Alice Margatroid

Alice Margatroid (アリス・マーガトロイド Arisu Māgatoroido) is a doll-controlling magician who lives in her home in the Forest of Magic near the home of Marisa Kirisame. According to ZUN, Alice is kind of a special character in the series[2].

Alice made her first ever appearance of the fifth PC-98 Touhou Project game Mystic Square as the third stage boss and the Extra stage boss. Afterwards, with her canon completely remodelled, she appeared again as the third stage boss and midboss in the seventh work Perfect Cherry Blossom and as a playable character in Imperishable Night, along with being a playable partner in Subterranean Animism. She was a playable character in Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and was the Final boss of Cirno's scenario in Touhou Hisoutensoku. Additionally, she was a target on Stage 3 of Shoot the Bullet and has made a background appearance in Hopeless Masquerade. She is a pure all-purpose-type magician youkai who lives in a western-style house in the Forest of Magic without strengths and weaknesses in attributes, but she fundamentally fights in style of manipulating her self-made dolls. With a personality that is indifferent to other people, she is attached to magic, and is usually confident but is also timid in one aspect.[3] In the games on the PC-98, she lived in Makai calling herself "The Magician of Makai" and had a black book that's called the "Grimoire of Alice". Makai was created by Shinki, along with its residents. She was also a magician that can control dolls. She also created her own "Wonderland" in Makai. In Perfect Cherry Blossom, she said, "at last, former friend, we meet again. Have you only brought me your life as a gift?" which can be considered to be something carried over from the PC-98 games, and ZUN himself said that it was the third time that they have fought.

Personality According to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, maybe since she was originally a human, even as a youkai, she has high understanding and friendship level to humans and presents a low danger level, and if someone gets lost in the Forest of Magic, she also gladly gives shelter upon arriving at her house. However, Alice's house is covered all over with dolls, and since she is not very eager for conversation, it seems like visitors immediately flee when there is something eerie.[1][3] When she showed her hospitality was in Immaterial and Missing Power, when she led Sakuya Izayoi out of the forest, who had become lost. [4] In chapters 5-6 of Strange and Bright Nature Deity, the Three Fairies of Light accidentally arrived at her house and Alice was hospitable to them, providing tea and cake. She seemed caring with the fairies. She's attached to magic, but she is indifferent to other people. She doesn't perform the usual act of attacking humans like most youkai, but she unexpectedly likes fights and upon being challenged to battle, she gladly accepts. As she manipulates a great number of combat dolls, the fight is compelled to be highly outnumbered, making a difficult battle inevitable, but since she has her hands full with manipulating the dolls, that is her weakness.[1] She's an indoors type who was often alone,[5] but in Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, the range of her place of activities is "any kind of place" in Gensokyo, she performs her share of intermingling with the village, appearing in front of people in times of festivals to exhibit her skills with dolls. In each ending of Imperishable Night and Immaterial and Missing Power, she participated in banquets at the Hakurei Shrine. In addition to things like "the frog dolls being popular," there have also been expressions that indicate that her dolls are well-received in the village. She also said things that hinted that she sometimes visits the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.[6] She has an obsession with collecting things, especially magic items.

Abilities Strength Alice Margatroid, as illustrated in The Grimoire of Marisa. Unlike Marisa, Alice does not find it enjoyable to win battles with overwhelming power and is more interested in strategy, so she usually fights with power that is a little above that of the opponent and always holds back even if it means losing. It is because if she were defeated using her true strength, then there would be nothing left afterwards, which resembles Reimu Hakurei.[7] It is unknown if this is fundamental to her personality, or if this is simply something she judged as an efficient strategy that her secret skills should not be shown. Related to this, in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, among the 15 characters, she did not have a cost 5 spell card, which might be an example of not showing her true strength. However, in Touhou Hisoutensoku, a cost 5 spell card was added. In the first place, since in Imperishable Night, she had a Last Word just like other characters, which were supposed to exemplify each of the characters' full strength, it does not mean that she never displays her full strength (with an appropriate spell card) no matter what the situation. On the other hand, it could also be that her last word spell card The Phantom of the Grand Guignol was actually still going easy. In Immaterial and Missing Power, she kept avoiding the really strong characters[8], not fighting those like Remilia Scarlet and Yuyuko Saigyouji, spending her efforts to get to Suika Ibuki. It is unclear what state of mind she had at that time to do such a thing. Incidentally, it was the same in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. Concerning this, she succeeded in her goal when she met Sakuya Izayoi, Patchouli Knowledge, and Youmu Konpaku, as she judged that it would a waste of effort to meet Remilia and Yuyuko, but she did engage in a battle with the powerful Yukari Yakumo. Additionally, she felt comfortable testing her Goliath Doll on Cirno in Touhou Hisoutensoku. During the PC-98, she obtained the "Grimoire of Alice", a book that produced "the ultimate magic", and it seems like it would contain amazing magic that couldn't be used without reading it.

to whether Alice really adopted such a bad technique for such efficiency, and there is also the consideration that the dolls could merely be creating a blast from their explosion without scattering and dispersing, so that they are able to be collected again.

