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東方輝針城Shining Needle Castle ~ Double Dealing Character

Double Dealing Character is the 14th game in the Touhou series released in 2013. It is also the first game to get a release digitally through Playism in 2015. The game was later released on Steam.

The plot revolves around youkai rebelling. The heroines' weapons also begin to act strangely, so they can decide to either take their weapon with them or to cast it aside.

Protagonists

Shrine Maiden of Paradise
Reimu Hakurei

The all-too-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.

Her weapon's called a purification rod, but its formal name is the oonusa. It chases enemies on its own to purify them, but since its homing speed is somewhat bad, she has more success carrying it up to the enemies and then throwing it.

Somehow, it doesn't seem to be very satisfactory as a purification rod.

Ordinary Magician
Marisa Kirisame

An ordinary magician living in Gensokyo. She also has a mania for collecting things.

Her Mini-Hakkero shoots intense flames. Fearing that it might start emitting fire on its own, she has to keep it outside of her house. The Forest of Magic is quite humid, so there shouldn't be much danger of starting a forest fire, but...

Maid of the Devil
Sakuya Izayoi

The human head maid that lives in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Recently, she has obtained knives that will aim towards enemies by themselves. Since this is much easier than throwing them herself, they're quite enjoyable.

Not long afterwards, rumors surfaced that youkai were acting rowdy at the Misty Lake near the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Sakuya goes to fight to try out her new knives.


Bosses
Ice Fairy of the Lake
Cirno
Stage 1 Midboss

A fairy that lives on the Misty Lake. Treated as no better than the grunts.

Mermaid Living in Fresh Water
Wakasagihime
Stage 1 Boss

A quiet and composed freshwater mermaid. Normally a quietly living youkai that sings songs and picks up stones. They are not an enemy of humans.

For some reason, she seems to be plotting to overthrow her superiors. What could have brought about this change in her state of mind?

The Rokurokubi Horror
Sekibanki
Stage 2 Boss

A youkai who lives in the Human Village, taking the guise of a human. Her ability to make her head fly is convenient in various ways.

Her personality is slightly prideful, and she's recalcitrant towards both humans and youkai. It seems she takes a somewhat cynical view of things.

The previous summer, the religious leaders had been causing riots in the Human Village. While the humans and youkai had been rising up, though, she was living quietly by herself, viewing the fads in a negative light.

However, this time, she went berserk for some reason.

The Bamboo Forest's Loup-Garou
Kagerou Imaizumi
Stage 3 Boss

A person with a calm personality. Even when she transforms into a wolf, her composure isn't lost.

It seems that there are many youkai related to the moon in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, perhaps because people from the moon built a mansion there. She is one of those youkai.

By the way, she is a were-Honshu wolf, a species extinct in the outside world.

She lives quietly, hiding her skin as if concerned that she'll turn all hairy on the night of the full moon.

This time, she began to go berserk for some reason; this reached Reimu's ears, and she was exterminated.

Tsukumogami of an Aged Biwa
Benben Tsukumo
Stage 4-A Boss

A tsukumogami created from a traditional musical instrument. Benben plays the part of the cool, grown-up older sister. She and Yatsuhashi are said to be sisters, but it's just because they became tsukumogami at the same time. They're not blood relatives.

They realized that the source of their power was the upside-down castle floating in the sky, and set their sights there.

Their goal was to conquer the world with their fellow tools. Social upheaval, in other words. They dreamed of an utopia where tools could move freely, and display their abilities to the fullest.

However, that dream was prevented by Reimu and company.

They still didn't give up, though. When they realized that their thoughts had been influenced by the Miracle Mallet's magic, they tried using incantations to replace their power with a different magic power.

Tsukumogami of an Aged Koto
Yatsuhashi Tsukumo
Stage 4-B Boss

A tsukumogami created from a traditional musical instrument. Yatsuhashi plays the part of the hot-blooded, reckless younger sister. She and Benben are said to be sisters, but it's just because they became tsukumogami at the same time. They're not blood relatives.

They realized that the source of their power was the upside-down castle floating in the sky, and set their sights there.

Their goal was to conquer the world with their fellow tools. Social upheaval, in other words. They dreamed of an utopia where tools could move freely, and display their abilities to the fullest.

