Canon portrayals that you wish got used more in fandom

[Phlegeth]

I don't see how someone with mind ready abilities can't be snarky all the time.  Also helps that I view her as the only sane man in the underground and they're usually snarky as well.

[ふとくていなねこじょおう]

I see Satori as the cool, quiet girl who hardly ever changes expression.

[game2011]

Okay, I'm putting together some of the characters that are portrayed very different from canon (taken from my knowledge, Touhou Wiki, and what I read here), not to mention the differences between both interpretations.

Meiling
Canon: Average, competent, gets respect, takes afternoon siestas
Fanon: Incompetent, likes to sleep, Sakuya's punching bag

Tenshi
Canon: Dislikes boredom, loves to fight, spoiled
Fanon: Loves to get beaten up

Kaguya
Canon: Ditzy, anxious to do various things, cheerful, gets worked up when doing something she wants to do
Fanon: Lazy, NEET, obsessed with video games and the Internet

Komachi
Canon: Serious with work
Fanon: Snorlax

Letty
Canon: Doesn't care about Cirno and doesn't even want to be compared to her
Fanon: Motherly relationship towards her

Alice
Canon: Calm, collected, kind, looks and acts cold, not the conversation type
Fanon: Tsundere

Koakuma
Canon: Mischievous
Fanon: Patchouli's obedient servant (it might be the same case in canon)

Yuyuko
Canon: Easy-going, smart, full of wisdom and insight, whimsical
Fanon: Snorlax (minus the sleeping part), Mystia's worst nightmare

Yuuka
Canon: Likes to tease and mess with people
Fanon: Ultimate Sadistic Creature

Koishi
Canon: Cheerful, curious, hyperactive (I think...)
Fanon: Psycho

[Silent Harmony]

Komachi
Canon: Serious with work
Fanon: Snorlax

Actually, as I said before, Komachi is depicted as very lazy in canon as well.

She tends to slack off from work a lot, but never acts bad-natured about it.

It's just instead of sleeping she just procrastinates a lot until:
1) Someone interferes with the souls of the dead (SWR(?), Wild and Horned Hermit)
2) Her boss catches her and forces her to work.
3) It suits her.

That's how I see it anyway.

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

I dunno, the "reads minds" things screams "she's a snarker" more.

[game2011]

Actually, as I said before, Komachi is depicted as very lazy in canon as well.
It's just instead of sleeping she just procrastinates a lot until:
1) Someone interferes with the souls of the dead (SWR(?), Wild and Horned Hermit)
2) Her boss catches her and forces her to work.
3) It suits her.

That's how I see it anyway.

I think a better way to put it is that she is serious when there are things to be done, whereas in fanon, she doesn't have a care for anything at all besides sleeping.

Still, thanks for the clarification!

[Tengukami]

I was going to ask: why has no one brought up Mima? And then I went to her Wiki page.

If you go by official sources only - not speculation, fandom, or conjecture - there's not actually a lot to go by, canonically speaking. Her official profiles are very short and vague. What we know is she's apparently gone from being an evil spirit to being "more humanish than human", isn't evil anymore, and now lives at Hakurei Shrine where she "enjoys her days making fun of Reimu".

Now this, to me, while not giving us a lot of information, still has the potential for comedy gold. A former opponent, on many occasions, who's now mellowed out and moved in with Reimu, where she spends her time mocking and teasing her? It's like a sitcom or something. I'd read/watch this any day.

[Koakkuri]

Well, the game scripts do give a little more to go by, (i.e. she also has a huge ego and penchant for lying), but it basically boils down to what you already said.

And yes, the dynamic between Reimu and Mima has a lot of potential for hilarity.  :3

[Unassuming Squid]

I'm of the opinion that Mima's personality has been split between Marisa and Yukari. Yukari already seems to be the figure that hangs around Reimu and teases her, and Marisa is the huge-ego'd, habitual liar. It would seem redundant, in my opinion, to have her around.

