aspects was previously described by Rinnosuke in Chapter 15 of Curiosities of Lotus Asia.

Species

Junko describes herself as a Sagacious Spirit (仙霊, Senrei), Reimu indicates that she is a more pure soul than a Lunarian or youkai and ZUN mentions in his interview that she is a type of divine spirit, however it's difficult to make a distinction between the two so at most, she's a Spirit.

Official Profiles

Official Profiles

Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom - omake.txt

○６面ボス　（無名の存在） 　　純狐 　　Junko 　　種族：神霊 　　能力：純化する程度の能力 　　月の民に怨みを持つ存在。 　　自らも怨みに純化された霊である。 　　既に自らが何者なのかという情報すら必要としなくなっていた。 　　彼女は月の民、嫦娥（じょうが）に強い怨みを持っていた。 　　詳しいことはゲームの一部エンディングと被るので省くが、 　　繰り返し月の都を襲っては、賢者に怒りを静められる存在だったようだ。 　　夫に息子を殺された、と言うのが最初の怨みだが、既に怨みは純化し、 　　一人歩きしている様だ。 　　その存在は一部の月の民しか知らされていない。 　　月の民には敵に怯える生活など不要だからだ。 　　嫦娥が彼女のことを知っているかは不明であるが、知らないことは無いだろう。 　　嫦娥とは、今作品には出てこないが月の都に幽閉された、月の女神である。 　　月の兎の支配者でもあり、強大な力を持っているが、表に出ることは無い。 　　嫦娥は蓬莱の薬を使った罪人であるのだ。 　　今回の月の都襲撃計画の概要はこうだ。 　　「月の表側を、生命力を純化した妖精で満たし、 　　　月そのものを生命の星にしてしまおう。 　　　それによって、月の都は逃げ出すしか無い。 　　　その隙を突いて、匿われている嫦娥を討つ」 　　地上が穢れ（生命）で溢れるのを厭い、月に移住したのが月の都の始まりである。 　　それと同じ事を月でも起こそうとしたのだ。 　　計画は順調だった。 　　静かの海は生命で満たされはじめた。 　　地獄の妖精達は、月を楽園だと思っていたようだ。 　　それほど地獄の環境は過酷なのだろう。 　　月の民は、彼女の生命の星計画に手も足も出なかった。 　　しかし、純狐には判っていた。 　　月の民はそのまま穢れの近くに居るはずが無い、夢の世界かどこかに逃げ込むだろう。 　　だから、先を読んでそこに友人を送り込んでいた。 　　予想通りというか、期待外れというか、月の民は半年以上何の動きも見せなかった。 　　純狐もまた、月の都を攻めあぐねていた。双方手が出せない膠着状態が続いていた。 　　少しずつ、彼女の怒りは収まり、これからどうしようかと考えなおす頃合いであった。 　　そんな時、現われたのはまさかの人間だった。 　　しかも穢れが浄化された人間である。何らかの薬の影響だろうか。 　　生命を厭わず、生命を感じない。 　　そんな人間を犠牲にした奇策をうってくるなんて思ってもみなかったが、彼女は安心した。 　　月の賢者は予想できない事をやってくる。 　　それが彼女の楽しみなのだ。 　　そして、ようやく今回の復讐劇は終わるのだと。

Stage 6 Boss - (Nameless being) Junko Species: Divine spirit Ability: Capable of purifying anything A being who holds a deep resentment for the Lunarians. She herself is a spirit who has been purified by that resentment. By now, she has no need even for information on what exactly she is. She had a deep grudge against Chang'e, one of the Lunarians. Details are included in one of the game's endings, so things will be kept brief here, but it seems that she calmed her rage against the sages by repeatedly attacking the Lunar Capital. Her first grudge came about when her husband killed her child, but said grudge has already been purified to the point where her anger stands on its own. Her existence is unknown to all but a select few of the Lunarians. It was hardly necessary for them to live in fear of her, after all. It's unknown if Chang'e has full knowledge of who she is, but she's likely aware of her to some extent. Chang'e doesn't appear in the game itself, but she's a goddess of the Moon imprisoned in the Lunar Capital. She rules over the moon rabbits and is extremely powerful, but she doesn't show herself publicly. She is also a criminal who drank the Hourai Elixir. Junko's plan to attack the Lunar Capital was as follows. "I'll fill the Near Side of the Moon with fairies whose life force I purified, turning the Moon itself into a planet with life on it. Thus, the Lunar Capital's residents will have no choice but to flee. Then I'll seize that opportunity, and shoot Chang'e down as she's escaping." The Lunar Capital was first founded by people who migrated to the Moon to escape the Earth's impurity (life force). Junko was going to cause the same thing to happen on the Moon. The plan went well. The Sea of Tranquility began to fill with life. It seemed that the fairies from Hell thought the Moon to be a paradise. That's how awful the environment in Hell must've been. The Lunarians couldn't raise a finger against her 'Planet with Life' plan. However, Junko knew. The Lunarians would hardly wait around near all that impurity, and would flee into the Dream World. Anticipating this, she sent one of her friends over there as well. Just as she planned, but perhaps not quite as she expected, the Lunarians showed no sign of action for over half a year. Junko was again at a loss as to how to attack the Lunar Capital. Both sides were locked in a stalemate. As her anger gradually began to settle, she thought she might have to reconsider her course of action. It was then that a human, of all things, appeared before her. Not just any human, but one whose impurity had been wiped clean away. Likely due to the effects of some drug. They did not abhor life, but no life could be felt from them. She never imagined that they'd come up with such a plan to send such a human in, but she felt at ease. The lunar sages had done something she never expected. She could at least enjoy that fact. And thus, her current revenge drama came to a close.

