Real world historical figures you would like to see as 2hus

[Abraham Lincoln]

What the title says.

Which real-life historical figures do you think would make for the best Touhou characters?


Here's mine:

-Benedict Arnold
Traitor! I don't know why, but something about him and his anxiety, major deppersion, and panic disorder makes me think he'd be an interesting Touhou character with a tragic backstory.

-Isaac Newton
His obsession with magic and the laws that govern our very nature could translate well into spellcards in my opinion.

-Ludwig van Beethoven
I would love to listen to ZUN-styled adaptations of his works. The intro of the Moonlight Sonata sounds like it would make for an awesome stage or boss theme.

-Leonardo Da Vinci
At the expense of a million bad ninja tortoise jokes, having a Touhou based around the fine arts would be a great addition to the series.

-Nikola Tesla
I can see the Tesla Coil being converted into some form of danmaku-spewing mechanism. A Tesla 2hu would get along really well with Nitori.

[Failure McFailFace]

I'm sure that people from myths are real people too, right? 

I wouldn't be surprised if Chang'e appears in LOL.

[Abraham Lincoln]

I'm sure that people from myths are real people too, right? 

I wouldn't be surprised if Chang'e appears in LOL.

Not all mythical people are real, and isn't Chang'e technically Kaguya? :O

[UTW]

I think that ZUN missed a prime opportunity while the religion wars were going on to use Francis Xavier, Shiro Amakusa, the Shimabara Rebellion, and the Hidden Christians movement for a game.

And since we've named a lot of westerners so far, Matthew Perry and the Black Ships.

Not all mythical people are real, and isn't Chang'e technically Kaguya? :O

In that, as I recall, the literary Kaguya was based on Chang'e, yes. But Chang'e is also said to exist in Touhou.

[haoreos2]

Aleister Crowley.

Can you imagine the wonderfully convoluted infodumps? The cherrypicking of verifiably legitimate, contemporary aspects of eastern religions, mysticism and the occult, and shoving them into his own system? The antics resulting from certain characters taking issue with him doing so? It'd be great.


Also, seeing a bald, portly British man rendered in ZUNart would certainly be... something.

[NuclearFalcon]

We already have Prince Shotoku, his wife, and I think his mother-in-law.

We also have two Buddhist nuns, Hijiri and the daughter of Saigyou.

Would be interesting to see some mention of Masamune relating to the supplying of weapons to the Konpaku clan.

[Raikaria]

The problem of a real-world adaptation into a Touhou Character is the rules of Gensokyo. Things that pass into Gensokyo are [mostly] forgotten. So if you are thinking of these people to be 'Touhou-fied'... well, they don't fit the criteria.

Even the storyline of Miko is that she slumbered so long she [and the Dream Mausoelum] fell into Gensokyo, forgotten, and she was awakened [in part] the faith of Myouren Temple right on top of her place. She was 'forgotten'; in-universe; to the degree history remembered her as a male [Seeing as in one of the endings Sanae points out it says she is male in a history book]

[NuclearFalcon]

For the forgotten part, I know that very few people even know of Saigyou's daughter, or at least that is my impression.  That said, Yuyuko lives in the Netherworld which technically is not actually part of Gensokyo, it just has a border with Gensokyo that can be somewhat easily crossed now.

[Misfortune!]

If we're dealing with "[mostly] forgotten," then Oda Nobunaga is out of the question. Though I don't know if many people know his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, or even his successor, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Actually all three sound like good ideas.

[game2011]

Not all mythical people are real, and isn't Chang'e technically Kaguya? :O

In that, as I recall, the literary Kaguya was based on Chang'e, yes. But Chang'e is also said to exist in Touhou.

Wrong.  Kaguya is based on the Kaguya from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.  Chang'e's story is a completely different one that originated from China.

[NuclearFalcon]

Silly me, forgot to mention that the true name of Saigyou's daughter is forgotten.  Because of this in order for her to have the dignity of a name now I can only think to call her "Yuyuko".  Now I doubt that is her actual name, but it is the name she was given by ZUN.  I guess it is better than not having a name so as someone who actually does care about her I do appreciate her once again having a name.  So yeah, no wonder she would be eligible to end up in Gensokyo...  even though again, Netherworld is not technically part of it.  Odd thing, though, there is no reference to Yuyuko being a Buddhist nun even though not just her father became a monk, she became a nun, as did her mother.  In the end, they entered paradise as a family one by one.

Shotoku, his bride, and another of his retainers on the other hand...  well I guess they are only known to academics so maybe.

Hijiri, no idea but I know she and her brother existed some time ago.

[the old guy]

Hijiri, no idea but I know she and her brother existed some time ago.

Really? I'm under the impression that they were completely made up.

[NuclearFalcon]

I would have to find where I read it, but I seem to have forgotten most of the details.

[Nolegs the Cat]

While hardly forgotten, and probably dead inside the Touhou'verse, Sun Tzu.
I'm curious as to what the author of The Art of War would think about Gensokyo's favored method of combat.