[Savory]

I don't think so. Mima was pretty influential back in the day. xD

[Tengukami]

I don't think so. Mima was pretty influential back in the day. xD

What does that have to do with today, which I think is what Squid is talking about?

[Savory]

What does that have to do with today, which I think is what Squid is talking about?

She's left an impact that will never fade. Sure Yukari and Marisa might have taken her place in terms of personality, but who says they're the only two that have to act as such?

[ふとくていなねこじょおう]

She's left an impact that will never fade. Sure Yukari and Marisa might have taken her place in terms of personality, but who says they're the only two that have to act as such?

^ This

[Unassuming Squid]

She's left an impact that will never fade. Sure Yukari and Marisa might have taken her place in terms of personality, but who says they're the only two that have to act as such?

Because part of the reason I think Touhou characters are liked so much is that their personalities are all very different, even though there are dozens of them by now. Having a character who acts like two other characters at once would feel redundant.

EDIT: Particularly when Marisa has taken up most of Mima's personality. They're almost exactly the same by now, from what I can tell.

[Savory]

Because part of the reason I think Touhou characters are liked so much is that their personalities are all very different, even though there are dozens of them by now. Having a character who acts like two other characters at once would feel redundant.

EDIT: Particularly when Marisa has taken up most of Mima's personality. They're almost exactly the same by now, from what I can tell.

Has Mima's popularity faded as a result?

[Tiamat]

Yea, Windows Marisa ended up taking most of Mima's personality traits.  Mima's a bit redundant today, with Marisa having Mima's most prominent personality traids and Reimu's shrine infested by other youkai to tease Reimu as it is.  Which is one likely reason ZUN never brought her back (tho it would have been nice if there was some explanation still.  We know he hasn't forgotten her existance since she appeared on a music CD cover and since she was briefly referenced in CoLA)

[Unassuming Squid]

Has Mima's popularity faded as a result?

Perhaps not, but tell me, how many fanworks have you seen involving Mima interacting with Windows Marisa or Yukari where everyone's personalities remain intact? I do not check fanwork religiously at all, much less anything about Mima, but I can't think of a single one that comes to mind. I think that would prove my point.

Besides, just because someone is popular and people clamor and shout to have them come back does not mean that doing so would be beneficial to the storyline. Take Sakuya, for example. I am a huge fan of Sakuya. However, I accept that PoFV was a good closing point for her story, and while I really would like her to return for one of the shooters, I can accept that she doesn't have a whole lot left to develop her character. Meanwhile, Sanae still has loads she needs to come to grips to, such as getting used to how things work in Gensokyo in the first place, and therefore she should stay in the games so her issues can be resolved.

I think the same thing is the case with Mima. She has had her part in the story so far, and there are other characters who need some time.

[ふとくていなねこじょおう]

I agree with you, but it would certainly be nice for her to return. Whether she does or not is not for me to say or to complain about. ZUN knows what's good for the plot, so if he brings her back, awesome! If he doesn't, well, it sucks but whatever. We still got a whole other cast of awesome characters. Besides, who says people don't change over time? Mima could have a personality that's totally different from the one she used to have.

[Koakkuri]

Mima could have a personality that's totally different from the one she used to have.

If her personality was completely different, would she be Mima anymore? Say, even those characters whose personalities have changed still retain some aspects of who they used to be (eg. Marisa).

[ふとくていなねこじょおう]

If her personality was completely different, would she be Mima anymore? Say, even those characters whose personalities have changed still retain some aspects of who they used to be (eg. Marisa).

Well, I guess I worded it wrong. I meant that she could have a different personality, but not drastically different. Like say Alice who was, in my opinion, the one who had the more drastic personality change from PC-98 to Windows, but she still remained Alice. That's the kind of change I meant. Different, but not so that she stops being Mima.

