The Worst Gensokyans

[Zerviscos]

Maybe the case with me is that there is hardly anything for me to like about Tewi in canon (to me, she is a super old bunny amongside others who look just like her who is known to scam people, which isn't precisely the most admirable trait to have), so the most common subject of fan-art about her sticks out, even in context.

I guess there is slight irritation how people say that "Tewi totally beat Yorihime" for falling into one of her pitfalls, which I hardly consider being a proper victory, but that is subject of other time.

I think that's the fault of "Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth" with how it also affected fanon. But then again it's a 4Koma. Who knows Tewi's personality might've been slightly exaggerated here, since we can see how both Kaguya and Mokou are slightly on terms with each other there. We can probably say this is a loose canon, but might not be a good context to how they're really are supposed to be in more serious canon.

Edit:
I don't particularly hate any characters. I mean, to me they're practically adorable in their own way.
So I'll just list the ones I like the least.

Wriggle Nightbug - looks like a boy, and tbh deceived me when I was playing Imperishable Night.
Yuugi Hoshiguma - a bit too ordinary of a character design, and I disliked the fact how much testosterone she has depicted in Fanon.
Prismriver Sisters - while I don't actually dislike them. I just kind of pity them for their backstory.
Tenshi - same reason as Ammy to a lesser extent.
Sekibanki - Ugh. A Japanese Dullahan.

[Maiden Synnae ミ☆]

Sekibanki - Ugh. A Japanese Dullahan.

I fail to see anything wrong with that.

Besides, she isn't exactly a Dullahan. She is a Rokuro-, no wait, a Nukeku- bah, I don't know what she is anymore. :T

[Abraham Lincoln]

Besides, she isn't exactly a Dullahan. She is a Rokuro-, no wait, a Nukeku- bah, I don't know what she is anymore. :T

Some sources consider nukekubi to be a sub-species of rokurokubi, so technically it can be said that she's both.

[Zerviscos]

I fail to see anything wrong with that.

Besides, she isn't exactly a Dullahan. She is a Rokuro-, no wait, a Nukeku- bah, I don't know what she is anymore. :T

Well I wouldn't say I dislike her because of her being a Japanese Dullahan, or w/ever. But pretty much the part where her head is separated from her body. It doesn't creep me out, I just don't like it.

[haoreos2]

For the most part, I don't dislike any particular character; most of them rate somewhere from thoroughly likable to forgettable or mildly irritating.

However, I rather dislike the concept of the Lunarians, exemplified in the characters Toyohime and Yorihime. Mostly, it's the whole Mary Sue thing, which has been discussed aplenty elsewhere, but also because they operate on a completely different sense of scale to the earthbound characters, and not in a manner that introduces interesting interactions or somesuch. Rather, the presence of characters that can nuke Gensokyo with a swipe of a fan or the like kinda diminishes the majesty of the setting, making it out to be a kiddy pool, with the moon being a family of idle rich tutting at the boorish behavior of the unsupervised roughhousing within.
It wouldn't really irk me, except that the entire thing seems so needless. It just seems like a tacked on addition to a setting that retroactively degrades everything else, without really adding anything of value. The earth-based Lunarians, I don't have a problem with, since they are neither explicitly or heavily implied to be flawless, nor seem to operate on a different scale (with the possible exception of Eirin, but then she did annoy me initially due to the whole attitude and "wouldn't have actually failed if not for the mistake of someone else" thing, until the end of SSiB (I think? it's been a while. the one with the whole party-at-the-SDM-where-Eirin-panicks chapter) made her more fallible, and thus relatable). The trip to the moon came across not so much as an opportunity to expand on the origins of these characters, which would be fine and dandy, but rather more like fanfiction written by someone whose lack of experience in world building or characterization has caused them to fall back on the old standby of both informing the audience of what their reactions and opinions should be, rather than letting them interpret things for themselves, and trying to get a positive reception on their original characters by explicitly comparing them favorably to existing and established ones.
I don't really mind that sort of writing provided there is some sort of redeeming feature involved; interesting character interactions, interplay, theories, anything that makes it interesting to read or think about the concepts introduced within. Unfortunately, I simply didn't get any of that in their introductory manga, and since it is still canonical, simply ignoring it falls into the category of headcanon, which means I have to recognize that it is indeed a thing in any discussion in which it becomes relevant. So, I dislike that particular aspect of the setting, and the two characters whom the majority of my issues concerning it center around.


