Ran yakumo



During Perfect Cherry Blossom Ran is busy preparing for a banquet for her master Yukari, who was still asleep as usual, when Ran was suddenly interrupted by the heroine. Because she is actually a fox that became a youkai (Kitsune) and is a shikigami herself it's highly unusual that Ran has a shikigami of her own. Having nine tails, the highest number of tails a kitsune ever has, is a clear sign of Ran's power and experience. Since kitsune are said in many stories to grow an extra tail every hundred years to a maximum of nine, it's thought that Ran may be over 800 years old. Even though Ran looks similiar to a human and has more than enough intelligence to speak she is still essentially an animal and is often regarded as such by other characters.

[edit] Fun Facts

 * The characters for Yakumo literally mean "eight clouds", and Ran "indigo". All of the Yakumo family are named after colors.
 * Ran Yakumo is apparently not her real name, according to Perfect Memento, and is only a name given to her by Yukari. Her real name is unknown.
 * One of her Spell Cards, "Princess Tenko," made her one of the most popular joke characters in the Touhou community, second only to "Chuugoku" with the silliness of its sound. It might have something to do with a famous Japanese illusionist, considering how foxes are known for their tricks and illusions in folklore.
 * Apparently this page (images on page defunct; archived here) is where the "Suppatenko" (literally, "Naked Heaven-Fox") trend started. [Note: Not recommended for pure Ran fans.] Since then, in many fan works, she's been pictured as a flasher.
 * Even though Ran is only a boss in two games and has never been a playable character, she's a fairly popular character and is often seen in fan comics partly because of her master Yukari, who is another popular character.
 * She's usually portrayed as a motherly figure, especially towards Chen.
 * Ran is supposed to be a 9-tailed fox (called a "Kyuubi") which, according to ancient Japanese folklore, would be at least 800 years old. Foxes start life with 1 tail and gain an extra tail once every hundred years. So at 100 years old they would have 2, and at 800 would have 9. At this point, assuming Ran follows traditional folklore, she will eventually start losing tails until she has 4 and will be considered a "Tenko" (heaven) type of fox and will then be one step away from divinity.
 * Ran is often depicted as Yukari's "voice of reason" in fan comics.
 * Ran is the only stage mid-boss in any Touhou game that is immune to bombs.

[edit] Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

 * Main article: Article and Interview: Ran'

Brief summary of the article goes here.

[edit] Perfect Memento in Strict Sense

 * Main article: Perfect Memento: Ran Yakumo


 * Ran is a fox youkai (kitsune) with nine tails.
 * The greater the number and length of tails that a fox has, the stronger and smarter it is.
 * Ran is considered the top class of animal youkai with a full nine long tails.
 * She's extremely intelligent and is much better at math than any human.
 * She is Yukari Yakumo's shikigami and must do whatever Yukari commands her to do, which means Yukari must be even stronger.
 * Although Ran lives in Yukari's house, she spends much of her time doing Yukari's chores for her because Yukari's too lazy to do them herself.
 * This includes checking the border around Gensokyo for problems.
 * Ran's own shikigami, Chen, is too unreliable to entrust with doing chores.
 * She shops in the Human Village for tofu, among other things.
 * Fortunately, her personality is mild and she's unlikely to cause trouble while around humans, so the villagers have nothing to fear.
 * She has no real weaknesses.