Fujiwara no mokou

[ edit ] Main Profile
Formerly an ordinary human, Mokou became an immortal being after drinking the Hourai Elixir about 1300 years ago. Now she is never able to die, though she still feels the pain of injuries as normal. She's considered to be very powerful because she has lived for many years and earned that power, and because she doesn't die and can therefore keep fighting until she can no longer stand the pain.

She has hated Kaguya ever since the moon princess humiliated Mokou's father by turning down his marriage proposal after he failed her trial of the Impossible Requests. Though the slight happened over a thousand years ago, she continues to detest Kaguya, knowing full well that she can never get her revenge--nor can Kaguya ever put a permanent end to her. When not fighting with Kaguya, though, she aids the nearby villagers by exterminating youkai and will even guide them safely to Eientei for medical treatment. She is a loner by nature and chooses not to socialize with humans or youkai, and has a dubious personality that can easily switch from friendly to threatening and back again, but her actions seem to indicate she may be a good person.

[ edit ] Fun Facts
*Mokou appears on the cover of Imperishable Night, silhouetted against the moon beneath the silhouette of Kaguya.
 * The characters for Fujiwara literally mean "Wisteria field", and Mokou "Scarlet (younger) Sister". According to ZUN, however, Mokou can also mean "Paint me red" and her name has no connection to Flandre Scarlet.
 * Considering Mokou's surname and her back story as a daughter of an aristocrat charmed by the Kaguya-hime of legend, she is supposed to be the daughter of Kuramochi no Miko (車持皇子), who was given the quest for the Jeweled Branch of Hourai by Kaguya. His model is speculated to be Fujiwara no Fuhito, the factual founder of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful clan of regents during the 9th to 13th centuries.
 * Another note is at that time it was common for aristocrats to have "の" (pronounced no) between their surname and first name or their title and name. Thus the English equivalent of her name would be "Mokou of the Fujiwara Clan".
 * Mokou's character title is a pun on the title of ZUN's music CD, 蓬莱人形 ～ Dolls in Pseudo Paradise . She also uses a spellcard named Hourai Doll . Doesn't a certain someone else have a Hourai Doll too?
 * The paper talismans on Mokou's pants and hair ribbons might be wards to protect them against being burned by fire. Her shirt, which lacks those talismans, appears to have been burnt repeatedly, while the ribbons and pants show no such wear.
 * Because Mokou can't die, there are some parts of Gensokyo she cannot visit, such as Hakugyokurou . This is because being in the netherworld is equivalent to being dead, as quoted by Yuyuko in Perfect Cherry Blossom, and by Mokou in her confrontation with Yuyuko.
 * The fact it took the combined efforts of her, Kaguya, and several rabbits to put out a forest fire in her  Bohemian Archive  article implies that while she's capable of starting and increasing fire, she might not necessarily be able to extinguish it.
 * In Cage in Lunatic Runagate, she is shown as having had short, dark hair when she was mortal. No explanation of this is given.
 * Chapter 11 of  Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth  contains the first canonical depiction of a confrontation between Kaguya and Mokou. In it, they seem to have a danmaku fight with food.
 * She seems to have a good relationship with the members of Eientei despite her feud with Kaguya and is willing to lead the rabbits home. She also seems to have a good relationship with Keine Kamishirasawa.
 * In Canon, the Spellcard 199 in Imperishable Night might refer to Iwakasa, as she implied she felt regret over causing his death.
 * In the same Chapter in Cage in Lunatic Runagate: Chapter 4, her immortality was derived indirectly from Iwakasa as well, as he saved her life prior to her immortality.
 * Mokou was planned to be a playable character in Hisoutensoku, but was scrapped due to a lack of time to balance her move set; ZUN stated in an interview she would have been overpowered and would unbalance the game (the same problem was encountered with plans to add Kaguya to the playable roster as well).
 * Due to her power of resurrection and ability to control fire, Mokou is often depicted as having the same powers as the mythical phoenix (She even has spell cards called "Possessed By Phoenix" and "Immortal Flying Bird Phoenix"), even occasionally generating what appears to be a phoenix-shaped aura. Fans like to depict this as "wings of fire", but in canon, she only controls the flames of the phoenix in her spells. The phoenix is probably more of an aura depicting her immortality.
 * Fandom is divided as to whether or not Mokou actually is possessed by a phoenix; it would seem redundant, as she is already immortal (unless she did it to grow more powerful).
 * Mokou is one of the few people in all of Gensokyo to wear pants. This, along with her somewhat forceful way of speaking, often leads to her being depicted as something of a tomboy (perhaps why her parents kept her out of public view). However, because conditions in Gensokyo still resemble those of feudal Japan, pants are hard to come by and must be made by a skilled tailor or imported from the outside world, and presumably are much more expensive than skirts. This may make pants a status symbol, and given Mokou's status as a daughter of the old Japanese aristocracy and her rugged lifestyle, it is likely it would be only natural for her to insist on wearing them.
 * Because she claims to run a yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) stand, she is occasionally shown in fan works to be at odds with bird youkai Mystia Lorelei —or ironically, as a romantic interest. She has also used this occupation to scare Aya Shameimaru after insisting there was no fire in the bamboo forest (see article and interview).
 * Fan works quite often depict Mokou smoking because of her mentioning cigarettes in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red.

[ edit ] Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

 * Main article: Article and Interview: Mokou 

When Aya Shameimaru happened to notice a mysterious fire in the bamboo forest near Eientei she decided to investigate. Two girls, Fujiwara no Mokou and Kaguya Houraisan, were already present fighting the fire to put it out. Shortly after Aya began asking what had started the fire a noticeably nervous Mokou suggested it might have been a cigarette butt from kids while Kaguya suggested it was yakitori (that is made from chicken) which sent a frightened Aya (because she's a crow tengu ) running with no further questions. Aya ended the article in wonderment over the true cause of the fire.

During her interview with Mokou, Aya comes to the conclusion that it must have been Mokou who did it. However, Mokou first repeats that a cigarette butt caused it and then later insists that there never was a fire and that Aya may just end up as yakitori if she keeps saying there was.

[ edit ] Perfect Memento in Strict Sense

 * Main article: Perfect Memento: Huziwara no Mokou 


 * There's a legend that a secret group of ninja-like youkai exterminators live in the Bamboo Forest of Lost.
 * Recently, Akyu met Mokou, who reminded her of a descendant of such a group.
 * It is said that Mokou never ages and can't be killed.
 * Mokou is a youkai exterminator of sorts, but primarily rescues lost humans attacked by youkai.
 * She lives in the Bamboo Forest of Lost and doesn't socialize with either humans or youkai.
 * Even when rescuing humans, she rarely says a word to them. However, she has been seen more often lately.
 * If asked, she will escort anyone safely through the forest or to Eientei.
 * The only thing she says is "I'm a health nut that runs a yakitori stand."

[ edit ] The Grimoire of Marisa

 * Main article:  The Grimoire of Marisa: Fujiwara no Mokou's Spell Cards 


 * Insert Summary Here