Oh, and Suwako's hat is p ridiculous.

[CyberAngel]

After finally reading through recently translated official manga chapters, I have to say I take it back about

Spoiler:

Reisen. She created an actually impressive thing all by herself, it's entirely her own initiative and not following some orders, and she did it out of genuinely benevolent motives. That's more character development than all her previous appearances combined, and I like the direction it took.

I enjoy it when I'm proven wrong about cases like this.

[Usamiko]

Rinnosuke: The most important male character, and he's a know-nothing know-it-all who acts like a total jerk towards girls. I have a special disdain towards those who embody the "arrogance and ignorance go hand-in-hand" phrase, and this guy is so bad I almost dropped reading CoLA halfway. And while some of his annoyance towards heroines is understandable, and he IS a merchant after all, some things he did are just way too much, like "Sword of Kirisame" (deception + ambition = evil overlord wannabe) or his first meeting with Youmu (almost leaving a girl in a pile of snow just because she came too early? REALLY?). I never thought it's possible for me, but he's a character I like seeing on the receiving end of any kind of trouble.

This pretty much sums it up for me.

I really can't stand his whining/complaining, and his actions and behavior as stated above (Sword of Kirisame, Youmu, and pretty much everything else) irked me so much I dropped CoLA , no matter how interesting the stories were.

His fanon depictions only make my view towards him worse.

[Tengukami]

However, I rather dislike the concept of the Lunarians, exemplified in the characters Toyohime and Yorihime. Mostly, it's the whole Mary Sue thing, which has been discussed aplenty elsewhere, but also because they operate on a completely different sense of scale to the earthbound characters, and not in a manner that introduces interesting interactions or somesuch. Rather, the presence of characters that can nuke Gensokyo with a swipe of a fan or the like kinda diminishes the majesty of the setting, making it out to be a kiddy pool, with the moon being a family of idle rich tutting at the boorish behavior of the unsupervised roughhousing within.

This forks nicely with my feelings about Tenshi. This sort of imperious bored cruelty just wipes the dynamics out flat. Plus they are snobs.

The earth-based Lunarians, I don't have a problem with, since they are neither explicitly or heavily implied to be flawless, nor seem to operate on a different scale (with the possible exception of Eirin, but then she did annoy me initially due to the whole attitude and "wouldn't have actually failed if not for the mistake of someone else" thing, until the end of SSiB (I think? it's been a while. the one with the whole party-at-the-SDM-where-Eirin-panicks chapter) made her more fallible, and thus relatable). The trip to the moon came across not so much as an opportunity to expand on the origins of these characters, which would be fine and dandy, but rather more like fanfiction written by someone whose lack of experience in world building or characterization has caused them to fall back on the old standby of both informing the audience of what their reactions and opinions should be, rather than letting them interpret things for themselves, and trying to get a positive reception on their original characters by explicitly comparing them favorably to existing and established ones.

This is also how I look at the Eientei crowd. ZUN took already interesting characters from folklore, and then brought in a number of his own that were pretty great, and expanded the tale into a solid story. Which is easy to do when the characters are interesting. I think it's as you point out about Eirin; it's their flaws, combined with their alien background (well, for some of them anyway) that make them compelling.

Oh, and Suwako's hat is p ridiculous.

Thank you.

[Sagus]

Eirin didn't fail anything in SSiB/CiLR. She achieved exactly what she wanted (stopping rumors that insinuated that the Watatsuki sisters were plotting a rebellion in the Moon; since they were her old apprentices, it could cause problems for Eientei). She was taken by surprise by Yukari at the end of CiLR, but that had nothing to do with her own plans failing.

