Touhou Doujin: Grimoire of Dawitsu

Human Form of Hourai, Fujiwara no Mokou

Fujiwara no Mokou is a human- but an extraordinarily powerful human. And it's not because of innate talent, or intensive study like Reimu or Marisa, but because she has had lots of time to hone her skills. All the time in the world, one could say- because just like her bitter rival, Kaguya Houraisan, she is immortal.

She has trained in the art of controlling fire, and wears several charms on her clothes to prevent them catching fire. If only she wasn't human, she could simply wear asbestos and not bother with all those elaborate things. But, obviously, for those who are affected by asbestos poisoning, remember caution is required when mimicking her, as fire combusts anything indiscriminately, even its wielder. Not that Mokou couldn't wear asbestos, it's just that she'd die a lot quicker, and I'm sure stopping the assault to resurrect yourself is a bit of a pain.

Personality

Fujiwara no Mokou's personality can be summoned in one word: bitter. She absolutely hates her rival, Kaguya Houraisan. Why? Well, because her father fell in love with Kaguya, got sent on an impossible request, and then got pecked to death by swallows guarding the legendary Cowrie Shell. Now, in most cases, if, say, that was in a cartoon, I'd laugh my head off at such a death. But in real life, when it's your father... that's a totally different story. So, filled with hatred, she decided she was going to kill the woman who stole her father's heart and ultimately life.

And thus, the story of how she became an immortal human starts. She began to seek out the legendary Hourai elixir which she knew Kaguya had taken, so she stood a chance at beating her. She went to such lengths that she pushed someone into Mount Fuji's volcanic centre just to steal the to-be destroyed elixir. The result was that when she finally confronted Kaguya, neither of them won. They just fought, and fought, and fought until they both decided to quit. However, the armistice would only ever be temporary. The endless rebirths Fujiwara kept going through led her to be dissatisfied with eternal life, which she now blames on Kaguya (despite she was the one who actively searched out for it), adding another one of her reasons to attack Kaguya.

Despite her absolute hatred of what technically speaking is her worst Step-mum ever, she's kind to humans, and if she ever finds a human in the bamboo forest of the lost, she soon redirects them to human civilisation, protecting them on their way. Not much is known about her beyond her eternal feud with Kaguya, but I find her more mature than Kaguya despite her being younger. Perhaps it's because humans have a shorter lifespan than lunarians, so they mature quicker mentally, too. I don't know. Yutaka, was that section too long?

Notes on Mimicry

Fujiwara no Mokou is immensely powerful, so much so that imitation of her is actually far more worth it than her rival. This is because unlike Kaguya, she cares only about one thing- hitting you. Kaguya prefers a stylish finisher, but Mokou's attacks are pure and simple murder methods- it's all she wants when attacking Kaguya.

She attacks with spread, dense, and variable-speed sheets of Danmaku when she's preparing for a spell-card attack, but it's when she actually uses her spell-cards that things get interesting.

She usually backs herself with her phoenix emblem, indicating she's fully prepared to resurrect herself should she die trying to kill you with this attack. She manipulates fire in all kinds of diverse ways, but her most stylish use of it is sending flying phoenix shapes at you. Although they're obviously just made of several dots of fire, it's still pretty cool to see a flying bird of fire fly straight at you.

It should be noted that although it is truly simple to control fire (primitive humanity figured it out without Grimoires, I'm sure a sophisticated human can) that it is dangerous to get into a fight with Fujiwara no Mokou. If she views you as an enemy, she may well resurrect herself again and again until you can't take it any more and succumb, meaning she'll most likely kill you. So don't confront her by mentioning Kaguya. Instead, talk to her kindly, speak to her as if she's a friend, and (because of her life as an outcast from the humans) she may be willing to show you a few tricks without the whole 'wanting to kill you' part.

Yutaka, any remarks of your own?

Typist's notes: Mokou seems like a tortured soul, but then again, it's obvious why. Humans only live around seventy to eighty years, and she's far surpassed that. She's like Albedo from the Xenosaga... she can get hurt, no matter what, in any way, shape or form, but will always come back, heal, regenerate, all while still feeling the pain of it all.

But unlike Albedo, she isn't a Masochist who enjoys this- she just repeatedly feels pain, over and over, with no perpetual numbness from an unhealed amputation, or eternal rest from death... just... pain, no respite. I feel so sorry for her...