Spell Cards

Junko's spell cards contain some of the most simplistic patterns ever for a final boss of the Touhou Project. Her spell cards are designed "purely" to do just that rather than showing off various kinds of patterns. Most of her spell cards use circle danmaku shapes, which is significant as circles are widely viewed as "pure shapes".

Spell Cards

Name	Translated	Comments	Games	Stage
Total: 20
「掌の純光」	"Pure Light of the Palm"		LoLK GoU	St. 6: E/N/H/L —
「殺意の百合」	"Lilies of Murderous Intent"		LoLK	St. 6: E/N/H/L
「原始の神霊界」	"Primordial Divine Spirit World"		LoLK	St. 6: E/N
「現代の神霊界」	"Present-Day Divine Spirit World"		LoLK	St. 6: H/L
「震え凍える星」	"Trembling, Shivering Star"		LoLK GoU	St. 6: E/N/H/L —
「純粋なる狂気」	"Pristine Lunacy"		LoLK GoU	St. 6: E/N/H/L —
「溢れ出る瑕穢」	"Overflowing Blemishes"		LoLK	St. 6: E/N/H
「地上穢の純化」	"Refinement of Earthen Impurity"		LoLK	St. 6: L
純符「ピュアリーバレットヘル」	Pure Sign "Purely Bullet Hell"		LoLK	St. 6: E/N
純符「純粋な弾幕地獄」	Pure Sign "A Pristine Danmaku Hell"		LoLK	St. 6: H/L
「袋の鼠を追い詰める為の単純な弾幕」	"Simple Danmaku for Cornering a Trapped Rat"		LoLK	St. Ex
「人を殺める為の純粋な弾幕」	"Pristine Danmaku for Killing a Person"		LoLK	St. Ex
「最初で最後の無名の弾幕」	"First and Last Nameless Danmaku"	Co-owner with Hecatia	LoLK	St. Ex
「震え凍える悪夢」	"Trembling, Shivering Nightmare"		VD	Wrong Friday - 2
「サイケデリックマンダラ」	"Psychedelic Mandala"		VD	Wrong Friday - 3
「極めて威厳のある純光」	"Exceedingly Majestic Pure Light"		VD	Wrong Friday - 4
「確実に悪夢で殺す為の弾幕」	"Danmaku for Killing with Certainty via Nightmares"		VD	Wrong Friday - 5
紺珠符「純粋と不純の弾幕」	Ultramarine Orb Sign "Pure and Impure Danmaku"	Co-owner with Hecatia	VD	Nightmare Friday - 2
萃珠符「純粋な五里霧中」	Gathering Orb Sign "Purely Beyond All in the Fog"	Co-owner with Suika	VD	Nightmare Friday - 3
永珠符「穢れ無き珠と穢れ多き霊」	Eternal Orb Sign "An Unsullied Orb and a Much-Sullied Spirit"	Co-owner with Mokou	VD	Nightmare Friday - 6

Character Design

Origin

Junko seems to be based on Xuán Qī (玄妻) a figure who is mentioned in the ancient Chinese historical narrative Zuǒ Zhuàn and the Tiānwèn poems, noted for her dark hair and incredible beauty. Her nickname, Chún Hú (纯狐, lit. "pure fox"), is written using the same characters as "Junko." She was married to Hòu Kuí (後夔), the leader of the Xia Dynasty, and bore him a son, Bó Fēng (伯封).

After Hòu Yì (后羿) forced Hòu Kuí into exile and took over the Xia Dynasty, he killed Bó Fēng and forced Xuán Qī into marriage. In revenge, Xuán Qī conspired with Hòu Yì's minister, Hán Zhuó (寒浞) to kill him. She later married Hán Zhuó and bore him two sons.