[Drake]

Well yes, but the end of CiLR has less to do with anyone's plans "succeeding" or "failing" as much as it is Yukari demonstrating to Eirin that despite Eirin thinking that the incident had ended with Yukari's plans (whatever they were) being foiled and that she had everything figured out, all along Eirin was mistaken. Regardless of what Yukari's true intentions were (which still presumably remain a mystery to her), Eirin had been outplanned, had no idea what or how it happened, and Yukari was telling her that she knew she had come out on top.

To that extent it still shows that Eirin is fallible. CiLR in general pokes at the fact that despite proclaiming themselves as superior, that Lunarian mentality often ironically points out how flawed they can be.

[Sagus]

I know, I was referring to haoreos wording, who said:

but then she did annoy me initially due to the whole attitude and "wouldn't have actually failed if not for the mistake of someone else" thing

which was not a thing that happened. Eirin never displayed an attitude of "my plans failled because of others", neither in SSiB nor CiLR, since her main objective was achieved. Her fallibility was shown in another way (the one you described).

[Clarste]

Speaking of which, I really like that Eirin was fallible. She makes back-up plans for things that never happen, and get legitimately caught off-guard by something unexpected. But at the same time, she's not incompetent. Normally "geniuses" are shown to either have nigh psychic powers to predict other people's actions or just get thoroughly humiliated by people who are more genius. It's a weird thing to say about a Touhou character who is probably the Shinto god of knowledge itself, but she feels more realistically smart than most characters like her would be.

[CyberAngel]

This forks nicely with my feelings about Tenshi. This sort of imperious bored cruelty just wipes the dynamics out flat. Plus they are snobs.

There's quite a difference, though. Lunarians seem to be seriously self-absorbed in their superiority by default. Tenshi just acts superior out of fun. She's a bratty rich kid, but she likes splashing in our pool. That's why, for example, I'm fine with her, personally, but not with those moon--... er, --girls.

[haoreos2]

I know, I was referring to haoreos wording, who said:which was not a thing that happened. Eirin never displayed an attitude of "my plans failled because of others", neither in SSiB nor CiLR, since her main objective was achieved. Her fallibility was shown in another way (the one you described).

I was referring there to her debut in Imperishable Night. From what I recall, the only reason Eirin's plan failed there was because Reisen left a door ajar by accident, wasn't it?

[Clarste]

Her plan also failed from the start anyway because there were no Lunarians hunting them down in the first place. Everything she did was pretty much meaningless. On the other hand you could also say she succeeded because she got what she wanted in the end.

[Helepolis]

I'm going to highlight back Tapsa's post on first page. To be honest if I personally have to compare all the characters and figure out which one is worst or terrible, it is indeed Kaku Seiga (Nyan Nyan).



Clearly reading SoPM I cannot imagine any other Gensokyo-citizen being extremely annoying and possible dangerous for your life. If Yoshika is accompanying her you should be even more worried to avoid being bitten.

But aside from that she harasses you (mentally and physically). She literally invades your personal space. She steals. I don't see a more ill mannered Gensokyan than her. Even after being technically beaten in 10D, she shows this attitude.

Speaking of Rinnosuke, I've noticed people mentioning him above this post. I am not quite sure if I would call his behaviour 'worst' or 'bad'. He has his way of dealing things because of probably reasons. In the end he isn't a threat or complete jerk that affects humans. Whether Rinnosuke is cold towards Marisa/Reimu/Youmu is not my concern as they have their way of dealing with things too.

The way I understood Ammy's opening post was based on their "existence" and "personality". Rinnosuke's might be poor, but he is useful and interesting. Seiga is not and is probably - fucking - annoying.

[Clarste]

Seiga is evil and enjoys it. It's not for nothing that she's called a wicked hermit. Judging villains by the same standards as others seems a bit odd to me. I mean yeah I probably wouldn't want to meet her but she fills her role well.

Also her evilness is one of the few things Byakuren and Miko can agree upon. That's gotta be worth something.

