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Reimu Hakurei (博麗 霊夢 Hakurei Reimu) is the Main Character of the Touhou Project series, having appeared in all of the main games and in almost every game in the series. As the sole maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, she is commonly called upon (or calls it upon herself) to investigate strange occurrences throughout Gensokyo.
In earlier games, Reimu's spiritual abilities were highly limited. (In Highly Responsive to Prayers, she was unable to directly harm enemies at all.) As time passed, however, she developed her abilities, becoming able to manipulate the Hakurei Yin-Yang Orb, special amulets, and her own spiritual power to fight more effectively. Sometime between Mystic Square and Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, she realized the ability to fly under her own jurisdiction. (Before then, she relied on Genjii, her turtle familiar, to fly.)
Reimu is commonly described as easygoing, curious, dutiful, and optimistic — sometimes overly so. Her personality seems sympathetic toward many individuals; there are few characters who remain her rivals past the first encounter. Her shrine has become a moderately popular locale for some of Gensokyo's residents.
Relationships[]
Marisa Kirisame[]
One of Reimu's closest friends is Marisa Kirisame. The two of them spend most of their time with each other. They are mostly seen with each other in print works, games and extra stage prologues where they hang out at the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu and Marisa have known each other since childhood and have been close ever since.
Reimu and Marisa often quarrel and spar with each other, for reasons ranging from resolving incidents to hotpot ingredients. Regardless, they usually resolve their differences and continue being as close as ever.
They usually work with each other, such as when they chased down an enenra or worked to exterminate a vengeful spirit. Usually, they work at their own pace.
Yukari Yakumo[]
Despite her antagonistic personality, Yukari Yakumo mentors Reimu by pushing her to increase her spiritual powers, such as learning how to invoke the gods in Silent Sinner in Blue. In that case, Reimu followed her instructions and orders to train hard despite Yukari not informing Reimu why she needed to do so, displaying how much Reimu either trusts Yukari or has decided it's pointless to argue with her (or both). Yukari occasionally seeks Reimu's assistance in resolving incidents in Imperishable Night and Subterranean Animism. In this regard, she is an employer of sorts, as she remarks about compensating Reimu accordingly during the Imperishable Night incident. Yukari is also secretly a benefactor as well, donating to the shrine behind Reimu's back. Reimu is unaware of that, however.
Rinnosuke Morichika[]
Reimu is familiar with Rinnosuke Morichika, a shopkeeper who owns Kourindou, who she sometimes visits to hang out or for wares (and sometimes shoplifts). She apparently has a large unpaid tab for requested items and services but denies it since Rinnosuke "never accepts money" (which he denies being the case). Rinnosuke was also the one that originally prepared her purification rod for her use.
Kasen Ibaraki[]
Kasen Ibaraki is a regular at the shrine and acts as a mentor (and sometimes guardian) of Reimu, whom she fears is too concerned with worldly desires. Kasen actually initially became Reimu's mentor as part of her own plan, but she continues to view herself as a mentor after her goals were achieved. Reimu mostly thinks of Kasen as a nagging, preachy busybody. However, Reimu often concedes, either because Kasen is usually right, or she doesn't want to deal with her. Kasen is openly critical of Reimu, believing her to be too greedy and slack in her duties. In spite of this, Reimu views Kasen as a genuine friend. When fighting Kasen's arm, Reimu was unable to bring herself to fight Kasen whole-heartedly until she realized that the arm battling her was actually a separate entity from Kasen. By the present day, Reimu knows that Kasen is secretly an oni, but partially due to this friendship and partially due to owing Kasen for all the money that one of Kasen's schemes got her, Reimu can't tell anyone else about it.
Genjii[]
In the PC-98 canon, Reimu used a turtle as a means for flight until the end of Mystic Square; that turtle was Genjii. Reimu calls him "gramps".
Kosuzu Motoori[]
Kosuzu Motoori, the daughter of the book-lender in the Human Village, has a great deal of respect for Reimu. She is convinced that no harm will come to her from dealing with the youma books, because she is sure that Reimu will come save her if anything happens.
Three Fairies of Light[]
Reimu is often the target of pranks by the Three Fairies of Light, and Reimu tends to exterminate them on sight whenever she catches them (unless Marisa's escorting them). As of Oriental Sacred Place, the three fairies moved into a tree near the Hakurei Shrine and become Reimu's neighbors, increasing the number of pranks even more. Reimu aims to evict the fairies, but cannot find their treehouse, which is actually located on the Hakurei Border. Eventually, in an attempt to befriend Reimu so she'll no longer threaten them, the three fairies challenge her to a battle, reasoning that Reimu tends to befriend many youkais after fighting them. After an intense battle, Reimu finally defeats the fairies (instantly), and points out that their line of reasoning is utterly ridiculous. Despite this, Marisa finds that Reimu befriended the fairies after all, and as of the end of Oriental Sacred Place, the fairies now happily openly spend time at the shrine while helping Reimu out with various chores.
Byakuren Hijiri[]
Reimu views Byakuren Hijiri and the Myouren Temple as a rival of sorts to herself and the Hakurei Shrine. In Ten Desires, Toyosatomimi no Miko points out that Reimu is friendly towards Byakuren. Although Reimu says they're religious rivals, she doesn't seem to deny it. In one of her Undefined Fantastic Object endings, Reimu is depressed at how quickly Byakuren's temple is picking up followers compared to her own shrine. By the time of Strange and Bright Nature Deity, Reimu is angry at the temple for stealing away her shrine's followers (ignoring that her shrine never had many followers in the first place), but Byakuren seems unaware of this.