What are some of your favorite Touhous in the series?

I guess since I've been lurking within the forums and started to interact with this website, I wanted to make a thread and share who are some of my favorite Touhous within the series (the five listed are my top 5, however I'll list some characters that are outside of Gen 1/2 era that I enjoy)

Mystia - My favorite Touhou in the series, albeit fangames and fan content is a factor (I'll admit IN and PoFV is before a lot of the tropes most fans know her for or stuff I enjoy this character for myself) I'll say I'm someone who enjoys metal and I actually do like cooking so I actually resonate with this character a lot more than some would, Mystias Izakaya is also one of my favorite fangames I've played as well, nothing extremely deep but there's a reason why I clicked with this character a lot

Kogasa - This one isn't a strongly deep reason, I do like her design as well as someone who does enjoy the UFO cast, Kogasa does tend to be pretty popular within that game, I actually do like her blacksmithing hobby which I kinda wish the fandom leaned more on, plus she is adorable

Yuyuko - While I do think PCB isn't a perfect game despite the name says, Yuyuko is easily my favorite stage 6 boss and I always enjoyed her lore a lot, I do think she tends to be flanderized alot by the fandom while I enjoy this character despite the "gluttonous" memes she gets a lot, her lore is compelling and she is always a very entertaining character whenever she shows up, as well as her being a tragic character in ways, ultimately I like how silly she can be, but locks in when she gets serious (I've seen iterations where she is pretty silly and an airhead, but I've also seen iterations of her being a legitimately threatening or menacing character who uses her airy-ness as a facade)

Mokou & Kaguya - I actually want to pair these two together instead of doing them separately as I always enjoyed the lore and relationship between these two as there is so much you can do with Mokou and Kaguya, maybe I've always been fascinated by them being immortal and wondering how they end up living with said immortality, on top of them being binded by their fates, Mokou also has a lot of aura (but I genuinely like when Mokou and Kaguya are more silly rather than brutally fighting each other) and Kaguya made me more fascinated with how she treats the world, especially when she always feels like she has all the time in the world to explore (I know people love to play with the NEET memes, but I unironically think she does hang out outside, I don't particularly wanna truly believe the fandom memes as much as people make it out to be)

Suika - While she isn't as high as my initial start to Touhou, she holds a lot of sentimentality as she was one of my first proper Touhous I've gotten to know, since I've mained her in the past in Hisoutensoku, despite moving on from fighting games nowadays, it does mean a lot that the oni that is more chill with humans also was said Touhou that ultimately got me in the series (I knew who Cirno, Okuu or Sakuya were before I was a fan but never particularly known Touhou proper)

Honorable mentions (listing characters outside of Gen 1/2): Seija, Hecatia, recently Clownpiece (used to hate the character before due to my LoLK trauma), Yumeko (there isn't a lot of PC98 characters that pop out at me due to lesser exposure to them compared to Windows era Touhous as well as lack of character depth), Mike (surprisingly my favorite Touhou in UM, I like her energy)

Top 4 list of favorite to lesser favorite.

1. Utsuho Reiuji: Dispute what you may think, she is by, BYYYY, far my favorite. I didn't know/care about her until about January (I officially declared myself Touhou fan last early December). At first, I really didn't care about her. Until I really learned more about her.

Best ability, best personality, best design, most cuddly, the overall best character in the franchise (in my opinion). I love her so much. Therefore, she lands as my favorite character.

2. Rika + Evil Eye Sigma: A combo deal, why leave out the lesser known creation from Creator. The only reason why I came to care about these two is because of this very account. Pretty sure I thought to myself,

"It would be hilarious if someone was doing some discussion and this account based on some random ass character no one knows about replies."

My enjoyment for my glorious SIGMA eyeball has grown past its performative past. I've come to enjoy the fact it's, well, nonhuman/youkai, don't really see those. It's also a literal tank based on a eyeball with a Greek symbol on it, that's pretty cool. I don't care about Rika as much, but I find it neat that she fought Reimu with tanks. Also, first extra bosses as well. Therefore, they land at the second spot.

3. Sakuya Izayoi: The former top 1 when I first became a fan of Touhou. Why, because she is a MOTHERFUCKING JOJO REFERENCE. I was still a pretty big jojo fan then as I am now (due to the steel ball run anime).

I've come to know her as more than that, but still, a time stopping elegant maid who throws knives is pretty awesome (literally DIO bro). She cool, looks cool, acts cool, and overall, is cool.

(Everything below the 3 spot is a little shifty. But they still are characters I like.)

4. Yuuma Toutetsu: She's hungry , a sheep (or lamb), and loves oil . Who couldn't love her.

Final boss of the first Touhou spinoff I've played, so I have some bias towards her.

Cool design, cool, Spork? It's stupid, it's funny, and it makes me likes her more, why a Spork? To show how gluttonous she is I can guess. She's strong, and overall is cute and cool.

Honorable mentions: These characters I like more than others for one or two simple reasons. Most to least favorite

1. Aya Shameimaru: She is a bird like Okuu.

2. Murasa Minamitsu: Cool captain girl with a literal anchor as a weapon.

3. Shinmyoumaru Sukuna: Final boss of the first Touhou game I've played (DDC bias). Also has the best song in the franchise (Kobito of the Shining Needle).