[Tengukami]

Meanwhile, Sanae still has loads she needs to come to grips to, such as getting used to how things work in Gensokyo in the first place, and therefore she should stay in the games so her issues can be resolved.

Now THIS is an excellent point. I hated, hated, hated Sanae, based on her dialogue in UFO (yes, that's Sanae A - Sanae B was also like this, just to a lesser degree). She was all "Destroy all youkai graaarrrrr!!!" which, apart from being racist, was also pretty one dimensional and uninteresting. However, in her dialogue in Ten Desires, she still takes issue with youkai, but she's ... calmer, more at ease, more grown up, you could say.

Could our Sanae be mellowing out? Is she maturing, and becoming used to life in Gensokyo after all? I have to say, she intrigues me more.

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

I don't see Marisa as Mima-ish. From what I've seen of Mima, she strikes me more as Yukari.

[Kips McKipzerson]

Mima seems like a mix of Yukari tbh. Mature, Yet foolish. Powerful, Yet was easily overcome.

[Alfred F. Jones]

Kanako.

Canonically, a... I wouldn't say conflicted individual, necessarily, since she doesn't seem to manifest much self-doubt-- she strikes me as a confident sort, even if a lot of it is based on leaps of faith-- but I would say that she's adopted some stances that seem internally inconsistent. She's a goddess of war who "loves industrial revolutions", but she once originally lost her power as a goddess precisely because of people placing their faith in science over religion. Daring, definitely-- coming to Gensokyo was a gamble, but it paid off. Ambitious, for sure. And ultimately a benevolent sort, I think. Her MoF profile puts it best, methinks:

"Along with becoming an object of worship, Kanako was also accepted as a playmate of the youkai. Feasts were held almost every night.
Actually, to play together was what gods wished for. Festivals were venues for humans and gods to play together. By forgetting about everyday life and coming together to play, gods and humans gained the feeling of solidarity within a community. Even if the humans were exchanged for youkai, it was the same.
This was exactly the kind of faith Kanako was wishing for."

And then in UFO, she encourages Sanae to "Destroy all youkai graaarrrrr!!!", as Ammy put it. Talk about mixed messages!

Fanon? She gets ignored, big time. If she shows up, it's as Sanae's overprotective mother-goddess, which is not a great leap of logic for someone who's a warrior goddess-- but I can't really think of any stories off the top of my head that have her as the protagonist, or even come close to exploring her issues. I think she's a fascinating character. I'd like to see her show up in fandom more often. I want to see how this woman thinks, and her justifications for her apparently contradictory personality traits (beyond "ZUN was drunk when he wrote it").

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

I've seen Kanako be a murderous schemer in grimdark works, like murdering Reimu to get Sanae in her role. (Granted, that story was probably a trollfic and the author is a known guro addict). Probably the snake motif.

[Savory]

Both Suwako and Kanako are sometimes portrayed in fandom the same as how Ran is: perverted pedophiles. It's more disturbing for the former since she and Sanae are related.

And that kind of stuff creeps me out.

[Tengukami]

Well, good thing this thread's about CANON then.

[Kips McKipzerson]

Well, good thing this thread's about CANON then.

so kanako isnt an incestual god? i thought it was as canon as sonic 06 in the sonic timeli
oh

But anyways, Who exactly is Youmu in canon? Is she timid, Is she shy, I really dont know as I've never played PCB. However I see her often in fanons as the only person Yuyuko teases, and this to an extreme extent. I'd like the see the more canon versioins of yuyuko and youmu in canon, tbh.

[Savory]

I'd like the see the more canon versioins of yuyuko and youmu in canon, tbh.

Yo dawg.

In the games, Youmu is the chivalrous type. However in Oriental Sacred Palace, she's shown to be quite frightful, stating that she's "not good with scary things". So take that however you may.

[Jana]

Kanako.

I love Kanako. I was considering writing something about her forever ago, since so many people seem to dislike her around here.