Possessions Dolls Shanghai and Hourai are the two most well-known dolls (or types of doll, rather) used by Alice. The Goliath Doll is another doll created by Alice, which appears to still be in the testing stages and is thought to be her strongest doll.

Grimoire In Mystic Square Extra Stage, Alice appears with a black book with "Grimoire of Alice" written on it, from she recites spells. In Imperishable Night she appears with a black book with a writing that possibly spells out "Grimoire". This is some evidence that the book is possibly the same Grimoire which Alice used in the Extra Stage. However, in latter games and in Immaterial and Missing Power she appears with a book with a black cover without nothing written. It's not sure if it's a different book or not, but it's known she stills has it thanks to works as Strange and Bright Nature Deity, where she accuses the Three Fairies of Light of being the ones who are trying to steal it.

Species In her Imperishable Night profile, she is said to be a magician as a species, in contrast to Marisa, who is a human that practices magic. In Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, she is described as a magician youkai that used to be human and became a magician by using "abandon food" magic.[1] It is unknown if she has also studied "abandon worms" magic to become a complete magician; without this magic, she would still possess a lifespan similar to humans. It is also said[1] that she has only recently become a magician, and because of this, she apparently still continues human habits like eating and sleeping, despite them not being necessary. In Mystic Square, Alice appears as a Makai resident and refers to Reimu as "human", implying that she may not be one in PC-98 canon.

Origin ZUN states that he originally based her off Alice from Megami Tensei and Alice from Asura Blade.[9] Of course, a major inspiration is also the titular protagonist of Lewis Carroll's famous novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the majority of enemies in Mystic Square's Extra Stage are card soldiers of the same type as those in the Walt Disney animated movie version of the novel. The title of the theme used in that stage also directly translates to "Alice in Wonderland".

Name Her full name is Alice Margatroid (アリス・マーガトロイド). She had no surname in Mystic Square. Her surname, Margatroid, is derived from a real surname, Murgatroyd. The inspiration is most likely Miss Murgatroyd from Agatha Christie's book A Murder is Announced. The Japanese transliteration of Murgatroyd is identical to Alice's surname, Maagatoroido (マーガトロイド), so it's possible the change in spelling is an error rather than deliberate. Murgatroyd is also a nickname for the vampire in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula. On a more interesting note, in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the previously mentioned Agatha Christie book, Alice Arnold was responsible for the role of Miss Murgatroyd.

Design Alice was first seen in Mystic Square wearing a pink/white dress with a blue apron, a matching headband with a ribbon on the side, as well as white socks. She has blonde hair and gold eyes like in all of her later appearances (except Perfect Cherry Blossom). Since the Extra Stage, she carries her signature grimoire. In Perfect Cherry Blossom, she has blue eyes and has a red band in her hair. She wears a light blue dress with long white sleeves and two pink ribbons, one going round her neck and another one around her waist. In Immaterial and Missing Power, Alice's sprites show her to have blue eyes, but they're gold in her portraits. Her book is wrapped up in a red ribbon, and she has strings on her fingers to control her dolls. She is also seen wearing black boots. Her sprites in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody and Touhou Hisoutensoku were unchanged. Upon first glance she is said to look like a doll.[1] Her height is stated to be "fairly tall"[10].

Alice first appeared in Mystic Square. She showed up in the third stage as a young-looking magician with the title "Girl of Death". She confronted the heroine invading Makai (in fact, she was the first boss the heroine met after entering Makai), but was defeated. Main articles: Reimu's Extra, Marisa's Extra, Mima's Extra, and Yuuka's Extra She later appeared as "Alice of the Magic Land" in the Extra Stage and fought with five colours: red, blue, purple, green and yellow.

In Perfect Cherry Blossom, she did not have any special reason to fight the heorine, and it was only because she was there by chance that she became an opponent.

"Oh dear, I see you know quite a bit about me, th-though you're correct, Shinkinis indeed my mother." *She seems a bit uneasy when mentioning her mom*In Imperishable Night, Alice visits Marisa to ask her to be her partner and solve the Moon incident. In their way to Eientei, Alice complained about how unserious Marisa was in all the game. At the end they face Kaguya Houraisan, who they defeat to end the incident.