[Tengukami]

>game with a cast of hundreds of female characters
>everyone names famous dudes

In seriousness, I would love to see some of our more badass women from history in Gensokyo. Joan of Arc, for example, or Voltairine de Cleyre (maybe paired with Emma Goldman as a chaos-inducing duo), Marie Curie, Mother Jones, and Bonnie Parker spring first to mind.

[KaiserKnuckle]

Yaoya Oshichi.

I know it's a rather strange choice, especially  of her repercussions in the 60s, but if we take THAT out of the equation she would be an interesting focus in a Touhou game relating to the Chinese Zodiac.

[Kaizaki]

In seriousness, I would love to see some of our more badass women from history in Gensokyo.

Amelia Earhart was never found because she ended up in Gensokyo, where she continued her passion for flying.

[Tengukami]

Amelia Earhart was never found because she ended up in Gensokyo, where she continued her passion for flying.

This is such a great idea that I am sure there is fan fiction/art using this motif.

[Failure McFailFace]

>game with a cast of hundreds of female characters
>everyone names famous dudes

>MFW you don't realize Prince Shoutoku is in Gensyoko as Miko

In all seriousness, Shoutoku got gender bent, it seems, into Mike, so it's possible that famous guys could just gender bend into girls.

[Lt Colonel Summers]

How about Florence Nightingale? Imagine her hanging out with Doctor Shady Drugs...

[Tengukami]

>MFW you don't realize Prince Shoutoku is in Gensyoko as Miko

In all seriousness, Shoutoku got gender bent, it seems, into Mike, so it's possible that famous guys could just gender bend into girls.

I think Raikaria already addressed this; she wasn't gender bent, she was a girl the whole time. Those of us in the outside world were the ones who changed her gender.

[Nolegs the Cat]

>game with a cast of hundreds of female characters
>everyone names famous dudes

In seriousness, I would love to see some of our more badass women from history in Gensokyo. Joan of Arc, for example, or Voltairine de Cleyre (maybe paired with Emma Goldman as a chaos-inducing duo), Marie Curie, Mother Jones, and Bonnie Parker spring first to mind.

How about Typhoid Mary? :V

Spreads around sickness unwittingly as power, stage 1-2 boss.
Oh wait, Medicine Melancholy. Not quite the same, admittedly, but similar.

Fine, fine, I'll take it seriously.

I'm not sure if it counts as 'historical', but Athena?
I've always wanted to see a touhou fangame focusing on Greek myths so might just be me being biased.

[haoreos2]

I think Raikaria already addressed this; she wasn't gender bent, she was a girl the whole time. Those of us in the outside world were the ones who changed her gender.

Wouldn't that still count as gender bending from a meta perspective? After all, if someone made a doujin where Reimu was born a dude, that would still count as such (Unless the definition of gender bending involves a character actually swapping genders during the story or in their backstory, I guess).

Regardless of whether its been justified in the context of the story whether by mundane means or otherwise, it still sets a precedent for historical figures remembered as male in the real world to be included in the setting.



As for female historical figures, Boudica could work. Blaze sign: Londinium Conflagration.
If mythological ones count, Medea and Medusa could work for that whole "cursed by the gods" motif, and the fact that they'd actually be justified in having magic. In Medusa's case we'd even have an obvious power that would fill the requirement for every character to have some special skill that would also work in gameplay terms.

[NuclearFalcon]

What about Lady Murasaki?  She could have a story weaving ability or something.

Though her name might cause confusion with Yukari since it is written with the same kanji...  or perhaps a link can be created and cause all sorts of intrigue.

[ChronaSE]

I'd love to see a touhou version of Joan of Arc and Socrates  :3

[TresserT]

Honestly... if touhou started using more western characters like most people are describing I think I'd lose interest. Touhou is a game about the east, and I hope it always stays that way.

[ChronaSE]

Honestly... if touhou started using more western characters like most people are describing I think I'd lose interest. Touhou is a game about the east, and I hope it always stays that way.

I feel the same, but I also feel as though there are way less 'important' japanese youkai to introduce. So at some point ZUN would perhaps have less material to explore.

[TresserT]

I feel the same, but I also feel as though there are way less 'important' japanese youkai to introduce. So at some point ZUN would perhaps have less material to explore.

It's not so much western "youkai", I mean touhou has been filled with western monsters since the very beginning. We had Sariel, then Shinki (and Makai in general), we had Remilia and Flandre, more recently we got Wakasagihime, Sekibanki, and Kagerou. I'd just be upset if he started making the plots revolve around western myths the same way they revolve around eastern ones. Like, it's one thing to make an angel character. It's another entirely to make the central plot about Jesus. I don't know how to explain what I'm saying...

[Tengukami]

No, I hear you. Though I think there's little danger of that happening, given ZUN's deep fascination with Japanese history and lore. I don't especially want to see Voltairine de Cleyre made into a 2hu; I just took this as a light speculative What If discussion.

[Abraham Lincoln]

Now that I think of it, Abraham Lincoln wouldn't be too farfetched of a choice, given that urban legend has it that his ghost haunts the White House

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%27s_ghost