Mad_Dog_of_Fujiwara
She/Her- 9,211
- 10,535
So, why am I doing this now? Simply put, I think these additions are too major for the profile rewrites (they ARE mostly just rewrites, after all) and general ability addition threads I have planned, but at the same time, I think they're too small for their own dedicated thread. I'm just doing these now so I don't have to worry about where to put them later.
Accelerated Development & Reactive Evolution (and some other shit)
The reason why I chose this thread title. For starters, Reimu's AD has a canon title in the form of Heaven-granted genius, which states that she can master martial arts and black magic alike with zero training or knowledge. In that same vein, she is stated to possess both infinite potential and limitless innate talent. Since PC-98 is now canon, I can also add how Reimu initially lacked the ability to fly, but became able to do so later on (again, with zero training). Similarly, Reimu in the early Windows era is characterized as being night blind, but by the time of Subterranean Animism, she's not only able to see in dark places easily, but is also immune to night blindness in general. Finally, when fighting Mima in SoEW, Reimu's base self is considered comically weak in comparison, but by beating the game without continuing, she's shown to have grown to the point where Mima is outright afraid of her strength, meaning her AD extends to physical statistics as well.
This is where the fun begins. As shown in Lotus Eaters, Reimu is pretty easily affected by Miyoi's ability to create illusions that paralyze one's body with fear, as well as her ability to erase memories. For her illusions, the very next time Reimu is the target of one, she's able to immediately break out of a drunken and half-asleep state (this would also be resistance to status effect inducement, btw) and realize that she's fighting an illusion. For her memory manipulation, it's important to note that Reimu is immediately affected by it; Once Miyoi is out of Reimu's line of sight, Reimu instantly forgets she ever existed. In their next encounter, Reimu remembers Miyoi's appearance, as well as bits and pieces of their conversation. In the next encounter, Reimu immediately recognizes Miyoi and is able to fully remember the conversation they had the previous night. And two chapters later, Reimu is fully aware of Miyoi's powers and notes how she's currently the only one in Gensokyo unaffected by them. However, this sort of adaptation is a lot faster than these scenes give it credit for; In Gensokyo Geography, it's stated that Reimu is only affected by Sakuya's time stop in the event of her loss. In other words, Reimu gained a resistance to Sakuya's time stop simply by fighting her and winning. The best example of this sort of mid-combat adaptation is from AoCF, where Reimu states that she'd get swallowed up by, and subsequently affected by, Shion's full power negative aura. However, literally seconds later, she holds her own perfectly fine - this remains true when Shion's barrier breaks and all the auras she's been retaining start flowing out. Reimu proceeds to not only continue fighting unaffected (and eventually win despite the instant loss effects of Shion's aura), but she also states that her power is "flowing like the endless tide" because of Shion's aura. In short, Reimu goes from being affected by the aura, to resisting it, to resisting an enhanced version while also using it to greatly amplify herself within a few seconds.
In case the last example seems sus, because nothing actually says it's the same as Shion's negative aura, consider the following: We know Shion refers to this "glaring" aura as the auras she had been retaining, and her omake.txt clearly notes how she only retains misfortune. We can also see that this aura is visually identical to the negative auras shown in previous spell cards (taking the form of various kanji describing disaster and misfortune). So it should be identical to her regular aura, just greatly amplified.