Alice is one of the possible Marisa's partners, who contacts with her thanks to her dolls. Marisa enters the geyser and eventually finds and defeats Utsuho Reiuji in the Hell of Blazing Fires.

Alice goes investigate the abnormal mist and amount of festival that were taking place that summer. Patchouli Knowledge tells her to have a "nice, straightforward discussion" with the mist, which gives Alice a little hint. After defeating Youmu Konpaku and Yukari Yakumo, she faces the culprit, Suika Ibuki, and defeats her to solve the incident.

Alice sees scarlet clouds and that the weather is very chaotic, and thinks that it's a prelude of an earthquake. However, it's not until she encounters Iku Nagae that she didn't face anyone who could confirm or not her hypothesis. Alice fights her thinking she is the culprit, but after being defeated, Iku argues that she is not the real culprit. It's not until some time later that she finds the real culprit and defeats her to end the incident.

In Touhou Hisoutensoku she created a giant doll, called the Goliath Doll. Marisa Kirisame noticed a figure in the Forest of Magic and told Cirno about it. Alice then tested it in a battle against Cirno, who thought the giant doll is Daidarabotchi. Main article: Meiling Arc Alice doesn't actually appear here - it's a pseudo-Alice who was sent by the Giant Catfish to assassinate Hong Meiling in her dreams, but was defeated

Alice was making straw effigies and nailing them to trees behind the Hakurei Shrine, what made Aya Shameimaru think that someone was cursing people. However, after some time, she could interview Alice and she explained that wasn't the case, as she only was doing that as part of her investigation to create a full independent doll. In the interview, Alice claims that if anybody sees the ritual will be weaker and that if Aya could stay away from those dolls, it will perfect. When asked about why she wants to make an independent doll, she comments that long ago she saw something like that, and after that she started thinking ways to make one.

Strange and Bright Nature Deity In Strange and Bright Nature Deity, she provided help as inviting the Three Fairies of Light to her home and providing tea and cake. She told them, "if you got lost, then stay here until the snow goes away," brought some hot red tea, inquired if the room was cold, and also said "well, you should have gotten pretty cold walking outside, so you should just relax and warm up." However, afterwards, when Sunny Milk, in some random saying, said something which suggested of stealing the Grimoire, she became very angry and was ready to attack the fairies when some birds broke into her house and started biting the fairies. After they told her that they were really fairies, she said that it was not use to fight and leave them leave.

Marisa Kirisame Marisa Kirisame is a fellow magician of the Forest of Magic. They were partners in Imperishable Night, and she was supporting Marisa in Subterranean Animism. Within the PC-98 canon, Alice met Marisa and that they fought during the events of Mystic Square, but the dialogues leaves open that they may've known each other earlier than that. They also fought each other in Perfect Cherry Blossom. It isn't official that Marisa has ever stolen anything from Alice. In Imperishable Night, they've teamed up as a "bad relationship" combination. At that time the reason why Alice called out Marisa with her voice for this reason (incident resolution), is that it's only because they've become used to it. By the time of the events of Subterranean Animism, Alice sent Marisa to the Underworld saying that it was a "onsen-enjoyment game". Compared to the time of Imperishable Night they've had less arguments, which might mean their relationship is better. She seems to have a rivalry of sorts with Marisa, with the two often insulting and fighting each other, yet teaming up on several occasions. For all the bickering the two go through, they seem to be close friends, as Alice once recommended Marisa's shop to the Three Fairies of Light when they needed some youkai extermination.

Dolls Shanghai and Hourai are the two most well-known dolls (or types of doll) used by Alice. The Goliath Doll is another doll created by Alice, which appears to still be in the testing stages and is thought to be her strongest doll.

Minor Relationships Mima At the end of Mystic Square, Mima takes Alice as her maid, releasing her some time later. Three Fairies of Light In Strange and Bright Nature Deity, although they lied to Alice telling her that they weren't fairies who prank humans, at the end she decided that being bit by birds is enough and she let them leave her house without any grudge. Alice created dolls of the three fairies to poke at them during their second visit. Eirin Yagokoro Alice purchases the Butterfly Dream Pill from Eirin.

Medicine Melancholy Alice and Medicine are quite fond to each other, surprisingly. Due to Medicine's nature as a living doll and Alice being a puppeteer. They share mutual relations of trust towards each other, having rather similar goals, though Alice doesn't like some of Medicine's attitudes, such as attacking humans with her poison.