[CyberAngel]

Seiga surely is someone you wouldn't want to deal with, but she's a real charmer while at it. Doesn't make her any less annoying or dangerous, but it can lull some people into liking her. Which is probably the exact effect she tries to achieve by acting like that. You can say she's more of a devil than even Remilia.

For Rinnosuke, sure, his general attitude indeed can be explained by him being a merchant, but some things (like those I named earlier) just step over the line. But even his questionable business practices aside (this item was yours? sorry, you have to buy it back), he's just a pain to deal with in general. As for him still being useful, well, as the saying goes, it's better to have a good enemy than a bad friend. And also, as I've mentioned earlier again, I have a personal thing against those who try talking about things they have no real knowledge about.

[Sagus]

Tbh my biggest grip with Rinnosuke is the amount of harem shit that fanon makes with him at the center.
I absolutely despise harem series, so it kinda got to the point where I'm wary to read anything from fanon that has him.

I'm fine with him in canon, though. Yeah he's a smug know-nothing-know-it-all ass, but he's still entertaining, I think.

I was referring there to her debut in Imperishable Night. From what I recall, the only reason Eirin's plan failed there was because Reisen left a door ajar by accident, wasn't it?

Ah, sorry, since you immediately talked about SSiB after it I thought it referred to that.

[Moogs Parfait]

I feel like ZUN really loves jerk characters.  He also loves unreliable narrators.

In SoPM they get the religious leaders in a room and I was blown away by how annoying they all were.

But what really rubs me the wrong way in that book is Akyuu herself.  I get the entire point is that it's an ignorant person writing from a 3rd hand point of view, but jeez.

The example I tend to think of is where she calls Sanae dumb without reason, with possible reasons for her thinking that being Sanae is odd because she's from the outside world, and Sanae can't explain outside world tech to them.

But I can see arguments for most characters being at least jerks, and Reimu herself seems to fit in the jerk-good-guy character archtype, but I'd avoid Akyuu if she were a real person.

Human Annoyance Level: High

[Magic Jane]

Personally I don't really think any characters are that "bad" from an outside context.

I will second comments on the non-Earth-based Lunarians though, they just seem kind of weird and unnecessary.

[divinefrog]

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really fond of the Ten Desires crew. Rather- I'm not fond of Miko and Futo (Tojiko I could take or leave.) To start off with, it's kind of... weird, having specific historical figures running around. I'm okay with "AND SHE'S A TENGU AND SHE'S A GODMONK AND SHE'S A LIVING UMBRELLA" but when you start putting in characters that are literally "This woman is Prince Shotoku" it starts getting kind of uncomfortable. It's hard to describe why, but I'd feel much more comfortable seeing a Schylla-based Touhou character than one who is supposed to be Gilgamesh, y'know? I don't mind allusions so much, (hellooo descendant of Vlad Tepes) but it's one thing to say a character MIGHT have a legendary backstory (a la Tewi, the possible White Hare of Inaba) and another to flat out declare it. It also doesn't help that some of these characters are married...

More than that, though, I have a problem in that Miko is basically that scary kind of person who is always smiling and being buddy-buddy and then they use you up like a two-dollar bill. She's utterly ruthless - not something I particularly mind in a character - but her insistence that she's always right and always the better party kind of grates on me. I get the impression that she treats basically everyone that isn't sucking up to her like less than dirt, which is frankly unbecoming.

Futo is frankly nuts. Old-timey or not, she comes off as something more like an arsonistic zealot to me. She doesn't seem to be able to see anything but fervent devotion to Miko. Honestly, thinking of her, the only thing I can come up with is "Henchman." Plus, there's only so many "Thees" and "Thous" I can take. Definitely not bitter about how hard she is to hit on her "boat" spellcards, nope.