I Really love Raiko and Nina Watari, they've been my favorite since i joined the fandom (back in march or april), Their really interesting characters, I've loved musical instruments since i was young and when i found out about raiko i was fascinated by her, and to Nina watari, I dont have much to say but I really love clams. her ability of creating mirages sounds interesting (Bonus: Yuyuko, i never really liked her back in the day but now I grew an interest towards her since she really likes eating like me :])

TarosTheVoid said:

Yuyuko

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Youmu and Yuyuko as a pair are definitely my favorites at the moment. They just have a really funny dynamic, with Youmu's earnest naivety and Yuyuko's clever teasing.

Something that you touched on that I really notice is that the "fandom" version of Yuyuko is pretty lacking. Those who see her as silly and trivial failed to understand her character, I think. It's much closer to the second interpretation of her being more calculated, though I don't think I would go as far as to call her more jovial and careless image as a "facade."

In IN, which is where I think a lot of conceptions about Yuyuko come from, if you only look at things at the surface level, you might get this image that Yuyuko is aimless and driven by whims, and Youmu is more serious and must keep Yuyuko on track. But actually reading into the dialogue, I think it is pretty obvious that while Yuyuko likes messing with others and keeping an unserious atmosphere she is very wise and knows exactly what she is doing. Early on in that game, Yuyuko drops a stick to see which direction they should go. If all you read is that you might get this idea that she is winging things and doesn't know much about what she is doing, but as Youmu states afterwards, Yuyuko is obviously dropping the stick to only fall in one direction, showing that she does indeed know exactly where they are going, and is only acting in such a careless manner to mess with Youmu.

I think that one interaction is a great example of Yuyuko's character, but we can also see her obvious shrewdness when she engages with Eirin at the end of that game. In stage 5, Eirin directly calls out that Yuyuko's commands for Youmu is teasing. In stage 6A, Yuyuko cuts right through everything and makes it clear that she knows exactly what is going on with the moon being fake, which Eirin finds impressive.

As for the gluttonous depiction, this obviously comes from the running gag of that team throughout IN, and it remains as a sort of part of her character in other media, though it certainly can be annoying how for much of the fanbase this is the only way that they engage with Yuyuko's rich character. It can be disappointing. But hey, what fan of the games isn't disappointed at how the wider fanbase views some characters, right? Haha.

Sorry if this is a bit much. I just agree with you in that I love this character (though perhaps Youmu more-so), and I think a lot of people miss the absolutely rich characterization that happens between the two. In a lot of ways, it feels like some people take the position of Youmu in that they are also getting teased by buying into Yuyuko's behavior, which is pretty funny at least.

(As a side note, I really love Yuyuko's portrait when she calls out Eirin's plot in IN. She looks so smug.)

Well, too many to really count for me. lol
But, among those I consistently come back to (and I would generally consider my "favorites"), in no particular order save for the first three, are Letty, Medicine, Hina, Yuyuko, Remilia, Flandre, Kaguya, Youmu, Kokoro, Yukari, Ran, Chen, Alice, Okina, Benben, Kagerou, Wakasagihime, the Three Fairies, Cirno, Orin, Satori, Yamame, Parsee, Keiki, Patchouli, Meiling, Mystia, Eiki, Komachi, Daiyousei, the Prismriver Sisters, Aki sisters, and, well, probably a few others I can't list off the top of my head.
Quite a bit for me, that's for sure. lol

Edit: Oop, I forgot Alice. Just how did I forget to put Alice in there?
I swear, my brain needs help. lol

SateriCat17 said:

Well, too many to really count for me. lol
But, among those I consistently come back to (and I would generally consider my "favorites"), in no particular order save for the first three, are Letty, Medicine, Hina, Yuyuko, Remilia, Flandre, Kaguya, Youmu, Kokoro, Yukari, Ran, Chen, Okina, Benben, Kagerou, Wakasagihime, the Three Fairies, Cirno, Orin, Satori, Yamame, Parsee, Keiki, Patchouli, Meiling, Mystia, Eiki, Komachi, Daiyousei, the Prismriver Sisters, Aki sisters, and, well, probably a few others I can't list off the top of my head.
Quite a bit for me, that's for sure. lol

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Ah. A few others I should probably mention (told ya there were probably more I was forgetting, and will probably be still yet more than these) are, Mokou, Shinki, Mima, Shingyoku (HRtP first stage boss), Nareko, Yuiman, and Rin Satsuki (though she "technically" isn't a proper character).
Yeah, there are almost certainly a couple more I'm forgetting. lol
Definitely just "some" for me! XD

Edit: Honorable mentions would include Maribel and Renko. They are both too likeable to dislike.

Spongelash said:

Youmu and Yuyuko as a pair are definitely my favorites at the moment. They just have a really funny dynamic, with Youmu's earnest naivety and Yuyuko's clever teasing.