Shinki. Shinki is Alice's mother, she's a creator goddess that resides in her own dimension named Makai, Alice tries to avoid this topic, though the reason Alice uses doll-related magic is because of Shinki's statuses as a creator goddess, her mother Shinki is very compassionate and proud if her daughter, Alice often writes cards to her mom.

Yumeko. Yumeko is Alice's "sister" being created by Shinki, according to Shinki Yumeko is her "most powerful creation" Yumeko sees Alice as a younger sister, and as the maid of Shinki treats Alice with reverence as well.

Initially introduced in Touhou 5, Mystic Square. If we were introducing her like the original story, it'd be a display of Hakurei Reimu's performance than anything (although I doubt if that was really the case), so I introduced her as one of Marisa's peers. In most fictions, a puppeteer is often portrayed as someone who infuses souls into puppets, making them sentient, but what she achieved is to control all the puppets using her own will. How dexterous!

*Seven-Colored Puppeteer Alice Margatroid The stage 3 boss, kinda ordinary magician. Mainly she possess the ability to handle magic. She is a versatile magician, that has no specific strong or weak point in any area. If you ask me, she is similar to Marisa, or rather I'd say a youkai version of Marisa. Alice has an obsession with collecting things as well, and has the habit of collecting magic items, especially magic books. As they both share the same hobby, she often clashes with Marisa so their relation is like loggerheads. Most recently, she is interested in collecting dolls that have a story associated with them. She had no evident reason to attack Reimu and company. They were chosen for the target of her magic because they were there. Dominating the enemy with overwhelming power is not fun at all for Alice, so she always sees her opponent's reaction and tries to fight with power that exceeds the opponent by a hair. Even if she loses, she doesn't show her full power. That's because she thinks it would be the end of the rope for her if she lost with full power. In this aspect, her personality is somewhat similar to Reimu

*Seven-Colored Puppeteer Alice Margatroid Species: Magician Location: Moderate sized house in the Forest of Magic (has no specific name) Ability: Ability to handle magic A pure magician. While her appearance is almost identical to humans, she is not one. She is a kind of so called humanoid youkai. Her house is crammed with a lot of dolls. The sight is so spooky that it scares rare visitors away. The house of dolls is strangest even in the forest of the bizarre. It's no wonder that they tend to run away from there. Her personality is indifferent to others, and is easily attached to magic. She puts on a confident attitude, but she actually also has a timid side. She is quite average in melee fighting. Both her body movement and magic using are average. Instead of that she has very high skillfulness, which enables her to control many dolls as if they're living beings. This skillfulness is among the finest among all of Gensokyo

*Seven-Colored Puppeteer, Alice Margatroid A magician living in the Forest of Magic. She possess the ability to use magic. Puppetry is a type of magic too. She rarely goes out by herself, but she had no other choice this time. She has many similarities to Marisa, namely living in the Forest of Magic, being a magician and having an obsession with collecting things. However, they have an absolute difference in that Alice is a magician as a species while Marisa is a human magician. Other than that, they're also different in using forest's mushroom as preference or not. Of course, Alice is the one not using them. However, it is not because of such matter that makes both on bad terms. Magic is her weapon. A magician's magic is always originally developed by the magician. Notes She teams with Marisa this time. Normal speed only applies when she is used as a solo character. Her laser penetrates and lasts as long as the player wishes, so it's unexpectedly strong. Good against both bosses and weaklings. It's her doll that is shooting the laser though. Recommended for those who want to be done quickly

Seven-Colored Puppeteer Alice Margatroid Species: Magician Ability: Ability to use magic A magician living in the Forest of Magic. The greatest difference between Alice and Marisa is that Marisa is a human of magician occupation whereas Alice is a magician as a species. You might imagine magicians as being indoor-type people; in Alice's case, you'd be right. She spends most of her time alone, and the forest is a good place for that. The forest is quite humid, however, and her dolls will become damaged without her constant care. Because of this, she's currently planning to make a doll that will automatically take care of other dolls

Seven-Colored Puppeteer Alice Margatroid Race: Magician Occupation: Magician Place of residence: the Margatroid residence, in the Forest of Magic Ability: ability to handle magic Personality: indifferent towards others, loves magic

Seven-Colored Puppeteer Alice Margatroid Species: magician Ability: ability to manipulate dolls A puppeteer that lives in the forest. She felt something odd about the geyser that erupted, but since youkai prefer not to go underground she worried over what to do. That's when she noticed that Marisa was especially interested in the geyser, so she convinced Marisa to investigate the underground for her. She told her that investigating the hot spring would be a fun game, and pointed her towards the source of the geyser. She also made her carry dolls that had Yukari's remote control devices in them.

Her main dolls are Shanghai and Hourai.