[Tiamat]

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really fond of the Ten Desires crew. Rather- I'm not fond of Miko and Futo (Tojiko I could take or leave.) To start off with, it's kind of... weird, having specific historical figures running around. I'm okay with "AND SHE'S A TENGU AND SHE'S A GODMONK AND SHE'S A LIVING UMBRELLA" but when you start putting in characters that are literally "This woman is Prince Shotoku" it starts getting kind of uncomfortable. It's hard to describe why, but I'd feel much more comfortable seeing a Schylla-based Touhou character than one who is supposed to be Gilgamesh, y'know? I don't mind allusions so much, (hellooo descendant of Vlad Tepes) but it's one thing to say a character MIGHT have a legendary backstory (a la Tewi, the possible White Hare of Inaba) and another to flat out declare it. It also doesn't help that some of these characters are married...

More than that, though, I have a problem in that Miko is basically that scary kind of person who is always smiling and being buddy-buddy and then they use you up like a two-dollar bill. She's utterly ruthless - not something I particularly mind in a character - but her insistence that she's always right and always the better party kind of grates on me. I get the impression that she treats basically everyone that isn't sucking up to her like less than dirt, which is frankly unbecoming.

Futo is frankly nuts. Old-timey or not, she comes off as something more like an arsonistic zealot to me. She doesn't seem to be able to see anything but fervent devotion to Miko. Honestly, thinking of her, the only thing I can come up with is "Henchman." Plus, there's only so many "Thees" and "Thous" I can take. Definitely not bitter about how hard she is to hit on her "boat" spellcards, nope.

While I agree that the amount of factual history slammed in your face with the TD crew was a bit jarring, technically there are quite a few other "historical figures" in Touhou in a way (besides the IN crew, there's also Byakuren... kinda), although one major difference is that they're from myths that probably didn't happen while Prince Shotoku possibly did (then again, part of the whole reason Miko is in Gensokyo is because Shotoku has passed from accepted history into legend, instead).

[TresserT]

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really fond of the Ten Desires crew. Rather- I'm not fond of Miko and Futo (Tojiko I could take or leave.) To start off with, it's kind of... weird, having specific historical figures running around. I'm okay with "AND SHE'S A TENGU AND SHE'S A GODMONK AND SHE'S A LIVING UMBRELLA" but when you start putting in characters that are literally "This woman is Prince Shotoku" it starts getting kind of uncomfortable. It's hard to describe why, but I'd feel much more comfortable seeing a Schylla-based Touhou character than one who is supposed to be Gilgamesh, y'know? I don't mind allusions so much, (hellooo descendant of Vlad Tepes) but it's one thing to say a character MIGHT have a legendary backstory (a la Tewi, the possible White Hare of Inaba) and another to flat out declare it. It also doesn't help that some of these characters are married...

I completely agree! There's a difference between even Miko and Kaguya: Kaguya is the actual princess in the actual story, but then we move on, give her some personality, make her interesting and fitting in the touhou setting. ZUN just seems to linger on the fact that Miko is prince Shotoku, everything she is and does is because of that fact. Very annoying.

While I agree that the amount of factual history slammed in your face with the TD crew was a bit jarring, technically there are quite a few other "historical figures" in Touhou in a way (besides the IN crew, there's also Byakuren... kinda)

I think that's my real problem with her. Almost every final boss references or draws inspiration from some myth or legend. Miko isn't special in that regard but ZUN tries to make it seem that way. The only thing that makes her unique is that she's a legendary character, and that doesn't make her unique, so actually she's not unique at all lol.

Futo is frankly nuts. Old-timey or not, she comes off as something more like an arsonistic zealot to me. She doesn't seem to be able to see anything but fervent devotion to Miko. Honestly, thinking of her, the only thing I can come up with is "Henchman".

I pretty much agree with everything you say about her, but that's actually why I like Futo. She's an evil henchman through and through but she's so zany it's difficult to take her evil-ness seriously. She's like Gigamesh to Miko's ExDeath, or Ginyu to Miko's Freeza. At least, that's how I see her.

[divinefrog]

While I agree that the amount of factual history slammed in your face with the TD crew was a bit jarring, technically there are quite a few other "historical figures" in Touhou in a way (besides the IN crew, there's also Byakuren... kinda), although one major difference is that they're from myths that probably didn't happen while Prince Shotoku possibly did (then again, part of the whole reason Miko is in Gensokyo is because Shotoku has passed from accepted history into legend, instead).