Something that you touched on that I really notice is that the "fandom" version of Yuyuko is pretty lacking. Those who see her as silly and trivial failed to understand her character, I think. It's much closer to the second interpretation of her being more calculated, though I don't think I would go as far as to call her more jovial and careless image as a "facade."

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My apologies for not explaining myself as well, I wouldn't necessarily say facade but she does like to play up being less knowledgeable or pretending to be unaware when she always had this keen eye or knows more than she lets on

I've always felt like Yuyuko was always one of the more intelligent characters in the series, due to her wits and what you explained about IN is a pretty good reason as to why, I don't wanna get the image across as her being deceitful, whenever I implied a facade, its moreso letting people's guard down by being silly/teasing the other person, shes not really malicious

Spongelash said:

As for the gluttonous depiction, this obviously comes from the running gag of that team throughout IN, and it remains as a sort of part of her character in other media, though it certainly can be annoying how for much of the fanbase this is the only way that they engage with Yuyuko's rich character. It can be disappointing. But hey, what fan of the games isn't disappointed at how the wider fanbase views some characters, right? Haha.

Sorry if this is a bit much. I just agree with you in that I love this character (though perhaps Youmu more-so), and I think a lot of people miss the absolutely rich characterization that happens between the two. In a lot of ways, it feels like some people take the position of Youmu in that they are also getting teased by buying into Yuyuko's behavior, which is pretty funny at least.

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I can laugh at the jokes time to time, because some people can be creative with these gluttonous jokes, but alot of people assume that's all she is, when I never felt like they take the character seriously, fandoms are like that (Cirno fans tend to flanderize her alot, I know she isn't the most indepth character ever but she does get it the worst, at least when I first started being into Touhou, I don't see it as often nowadays)

I just rather not see certain fans be dismissive as solely just being those traits when the actual compelling traits of her take a backseat, I'm not particularly angry over it so to say, it's moreso wanting others to appreciate the character the way I had done on my own

Also you did nail alot of Youmu and Yuyukos relationship as a pairing well, I know the fandom loves making Youmu very serious when I think she always been simple minded, albeit steadfast. Youmu is actually in my top 10, but I just wanted to state characters that stuck with me for a while (honestly I should've put Sakuya up in this list but I digress)

Mi0ink said:

Top 4 list of favorite to lesser favorite.

1. Utsuho Reiuji: Dispute what you may think, she is by, BYYYY, far my favorite. I didn't know/care about her until about January (I officially declared myself Touhou fan last early December). At first, I really didn't care about her. Until I really learned more about her.

Best ability, best personality, best design, most cuddly, the overall best character in the franchise (in my opinion). I love her so much. Therefore, she lands as my favorite character.

2. Rika + Evil Eye Sigma: A combo deal, why leave out the lesser known creation from Creator. The only reason why I came to care about these two is because of this very account. Pretty sure I thought to myself,

"It would be hilarious if someone was doing some discussion and this account based on some random ass character no one knows about replies."

My enjoyment for my glorious SIGMA eyeball has grown past its performative past. I've come to enjoy the fact it's, well, nonhuman/youkai, don't really see those. It's also a literal tank based on a eyeball with a Greek symbol on it, that's pretty cool. I don't care about Rika as much, but I find it neat that she fought Reimu with tanks. Also, first extra bosses as well. Therefore, they land at the second spot.

3. Sakuya Izayoi: The former top 1 when I first became a fan of Touhou. Why, because she is a MOTHERFUCKING JOJO REFERENCE. I was still a pretty big jojo fan then as I am now (due to the steel ball run anime).

I've come to know her as more than that, but still, a time stopping elegant maid who throws knives is pretty awesome (literally DIO bro). She cool, looks cool, acts cool, and overall, is cool.

(Everything below the 3 spot is a little shifty. But they still are characters I like.)

4. Yuuma Toutetsu: She's hungry , a sheep (or lamb), and loves oil . Who couldn't love her.

Final boss of the first Touhou spinoff I've played, so I have some bias towards her.

Cool design, cool, Spork? It's stupid, it's funny, and it makes me likes her more, why a Spork? To show how gluttonous she is I can guess. She's strong, and overall is cute and cool.

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It's a pretty nice list, honestly back in the days I would've placed Sakuya in my top 3 but I was moreso a newer fan, I had a pretty odd relationship with Sakuya as

I had once thought she was lame to enjoy after being a fan for a year (I've been a fan of Touhou for roughly 5+ years so far? I started when UM was out, I think for a few months actually) due to feeling more embarrassed or ashamed of thinking characters from EoSD were cool since I wanted to stand out, however as time passed i felt more nostalgic towards enjoying Sakuya and actually came more around to enjoying the EoSD cast as we kept getting newer Touhous from 19 and 20 (maybe I had moreso a counter reaction in wanting to appreciate the older games than being into the newer casts) so nowadays I unironically enjoy Sakuya, she's also in my top 10 favorites

Also I really do like Yuuma, I should've added her but my mind thrown a blank she's such a silli creature

And honestly if I had to say what cast I like from PC98, it would easily be MS (it's pretty hard to get into the older games myself, at least stuff before LLS)