However, that dream was prevented by Reimu and company.

They still didn't give up, though. When they realized that their thoughts had been influenced by the Miracle Mallet's magic, they tried using incantations to replace their power with a different magic power.

Counterattacking Amanojaku
Seija Kijin
Stage 5 Boss

An amanojaku that schemed for the lower to rule the higher. Amanojaku aren't oni, but just a particularly twisted type of youkai.

She's always thinking the opposite of what other people think. She likes what people hate, and falls into self-loathing when she makes them happy. She never listens to orders. Even if she profits off something, she doesn't give anything in return. It was only natural that humans and youkai disliked her, but she was happy to be disliked.

Her ambition was to turn over Gensokyo. She wanted to smash the current stable Gensokyo where the strong ruled the land, and change it into one where the weak had more value.

However, she didn't have the power to do that. Then, she laid her eyes upon the treasure of the inchlings, the "Miracle Mallet".

Descendant of the Inchlings
Shinmyoumaru Sukuna
Stage 6 Boss

A descendant of Issun-Boushi. She's able to use the Miracle Mallet.

Read more Her ancestor Issun-Boushi exterminated an oni, and obtained the oni's treasure, the "Miracle Mallet". That ancestor used it to gain a large body and a princess, just as the stories say. He didn't use the Miracle Mallet for anything more than that.

The Miracle Mallet was an oni's tool, and the miracles it caused were also a result of the oni's power. Using it recklessly would bring ruin upon oneself, he thought.

However, after several generations passed, Issun-Boushi's mindset soon faded away. Then, at one point, an incident occurred.

The Miracle Mallet can grant any wish imaginable-- so why aren't we using it? One of Issun-Boushi's descendants thought this, and at last broke the taboo. They lived in the lap of luxury thanks to the mallet's magic power, and then made one final wish.

"I want to build a luxurious castle, and rule over the people!"

In a flash, a castle called the "Shining Needle Castle" appeared, as the Miracle Mallet's power ran out. And then, tragedy struck.

The Shining Needle Castle turned on its head, and was confined to the world of the oni, taking the entire inchling race with it. They sank down to a world where the people they wanted to rule over didn't exist... Thus, the existence of the inchlings passed out of human knowledge.

The Miracle Mallet was an oni's tool. In exchange for granting a wish, it would extract a payment equivalent to it. A wish that was too big could have its payment occur even before being granted.

The inchlings realized this, and the Miracle Mallet was sealed once more.

A long time passed since then, and we now come to the present day. All the people among the inchlings who spoke of the past had long since passed away. As a result, Shinmyoumaru Sukuna didn't know about the mallet.

An amanojaku, Seija, then laid eyes upon her. In order to satisfy her ambition, Seija planned to utilize the Miracle Mallet. Because only the inchlings could wield the mallet, she decided to use Shinmyoumaru, who knew nothing of it.

A humiliation suffered by the inchlings, the power of the Miracle Mallet, and the youkai of Gensokyo who were responsible for that humiliation-- Seija was always a well-spoken amanojaku, but she fed Shinmyoumaru a false history. The two of them swore to take revenge.

"Now, let's build a paradise where the weak won't be disposed of!"

However, Shinmyoumaru still didn't know about the Miracle Mallet's price.

Phantasmal Percussionist
Raiko Horikawa
Extra Stage Boss

She's a tsukumogami created from a Japanese taiko drum. She lived for a while, feeling joy when struck by people.

However, she began to feel a strong, new magical power within her. At the same time, ferocity flared up in her mind. "Now is the time for the tools to take revenge," she thought.

She was wise, though, and quickly realized that this power was that of an oni (i.e. that of the Miracle Mallet).

She felt that at this rate, she'd be completely taken over by it.

She took a big gamble. She threw away the taiko drums that made up her body, and the drummer that held the magic power, and sought a new magic power of her own. This was in the forbidden outside world, as well.

Thus, she obtained a new drum kit, and a new drummer as well. Thanks to the outside world's magic power, obviously.

None of the oni's power is left in her body any more. Even if the Miracle Mallet enters its reabsorption period, she won't turn back into a regular tool.

She taught this method to the other tsukumogami around her.

Even if we're tools, we want to have fun of our own will! Now, shall we go build a paradise for tools?


Screenshots