I feel like ZUN was very excited about the fact that he could use the Shotoku myth at all, so he made a pretty big deal about it. He made a bigger deal of Kaguya's personality than her base legend - portraying her as being selfish and careless and eternally bored independently of her legend. Most touhou characters seem to use the myth as a jumping off point and as a reference in spellcards and abilities, but Miko seems pretty firmly tied to her origins. Its a good and a bad thing, but I can't see her showing us new sides or quirks the way I could see even someone like Shou or Nazrin doing. She's always going to be that stable, distant and slightly cruel Miko.

I pretty much agree with everything you say about her, but that's actually why I like Futo. She's an evil henchman through and through but she's so zany it's difficult to take her evil-ness seriously. She's like Gigamesh to Miko's ExDeath, or Ginyu to Miko's Freeza. At least, that's how I see her.

You know what? That's pretty fair. I mean, I love Tenshi for being a horrible jerk who screws everything up, so I can certainly understand loving a character for negative traits. Maybe I'll warm up to her once I figure out how to crack her stupid spellcards with ease.

[Tengukami]

He made a bigger deal of Kaguya's personality than her base legend - portraying her as being selfish and careless and eternally bored independently of her legend.

See, I don't look at Kaguya as "selfish" so much as utterly bored with her old life and quite enjoying her new, earthbound existence - which she had every right to enjoy, considering all the horribleness the Lunarians put her through. I mean, if my old friends treated me horribly, ousted me, then came back for me like "hey welp time to come hang out with us again" would it be selfish of me to tell them "no thanks"?

Maybe kind of selfish for drinking the Elixir in the first place, but eh. That seems more like the carelessness you mentioned.

[Clarste]

I feel like ZUN was very excited about the fact that he could use the Shotoku myth at all, so he made a pretty big deal about it. He made a bigger deal of Kaguya's personality than her base legend - portraying her as being selfish and careless and eternally bored independently of her legend. Most touhou characters seem to use the myth as a jumping off point and as a reference in spellcards and abilities, but Miko seems pretty firmly tied to her origins. Its a good and a bad thing, but I can't see her showing us new sides or quirks the way I could see even someone like Shou or Nazrin doing. She's always going to be that stable, distant and slightly cruel Miko.

Uh... Miko has plenty of personality, mostly in ways that have absolutely nothing to do with Shotoku. For one thing, her boundless arrogance, to the point where she even denies aspects of her legend like being born in a barn because she considers it beneath her. Also her cynicism about religion: the real Shotoku was supposed to be very devout after all. She' always thinks she's right, but is quick to admit her loss, and seems to be completely 100% straightforward about her intentions (from what she's done in Gensokyo anyway: her backstory involves subterfuge but that seems to have been Seiga's idea). Someone trying to scam you isn't going to tell you about how she likes to use religion as a tool to control people, yet she's never once tried to hide it. I think the idea that she's hiding something is a common misconception, when instead she's being cheerfully and honestly selfish.

While you could argue that these are all subversions of Shotoku and she's only the way she is because it's completely not what you'd expect, but I'd say the same thing is true of Kaguya. In the legend she was always "the most beautiful and elegant woman in the world" so making her out to be selfish and careless and a fugitive is a subversion of the demure Yamato Nadeshiko the audience would naturally expect. I'd go so far as to call them very similar characters, in that they're both parodies of idealized figures.

[Drake]

Yeah I don't really get the talk about Miko as though she's "simply" manipulative, as though she's just a greedy, horrible person and manipulates to that end. In most cases her actions seem honestly meant to be towards what she considers as best, even if that entails her being in a position of power.

More than that, though, I have a problem in that Miko is basically that scary kind of person who is always smiling and being buddy-buddy and then they use you up like a two-dollar bill. She's utterly ruthless - not something I particularly mind in a character - but her insistence that she's always right and always the better party kind of grates on me. I get the impression that she treats basically everyone that isn't sucking up to her like less than dirt, which is frankly unbecoming.