TL;DR: Reimu gets AD (statistics), Reactive Evolution, Empowerment, and Resistance to Memory Manipulation, Status Effect Inducement, Illusion Creation, Fear Manipulation, and Paralysis Inducement. She also gets additional justifications for Power Modification, Accelerated Development, Enhanced Senses, and Resistance to Time Stop. The new justifications will be as follows:
- Accelerated Development & Reactive Evolution (Passive, Abilities, Statistics; Despite being incapable of gaining any lasting benefits from training[16], Reimu is said to possess Heaven-granted genius that allows her to master skills like martial arts or black magic, even with a complete lack of knowledge[17], and is stated to possess limitless innate talent[18][19]. Reimu has consistently improved herself in several ways over the years, such as initially requiring time-consuming rituals to summon gods[20] before being able to summon them with just a thought[21], needing to rely on her turtle, Genji, in order to fly[22], before learning how to do so on her own, or being affected by the sleep-inducing effects of dream souls[23] before later taking hits from them without issue[24]. Despite Fantasy Nature being the only spell card using a technique she knows from birth, she has gained dozens of other powers and spell cards over the years[25]. Gradually grew to resist Miyoi's ability to[26] erase[27] memories[28] and create illusions[29] that leave their victims paralyzed with fear[30] despite being initially affected[31], becoming the only one in Gensokyo to resist these techniques. Gained the ability to see in dark locations and become unaffected by night blindness[32] despite not being able to do so before[33][34]. Was affected by Reisen's ability to control wavelengths during the Imperishable Night incident[35], but was later noted to have possessed wavelengths that were more difficult to manipulate[36]. Was shown to be unable to physically interact with dream selves when first encountering Sumireko's dream self[37], but could do so[38] against the dream selves she encountered in the Dream World not long after[39]. Despite fearing her being affected by Shion's full power aura, she adapted to resist it within a matter of seconds, and additionally kept up with her even after she began releasing more auras[40]. Initially considered far too weak to face Mima, but could grow to surpass her in power in a short period of time[41]. Could adapt to Sakuya Izayoi's time manipulation over the course of their initial fight, with Reimu being completely unaffected in the case of her victory[42])
- Empowerment & Further Power Modification (When she adapted to Shion's negative aura, Reimu was said to have been drawing near-infinite power from her aura[37])
- Enhanced Senses (Saw Kasen's non-existent true form[43]. Was able to see through an illusory moon and a tanuki's illusory disguise[44]. Can see in dark locations easily, and is not affected by nightblindness[31])
- Resistance to Time Stop (Can move inside Eientei unrestricted[76] despite it having a frozen flow of time[77]. During her initial fight with Sakuya Izayoi, Reimu was stated to have been completely unaffected by her time stop after winning[78])
- Resistance to Status Effect Inducement, Illusion Creation, Paralysis Inducement, & Fear Manipulation (Could snap herself out of a drunken and half-asleep state at a moment's notice, immediately recognizing that she was stuck in an illusion after the fact[79]. Said illusions are able to leave one's body paralyzed with fear[80])
- Resistance to Memory Manipulation (Despite Miyoi passively erasing the memories of anyone she encounters[81], Reimu could still remember Miyoi's appearance[82], their previous conversation[83], and it's said that Reimu is the only one in Gensokyo unaffected by her powers[84])
Passive 4D Power Nullification
So we already know that Reimu shattered the barrier between the Netherworld and Gensokyo. This is described as her causing it to vanish with just a touch. However, in Reimu's own route, we're given a slightly different explanation; When Youmu confronts Reimu about breaking the barrier, Reimu claims that there never was a barrier, and that Yomu is at fault for not having a barrier in the first place. So from Reimu's perspective, the barrier just... never existed. We know she's the one who nullified it so it seems clear to me that she did so without even being consciously aware of it. Now we do visually see what the barrier looks like - it's a giant magical barrier - so it's not like Reimu just plowed through without seeing it. More likely, it was nullified before she even could see it - given most of PCB takes place above the clouds, we can use the max range of a human's eyesight on a clear day to get an estimate on how much range Reimu's power null has (5 kilometers, rip to Touhou matches under SBA).
That was a lot, so thankfully this next part is slightly more simple. We know Otherworlds like the Netherworld are different space-times. We know that Gensokyo and the Netherworld were different worlds prior to the barrier being broken, making it easy to come and go between the two. Therefore, the barrier separating them is a barrier separating space-times, and therefore 4D.
On a smaller note, I've erroneously listed Reimu turning a bunch of tsukumoagmi back into objects as transmutation; Given a scene later in FS shows that her ofuda can completely prevent supernatural transformations from taking place, I think it's more likely that she can just nullify transformations. She still has transmutation from 17.5 game mechanics, but the justifications need to be reworked a bit. Speaking of which:
- Passive Power Nullification (4D; Can destroy magical seals[57][58] and nullified the barrier separating Gensokyo and the Netherworld[59]. This ability is seemingly passive, as Reimu believed there simply never was a barrier blocking the entrance to the Netherworld to begin with[60], implying it was nullified before she was even aware it existed. This was noted to have thinned the barrier between worlds, making travel between the two possible[61][62], with the Netherworld having formerly been treated as an Otherworld and therefore a different space-time[63][64][65][66]. Reimu's ofuda can nullify enemy projectiles[67], revert tsukumogami back to their original forms[68], or prevent objects from turning into tsukumogami entirely[69])
Conclusion: Reimu is too strong for her own good, pls nerf
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