In addition to this Hòu Yì, there is a more notable figure from Chinese mythology of the same name. Initially, instead of just one sun, there were ten suns (in Chinese, the word for "sun" and "day" are the same, and the ancient Chinese week was ten days long; hence, ten suns.) Normally, they would rise one at a time, one after another. However, one day, the ten suns all rose at once, threatening to purge the entire Earth in fire. The mythical archer, the hero Hòu Yì, shot down nine of the ten suns in order to save the world. He is also the husband of the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e, who drank the elixir of immortality and floated away to the moon.

The relationship between the two Hòu Yìs is unclear. The conflation of various historical figures named Hòu Yì has been the subject of at least one contemporary academic paper. The Hòu Yì within the Touhou Project appears to be a combination of the two mentioned above.

The account given by Eirin in Reisen's Pointdevice/No Miss Ending in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom seems to match up with many of the details above, but with a few omissions and discrepancies. First, there is no mention of Hòu Kuí or Hán Zhuó, and the diagram that Eirin shows seems to imply that Bó Fēng is Hòu Yì's own son rather than Hòu Kuí's. This change makes the Hòu Yì from Touhou canon a significantly more monstrous figure.

Name

Her known name is Junko (純狐), which is spelled with the characters for jun (純, lit. "pure, clean") and ko (狐, "Fox"). Her name meaning "pure fox" fits with the seven tail-like flames behind her and her ability to purify anything. According to her profile, she doesn't have an identity nor she desires to know what exactly she is.

Design

Junko wears a Chinese outfit of a red and yellow tabard with a 9-tailed fox pattern with a red sash over a wide-sleeved black dress and a black traditional Chinese crown called a dalachi (大拉翅). She has long, blonde/ginger hair and red eyes. Behind her are seven light-purple flame-like tails. Although not visible in her in-game appearance, Junko's portrayal in Visionary Fairies in Shrine shows her wearing dark-colored shoes and legwear.

Story

Games

Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom

Junko's sprite in LoLK

Junko plotted the invasion to the Moon in order to get revenge on Chang'e. She filled the Near Side of the Moon with fairies, and thus life, forcing the Lunarians to escape so she could use that moment to kill Chang'e. Knowing the Lunarians would likely flee to the Dream World, she sent Hecatia to trap them there. Over half a year the Lunarians took no action against her, causing a stagnation in Junko's plan and a steady appease of her anger, growing bored every time. It was at that time when the protagonist appears before her, clean of all impurity much to her surprise. Because her anger was already appeased, she saw no goal in continuing the invasion and admitted defeat before the battle.

Literature

Visionary Fairies in Shrine

Junko's appearance in Visionary Fairies in Shrine

In chapter 2 she makes an appearance when Clownpiece talks about why wasn't she born in the Earth instead of Hell.
Again, in chapter 5, she's mentioned by Eirin because she didn't know Junko was working alongside a Goddess of Hell.

Wild and Horned Hermit

Junko makes an appearance when Kasen and Marisa talk about how the urban legend and Lunarian invasion incidents never got proper resolutions.

Relationships

Hecatia Lapislazuli

Junko and Hecatia are friends. Because Hecatia sympathized with Junko, she accompanied her in her plot against the Lunar Capital, lending Junko her powers, as well as fairies like Clownpiece.

Clownpiece

Hecatia loaned Clownpiece to Junko to use as she wished. Clownpiece was purified into pure lifeforce and simply told to do what fairies do and play around near the Lunar Capital, at the Sea of Tranquility.

Chang'e

Junko has a grudge against Chang'e, because Chang'e's husband was responsible for killing Junko's son. So, she plotted against the Lunar Capital and staged an invasion to get to Chang'e.

Houyi

Houyi was both Chang'e and Junko's husband, though its unknown if they were both married to him at the same time. Houyi was the one who murdered Junko's son, which caused Junko to kill him in retaliation.

Gallery

Covers

• 

  Cover of Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom, featuring Junko's silhouette.

Illustrations

• 

  Junko from Who's Who of Humans & Youkai - Dusk Edition

• 

  Junko's fortune slip in Whispered Oracle of Hakurei Shrine

Screenshots

• 

  Junko's full appearance in Visionary Fairies in Shrine

Additional Information

• Junko is the first Windows era character with an official profile who does not have a proper title. This is likely because she purified herself of identifying information. Koakuma and Daiyousei also do not have titles, but they also do not have official profiles.
  • She is also notable for being the first final boss in the Windows era not to have a last name.
• A silhouette of Junko occupies the front of Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom's jewel case.

Fandom

Main article: Fandom: Junko

Official Sources

Official sources

• 2015/08/14 Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom - omake.txt (profile, Stage 6 dialogue)