I don't see this in anything she's done. Her behaviour in every appearance has been one of treating others with respect if they deserve it, even if she still thinks of herself as greatness. And if anything, her character is written specifically to actually be great in the sense that she's extremely talented, knowledgeable and charismatic.

Almost every final boss references or draws inspiration from some myth or legend. Miko isn't special in that regard but ZUN tries to make it seem that way. The only thing that makes her unique is that she's a legendary character, and that doesn't make her unique, so actually she's not unique at all lol.

Miko being Prince Shotoku is especially noteworthy, though. It isn't Shotoku being a legend that's important as much as it is being based off of a pseudo-historical figure that everyone knows about. This is particularly unique compared to other characters in the series.

[heroictype]

I don't see this in anything she's done. Her behaviour in every appearance has been one of treating others with respect if they deserve it, even if she still thinks of herself as greatness. And if anything, her character is written specifically to actually be great in the sense that she's extremely talented, knowledgeable and charismatic.

The series is full of people like that, though. Yukari (she is charismatic, I think, even if she doesn't apply it the same way as the others...), Byakuren, Kanako. So it doesn't make her stand out. The things I've seen of her that do stand out, and I don't say it as a bad thing, are her more manipulative traits. I think in Wild and Horned Hermit, she basically admits to using religion as a tool to gain popularity. That doesn't mean she's doing it maliciously - she does seem to believe very strongly, indeed arrogantly, in her own ability to lead people well - but it is manipulative.

 And I don't know about treating others with respect, necessarily, she seems pretty quick to insult "losers" or talk down to people. Touhou is also full of some clever insults, so again, nothing new, but I can't help but feel like Miko's a little more mean-spirited about it just because of how superior she acts. And while these can be fun traits, in a canon with so many other talented, knowledgeable, charismatic folks who are jerks in ways I find more interesting, it doesn't make her particularly appealing. I guess if anything, everyone I named is manipulative, but Miko seems pretty keen on keeping up a shiny appearance, while the others are almost more openly sly? So I don't find Miko quite as fun.

Miko being Prince Shotoku is especially noteworthy, though. It isn't Shotoku being a legend that's important as much as it is being based off of a pseudo-historical figure that everyone knows about. This is particularly unique compared to other characters in the series.

You're right there, I think, it is pretty unique/noteworthy, but I agree with the other people who said it felt awkward. Kaguya's been brought up, and I don't have a problem with her for the reasons everyone has said - she's from what's pretty clearly a pure story. While the idea of taking real people who had passed into legendary status could have been fun, I don't think Miko and co. were well-executed as characters.

[Prime32]

The series is full of people like that, though. Yukari (she is charismatic, I think, even if she doesn't apply it the same way as the others...), Byakuren, Kanako. So it doesn't make her stand out. The things I've seen of her that do stand out, and I don't say it as a bad thing, are her more manipulative traits. I think in Wild and Horned Hermit, she basically admits to using religion as a tool to gain popularity. That doesn't mean she's doing it maliciously - she does seem to believe very strongly, indeed arrogantly, in her own ability to lead people well - but it is manipulative.

Everyone in the Hopeless Masquerade storyline is openly doing that. :wat: It's not (primarily) for personal gain, it's just to save people from the wave of depression - none of the main religious trio really cares who pulls it off as long as someone does it.

And I don't know about treating others with respect, necessarily, she seems pretty quick to insult "losers" or talk down to people. Touhou is also full of some clever insults, so again, nothing new, but I can't help but feel like Miko's a little more mean-spirited about it just because of how superior she acts. And while these can be fun traits, in a canon with so many other talented, knowledgeable, charismatic folks who are jerks in ways I find more interesting, it doesn't make her particularly appealing. I guess if anything, everyone I named is manipulative, but Miko seems pretty keen on keeping up a shiny appearance, while the others are almost more openly sly? So I don't find Miko quite as fun.

Eh, Miko is only really mean-spirited to Byakuren. And that's because she hates Byakuren's obsession with keeping up a shiny appearance (whatever positive traits Byakuren may have, she's still a woman who sacrificed her humanity to give herself a boob job. :V)