Touhou Koumakyou: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Character Analysis#

Embodiment of Scarlet Devil has exactly two playable characters: Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame. Each has 2 shot types, giving 4 loadouts in total — that is the complete list of playable options, and there is no third playable character (for the unused character still sitting in the game data, see the end of this page).

The 4 Shot Types at a Glance#

Performance Comparison: Reimu vs. Marisa#

In short: Reimu offers wide attack coverage, moderate speed and moderate firepower, and her homing shot (Spirit Sign) is extremely beginner-friendly; Marisa moves faster and hits far harder per shot, but with narrow coverage. The two are polar opposites in feel — settle on one loadout and learn it well before switching characters.

One clarification: both characters share the same tiny hitbox of roughly 5×5 pixels, and there is no verifiable source claiming Marisa’s hitbox is bigger, so hitbox size need not factor into your choice.

Also note that in the original game, holding Shift only slows you down and focuses your shot — no hitbox is shown on screen. Hitbox visualization is a feature added by the official remake Touhou Koumakyou: Shinten, released on September 9, 2026. Precise grazing in the original comes down to experience and reading the bullet patterns; for the control differences between the original and Shinten, see the controls page.

Full Character Roster#

The game features 12 characters in total (including the unused character in the data):

On Patchouli Knowledge: she is the reclusive master of the Scarlet Devil Mansion’s library. Official material stresses her frail health (an asthmatic constitution) alongside her towering magical skill — a weak body paired with first-rate magic. Her Stage 4 spell cards change depending on the shot type you picked, a one-of-a-kind case in this game’s boss design.

On Flandre Scarlet: she says in the game’s dialogue that she has not left the basement even once in the past 495 years, and her Extra final spell QED “Ripples of 495 Years” is a direct callback to that line.

Unused Character: Rin Satsuki#

One character remains in the game data without ever appearing in the finished product: Rin Satsuki. The data still holds two spell cards, “Flower Sign” and “Wind Sign”, and public sources suggest she was most likely a third playable character cut before release. Her full official design was never published, and any more specific guess at her identity is unverifiable, so this page will not speculate further.

Midboss and Boss Quick Reference#

For each boss’s complete spell card list and strategy notes, see the boss guides page; for midboss and regular enemy placement, see the enemy bestiary page.

Practical Advice for Picking a Loadout#

• For a safe, steady clear: Reimu A (Spirit Sign). The Homing Amulet shot tracks enemies on its own and makes the fewest demands on your positioning.
• For a different shot feel: Reimu B (Dream Sign). It runs on the same stat frame as Reimu A (speed ★★★, coverage ★★★★, power ★★★), with only the shot and bomb behavior changed — a good switch once you are comfortable with Reimu’s movement.
• For raw firepower: Marisa A (Magic Sign) or Marisa B (Love Sign). Attack power ★★★★ is the highest tier in the game, but coverage ★ means you have to find your own angles.
• Aiming for the Extra stage: whichever you pick, remember the unlock condition is a no-continue clear of Normal or above with the same single loadout — switching loadouts mid-way resets that goal.
• Chasing every good ending: each of the four loadouts has its own exclusive good ending, each requiring a no-continue clear on Normal or above. See the next section for the full mapping.

Shot Types and Endings#

All 6 endings in this game are tied directly to your character and loadout: bad endings split by character, good endings pinned to the exact loadout.

In other words, Reimu and Marisa each map to 3 endings: 1 bad ending plus 2 exclusive good endings, and seeing them all means one complete no-continue clear per loadout. Also mind the price of continuing: you get at most 3 continues, continuing zeroes your score, blocks replay saving, and locks in a bad ending regardless of difficulty or performance — the full ending system is dissected on the ending analysis page.

Verified Spell Card Examples per Boss#

The game has 64 enemy spell cards numbered 01–64, and the last of them is Flandre’s final spell QED “Ripples of 495 Years”. The table below only lists verified representative spells for each boss; the complete lists are on the boss guides and spell card list pages.

Most of Patchouli’s spell names carry element prefixes — Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth, plus combined ones like Fire & Earth or Wood & Fire — in line with her elemental magic lore. Which spells actually appear in Stage 4 shifts with the shot type you chose, so re-fighting her with a different loadout means facing a different spell set.

The official remake Touhou Koumakyou: Shinten also brings one character-related spell change: Remilia’s spell Divine Punishment “Star of David” is renamed Divine Punishment “Star of Vanities” in Shinten, so original and remake players see different names for this spell.

Characters Who Only Appear as Midbosses#

Daiyousei (Stage 2 midboss) and Koakuma (Stage 4 midboss) are the only two characters in this game who serve as midbosses and nothing else: neither is ever a stage boss, and neither shows up in the Extra stage. The Extra midboss slot is instead covered by the Stage 4 boss Patchouli, who holds three exclusive spells in that role — Moon Sign “Silent Selena”, Sun Sign “Royal Flare”, and Fire-Water-Wood-Metal-Earth Sign “Philosopher’s Stone”.

The most frequently seen enemy, meanwhile, is Sakuya Izayoi: a single run pits you against her three times — Stage 5 midboss, Stage 5 boss, and Stage 6 midboss — more appearances than any other enemy character.

Characters and Theme Songs#

The original game ships with 17 tracks, played as .wav files with a MIDI sound source option. The themes verified as bound to specific characters:

Flandre’s Extra boss theme comes out of the same Extra-stage showdown as her final spell QED “Ripples of 495 Years”, and it is one of the most memorable tracks attached to this cast. The full track list with notes on each song lives on the music page.