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As has been established in both the lore of Touhou and the profiles for the verse, gods can make a multitude of avatars for themselves, and pretty much all of the gods that have been fought in the games and other medias were just avatars of said gods, all except for one. Even though this god didn't use an avatar to fight the heroines in the game she stars in, her profile has for years assumed she did. I don't need to even mention who it is because you literally read the title.
Why she doesn't have an avatar key
Junko has the ability to purify anything in the verse. However, this is very different compared to the other forms of purification shown in the verse or other fictional media, as instead of purifying things the "normal" way (i.e literally removing the impurity of something), she restores something to their original, simpler or more primordialdid you see what i did there form. Such as when she turned Clownpiece and the other fairies of hell into pure life energy (Source: Touhou 15 Manual). Though she didn't just use this ability on the fairies, as her bio in the Touhou 15 manual also states that she used this ability on both her anger and even herself, turning her into a "Sagacious Spirit," which ZUN (/word of god) states it's just another flavor of divine spirit in this interview:
It's also worth mentioning that Junko forgot her own identity after purifying herself, and that she carries the title of "Nameless Being" in Touhou 15. This is important as only the avatars of gods have names, while their primordial forms don't, which as ZUN mentions is explained in chapter 15 of CoLA.
With that out of the way, it just needs to be proven that the Junko that LoLK's cast fights is her actual, primordial form, instead of an avatar. Which there's also enough proof of.
Besides her title in the game being Nameless being, Reimu tells Tewi that Junko was a pure soul, or a divine spirit. Her words are credible as she's a shrine maiden, and she never talks about any other godly avatar like this.
(Sources: One of Reimu's endings in Touhou 15)
Probably somewhat weaker of the other evidences, is Junko's danmaku. For a series that's known for having characters whose entire fighting style is creating images or unique shapes out of the ridiculous amount of projectiles they throw at you, Junko's patterns are incredibly simplistic, with ZUN confirming that this was intentional in the interview. Considering that Junko can turn things into their most simplest forms, and that her danmaku is basic, also eludes that this is her purified state instead of an avatar.
Lastly, in the same interview I've linked, ZUN states that Junko managed to hold onto her pure form;
How does this affect the other profiles?
Since the playable cast of LoLK managed to fight the primordial form of a god, who have AE, NEP, and Transduality, their NPI will be upgraded. So these profiles will be affected:
Will this affect the scaling in any signifcant way?
I'm not really sure, as I'm not really good at Touhou's scaling chain. I'll update this part of the OP once a conclusion regarding Junko's placement in the scaling chain is reached.
Why she doesn't have an avatar key
Junko has the ability to purify anything in the verse. However, this is very different compared to the other forms of purification shown in the verse or other fictional media, as instead of purifying things the "normal" way (i.e literally removing the impurity of something), she restores something to their original, simpler or more primordial
It's hard to separate the character from the genre. She is a type of divine spirit, but it's hard to make a distinction so at the very least she's a spirit. In this case, it's a little hard to handle her. Who could there be to explain who she is or what she does?
It's also worth mentioning that Junko forgot her own identity after purifying herself, and that she carries the title of "Nameless Being" in Touhou 15. This is important as only the avatars of gods have names, while their primordial forms don't, which as ZUN mentions is explained in chapter 15 of CoLA.
At the same time that the power to name is a god’s power, the gods themselves didn’t have names in the beginning. Like with Takemikazuchi no Mikoto or Hachiman, the names of the gods we are familiar with nowadays only represent but one aspect of these gods. Takemikazuchi no Mikoto was originally Mikatsuchi (Pot Spirit), and just as the name implies, he was a god lodged in a jar. When his name changed to Takemikazuchi, he changed from a god of sorcery (as implied by the ‘pot’ character) to a god of swordsmanship (implied by the ‘thunder’ character). By changing its name, a god changes its nature, which is evidence that a god’s name is only one aspect of their selves. In the beginning, the gods had a much more ambiguous shape, so they were nameless entities with no particular distinctions.
Conversely, the gods who still retain their original form can only possess things from before everything was named. Because if a god were lodged in something with a name, then it could only display one of its aspects.
With that out of the way, it just needs to be proven that the Junko that LoLK's cast fights is her actual, primordial form, instead of an avatar. Which there's also enough proof of.
Besides her title in the game being Nameless being, Reimu tells Tewi that Junko was a pure soul, or a divine spirit. Her words are credible as she's a shrine maiden, and she never talks about any other godly avatar like this.
(Sources: One of Reimu's endings in Touhou 15)
Probably somewhat weaker of the other evidences, is Junko's danmaku. For a series that's known for having characters whose entire fighting style is creating images or unique shapes out of the ridiculous amount of projectiles they throw at you, Junko's patterns are incredibly simplistic, with ZUN confirming that this was intentional in the interview. Considering that Junko can turn things into their most simplest forms, and that her danmaku is basic, also eludes that this is her purified state instead of an avatar.
Lastly, in the same interview I've linked, ZUN states that Junko managed to hold onto her pure form;
I touched on it a little in Curiosities of Lotus Asia, but if I have to say it then it would be the power of the gods. A pure power from before things had names. When you give a name to something, its godly nature disappears. But she held onto that pure aspect all this time, and she can bestow it upon other things. It's a power that's almost like giving birth to a god.
How does this affect the other profiles?
Since the playable cast of LoLK managed to fight the primordial form of a god, who have AE, NEP, and Transduality, their NPI will be upgraded. So these profiles will be affected:
Will this affect the scaling in any signifcant way?
I'm not really sure, as I'm not really good at Touhou's scaling chain. I'll update this part of the OP once a conclusion regarding Junko's placement in the scaling chain is reached.
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